Forums of the Megaverse®

The idea behind the Palladium website is to have fun and share our gaming experiences. We enjoy everyone to share their experiences, ideas and thoughts with their fellow gamers and to create a worldwide community of gamers. Unfortunately, some visitors push the limits of good taste and social etiquette, requiring us to post some rules and guidelines. Please take the following guidelines in the spirit they were intended, which is to create a fun and positive experience and the opportunity to share and exchange ideas in a predominantly positive and pleasant online environment. The Palladium Books staff and the volunteers who monitor the Bulletin Boards appreciate your cooperation and welcome your comments and suggestions. You agree, through your use of this service, that you will NOT use this BB to post any material which is knowingly illegal, false and/or defamatory, slanderous, inaccurate, abusive, demeaning, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually lurid or offensive, salacious, threatening, an invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise a violation of any law. You further agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by this BB or you have written authorization by the author/copyright holder (and able to provide this authorization if requested by Palladium Books). That includes conversion rules for comic book, film and literary characters such as Star Wars, and other company's game rules. Thank you.

Offensive material/postings. Considering the real-time nature of this bulletin board, it is impossible for us to confirm the validity of information posted. Please remember that we actively monitor the contents of posted messages, but cannot be held responsible for any messages posted. Palladium Books and the website moderators cannot and do NOT vouch for nor warrant the accuracy, truth, completeness or usefulness of any message. The messages express are the views of the author/poster, and are NOT necessarily the views of this Bulletin Board (BB), Palladium Books Inc., the moderators or any person or entity associated with this BB. We strongly encourage any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable to contact us immediately by email. We will try to promptly review the questionable material and, in our sole-discretion, take quick and appropriate action to remedy the situation. Palladium Books and the volunteer moderators on the BB, will, in their sole discretion, make the final determination of what is deemed appropriate or not. Palladium Books and its moderators, have the right and the ability to remove anything we deem to be objectionable or inappropriate, for any reason. We will make every effort to do so quickly, however, how quickly depend on a number of factors and we may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately.

You, the posters, are ultimately responsible for the content of your messages, and by posting on the Bulletin Board, agree to indemnify and hold harmless Palladium Books, the BB, phpBB Group (the makers of the bulletin board software), and their agents, with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s). We at this BB also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action rising from any message posted by you. Please remember that this is a gaming board visited by people of all ages, young and old, from around the world. Our goal is to create a fun, exciting environment where gamers feel welcome and part of something special. Please try to exercise courtesy, tolerance and kindness when expressing your views and dealing with those with contrary opinions. Tolerance for others and their views is encouraged.

Please read the following rules explaining what is not allowed on our message boards.

1. SPAM
just what is SPAM? There are those that say SPAM is an acronym, short for Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages. There are many kinds of SPAM, though none of them are wanted on the boards. One type is consecutive posting. As phpBB (the board software) has an EDIT feature, you should have no problem simply adding to your own previous posts. There is no need to have one after the other.

• In some cases consecutive posting is recommended. When posting an idea or topic that is very large, it is recommended that this be split up into multiple posts for ease of reading.
• Replying to multiple replies in the same topic. It is recommended that you edit one reply rather than replying to each individual point or reply you wish to address. Quoting multiple replies can be done in one single reply, even if they're from different replies on the topic.
• Posting the same message to multiple forums. This is also SPAM and it is discouraged. If you've got a topic and it fits several categories, pick the top two most appropriate forums and post it there. Posting to more than two forums will result in the excess topics being removed.
• Another kind of SPAM is worthless posts that have but one sentence and "explain" nothing. Please note the keyword "explain." If you have something to say, back it up with thoughts and reasons. Simply posting to agree or disagree tends to be a waste. If the thread starter wants that simple of an opinion, he may start a Poll.
• Personal and conversation type threads and posts that have nothing to do with the topic are not wanted here either. Unless your topic is one that everyone or a rather large group of people can participate in, either do not post it or leave it in "Private Messages" or go to a "chat room." Do not relay personal messages and information on the "open" boards unless they pertain to the topic of the thread. Threads opened to create simple conversation will be removed. If you want to chat, use the Palladium chatrooms or an Instant Message client.
• Do not bump threads to keep them alive. If people are interested in it, they will see and respond to the tread. Putting it back at the top of the list is annoying and a waste. If something is that important to read, a moderator will "Sticky" it.
• And last but not least, please do NOT post in languages other than ENGLISH without providing an "accurate and true translation" for everyone else to read and understand. Yes, this includes l337.

2. Flaming/ Harrassment
Flaming is malicious posting, either intended to draw an argument or present an insult. These kinds of posts are not appreciated, highly disruptive and unwelcome. Engaging in FLAMING/harassment WILL result in quick warnings followed by stronger action if necessary.. Making a post insulting or degrading someone for having a belief, opinion, or lifestyle that is different than your own is flaming. Egging someone on to provoke them into lashing back with a flame post is called "flame-baiting" and is also not welcomed.

To keep the issue simple, when responding to a post, always respond to the topic at hand, not the way someone posts, thinks, or lives.

