General Ettiquete

[Akren Garkos]

Welcome to our guide to general ettiquete. Please remember to keep these, & other offical rules, in mind & abide by them at all times when using the board.

Remember : We are all here to have fun, & these rules are in place to ensure it stays that way!

Cheers, & we look forward to seeing your 'round the board!

[Akren Garkos]

Etiquette, commonly known simply as ‘manners’, is an established way of conducting oneself or doing thing when in a certain situation or the presence of others. Etiquette can differ in accordance with where, when & with whom one finds oneself.

For Example: You would act & behave differently at home, then you would, say, if you met the leader of your country or your all-time favorite personal idol.

Just as etiquette imply rules, restrictions & guidelines on how one should act when around others offline in ‘real life’, so do they apply here. Please take the time to read through these guidelines & adhere to them as best as possible; & we’ll all enjoy ourselves a whole lot more!

[Akren Garkos]

Whilst the Staff here @ STARGATE : The RPG recognize the importance & usefulness of Instant Messaging (IM) & Alert Programs such as MSN Messenger, Y! Messenger, AIM, Google Chat, MIRC, etc; we do release that such tools do not come without their own pitfalls & perils.

In that regard, we kindly ask that if Members, visitors &/or guests DO decide to use such services, they do so sensibly (i.e.: Never give out personal information – such as your phone number, credit card details, social security number or home address – over IM); & when using it for the purposes relating to STARGATE : The RPG that they do so in a courteous, respectful, mature & sensible manner.

Regards;

[Akren Garkos]

When logged on into the STARGATE : The RPG's Chatroom (provided to us for FREE from Bravenet), we ask that you take note of, & abide by, the following basic rules:

1. No pornography, profanity, swearing, racist, sexist, religious, or otherwise defamatory, or inflammatory comments. This includes putting someone down for any reason whatsoever, ‘flaming’ (where you constantly send someone bad messages over & over again), etc

2. No Spamming or advertising of any kind whatsoever; it’s a chatroom, not an on-line advertising agency!!

3. NEVER give out any personal details of any kind (bare your first name) whatsoever over the internet, especially a chatroom or IM! This includes your phone number(s) (home, work, mobile or otherwise), address (home &/or postal), age, gender, location, credit card &/or bank details, etc. The only time you should give any of these details to anyone over the internet is to a legally-certified, fully-accredited company (e.g.: Playstation.com); & even then you should be extremely cautious with your private details & report any breach of privacy or personal security immediately to the appropriate authorities .

4. Respect that some people will not be able to reply as fast as others – some people have broadband, ADSL, satellite or cable, others only have dial-up, wireless, or public access – so everyone’s response time will be different.

5. Don’t ‘flood’ the chatroom with messages, smillies or other forms of data or code; regardless of their origin. It detracts from the experience of other users, makes it extremely hard to read other’s replies &/or keep up with conversations, especially when massive amounts of flooding are involved. It also chews up buffer space allocated to chatroom, forcing it to slow down, sometimes even freezing or closing the program completely; rendering it useless to anyone whom wishes to use the chatroom, as well as possibly damaging their computer or input device.

6. Try not to use excessively images or smillies. It can be hard at times, especially when you are a smillies addict or a very emotive person (like our Manager Akren is!) & tend to use them to excess to punctuate or express every single line of text sent in a chatroom. Excessive use of images &/or smillies can slow down, tie up, sometimes crash &/or generally hinder the speed of the chatroom & the server dedicated to it, meaning slower usage (sometimes even no usage at all) of the chatroom.

7. Only use the chatroom for general chat between fellow Members of STARGATE : The RPG or for discussion of STARGATE-related topics.

8. When private messaging (PM/PM-ing) someone, state that you are busy talking to someone over PM in the chatroom, so people don’t think your ignoring them. It is handy to advise the rest of your room of your status at regular intervals, regardless of whether you are private messaging or not, so no-one gets confused & tries to chat to you when you are otherwise preoccupied.

9. Always comply with requests from Staff Members or polite requests from others : remember, the chatroom is there for EVERYONE to enjoy, & is not for the exclusive of a select few!

10. Last but not least, remember to use your common sense, & have fun!!

Regards;

[Akren Garkos]

When posting messages using any of the STARGATE : The RPG message boards, don’t forget to remember the Etiquette Guide (of which this post forms apart) & Post Guidelines, set out below. Obeying the Post Guidelines & keeping the Etiquette Guide in mind will serve you well when posting messages here @ STARGATE : The RPG.

