Administrators, Managers, and the Moderation Team try to patrol as much of the boards as possible, but can't read it all. If you find a post that is inappropriate, report it and they will look into it as quickly as possible. Do not involve yourself. It's simple and keeps you out of flame wars and out of trouble.
Do not, under any circumstances, publicly discuss moderation about threads, members, social groups, visitor messages, albums, and/or blogs in any public venue. PM the moderation manager if you feel you have been unfairly treated (see our team page) or the community manager if you need a different contact.
We operate on a basis of staff discretion, what this means is not all moderators or staff members will act exactly the same to certain situations. We are not machines and for the most part are volunteers. These are the site guidelines, they obviously cannot cover every situation, but if you post something not directly covered here and we still feel like it's against the spirit of the thread or the forums we can and will remove it.
However if you do feel that it was wrongly removed then PM our moderation team about the situation and we will review it.
In general most offenses will either issue a one point infraction, though not limited to, or a warning which doesn't add to your infraction bar, it merely serves as a notification to you that it's not okay to continue the action and it is kept logged for staff to view when dealing with you in the future.
Automatic actions will be taken at certain amounts of infraction points:
This section should be very self explanatory, DiabloFans operates on general common sense netiquette. We will not tolerate threads made solely to complain or any kind of ridiculous trolling (posts made to provoke a person or a group of people).
Do not make personal attacks against another user based on anything and do not flame. Personal attacks will not be taken lightly.
Sometimes discussion steers threads into a different direction than the original post. That is fine. What is not fine is purposely entering a thread and steering it in a different direction to derail it. If you enter a thread about how great kittens are and start telling everyone kittens are terrible and puppies are better, that is derailing. On the same line of thinking though, if you enter a thread about how bad a puppy is and you wish it would stop making messes in the floor and someone comes in and says puppies are fine you're a moron, that's also not okay.
Remember to not take part and report it instead, it will keep you out of trouble.
Our forums are not an advertising platform. Do not create a thread to advertise your stream or attempt to advertise your stream otherwise - we will delete such threads/posts without a notification.
If you have created a video about any Diablo 3 content, be it a class guide, footage of you killing monsters, or a discussion about the game's features, feel free to post this on our forums. However, please note the following rules:
A user is allowed to post a video, only if the video is used to to start up a topic with a meaningful and constructive discussion.
The post that contains the video must have all the important information in text form as well, such that members who can't watch the video can participate in the discussion as well. In particular, if you're showcasing a new build, make sure to post a link to your build (for example by using our Build tool or the official build calculator).
The video and its contents must be in line with the forum rules as well as Blizzard's Terms of Service.
Video threads that we feel are just about advertising your channel and do not provide basis for a constructive and meaningful discussion will be deleted without a notification.
Also, please note that our forum is primarily intended to be a platform for discussion - so even if you're a content creator, make sure to also participate in discussions when you're posting videos. We do not have an official rule or ratio of "threads vs posts" or "video vs discussion posts" numbers, but we do keep an eye on this and will notify you if we think the ratio is getting out of hand. If you want to post multiple videos please make a thread and reply to add new videos (or edit the last post - see our bumping rules).
In general, we do not allow advertising on our site. If you have inquiry that might be related to advertising your content please contact our moderation team about it first. It will then be discussed with other members of the staff and a decision will be made. We reserve the right to refuse for any reasons we choose and are not obligated to explain them. We will never allow advertisement to sites for monetary gain, only ones providing meaningful discussion for our members and relevant topics.
If anyone posts any links to any guides of the sort that are not free and have any sort of strings attached or monetary gain behind them, you will be banned without warning. This includes links in posts, links in your profile, links in your signature, links in reported PMs, or anywhere else. This also includes linking to your blog, Facebook, MySpace, a Youtube video or anything else that provides links to where someone would be selling a guide.
If you are making a guide to help people or just to show friends, whatever, that is fine. I repeat though, if you're charging for your expertise on the matter, you will be banned. This is not a site to advertise on.
