Following rules have been reviewed by the Admin/Moderator team and are from now on in place for all sections of the board excluding “Extreme Off-Topic”. Please see the special rules for this section at the end of the post.
Before posting, please read, comprehend and memorize the following rules for threads and posts on this board.
Ignorance is NO excuse – Moderators will punish upon violation!
1. Ruthless, Disrespectful Behavior:
It is a common fact, that the internet can bring out the worst in everyone. Every likable, well-adjusted person has the tendency to act like they are the most knowledgeable person and everyone else is incompetent, given the audience and anonymity.
Nevertheless we expect from each poster on this board to act like a mature, reasonable human being, who refrains from rude behaviour and personal attacks. Do not look at other posters like an assembly of letters and numbers on a page, but as fellow members of this community, who you are supposed to treat with respect. Just like in real life, treat others as you wish to be treated by them. It's as simple as that.
Members who start fights, attack others or continue to debate and quarrel on resolved issues, will receive warnings that upon repeat can extend to temporary or permanent bans.
2. Criticism (Game Industry Discussion):
Serious discussions on games are of course welcome, as well criticism or reviews of games, but brainless bashing (especially when the sole purpose is fazing other members) will not be tolerated.
If you do not like a game - that is perfectly fine. Opinions and tastes differ from person to person and that is the foundation of every healthy discussion platform. However, if you care to share such information, please provide details on what makes you think this way, instead of just "Consoles sux LOL."
Try to suppress the need to defend a title you like against anybody who doesn't like it. You can explain why you personally think it is great, but since everyone thinks differently, there will be those who do not agree with you. Do not try to win them over, or convince them they are wrong, with brash attacks or flaming. We want to encourage more healthy and mature discussions where users can feel safe to post their thoughts. A fanboy-ish attitude or trolling is frowned upon and will gain you nothing but a warning or, if it is cause for conflict on multiple occasions, something even worse.
Please keep in mind: With the the increasing number of MapCore members making their way into the professional world of games development, there might be people who are/were making the game you are ranting about that are also reading these forums. See the Job Census to get an idea.
To summarize, the following conversation would cause a thread to be locked, followed by warnings to the offending parties:
"Halo 3 SUX!!"
- "NO you SUCK!"
"Your MOMMA SUX!111"
Game over.
2b. Criticism (WIP Sections)
In contrary to some people's beliefs, MapCore (and this board in special) has not been created to serve as hell hole which only purpose is to eat hearts and crush souls.
Users that post their work here come for constructive criticism, advice and the opportunity to showcase what they have created. Not to be demoralized or laughed at.
Nobody knows everything from day 1 and everybody has to start from the bottom. Even if the work is miles off your quality standard, wouldn't you be the best to know how hard and painful it is to learn how to make a fun level? Or a good looking one, which is also well optimized? Or an asset which you modeled and textured that actually resembles the reference picture you were looking at? Why make it more painful for the person who is still learning?
Instead - help them! You can still tell them you do not like their work. Yet, instead of dropping a useless comment like "That level is completely horrible", rather explain what aspects of their work stand out specifically for you and need improvement. Give them advice on how to improve, by posting reference pictures, tutorials, and other helpful information. You will see the novice improve and the community grow as a whole. Who knows? Maybe someday they will even contribute to a project you will be involved in yourself and you will be glad you made the decision to help that person out!
If you cannot be bothered and still have nothing constructive to say, do everyone a favor, keep it to yourself by not saying anything at all.
Members who violate these rules, depending on the severity of the violation, will either: first receive a warning or be temporarily banned with an accompanying email to explain why and for how long. Repeated violation will be punished with a permanent ban.
3. Foul language:
Bad language is permissible so long as it doesn't become abusive.
4. Nudity/Graphical violence:
As a general rule, we do NOT allow nudity or any sort of NSFW material on Mapcore. That includes EOT. This should be common sense for all of us and we have mentioned it many times in the past but here it is again.
What is NSFW?
NSFW= NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
This basically means.....no nipples, no genitalia, no otherwise gruesome and overly gory pictures like dismemberment etc.
NSFW is now allowed in EOT only, but no shocking images without warning.
5. Image leeching:
It has come to our attention that there has been an increasing number of people hotlinking images, posting images here that are not on their own webspace. This is frowned upon since you are using other people's bandwidth for your own use. There are sites out there for this sort of thing.
For example:
http://www.uploadhouse.com
http://www.photobucket.com
http://www.imageshack.us
Even if its a small image no bigger than 5KB, please do not hotlink. It uses up the other persons bandwidth that they pay for. Its like buying a carton of eggs only to find out that someone has been taking them from your refrigerator without you knowing.
If you are using something from Mapcore (that is in fact hosted on Mapcore), then you more than likely can use them here without having to host the image from photobucket or imageshack. Since the bandwidth is already being used here, there is no need to have the image be downloaded again from another site. Though this still means you cannot use images from Mapcore on other sites, since that would be image stealing. Since it is already being viewed here at Mapcore you can use a Mapcore image here.
6. EOT specific rules:
Equal Oportunity and Treatment (aka "Extreme Off-Topic" or simply EOT) is where the rules are more relaxed and there's no need to act formal. If you have a funny pic or video to post, EOT is the right place. However, that doesn't mean it's a ruleless place where you can go and bash other members. Common sense is your best friend - use EOT to make friends not foes. Be sure to follow these rules and help making EOT a friendly forum:
1) No personal attacks
We would like to emphasize this rule once again. It has come to our attention that EOT is often being spammed with flame wars and personal attacks. This kind of attitude will not be tolerated and the posts will either get edited or deleted and the involved members will be warned. Further actions can be taken if the problem persists.
2) Avoid posting excessively big images
One of the most annoying things that can happen when browsing a forum is your browser crashing due to someone posting the same uncompressed 2048x1536 JPG image 50 times in the same thread. Repeating images is acceptable (but not encouraged) and threads/posts that break this rule will be deleted on spot.
