[Forum] Code of Conduct
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2023 9:58 pm
Disclaimers And Our General Warning
Each member uses the DragonsWoW forums and server as a privilege -- this is not a guaranteed right.
Violation of any policy described here will result in an infraction which may lead to a forum ban. Such bans can become permanent and may include ingame bans upon persistance of the banned user, so tread carefully -- this is our house and you are a guest.
Before you think about lashing out, remember to turn off your computer and go for a jog and give it 24hrs before you do something you'll regret -- most perm-banned people absolutely regret their choices after realizing what the cost was.
We feel these policies are self explanatory.
Reporting
Send a private message to any Forum Moderator to report someone breaking the rules on the forums. To report hackers, open a ticket in-game. Report bugs exclusively on the Bug Tracker, not in the Forums. This includes using the Forums to ask for votes on the Bug Tracker or posting Bug Tracker links to "point" people in that direction.
Do not open a new thread to complain about staff conduct, ninjas, hackers & exploiters, bugs, etc.; the forums are intended for happy game-related content as a social platform, not your soap-box.
Conduct
We have zero tolerance for any misconduct on our forums; do not test us.
Bans are all handed out on a situational basis by all moderators, which are determined by a very specific guideline; bans are handed out based on user offense and severity; the head moderator or super moderator may decide if the ban needs to be longer than what is determined by the offense type.
The infraction system determines the length of bans in most cases. Accumulating 21 points will cause your account to be permanently banned. Warnings (marked as a "yellow card") do not count against this total.
Offenses
#1: No Discrimination, Insults Or Cursing -- Be nice, and have fun while allowing others to have fun; you are of course allowed to PVP on PVP realms and forum boards. Just keep it civil and leave accusations to private messages sent to the correct staff members.
#2: No Avoiding the Word Filter or Minimum Character Requirement -- Do not avoid the language censor - it's there for a reason. If you want to use a curse word, do it and let the censor do its job. This encompasses changing or removing letters, using symbols or spaces or anything that will cause the word to not be replaced by asterisks. The forum requires at least 10 characters in order to have a post created. If you can't think on 10 letters, just don't post. If caught copying the alert or circumventing the filter, you will receive an infraction for spam.
#3: No Advertising Or Solicitation -- We do not allow other businesses to operate on DragonsWOW because we find their methods often break our terms; this is not the same as advertising for guilds or group projects that involve in-game gold which is permitted. Any sort of transactions between DragonsWOW and another game, be it any sort of currency, items or services, are forbidden. This also covers mentions of other private servers. Infractions for this usually result in a permanent ban.
#4: No Inappropriate Material -- No NSFW/NSFL links, images/videos (including profile pictures or signatures) and nothing that one would reasonably expect to be found deep in the bowels of sites such as 4chan; we don't care if the material is "legal" in your country. Gif avatars are also strictly forbidden. Infractions for this offense will result in a ban.
#5: No Colored Text -- Color is allowed for emphasis, for guides, or for very important posts. However, even in this case, do not use it excessively. More than a few words in a standard post being colored, or using it to rainbow-paint a guide is too much. Keep content readable.
#6: No Paid Coin Gifting -- Giving a friend coins for free is allowed (gifting); transactions involving coins for gold are permitted when marketplace coin transactions are active; all other coin transactions are forbidden. This includes adding "extra gold" or other in-game rewards in an attempt to entice people to purchase your things off of the marketplace or outside the game. Asking to buy Coins or offering to sell them in exchange of real money is forbidden.
#7: No Threads Intended To Call Staff Attention -- If you really want to talk to us, send a PM to the correct department or open a ticket; the forums are not a platform for your drama (which includes complaining about bans, the Forums aren't for ban appeals). General inquiries towards the staff (What's next in development?; Threads that dictate otherwise; etc.) are the only exceptions.
#8: No Spamming -- Say something once and bump if you need to, but don't spam any message more than once (includes cross-posting). Necro-posting (one month or older threads), "+1" posts, reposting something that was deleted, derailing and other disruptions also fall under this rule. Reply-pictures are also not allowed.
#9 No Reporting Bugs or Players in Topics -- Bug tracker exists for a reason. Use it for any bug discussion. The QA team does not look for feedback on the forums, so it's useless to send a report here. The same goes for reporting players, read this if you want to report someone in-game, or send a PM to any forum moderator to report a forum user. Posting your evidence on the Forums or mentioning character names, no matter under what pretext, falls under this rule as well - our Forums won't be used for naming and shaming.
#10: No Account Selling -- Expect a fast perm-ban if you attempt to sell an account, or post (or private message) anything that indicates the intent to sell an account. There are many reasons we don't allow account trading and most of all this is against the zero tolerance solicitation rules but also this can be a form of activity where our beloved community is targeted by predators looking to make a buck or harm our community out of spite or for other reasons. Likewise, attempting to trade or buy one will have your post deleted and a final warning that this is forbidden.
