Terms and rules

Terms

The providers (“we”, “us”, “our”) of the service provided by this web site (“Service”) are not responsible for any user-generated content and accounts (“Content”). Content submitted expresses the views of its author only.

You agree to not use the Service to submit or link to any Content which is defamatory, abusive, hateful, threatening, spam or spam-like, likely to offend, contains adult or objectionable content, contains personal information of others, encourages unlawful activity, or otherwise violates any laws.

All Content you submit or upload may be reviewed by staff members. All Content you submit or upload may be sent to third-party verification services (including, but not limited to, spam prevention services). Do not submit any Content that you consider to be private or confidential.

We reserve the right to remove or modify any Content submitted for any reason and without explanation. Requests for Content to be removed or modified will be undertaken at our discretion only. We reserve the right to take action against any account with the Service at any time. Access to the Service is not guaranteed to you and may be restricted or removed at any time for any reason.

You may not access the Service through automated or programmatic means (such as through a content scraper) without prior permission from us.

You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in Content which you submit to the Service. When you submit Content to the Service, you give us a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, translate, adapt, communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display, and distribute the Content.

These terms may be changed at any time without notice.

The rules set out below are considered part of these terms.

If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register with or use this Service. If you wish to close your account, please contact us.

Rules

As with any community, rules and guidelines are important to keep things running smoothly. Please keep our rules in mind whenever submitting content in order to keep our community pleasant for members and guests alike.

The rules here are not exhaustive and will be modified over time as necessary. Use common sense.

Access to the community is a privilege, not a right. Members who do not abide by these rules may face temporary or permanent bans. Content submitted that does not abide by these rules is subject to modification or removal.

Abuse of Systems

  • You may not make any attempt to interfere with the normal operation of the forums or game, nor encourage others to do so.
  • You may not add, modify, or remove content with malicious intent.
  • You may not abuse the report system for purposes other than reporting rule violations.
  • You may not impersonate forum or game staff members.

Prohibited Content

Content and links that are obscene, bigoted, violent, hateful, threatening, abusive, sexually explicit, illicit, or malicious are not allowed.

Additionally, the following discussion topics are prohibited in public threads and posts on the basis that they are controversial and polarizing:

  • Politics (including identity politics)
  • Religion

Check the news forum for any additional rule provisions. Please seek out other online communities if you wish to discuss these matters.

Language

All Content must be posted in English or with an English translation, as it is not possible for us to moderate the forums otherwise.

Swearing is not allowed. You may not circumvent language censors and filters.

NSFW Content

Content which a viewer may not want to be seen accessing in a public or formal setting (such as in a workplace) should be tagged NSFW. Sexually explicit content is never allowed.

No Flaming

Flaming is not allowed. Flaming is posting messages that are hostile or insulting to others.

Note
Constructive criticism is welcome, but please focus on ideas and not people.

If you take particular issue with another member and are unable to reply in a civilized and constructive way to their posts, you should ignore the member.

If you feel another member is being hostile or insulting to you, report their message to staff. Do not respond publicly. Responding publicly is likely to derail a discussion and make other members uncomfortable. If someone attacks you and you respond with an attack, you will be warned regardless of who started it.

No Naming and Shaming

Naming and shaming is not allowed. Naming and shaming is publishing the name or alias of an individual or group so as to single them out for blame and censure. This includes naming and shaming in-game guilds.

No Trolling

Trolling is not allowed. Trolling is making a deliberately offensive or provocative post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.

No Soliciting

Soliciting is not allowed. Soliciting is offering or attempting to obtain goods or services from others without invitation. Public threads offering goods or services are permitted with the exception of spam posts. We do not endorse any offered goods or services, and we are not responsible for the conduct or sale of any vendor.

Personal Information

Personal information may not be posted unless it is clear that all parties involved have consented. Posting personally identifiable information of others ("doxing") will not be tolerated.

Bumping Threads

You must wait 24 hours from the time of the last post to bump a thread. You must wait an additional 24 hours between each consecutive bump. This means you must wait 48 hours between your first and second bump, 72 hours between your second and third bump, and so on.

Misplaced Content

  • Threads should be created in the forum that is most applicable to the subject matter.
  • Duplicate threads will be merged into existing threads. Please search for existing threads before posting new ones.
  • Off-topic posts are not allowed. Please create a new thread if you have something off-topic to discuss.

Avatars and Signatures

Avatars and signatures must not violate any of the listed rules. Abuse of signatures is not allowed. Signatures should be small and should not distract from posts.

Additional Rules

Some forum sections have additional rules. These rules can be found in sticky threads inside the forum sections. Please read over them before posting in the respective sections.

Enforcement

Reporting Content

If you come across content which you believe violates any of our terms or rules, please submit a report by clicking the “Report” button. Staff will review reported content for rule violations and take action if necessary. Please do not publicly comment about reports or reporting.

Moderation

If we determine that content is in violation of our rules, we will attempt to modify the content so that it is compliant. If the content cannot be sufficiently modified for compliance, it may be removed outright. Members will be notified of any modifications or removals of their content. A warning or notice may be issued to the accounts of offending members.

Infractions and Consequences

Warnings are official records of rule violations. Warnings may carry penalty points or other consequences. The points and consequences for infractions are listed below.

Infractions

Major Infractions

Major infractions carry a 3 point penalty with a one year expiry.

  • Abuse of Site Systems
  • Prohibited Content
  • Inappropriate Language
  • Flaming
  • Trolling
  • Personal Information
Greater Infractions

Greater infractions carry a 2 point penalty with a one month expiry.

  • Untagged NSFW Content
  • Naming and Shaming
General Infractions

General infractions carry a 1 point penalty with a one month expiry.

  • Prohibited Discussion
  • Soliciting
  • Signature Violation
  • Avatar Violation
Minor Infractions

Minor infractions carry a 1 point penalty with a one week expiry.

  • Excessive Thread Bumping
  • Misplaced Thread
  • Duplicate Thread
  • Off-topic Post

Consequences

If a member violates the rules, they may be subject to cooldown or ban. Accounts placed on cooldown may read the forums, but not create new threads or posts. Accounts given a ban are prohibited from using the forums entirely. The following consequences are triggered automatically when reaching certain point thresholds:

  • 3 points - 1 day cooldown
  • 4 points - 3 day ban
  • 6 points - 5 day ban
  • 8 points - 7 day ban

Permanent bans are only issued to people who cause repeated or significant problems.

Using multiple accounts to evade a consequence will result in additional penalities on all accounts.

Appeals

General

If you believe a moderation action was applied in error, please start a conversation with an administrator or lead moderator so that we may review the action. We will do our best to explain why the action was taken, or reverse the action if we determine it was unwarranted.

Any discussions pertaining to specific warnings or bans must be conducted privately. Public discussions will be removed.

Bans

Banned members may submit an appeal via email to thecrew@piratesforums.co. Appeals will be reviewed by staff as soon as possible.

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