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The moderation team plans to make revisions to the community guidelines. Detailed information about the changes can be found here. Your feedback is appreciated.

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Started by jji7skyline, Jan 25, 2013, 02:01:00 PM

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DownsGameClub

4 May 2018 (AEST)
Repeat after me: Announcements! :P

As @360-International once said on the 5th of April in the 2015th year...
Quote from: 360-InternationalPlease do not create excessive numbers of alternate accounts. This is spam.
So please, don't do it.  It's a very quick way to get all of your accounts banned.

Additionally, you may ruin new user's experience as we have shut down registrations several times due to this issue (which is something I bet none of us want as we appreciate new users on this site?)...  Soooo
Don't ruin the experience of others.

Thank you.  We appreciate it.  :)

DownsGameClub

5 July 2018 (AEST)
Repeat after me: Announcements!

Hope your 4th of July is going well today!  I'm definitely staying up late... :lol:
Anyways, we made a few tweaks to the rules regarding Username Changes after receiving some feedback that half a year was a bit of a wait.  As such, most of these changes is shortening the timing and a few specifics on how you can change your username.  The process to change it, however, remains the same.
Let's take a closer look:
Please note: The term one month is defined as one calendar month (e.g. Jul. 5-Aug.5, Dec. 31-Jan. 31).

- All username changes are required to without exception to abide by the Community Guidelines.
- You can't change your username to something too similar to another user, as this is impersonation.
- Your account must be at least 6 months old and have at least 150 posts.
Replace with: - Your account must be at least one month old and have at least 100 posts.
- You can only change your username once every 6 months.
Replace with: - You can only change your username once every month.
- Joke changes are not allowed. Once you change your username, it may not be changed for another one month.
- A working e-mail is required in order to change your username.
- Your account must be in good standing in order to receive a username change.
- Please refrain from using formatting (i.e. underlining, color) to show your requested username.  It will make it easier to verify.  However, it is recommended that you use italics to distinguish your username from your other text.
Replace with: - Please distinguish your new username using formatting such as italics. It will prevent confusion and make it easier to verify.
Add: - Username Change "Undos" may only be changed back to their original versions, e.g. @Alice10 can't change to @GamerGirl, then change her mind and change to @xXAliceXx. She can only change back to @Alice10.

Remember, you will be required to wait a full calendar month after your new username is in effect.  You cannot request for any new username change during this period.

We hope that these rules will allow more users to change their usernames as they wish.  Have a good rest of the day/night!

TheLetterThorn

5 July 2018

Users are reminded that being respectful towards other members of this site involves being honest. Please don't fake crises, disaster, or illness in order to garner other people's sympathy or to see how they would react. Also, do not use alt accounts to pretend you are someone other than yourself. This goes for all TBG functions including the main website and the Discord. Thank you, and happy TBGing.
Thorn | TBG Team | Massive Nerd
Currently on vacation and will remain active until the spring semester.
Obsessed with William Butler Yeats until further notice.
Visit my website, where I display my creative and web projects.
Pronouns: at this point do i even know? (he/him/his)

DownsGameClub

#79
4 Apr 2019

PRIVACY POLICY - EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
IMPORTANT!  This announcement contains important information regarding the forums.  Please take the time now to read, and, if necessary, discuss it with your parents.
After discussing with the TBG Team and moderation staff, we've decided to implement this new Privacy Policy.  This way, in the event a dispute regarding data retention comes up, we can clearly list out our processes in a transparent manner.

Please view the new Privacy Policy here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/195X_7uw9oGYcRHF_gAVoH0gsOhTNtEfY/view?usp=sharing

If you have any questions or suggestions to this privacy policy, please redirect yourselves here: https://tbgforums.com/forums/index.php?topic=20

Some updates have been made to the privacy policy today (already):[list=*]
[li]Correction of Heathcliffe's username.[/li]
[li]Corrected the table of contents to include page numbers for those who can't access the table of contents via clicking.[/li]
[/list]

DownsGameClub

8 September 2019

Please be advised that TinyPic is officially shutting down beginning tomorrow.  Images belong to TinyPic will be lost forever from then on.

If you have hosted images on TinyPic, please consider saving and uploading again them to another image host.  Posts on the forums that use the image hosting website may contain blank spaces as the image will not load.

DownsGameClub

#81
25 December 2019

On the Third day of Christmas joefarebrother gave to me:
Three TBG Team admins
Two account deletions
and no more account registration!

:P

I'm happy to announce that joefarebrother has promoted my colleagues, Tymewalk and Fell Rekekka, and I to TBG Team members.

We're still your good ol' moderators albeit we get access to more cool things than previous.  You probably have seen a few subtle changes around the site but there won't be any huge changes at the moment (no access to the site code and stuff).  We're excited to see what new things we'll be able to do with you guys!

