Discussion Board Rules
Please Note: Our moderators live around the world and do their best to ensure GoldToken's discussion boards are clean and appropriate for family viewing. As one of our players has noted, "If you find yourself getting moderated, try not to take it personally. Read the discussion board rules, and try to avoid posting similar messages in future, or avoid using colorful language." No ill will is ever intended in moderations. Our terrific moderators are doing the best they can. The good thing is, no where else on the Internet will you find a more family friendly forum, thanks to the hard work and efforts of GoldToken's moderators!


The Discussion Boards have been provided as a forum to facilitate interaction and discussion between the various players at this site. In an effort to maintain an environment conducive to this, we have implemented the following simple rules.


Rules


1. Be polite to others


    Follow the golden rule. Feel free to speak your opinion, but only when you can do so in a way that is respectful to other people. If you've got a disagreement with another player, don't bring it to the discussion boards.

    This rule is intended to keep flame-wars off the boards and to keep our conversations civilized. Posts showing others in a negative light, even if the player's identity is not revealed, are strictly prohibited. This includes posting game numbers or specifically mentioning enough information where a player's identity can be discovered. Remember, debating issues are encouraged but crossing the line into personal attacks and hate speech will not be tolerated.


2. Keep your language clean


    Don't use cuss words, colorful metaphors, or sexual innuendo in your posts.

    This rule is intended to keep the boards free of inappropriate conversations and improper language. This includes, but is not limited to, the prohibition of using symbols or spacing to avoid the profanity filter. Posts carrying the potential for sexual innuendos, intentional or not, will be removed. These boards are intended for people of all ages. Act as though you are speaking in front of a group of grade school children, with their lawyer parents standing behind them.


3. Post only your own words


    Do not copy and paste from emails or other web pages. Instead, when referring to work or information that is not your own, you can quote a very short part of it or provide a reference to the source by a hypertext link along with your short summary. If a link is unavailable, others may private message you for more information.

    This rule is intended to protect the site from copyright violations, to keep personal emails and private messages off the boards, as well as to ensure that the discussion boards don't become a place to be exposed to hoaxes, chain-letters, or propaganda. It is not intended to prevent you from quoting the relevant portions of other messages on the board to serve as a reference point for your own comments.

    We need to be careful about what we allow regarding copyright issues, and not have anything that could subject the site to a lawsuit. When it comes to pictures on players profiles, this will mainly apply to popular, mainstream, big business products, Coke, Pepsi, etc. We will try to remain reasonable on this, and not go overboard, but if you find your picture not being approved when you find nothing offensive about it, please take into consideration that it may be a copyright risk.

    This rule is also intended to stop you from posting for others. Remember, there is a reason some players are not able to post on the boards.

    The joke board follows a different standard. We recognize that most jokes are copied from another source, but excessively long posts, or obvious examples of cutting and pasting are not allowed. This would include such things as symbols in front of lines or inordinate spacing that makes the overall post too long in length. Posts containing obvious violations to this rule, or that scroll more then one page in length, spacing included, will be edited or removed at Administration's discretion.


4. Do not promote criminal activity


    Don't make comments that seem to encourage illegal activity.

    This rule is intended to ensure that only legally acceptable activities are advocated on the site. Aside from the more obvious criminal activities, this rule also applies to discussions that appear to treat favorably the recreational use of drugs, including alcohol and tobacco (please note, tobacco is treated like drug use on our boards) or gambling of any kind (betting, lotteries, etc). These may be legal in some parts of the world and among certain age groups, but are not legal for minors in the United States. To treat favorably would include such things as advocating drunkenness or minors partaking in these activities. Posts exhibiting the responsible use of legal substances in the appropriate age groups are allowed.


5. Don't spam


    Do not use the boards to try to sell anything to the site's players. Using the boards to solicit funds for your business, enterprise or for a site membership is not allowed. Instead, please contact GoldToken Support to work out something official. This rule is intended to keep the site from becoming another place for Spam, which refers to both unsolicited commercial and membership messages, to repeated posting of your personal opinions in a manner that does not allow for discussion.

