Forums

Anarchy Online Forums Social Guidelines & Information

Social Guidelines & Information

The Anarchy Online bulletin board is a place for players to talk about the game, discuss and share knowledge, and engage in role-playing. The general topic for the bulletin board is Anarchy Online; the game and the community.

Funcom or Funcom policies (including these guidelines and their enforcement), exploits and account status are not topics for this bulletin board. To contact Funcom regarding these topics, please Contact Funcom Customer Service here. Please send concerns regarding these guidelines in an email to communityteam@funcom.com.

In order to maintain the boards and be able to provide feedback we must reserve the right to enforce certain standards and rules. Please understand that this bulletin board is owned and operated by Funcom. It is a privately run message board, and all rules are enforced at our discretion.

 

Alias

Your nickname on the forums should be short and unique, to easily identify you and set you apart from others. The rules for your alias are:

  • Keep it to 15 characters or less.
  • Use only letters, numbers (0-9), space ( ), hyphen (-) and underscore (_) in the alias.
  • Avoid offensive aliases.

Funcom and the forum moderators reserve the right to enforce name changes on aliases that are deemed inappropriate. Understand that refusing to respect these name changes can result in infractions or suspension from the forums.

 

Signature

Your signature is a good place for including some info about yourself, a quote you like, or links to your characters on a fansite. The signature should not take the attention away from the posts though, and thus we have these rules for signatures:

  • Limit it to a maximum of 10 lines, including any empty lines.
  • Use normal text size, or smaller. I.e. no [size=x] tags with x > 2.
  • Don't overdo the colors and smileys.
  • Avoid the [quote] tag, as it takes up a lot of space.

 

Do

The following are some guidelines that you should keep in mind when posting. Remember that the general topic on the bulletin board is Anarchy Online.

  • Posting in English: All forums posts should be made in English, barring the German-specific sections of the forums. Please use proper mixed case and punctuation - A single exclamation mark (!) or question mark (?) is enough.
  • Thread Titles: Please use a relevant, specific and descriptive subject for a thread. "I was thinking of something" and "Here's an idea" are not good topics. Misleading thread titles may be altered by a moderator.
  • Staying On Topic: When posting a new thread, make sure it fits into the topic of the forum. When replying to a post, make sure to stay on the topic of the thread you're posting in. Off-topic posts may be removed by a moderator, and your account infracted.
  • Following The Rules: Certain forums may have more strict posting rules than others, depending on their purpose. When entering a forum area, make sure to read any stickied threads or "Announcements" (both of which are permanently stuck to the top of the forum area) for any pertinent rules you may need to follow for that subforum.
  • Being Constructive: When debating on a topic, make clear, intelligent posts and back up your statements. If quoting, make sure to quote all relevant text, and if needed, provide a link to the source.
  • Respecting The Moderators: Disrespect to the moderation team, both Funcom-employed and ARK Volunteer, will not be tolerated on the Anarchy Online forums. Pay the moderators and other volunteers proper respect - They spend their spare time to assist and improve the Anarchy Online community. Disrespectful behaviour includes mindless ranting, insulting behaviour, and threatening posts. Disrespecting the moderation team may result in actions being taken against both your forums account and your in-game account.
  • Being Nice: Remember, we're all here to chat, hang out, and have fun. There's no need to be rude, particularly to newcomers. Let people become acquainted with the environment and do beginners' mistakes without patronizing them. Please respect that people may have a different political, religious, philosophical and cultural background than you.
  • Playing Fair: Be truthful and respect other people's privacy. Do not misrepresent or impersonate others. Attempting to impersonate or "misquoting" a member of Funcom or the ARK volunteer group may result in actions being taken against your forums account.
  • Having Fun! That's why we're all here. Just remember to have fun with others, not at the expense of others.

 

Don't

This is a list of things you should not do on our bulletin board. Partaking in activity listed below will likely result in infractions being placed against your account, and you might find your access to the bulletin board closed, possibly permanently.