Have a safe holiday season!

Edit: We're also sad to say that Heathcliffe has stepped down from her position as administrator.  She hopes to come on occasionally to say hello, though.  :)

DownsGameClub

7 September 2020

Hi folks,

Due to recent spamming, we've disabled the posting of new topics for New TBGers.  This is effective immediately.
For those of you who are "new" here, you can still participate by replying to the existing games.  However, you will not be allowed to create a new game until you've become a TBGer (21+ posts).

:)

Tymewalk

7th October 2020

Non-English TBGs are now officially endorsed!

Hello everyone! Recently the mod team has seen an influx of Esperanto posts on the TBGs, so we've decided to go ahead and officially endorse games in languages other than English!

Please keep in mind that all community guidelines still apply, regardless of language. Remember to be respectful to all users, as not everyone speaks the same languages, and to keep your posts appropriate. If you see something inappropriate, remember to report it!

We look forward to seeing what non-English-based games TBGers create in the future! Have fun!
Whosoever holds this banhammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of moderaThor...
he/him | Text Based Games Forums Discord Server | Just Dance 2014 | (つo.o)つ It's Kirby!
back on the road, back down the road, downtown, i don't have courage but i have something else - and it's more than words

DownsGameClub

14 February 2021

Re: Recent Website Issues
Hi folks!  We're currently looking into the recent website errors where people have not been able to post.  We're not sure what's going on, but hopefully, we'll find a solution.

Thanks for your patience! :)

DownsGameClub

9 August 2022

Re: More Website Issues with BBCode

Hi folks!
I hate to inform you that we've disabled BBCode for the time being.  We've gotten multiple reports of security vulnerabilities that can be executed through BBCode (and by the way, thank you all, I definitely appreciate you all keeping an eye out for funky stuff).  As much as games depend on BBCode, the security risks are too great to keep the feature on until we get a fix put out.

I can't guarantee when we can get this issue fixed.  Skyline - who runs the website server - has literally fallen off the face of the earth and I have no idea how else we can get in contact with him quickly.  Fingers crossed; we'll find a solution.

My apologies on behalf of the team for the inconvenience.

Tymewalk

#86
18 August 2023

Hey everyone.

For the time being, BBCode has been temporarily re-enabled. As far as I can tell the risks can be mitigated with moderation. I'll be checking in every so often to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

That being said, please do not attempt to intentionally exploit BBCode. Please report any posts trying to exploit BBCode or any related concerns to the moderators immediately.
Whosoever holds this banhammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of moderaThor...
he/him | Text Based Games Forums Discord Server | Just Dance 2014 | (つo.o)つ It's Kirby!
back on the road, back down the road, downtown, i don't have courage but i have something else - and it's more than words

Tymewalk

6 September 2023

Hello everyone.

We're currently working on upgrading the site to Simple Machines Forums. Because we have to manually upgrade the database, posting has been temporarily disabled so that no posts are lost in the transfer. Don't worry - this will be re-enabled once the transfer is done!

Once the transfer is complete, every user will have to reset their password. Please make sure you have a valid e-mail on your account, so the new forum can send you a password request! We'll be posting more details about SMF once the transfer is complete, and what this means for users of the TBGs.
Whosoever holds this banhammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of moderaThor...
he/him | Text Based Games Forums Discord Server | Just Dance 2014 | (つo.o)つ It's Kirby!
back on the road, back down the road, downtown, i don't have courage but i have something else - and it's more than words

Tymewalk

#88
6 September 2023

Hello everyone! The new TBGForums are now officially live!

The transfer to Simple Machines Forums was successful, and posting is now open again. With this, the TBGs are now running on modern software, and BBCode is now permanently fixed!

However, as a result of the upgrade, everyone's passwords have been reset. Your old password will no longer work on the forums. Please request a password reset in order to access your account. For users without access to their old e-mail accounts, please see the instructions here.

Thank you to red herring for the transfer script and the work in porting the site, Gilbert189 for converting the old FluxBB themes to Simple Machines Forums, and the TBG community for their input and support!

We're still working on making improvements and fixes to the site, so please let any moderators know about your ideas for the site in Questions and Suggestions. :)
Whosoever holds this banhammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of moderaThor...
he/him | Text Based Games Forums Discord Server | Just Dance 2014 | (つo.o)つ It's Kirby!
back on the road, back down the road, downtown, i don't have courage but i have something else - and it's more than words

red herring

#89
7 September 2023

Hello everyone! The 60-second rule has been restored. As in FluxBB, you need to wait 60 seconds between each post. Administrators and moderators are given a 2-second rule instead. If anything breaks, please let me know in the Discord or the chat.