Builds in our builds section can be upvoted or downvoted, and you're free to share the link to friends (outside of Diablofans) and ask them to upvote your build. Note however that we have a close watch on potential issues of vote manipulation - i.e., attempts of any kind to artificially inflate (or lower) the vote count on any given build. Vote manipulation will result in 2 infraction points, removal of all associated votes on the build in question, and a ban to accounts who have been identified as being abused for the purpose of vote manipulation. We cannot reveal the specifics on how we go about identifying acts of vote manipulation - but rest assured that such actions will not go unsanctioned.
A "bump" is a post in a thread with the purpose to bring this thread to the top of a particular forum list. We do not allow excessive bumping, and while in most forums (e.g., General Discussion) we might be lenient from time to time, please give forums users some time (a few days) before you bump. However, in the clan forums we have a strict 7 day rule. That means if the last post in you clan thread is more recent than 7 days, you are not allowed to post there (even if you have updated information - update the first and/or last post then).
The use of videos and excessively animated (read: seizure-invoking) images within signatures is prohibited. Do note that you are allowed to use animated images, just not ones that are obscenely animated.
Note that this is primarily an English community. Posting in public forums (as well as status updates) in languages other than English is considered spam and will be removed. Private manners, such as PM's and wall comments are allowed, as long as both parties are in agreement.
Although those are not the official forums, we do not allow any threads or posts that are against the Terms of Service of Blizzard or their games either. This includes, but is not limited to, the following activities:
Do not post about trading Blizzard accounts or CD keys.
Do not offer to sell items or services.
Do not post about Blizzard or Activision piracy, we will not tolerate either. As far as other games go... Don't ask, don't tell.
Do not offer or ask for account sharing.
Do not post links to third party software that, when being used, might get you banned.
Do not post exploits, or links to videos or threads showcasing exploits.
Any such violations will be moderated without a warning (threads/posts will be locked or deleted and infractions/bans might be issued).
These are the behavior guidelines we intend to hold our staff members to. If they violate these, please contact the staff member's manager or an administrator. If you are interested in being a Staff member, please understand that you will be held to stricter standards than the rest of the community.
Staff members are official representatives of DiabloFans and should act accordingly. For this reason, staff members must never be found threatening the integrity of the staff team by breaking any of our regular rules.
Since staff members are representatives of the site they are entitled the respect that comes with that responsibility. If any user shows flagrant disregard or disrespect for a moderator performing their duties please let an administrator know.
Staff members should never carry out personal agendas with their privileges. If you feel there is a conflict of interest, please report the post or contact a manager or administrator.
Reported Posts should be responded to as promptly as possible. Staff members should try to follow reported problems back to where they started and take the appropriate actions.
Forum Guidelines
In addition to the rules below, we also abide by the Twitch Community Guidelines
Index
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Reporting Posts
Administrators, Managers, and the Moderation Team try to patrol as much of the boards as possible, but can't read it all. If you find a post that is inappropriate, report it and they will look into it as quickly as possible. Do not involve yourself. It's simple and keeps you out of flame wars and out of trouble.
Do not, under any circumstances, publicly discuss moderation about threads, members, social groups, visitor messages, albums, and/or blogs in any public venue. PM the moderation manager if you feel you have been unfairly treated (see our team page) or the community manager if you need a different contact.
Site Guidelines
Staff Discretion
We operate on a basis of staff discretion, what this means is not all moderators or staff members will act exactly the same to certain situations. We are not machines and for the most part are volunteers. These are the site guidelines, they obviously cannot cover every situation, but if you post something not directly covered here and we still feel like it's against the spirit of the thread or the forums we can and will remove it.
However if you do feel that it was wrongly removed then PM our moderation team about the situation and we will review it.
Warning and Infractions
In general most offenses will either issue a one point infraction, though not limited to, or a warning which doesn't add to your infraction bar, it merely serves as a notification to you that it's not okay to continue the action and it is kept logged for staff to view when dealing with you in the future.
Automatic actions will be taken at certain amounts of infraction points:
Trolling & Flaming
This section should be very self explanatory, DiabloFans operates on general common sense netiquette. We will not tolerate threads made solely to complain or any kind of ridiculous trolling (posts made to provoke a person or a group of people).
Do not make personal attacks against another user based on anything and do not flame. Personal attacks will not be taken lightly.
