Rules and Regulations

The following apply to all parts of Return to Olympus - the forums, members' profiles, private messages, etc.

Every person is granted one account. A person is not permitted have more than one account. Administrators have the ability to find out if a person does have additional accounts, and if such is discovered, a penalty can be issued. If you become dissatisfied with your display name, you can change it. The Administration will not ban or delete your account so you can create a new one - behave in such a way that you don't regret the consequences. If you lose access to your account, do not make a new one; simply email the staff and we will work with you to help you regain access.

You are responsible for all actions performed by your account. Keep your password safe and make sure that it is strong. Make sure you log out if you're using a computer that is public or shared among family and friends. The Staff will not accept the excuse, 'my brother/my friend/some random stranger did that, not me!' We have no way of easily determining if you are telling the truth, so be prepared to accept the consequences if someone else gains access to your account through a fault of your own.

Registering an account is an acknowledgement that you intend to follow the rules and decorum of Return to Olympus and are legally able to do so. The Administration reserves the right to alter, enforce, add, or waive any rules for any specific member at any time.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Rules

• Respect your fellow members. Time to be cliche: treat others as you wish to be treated. You should not degrade, insult, or make fun of anyone on this site.
• Respect the Staff. They have been chosen by the Administration to enforce the rules. You will listen to what they say. If they ask people to stop posting, stop. If they ask you to remove something that is inappropriate, remove it.
• We do not condone intolerance. If a member treats another member with disdain or contempt because of race, religious preference, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or a similar quality or belief, the member will face administrative action up to and including banning if severe enough.
• There is no flaming. Flaming makes for a negative atmosphere and it will not be tolerated. That means you should avoid yelling at and needlessly criticizing other members.
• There is no trolling. Trying to force someone into an argument is not allowed.
• No pornographic, sexually offensive, sexually explicit, or objectifying material. Sexually suggestive images will be heavily scrutinized. We'd like for our readers to be able to read the forum at work and at home without fear of retribution. If it's not something you'd see walking down the street or in the normal course of public life – don’t use it.
• No blatantly juvenile toilet humor. Talk about what you do to relieve yourself, although popular (for some odd reason) is not needed here.
• Political sigs, posts, and PMs are not allowed. Religious signatures are permitted but only in an identifying way: "Proud to be a Christian" is permitted but "God Hates Gays" is not.
• Do not bypass the word filter under any circumstances. Whatever the word, phrase, or link, if it's in the filter it's there for a reason. That said, attempts to bypass the filter or talking about something that is filtered without direct mentioning it ('that one site') is just as bad as using the filtered word, if not worse. Doing so is grounds for administrative action.
• Do not revive old threads. If you want to continue a discussion from an old thread, create a new thread and reference the old one in your opening post.
• Do not double post. Posting two or more times in a row is not necessary. There is an edit button for all posts you make, and it should be used.
• Post in the right forum. Even if it's only humor, an observation, or angst, if it's about something that we have a forum for, post it there. Resist the temptation to post something off topic because you think you'll get "better responses" in a particular forum.
• Use descriptive subject lines and research your post. This reduces the chances of double-posting, and it also makes it easier for people to see what they do/don't want to read. Also, scan the subjects of the last several days' posts to make sure you aren't duplicating posts. Also, consider what forum your topic should be posted in. If you think something you want to post may have been discussed before, search for it!
• Do not post a topic with partial information. Don't post a topic with only part of the point you want to make and state that you will post the rest of your thought later or when a certain amount of people reply. That's a form of spamming and is not allowed.
• Do not post if you have nothing to add. If you don't know the answer to a question or have nothing to add to a discussion - DON'T POST. This is considered spam and will result in your posts getting deleted. Repeated offenses may result in administrative action.
• Don't say, 'close if dupe.' Other similar phrases include, 'move if in wrong forum,' or, 'if not allowed...' The staff know how to close and move topics as needed. If you're not sure if something is a duplicate, search. If you think it might be in the wrong forum, ask someone. If you think it's not allowed, you probably shouldn't post it.
• Don't say, 'first to post.' That phrase will be filtered. This goes for 'second to post,' etc. These kinds of messages are spam and will not be tolerated.
  
  

Penalties

First things first: when it comes to the rules above, you are to obey the rulings of the Staff in all cases. If you have an issue or a question about a particular decision, contact the Staff Member who made it. If you are still not satisfied, contact an Administrator. The judgment of the Administration is final in all cases.

Methods of policy enforcement:

When a member violates these guidelines action can be taken. These are some of the methods of action:

• Reprimand by a Staff Member. This is just a simple talking-to. It is basically a warning not to repeat the offending action.
• Suspension. A break from posting because of a rule violation. Suspension can last anywhere from a few days to indefinite suspension.
• Banning. Banning means that you are no longer permitted to participate in Return to Olympus. Once a member has been banned it is permanent and cannot be reversed by anyone except the Administrator who performed the banning.
• Legal action. Legal action is not out of the question if property destruction occurs because of malicious behavior such as hacking transmitting viruses. You can be traced in all the actions you perform, so think twice about doing anything serious. We have no problem with throwing a mischievous 14-year-old in jail should they cause damage.
  

We, the Staff of Return to Olympus, thank you for your cooperation in following these rules and guidelines. Your cooperation makes this a better game for everyone.

-Wysp