Why have guidelines on posting? :

Here at STARGATE : The RPG we have various rules, policies & procedures in place for many reasons. Perhaps the most important reason is so that, with such rules in place, everyone whom frequents the board shall be able to do in a way which promotes mutual understanding, tolerance, respect & above all, a sense of commeradeship, or brother/sisterhood with fellow Members, visitors & guests.

We are aiming for a place where the rules are minimal as possible, procedures are well-defined & clear-cut, & that promotes a fun, safe, relaxing & friendly atmosphere fellow STARGATE enthusiasts can gather together to discuss STARGATE & other such related topics & enjoy themselves. And, at the end of the day, enjoying one's time whether spent on-line here, elsewhere, or off-line in the real world doing more substantial things is what we're all about.

The rules we have in regards to posting make sure that the experience received on our message boards, whether they be the discussion boards in the OCC Section, or the IC Board, is one of high caliber & enjoyment to all participants, with minimum hassle or fuss. So please, take time to read these rules carefully; & by helping us by adhering to them, you’re ensuring we ALL have a pleasant & enjoyable message board experience!

Messageboard Restrictions :

As well as observing the general rules & commonsense guidelines in the Etiquette Guide, Members, visitors & guests shall adhere to the following guidelines when posting on a message board (located in the Mog Net Central menu):

1. The Staff here @ STARGATE : ThE rpg reserve the right to alter, amend or otherwise change these rules at any time, without prior notice to, or authority from, Members of the board(s). Any & all changes shall take effect immediately from the date & time they are posted.

2. Members, visitors &/or guest shall not exceed 30 posts on any one message board in any one given day.

4. Members shall not 'flood' any message board with constant messages.

5. All posts shall be placed in the appropriate message board/forum (e.g.: messages relating to IC posts on the Tollan homeworld would go in the board marked 'New Tollana' in the IC section of the board under the 'The Milkway Galaxy' group heading, etc). Any post, which does not fall into a specific category shall be placed in the General message board forum.

6. The following menus/boards/forums/places are forbidden, do-not-post-here zones of the overall board : The RPG System section, the Staff & Ad. Min. section, & any other section which is designated as "Staff Only" areas. This rule is put into place so that there is no confusion in regards to what goes where, & to keep everything in it's proper place here @ STARGATE : The RPG. Any posts found in these areas shall be treated as Spam & dealt with accordingly.

7. NO SPAM ALLOWED (refer Spamming Policy)!!

8. Any & all arguments or disputes are to be resolved as amicably as possible, first between the Members/visitors/guest in question, & then through use of the Staff as moderators; in acccordence with our CQS Proceedure. If this is unsuccessful then the matter shall be referred to the STARGATE : The RPG Ad. Min. &/or the appropriate authorities. Basically, if you are going to be stupid, petty & catty & argue, do it over IM where it belongs & NOT on our message boards!

9. Members shall respect the opinions, viewpoints, & beliefs ?whether social, religious, cultural, ethical or otherwise ?of other Members, visitors & guests of STARGATE : The RPG; even if they do necessarily agree with, or otherwise share said differences. We are all unique people & have the basic Human right to be treated equally & with respect, dignity & fairness : remember this people!

Anyone found in breach of these rules shall be dealt with in accordance with our CQS Procedures, & our Spamming Policy; &/or shall ne brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities if necessary.

RPG (IC) Posting Limits :

There is a limit of ten (10) posts per day for IC posts on ANY of the IC Boards (meaning you can do up to ten [10] posts on any of the different boards used for IC posting found in sections labelled 'The Milkyway Galaxy', 'The Pegasus Galaxy' &/or 'The Alterran Galaxy'). Each post can be as long as you wish (or as long as word-restrictions on Proboards posted messages allow), but you may only do a total of ten (10) IC posts on the IC Board in one 24-hour day. For role-playing purposes, a ‘day?is counted as being from 12:00AM ?00:00 MIDNIGHT Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST), including Daylight Savings Time (DST).

For Example: If you had 12 posts & posted 10 posts at 10:58pm (AEST) & it took until 11:01am (SAST) to submit them; you would have to wait until 12:00 midnight (00:00 hours) AEST (the next day, basically) to post the remaining 2 posts.

As well as these above limits, all Members, visitors & guest whom participate in the RPG shall also adhere, & be bound by, the RPG Rules (refer other threads in this forum for more information).

We hope this helps clear up the IC Board & stop incidents of flooding we have experienced in the past.