Additionally, do not harass, threaten, embarrass, defame, slander or do anything else to other board members that is unwanted by repeatedly private messaging them or singling them out in the open forums. This means: don't say bad things about them; don't attack their character, race, heritage, religion, politics, etc. If you disagree with someone, respond to the subject at hand and try to avoid name calling, mockery and mean spirited posts. Repeated unwanted posting towards a BB member who does not welcome it will be considered "harassment." Repeated reporting of a post or posts you personally don't agree with is also considered harassment.

3. Explicit/Illegal/Offensive Material
Creating posts or posts with "links" that contain explicit material such as anything resembling pornography, illegal activities (including, but not limited to peer-to-peer file sharing), profanity, or content that is deemed to be offensive by Palladium staff, management and/or board moderators/administrators, will be deleted on sight and you will be warned. This includes posts which include, or require, a warning for the post or link. Please note that downloading copyrighted material from unauthorized sources is considered an "illegal" activity. Users caught posting about pirated PDF-format RPG material or any published work will be banned on sight. The ONLY exception to this rule is discussing illegal activities in a purely gaming context. Examples: A Juicer's drug harness, the Chi-Town Black Market, etc. Just keep these in their designated forums.

Foul language will not be tolerated unless all letters of the word are replaced by substitute characters. If you would like to censor a word, use symbols to cover it up completely. That means every letter must be masked. For example, $#!^ is acceptable. $h!t is not. In no way should there EVER be letters or numbers used. Please do not engage in prolific foul language use, such as "#*()$% ^!*()# *^() it all to #@**," regardless of covering up the entire word. In other words, please do not be excessive. If it takes that many symbols to cover up what you need to say, just don't bother saying it. Remember, families, parents, and children visit these boards and we want all people/gamers to feel welcome and comfortable. So please be courteous and use self- restraint. Thank you.

Any message or content that is written with the deliberate intent to harass, berate, belittle, insult or in anyway disparage another member of these boards will be deleted, and is usually an indication that you need to leave the boards and cool off. Give yourself a time out. When you come back, try to be reasonable and if you post, refrain from name calling and profanity. Win your point by being clever and amusing, or just the bigger person.

Transmitting or facilitating the distribution of content that is harmful, illegal, bigoted, vulgar, sexually explicit or degrading, or disparaging of any race, religion or person is deemed objectionable by Palladium Books, management and/or board moderators/administrators and will NOT be tolerated. Community standards may vary, but there is no place on these boards where hate speech is acceptable or tolerated. Again, think about others, be courteous and tolerant. We're all gamers after all, and isn't that the bigger picture.

4. Advertising
Posting chain letters, pyramid schemes or advertisements for the sole purpose of making profit or any sort of gain other than "sharing news and information" is unwelcome and will be deleted. Giving a review or opinion on a particular product is always welcomed, so long as it is kept in the designated forum, is presented as a personal viewpoint/opinion and refrains for name calling, trash talking and profanity. Please note that the moderators will use their discretion and may remove any advertising topic, review or posting they feel is inappropriate for the forum.

5. False Identity & Account Names
Do not pretend to be anyone you are not. You may not impersonate a Palladium Books moderator or employee. Additionally, you are only entitled to "one account." Additional accounts will be "purged" and you will be "banned."

Do not create names that violate any of the other board rules. If you do, your account name will be changed to something more appropriate and you will receive an email stating your new name. Should you choose to change it back to something else offensive or inappropriate, you will be banned.

6. Conversions
Posting the conversion (adaptation) of non-Palladium intellectual property to the Palladium Books game system will not be tolerated. Sorry. And in the same way,
Palladium property may not be converted to other game systems. For a longer explanation of this policy, read on.

7. Palladium Books Copyrighted Material
No part of Palladium's publications/books may be reproduced, in part or whole, in any form or by any means, without permission from the publisher, except for brief quotes for use in reviews. This means you may not ask to have rules posted or stats posted just because you don't own the book. If you want that info buy the book. You can post the rule from a book in answer to a question, but please be brief or paraphrase the rule. In short. Just stick to your rule in question. Do not post entire books or multiple pages, PDF files, artwork, etc. If someone is asking where a rule can be found, it is preferred that you post the book title, page number, and where on that page the information can be found, rather than quoting it out of the book in its entirety. We cannot grant permission to use or create derivative works from, or to take any of Palladium Books' registered trademarks, copyrighted materials and intellectual properties for commercial use or distribution, or financial gain. Individuals and companies looking to "license" a Palladium intellectual property are invited to contact the company directly and discuss the possibilities. A separate, written agreement between you and Palladium will always be required to use any of its trademarks, copyrighted works or intellectual properties. Also because of other licensing agreements that Palladium is actively working on, please note that permission to play online and post derivative works does not include permission to create, publish, and distribute any computer programs, whether they are computer games or computer character generators.

Please consider this paragraph your formal "limited license" to use Palladium copyrighted text and trademarks solely for your own "personal" and "limited use" and enjoyment on the net and other on-line services. In addition, Palladium grants you a "limited license" to create news works which are derivative of Palladium copyrighted text, so long as the resulting "derivative works" are for your "personal use" on the net or other online services, for personal fun, NOT for financial gain, is NOT published, sold, or actively distributed, and has the following statement, "The world, characters, likenesses, rules, titles, names, publications, trademarks and copyrights related to all Palladium Publications are owned and licensed exclusively by Palladium Books Inc.; all rights reserved, worldwide." Thank you.