  • Flaming: Flaming is verbally attacking people or groups of people - e.g. a profession, an organization, a company. Name-calling and defamatory comments are typical examples of flaming.
  • Ranting: Ranting is posting irate and normally nonconstructive comments. It's normally used to let out frustration, but also as a form of trolling.
  • Trolling: Trolling is posting to provoke others, luring them to flame or rant. Trolling is sometimes done involuntary, so please be considerate when posting.
  • Spamming: Spamming is posting the same thing several times, or posting without any real content. "Bumping" (posting to move a thread up on the forum list) and cross-posting (posting the same thread in several forums) are examples of spam. Dependent on the area of the forums you are posting in, this behaviour may result in infractions being weighed against your account.
  • Harassment: Harassment is a sub-set of trolling, which includes behaviour such as continually targeting a specific poster in your flaming attempts, posting harassing remarks regarding another individual, or otherwise being creepy/stalkerish. Harassment of another user will result in infractions being issued to your account.
  • Accusations: We don't really care much about drama on the AO forums, and accusing other players of negative behaviour is not welcome on the boards. This includes, but is not limited to, accusations over ninjalooting, exploiting, harassment of others, hacking and the like.
  • Racial/Gender/Sexual Insults: Misogyny, racism and homophobia are not welcome on the Anarchy Online forums. Any posts which violate this rule may result in the offending posts being removed and the user infracted.
  • Fighting: Taking a personal conflict to the bulletin board is not needed. Allow those not involved to avoid having to see it.
  • Exploit Discussion: Do not discuss exploits or behavior that is against the terms of service of Anarchy Online outside of areas specifically designed for such. Such posts will be removed. If you wish to report an exploit, please do so in the appropriate forum here.  You may also contact Customer Service here with the details of your report.
  • Using Profanity: Please respect other users and do not use foul language and profanity in your posts. This includes trying to 'mask' such language by substituting letters of symbols. A string of **** isn't fooling anyone.
  • Bad Formatting: Your post does not need to be in size-7 font coloured bright pink. Normal-sized text works just fine, and wacky colouring does nothing but hurt the eyes. Likewise, filling a post with a lot of "blank space" is also unneeded.
  • Necromancy: "Necromancy" is making a post in a thread which has otherwise been inactive for a long period of time. Please do not raise threads long-dead. Raising the dead should be left to the terminals and authorized medical professionals. Anarchy Online is science-fiction, not a zombie survival game.
  • Posting About Account Status: Posting about your account status (IE: "quit" threads, or stating that you have canceled your account) is strictly forbidden on the Anarchy Online forums. Such posts will be removed, and your account potentially infracted.
  • Posting Non-Work Safe Images: Ask yourself if you'd be comfortable with your mother or boss seeing what you're looking at. No nudity, no 'gross-out' pictures, no gore, nothing ribald or potentially controversial. We have people of all ages browsing these forums, and want to ensure that images stay as clean as possible.
  • Sock Puppetry: Due to the nature of Anarchy Online, if you have multiple paid games accounts you may also find yourself with multiple forums accounts. This is ok! There's nothing wrong with posting under multiple aliases. However, we do ask that you do not attempt 'hiding' behind your alternate account and attempt to disingenuously use multiple accounts under your control for arguing, flaming, or otherwise attempting to circumvent/flaunt the rules. Also, do not be lame and attempt to debate/argue with yourself. Violations of this rule may result in one or more of your forums accounts being disabled. You may click the following link for more information regarding the term "sock puppet" and how it applies to general online etiquette.
  • Discussing Moderation: If a topic has been closed by a moderator, or if a moderator asks you to do something, you are expected to listen to their instructions and follow what they say. Arguing with a moderator, actively discussing previously-moderated topics, or otherwise posting regarding moderator actions is an infractable offense. This is expounded upon later on this page.
  • Threatening Moderation: If you feel a post is out of place or otherwise violates the rules of the Anarchy Online forums, while you are welcome (and encouraged!) to report it to the moderators, threatening others with this act is not approperiate nor appreciated. The moderators of the Anarchy Online forums will decide what is to be moderated and what is not; it is not up to non-moderators to police the forums for us.
  • Discussion of GM Actions: Actions taken by GMs in-game are not a suitable topic for the Anarchy Online forums. Such posts will be dealt with in the same manner as those discussing moderation.
  • Being A Jerk: Much like the "Have Fun" rule, this is a wide-encompassing statement. You know what being a jerk is, we know what being a jerk is; moderation in such cases is and will be subjective, and we will make judgment calls based off of our opinions regarding your posting history.