How to post IC:

There are two many styles, or ways, to post IC here @ STARGATE : The RPG. The first is what we call 'solo posting'; the second, 'interactive posting'. We explained the differences between the two, as well as examples thereof & suggestions on when to use them, below :

1. Solo Posts: 'Solo' posts are IC posts done on one or more of the IC Boards by a member of the RPG that does not involve any interaction with any other NPC or member-created Character other than the poster's own character &/or NPC's; & is generally done when a Player posts an IC post on the boards relating purely to his or her own character.

Example: Jonas sat in the cell aboard Anbuis' mothership, waiting anxeously as the rogue System Lords' spaceship roared through hyperspace towards his home planet of Langara; the vile Goa'uuld intent on claiming the planet's resources for himself & enslaving his people. In the distance, he could hear Jaffa loyal to Anubis as they marched up & down the corridor, doing their patrols. No-one paid him no mind, they had extracted all the information they needed from him using Anubis' freakt brain implant, & had dumped in this cell to rot whilst they pillaged his home. He hoped the rest of SG-1 could somehow make it to Langara to help his people; they couldn't take the Goa'uld on alone - not one so powerful as Anubis himself! - & personally, he would rather die than serve the likes of the System Lords. Sighing to himself in the darkness, all he could do was wait as they hurtled ever-closer to his homeworld. . .

2. Interactive Posts: Interactive posting is where two or more people, controlling either characters or NPC's, reply to one another's posts; as if they where interacting or having a conversation in real life.

Example: (Yuppee_Boi) writes in a post on the Earth IC Board :

Dante finished his exercises, showered, got changed, & then to the Mess Hall, where he met Major Daniels, of SG-8. Grabbing a plate full of food & sitting down next to Daniels; Dante asked :

"So, how was your mission to P3X-99845?"

(Yuppee_Boi) then publishes his post & waits for a reply. The next day when he checks back @ STARGATE : The RPG, he sees that MajorD has replied to his post from the previous day with :

Major Daniels looks at Dante as he grabbed a plate full of food & sat next to him, nodding politely as he sthingyed what he assumed passed for braised beef into his mouth & began to chew.

"So how was your mission to P3X-99845?" Dante asked.

Swallowing his food, Major Daniels took a sip of his water & replied :

"Good thanks, it went well. We scouted the planet & found an abandoned naquadah mine, apparently left by the Goa'uuld some time ago by the looks of it, the General wants us to go back there tomorrow & see if the mine is still operational; if it is, we might be in luck! That would certainly help amp up our current naqaudah supplies a bit, give the boys in R&D something to do. How was your week?"

MajorD then published his post & waits for (Yuppee_Boi) to reply. The thread would continue on in this vein until resovled or until both Players had finished finalizing the story arch between their two characters, or moved to another IC to post elsewhere (Say, offworld).

Don't forget that IC posts are, generally speaking, done in third person (as if you where watching what was happening on TV or from a corner of the room), & are published in one of the above two posting styles. If you ever have any problems or questions relating to posting; please refer back here, to the FAQ section, or ask the Moderator in charge of the forum you wish to post in. Atlernatively, you can also contact a staff member for assistance if you're really stuck.

That's all, happy posting people!

[Akren Garkos]

Whilst the Multimedia forum of the board is intended as a useful, fun & entertaining resource for our Members, guests & visitors; please bare in mind that everything in it is subject to copyright & other such restrictions (remember to qoute people for their work & don't steal anything!).

Also be aware that you may experience delays in viewing, download &/or run time, depending on server usage, the speed of your internet connection, you total available HDD space & other factors.

It is highly recommended you have the latest versions of the following programs when downloading anything from the Multimedia Section :

• Anti-Virus Software (complete with latest security updates)
  
• Anti-Mal/Spyware Software (complete with latest security updates)
  
• Firewall (such as Windows Defender or Norton, complete with latest security updates)
  
• Your Web-Browser of choice (e.g.: IE, Netscape Navigator, Mozilla, etc)
  
• WINZIP (or a similar file de/compression program)
  
• An Image-Viewing Program (we recommend Adobe Acrobat)
  
• A Music-Player (e.g.: WINAmp, etc)
  

Lastly, but not least, have fun!!

[Akren Garkos]

Rules for Article Submission :

1. STARGATE : The RPG reserves the right to amend, withdraw or otherwise alter these rules at any time, without notice or the prior consent of Members, visitors or guests (although every effort shall be made to consult them in the decision process should the need arise to do so); & any update or alternation of these rules shall take effect immediately.

2. You may not upload any file, folder, image, photo, document, program or other up-loadable item to this board that is in any way pornographic (including hentai & the like), overtly violent, sexist, racist, or otherwise illegal (this includes such things as pirated programs, instructions on how to make bombs, etc, & anything in breach of copyright).

