First of all, welcome to the CMPG web forums. Whether you're a member, interested in joing our group, or just browsing through, we're glad to have you here.

The rules for using these forums are quite simple, and based around two principles: “Don't Abuse the System”, and “Be Nice.” Users are guests here, and are expected to conduct themselves appropriately.

To elaborate, and to properly set everyone's expectations, here's what this means in more formal terms…

Conduct

• Use your real name, please. If you are registering for a new account, please use your given name, especially if you are a CMPG member. It definitely makes it easier on the Guild officers when processing accounts, rather than having to research whether or not “Overlord2005″ is a paid member for purposes of access.
• Abusive behavior will not be tolerated. Whether it be abuse of the forum and its software, or of other posters, the quickest way to get on the moderators' bad sides is to Be a Jerk. Disagreement is fine, as is debate. Abusive language, flame wars, and personal attacks are Right Out.
• Commercial advertisement is prohibited. If you are a professional, or own a photography-based business, you may include a URL in your forum signature. If a service you provide is germaine to a thread, feel free to mention it. However, posting exclusively to advertise your services, or repetitively and persistently promoting your wares will result in loss of forum priveleges.
• Spamming, use of multiple accounts to bypass policies or quotas, or other abuse of the account/registration system is not allowed.
• Off-Topic posting in the technically-themed forums is discouraged. The general discussion forum is a catch-all, so try to stay on-topic in the others.
• This system is accessible to the general public, including minors. The overall “rating” of content needs to be kept at the PG level. If a reasonable person wouldn't show your post to an 8-year-old, don't post it here.

Administration/Moderation

• The Administrators will periodically audit the system for abuse. By using this forum, you are accepting that your access is logged.
• Any complaints or problems should be addressed to webmaster@cmpg.org. We will handle the problem. Please do not net-cop by taking matters into your own hands.
• Moderators and admins may remove material from this system for any reason at any time, whether as part of monitoring usage/abuse/content or in the process of maintaining the system.
• Moderators and admins may request that you change your user ID, especially if you are a Guild member requesting member's access to the restricted forums.
• In the case of abuse of this forum, its software, or its participants, the moderators and admins are responsible for taking remedial action. This may consist of, but is not limited to, removing offending entries, sending warning messages, disabling posting access, disabling accounts, and/or reporting abuse to CMPG officers in the case of member misconduct.
• In the case of flagrant abuse, illegal activity, or attacks against the forums, the forum software, or systems, the administrators will report such activity to the abuser's Internet Service Provider (ISP) as an AUP/TOS (Acceptable Use Policy/Terms of Service) violation.
• The decision of a moderator/admin is final with regards to the CMPG web forums. In the case of members, any appeal or remediation must be done through the CMPG officers.