Discussion: Forum Rules Revision
By
Absinth_Incubus,
Posted on: 2008-07-21 13:00 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
Wow
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5. Non-Constructive posts are prohibited.
Below is a list of examples of non-constructive posts. As a rule, non-constructive posting is not permitted.
Spam is considered to be repetitive posting of the same topic or text or nonsensical posts that have no substance and are often designed to annoy other forum users.
Bumping posts in order to keep them near the top of the list is also prohibited. Petitions or "/signed" posts are a version of bumping and likewise are not permitted.
Do not create threads/posts to petition for game features, additions, changes, or other issues. You may post suggestions and/or ideas to the boards, but you may not create a petition for others to sign. This is bumping in disguise and will not be allowed.
Pyramid quoting is a response to a forum thread which contains the quotes of four or more previous posters, sometimes with additional spaces added unnecessarily.
As a courtesy to others before beginning a new thread, please look to see if an active thread on that topic has already been established. If so, place your comments there instead. Multiple threads on the same subject clutter up the forum needlessly and many good ideas may be lost. Use the search link to keep discussions about one topic to one thread only.
Negative feedback can be very useful, provided that it is presented in a civil, factual manner. Tell us what you don't like and why and how you feel it could be improved. Posts that are insulting and rude may be deleted, no matter how valid the ideas behind them may be.
A rant is a post which is long-winded, redundant and filled with angry, non-constructive comments. A free exchange of ideas is essential to building a strong sense of community and helpful in the development of the game, but rants are disruptive and incite flaming and trolling. Please post your thoughts in a concise, clear manner and avoid going off on rambling tangents
"NERF X!" threads are removed for much the same reason as "I'm leaving" threads. They can turn into threads with little or no constructive information.
False obituary threads are considered highly improper, and knowingly posting false news of a players real-life death may result in a ban of both your forum account and your game account.
Threads that make threats or use other combative language are not allowed. If you ask a question on the board, be aware that questions on our boards are most commonly answered by the community. Demands for answers from NCsoft are not permitted, however we may often address some questions and concerns with an official topic. In the event of legitimate emergencies, or other unprecedented scenarios, we will endeavor to provide comments, even if it is only to state that there is no officially available information.
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There goes half the posts on these boards.
Nicely done LH.
Paragonian Knights
Justice Company
Hi GraeKnight,
You may be aware that the above rules you quoted have always been in effect on these message forums. The revised rules pull from the original rules and nothing has changed in that respect.
If you see posts that are in violation of the rules, you can help us to address them by clicking the "Notify Moderator" button that is found in the lower left of any post.
Thanks!
Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
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2. Abuse and disrespectful behavior is not tolerated.
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It should be "are not tolerated."
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False obituary threads are considered highly improper, and knowingly posting false news of a players real-life death may result in a ban of both your forum account and your game account.
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I feel like I missed something funny 
Listen to Survival Guide. Because you should!
"You have a mom? I thought you were conceived through pure win?" ~Spinestradamus
"reading ur posts is like reading a stop sign, its red oddly shaped and makes me come to a complete stop...then i go" ~anon rep; thank you
More like, "Wow, this forum has formal rules?"
I guess common sense just doesn't go as far as it used to.
I suppose whoever wrote those up had to do something to get paid at one point...
P.S.
Obviously I know this forum has rules.
This post is what some people call "social commentary".
It's just kind of sad we have to be reminded that there -are- rules every once in a while.
Loth 50 Fire/Rad Controller [1392 Badges] [300 non-AE Souvenirs]
Ryver 50 Ele� Blaster [1392 Badges]
Silandra 50 Peacebringer [1138 Badges] [No Redside Badges]
--{=====> Virtue ♀
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As such, warnings and bans are not to be discussed on the forum. Such matters shall remain private between the NCsoft and the user. Questions or comments concerning warnings and bans will be conveyed through e-mail or private messaging. Likewise, discussions regarding moderator actions are not permitted on the forum. If you have questions regarding a post or thread that has been removed or subject to other moderation, feel free to contact a moderator to discuss it.
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I disagree with this policy, to a certain extent. While I understand that your company does not want to have a public debate regarding specific conduct that results in a disciplinary action, I believe that it would be helpful to me, and others in the community, to see exactly what discipline results from engaging in certain conduct.