3. All files, images, photos, documents, programs or otherwise up-loadable items should be placed in their appropriate place in the Multimedia section (most sections are self-explanatory. If you need help, refer to these rules or post in the F.A.Q. of the OOC Section). Anything that does NOT fit into a specifically-designated folder should be placed in the Miscellaneous folder in the appropriate section of the Multimedia menu. Any file not found to be in it’s proper place will be moved &/or deleted by a Staff Member at their sole discretion.

4. All articles for upload/download should be scanned & checked with an appropriate, up-to-date, virus-scanning program such as Norton Anti-Virus or PC-Cillin BEFORE being uploaded/downloaded to avoid the spread of viruses & other computer infections. This is the soul responsibility of the uploader/downloader of the file(s), & neither STARGATE : The RPG nor Proboards, their affiliates or agents will be liable for any damage done to a Member, visitor or guests computer or IT device as result of improper download or use of any file(s), whether express or implied, contained within the databases of STARGATE : The RPG.

5. When uploading programs (such as ROM’s) or other large files over 5 MB, all such files should be zipped using WINZip or a similar compression program to save space on our server & minimize upload/download time for other Members, visitors & guests.

6. Any & all file(s) uploaded by a banned Member or a Member whom has otherwise left the Group will be deleted within 12 months of that Member being banned/leaving, unless the Staff feel in their sole discretion (&/or under advice from other Members) that it is otherwise inappropriate to do so (e.g.: a file or program that is accessed, used &/or downloaded regularly, such as a ROM, etc).

7. The Staff of STARGATE : The RPG have the power, in their sole discretion, to delete, alter, move or otherwise do as they please with any file(s) uploaded to webboard provided they:

• Obey all Copyright laws & rules of the Group.
  
• Respect the individuality, creativity, labor & love involved in a Member’s file(s).
  
• Inform the said Member of what they are doing & why, if & when applicable.
  

8. Having carefully read, & fully understanding these rules in their entirety; you hereby agree to be bound by these rules & any rules imposed by MSN, MSN Groups, or their representatives. By uploading a file, submitting an article to, or otherwise using the MSN submission service(s) of STARGATE : The RPG, you agree to these terms & conditions, & agree to be legally-bound by them in a court of law, whether you have read these rules or not.

Submitting a File, Photo or Document :

Submitting a file, photo, image or document is a relatively simple process, which most PC users should be aware of & familiar with. To submit a file, image, photo, document, program or other up-loadable item; remember to follow these few basic steps:

• Make sure you are logged-into the webboard with your user handle/I.D.
  
• Make sure the file(s) you want to upload do not exceed the allowed upload limit (use the smallest file size/compression type available & consider using WINZip to crush larger files down to size).
  Make sure the files(s) you wish to upload are uploaded into the right directory – people can’t find it if it’s not where it’s supposed to be!
  
• Make sure you follow our rules for submitting files, folders, documents, images, photos & other up-loadable items.
  
• Post on OOC message board in OOC Section telling everyone about your most recent uploads to the Multimedia forum of the webboard & where they can be found so everyone can enjoy them!
  

If needing help; refer to the On-line Help (located at the top of this page), or to your approperiate Help program.

Editing Files, Photos or Documents :

We provide a variety of options for editing files, photos, documents or others uploaded items for our members. In most instances you will be able to alter, edit, rename, move or delete any file, photo, image, folder, or other uploaded item, which you yourself have posted to the webboard.

YOU MAY ONLY EDIT &/or ALTER, DELETE, etc WORKS WHICH YOU HAVE SUBMITTED YOURSELF.

That means that, although you can fiddle & tinker with anything you have submitted to the webboard yourself; you will NOT be able to edit or otherwise alter anything submitted by another Member of the board. Also, some folders, files or programs may be inaccessible to Members (that is, they are restricted to STAFF ACCESS ONLY). These restrictions are in place, in part for security reasons, & also to maintain the integrity & functionality of the webboard – we’re sure you could appreciate how chaotic & upsetting it would around here if everyone went around deleting, altering or otherwise tampering with everyone else’s work!!

[Akren Garkos]

Keep in mind that the RPG is just that : a role-playing game, a fictious fantasy. It, nor anything else here @ STARGATE : The RPG or on-line, should completely rule your life. Enjoy yourself, yes, but don’t let it ruin your life or control it to the exclusion of all else.

Other than that, please refer to the RPG Rules in in this forum for more information on the rules & etiquette specific to STARGATE : The RPG.