PWI Community Forums: Rules of Conduct v1.0 - read meh!

dvorak
dvorak Posts: 0 Arc User
edited November 2009 in Rules of Conduct
Below following are the official Rules of Conduct regarding user conduct when participating in Perfect World International's Community Forums.

Please understand that the Rules of Conduct, by its very nature, is an organic set of guidelines and will be updated and/or altered periodically. It is your individual responsibility to check this thread periodically for updates and changes to our current Forums policies.

If you are a first time visitor to our boards, first off - WELCOME! - and please start by reading our Rules of Conduct before making your first set of posts. Feel free to message any PWE Administrators or Community Moderators should you have any further questions related to conduct on our Message Boards.

Thank you and happy browsing/posting!!
~Dvorak~
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Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/pwe_dvorak
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  • dvorak
    dvorak Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2008
    General Rules of Conduct

    In order to avoid any confusion about what people can and can't do on any forums hosted by Perfect World Entertainment (PWE); here is a more-or-less complete list of the rules. Unless explicitly stated, one should assume that the following rules apply to every forum and thread. Some forums may have additional rules, so check any appropriate "stickies" before you post.

    A Note about Respect

    We're here to have fun and to share information with each other. With so many different personalities gathered in one place, clashes are bound to happen now and then. But how one conducts oneself during these situations makes all the difference. Don't get us wrong, opinions are valued on the forums, yours and everybody else's. But please remember to respect each other and have discussions and not arguments. If you find yourself disagreeing with another member, think first and then calmly compose your words. Don't be insulting if you happen to disagree with someone, just understand that their views are different than yours. Just really treat each other how you would like to be treated.

    You may not use the Perfect World International (PWI) Forums to:

    1. Transmit unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable content. Profanity filter dodging and filtered words/statements with clear vulgar intent will also be considered outright violations.
    2. Post or transmit sexually explicit images, text or other content that is deemed by PWE staff to be offensive.
    3. Impersonate any person including, but not limited to, representatives and staff of PWE .
    4. Advocate cheating during gameplay including, but not limited to, modification of the game program files.
    5. Harass, threaten, verbally abuse PWE as an entity along with its staffers, representatives and all registered users through any and all available channels (forums posts, PMs, in-game chat, etc.).
    6. SPAM by posting frequent and/or annoying messages in the forums.

    Violation of any of the above mentioned rules may be considered grounds for an immediate ban. The severity of the ban will be at the discretion of PWE staff and will range in duration from an initial warning to permanent loss of posting privileges on the PWI Forums. In more extreme circumstances inappropriate forum behavior may also result in permanent suspension of game accounts. Once banned the decision is final and there is no appeal process.

    Other rules for posting:

    7. No trolling, or flaming.
    Any form of personal insult will not be tolerated. General rule of thumb: if you think that what you are about to post is insulting, don't post it. Doesn't matter if you think you're being cute or clever; if it can be conveyed as trolling, it *will* be considered trolling, and the mod team and the admins retain the right to delete, warn, issue infractions, or even ban violators.

    8. No posting of personal conversations or personal information (from IMs or PMs).
    Topics such as these are considered breaches of privacy. Please refrain from posting such items including, but not limited to, email exchanges with GMs, admins, moderators, PWE Customer Service or personal communications with other members.

    9. No links to illegal downloads or ill-gotten copyrighted materials.
    This applies to MP3s, games, pirated software, movies, books, comic scans, the works.

    10. No advertising of any sort.
    Posts or threads containing advertisements of any sort will be removed. Users posting such articles will be warned and/or will have their account privileges suspended, revoked, and/or terminated.

    11. No power-posting, spamming, bumping and/or flaming.

    12. No inappropriate discussion types.
    Inappropriate discussion-types include, but are not limited to, the following discussion types: Politics, Religious issues, Abortion debates, etc. Common sense should dictate what is appropriate or not.

    13. Keep posts in the appropriate forum.
    For example, don't post a topic about Untamed in the Winged Elf forums.

    14. Keep posts on-topic.
    Keep the topic in mind when you post. Refrain from posting irrelevant information.

    15. No mouthing off at staff.

    16. No bandwidth theft.
    Every time you link to a picture hosted on someone else's site without their permission, you are stealing their bandwidth. If you want to post an image, download the image and re-upload it to one of the many free hosting sites out there.