#11: No Advertising Marketplace Transactions -- This includes gold, items, characters, etc. Keep your advertisements for these transactions off the forum. This includes buying, selling and trading. Transactions on the marketplace should be obvious - if someone wants to buy gold, they don't need someone to advertise to them before they go to the marketplace to buy some.
#12: No Disrespect To Staff Or Server -- Staff disrespect or harassment is against our corporate anti-violence & anti-harassment policy so we legally cannot tolerate it. Infractions for this offense will result in a heavy & lengthy ban. This includes openly questioning the Server or Staff's professionalism, values or veracity of claims - we're not above ever being wrong, but we don't take lightly to being called greedy or liars.
#13: Posting On Alternate Accounts While Banned -- Posting on an alternate account while an account you were initially banned on is forbidden and will result in a permanent ban for that account. This rule applies to the initial account committing the offense. Additional accounts are not permitted for use when the initial account is banned. This rule is no longer applied when the initial offending account's ban expires.
#14: Avoid Guild Drama -- If for whatever reason got into some beef with a Guild, do not post to insult, accuse, show off, report or complain about anything. If you have proof on any accusation, report directly to a GM. Everyone caught in the argument will be getting a proper infraction of Guild Drama.
#15: Complaints about Multi-boxing -- Hostility towards the server or other members due to the subject of multi-boxing is considered inappropriate. It is an allowed and supported play-style of this game, and the mistreatment of others for it is forbidden. Moderation action taken will depend upon the severity of the action and if the member has a history of offenses. Feel free to read about our stance on multiboxing here.
#16: Guild Recruitment Boards -- Any topics found in the Guild Recruitment boards that aren't in english will be moved to their proper Localized Forum. If it doesn't have a proper forum, it will be deleted on spot. Persistence will lead to infractions. You may have guild recruitment topics of any country as long as the title and text are all in english.
#17: Editing Posts -- Due to the high amount of bots editing their posts in a very random lapse of time to include harmful links, we decided to restrict the power of editing posts and topics to contributors. Bots should now cease to edit their posts or at least contribute once, before receiving the hammer and having their advertising deleted. If your content MUST be edited, you may ask a Moderator to edit it for you. In case you need to edit your post frequently like a Guide for Classes or Guild Recruitment Thread, we offer two options: Either request the ownership of the thread to be transfered to a reliable contributor or consider donating to the server.
Moderator Discretion
Moderators are permitted to moderate as they see fit, which means they can infract, ban or delete for things not indicated by these rules if the offense in question is deemed not suitable for the forum.
These rules are subject to change at any time, without notice. Check it once in a while.
Each member uses the DragonsWoW forums and server as a privilege -- this is not a guaranteed right.
Violation of any policy described here will result in an infraction which may lead to a forum ban. Such bans can become permanent and may include ingame bans upon persistance of the banned user, so tread carefully -- this is our house and you are a guest.
Before you think about lashing out, remember to turn off your computer and go for a jog and give it 24hrs before you do something you'll regret -- most perm-banned people absolutely regret their choices after realizing what the cost was.
We feel these policies are self explanatory.
Reporting
Send a private message to any Forum Moderator to report someone breaking the rules on the forums. To report hackers, open a ticket in-game. Report bugs exclusively on the Bug Tracker, not in the Forums. This includes using the Forums to ask for votes on the Bug Tracker or posting Bug Tracker links to "point" people in that direction.
Do not open a new thread to complain about staff conduct, ninjas, hackers & exploiters, bugs, etc.; the forums are intended for happy game-related content as a social platform, not your soap-box.
Conduct
We have zero tolerance for any misconduct on our forums; do not test us.
Bans are all handed out on a situational basis by all moderators, which are determined by a very specific guideline; bans are handed out based on user offense and severity; the head moderator or super moderator may decide if the ban needs to be longer than what is determined by the offense type.
The infraction system determines the length of bans in most cases. Accumulating 21 points will cause your account to be permanently banned. Warnings (marked as a "yellow card") do not count against this total.
Offenses
#1: No Discrimination, Insults Or Cursing -- Be nice, and have fun while allowing others to have fun; you are of course allowed to PVP on PVP realms and forum boards. Just keep it civil and leave accusations to private messages sent to the correct staff members.
#2: No Avoiding the Word Filter or Minimum Character Requirement -- Do not avoid the language censor - it's there for a reason. If you want to use a curse word, do it and let the censor do its job. This encompasses changing or removing letters, using symbols or spaces or anything that will cause the word to not be replaced by asterisks. The forum requires at least 10 characters in order to have a post created. If you can't think on 10 letters, just don't post. If caught copying the alert or circumventing the filter, you will receive an infraction for spam.
#3: No Advertising Or Solicitation -- We do not allow other businesses to operate on DragonsWOW because we find their methods often break our terms; this is not the same as advertising for guilds or group projects that involve in-game gold which is permitted. Any sort of transactions between DragonsWOW and another game, be it any sort of currency, items or services, are forbidden. This also covers mentions of other private servers. Infractions for this usually result in a permanent ban.
