New Forum Rules

In the last days we have worked on a few general forum guidelines and rules. Every user will have to accept these before she/he can post in the forum again. Please have in mind these rules also affect newspost and match page comments.

• [Forum Rules]

Forum/Website Rules & Code of Conduct:

F.1 – Please be polite at all times, we take hostility very seriously, anything we deem inappropriate will be removed and depending on the severity of what was said, a warning or temporary ban will be applied.

F.2 – Please do not flame or insult other members in the TF2 Community, if you notice that someone starts to flame you in topic or a reply that you have posted, please refrain from flaming back, the member will be dealt with, as we have forum moderators overlooking the forums constantly. If we haven’t dealt with it within 3 hours please join #etf2l @ quakenet on IRC and speak to an admin.

F.3 – Please do not swear at other members in the TF2 Community, swearing is only deemed appropriate when used in the humour or joking form. Please refrain in using such words otherwise.

F.4 – Please do not post any inappropriate links in any threads on the forum.  This includes

Phishing sites/Spyware sites/Virus Sites, double check the website you are posting is legitimate.

F.5 – If you wish to bump older threads that have been forgotten about please do so but for a good/related reason. Otherwise the topic will be locked.

F.6 – If you created a topic and wish for it to be locked, please change your topic of the thread to “Close Topic” and an admin will shortly lock it for you.

F.7 – If by accident you post the same reply twice or more please change the 2^nd to “x” spammed replies to “[delete post]”, and an admin will shortly remove them.

F.8 – Please do not post any sensitive data on these forums, e.g. date of birth, someone’s real name, location of where they live and so on. Failure to abide by this rule means you are breaking the data protection act.

F.9 – Please do not go against a forum admin’s decision, it will be dealt with severe consequences. An example is, if an admin deemed your post was inappropriate, do NOT reply again with the same post, if caught the punishment will be quite severe.

F.10 – If you wish to make a complaint about an admin for incorrect behaviour or procedure applied, please contact a different admin in #etf2l @ quakenet on IRC. All admins are neutral to each other; we do not take sides of either party. We follow the rules and analyze what has been said, if the admin has made the mistake, we will rectify it as soon as possible. Just remember admins are also human and they do make mistakes.

F.11 – Strictly NO racism will be tolerated,  direct racism and words will NOT be tolerated, failure to abide by this rule results in a permanent ban.

F.12 – If you wish to create a topic which links to a picture/clip/sound file and is deemed as “not safe for work” please put in your post at the end [Not Safe For Work]. Some of the admins check the ETF2L forums from work and do not wish to see/hear gross images/clips/voice clips.

F.13- When creating your own thread please make sure it is in the right forum ‘section’ i.e. if you are advertising that you are looking for a clan then please place a new topic under “Player recruiting forum”.

F.14-Strictly no topics are to be created with reference to: –

• Religion
• Politics

We’re happy for members to discuss off topic, however anything related to religious/political will be immediately deleted, and the offender will be given a warning the 1^st time. If you wish to discuss one of those two topics mentioned above please use another forum, search on the internet there are plenty around.

F.15 – If you wish to express your views or the communities views through your own thread you may do so, however if approached in the incorrect manner, your post will again be deleted. For example, if you/you speaking for the community have issues with the FaN (Force of Nature) then make a valid argument and open it up for discussion. Don’t try and emphasize what you think is correct in a hostile manner, [Guidance Rule]

F.16 – If you wish to discuss anything related to the league/Team Fortress 2 which would involve the community to agree or disagree on, feel free to do so, however in relation to the very first rule please do not flame/troll/abuse or be hostile in what you are trying to express. We all have our different opinions some of which are right some are incorrect. In the end we are out for the same thing usually, so please keep it clean. [Guidance Rule]

F.17 – Make sure you apply this rule when your posting, “two wrongs do NOT make it right”, If someone has gone against any of the rules, this does not give you the right to lash back in the same approach; this is not deemed as a valid excuse.

F.18 – Any direct abuse to any of the ETF2L admins will NOT be tolerated, we take good care of our admins and will not stand for either being picked on nor bullied.

Lastly, we try our very best to be fair and neutral to all members of the public in the TF2 Community, we do listen to your requests and we do as a team discuss what the solution or outcome should be. If you as a community approach us within an appropriate manner we will listen to your requests. Just because you are behind a monitor it does not give you the right to be abusive or disruptive to anyone or any topic.

Punishment Guidelines for offenders

Racial Discrimination/Racism – Permanent ban this applies to all members, admins or players.

Spamming – Deliberate Spamming results into a temporary ban.

Flaming – Results in a warning from admin(s) and if the person persists then a temporary ban will be set.

Hostility/Nasty’ness’/Inappropriate Manners – A heavy warning, if continues then a temporary if not lengthy ban.

Incorrect topic placement – Light hearted warning.

Inappropriate links – Depending on how bad the link was, if it was porn/sadistic material a temporary ban, otherwise a mild/heavy warning.

Irrelevant topics created – Mild warning and advised to read the rules.

Inappropriate material – Depending on how severe the material provided whether it is a picture viewable or downloadable, punishment ranges from a mild warning – very lengthy ban.

Punishment for Re-offenders

Everytime you are caught and have broken any one of the etf2l rules you will receive on most cases double the length of your previous ban. I.e. you were previously banned for 1 day for flaming, the next time you will be banned for 2 days, then 4 then 8 etc… Unless your offence was so severe probably a lengthy ban or a permanent ban will be applied.

Finally, if you do not like these rules then we suggest you start posting threads else where, we want our league to be clean, efficient and friendly, where new players from all ages to be able to come and read the forum with some integrity and maturity.