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UltimateOreo

Syndicate Gaming Global Guidelines

By UltimateOreo, in Community News & Information

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UltimateOreo    145

UltimateOreo
Posted (edited)

This is the set of rules that everybody is subject to follow here at Syndicate Gaming. Failure to follow these rules may result in punishment. These rules are possible for every human being to follow. This list is not too long, so take the time to read so you don't miss anything. Rules are subject to change at anytime, and a post will be made with each edit explaining what was changed, so check back here often!

We will not be extremely strict with these rules, but they are expected to be followed, and any major/frequent offenders will find themselves punished more harshly and frequently.

Most of you won't notice a major change in the way things are moderated, this is just announcing our general policy on moderation.


1. Posting & Blogging

A. Spamming - Refrain from spam/one-liner replies, such as "thx, ..., *emotion*, "lol," etc... Try to extend your post so it is meaningful.
B. Reposting - We encourage you to use the search function before you go about asking a question. Chances are, your question may have already been answered, and can lessen the time it takes to wait for a response if you were to create your own.
C. Bumping - Pay attention to the date of the last post. Bumping old topics (around 2+ weeks from last post) is allowed, but only if you have an informative addition to the topic, or it is a tutorial you would like to respond to.
D. Flaming - We try to keep this board as civil as possible. One thing we will not tolerate is the use of insults towards other members. You can express your opinion civilly, no need to be harsh about it. If things start heating up, use the report function. Failing to do so and deciding to take matter into your own hands can result in punishment for yourself as well.
E. Posting Clarity - Make an attempt to make your posts legible. It takes less effort to read complete sentences. We want to understand you. (s0 3v3n th0ugh m0st p30pL3 c4n r34d d1z, n0 0n3 3nj0yz 1t.) Also, do not post in all CAPS. People take CAPS as a form of screaming.
F. Welcoming/Respect - We encourage everyone to help out members here. If you don't have anything nice to say to them, don't say anything at all. Basically, be polite reasonably nice at all times.

G. Don't Be Racist - Any actions that support or promote racism including racial slurs used against any person or object will not be tolerated.
H. Trolling - Trolling is defined as making a post or thread in order to provoke an angry reaction from a member/ group of members/ everyone. While some find this amusing, it is not allowed. Everyone has a little troll in them, and staff recognizes that, but as stated earlier, if you break the rules frequently, you will be punished more frequently and more harshly.
I. Posting in the Complaint Department - In order to reduce escalation of topics, posts made in the complaint department (including any game specific complaint departments) will ONLY be made when staff make a decision on a topic, or there is something that is IMMEDIATELY relevant to the situation. Any other posts only clutter the section, make decisions harder to make and add to any drama that may already be there. Any spamming whatsoever in ANY complaint thread will be acknowledged as a one day ban. No ifs, ands, or buts. All complaints must have some supporting reason or evidence. If a complaint has been resolved, and you feel the ruling was unfair, you can argue the ruling in "Private Messages to Staff" forum. Failure to do this will result in a ban.
J. Leaks - Posting of leaked information is a bannable offence, no matter whom is posting it.
K. Recruitment Voting - Spam, Flaming, Hijacking and/or Trolling in a Recruit's thread during their voting process will result in recruitment forum restriction after multiple offenses. Don't do it. Rules on spamming, flaming, trolling, and hijacking are enforced more strictly here.
L. "Attack" Organizing - Threads or posts that are honestly meant to help plan or execute an attack on another community's forum(s) or server(s) will be met with an immediate ban. Do not, under any circumstances, discuss attacking another community on the forums. In addition, do not attack another community directly or indirectly regardless of intentions.
M. Bad Word Filter - Purposefully attempting to circumvent the "Bad Word Filter" on the website is not allowed. If you break this rule often, you will be warned to stop, and if you continue to do so, you will be given a 10 point infraction and banned for a day.

N. DDoS Threats - Threatening to perform a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service OR Denial of Service) attack on any entity related to our community, players or servers, will result in a permanent ban if done with malicious intent. Malicious intent is decided among the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Complaint Department Manager.

O. Bullying / Cyber Bullying - Harassing someone with the intent to make them leave the community, or organizing groups to do the like, will not be tolerated.  Members are encouraged to report bullying and other harassment, and to stay clear of any groups encouraging it.

2. Threads

A. Reposting (again) - If you have a question to ask: Sit. Tight. Making more threads will result in them getting removed, and if you continue to spam, we will make necessary actions.
B. Threads must not contain any around, close, or directly to these topics:

  • Host Booting/Flooding (Discussion & Program)
  • Torrent Tracker invites/account trading
  • Unauthorized advertising
  • Porn/Explicit Content
  • Suspension/Banning Of A Member (Discussing is only between the member and staff)
  • Username/Passwords/IP/Credit Cards
  • "Shock" Content

Any threads that revolve around those type of topics are to be reported immediately.

