Forum Rules

Code of Conduct

Welcome to the BGN Discussion Forums! These forums are here to provide you with a friendly environment where you can discuss ideas, give game play advice and converse about any other aspects of games with other players. Community forums are at their best when participants treat their fellow posters with respect and courtesy. Therefore, we ask that you conduct yourself in a civilized manner when participating in these forums.

The guidelines and rules listed below explain what behavior is expected of you and what behavior you can expect from other community members. Note that the following guidelines are not exhaustive, and may not address all manner of offensive behavior. As such, the forum moderators and staff administrators have full discretion to address any behavior that they feel is inappropriate. BGN reserves the right to suspend your access to these forums at any time for reasons that include, but are not necessarily limited to, your failure to abide by these guidelines.

We reserve the right to evaluate each incident on a case by case basis. The action we take may be more lenient or more severe than those listed under each category:

• Racial / Ethnic
• Extreme Sexuality / Violence
• Real-Life Threats
• Sexual Preference
• Posting Cheats, Hacks, Trojan Horses or Malicious Programs
• Obscene / Vulgar
• Inappropriate Language
• Harassing or Defamatory
• Spamming or Trolling
• Circumventing a Suspension / Ban

1. Racial / Ethnic

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Promote racial/ethnic hatred
• Are recognized as a racial/ethnic slur
• Allude to a symbol of racial/ethnic hatred

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Have his/her post edited, removed, or locked
• Be temporarily banned from the forums
• Be given a final warning, after which any further Code of Conduct violations may result in a permanent ban from the forums

2. Extreme Sexuality / Violence

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Refer to extreme and/or violent sexual acts
• Refer to extremely violent real life actions
• Pornography

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Have his/her post edited, removed, or locked
• Be temporarily banned from the forums

3. Real-Life Threats

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Refer to violence in any capacity that is not directly related to the game world

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Have his/her post removed
• Be temporarily banned from the forums
• Be given a final warning, after which any further Code of Conduct violations may result in a permanent ban from the forums

4. Sexual Preference

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Insultingly refer to any aspect of sexual preference pertaining to themselves or other players

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Have his/her post edited, removed, or locked
• Be temporarily banned from the forums

5. Posting Cheats, Hacks, Trojan Horses or Malicious Programs

This category includes:

• Posting links to cheats, hacks, or malicious viruses / programs

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Have his/her post removed
• Be permanently banned from the forums

6. Obscene / Vulgar

This category includes both clear and masked language in posts, signatures, and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Are an inappropriate reference to human anatomy or bodily functions
• Are pornographic in nature

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Have his/her post/signature edited, removed, or locked
• Be given a temporary ban from the forums, depending upon severity

7. Inappropriate Language

This category includes language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Are a mildly inappropriate reference to human anatomy or bodily functions
• Are otherwise considered objectionable

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Have his/her post edited, removed, or locked
• Be given a temporary ban from the forums, depending upon severity

8. Harassing or Defamatory

This category includes both clear and masked language and/or links to websites containing such language or images which:

• Insultingly refer to other players, BGN Staff, or groups of people
• Result in ongoing harassment to other players, BGN Staff, or groups of people

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Have his/her post edited, removed, or locked
• Be given a temporary ban from the forums, depending upon severity

Harassment takes many forms, and is not necessarily limited to the type of language used, but the intent. Repeatedly targeting a specific player with harassment can lead to more severe action. The idea behind this is to prevent any one player from consistently being uncomfortable in the forums.


9. Spamming or Trolling

This category includes:

• Excessively communicating the same phrase, similar phrases, or pure gibberish
• Creating threads for the sole purpose of causing unrest on the forums
• Causing disturbances in forum threads, such as picking fights, making off topic posts that ruin the thread, insulting other posters
• Making non-constructive posts
• Abusing the Reported Post feature by sending false alarms or nonsensical messages
• Grave digging old threads which have not been posted on for quite some time

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Have his/her post(s) removed
• Have their posting rights revoked
• Be given a temporary or permanent ban from the forums, depending upon severity

10. Abusing the "Report" Function

Hitting the report button located at the bottom of each post or on a member's profile for any reason other than a rule has been broken, will result in an immediate warning. The report function is not your personal hotline to communicate with staff. If you have a question or concern, PM a staff member.

11. Circumventing a Suspension / Ban

This category includes:

• Posting on another account
• Having someone post on your behalf

If a player is found to have participated in such actions, he/she will:

• Be permanently banned from posting on the forums