#4: No Inappropriate Material -- No NSFW/NSFL links, images/videos (including profile pictures or signatures) and nothing that one would reasonably expect to be found deep in the bowels of sites such as 4chan; we don't care if the material is "legal" in your country. Gif avatars are also strictly forbidden. Infractions for this offense will result in a ban.
#5: No Colored Text -- Color is allowed for emphasis, for guides, or for very important posts. However, even in this case, do not use it excessively. More than a few words in a standard post being colored, or using it to rainbow-paint a guide is too much. Keep content readable.
#6: No Paid Coin Gifting -- Giving a friend coins for free is allowed (gifting); transactions involving coins for gold are permitted when marketplace coin transactions are active; all other coin transactions are forbidden. This includes adding "extra gold" or other in-game rewards in an attempt to entice people to purchase your things off of the marketplace or outside the game. Asking to buy Coins or offering to sell them in exchange of real money is forbidden.
#7: No Threads Intended To Call Staff Attention -- If you really want to talk to us, send a PM to the correct department or open a ticket; the forums are not a platform for your drama (which includes complaining about bans, the Forums aren't for ban appeals). General inquiries towards the staff (What's next in development?; Threads that dictate otherwise; etc.) are the only exceptions.
#8: No Spamming -- Say something once and bump if you need to, but don't spam any message more than once (includes cross-posting). Necro-posting (one month or older threads), "+1" posts, reposting something that was deleted, derailing and other disruptions also fall under this rule. Reply-pictures are also not allowed.
#9 No Reporting Bugs or Players in Topics -- Bug tracker exists for a reason. Use it for any bug discussion. The QA team does not look for feedback on the forums, so it's useless to send a report here. The same goes for reporting players, read this if you want to report someone in-game, or send a PM to any forum moderator to report a forum user. Posting your evidence on the Forums or mentioning character names, no matter under what pretext, falls under this rule as well - our Forums won't be used for naming and shaming.
#10: No Account Selling -- Expect a fast perm-ban if you attempt to sell an account, or post (or private message) anything that indicates the intent to sell an account. There are many reasons we don't allow account trading and most of all this is against the zero tolerance solicitation rules but also this can be a form of activity where our beloved community is targeted by predators looking to make a buck or harm our community out of spite or for other reasons. Likewise, attempting to trade or buy one will have your post deleted and a final warning that this is forbidden.
#11: No Advertising Marketplace Transactions -- This includes gold, items, characters, etc. Keep your advertisements for these transactions off the forum. This includes buying, selling and trading. Transactions on the marketplace should be obvious - if someone wants to buy gold, they don't need someone to advertise to them before they go to the marketplace to buy some.
#12: No Disrespect To Staff Or Server -- Staff disrespect or harassment is against our corporate anti-violence & anti-harassment policy so we legally cannot tolerate it. Infractions for this offense will result in a heavy & lengthy ban. This includes openly questioning the Server or Staff's professionalism, values or veracity of claims - we're not above ever being wrong, but we don't take lightly to being called greedy or liars.
#13: Posting On Alternate Accounts While Banned -- Posting on an alternate account while an account you were initially banned on is forbidden and will result in a permanent ban for that account. This rule applies to the initial account committing the offense. Additional accounts are not permitted for use when the initial account is banned. This rule is no longer applied when the initial offending account's ban expires.
#14: Avoid Guild Drama -- If for whatever reason got into some beef with a Guild, do not post to insult, accuse, show off, report or complain about anything. If you have proof on any accusation, report directly to a GM. Everyone caught in the argument will be getting a proper infraction of Guild Drama.
#15: Complaints about Multi-boxing -- Hostility towards the server or other members due to the subject of multi-boxing is considered inappropriate. It is an allowed and supported play-style of this game, and the mistreatment of others for it is forbidden. Moderation action taken will depend upon the severity of the action and if the member has a history of offenses. Feel free to read about our stance on multiboxing here.
#16: Guild Recruitment Boards -- Any topics found in the Guild Recruitment boards that aren't in english will be moved to their proper Localized Forum. If it doesn't have a proper forum, it will be deleted on spot. Persistence will lead to infractions. You may have guild recruitment topics of any country as long as the title and text are all in english.
#17: Editing Posts -- Due to the high amount of bots editing their posts in a very random lapse of time to include harmful links, we decided to restrict the power of editing posts and topics to contributors. Bots should now cease to edit their posts or at least contribute once, before receiving the hammer and having their advertising deleted. If your content MUST be edited, you may ask a Moderator to edit it for you. In case you need to edit your post frequently like a Guide for Classes or Guild Recruitment Thread, we offer two options: Either request the ownership of the thread to be transfered to a reliable contributor or consider donating to the server.
Moderator Discretion
Moderators are permitted to moderate as they see fit, which means they can infract, ban or delete for things not indicated by these rules if the offense in question is deemed not suitable for the forum.
These rules are subject to change at any time, without notice. Check it once in a while.