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Gaming Discussion Forum Rules and Guidelines


Welcome to Gaming Discussion! Gaming Discussion is intended for discussion about games and gaming.

As a member, it is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the forum's rules before posting. Posting in this forum implies that you read and understand the rules and guidelines and that you accept responsibility for the appropriateness of your thread or post.


Navigation:
  1. Introduction
  2. General Posting Guidelines
  3. Rules & Guidelines for Posting in Gaming Discussion
  4. Sticky Posts & Subforums
  5. How to Report
  6. Links
General Posting Guidelines

Please be sure to follow the Terms of Service and Rules and Guidelines here, as in all forums.

Common violations to avoid:


  • Trolling
    Deliberately posting with the intention of provoking others and/or intentionally interfering with the operation of Gaia Online or any Member's enjoyment of it is considered trolling. This is listed as prohibited content in Gaia's Terms of Service and will not be tolerated.


  • Flaming/Abuse
    Posts which are made with the intent of insulting another user, whether through directed profanity or derogatory comments, are considered flaming or abuse. This behavior is not tolerated, and is prohibited under the Terms of Service.


  • Spamming
    Posts and topics without discussion or that are consisted of nonsensical or off topic comments are considering spamming and do not belong in this forum. If you wish to post topics with no discussion, please use the Chatterbox for this purpose.


  • Offsite Trading
    Offsite trading is not allowed anywhere on Gaia Online. This includes selling or trading Gaia gold for non-Gaia items (including cash) or vice versa as well as selling or trading offsite game items for that of another game. Gaia Online cannot and will not take responsibility for such trades, as trades of this nature are often against the terms of service of the games/websites in question. Such exchanges taking place on Gaia will lead to a warning and possibly a ban.


Terms of Service violations may result in a warning or a ban on your account.

Please remember that you should NOT quote ToS violations; it is almost as bad as making the original post. Quoting violations only makes them more visible and we don't want that.

If you find Terms of Service violations, or threads that may need moved to a different forum, please use an appropriate report. The procedures for doing so can be found here.

You can find online moderators by following the "View Forum Moderators" link at the top of the forum.


Gaia Staff will NEVER ask for your password! If anyone asks you for your password, report it.
Rules & Guidelines for Posting in Gaming Discussion

Tips for Posting

  • No "general" game topics
    "Do you like games? I do!" We know you do. That is why you are here. 3nodding General topics are basically just redundant to the purpose of the main forum, and another Gaming Discussion is not needed within Gaming Discussion. Anything to the extent of the following examples will be sent to the Chatterbox:
    "Talk about any game here!"
    "Game talk, no n00bs here!"
    "Girl/boy/etc gamers, post here!"

  • Read a few pages of the forum before posting your topic
    Especially if you plan on creating a topic about a very popular game! (See "Sticky Posts & Subforums" below about Final Fantasy topics.)

  • Posting in misplaced topics is considered spamming
    It is also not appropriate to flame users for creating threads that do not belong in Gaming Discussion. Any user who does either will be subject to receiving action against their account. If you come across a misplaced or spam thread, you should report it using the report button and leave it alone until a moderator can deal with it accordingly.

  • No "official" topics recognized here
    The only confirmation that a thread in the forum is official if it is an announcement or sticky. Users are encouraged to look for an existing topic before posting, but in no way does adding "official" to your topic title give you the rights to hold the only topic on the subject.


Inappropriate Threads

    The following content in this section is not allowed anywhere on Gaia Online.

    1. Offsite Trading: Offsite trading is not allowed anywhere on Gaia Online. This includes selling or trading Gaia gold for non-Gaia items (including cash) or vice versa as well as selling or trading offsite game items for that of another game. This includes trying to sell your items from other third-party games. Gaia Online cannot and will not take responsibility for such trades, as trades of this nature are often against the terms of service of the games/websites in question. Such exchanges taking place on Gaia will lead to a warning and possibly a ban.

    2. Referral links: Posting links for your own personal benefit which are for free game consoles, free game points, and the like are not allowed anywhere on Gaia Online.

    3. Private servers: Advertisement, linking, and discussion of private servers is not allowed on Gaia Online. "Private servers" are illegal servers and will not be tolerated here. Choosing to bring up the subject of private servers will result in a warning being placed on your account.

    4. Advertisement: Making unsolicited or inappropriate offers, posting advertisements or proposals for goods, services or other commercial activities outside of Gaia, or sending junk mail or chain letters to other members is not allowed on Gaia Online.

    5. Requesting or providing ROMs/ISOs/bios or emulators: Asking for ROMs/ISOs/bios or emulators or posting links to download ROMs/ISOs/bios or emulators is prohibited.