C. Syndicate Gaming recognizes the existence of torrents and warez, but we do not support nor condone the hosting of warez or torrents on this site; that includes, but is not limited to, posting instructions on how to crack programs, posting links to a torrent tracker or directing members to a website where cracked programs are hosted (this includes trading torrent tracker invites).
D. Make sure you post in the correct section - When asking for help, make sure you do it in the help/support section of that forum. If you feel a topic is in the wrong section just report the post. Don't act like a mod and yell at the person for posting the thread in the wrong area.
E. Fake Donation threads will result in a one day ban.


3. Avatars & Signatures

A. Signatures must be no longer than 500px combined length
(measured from the separating bar to the bottom of the posting area, or top of the "edit bar").

B. Avatars & Signature must not contain:

Pornography - Anything showing genitalia or sexual contact, either photographed, drawn, or computer generated is strictly prohibited. Use your judgment when using erotic signatures of any kind. Excessive cleavage, depiction of obscene sexual acts without genitals visible, and furry/lolicon are not a way around these rules. Child porn is grounds for a permanent ban on the first offense.

Racism/Xenophobia - Do not use signatures that are disparaging to any ethnic group, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. This is simple enough.

Malevolent Links - Links to "shock" sites and links to any sort of website that uses any sort of coding to screw with your browser window are strictly prohibited and will be removed.

Advertising - Advertising including, but not limited to links to other clans/servers not authorized by a Joint Chief of Staff is not allowed.

C. Signatures must be kept reasonable in length! This is up to the judgment of staff. You will get a warning, and have 48 hours to remove your signature or change its size. Failure to do so will result in a 3 day ban and removal of signature privileges.


4. Warnings/ Infractions System

A. When you get an infraction, you will always receive a PM from staff. If you feel injustice, you may discuss IN A CIVIL MANNER VIA PM's. We are humans, and are not perfect, but will not tolerate any sour attitude if you fail to follow rules.
B. The infractions system is based on percentages, each infraction varies in percentage points. After a certain amount of time, your infraction will expire. Infractions will be issued by the staff, based on the severity of the offense.

1. Some basic infractions and their corresponding percentage values are shown below:

  • Banned Language, e.g., racism - 5 point increase, expires after 45 days
  • Severe Flaming - 5 point increase, expires after 35 days
  • Incomprehensible posting - 5 point increase, expires after 15 days
  • Non-contributive bump - 5 point increase, expires after 10 days
  • Spamming in an area other the the spam forum - 5 point increase, expires after 20 days
  • Hijacking a topic - 5 point increase, expires after 15 days
  • Trolling - 5 point increase, expires after 30 days
  • Severe Flaming/ Flaming Staff - 10 point increase, expires after 60 days
  • Personal Information Policy - 1 week ban minimum

NOTE: This is an incomplete list, but these are the most common violations. If you think something else should be here, add a reply.

2. After so many infractions, you will receive the following punishment:

  • 20 Infraction Points = 1 Day Ban
  • 25 Infraction Points = 2 Day Ban
  • 30 Infraction Points = 5 Day Ban
  • 40 Infraction Points = 1 Week Ban
  • 60 Infraction Points = 2 Week Ban
  • 75 Infraction Points = 3 Week Ban
  • 100 Infraction Points = 2 Month Ban

Infractions are based on a time line, and when it expires, so does the amount of points it acquired. Note that all penalties may not be covered by an infraction, and instant bans can be given.

C. When you are banned, you are not allowed to return under a new user name unless you have a legit reason. Such action could result in an IP ban and a 5 day extension of your ban. Do not use multiple accounts to appear to be more than one person. This will result in a 5 day ban.
D. Infractions, warnings, and bans are decided depending on how the situation is. Avoiding such is obvious, and takes common sense and a little knowledge of what not to do on the board, but just in case:


Arguing With A Member - If you have a problem with a member, report the issue and let a staff member step in and settle the situation. Yelling back will get you no where.

Arguing With A Staff Member - May result in a higher offense. If a staff member says the final words, those words are final. If there is a definite problem, see the Joint Chief of Staff (or another Joint Chief of Staff, if the issue is with a Joint Chief of Staff) about the issue with the current staff member, but do no flame or insult the staff members directly.

Spamming - Usually, we will just remove spam and move on. If it becomes an issue, we will inform you with a warning/infraction. PM Spamming is an automatic ban. We do not tolerate people giving members a hard time with their spam.

Advertisement - May result in a warning/suspension. If only posted once, a small warning and a removal of the link/topic may be given. If you wish to affiliate, contact a Joint Chief of Staff.

Requesting/Posting Illegal Content - Depending on the nature of the post, posting illegal content can result in something as lenient as a warning or as severe as a permanent ban. Illegal content can put the board in trouble, and we do not want to be in that situation.

Racism - Racism wont be tolerated, period. When you act like that, you're not only creating a negative image of yourself, but also people are on the board; if that's the way you want to act then this isn't the place for you. Keep it to yourself.

Hacking/Exploiting - Hacking will NOT be tolerated under any circumstance. We take pride in our new 0% tolerance hacking policy. Hacking includes, but is not limited to, the use of scripts, programs, or materials to unfairly tilt the game to your advantage.