    Players who post in regards to how their membership, or another player's, is going to expire for whatever reason, where it can be viewed as directly asking or as a hint for other players to purchase a membership for them, will have their post removed from our discussion boards immediately. This also includes any general type post announcements as to why you will no longer be seen on the boards posting or how you will not be able to accept any further new games because you will no longer have a membership on the site. Posts of this manner, intentionally meant or not, are classified as soliciting for membership funds and are strictly prohibited.

    Dominating a board with your opinion, is also strictly prohibited under this rule. Posting multiple messages within a short time period that results in pushing other posts off a board will not be allowed and is considered a form of Spam. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and multiple posts that prevent others from expressing theirs are not allowed.

    Furthermore, this rule is also intended to keep excessively long messages off our boards. Posts that exceed more then one page in length of text and spacing in total, will be considered as a form of Spam. This rule is to ensure that all players keep their posts size within reason to avoid dominating a board by pushing other posts off the page. Posts that exceed the reasonable one page limit, will be subject to moderation at Administration's discretion.


6. Post on the right board


    Find the most appropriate board for each message and don't post the same message on more than one board.

    This rule is intended to keep the boards useful by allowing each board to focus on a single topic. The burden is on the person posting the message to find the correct board, and to post it only on that board.


7. Do not post private information


    Never post your address or phone number, where you work or go to school, social security number or any other private information.

    This rule is intended for the privacy and safety protection of all members. The posting of another player's private information is reason for automatic banning. It is recommended that you do not post any more than your first name or your player name.


8. Do not post potentially harmful rumors or links


    This rule is intended to keep posts off our discussion boards and profiles where an opinion, question or link has been formed by warnings, hearsay or conjectures. This means, do not post information such as an unconfirmed sickness or death of a player, health warnings/scares or links to the public that could be potentially harmful to anyone or their property. Posts containing links concerning computer viruses and how to fix them will have the link immediately removed, unless otherwise approved by Management. This is done to ensure that members do not follow a link to a site where the instructions could potentially harm their computer or operating system.

    This rule is also intended to keep site links off our discussion boards and profiles pertaining to online social networking services containing personal spaces, blogs, pictures or video, that are unsafe for minors, or that contain inappropriate material that otherwise breaks any of GoldToken's Discussion Board Rules.


9. Regarding your account name and your profile


    Player identification and profile fields are not meant to be used for emotional, hasty, or rude comments; nor as forums for personal attacks against any player or GoldToken. Profanity, illegal activities, nudity, potentially harmful rumors or links, Spam, or any other blatant disregard for GoldToken's rules will be subject to moderation of your account name or profile and possible banning. Reinstatement varies with each situation. Players will only be allowed ONE second chance for any profile violation. Your account name will also not be used as a way to circumvent a discussion board or soft ban. Personal messages to communicate and try to get the 'word out' to other players while you have been banned from doing so in the proper way, will not be allowed.

    Please remember that while GoldToken.com supplies profile fields for players to let others know more about themselves for fun, Management will not allow highly personal information to be placed in the profile area. This includes, but is not limited to, full or last names, addresses, phone numbers or any other information that can easily put you or anyone else at risk for unwanted attention.


10. In addition


    Re-posting a moderated post or any management letter regarding your behavior while here at GoldToken will result in a ban. It stands to reason that if your post was moderated the first time, you cannot choose to re-post it just because you did not agree with the moderation. Complaints posted regarding any moderation, ban from the boards, warning, or penalty will also be grounds for an automatic moderation and a possible ban from the boards. If you have misbehaved in any way here at GoldToken, we don't want your problems aired. GoldToken's Management and Moderator teams go through great pains to keep your misbehavior private. The boards are not an appropriate place for airing your grievances.

    Posts containing harassment, complaints about slow playing, cheating, or complaints against GoldToken's site moderators on any discussion board will also be grounds for an automatic moderation and possible ban from the boards.