    6. Requesting or providing CD keys/serial numbers/etc: Requesting/providing this information for games is not allowed.

    7. Requesting or providing links to download game music: Asking for links to illegally download game music or posting links to illegally download game music is prohibited.


Low Content Topics

    Gaming Discussion is a forum intended for discussion. While the following subjects are or can be game related, they are not considered appropriate for the forum as the sole basis for a topic.

    1. friend codes
    2. console codes
    3. gamertags
    4. PSN tags
    5. any other kind of gaming handle/identifier
    6. game item trades
    7. arranging battles
    8. tournaments
    9. reviews
    10. "guru" topics (topics which only offer help/advice for games)
    11. rants
    12. "I'm posting on my (insert console here)"

    All topics featuring any of these subjects as its sole purpose will be moved to the Chatterbox.

    Gaming handles/trades/battles may be shared in existing topics for the games in question or within your signature.



Commonly Misplaced Threads



Frequently Asked Questions

  • Are versus topics allowed?
    Yes, so long as they are related to games and involve discussion.

  • Is emulator discussion allowed?
    Emulator discussion is allowed. Asking for ROMs/ISOs/bios or emulators or posting links to download ROMs/ISOs/bios or emulators is not. Requesting assistance with emulation is not considered discussion and will be removed.

  • Are repeat threads allowed?
    If they are not covered by a subforum or sticky, yes. However, please look over a few pages of the forum prior to creating a new topic, as a topic about your desired subject or game likely already exists.
Sticky Posts

Sticky posts are the posts that will always be at the top of the forum. There is no need to "bump" them, as they're not going anywhere.



The purpose of sticky posts is to keep the forum a little cleaner than it would be otherwise. They will be added and removed in regards to there being a specific need for them or the fact that the need for them has waned. Suggestions for sticky posts are welcome, but please be aware that reasons like "Why not?" or "This game deserves a sticky!" are not sufficient in implying actual need.

Additionally, it would be appreciated if the sticky posts within Gaming Discussion could stay on topic as much as possible, only departing from their noted subjects so far as the topic of games or gaming-related issues. The description "discuss all types of gaming here" is implicit in describing exactly what conversation is to go on within the forum, and the sticky posts are no exception.



Subforums and Their Sticky Posts

Subforums are created as needed. Rather than have particular games take over the main forum, they are given their own sub-forums to keep things tidy. 3nodding If you're considering posting a topic that falls into one of the following categories, please go to the correct sub-forum and read through a few pages before posting your topic. Here is a list of the subforums, along with their guidelines and most popular topics:

How to Report

Abuse of the report system will result in a warning or ban of your account.

Report a Post

Use the User Image button when an individual post in a topic contains inappropriate content.

    Reasons to Report a Post:

    • The content of the post violates the Terms of Service or forum rules.

    • The content of the post is off-topic.

    • The member who made the post has a signature which violates the rules.


Report a Topic

Use the Report this Topic button at the bottom of the page when a topic is not appropriate for the forum.

    Reasons to Report a Topic:

    • The topic violates the Terms of Service or forum rules.

    • The topic is in the wrong forum and should be moved to a more appropriate forum.


If you need to contact a moderator via Private Message, please use the "View Forum Moderators" link at the top of this forum to find a moderator.



Report Hacking, Scamming or Abuse & Harassment?

The Hacking, Scamming and Abuse or Harassment report forms can be found at the bottom of the forum index. When submitting a report, ensure that you fill out all fields and include as much relevant information as possible.

    Report A Hacking
    Use this form to report a Hacking. Hacking, on Gaia Online, refers to the unauthorized access of an account by someone other than the account owner. In most typical hacking cases, an unauthorized person enters an account which does not belong to him or her and takes items or gold from the account, often changing the account information so that the original owner can no longer access his or her account.

    Report A Scamming
    Use this form to report a Scamming. Scamming is when another member of Gaia takes your gold or items, or tries to take your gold or items, by making false promises of giving you rare items, get-rich-quick schemes, or by any other deceptive means. Scamming generally involves a situation in which two members of Gaia make an arrangement to trade gold, items, or a Gaia approved service (e.g. avatar art commission) with each other and then one of the parties involved in the arrangement fails to live up to his or her promise of an exchange.

    Report Abuse or Harassment
    Use this form to report ongoing Abuse or Harassment. If you are reporting harassment or abuse that is occurring directly in a thread, please use the "Report This Post" button instead.
Links

Here is a list of links that are helpful when it comes to gaming. Please note that this is not for personal websites, but rather for sites that very helpful to many.

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