darkSpyro

A PM is a neat idea, though it'll still be ignored by few. But at least is harder to miss.

As Notes said, the rules should be rewritten. Even a couple of the Mods have difficulty with them. I wouldn't like to see the rules become more strict, though.

These are the forum rules:
Don't swear or use offensive language.
Minor infractions of this rule will result in the words being censored or the post being deleted. However larger/often occurrences of breaking this rule will result in either a temporary or permanent ban from the website. Please completely obscure swear words if you feel you absolutely must use them. That means if, for example, "hello" was a swear word then "h*llo" or "h****" are not sufficient.
Don't spam.
Pointless messages aren't useful, these will be deleted. There is a board specifically for spam but it does still fall under all the other rules, though I am slightly more lenient there. Advertising is counted as spam and is not allowed even on Stuff and Nonsense.
Only be one person
The use of multiple guest names and/or registered accounts to pretend to be more than one person is pointless and will likely confuse any other users of the forum. It is also generally frowned upon to have more than one registered account anyway.
Don't post links to illegal/pornographic material.
It's just in no way approriate for a website based around a game such as Spyro the Dragon. Anyone who does so will be banned immediately. Asking for ROMs will get you a swift ban as well though discussion is allowed as long as you aren't boasting about the fact or you're providing a method for others to get them no matter how cryptic.
Don't troll/flame other users.
Provoking other people intentionally or insulting them is not a good practice and such posts will be deleted.
Responding to these posts is ill-advised especially if they worked on you, instead just report the post.
Don't bump topics.
Posting simply with the intention of bringing a topic to the top of the board without adding anything of significance is disruptive and will result in the deletion of your post. While topics do automatically close after a specific amount of time (duration varies for each board) on faster moving boards it may mean that conversations in open topics are already over and should just be left alone. However, in the game specific boards the conversations are more likely to be suitable to revival so you should not be too concerned with the age of a topic there. Obviously reviving old arguments is not a good idea no matter the location.
Be constructive with criticism
If you're going to post negatively in regards to any of the Spyro games (or other series) then give a reason as to why you dislike it. Merely stating the fact you don't like it is pointless and doesn't contribute anything.
Stay on topic
If you wish to discuss something unrelated to the topic then start a new one, in the correct forum of course. Posts that go off-topic will be deleted. Topics that are entirely off-topic will either be deleted or moved to the correct forum.
Don't post in a disruptive manner.
Writing entirely in capitals, alternating capitals, capitals at the start of every word, bold, italic or 1337 speek will be deleted or edited as it makes it difficult to read and is pointless to post in such a manner.
Don't advertise.
This includes the buying/selling/trading of Skylanders toys on the forums.
Use the edit button.
Posting several times in a row back to back in quick succession is pointless, disruptive and a waste of space. Use the Edit button below your posts in order to amend your previous post with what you would have posted, the topic is still marked as having new content.
Don't misuse the Report Post feature.
Mass reporting of posts that have nothing wrong with them just wastes my time and will potentially mean the removal of your ability to report.
Please use English
This is an English website and very few people here will be able to understand you if you use any other languages, this rule applies only to the general use of the forums, you can of course use other languages just not all of the time.

Well, we currently have quite a few different user levels, any they are as follows:
Spyro the Admin
There's only one of these: dark52. Has the ability to delete other user's posts and topics as well as banning the more unruly folk.
Hunter
Moderators can delete other user's posts and topics as well as suspend people.
Sparx
The normal users of the forum. The colour Sparx depends on how many gems a user has gained.
Fodder
Visitors to darkSpyro who aren't logged into an account. They used to have posting rights.
Gnorc
A temporarily suspended user, cannot post or send Private Messages. Usually returned to the Sparx user level after a week or two.
Ripto
A permanently banned user. Anyone who gets banned is unlikely to be allowed to return.
Crystallised
An account simply waiting to be activated by email.
Rhynoc
An account that has been terminated even before validation.

The ranking is based on the current number of gems that an account has and is as follows:
0-99 Gems - Red Sparx
100-499 - Green Sparx
500-999 - Blue Sparx
1000-1999 - Yellow Sparx
2000-2999 - Gold Sparx
3000-4999 - Emerald Sparx
5000-7499 - Platinum Sparx
7500+ - ???

Gems are a method of determining how active a user has been on the site and serve no other purpose beyond that.
To earn gems you just simply have to visit the website at least once a week as they are given out early Sunday morning / late Saturday night. It simply calculates whether or not you've visited during the past week and if you've posted or not (the number of posts is ignored). You get 7 for visiting and 3 for posting, it then generates a random number between 0 and 6 to give you as a bonus. So the maximum you can get in a week is 16 and you're guaranteed to get at least 10 if you visit and post.

Have fun and enjoy !

I'm pretty sure members have tried to pitch methods to make the Forum Rules section more noticeable, myself included, but the discussions always die down. Of course, the rules are vague in my opinion and could probably be rewritten to be more specific. <.<

Site Help and Rejections

The rules could use some updating, but let's be honest - the rules are mostly common sense stuff. Those who *need* to read the rules are unlikely to actually read them, no matter how they're presented to them.

Quote: wreckingballbob

And some users are allowed to advertise.

Quote: dark52

There are exceptions to every rule.

-----

Quote: Crookshanks

Quote: wreckingballbob

And some users are allowed to advertise.

Quote: dark52

There are exceptions to every rule.

-----

So, if we are a certain person we can bump any topic we want and be mean to people?