Edit: This has been disabled temporarily, as users have reported issues with the error page. I'm working on a fix.

Edit 2: This has been fixed. Again, let me know if anything goes wrong.
dashing through the snow
in a One Gun Open Sleigh
this is a haiku

Tymewalk

9 September 2023


Hi everyone! As I'm sure most of you are aware, we've switched to Simple Machines Forums. For anyone returning to the site after a while, here's a list of most of the changes.


Important Changes
- For returning users - all passwords must be reset as a security measure. Your old password will not work. Please request a password reset on your account to log in. If you have lost the e-mail to your account, go to this page, log in using your old password, and ask for help there.
- The entire site now uses Simple Machines Forums instead of FluxBB. (Specifics explained below)
- By default, all users will use ScratchStyle. You can change this by going to the "Look and Layout" section of your profile.

Site
- There is now a calendar listing various holidays. Only logged-in users can see this page. If you set your birthday on your profile, your birthday will be visible to all registered users on the forum.
- There is now a statistics page displaying various stats about the forum, such as number of posts per day and top 10 topics.
- A handful of themes were ported over from FluxBB (thanks gilbert_given_TBG!) - these are ScratchStyle, Oxygen, Cobalt, Air, Fire, and Earth.
- In addition, SMF comes with the default theme Curve2. We have also added the custom themes Chakra, Hextech, Bluewave... and bese. (But you probably don't want to use bese.) Chakra and Hextech come with built-in color variants (7 for Chakra and 5 for Hextech).
- Banned users are now hidden in the memberlist by default. Note that all bans have been imported from the old forums, and banned users have not been deleted.

Users
- Profile pictures have been enabled - you can set your profile picture by linking to an external image. (Note that profile pictures are moderated like any other aspect of the site, and inappropriate profile pictures will be removed.)
- Users must now have unique e-mails (no alt accounts under the same e-mail address). Old alt accounts which have the same e-mail will continue to work, but new ones will not.
- Users can now set their birthday on their profile. If you set just the month and day, it will appear on the calendar. If you also set a year, your profile will also display your current age. For privacy reasons, we advise against using this feature, as any registered user can see this information.
- Users who have set their birthday will receive an automatic e-mail from the forums on their birthday. There is absolutely no way to turn this off. (We tried.)
- SMF supports many, many more timezones than FluxBB. As a result, all users have had their timezone set to UTC by default, as there was no way to convert between the two systems. If timestamps don't seem accurate to you, check your settings - it's likely that your timezone was changed in the transfer.
- SMF now also displays what time it is for you (i.e in your timezone) on your profile to all users.
- Users can now select their gender. This will be displayed on your profile, and as part of the forum stats. (If you do not wish to share this information, you can select "none".)
- Users can no longer send e-mails to one another.
- E-mail addresses are now hidden with no way to display them. (On the old forums, you could choose to display your e-mail address - most users had this turned off already.)
- Users can set a small "personal text" that will be displayed under their username, alongside other information.
- When a username change is done, your password will be reset automatically. For this reason, users are still required to have a working e-mail address to receive username changes.

Posting
- Users can now mention other users in posts, sending them a notification.
- Polls are a new feature and can be attached to posts.
- There are now many more text editing features, such as font, font size, superscript, subscript, text alignment, and more.
- If someone posts in a topic while you are writing your reply, SMF will now warn you before posting (effectively preventing getting ninja'd).
- Posts may now have an optional subject, and topics may have an optional icon.
- When editing a post, you may now attach an optional reason for editing.
Whosoever holds this banhammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of moderaThor...
he/him | Text Based Games Forums Discord Server | Just Dance 2014 | (つo.o)つ It's Kirby!
back on the road, back down the road, downtown, i don't have courage but i have something else - and it's more than words

Tymewalk

#91
10 October 2023

Hello everyone!

The TBGForums mod team is considering implementing a new set of community guidelines. These new guidelines would apply sitewide, as well as to areas such as the TBG Forums Discord server.

The proposed guidelines are as follows:
These rules are subject to change with immediate notice in the Announcements topic.