For example, I have seen Lighthouse and Niviene lock certain threads with a brief statement of why. Those types of moderation help me understand how the forum rules are applied in a practical and real context.
But hey, it's still your playground and you get to make the rules. Nice job getting those polished up
50s: Inv/SS PB Emp/Dark Grav/FF DM/Regen TA/A Sonic/Elec MA/Regen Fire/Kin Sonic/Rad Ice/Kin Crab Fire/Cold NW Merc/Dark Emp/Sonic Rad/Psy Emp/Ice WP/DB FA/SM
Overlord of Dream Team and Nightmare Squad
The black font on blue background is difficult to read.
Chill.
============
50's: Jennifer Halloween, DM/DA Scrapper; Black Peet, 50 DM/WP Brute; Siansha, Soldier; Miss Terie, Elec/Dark Corrupter
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As such, warnings and bans are not to be discussed on the forum. Such matters shall remain private between the NCsoft and the user. Questions or comments concerning warnings and bans will be conveyed through e-mail or private messaging. Likewise, discussions regarding moderator actions are not permitted on the forum. If you have questions regarding a post or thread that has been removed or subject to other moderation, feel free to contact a moderator to discuss it.
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I disagree with this policy, to a certain extent. While I understand that your company does not want to have a public debate regarding specific conduct that results in a disciplinary action, I believe that it would be helpful to me, and others in the community, to see exactly what discipline results from engaging in certain conduct.
For example, I have seen Lighthouse and Niviene lock certain threads with a brief statement of why. Those types of moderation help me understand how the forum rules are applied in a practical and real context.
But hey, it's still your playground and you get to make the rules. Nice job getting those polished up
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I agree with Flea. I do think that the community should know why locks/bans/suspensions happened.
NcSoft doesn't need to tell us WHO they banned because that would have some legal issues. But if the community got, for example, a monthly newsletter that stated the number of bans and reasons why.
It would tell the community what is and what is not tolerated while keeping personal information confidential.
@Radmind - Justice Server
ClintarCOH - Twitter
ClintarCOH - Twitter
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The black font on blue background is difficult to read.
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Please, please, please change the color of the headings to yellow. Black text works neither on the darkish blue nor the darkish red background.
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
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False obituary threads are considered highly improper, and knowingly posting false news of a players real-life death may result in a ban of both your forum account and your game account.
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Wasn't aware this was an issue on the boards...
[url="http://data.jsonline.com/sports/favre/"]Need some Favre info?[/url]
[url="http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage"]Some news maybe?[/url]
[url="http://www.packers.com/"]Packers stuff.[/url]
Clarification: If I'm having a conversation with a Dev, Community Manager, or Moderator and they give information that I feel would be useful to the community: IE a technical issue workaround, news of new content, etc. --wouldn't it be appropriate to post that? Or do you want us to ask first? Thanks.
There are no words for what this community, and the friends I have made here mean to me. Please know that I care for all of you, yes, even you. If you Twitter, I'm MrThan. If you're Unleashed, I'm dumps. I'll try and get registered on the Titan Forums as well. Peace, and thanks for the best nine years anyone could ever ask for.
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Please use this thread to discuss the below announcement.
We have recently revised the Message Forum Rules and Guidelines that govern conduct on the Official City of Heroes Message Forums. We have worked to condense the rules to a more straightforward single list and to make them more straightforward and comprehensive. Everyone is encouraged to review them.
Click here to view the revised Message Forum Rules and Guidelines.
I want to publicly acknowledge Moderator Koschej for doing much of the work on our revised rules. Should anyone have questions or desire clarification about the rules, please post here or send a private message to any of the City of Heroes Community Team: <ul type="square">[*] Lighthouse: Community Manager[*] Ex Libris: Community Coordinator[*] Niviene: Community Moderator[*] Koschej: Community Moderator[/list]We're working hard to promote the City of Heroes Community and make the Official Message Forums a great place to visit!
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(reads the 18-point list)
(making it my goal to make a single post that violates each and every point here, for demonstrative value for the moderators as well as utter comedic value 
)
(That false obit's a new one... has that been an issue here?!)
@TURGENEV - Freedom Server / IRON / B.A.N.E / HORDE
Turg Fiction: Ghost in the Machine Acts III & IV coming 2012!
Turg Fiction: IX is now LIVE on Architect Entertainment!
