IGN Board Rules

The IGN Message Boards are a public forum and, while we encourage a free flow of information and ideas on the boards, we also ask that you follow a few basic rules. By using or participating on the IGN Boards, you agree to the Rules of Conduct as stated below, as well as the IGN Entertainment User Agreement.

Moderation
The IGN Message Boards are a moderated forum. However, the moderators cannot be everywhere and see everything. If you see something that is against the Board Rules, please report it to the Contact Moderators thread. Note that the moderators have the final say-so in any situation that you report to the Contact Moderators thread. They will evaluate the situation on a case-by-case basis and take appropriate action where needed.

• What Is A Moderator?
  Moderators are volunteers who generously give their time to help board users with questions about our sites and boards. They also are the peacekeepers and are here to ensure that all visitors enjoy their stay. This means enforcing the Board Rules and User Agreement.

• What Do Moderators Do?
  Moderators monitor board posts and respond to complaints to keep posting free of undesirable content as described in the Board Rules and IGN Entertainment User Agreement. They enforce the board rules, and can delete posts, edit posts as well as remove any user's ability to visit the boards. If a moderator lets you know you are close to crossing the line, take heed of the warning. Likewise, if your thread was deleted or locked by a moderator, do not repost or unlock the topic. They deserve respect and appreciation for their time.

• Bans
  If you log onto the IGN message boards and receive a message that you have been banned, please submit an unban request and wait for an IGN Board Moderator to get in touch with you. Bans are private matters between the Moderators and person banned and will not be discussed publicly or through third parties. It is not acceptable to return to the boards under another username. If you do, your ban time may be extended.

• What If I Disagree With A Moderator?
  Moderators are not perfect and are only human. Disagreements occur. Try to communicate with them first on a respectful level and settle your disagreement. They are not targets for your obscenities, flames or general insults. If you do not agree with a decision, you are not entitled to start a thread arguing about the verdict or flaming any of the moderators. Any such messages will be removed. This extends to Private Messages and unban requests as well, and you are not entitled to insult moderators via either of these methods. Also note that bans are between the user banned and the moderators, and moderators cannot respond about bans publicly. Any correspondence about ban length and reason will be handled through unban requests.

  If you feel a verdict is unfair, please contact another Moderator or Board Manager. You are also welcome to contact Customer Service, but be prepared to review the Board Rules again and know that Customer Service is able to verify your accusations. Customer Service will not mediate opinion and will only get involved if Board Rules have been violated.

Following are some things you'll want to keep in mind while posting on the IGN Message Boards. Please read the rules so you will be familiar with them:

• Copyrighted Material
  IGN board users agree not to post any material that is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right without the express permission of the owner(s) of said copyright, trademark or other proprietary right. This includes but is not limited to magazine, book and newspaper scans, television broadcasts and copyrighted photos and pictures.

• Flaming, Bashing, and Trolling
  Hate posts and personal attacks will not be tolerated on the IGN Boards. Treat others on these message boards as you would expect them to treat you. Talking trash about another user or posting topics specifically to provoke a negative response from an individual, a group or an entire community is not acceptable on the IGN Boards. These posts will be deleted and may result in having the privilege of posting on the boards revoked.

  Board bashing is also not allowed on the IGN Boards. Please respect the various communities on the IGN Boards system. If another board is not your favorite, there's no need to complain about it. Simply refrain from visiting it. Board bashing posts will be deleted.

• System Wars
  System wars benefit no one. We encourage intelligent discussions about the merits and flaws of each system, but senseless console bashing should be avoided.

• Profanity
  Offensive language is unacceptable. While we may let you get away with anything you might hear on network television (no, NOT cable) or radio, don't go overboard. Simply editing a few letters with an asterisk or other symbols isn't allowed, either. All letters of an offensive word must be edited out. A simple rule to follow is: "when in doubt, leave it out." You don't have to use excessive profanity to get your point across, and it's usually better to avoid it altogether. Profanity in posts will be edited out. Repeat offenders or those who use excessive profanity may lose the privilege to post on the IGN Boards.

• Spam
  Purposely spamming a message board with senseless, vacuous, or empty messages to gain more stars is highly frowned upon! This includes such things as party posts, chain letters, two-word "I agree" or "me too" responses, continually posting the same topic on a particular board, posting the same question across several boards and using the Quote feature without contributing anything new to a thread.

  On a similar note, participating in spam attacks (post riots, etc.) on the IGN Boards or planning a spam attack on the IGN Message Boards or any other Website is unacceptable, and these actions will be reported to your ISP.

• Classified Boards
  The Classified boards are designed as a forum where you can sell, buy, or trade items with your fellow IGN readers. Please only post item threads in these forums. They may be deleted anywhere else.