E. A ban of 5 days or more on the forums will also be carried over to the game servers and Teamspeak3. The intention of a severe ban is to serve as punishment (as opposed to a 1-2 day "time out" to calm down/compose yourself), and if you're still able to sit in Teamspeak or in the servers with your friends, it obviously doesn't serve its purpose. This rule can be overturned by a Joint Chief depending on the circumstances.

 

F. Staff members will not be the first person involved or decision maker in any consequence to a member if they have a personal relationship with any party involved unless the decision is deemed impartial by a Joint Chief of Staff.

Personal relationships are defined as any real life contact (intimate or not) that results in an obvious bias towards one decision or outcome. (Example: Family, girlfriend, ect).

 

G. Certain actions create an unwelcome and hostile atmosphere within our community, and as such repeat offenses will carry heavier punishment.

5. Personal Information Policy

Definition: Community

  • All current, past, or future Game Servers
  • Forums
  • Teamspeak Server

Definition: Persons - Anyone who is formerly or currently associated with the Community, including those associated with the Persons (family, co-workers, ect)

Definition: Personal Information

  • Last Name
  • Photographs*
  • Social Networking Profiles
  • Place of Employment
  • Email Addresses
  • Phone Numbers (any)
  • Street Addresses (any, ie: home, work)

Definition: 'Sensitive' Personal Information

  • Phone Numbers (any)
  • Street Addresses (any, ie: home, work)
  • Social Networking Profiles

Policy:

  • Passing of any Persons' Personal Information, no matter through what, without written consent is a bannable offense
  • Linking to places where any Persons' Personal Information is available, without written consent is a bannable offense
  • Passing any Persons' Sensitive Information is a permanently bannable offense, with no warnings
  • Passing Persons' Sensitive Information is only acceptable if being given to one person, with direct written consent from the Persons
  • If you wish to post your information, which also contains information on other clan members (i.e., a pic of you and another member), edit out that person's information (i.e., their entire body) until written consent is given.
  • "Written consent" must describe the information allowed to be posted. Vague language may not be used when giving written consent, for the protection of both the person posting the information, and the person to whom the information is personal.
  • Any breach will result in at least a one week ban from the Community

Closing:

  • If at any time you need information removed (excluding photographs), contact and link staff to all instances of the information so that it may be removed.
  • This policy is subject to change at any time and will not apply retroactively to the previous cases
  • Whether or not information is deemed as sensitive is up to the combined decision of staff and the informations owner.

*Permission is only granted through a deliberate post, by persons depicted in the picture, divulging any potential information on the forums and/or vent. Staff is not responsible for the removal of any photographic relating material if previously declared in public. Once you make a picture publicly available, permission cannot be revoked.


6. Advertising on Servers or Forums

Do not recruit or advertise for your clan on our servers. Advertising includes, but not limited to, links to other clans/servers not authorized by a Joint Chief of Staff.

 

 

 7. Appealing Permanent Bans 

  • People who are permanently banned will be able to appeal their ban once every 6 months.

  • People permanently banned for any of the following reasons will never be allowed to appeal their ban:

    • Posting child pornography.

    • Maliciously threatening to DDoS or attack our servers, our players or another community.

    • Any reason that could jeopardize the contract with our host.

  • People who apply for an appeal have to pass a staff vote; The majority of votes will determine the outcome of the appeal. 
  • People who pass the appeal process will be unbanned and can even apply to the clan at any time, however these people are on a very short leash... Each ban earned after you’re unbanned will be reviewed by staff; if we decide that you haven’t changed your ways, you will be permanently banned again with no chance of another appeal.

As a final word, simply use your common sense. These rules do not cover everything, because the assumption is that you know what you can and can't do. If you believe these rules should be changed, or something added to it, please contact a staff member.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about these new rules, please post it in this section-
Questions & Suggestions

 

 8. Paypal Disputes

 

Paypal disputes and chargebacks can jeopardize our PayPal account's good standing and can ultimately cause our account to be closed. Almost all PayPal chargebacks and disputes can be very easily settled by sending a PM to Eddy or creating a thread in the PM’s to Staff section of our forums, so please PM us first before you file a dispute against our PayPal. If you don’t PM us first you will be permanently banned from using our Store and will have your status as a community member removed (if applicable).

 


NOTE: Joint Chiefs hold the power to override any of these rules and guidelines, and their decision is final.

Edited by Travesty
Jewinator 5000, Goldentongue, Kareem kotb and 15 others reacted to this

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UnknownLegend    5480

UnknownLegend
Posted

Rules updated; fixed grammar in several areas/ color scheme. Main changes were:

Addition of section 1H

Addition of section 1I

Addition of section 2C

Addition of section 5

Emphasis added to section 2D

Added "Advertising" under section 3B

Edited section 4B to reflect vB infraction system

Edited section 4C, added punishment clarification for avoiding bans

Edited Section 4D, specifically "Arguing with a Staff Member," "Advertising," and "Racism"

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