Forum Rules

Registration to this forum is free! We do insist that you abide by the rules and policies detailed below. If you agree to the terms, please check the 'I agree' checkbox and press the 'Register' button below. If you would like to cancel the registration, click here to return to the forums index.

Welcome to MSFC - Sci-Fi and Gaming, before you start posting you need to be aware of a set of rules and code of conduct set down by the staff here. Everyone wishing to post and use the services provided on this site need to read and abide by these conditions.

Advertising
This sites number 1 rule. There is to be NO advertising of other sites or using this site as a recruitment centre. This includes posting links, signatures with links in them or advertising through PM’s. Failure to add hear to this will have you placed on a permanent ban, no exceptions and no chances of the ban being lifted.

Language
This is an English site, so please use English only while on these boards. All posts that include another language will be deleted by a staff member, this also includes swearing and abusive words. These are not permitted on the site under any circumstances.

Behaviour
It is your responsibility to conduct yourself in a responsible mature manner. You are under NO circumstances to use MSFC as a means to personally criticize, harass, discriminate, flame or personally attack any registered member or member of staff.

You are responsible for your own behaviour and the Administration will not accept any excuses for any inappropriate behaviour and will take necessary action in response to any behaviour unbecoming a member.

Respect
You as a member must respect any registered member and member of staff that uses the MSFC services, regardless of your feelings towards them. We all are here to share and enjoy our passion for science fiction and gaming and are here voluntary and did not volunteer to take your disrespect.

A Privilege NOT a Right
Being a member of MSFC, one or more of the RPG's or a staff member is a privilege and NOT a right. You may be removed from any of these positions at any given time without notice by the Administrations judgement.

File Hosting Terms of Use
MSFC provides free hosting and as such can not be held responsible for the files hosted on our server. MSFC respects the rights of an artist to control their own work and as such we (an individual and site) do not own any files submitted by members. All ownership falls on the original author's and they can at any-time for any reason ask for their files to be removed without opposition from MSFC, its staff or owner.

As a file submitter, author and a condition of hosting your files with us you agree to take responsibility for any and all files you submit to MSFC and it's sub-domains by making sure they are free of viruses, spy-ware, mal-ware and any these potentially harmful to the system of anyone downloading your files. You also agree to have a credits text document with an accurate list crediting everyone involved in the creation of the file(s).

As a member and downloader you download at your own risk and by doing so agree not to hold MSFC, its staff, the author of the file or Majestic at fault or accountable (legal or otherwise) for any damage a file causes to your system in part or whole. We (MSFC) take no responsibility for any effects caused by you using files hosted with us. We do our best to screen all files submitted and uploaded but unfortunately this is not always possible.

You also agree to respect an author's rights and as a condition of downloading agree to not use the file in part or whole in any public project or to modify and publicly release a said file without the direct permission of the file's original author.

Files can be sent to files@msfc.com.au for submission.

Downloads
To be eligible to download files, the user must be a participating member of the community and is required to post a introduction thread in the introduction section of the forums. No excuses will be accepted for not knowing, because if you are unaware, then you have breached the site rules by not reading and abiding by them and will be subject to the warning procedure outlined at the bottom of this page.

Email Addresses
Email addresses must be kept off the forums. They can be shared and/or obtained through private messages. This is for your own security and safety, to avoid unwanted spam emails and possibly viruses.

It is also requested that you register with an active account with a well known server like hotmail, aol, yahoo, gmail etc. It just makes approving your account much quicker as well as easier on the Administrators.

Spam
Spam is useless posts that people make when they don't have anything useful to say. Please refrain from doing this, as your posts will de deleted or edited and you will be contacted by a staff member.

Topics
Keep to the topic in a thread. Staff will notify you if your posts are off topic, failure to return to the topic at hand will have you contact by a staff member to discuss the situation further. Once your post has been edited by a staff member do not edit it back or remove a staff’s edit tag.

Flame Wars
Flame wars are arguments that are displayed over public forum or via PM and disrupts the running of a site. This is not tolerated, if a flame war erupts the staff will take preventive action to stop it. If it comes over from another site, members responsible will be put on a warning. Instigators of flame wars will be dealt with accordingly.

