Welcome to Decivilization

Welcome to the Official Deciv Forums. Here is a description of what this site is all about. There are multiple forums here: The Bar (Open Discussion), The Coliseum (Gaming), The Theatre (Entertainment), The Tech Shop (Computers and Technology), The Academy (Philosophy and Science), and The Library (Literary and Linguistics). Anyone may register and post in these forums. Users may also post replies to posts made in the News forum. New topics in the News forum can only be made by the Developers (Jaggus, Mike, Pure Reason, and Sparky Goodwrench) or the Administrator (Jerek - also a Developer), and recently created topics there will appear on the News page.

Laying Down the Law:

1) This is not a moderated forum. Moderation may happen from time to time by me, the sole admin (usually just stuff like moving a topic to an appropriate forum, keeping things civil, etc.), but there is no actual moderation system, and it's pretty open. We will not censor language unless it is something clearly offensive, in which case you would probably just be strait out banned or even Thomased. Thomasing means that all of your posts are deleted in addition to banning. This probably (hopefully) won't happen, but it is possible. Flamebait, flame wars, and trolls will not be tolerated (see below for definitions).

2) This is not a democracy. The Admin (that's me) has full right to change your posts, member info, avatar, Exp count, or whatever he damn well pleases (these things I expect to happen extremely rarely, if at all, with an exception given to Smiting [see below]). So if you piss me off, you're open season. Developers are not technically Admins, but they are all to be treated with the same respect, and I will act on their behalf. What all this means in effect is basically that if you make a really blatant typo that could distract people from the topic at hand, I may correct it for you. Other than that, I don't really exercise this power.

3) Insulting others for their views may result in Smiting or worse. This especially goes for politics. You are free to voice your views and opinions (provided it's in the right forum) without censure, but do it without intent to piss off others (for example those who exhibit racism would very likely be insta-banned). If you respond to someone's views with insults, you may get a good Smiting, or worse. Of course, if you're just screwing around, that's fine, but if you intend to be mean, or just want to piss people off, that's not.

4) These rules can broken down pretty easily:
  4.1) Don't be an ass. These forums are for discussion, not arguing. Spamming also counts as being an ass, because it wastes people's bandwidth and time.
  4.2) This is not a moderated forum (unless you're an ass).
  4.3) The Admin gets the last word.

Follow and understand these rules, and enjoy the forums how you like.

Here's some basic definitions of common terms referring to inappropriate action (the first two courtesy of Slashdot's FAQ):

• Flamebait - Flamebait refers to comments whose sole purpose is to insult and enrage. If someone is not-so-subtly picking a fight (racial insults are a dead giveaway), it's Flamebait. Spreading angry or heated arguments to other forums counts as a clear case of flamebait.
• Troll - A Troll is similar to Flamebait, but slightly more refined. This is a prank comment intended to provoke indignant (or just confused) responses. A Troll might mix up vital facts or otherwise distort reality, to make other readers react with helpful "corrections." Trolling is the online equivalent of intentionally dialing wrong numbers just to waste other people's time. "Troll" sometimes can also refer to someone who posts trolls or flamebait.
• Flame war - When flamebait is allowed to go unchecked it can lead to a flame war of people insulting each other, and basically just a verbal fist-fight.

Avatars:

Be sure to take a look at your My Controls section and pick an avatar. Some avatars are from the (now defunct) site Avatar Plus, all of which have "ap" at the end of their names. There are also some avatars which are adaptations of icons from Slashdot topics. All avatars from that site are in sections beginning with Slashdot. All avatars in the "Anime - One Piece" section were created by me. Please do not use them elsewhere without permission. I will be releasing a complete One Piece avatar pack for people to use.

Levels and Ranks:

You gain levels and ranks by making more posts (each post is worth 1 Exp), but bear in mind that excessive posting for the sake of more Exp (and/or RCD) with no good reason to post may result in the admin smiting you (so make sure you actually have something to say, although this rule is not very strict, and rarely enforced).

Commoner level Ranks: - Nobody - 0 Exp - Commoner - 10 Exp - Citizen - 30 Exp Dignified level Ranks: - Known - 60 Exp - Respectable - 100 Exp - Dignified - 150 Exp Champion level Ranks: - Bad-Ass - 210 Exp - Champion - 280 Exp - Hero - 360 Exp

Legendary level Ranks: - Legend - 460 Exp - Old Man - 570 Exp - Old Man (with a limp) - 690 Exp GM level Ranks: - GM Level 1 - 1100 Exp - GM Level 2 - 1400 Exp - GM Level 3 - 1720 Exp - GM Level 4 - 2060 Exp - GM Level 5 - 2420 Exp - GM Level 6 - 2800 Exp - GM Level 7 - 3200 Exp GM levels continue along this curve up to level 12, at 5500 Exp.

Once you reach the GM levels (1100 Exp or more) you are also able to set your title to whatever you want. The admin can give people any title (regardless of Exp count), which is why some people may have abnormal titles. Once you're at GM level to change your title go to Edit Personal Info in the User Control Panel and it'll be the first option at the top ("Custom Member Title").

Smiting:

The conventional smiting is to make your Exp count the same as it currently is, only negative (so 19 becomes -19), making you lose all levels. Once I feel you've suffered long enough, I will make it positive again with the proper Exp count. Well, maybe.

For the Anime smiting (where the offender calls Anime "Japanese cartoons") I simply change their title to "Baka" permanently. If you don't know what that means, oh darn. Makes you deserve it all the more. This smiting may or may not be removed, depending on the person. In the past I've removed it at request, or even added it at people's own request.

Titles:

Once you reach the GM levels (1100 Exp or more) you can change your title to whatever you want. In this way you are also allowed to remove an Anime smiting (or add it, if you really want). The only restriction on this is that you are not allowed to set it to say "Developer", "Admin", or any derivative thereof that imitates those who are in charge in this site, or you may be banned.