Off-topic/Derailing/Hijacking
Sometimes discussion steers threads into a different direction than the original post. That is fine. What is not fine is purposely entering a thread and steering it in a different direction to derail it. If you enter a thread about how great kittens are and start telling everyone kittens are terrible and puppies are better, that is derailing. On the same line of thinking though, if you enter a thread about how bad a puppy is and you wish it would stop making messes in the floor and someone comes in and says puppies are fine you're a moron, that's also not okay.
Remember to not take part and report it instead, it will keep you out of trouble.
Videos and Streams
Our forums are not an advertising platform. Do not create a thread to advertise your stream or attempt to advertise your stream otherwise - we will delete such threads/posts without a notification.
If you have created a video about any Diablo 3 content, be it a class guide, footage of you killing monsters, or a discussion about the game's features, feel free to post this on our forums. However, please note the following rules:
Video threads that we feel are just about advertising your channel and do not provide basis for a constructive and meaningful discussion will be deleted without a notification.
Also, please note that our forum is primarily intended to be a platform for discussion - so even if you're a content creator, make sure to also participate in discussions when you're posting videos. We do not have an official rule or ratio of "threads vs posts" or "video vs discussion posts" numbers, but we do keep an eye on this and will notify you if we think the ratio is getting out of hand. If you want to post multiple videos please make a thread and reply to add new videos (or edit the last post - see our bumping rules).
Advertising
In general, we do not allow advertising on our site. If you have inquiry that might be related to advertising your content please contact our moderation team about it first. It will then be discussed with other members of the staff and a decision will be made. We reserve the right to refuse for any reasons we choose and are not obligated to explain them. We will never allow advertisement to sites for monetary gain, only ones providing meaningful discussion for our members and relevant topics.
If anyone posts any links to any guides of the sort that are not free and have any sort of strings attached or monetary gain behind them, you will be banned without warning. This includes links in posts, links in your profile, links in your signature, links in reported PMs, or anywhere else. This also includes linking to your blog, Facebook, MySpace, a Youtube video or anything else that provides links to where someone would be selling a guide.
If you are making a guide to help people or just to show friends, whatever, that is fine. I repeat though, if you're charging for your expertise on the matter, you will be banned. This is not a site to advertise on.
Vote Manipulation
Builds in our builds section can be upvoted or downvoted, and you're free to share the link to friends (outside of Diablofans) and ask them to upvote your build. Note however that we have a close watch on potential issues of vote manipulation - i.e., attempts of any kind to artificially inflate (or lower) the vote count on any given build. Vote manipulation will result in 2 infraction points, removal of all associated votes on the build in question, and a ban to accounts who have been identified as being abused for the purpose of vote manipulation. We cannot reveal the specifics on how we go about identifying acts of vote manipulation - but rest assured that such actions will not go unsanctioned.
Bumping
A "bump" is a post in a thread with the purpose to bring this thread to the top of a particular forum list. We do not allow excessive bumping, and while in most forums (e.g., General Discussion) we might be lenient from time to time, please give forums users some time (a few days) before you bump. However, in the clan forums we have a strict 7 day rule. That means if the last post in you clan thread is more recent than 7 days, you are not allowed to post there (even if you have updated information - update the first and/or last post then).
Signatures/Avatars
The use of videos and excessively animated (read: seizure-invoking) images within signatures is prohibited. Do note that you are allowed to use animated images, just not ones that are obscenely animated.
Language Barrier
Note that this is primarily an English community. Posting in public forums (as well as status updates) in languages other than English is considered spam and will be removed. Private manners, such as PM's and wall comments are allowed, as long as both parties are in agreement.
Illegal Activities and Violations of the Terms of Service
Although those are not the official forums, we do not allow any threads or posts that are against the Terms of Service of Blizzard or their games either. This includes, but is not limited to, the following activities:
Any such violations will be moderated without a warning (threads/posts will be locked or deleted and infractions/bans might be issued).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Staff Guidelines
These are the behavior guidelines we intend to hold our staff members to. If they violate these, please contact the staff member's manager or an administrator. If you are interested in being a Staff member, please understand that you will be held to stricter standards than the rest of the community.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
If you have any further questions, please post a thread in the Site Suggestions and Questions forum.