Social Guidelines for #mechwars
Introduction
This is a list of some of the channel rules. The rules include, but are not limited to the ones stated here. This list may be expanded later. The golden rule is to behave yourself. If you do, you will be fine. (Note that the ops and not you decide what "behaving yourself" is.)
Failure to comply with these simple rules will result in a kick unless something else is specified in the rule. Repeated offences will result in a ban.
Check the boards and the website
Please check the website (especially the FAQ, manual and Library sections) and the boards before you ask any questions regarding Mech Wars. Your questions will most likely the answered there.
Do not MSG the ops with questions
The ops and voiced people work hard to answer your questions, but they are not super human. Please stick to the channel and state your questions there, unless you are specifically told to do otherwise. That way everyone else can see the answer, and might not need to ask the same question again, and the ops can consentrate on doing their job.
No colors, bold, underline, etc.
Colors and bold/underline are ugly on IRC, and therefore not allowed. If you need to emphasize a word, use _underscores_ or *asterisks*. And yes, that includes your quit message.
No caps
PEOPLE WRITING IN ALL CAPS ARE ANNOYING!
No public away/back
This page explains our reasons pretty well (local copy).
No flooding
Really, do we need to say this?
Do not paste crap in the channel
Nobody cares how big your CPU or hard drive is, or what song you are playing right now. And if they care, you can tell them in a PM. Just don't pollute the channel with it.
No triggers
Anyone writing crap like "!seen", "!lastspoke" or "!mw" in the channel will be kicked. So will anyone running scripts which reply to such triggers.
No auto-rejoin
Turn auto-rejoining off. If you get kicked and auto-rejoin, you will be temporarily banned.
No channel CTCPs
Do not send CTCPs to the entire channel.
No ban evasions
If you sneak back into the channel by changing your hostmask (or any other method of evading your ban) whilst banned, you will get a new and longer ban.
No warez
Trading or other warez-related talk is not allowed in the channel. The law does not exclude the Internet. Even legal sharing should be done elsewhere.
No annoying URLs
Pasting annoying URLs will result in a kick. The ops decide if the URL is annoying or not, and use common sense while deciding. Just use your head, and you'll be fine. Useful URLs are naturally allowed.
No recruiting
Recruiting for your organization should be taken elsewhere.
No advertising
No, we do not want to join #anotherlamechannel or buy your old motherboard. So don't ask.
English only and no profanity
This is an English only channel. This means that no other languages are allowed, including "leet" slang. Of course, you are welcome to speak any languages you want in non-official channels, but having multi-lingual operators online 24/7 is not viable in this point in time. Also, you may not use any words deemed profane (or any variations thereof, including abbreviations).
No accusations of cheating
Under no circumstances may you accuse another user of cheating in the game. These accusations should be taken to Mech Wars Support.
No flaming
Do not start flaming another user. If you feel this is necessary, take it out of this channel (like in a PM or another channel). Vivid discussions are of course allowed.
Listen to the OPs
If an op tells you to stop doing something, obey. It does not matter whether it is on this list or not.
No bots
We run all the bots in the channel. You are not allowed to let your bot join the channel without explicit permission from Mech Wars Support.
Closure
This document serves as a guideline for acceptable use expectations and policies for the #mechwars channel on the OGC IRC network. It is by no means inclusive of all details and is subject to change and/or modification at any time without prior notification.
Questions about these Social Guidelines may be submitted via email to: martin@mech-wars.net.
(Last updated May 13th, 2004.)