MSN Conversations
MSN conversations that affect the running of the site (such as topics or between members who are in a flame or argument) are bound by the rules of MSFC and any breach will be treated as if it had occurred on the site. We expect members to conduct themselves with dignity and utmost maturity with respect towards all members and staff. If you disagree with this clause, please refrain from talking to other members on MSN when a problem or issue is in effect.

Signatures
Signatures are text or pictures that appear under your post. You are allowed only one picture for a signature and it must not exceed 600x200 pixels in size. If you are using mini signatures, you are allowed only 10 and they must not exceed 350x20 pixels in size.

If you are using text, you are not allowed to exceed 500 characters (including spaces) or 10 lines which ever comes first. If using a combination of both, the entire signature must not exceed 600x200 pixels in overall size.

Note: Every line of text that appears in the postbit above or below the signature image stands for 15 pixels.

Also signatures are under no circumstances to include any sort of links. AS this will violate our first condition of usage.

Avatars
Avatars are small images that appear near your user-name in posts. Avatars are to not exceed 160x160 pixels in size. You are allowed to upload your own or to use one of the avatars provided in the gallery.

Posting Pictures
In order to make sure the forum doesn't explode with graphics and slow down due to it, when you post a picture please make sure that it is no larger that 1024x768 pixels.

If you need to show an image that is over 1024x768 pixels please link to it, use the spoiler tags or use a thumbnail rather than displaying the full picture in a thread.

If you need space in hosting an image, free hosts are available. A well known one used by the staff here is: Photobucket. However it is preferred that you use the attachment or Personal Album feature which both have unlimited storage for all members.

No Imageshack hosting
The use of "Imageshack" is prohibited do to their use of pop-up / pop-under ads that sometimes contain malicious code or content.

Copying
Copying other peoples work without permission is not tolerated. You MUST request permission before using anyone else’s work in a public release. Also any MSFC material is the property of the MSFC staff and permission to reuse or edit this must be obtained by Majestic, our head administrator.

Ranks and Smilies
The ranks used on this site were created by Kuro-Chan of Kuro-RPG. The emoticons were created by Gilles Nuytens of The Sci-Fi World. Do not use their works without their permission.

Staff Decisions
The staff are here to make sure the site runs smoothly and without incident. They have been given the power and responsibility to manage various sections of the site. Only a higher ranking staff member can override another staff member decision if deemed necessary.

The staff have the right to remove any post, thread or messages that in our sole judgement violate and infringe upon the rules of this site. They also have the right to remove any posting ability and limit or terminate access to any member for any reason and at any-time without notice.

Do not edit a post after a staff member has, staff edits posts for a reason and editing it after a staff for whatever reason will only find yourself being contacted.

There are several levels/types of staff, information of the levels/types and their responsibilities can be found here.
All decisions made by the staff are final, there are to be no arguments/complaints or questioning about decisions made by the staff for any reason.

All staff of equal rank have equal authority and any attempts to undermine a staff's decision by gong to another of equal rank will be dealt with, just like any other infraction of the Terms and Conditions. You are however allowed (if you feel unsatisfied with how a member of staff have conducted themselves) to go to a staff of higher authority, such as to an Administrator.

Promotions
From time to time, the staff will be looking for new staff members. This happens due to a number of reasons. Examples include the site expanding or a member of staff retiring due to other responsibilities.

When this happens a thread will be made on the forums notifying the community of the situation and the need of additional staff members. All interested parties are to submit an application form to Majestic, our head Administrator.

New Forums
If you want a new forum section or category on the site, you'll need to contact and prove its worth to Majestic, our head administrator.

Problems with other members
If you have a problem with another member or a staff member, PM the other member first and try to resolve it peacefully. If it does not work please PM Majestic, Katala or Syf about it. Do not make it public on the forums.

Please respect the other members for who they are, there will be no smart remarks or insults made against other members on these forums. If this occurs the said post will be deleted and the poster contacted and warned.

Warning Procedure
Unfortunately from time to time, there are times when a member is unable or unwilling to follow the rules laid down by the staff. When this happens it becomes necessary for a warning to be made. Details on the procedure can be found here.

Disclaimer
Any of the rules detailed above can be skipped at the administration's discretion. All staff members can interpret the rules as they see fit, even beyond their written meaning.

Rules can be changed or updated at any-time, notification will be made to the community and it's up to each individual to make sure they review and are aware of the changes made.

Enjoy the forums!

- MSFC Staff