Message Board Rules

Requirements to participate:

Register and Login.

By Registering, you acknowledge that you will abide by the Classic Battletech® (CBT) posting rules. Failure to abide by these rules may result in temporary or permanent removal of your posting privileges.

Posting Rules

When making a post on this message board, conduct yourself properly. Proper conduct includes treating each other with respect. Confront an opinion, rather than a person; personal attacks of any kind are not tolerated. The posting of messages or materials that are obscene, violent, abusive, discriminatory or threatening in nature, or designed to harass or intimidate another person are not tolerated.
We encourage lively debate about a number of topics, however when you object to a certain post to the point where you intend to attack the poster, contact the Moderators instead. The post may also be objectionable to us, in which case a heated response will just get you in trouble as well.
If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact Moderators directly, or by using the "Notify a Moderator" button available in any post.
Do not use foul language on the boards. This includes the posting of items with or linking to items containing foul language in them (pictures, movies, etc.) on other websites.
If you feel that you must curse, follow these guidelines; failure to do so will result in a warning for inappropriate conduct. We have installed a language filter that filters out some of the more common curses, but if you happen to use one that the filter does not recognize, you will be warned. The filter replaces curses with a series of ******. Though we have provided a filter to save you time, if you wish to self-censor your post it must meet these guidelines:

Do not leave any letters of the word visible. If you want to censor it, censor all of it. (*****ing and F@#$ are violations of this rule.)
You may use any number of special characters (i.e. !@#$%^), a string of *****, or any variation of {censored}. No other methods are acceptable.
Do not post here if your only intention is to be confrontational. This includes behavior considered trolling by the Mod/Admin team.
Real World Politics and Religion are topics not allowed for discussion on this board.
All Off Topic posts belong on the Off-Topic board. Off-topic posts should be limited to non-controversial subjects.
No posting other people's personal information without their permission.
Do not bring problems or flame wars from other message boards or webpages to this one, or personal issues from any other source. You have a problem with someone, DO NOT bring it in here.
Please do not post without contributing to the discussion at hand. If your posts add nothing to the thread, you may be wasting people’s time and our resources. This will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Naturally, the odd frivolous post won’t attract attention, but systematic behavior and thread hijacking will be addressed with warnings and Bans as necessary. Posts may be moved or deleted at the moderator/ Admin’s discretion in these cases (see Rule 13).
Do not offer to sell/trade anything on these forums. Do not offer to buy/trade anything on these forums.
Do not post links to active E-Bay auctions or similar content. It is acceptable to link to completed auctions.
Do not post links to online businesses without first gaining permission from a site Admin. It is acceptable to post links to online or FLGS or other resources to assist fellow posters in locating items, as long as the other rules are followed.
If you are unsure whether your link is acceptable or not, please contact a site Admin.
If you post materials from other websites (including news sources), books and/or newsgroups credit should be given whenever possible. If you re-post material from the CBT's site you are also asked to give credit when appropriate. Summaries of news articles are acceptable and preferred with links to the original article included.
Do not post any images of the Unseen in your posts. This means that no artwork of the Unseen from any Sourcebook, Technical Readout (3025, 3050 and 3055, which includes those IIC models that were NOT owned by FASA) or the images from the respective shows they originally debuted on. Nor may images of toys, models or other parephenalia related to the Unseen be used in any form with the following exceptions:
You may have an icon under your name with an Unseen Picture on it if you want, and you may post pictures of your painted miniatures. Posting links to pictures on other sites is also acceptable.
This message board will not be used for trading, obtaining, making available or selling of unauthorized or illegally obtained copyrighted materials. Therefore it is strictly forbidden to post any link, make reference to, or mention the ability through any manner, the acquisition of or sharing of ANY Copyrighted Material obtained through unauthorized or illegal means, from any location be it on the Internet or not.
The Administrators and Moderators have the right to edit, delete, move or lock any message and/or thread for any reason. There may be NO warning and NO explanation as to why. The moderators of the CBT Message Board use their own discretion and judgment in deleting posts. That means that even if we’re wrong, it's our right so long as we think our actions are necessary to keep the forum clean and tasteful.

Offenses that may result in an automatic ban:

Communicating any kind of threat
Circumventing an existing ban
Posting using another person’s username with or without their permission. This can result in both parties being banned.
Creating more than 1 account on this site may result in an immediate ban. If you feel you have a legitimate reason for having multiple accounts, contact the Admins to discuss.
Posting pornography of any kind
Violation of Copyright as per the rule listed above
Hacking the site or someone's account

Please think carefully before you make or take any action that will cause you to lose you posting privileges. Ask yourself if it is worth it.

Several procedures are in place to ensure that the Moderators are accountable to each other, the Administrators and Catalyst Game Labs. However, if you suspect that a Moderator or Administrator is behaving inappropriately or has made a mistake, do not hesitate to contact the Administrators.

Opinions, advice and all other information expressed by participants in discussions are those of the author. You rely on such information at your own risk. The Mod/Admin Team or Catalyst Game Labs will NOT be held responsible for the content of any message posted in the Classic BattleTech Message Board.

Disciplinary action

This is our typical and preferred course of action:

Posts that break any of the rules or are deemed inappropriate by the Mod/Admin team are removed to a separate storage area for review and documentation.

Every poster who violates the rules, with the exception of the violations listed below, will receive two warnings. On the third violation you will lose your posting privileges for the following time periods.

1st Offense: 7 day ban
2nd Offense: 1 month ban
3rd Offense: 6 month ban
4th Offense: 1 year ban
5th and final offense: Permanent ban

Posters will receive one warning between bans. This warning is used as a way to remind the poster that they will receive a longer ban on the next violation.

We have a statute of limitations on violations. All violations over one year old will be removed from a poster’s record and not considered in figuring bans. However, once a poster has received a ban, the next ban earned will be at the next length. (Example: A poster has earned a one week ban. His violations all reach the one year mark. The poster commits three more violations under a new year. He will then receive a one month ban).

Special thanks go out to Scott Bukoski and Warner Doles, on whose efforts these rules are based.