    17. No representing banned members (in-game and in our forums).
    Don't represent any banned individuals. They were banned for a reason. Assisting them in any way or form will lump you in the same boat. This includes posting from your alt to ask about one of your own characters being banned from the forums.

    18. No public discussion about disciplinary action administered to members.
    This rule applies to both in-game actions and forum actions. If you have any questions regarding in-game rules, disciplinary actions, user bans, etc., please contact the support team. If you have any questions regarding forum issues, please contact a moderator or the Community Manager via private message.

    19. No discussion about competing MMORPG's (including other versions of PW) and other similar games on any of these boards. This includes other Free to Play games. This includes discussion about competing gaming companies. Discussion of other PWE titles is allowed in the Off-Topic and Fanatics forums. Discussion of China's version of PW is allowed.

    Discussion of console, handheld, mobile & non-MMORPG/non-Free to Play PC games are allowed in the Off-Topic Forums only.

    20. Post only in English.
    We have to make sure that we can properly moderate and understand the topics being discussed in the various forums. So please, keep everything in English.

    21. Graphical & Text Signatures.
    If you choose to utilize the signature function (graphical & text) please keep it in good taste. All of the above mentioned rules also applies to your signature. To clarify, please be respectful and avoid any content that can be deemed as questionable (eg - violent, disturbing, obscene, sexual, racist, etc). Also prohibited are signatures with advertorial content. Exceptions to this rule may be made if related to business arrangements with PWE or for PWI Community Fansites. Admins of PWE reserve the right to remove or alter any signatures deemed inappropriate.

    22. Forum Bans.
    If your forum account is banned for a violation, it is not allowed to continue posting on an alternate forum account for the duration of said ban. Doing so will be considered ban evasion, and the original ban will may be extended in response. In severe cases, your in-game account may be suspended as well.

    23. No Naming/Shaming/Defaming
    Please do not accuse players or guilds of in-game violations while on the PWI forums. If you have something to report, please submit a ticket.

    24. No promoting the violation of Terms of Service or any of these rules.
    Solicitation of violations is, in and of itself, a violation.




    NOTE: Threads Directed to Perfect World Staff Members

    The forums are not the place for you to address your inquiry to PW Staff Members. Any and all inquiries should be made through our ticketing system. Before contacting customer support, please use the search function and look through our FAQs located in the Support section of our website for account and billing related inquiries. A general FAQ regarding gameplay can be accessed from the main page.

    If you feel the need to report a user for suspicious behavior or for violating the Terms of Use, please use the in-game reporting function or the ticketing system and file a report.

    These guidelines are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. Those who choose to access the forums from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. If any provision of this agreement shall be unlawful, void , or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. PWE may change these guidelines at any time and in its sole discretion. It is your responsibility to understand the guidelines currently in force and conduct yourself in accordance therewith.
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    Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/pwe_dvorak
  • eatwithspoons
    eatwithspoons Posts: 54 Arc User
    edited November 2009

    We have added some definitions to provide clarity for community members who may be unfamiliar with forum jargon. This should be considered an addendum to the rules posted above.

    This will be updated as needed.


    Definitions

    Hijacking: Taking control of another person's post to forward your own agenda will result in having your posts removed from that thread. Repeated hijackings can result in a ban from the forums/game.

    Necromancy: Any thread over one month (30 days) old is considered to be a dead thread. Posting in a dead (necro) thread will cause it to be locked. Repeated posting of dead threads can result in a ban from forums/game. Instead of necro-ing a thread, please make a new thread.

    Trolling: Attempts to incite others to anger, frustration or similar; also attempts to incite flaming.

    All Caps: On the Internet, a word or words in all caps signifies shouting. Titles and threads that are in all caps will be locked, edited or removed at GM/moderator discretion.

    Defaming:
    Anything negative posted about another person, if you have something to report please submit a ticket. The forums are not the correct place to report bad behavior.

    Off topic: Please do not stray from the topic stated within the body of the thread by its creator. Threads that have gone off that topic will be edited, split or locked. Threads are posted in the wrong section will be moved. Threads that are created with no purpose other than to spam will be taken off of the forum.

    Stickies: Stickies are there to help you. Please read them before you ask a question. It is possible that the answer you seek has already been posted in a sticky thread.
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