Guidelines of Conduct
You've agreed to these when you registered.
If you've broken them, you will be sanctioned.

Short version:
1) Always be honest
2) Act in good-faith
3) Don't be a dick

Imperative Rules:
READ THIS NOW & PAY ATTENTION

DO NOT share the mods you find here without author's permission.
DO NOT share any mods you find anywhere without author's permission. If you want to suggest a mod, use the original release page, not a direct link to the mod itself.
DO NOT share pages from the restricted area in public topics or chatbox.
DO NOT reupload any mods ANYWHERE for ANYBODY without author's permission.

DO NOT give your password to ANYONE under any circumstances, including staff. DO NOT give others access to your account.

DO NOT make more than 1 account.

DO NOT abuse the rep system.
DO NOT give negative rep without specifically telling why in the same topic

For Questions on How to get Mod Access read this carefully:
https://www.gunetwork.org/t12284-promotions-how-to-get-mod-access

No more "I didn't know" or "but nobody told me"
IGNORANTIA NON EXCUSAT (ignorance is not an excuse)

In detail:
1) Treat others as you would like to be treated.
This includes:
Don't steal another person's mods, do not disregard their efforts. Always ask for permission for anything mod-related that's not made by you, always credit those who help you, always respect other people's wishes, even if it's over a screenshot or a large mod pack.

2) No trolling or flaming
Trolling is the deliberate attempt to bait someone into an argument or "flame war".
Flaming means to excessively attack someone verbally/in writing online.
All reports will be treated with utmost seriousness.

3) No spamming
Spamming is the posting of very short statements (like "lol" "rofl" "nope" "that's great" etc.), the posting of something repeatedly across the forums or consecutively in the same topic, or posting something not related to the topic.
When you post, use more than 3 words.
Preferably use full sentences.
If you appreciate something, explain why you like it.
If you hate something, explain your reasons.
If you have something to add right after you just posted, edit your recent post or wait until somebody posts after you. If you make a double-post, and you don't want to be sanctioned, either by staff or by a normal member who disliked your double-post, you should contact staff to take care of it.

4) No foreign languages
This is an international site but the accepted language is English. Do not post in another language unless you have an exact translation in English at the same time in the same post. You are free to use online translators.
Misspelling and grammar mistakes are okay as long as we understand your message.

5) No thread Necromancy or Bumping
A. Thread Necromancy (or necro) is posting in an old thread that has not had
a post in it for over 1 month, particularly if you bring nothing new to the conversation.
A1. Please check the date of the last post before posting in a topic
A2. Please consider whether your post brings something new, necessary or constructive.
A3. If you just want to say hello or agree to everything else that's been posted, then don't.
<Exception> If it is your topic and you wish to update it with new content, to contribute new information or a well constructed argument, necromancy doesn't apply, so do it.

B. Thread Bumping is when you post in a topic for no other reason than to get it more attention, to "bump" it on top of the forum page, if it hasn't received any replies or if it's been inactive for any given period of time. This regulation also covers limits and exceptions to double-posting (see Rule no.3).
B1. Do not bump any topics (including your own) simply for the purpose of bumping them.
B2. If the bumping post is relevant, don't do it twice in one day; if you have some news or interesting/important/relevant development to a topic, and nobody has posted after your most recent post, you should wait at least 24 hours before posting again. If you don't want to wait, edit your previous post with the new information.
B3. Same 24 hour rule applies concerning content topics. Do not double-post if it's unnecessary (no new content), and if it is necessary (if you have new content to add), wait 24 hours before doing so, or edit your previous post.
<Exception> If you've reached the maximum number of images/post, then you may continue with the rest of the images in a double-post.

6) No thread hijacking
Thread hijacking is the effort to steer people off from the main topic being discussed. Stay on topic as much as possible.
Don't go to a mod release topic and say that a different mod is better or superior in any way or you will be sanctioned.

7) Do not bring up religion or politics
These are sensitive subjects and can often lead to large scale antagonizing arguments which destabilize the community's well-being and friendships. This includes displaying imagery of well known political or religious figures or symbols.

8 ) One account to one person
Registering multiple accounts is forbidden and can result in both accounts being banned. If you cannot access your account due to a forgotten password then please use the password recovery feature.

9) No Authoritarianism or Vigilantism
Authoritarianism is when non-staff members publicly demand people to respect the rules, or otherwise behave as if part of staff, though they are not.

This doesn't mean you're not allowed to help or report members who break the rules.
Sometimes a member may break a rule simply by accident, and the best way to resolve this is for him or her to PM a staff member, in order to avoid sanctions.
If you see anyone else break a rule, do not confront them in the public forums (which would make it Authoritarianism), but PM a staff member to handle them properly. Don't think of it as "snitching" or "ratting out", but as helping keeping the forums clean and in good harmony.