    Complaints or inquiries about specific moderations, are to be taken directly to GoldToken Support by private message and not to our boards. Support has full access to all of the moderated messages as well as the complete discussions that take place amongst the moderators before a moderation is acted upon. Support is always available to receive complaints and weigh their validity to help ensure that all moderating of the discussion boards is done as fairly as possible.

    Complaints or problems with players need to also be taken up with GoldToken Support and not aired or announced on our discussion boards. The biggest rule we expect followed is to respect your fellow players. Most rules are written with that intention.

    We do not want to have to be constantly writing rules or specifically spelling things out because someone claims, "the rules don't say SPECIFICALLY." The spirit of the rules, as well the letter, are to be kept. We'd much rather have a fun place to play than a police state. Anything not covered specifically by the rules will be covered by administrative interpretation of the rules.




Platinum Photo Rules


    Having the ability to post picture links on our site is a fun privilege for our Platinum members, however the rule of thumb is that all pictures must follow GoldToken's Discussion Board rules and policies.

    Picture links containing inappropriate partial or full nudity, sexual content or innuendos, colorful language and/or metaphors, illegal activities (suggested or otherwise), political intent, Spam and/or Advertising content, will not be allowed on our discussion boards or on player profiles. Picture links containing violations to any of our Discussion Board Rules, or are otherwise blatantly not suitable for children to view overall, will be moderated and the player responsible may have their picture posting link privileges revoked and could face a ban.

    Picture links posted on our discussion boards must follow the following guidelines to avoid being removed, edited or moderated:
    • Pictures need to follow the appropriate topics allowed for the board you are placing it on.
    • Only two photos per post are allowed.
    • Photos should be in .jpg or .gif format.
    • Photos should not exceed the 1000x750 limit, and should be less than 800kb/800,00 bytes.
      • This is to ensure that players with slower connections or WebTV boxes are able to view your photos.
    • Further information regarding our Platinum picture links can be found here: Platinum photos.

      GoldToken Administration will only allow one second chance per person, depending on the severity of the case. Violations to this rule will subject a player to losing the ability on this feature for a year or indefinitely. Severe violations to this rule can result in the player being banned from the discussion boards.



    Consequences


      Our discussion boards are moderated, and excessive or repeated violations of the posted rules will result in the violator being banned from posting on the boards. We have implemented a system that recognizes that people sometimes make mistakes and we allow for "second chances." Here is how it works:


    • The first time you are banned, you will be unable to post on the boards for a period of one day
    • The second time you are banned, you will be unable to post for one week
    • The third time you are banned, you will be unable to post for one month
    • The fourth time you are banned, you will not be allowed to post for six months
    • The fifth time you are banned, you will not be allowed to post for one year
    • If a sixth ban is required, you will be banned from the site

      These all apply to the amount of bans in a six month period. If you have been banned once, and are not banned again until six months or later, your banning time periods will be reset.


    Tips


    To avoid being banned, we suggest that you read and follow these tips:


    Read and understand the Discussion Board Rules


      If you are unfamiliar with the rules, it will be difficult to follow them.

    Don't make assumptions


      It is easy to misunderstand someone's words in a written forum such as this. Rather than jumping to conclusions about what they mean, try to give them the benefit of the doubt.

    Be descriptive, specific, and concise


      To have a better chance of having your own words understood, take the time to explain exactly what you mean, but without being so wordy that you "write a novel."

    Think twice


      If you are emotional as you are writing your comment, you will probably come across that way. Before you post your message, stop and think about what you are trying to accomplish.

    Preview before posting


      Always Preview and re-read your message before you post it. You can catch spelling and grammar errors, as well as have a better chance to see how your message reads from another person's point of view.

    Remember that some things are better left unsaid


      "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," is a maxim that holds true to this day.

    Note:

    Using the discussion boards is a privilege, not a right. GoldToken is a private organization and reserves the right to refuse service to anyone. This includes preventing you from using the discussion boards if it has been determined you have been abusing your privileges on them. Because this is a family oriented site, the ten simple discussion board rules and further following information, are necessary and they are enforced.