  You may want to include an email address where someone can contact you. You may also include pictures of your item. As a matter of fact, that's encouraged!

  Bootlegs, pirated games, or any other illegal material may NOT be listed on the IGN Classified Boards. These posts WILL be deleted and the user may be banned.

  You are allowed to bump your listing a maximum of three times, but please no more. If someone wants to buy your goods, they will contact you. Also note that these boards are for direct transactions and that auctions and bidding wars aren't allowed.

  IGN is in no way involved in the actual transaction between buyers and sellers on the Classified boards. These boards are only meant as a means for users to sell, trade, and buy goods, and IGN accepts no responsibility for the legality, safety, accuracy, or legitimacy of the items listed on the Classified boards. Since we cannot guarantee that a buyer or seller will complete a transaction, both parties accept full responsibility for any transactions transpiring through the IGN message boards.

• Piracy, ROMs, and Warez
  IGN has a very strict policy against piracy, ROMs, warez, and the illegal use of copyrighted material. Linking or giving information about any site that distributes illegal software, ROMs, media, or emulators, seeking help to circumvent any copyright laws, admitting to possessing and/or distributing illegal copyrighted material, or encouraging software or media piracy is grounds for an immediate ban. It is also unacceptable to post first-hand impressions, reviews or screenshots of known pirated material. This goes for all copyrighted material, including but not limited to games, movies, music and television broadcasts.

• Impersonating Other Users / Accessing Another User's Account
  You may not impersonate another board member or create an account specifically for the purpose of provoking other users. Also, accessing or using someone else's account or attempting to access another poster's account is strictly prohibited. If you engage in this type of behavior, you will be barred from the boards permanently.

• Altering Board Code
  Altering or changing IGN code and/or exploiting code bugs for purposes other than what the message boards were intended to do is strictly prohibited. On a similar note, using automatic scripts on any part of IGN is also not permitted. Hacking, altering board code, exploiting code bugs and using scripts are all grounds for an immediate and permanent ban.

• Off-Topic Posts
  Okay, so you probably won't get banned for an off-topic post, but c'mon, try to post suitable subjects on each of the appropriate boards. It's probably not a great idea to ask "Is Gladiator an anamorphic transfer?" on the Wrestling board when we have a dedicated DVD message board just screaming for questions like that. Off-topic posts will most likely be deleted, and further action may be taken against repeat offenders.

• Spoilers
  Just because you know that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's daddy doesn't mean that everybody does (whoops). Be considerate of the other users who may not have seen a movie or played a game that you're talking about, and don't give away spoilers in subject lines that everyone can read. Simply type something eye-catching like **BEGIN SPOILER** before any text that may give away any significant information about the plot and **END SPOILER** after the text in a post. You should also avoid posting spoilers in a subject line altogether.

• Posting Huge Images / Fake Signature Pics
  Out of respect for your modem brethren, please let them know if your thread contains a number of large images. A simple **56kers Beware!** in the subject line will go a long way in helping those who are broadband-challenged know not to open a thread that might bring their web browsing to a crawl. Also, if you must use fake signature pictures, please limit it to one 15k or less image since huge pictures slow down the boards for everyone.

• Questionable Content
  Since we can't have a rule to cover everything, this is the rule to, well, cover everything. These are public boards, so act like you would if you were in a public place. IGN reserves the right to choose the guidelines of objectionable content based on its knowledge of users and company policy. These issues are left to the discretion of the individual moderators, but may include any material that is knowingly false and/or defamatory, misleading, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, racist, sexist, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy or that otherwise violates any law or encourages conduct constituting a criminal offense.

There are tens of thousands of posts each day on the IGN message boards, so we can't always promise you'll receive a warning every time action has to be taken. By registering at the IGN Message Boards, users agree that any post deemed inappropriate may be removed at the sole discretion of IGN. IGN also has the right, at its sole discretion, to revoke board privileges at any time without notice or reason. Think of these rules as a forewarning and, if you break them, you're taking your account status into your own hands.

Also note that the Board Rules extend to all areas of the IGN Message Boards system, including but not limited to Private Messages, Signatures, and Unban Requests. This also includes asking for or offering anything against the Board Rules via Private Messages.

IGN is not responsible for messages posted on the IGN Boards or the content therein. Unless expressly stated otherwise, this includes messages posted by IGN personnel, agents, representatives et al. IGN reserves the right to reveal the identity of or whatever information we know about any user in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by said user.

IGN Entertainment has the right but not the obligation to monitor and/or moderate the IGN Boards. IGN Entertainment reserves the right to change any or all other parts of this User Agreement at its sole discretion and without notice, including but not limited to implementing Rules of Conduct, Terms of Service and/or other measures.

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