You may, if you so feel capable and well-intended, first send a PM to the rule-breaking member, in a polite, friendly, advisory manner, informing them of the rule that they've broken, and how they should try to fix their post, or, if they can't, that they should PM a Staff member to help them fix it.
It's imperative that if you do this, you do it with a friendly, helpful tone and in private.
This does not apply to whether you agree with someone's opinion or not, but if they're objectively in violation of a rule.

We do not seek to sanction people if it's not necessary, or to embarrass and ostracize them in public. However, if a staff member is inappropriate, or if there's something wrong with the site, you can post a public topic in the Site Feedback section. But regarding other members, should you wish to help them help themselves, in a friendly, non-coercive, non-demanding, cooperative manner, we won't count it as Authoritarianism (or Vigilantism), especially if you do so in private. You may, also, inform staff of your private intervention, and if you did well, on several occasions, you will be considered for a staff position here on GUNetwork.

Vigilantism is when non-staff members impose sanctions, threats or insults to people who break rules, publicly or privately (though privately it may be labelled as harassment), before or after Staff members have intervened in the situation.

Vigilanties (the non-superhero kind) seek to enact their own personal kind of social justice or revenge, or to simply bully people into any sort of submission. Should any non-staff members resort to admonishing or threatening others for breaking certain rules or otherwise doing something wrong on the forums, please report them to a moderator on account of violating this rule. This includes situations of baiting, flaming, trolling and engaging in conflict (see rule no.2).

Addressing non-staff members with this rule doesn't mean that Staff members are allowed to bully members into submission or otherwise be abusive. The GUNetwork Staff does not seek submission from members, but cooperation.
Should anyone, including Staff, act offensive, report them either in the Site Feedback section or to a staff member you consider most fair, most active or most wise. You are, in this instance, nearly obligated to report any abusive staff conduct, whenever it seems their intent is of a more personal note, than a dutiful one, or when their methods or phrasing are questionable.

10) Do not post any pornographic content
Even if it's related to video-games. This includes images and links to porn web sites. We have members of many ages here so do not post something you wouldn't want your own family to see. This isn't Lover's Lab.

11) Do not post anything derogatory or racist
We are a diverse gaming community composed of members from a wide variety of nationalities, ethnicities and races so please take that into consideration when posting. No gender bias either.

12) No posting personal info
This includes street addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, etc. This is because the information will be accessible to anyone. First names and personal photographs are alright, but more than that is on your own risk and GUNetwork is not responsible for it.

13) No illegal activity
This includes organizing DDOS attacks, piracy, and discussing usage of illegal narcotics. Such actions could result in legal repercussions for both the offender and GUN.

14) Do NOT abuse the REPUTATION system.

Do not even the scores, do not seek vengeance or justice.

Do not down-rep the person who downvoted you just out of spite.
If you think you have been unfairly downvoted, report it to staff.
In the same way, do not upvote somebody who upvotes you, simply out of sympathy or mutual courtesy. Do not ask others to upvote you or to downvote another.

ONLY UPVOTE on Deserving posts:
- mod releases
- great screenshots
- achievements, celebrations
- detailed or funny messages
- interesting new topics
- constructive criticism
etc.

DO NOT UPVOTE on posts:
- repeatedly because you like the post author
- made by staff only because they're staff, because you (foolishly) think that will get you promoted quicker (ass-kissers' promotions are delayed by weeks)
- made by yourself (Do not create a duplicate account to boost your reputation on your main account)

ONLY DOWNVOTE on posts:
- with spam or shitposting
- with offensive/rude behavior
- advertising online products or sites
(ex: like adbots directing to Chinese pills or porn sites)

DO NOT give negative rep without specifically telling why in the same topic.
Before you downvote someone for breaking a rule, make sure you report it to a staff member instead, and wait for them to handle it. See Rule 9) for more details.

DO NOT DOWNVOTE on posts:
- simply because you dislike the post author
- expressing a different opinion than yours or disagreeing with your point of view
- written with poor grammar or spelling (not everyone is a native English speaker)
- requesting a mod of any type (unless the member is overtly rude)
- asking a question (as stupid as it sounds to you, he may genuinely not know the answer)
- made by Staff doing their duty (unless it's an abusive action, in which case report it to an Overseer immediately)

We will be monitoring acts of "payback", "favoring" or other rep abuse.
I expect you to understand and be mindful of this rule.
Best way to avoid trouble is to justify every vote you give by making a post about it, explaining it, in the same topic.
We will ban any rep abusers!
*REP SYSTEM HAS BEEN SINCE REMOVED*

15) No Modder Harassment
Members of any group or rank are not allowed to send Private Messages to other members requesting download links or private releases for unreleased or private material.
This rule is for the purpose of protecting mod author's sanity.
Though we understand that patience does not always come easily and that many messages are sent with good intentions to modders, we also recognize that this rule must exist to prevent excessive, unwanted, and even harassing messages.