 

General Tips & Helpful Guidelines:

  • Reposting: Before starting a thread, take a look around the forums and see if the issue is being discussed elsewhere. There will usually be one or two threads with most of the activity there, and spin-offs that don't merit their own thread will either be closed or merged into pre-existing topics.
  • Parody & "Mock" Threads: Please do not make parody threads, especially centered on hot topics. They're probably not funny and a good way to inflame the situation further. Don't be surprised if such a thread gets locked.
  • Reporting Posts: If someone is flaming you or otherwise acting like a jerk, the Report button is the best way to get our attention. We understand things can get heated at times, but nasty retorts and counter-flaming are a good way to get an entire thread closed and both sides suspended/banned. Hitting the report button issues the post to the attention of the entire moderation team, where it can be dealt with by the leaders of the forums; taking "justice into your own hands" is just as likely to get your account infracted as theirs.
  • Politics & Religion: We ask you not to discuss politics or religion on the forums. For the purposes of these rules, discussions on race and national origin (excepting, of course, in game race/national origin) will fall under this banner. These topics often get very, very heated, very quickly, and do little more than incite flame wars.
  • Illegal Activities: We ask you not to discuss warez, illicit substances, and other illegal activity.
  • Account Issues: Individual account issues (in-game banning, problems with your account, GM issues) go through customer support emails or in private messages.
  • Rules of Humor: Catchphrases, memes, image macros, Rickrolls, and other such Internet tomfoolery are funny until the moderators decide they aren't funny anymore. Along with their banhammer, they are also issued badges from the Humor Police.

 

Moderation

Moderation is not ever a topic for open forum. If you have any questions or feedback on moderation it should be addressed to the community manager or the specific moderator via private message.

  • Do not post threads questioning moderation. Such threads will be removed.
  • If a topic is closed or removed do not, under any circumstances, re-post the same topic or material. If you have any questions as to why a thread was closed or removed please contact the moderator via private message.

 

When a moderator finds the need to take action, this will typically consist of (A) removing offending posts from the forums, and (B) issuing infractions to any forums user found to be breaking the rules. Moderators may also, at their discretion, edit a post to remove offending content rather than remove it out-right. An "Infraction" is a point against your account - Once you have reached a certain amount of infractions, you will find your account temporarily suspended. Should this happen further instructions on what to do next will be available to you on logging into the Anarchy Online forums. If one of your accounts is banned, all accounts tied to you will be similarly restricted from the forums. 

If you feel an action taken against your forums account has been issued unfairly or in error, you may contact the moderation team regarding the matter. Please read the Moderation Team post in Reet's Retreat for more information.

 

Developers & Community Interaction:

The Anarchy Online development team is known for taking a very forward-thinking stance in interacting with the playerbase, both publicly and personally. Please remember: The development team takes time out of their schedule to post and interact with the playerbase of Anarchy Online, and should be respected at all times. You're free to disagree, but please remember to keep it civil (as you should anyway!)

Posts typically include information on development progress, future content additions.

Posts typically focus on community-related aspects of Anarchy Online.

Posts typically focus on community-related aspects of Anarchy Online.

 

Feedback and Suggestions

Please visit our support form to submit feedback that you'd like to share with us.

Customer Service

Individual customer support and service issues are not handled via the public forums. Please utilize our support form.

General Standards

For more knowledge on how to interact on the Internet, we encourage you to get acquainted with standards for netiquette such as RFC 1855.

To the bulletin board >>