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4. Private communication between Customer Support, NC Interactive, Inc. (NCsoft) members, moderators and administrators of the forum and the forum users is not to be made public on these forums or by any other venue.
You are not permitted to publicize any private correspondence (including petitions, email or PM correspondence, in game chat logs, etc.) received from any of the aforementioned without permission. As such, warnings and bans are not to be discussed on the forum. Such matters shall remain private between the NCsoft and the user. Questions or comments concerning warnings and bans will be conveyed through e-mail or private messaging. Likewise, discussions regarding moderator actions are not permitted on the forum. If you have questions regarding a post or thread that has been removed or subject to other moderation, feel free to contact a moderator to discuss it.
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Please explain the reasoning of this rule if the communication is from an official representative of the company and given as an official response from such a representative in regards to policy and rulings of the company. If I am given a response by a community representative of named moderator I would assume that they are professional enough that this response is a reflection of the company stance on an issue. Why then would this not be for public consumption as long as presented in context and without misleading editing?
Also, what are the chances of getting the actual guidelines for the actions of community representatives and forum moderators for this game? I notice whenever I ask for a clarification on moderator action I often get a read receipt and no response whatsoever from certain moderators.
Edit: I've had a couple other questions that are appropriate here I just realized
What are the policies on drug and illegal activity references in forum names and locations or signatures? I understood references to illicit drug use were considered verboten by the board and yet I see an endless (yes, this is hyperbole) stream of names in game and on the forums with the marijuana reference 420 in their name and comments about 'smoking out' or similar in their signatures. I also see constant sex references in locations which I understood to be against forum rules.
How specific does a comment have to be to fall on the ill side of the trolling laws? I've seen repeated posts calling people paranoid nut cases when they express concern about things. These are usually not moderated. However, I've also seen the posts then accusing them of being trolls moderated. Neither seems more offensive to me. Is this a case of the moderation staff not doing basic research into reported posts in the case of only the second being reported or is this a case where accusations of lunacy are considered acceptable while statements accusing others of inappropriate action are not? If the second I believe I shall alter my posting style to accuse people of lunacy on a more regular basis.
I dont think putting the rules out there is going to make any difference, some people are going to keep pushing the limits just like they were before. The thing is too many people do it. So will the mods perma ban almost everyone? Then who will be left to post on the forums? I do think on some instances when people posted and stuff got locked we could get around this issue if we just had an off topic forum altogether that way anything goes in that forum but at the same time the rest of the rules are followed. An off topic forum would mean less work on the mods when stuff just doesnt fit into any of these categories we got now.
Bump and Grind Bane/SoA
Kenja No Ishi Earth/Empathy Controller
Legendary Sannin Ninja/Pain Mastermind
Entoxicated Ninja/PSN Mastermind
Ninja Ryukenden Kat/WP Scrapper
Hellish Thoughts Fire/PSI Dominator
Thank You Devs for Merits!!!!
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Clarification: If I'm having a conversation with a Dev, Community Manager, or Moderator and they give information that I feel would be useful to the community: IE a technical issue workaround, news of new content, etc. --wouldn't it be appropriate to post that? Or do you want us to ask first? Thanks.
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If you ask, and an NCsoft representative gives their approval for you to post it to the forums, and you state such in your post, that is acceptable.
Koschej
Community Moderator
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
Does this mean you'll finally put a stop to those annoying, non-constructive "first" posts?
*crosses fingers*
Craft your inventions in AE!!
Play "Crafter's Cafe" - Arc #487283. A 1 mission, NON-COMBAT AE arc with workable invention tables!
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Clarification: If I'm having a conversation with a Dev, Community Manager, or Moderator and they give information that I feel would be useful to the community: IE a technical issue workaround, news of new content, etc. --wouldn't it be appropriate to post that? Or do you want us to ask first? Thanks.
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If you ask, and an NCsoft representative gives their approval for you to post it to the forums, and you state such in your post, that is acceptable.
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This actually did not clarify the reasoning for the restriction unfortunately. Could you please continue onwards and do that as well? The reasoning for the restriction is actually what I'm having trouble grasping here.
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False obituary threads are considered highly improper, and knowingly posting false news of a players real-life death may result in a ban of both your forum account and your game account.
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Wasn't aware this was an issue on the boards...
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This has not been an issue, but it was put in place merely as a preventative measure to prevent it from ever becoming an issue.