  • Reporting.
    • Report a post or topic if it violates the following guidelines.
    • Report a post or topic if you need to bring it to a moderator's attention for any other reason.
    • The report function may be used for other purposes as well, ex. during forum cleans.
    • Abuse of the report button is not allowed.
  • Posting.
    • Topics may not be used to advertise text based games on other websites. All text based games must have the ability to be played here.
    • Stay on topic. If a game has gone off its intended course, make a post that steers it back.
    • Always be friendly to, and respect, other users. Trolling, insulting, harassing, or personally attacking other users is not allowed.
    • If you see posts that are argumentative or 'flamebait', ignore and report. Don't feed the trolls.
    • Any content (text, images, links, etc...) you include in posts is subject to these guidelines.
    • Do not post explicit, hateful, bigoted, or overly graphic content. Such content is subject to immediate removal and a potential ban.
    • In general, please try to keep posts PG-13.
    • If you want to bump a game, do so by playing it. Don't just post "bump". (RPGs are excepted.)
    • Don't spam.
    • Follow the rules of each game.
  • Account creation.
    • Account names, signatures, and profiles are all subject to the same guidelines as posting. Inappropriate names, signatures, or profiles are subject to being edited or removed by moderators. Extreme cases may result in account deletion.
    • You must be at least 13 years old to use this forum. Users under 13 are not allowed to create accounts or post on the forums.
    • Users under than 13 years old will be banned until they are eligible to use the site.
    • Accounts dedicated to advertisement are strictly not allowed. Such accounts are subject to immediate ban, IP ban, and deletion on the first offence.
    • Alternate accounts (an account created by a person already having an account) used solely for the purpose of cheating in gameplay are strictly not allowed. Such accounts are subject to a ban on the first offence, and possible main-account and/or IP ban on subsequent offences.
    • Alternate accounts used for purposes of ban evasion are subject to IP ban on the first offence.
    • Alternate accounts used for trolling or breaking the guidelines are subject to an IP ban and/or main account ban.
    • Accounts should be made by users who want to participate in the forums. Accounts used only for trolling, breaking the guidelines, or insulting other users are subject to immediate ban and potential account deletion on the first offense.
  • Contacting the moderators.
    • The moderation team may be contacted privately through the "Contact" button at the top of the page. (Please note that by e-mailing the moderators, you disclose your e-mail to them. This is how moderators will contact you regarding your issue.)
    • Bans may be appealed by contacting the moderators privately.
    • If you find a bug in the site's software, do not abuse it. Report any posts that use or abuse software bugs. Please contact the moderators privately with details of the bug in question. Posts abusing bugs may be edited or deleted by the moderators, and repeated abuse may result in a ban.
    • If you need to contact the moderators privately for any other reason, please use the Contact form above.

Thank you for playing at the Text Based Games Forums.
(Changed portions are in bold.)

Note that these guidelines are only proposals - they haven't been adopted as the community guidelines yet, so the old ones are still in effect for now!

Major changes to the guidelines include:
  • The guidelines around content that can be posted on the TBG Forums have been updated to use a less restrictive set of guidelines (2e, 2f, and 2g). This does not mean that everything is allowed, however - please see the guidelines for examples of content which is still banned on the forums.
  • People under 13 will no longer be allowed to use the forums until they are at least 13 years old (3b and 3c).
  • A section on contacting moderators privately has been added to the Community Guidelines (section 4). This concerns ban appeals (4b), bugs in the software (4c), or any other reason (4d).

In addition, several unofficial guidelines relating to moderation have been incorporated into the guidelines:
  • Harassment and personal attacks are not allowed (2c).
  • Things such as account names and signatures are subject to the same moderation guidelines as posts on the site (3a).
  • Alternate accounts used for cheating are no longer deleted but instead banned (3e).
  • Accounts used for ban evasion are subject to immediate IP bans (3f).
  • Accounts meant solely for breaking the guidelines are subject to bans (3g and 3h). Such accounts may be deleted at the moderators' discretion (3h).
(These policies have been used unofficially on the forums for a long time. Nothing has really changed with the above policies, they're mostly just there for clarification.)

The mod team would like to get the community's feedback before implementing these changes, as well as general feedback on the website itself. Click here to fill out the poll for feedback.

Although we currently do not have a timeframe on when these changes would be implemented, the soonest we would do so is one week after the publication of this announcement (October 17th).

The mod team greatly appreciates your feedback, and we look forward to reading your responses.
Whosoever holds this banhammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of moderaThor...
he/him | Text Based Games Forums Discord Server | Just Dance 2014 | (つo.o)つ It's Kirby!
back on the road, back down the road, downtown, i don't have courage but i have something else - and it's more than words

red herring

22 March 2024

The guidelines have been amended by adding the following new rules:
  • Rule 2i: Post and signature content should not make it difficult for others to read the thread. Avoid using excessive markups. Posts or signatures that make the site extremely difficult to read and post on may be edited by moderators to fix these issues.
  • Rule 4a: If you find a bug in the site's software, do not abuse it. Report any posts that use software bugs. Please contact the moderators privately with details of the bug in question. Posts abusing bugs may be edited or deleted by the moderators, and repeated abuse may result in a ban.

Questions and suggestions can be asked at the questions and suggestions thread. Thank you.
dashing through the snow
in a One Gun Open Sleigh
this is a haiku