Any report made by a modder will be taken with utmost interest and severity.
Violation of this rule can result in sanctions up to and including permanent banning from the forum.

16) Decency of UserNames
When creating an account, please be considerate in your choice of terminology.
Do not use lewd, offensive, derogatory, racist, sexist, taboo, political or religious references.
If you have such words or numbers in your username, contact the staff or they will,
with a one-time offer to replace it with a more decent denomination of your own choosing.

If your username is particularly offensive and you do not reply to staff within 24 hours, a new name will be chosen for you, which you will be allowed to change afterwards, once.

This is to ensure that decency and respect for another reflects as much from our posts as from our usernames.

______________________________________________

These RULES & GUIDELINES may be subject to revision.
No sanctions will be applied retroactively, but some changes
to conform to newly implemented rules may be necessary.

By public demand, we've decided to instate a new rule:

15) Members of any group or rank are not allowed to send Private Messages to other members requesting download links or private releases for unreleased or private material.
This rule is for the purpose of protecting mod author's sanity.
Though we understand that patience does not always come easily and that many messages are sent with good intentions to modders, we also recognize that this rule must exist to prevent excessive, unwanted, and even harassing messages.

Any report made by a modder will be taken with utmost interest and severity.
Violation of this rule can result in sanctions up to and including permanent banning from the forum.

GUNetwork thanks you for your understanding.

Because the more members we have, the more issues arise, we have to adapt and improve our regulations and administration. This is reflected today in enhancements to Rules no.5 and 9. Please take note of the newly restructured Rules and of what they imply:
________________________________________________________________________________
Original phrasing:
5) No thread necromancy
Thread necromancy is posting in an old thread that has not had a post in it for over a month, particularly if that post brings nothing new to the topic. Please check the date of the last post before posting yourself and whether your post is necessary anymore.
If it is your topic and you wish to update it, if you wish to contribute new information or a well constructed argument, necromancy doesn't apply, so do it. If you just want to say hello or agree to everything else that's been posted, then don't.

New form:
5) No thread Necromancy or Bumping
A. Thread Necromancy (or necro) is posting in an old thread that has not had
a post in it for over 1 month, particularly if you bring nothing new to the conversation.
A1. Please check the date of the last post before posting in a topic
A2. Please consider whether your post brings something new, necessary or constructive.
A3. If you just want to say hello or agree to everything else that's been posted, then don't.
<Exception> If it is your topic and you wish to update it with new content, to contribute new information or a well constructed argument, necromancy doesn't apply, so do it.

B. Thread Bumping is when you post in a topic for no other reason than to get it more attention, to "bump" it on top of the forum page, if it hasn't received any replies or if it's been inactive for any given period of time. This regulation also covers limits and exceptions to double-posting (see Rule no.3).
B1. Do not bump any topics (including your own) simply for the purpose of bumping them.
B2. If the bumping post is relevant, don't do it twice in one day; if you have some news or interesting/important/relevant development to a topic, and nobody has posted after your most recent post, you should wait at least 24 hours before posting again. If you don't want to wait, edit your previous post with the new information.
B3. Same 24 hour rule applies concerning content topics. Do not double-post if it's unnecessary (no new content), and if it is necessary (if you have new content to add), wait 24 hours before doing so, or edit your previous post.
<Exception> If you've reached the maximum number of images/post, then you may continue with the rest of the images in a double-post.
________________________________________________________________________________

Original phrasing:
9) No forum vigilantism
Forum vigilantism is when someone imposes him/herself as authoritative, threatening, trying to enact their own personal kind of social justice, enact revenge or simply bullying people into any sort of submission. Should anyone act as a staff member when they're not, by offensively admonishing or threatening others for breaking certain rules or otherwise doing something wrong on the forums, please report them to a moderator on account of violating this rule. Also, you are obliged to report any abusive staff conduct, whenever it seems their intent is of a more personal note, than a dutiful one.

New form:
9) No Authoritarianism or Vigilantism
Authoritarianism is when non-staff members publicly demand people to respect the rules, or otherwise behave as if part of staff, though they are not.

This doesn't mean you're not allowed to help or report members who break the rules.
Sometimes a member may break a rule simply by accident, and the best way to resolve this is for him or her to PM a staff member, in order to avoid sanctions.
If you see anyone else break a rule, do not confront them in the public forums (which would make it Authoritarianism), but PM a staff member to handle them properly. Don't think of it as "snitching" or "ratting out", but as helping keeping the forums clean and in good harmony.