That goes for a lot of these rules in fact. You guys and gals are a great community, probably the best I have ever had the pleasure to interact with, and a lot of these rules are unnecessary, but for us to be as consistent as possible in our moderation, we needed to update things. By having these rules in place, if it ever becomes an issue, it allows us to reference a broken rule rather than make our moderation seem like an arbitrary decision.
Koschej
Community Moderator
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
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As such, warnings and bans are not to be discussed on the forum. Such matters shall remain private between the NCsoft and the user. Questions or comments concerning warnings and bans will be conveyed through e-mail or private messaging. Likewise, discussions regarding moderator actions are not permitted on the forum. If you have questions regarding a post or thread that has been removed or subject to other moderation, feel free to contact a moderator to discuss it.
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I disagree with this policy, to a certain extent. While I understand that your company does not want to have a public debate regarding specific conduct that results in a disciplinary action, I believe that it would be helpful to me, and others in the community, to see exactly what discipline results from engaging in certain conduct.
For example, I have seen Lighthouse and Niviene lock certain threads with a brief statement of why. Those types of moderation help me understand how the forum rules are applied in a practical and real context.
But hey, it's still your playground and you get to make the rules. Nice job getting those polished up
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It's about keeping business and pleasure separate, Flea. We, as forum-goers, really don't need to know why various bits of disciplinary action take place, or whom they affect; if we follow the rules of the realm, we typically won't find ourselves in a position where we would need to. If threads are closed for reasons other than straightforward rules violations, the community reps often do post to tell us why, and that's a very courteous action on their part. But the back-end stuff like issuing warnings to people or banning them really isn't any of our concern.
Positron: "There are no bugs [in City of Heroes], just varying degrees of features."
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By having these rules in place, if it ever becomes an issue, it allows us to reference a broken rule rather than make our moderation seem like an arbitrary decision.
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In my case I've actually had moderation staff break the rules posted (at the time) and been able to use them to defend myself at one point. I cannot, of course, share this incident with you except in private and of course only with NCSoft staff due to the rules related to that action. This was a rather long time ago and is not a statement of poor action on the part of the current moderation staff in any way.
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Clarification: If I'm having a conversation with a Dev, Community Manager, or Moderator and they give information that I feel would be useful to the community: IE a technical issue workaround, news of new content, etc. --wouldn't it be appropriate to post that? Or do you want us to ask first? Thanks.
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If you ask, and an NCsoft representative gives their approval for you to post it to the forums, and you state such in your post, that is acceptable.
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This actually did not clarify the reasoning for the restriction unfortunately. Could you please continue onwards and do that as well? The reasoning for the restriction is actually what I'm having trouble grasping here.
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Lets look at the rule first from the case of moderation.
If you receive a warning PM from a moderator and then go post that warning PM into the forums, a few things can happen.
1) A flame thread can start, targeting either the moderator or the person posting the PM, depending on the action. That type of post is generally made to act like a petition thread, to generate sentiment, be it positive or negative, and usually in an antagonistic way towards the Moderation team. This is hugely non-constructive, and can result in us here getting lots of angry PM's saying "Why did you ban our friend, etc."
2) From a developer standpoint. If you send a PM to our developers, who, bless them, are incredibly active with this community, and they respond back. Lets say for example you ask them about changes to a certain power set. They reply back saying something vague, maybe giving you a hint about possible changes, to keep you interested and discussing it, without giving it away.
If you then post that PM to the forums, without their permission to do so, that PM can get over-analyzed, and where it was a possible, it now becomes recognized as fact. So if down the road, they decide to go a different direction with it, we then get posts of "You lied to us when you said ...."
Communication posts can get taken out of context, or release information that is not yet ready to be released. If you get that sort of useful information from a dev, or say from LH or EX, and request their permission to post it, they may let you, but without permission is a no-no.
Koschej
Community Moderator
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
We don't discuss disciplinary action because it is not constructive, fun or friendly discussion about the game. While there may be those who are interested in the inevitable drama surrounding such action, it's not something we want to play up or dwell on. Hence, we don't talk about it.
