Rules
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The Starport is a safe haven for everyone. Please respect these simple rules in order to facilitate the interactions and daily workings of these forums and enjoy your stay.
Global Rules
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Do not flame! This includes any rudeness, insult, personal attack, bashing, attack against a particular trait (racism, sexism, etc.) or any other sort of inflammatory post. Please remember flaming in response to a flame is also an offense.
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Do not post spam or advertise (this of course is acceptable in certain areas under specific circumstances, see below).
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Do not link to or post about Warez, Torrents, pornography or any other kind of illegal activity.
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Do not make meaningless posts or posts which do not pertain to the forum/thread they are posted in (off-topic posts or hijacking).
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Do not post short posts such as “okay” or “I agree”.
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Do not double/multi-post; the Edit button is available to all for a reason!
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Do not make more than one account. If you are having technical issues which require you to make more than one account, please advise a Staff member as soon as possible.
Specific Rules
Certain forums or categories have specific rules. Be sure to respect those too!Additional Guidelines and Notices
Notice: While these are not technically rules, they are highly suggested guidelines to which everyone should adhere.-
These forums use English as their primary language. Please refrain from posting in any other language to avoid confusion and help communication. Feel free to use language-specific boards if available or even request boards in your own language.
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Remember that if you want to chat or speak to a certain person, it is best to do so through private messages or via your favorite instant messenger. The forums are not there for personal discussions.
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The Starport does not control what is being exchanged through private messages; if you are being sent offending material through private messages, you can contact a Staff member or attempt to resolve the matter with the sender.
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The authority of Staff member must be seen as absolute and definitive. You are of course free to contest any action through private messages, but do not reply to the Staff directly through forum posts. It is recommended to contact a Staff member other than the one you are having a problem with.
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A Staff member must always give reason for any action he or she has done. If you did not get an explanation, please send a private message to the Staff member for additional insight. It is best to first contact the Staff member before doing anything else!
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If you see anything you consider offending, no matter if directed at yourself or at someone else, please report it to a Staff member as soon as possible. Remember the Staff sometimes does not notice offending material right away or that the material may be seen as correct by some and incorrect by others.
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Please verify the dates on the threads before replying! If you have purposeful information to add that would give new value to the thread you want to post in, go ahead. Otherwise, make sure whatever you want to say is necessary or if you’d be better off making a whole new thread instead.
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Please attempt to do basic spell checking. It might not be easy for some and nobody will be penalized for it, but even an automated spell checker can drastically help understanding.
Sanctions
If you break the rules, you will be given one of the following sanctions, depending on the severity of the offense. As noted above, you are free to contest the decision through private messages.-
Warning. This is the most common sanction and basically is only a notice so you know you’ve done something wrong. No actual penalty is associated with this.
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Posting Suspension. If you get repeated small offenses, you likely will be suspended for a certain period of time. This means you will be able to freely read the forums, but not reply or create new threads.
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Temporary Ban. This is reserved for the most extreme repeated offenders or first-time large offenses. You will not be able to access the forums for the decided period.
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Ban. This is an exceptional measure for critical offenses such as posting pornography or outright disrespect. You will never be able to access the forums again.
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IP Ban/ISP Ban. This sometimes is used in conjunction with a standard ban to stop offenders from creating additional accounts. An IP Ban will block your Internet Protocol Address from accessing the site, while an ISP Ban will also block addresses from the same area as yours.
Please remember that most offenses are considered as small offenses. Pornography is always a critical offense. Flaming, depending on the severity, can range from large to critical.
Offending posts, depending on their nature, will be edited and/or locked. We try to refrain from deleting posts, but rare cases are still possible (namely flame posts with no value or pornography).
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Updated.
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Completely rewritten. Please take heed.
