[Tangled Spider]

These are the MyGamerCard.net Forum Rules and are subject to change. You can find the date of the most recent update at the bottom of this post. As well as these rules, please check for any other time/event sensitive rules within Forum Announcements.

Breaking these rules may result in action at the discretion of the Administrators and Moderating Team. If you find a serious breach of these rules, please use the 'Report' button below the offending post to bring it to the attention of the Administrators. Likewise, if you would like any clarification of these rules contact an Administrator for an explanation.

--Posts and Netiquette--

All members are equally entitled to an opinion as long as it is put forth within compliance of the following forum rules. As with 'real' life, there are some guidelines that should be followed to remain polite on our forum.

No Spamming
Spamming is considered to be any comment which doesn't contribute anything significant to a discussion. Short useless posts with comments such as "lol" or just containing emoticons (smiley's) will be removed as will double posts, accidental or otherwise. An attempt should also be made to keep comments on-topic. Moderation will be more lenient in The Lounge but the rest of the forum should be respected as a place for strictly on-topic help and ideas discussion related to MGC projects.

No Cursing/Flaming
Everyone can be in a bad mood from time to time but this forum isn't the place for it. While word filters are in place, attempts may not be made to work around them. If you are in doubt whether you can use a word or not simply don't use it! Flaming is the act of 'attacking' another forum member or causing argument and will not be tolerated.

No Racism/Sexism/Harassment/Pornography

Formatting And UPPERCASE COMMENTS
Completely uppercase comments are the equivalent of shouting when you're on the internet. Needless to say, this is rude. The forum has formatting options available but bold, italics, underline, strike-through, colour, alignment and increased font-size should only be used to better emphasise a point.

Linking
You are more than welcome to link to websites in your posts; in fact it's recommended when you're referring to something. Just try and make it clear what it links to. Links should not go to illegal content, pornography or other sites of questionable content.

Plagiarism
You are allowed to copy quotes and information from other sites or sources but you should include a link to a source webpage or otherwise reference where something came from.

Images
It is fine to include images in your post to better illustrate your point. If you are using a particularly large image, please run it through image editing software first to reduce dimensions and file-size. If the image needs to remain large or would ruin a discussion if the web location became inaccessible, please consider attaching it to the post instead. These options are underneath where you type the body of your post. For image guidance regarding signatures and avatars, please read the 'Signatures and Avatars' section below.

--New Topics--

Where To Post Your Topic
When creating a topic, please create it in the appropriate forum area. Use the descriptions on the board index if you are unsure. Posting of the same topic across multiple forum areas is not allowed.

Has It Been Posted Before?
Before creating a new topic please ensure that it hasn't been discussed before, at least recently. If it's been discussed already try and join in with that discussion instead.

Useful Description
When creating a new topic please give it a meaningful title. This lets everyone know what the topic is about. An eye-catching title is fine but then add a description of the post as the 'Topic Description' instead. For example, "We Won!" as the title and "FIFA World Cup" as the description.

No Advertising/Referrals
Topics may be started with interesting news stories (Please read 'Plagiarism' above) but blatant advertising of goods, websites or other services will be removed as will referral links.

--Signatures and Avatars--

Where applicable, all previous rules apply here. Signature images may be a maximum of 180 pixels in height. If you are using the maximum image height, please keep any accompanying text to a single line. Width is less of an issue but a maximum of 500 pixels is recommended.

Please also be considerate regarding file-size and animation. Uncompressed images take longer to load especially for users with slower connections and animated images can become annoying very quickly.

Avatars are set to a maximum of 90x90 pixels and must be no larger than 50KB file-size.

--Personal Message/Email system--

The PM/email system is less formal than the public forum but it shouldn't be used to torment others. It should be used for personal questions to an individual that would send a forum discussion off-topic. If you feel that someone is mis-using the PM/email system, please contact an Administrator immediately. Remember that when using email to communicate, the recipient will be able to view your email address.

--Illegal--

Pirated Software/Cracks/Roms/Warez/etc
These topics may not be discussed on the forum and neither can any other discussion regarding illegal activities. Any illegal activity itself will not be tolerated.

--MGC--

MGC News Posts
Please be aware that anything posted in this forum area is visible on the main website here. The Forum may not show exactly what is shown on the main site and some post formatting can appear differently there. You may want to avoid these issues by simply posting via the news site instead.

Xbox Live Messaging
This feature (underneath GamerCards on forum) uses Xbox Live and Xbox.com. Please do not abuse this messaging system as it falls under Microsoft's Terms and Conditions.

Cheating Discussion/Boosting/Microsoft Point Incentives
MGC is a GamerCard community and will not tolerate requests for 'Account Recovery' or 'Gamesaves' in order to boost GamerScore. We also ask that cheating in general is not actively discussed as it only causes arguments and accusations.

.exe Programs
We ask that you do not post links to executable files (.exe). This is in part because we cannot guarantee that files are safe. We also do not endorse software which uses parts of the MGC service including GamerCards or the MGC name itself.

Suggestions/Feedback
We love to hear your feedback or suggestions. Feel free to leave these ideas in the relevant Feedback area. If you feel that your idea is sensitive (ie. It's a really good idea and may be stolen), you are more than welcome to contact an Administrator instead.

Do Not Ask To Be On 'Staff'
If you'd really like to help MGC grow, suggest/discuss ideas, behave and spread the word of MGC wherever you go online. Our community cannot grow without this valued support!

Thanks for taking the time to read these rules.

Last updated: 5th November 2006