You may, if you so feel capable and well-intended, first send a PM to the rule-breaking member, in a polite, friendly, advisory manner, informing them of the rule that they've broken, and how they should try to fix their post, or, if they can't, that they should PM a Staff member to help them fix it.
It's imperative that if you do this, you do it with a friendly, helpful tone and in private.
This does not apply to whether you agree with someone's opinion or not, but if they're objectively in violation of a rule.

We do not seek to sanction people if it's not necessary, or to embarrass and ostracize them in public. Should you wish to help them help themselves, in a friendly, non-coercive, non-demanding, cooperative manner, we won't count it as Authoritarianism (or Vigilantism), especially if you do so in private. You may, also, inform staff of your private intervention, and if you did well, on several occasions, you will be considered for a staff position here on GUNetwork.

Vigilantism is when non-staff members impose sanctions, threats or insults to people who break rules, publicly or privately (though privately it may be labelled as harrassment), before or after Staff members have intervened in the situation.

Vigilanties (the non-superhero kind) seek to enact their own personal kind of social justice or revenge, or to simply bully people into any sort of submission. Should any non-staff members resort to admonishing or threatening others for breaking certain rules or otherwise doing something wrong on the forums, please report them to a moderator on account of violating this rule. This includes situations of baiting, flaming, trolling and engaging in conflict (see rule no.2).

Addressing non-staff members with this rule doesn't mean that Staff members are allowed to bully members into submission or otherwise be abusive. The GUNetwork Staff does not seek submission from members, but cooperation.
Should anyone, including Staff, act offensive, report them to the staff member you consider most fair, most active or most wise. You are, in this instance, obligated to report any abusive staff conduct, whenever it seems their intent is of a more personal note, than a dutiful one, or when their methods or phrasing are questionable.
________________________________________________________________________________


This reply is a prime example of Necromancy and Bumping within ruly limits:
With it I've "necroed" a topic in which there haven't been any replies for over a month (point A.) but I did so according to the <Exception>, because this particular post has updated the subject discussed here with new content, new relevant information, which has a constructive effect towards the purpose of this topic.
When I've considered posting this reply here, I've weighed the necessity of it according to subpoint A2. and found that the update was necessary :0kay: because the act of "Topic Bumping" wasn't addressed directly in the Rules before, and because Vigilantism needed a clearer explanation.

This same reply also served the purpose to bring attention to the topic, thus addressing point B., of Bumping,
but I did so according to subpoint B2., because it was made after much more than 24 hours from my last reply

I hope the hands-on example helped you understand the matter much better.

Now, remember Rule no.9 as well:
If you break these (or any other rules) by accident, PM a staff member to avoid sanctions.
If you see anyone else break this rule (or any others), do not confront them in the public forums (which would make it authoritarianism, or worse even, by insult or offense, vigilantism), but PM a staff member to handle them properly.
We do not want to sanction people if it's not necessary, or to embarrass them unwarrantably.

If you still have questions about this or any other issues, PM me or any staff member for clarification. If you have suggestions for it or any of the other rules, post them in a topic under the subforum for Site Suggestions & Feedback

Demotions and repromotions:

The demotions intervenes every 13th of the month, this sanctions the members who have reached the rank of Colonial
and who visit the site, but who do not post anymore and the fact become lurkers.
This comes after 3 months visit without writing a post.

Because if a member has time to download a mod, he has time to make a post.

We have enough different categories outside the mods (screenshots, sports, car, music ....) to participate in the community by leaving a post.

However, if a member no longer visits the site because he does not have the time, he keeps his rank unlimited.

The repromotions are exactly the same as a promotion but are intended for members who have lost their rank of Colonial
and who decided, by increasing their activity on the site, to regain their rank.


GUNetwork thanks you for your activity and understanding.

... and more issues arise. Lately we've noticed the necessity of username regulation.
So now I announce the implementation of Rule 16:

16) When creating an account, please be considerate in your choice of terminology.
Do not use lewd, offensive, derogatory, racist, sexist, taboo or religious references.
If you have such words or numbers in your username, contact the staff or they will,
with a one-time offer to replace it with a more decent denomination of your own choosing.

Concerning the length of your account name, choose a rather moderate name which prevents page stretching problems for those
who have a low-powered computer.

If your username is particularly offensive and you do not reply to @DVAted within 24 hours, a new name will be chosen for you, which you will be allowed to change afterwards, once.

This is to ensure that decency and respect for another
reflects as much from our posts as from our usernames.
_____________________________________________________

I trust that everything is simple, clear and reasonable.
If you have any questions or wish to change your username, PM me

... and more issues arise. Lately we've noticed the necessity of specificity on reputation given, so I've enhanced rule 14) from:

Spoiler:

into:

Spoiler:

_____________________________________________________

I trust that everything is simple, clear and reasonable.
If you have any questions or wish to add anything to it, PM me
Cheers!