The Official Board Rules

[RincewindTheWiz]

FileForums is a group of forums to find help on backing up your own legally bought PC/console games and making these backups work. You must OWN the game to ask questions, otherwise you will get banned! Besides the rules below, that apply to all forums, you may find some more rules in the stickies of the respective forums, as well.

1. Do not discuss warez! Do not ask where to download illegal copies of PC/console games or how to make them work. Warez means not having the original CD/DVD, for reasons including but not limited to:
   • not having as many separately purchased original CD's/DVD's as the number of computers the game has been/is being installed on (see the EULA!);
   • the original CD/DVD being the wrong version, language or region (EU/UK/US/etc.);
   • the original CD/DVD having been damaged or broken for any reason (kids, pets, damaged CD/DVD drive etc.);
   • the original CD/DVD having been rented from a shop, borrowed from someone, lent to someone, or left at another place;
   • having no compatible or properly working CD/DVD drive or having no CD/DVD drive at all.
   Also, don't ask for any help concerning the following:
   • Making the online downloadable form (so called "digital download") of games – that need to be activated later, upon the actual purchase – work longer or, in any way, differently than the publisher meant them to. These don't need an actual CD/DVD, that can be broken or lost, anyway.
   • Using cracks in a commercial environment such as rentals, internet/cyber cafes, commercial LAN parties etc.! Instead, contact the publisher for an official solution that allows you to install/play the games without using actual CD's/DVD's.
   Questions about downloaded or otherwise illegally obtained/used versions of games are related to obviously illegal activity; your thread will be closed and you will be banned!
2. Do not request CD/DVD-keys or serials! If you bought the game then you own a unique serial; use it! If it doesn't work, contact the publisher instead. Also, don't include real CD-keys/serials in any of your posts, for any reason.
   Such questions are related to obviously illegal activity; your thread will be closed and you will be banned!
3. Do not request original game files or registry entries! As you are supposed to have the original CD/DVD (see rule #1), reinstall the game, to get the files or registry entries back.
   If the CD/DVD is damaged, contact the publisher and they will send you a replacement, usually for a small fee.
4. Search on the forum before asking. The best way to find answers to your question is to search for the name of the game you need help with (see the Search button in the menu at the top of every page) and to read the FAQ's and other stickies of the forum first as your question may have already been answered. Also, if you found a related thread, don't open a new thread; add your post into the already existing one instead.
   Too many threads about the same game only add garbage to the forum; some of the new threads may get closed!
5. Use English language only. All posts in this forum must be made in English.
   This is an international forum, where the common language is English; non-English post may get closed or deleted!
6. Give crackers a reasonable amount of time for releasing cracks. Do not request a crack for a game (update) that has been released within two weeks. Before requesting a crack, make sure to check GameCopyWorld and other sites listed in the respective forum FAQ's and/or stickies.
   Because of today's sophisticated copy protections, some games may take several months to crack (properly), therefore such questions only add garbage to the forum; such threads will be closed!
7. No flaming or insulting other board members! The majority of people here are trying to help and they do that free of charge. If that help is not sufficient then do not attack because of it.
   Forum members flaming or insulting others may get banned!
8. Do not bump. Don't send meaningless posts – "why noone replies?", "I also have this problem", "(does anyone know) when will this problem be solved?", "(does anyone know if) someone is working on a solution for this problem?" etc. – into any thread, only to push it back onto the top of the thread list, if you have no useful information to add. If you want to add information to your previous post, consider using the "Edit" button at the right bottom corner of your post instead.
   Such posts only add garbage to the forum; they may get deleted!
9. Do not post off-topic questions or information. For general questions/problems related to games, computing etc., use the General Gaming or other forums in the Off Topic group.
   Off-topic posts only add garbage to the forum; they will be moved to the other forums.
10. Report posts breaking the rules. If you see any of these rules being broken, don't hesitate to report the post to the moderators (see the small traffic sign, with an exclamation mark in it, at the top right corner of every post).
11. The moderators are ALWAYS right! Do not piss off the moderators by complaining about moderation – closing/moving/deleting threads, deleting posts, banning users – as, if you were the victim, this may make the situation even worse for you.
12. Do not advertise! It is forbidden to advertise anything that includes links to any website, unless it is clearly informative! Also, do not advertise game servers, game modifications or other software or service, be it free or paid! If you want to advertise at FileForums then go to MediaTarget instead.
    Advertising only adds garbage to the forum; your thread will be closed and you will be banned!

Threads/posts breaking these rules will be closed/deleted. Users breaking rules #1, #2, #7 and #12 will get banned temporarily; this usually lasts for two weeks or, according to the judgement of the moderator, longer or shorter, depending on the seriousness of the offense. Serious and repeat offenders of any rule will be permanently banned and will not be unbanned. Also, don't bother to try to avoid a ban by creating another account because that new account of yours will also be banned.

These rules may seem very strict, but they've proven necessary for maintaining order on a forum with this much traffic.

Simplified PS2 Forum rulesThe Official Forum Rules
READ it as abusers get BANNED!