Author Topic: Exilian: The Rules & Starting Guide (Read This First!)  (Read 14678 times)

Jubal

  • Megadux
    Executive Officer
  • Posts: 35494
  • Karma: 140
  • Awards Awarded for oustanding services to Exilian!
    • View Profile
    • Awards
Exilian: The Rules & Starting Guide (Read This First!)
« on: June 09, 2015, 12:36:22 PM »

A Guide for New Members

Welcome to Exilian! We're one of the friendliest communities on the internet, democratically run and existing to help facilitate a range of projects in fields including game modding/content creation, programming, drama, music, debating, writing, RPG and wargame design, e-learning, and more. You can also come here to chat, discuss the news, post poetry, play forum games, and just to meet a diverse range of people from all over the world.

Here's a very quick guide to a few of the most important things about Exilian to get you started posting. If you want more information, do PM a member of staff or ask on the FAQs and Guides thread here. The FAQs and Guides thread includes links to more detailed information on how to use the site and its features, and is not locked so you can ask questions there.

What we do
So what do we do here? The Exilian is an online, democratically run society founded in 2008 to support indie and hobbyist creative endeavours. Our community has a long history of supporting projects, including modifying and creating computer games, animated film, sculpting and tabletop hobbies, and more. If you're an amateur programmer with a game in production, or a mod leader on a project, we have an excellent record of providing support, hosting and enthusiam to help skilled teams turn their dreams into reality.

This forum is a discussion site that forms and hosts the centre of what we do at the Exilian. There's a massive range of different areas you can access from the index, each dedicated to particular discussion topics. You can read what other people are chatting about and join in the discussions. You can discover a range of creative projects including game mods, programming, and more - and indeed you can get stuck in, join in and start your own! Alternatively the debating areas (found further down the index page) may be more your thing, or maybe you'd like to post your artwork or a film you made in the Conservatoire. Even if you're just bored, there's the Boozer and its infamous Backroom for playing forum games and simply finding out what our huge and world-spanning range of members and citizens are up to.

The Rules
The rules here are fairly simple: be friendly, respect other users and their need to use the forum, and it's unlikely there'll be any issues. Exilian has to broadly comply with US and UK law, too, so do bear that in mind. Some specific basic points are below.
  • As there's a lot of game discussion on here, it's worth saying at this point that you may NOT use Exilian to ask for cracks, codes, etc to illegally obtain games.
  • Posting several times in a row is permitted but discouraged and should be avoided where possible. In a similar vein, avoid totally derailing topics, making irrelevant and otherwise "spamming" the site.
  • Hate speech against groups and personal attacks on members will not be tolerated.
  • The site is meant to have a friendly atmosphere for all its members - please avoid content of a violent or pornographic nature that could be upsetting or unfriendly to other users.
All of our moderation decisions are made on a case by case basis, taking into account the context in which things were posted, and most can be appealed via the site's tribunal. Staff can be identified by their coloured names, with a full list available here.

The full Terms of Service can be found here.

How to post replies and start topics
In any section of the forum except the main index, you'll find a "new topic" button at the bottom and top, on the right hand side of the screen. As long as you're a registered member, hitting this button will take you to an editor where you can start a new topic. Simply write a title, type what you want in the main box, then hit "Post topic" which will be at the bottom of the page. To use text formatting, select the text you want formatted then hit the relevant button (B for bold, etc). Your formatting will appear in BBCode, something like this:
Code: [Select]
[b]This text would be bold[/b]In addition, you can post links by hitting the URL button or images with the Image button. In each case a popup box will appear asking you for the address of the image or site you want to link into your post, simply use cntrl + c and cntrl + v to copy and paste it from the top of a web browser tab or window.

On any discussion thread, there are "Add Reply" buttons in the same places; posting a reply works in much the same way as starting a topic.

If you haven't done so yet, try making a new topic in the Welcome Hall and saying hello! If you've been sent here by another member, please mention them as it might help them in our site awards system. :)

How we're run, and becoming a citizen
Exilian is pretty much unique in that the site's members have an effective say in how the site is run. You'll notice that some members around the site have plain white or other cool coloured names. Some of them are staff, some are modders, but they're all citizens - our higher level members who can vote on tons of important site issues. Becoming a citizen shows you've made a real contribution, and also allows you a load of other cool features such as a citizens-only discussion area, the ability to become a staff member, and the ability to gain Triumph Points for our site awards system.

If you want to become a citizen, the first thing to do is make sure you're posting. Generally at least 30-50 posts would be expected before a member would be considered. You can find out more about becoming a citizen here.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2017, 09:57:43 AM by Glaurung »
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...