Perhaps it is helpful to encapsulate the overall point of the forum rules and guidelines. We're here to engage in constructive, friendly and fun discussion about the game we play and enjoy, City of Heroes. However, this is a private message forum and to be clear:
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17. Proprietary forums
The City of Heroes/City of Villains Message Forums are private message forums administered by NCsoft. All message board content is allowed at the discretion of NCsoft. NCsoft reserves the right to remove any message board content at will without notice for any reason at our discretion.
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So, discussion that is not constructive (as the rules outline) is not allowed. Likewise discussion that is off topic is also discouraged or removed.
Again, if you see something on the forums that you feel is in violation of the rules and guidelines, please make use of the "Notify Moderator" button found in the lower left of every post to bring it to our attention.
Thanks!
Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
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Clarification: If I'm having a conversation with a Dev, Community Manager, or Moderator and they give information that I feel would be useful to the community: IE a technical issue workaround, news of new content, etc. --wouldn't it be appropriate to post that? Or do you want us to ask first? Thanks.
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If you ask, and an NCsoft representative gives their approval for you to post it to the forums, and you state such in your post, that is acceptable.
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This actually did not clarify the reasoning for the restriction unfortunately. Could you please continue onwards and do that as well? The reasoning for the restriction is actually what I'm having trouble grasping here.
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Lets look at the rule first from the case of moderation.
If you receive a warning PM from a moderator and then go post that warning PM into the forums, a few things can happen.
1) A flame thread can start, targeting either the moderator or the person posting the PM, depending on the action. That type of post is generally made to act like a petition thread, to generate sentiment, be it positive or negative, and usually in an antagonistic way towards the Moderation team. This is hugely non-constructive, and can result in us here getting lots of angry PM's saying "Why did you ban our friend, etc."
2) From a developer standpoint. If you send a PM to our developers, who, bless them, are incredibly active with this community, and they respond back. Lets say for example you ask them about changes to a certain power set. They reply back saying something vague, maybe giving you a hint about possible changes, to keep you interested and discussing it, without giving it away.
If you then post that PM to the forums, without their permission to do so, that PM can get over-analyzed, and where it was a possible, it now becomes recognized as fact. So if down the road, they decide to go a different direction with it, we then get posts of "You lied to us when you said ...."
Communication posts can get taken out of context, or release information that is not yet ready to be released. If you get that sort of useful information from a dev, or say from LH or EX, and request their permission to post it, they may let you, but without permission is a no-no.
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That is perfectly understandable. Honestly, my main other question regarding moderator responses is whether there is a guideline covering which questions they respond to. As stated, I've asked for some clarifications on moderator action previously to the moderator who had taken such action. They've responded initially without answering the question, and when restated the question in a different manner for clarity I receive a read receipt of the restatement and then no further response.
Cool. And if I see that the rules are actually being enforced, very cool.
If you would like an example of where the rules are being completely ignored, please see the "Now Testing in the Training Room - July 15, 2008" thread.
I hope the ban stick is used often and without remorse. Even if, and especially if, I'm the one being beaten with it.
Be well, people of CoH.
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That is perfectly understandable. Honestly, my main other question regarding moderator responses is whether there is a guideline covering which questions they respond to. As stated, I've asked for some clarifications on moderator action previously to the moderator who had taken such action. They've responded initially without answering the question, and when restated the question in a different manner for clarity I receive a read receipt of the restatement and then no further response.
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We, the moderators, are just moderators of these forums, there are a lot of questions we can't answer.
We also get a LOT of PM's in a day. While we will try and respond, even if to say "We cannot disclose any information at this time" sometimes it takes a little while to get to. Also in regards to moderation action, if you aren't the person that was actioned, we can't talk about it.
Koschej
Community Moderator
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.
Please use this thread to discuss the below announcement.
We have recently revised the Message Forum Rules and Guidelines that govern conduct on the Official City of Heroes Message Forums. We have worked to condense the rules to a more straightforward single list and to make them more straightforward and comprehensive. Everyone is encouraged to review them.
Click here to view the revised Message Forum Rules and Guidelines.
I want to publicly acknowledge Moderator Koschej for doing much of the work on our revised rules. Should anyone have questions or desire clarification about the rules, please post here or send a private message to any of the City of Heroes Community Team: <ul type="square">[*] Lighthouse: Community Manager[*] Ex Libris: Community Coordinator[*] Niviene: Community Moderator[*] Koschej: Community Moderator[/list]We're working hard to promote the City of Heroes Community and make the Official Message Forums a great place to visit!
Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.