Guidelines

Forum Rules

Welcome to DevStrike!, the unofficial World of Warships (WoWs) forum.

This forum is hosted and managed by WoWs community members. With the discontinuation of the official forums, we created this site to provide all WoWs players a place to meet, discuss, and share content about WoWs. Your access to post as a registered user on this site hinges on your agreement to follow specific, easy-to-understand Forum Rules. Members granted access to the forum enjoy a privilege, not a right. Hence, user access may be revoked by DevStrike! moderators and administrators for reasons that include but are not limited to the violation of our Forum Rules.

To make your experience as rewarding as possible and to keep the forums friendly and welcoming to all, please be sure to read our Forum Rules carefully.

DevStrike! community moderators monitor adherence to Forum Rules. Each incident is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and the severity of the resulting action, in the form of sanctions, may vary depending on the circumstances. Sanctions include written warnings, a temporary ban on a member’s ability to post, or revocation of membership status. Please note that financial donations to DevStrike!, be they intended for the upkeep of the site, for covering staff costs, or in support of community events, are non-refundable, also in the case of sanctions.

Here's a list of Don'ts for DevStrike! Doing something on this list often can get your forum account warned, suspended, or sometimes even permanently banned. The Forum Rules & Guidelines are shown in full below this section.

 

•  Don't bully or use toxic behavior. It's against the rules and is a path to getting banned from the forums. Your membership on the Forum may also be reviewed. We count on you to keep toxicity out of our community. Personal defamation, harassing, bullying, threatening, offending, or any harmful behavior towards others is not acceptable - ever.
• Don't abuse the formatting options. Nobody likes being YELLED AT! This means don't overuse:
  • ALL CAPS
  • Extra-large fonts
  • Repeated symbols
• Don't call out Community Managers and Officials in thread titles. Be cool, folks. We know you want to grab our attention, but good thread titles like the example in Dos will help you get our attention much easier.
• Don’t use “purple-colored fonts.”  These are reserved for moderators.  The default font works best for readability on all theme backgrounds.
• Don't call for boycotts or misuse petitions. Inappropriate petitions and any boycott discussions do not contribute to a useful and productive forum.
• Don’t make claims or attack games or companies.   Inappropriate or potentially libelous claims against any game or company are not acceptable.
• Do not selectively quote.  Selective posts tend to lack complete context in most cases.  If you use selective quotes, provide the necessary context.
• Do not alter original quotes.  This is strictly forbidden.
• Don't post personal information. Forum posts are visible to everyone and can appear in search engine results. Protect the privacy of yourself and others.
• Don't be inappropriate. That means no obscenity or other explicit posts, i.e., sexting. This includes role-play threads. Remember, this forum can be read by all ages.
• Don't be rude. No matter your feelings about other people, our Forum will not be the place to attack another person. That includes public figures or other forum users.
• Don't chat about moderation. Our moderators are here to keep this place favorable and helpful for everyone. Discussing how moderators do things on the forum is unacceptable; if you have any questions about your moderation history, feel free to contact a moderator.
• Don't impersonate anybody. This includes DevStrike! staff, other community members, celebrities (such as streamers), or anyone else. Doing so results in a permanent ban.
• Don't spam or flood boards. That means don't post disruptive numbers of messages, memes, gifs, and images, e.g., posting the same message in multiple forums or sending the exact DM multiple times. Spamming can include:
  • Bumping threads or messages: Doing this once or twice is fine. Multiple bumps in a short period of time are considered spamming. Use your bumps wisely.
  • Post blank or 'no text' messages: You won't receive an answer if your question is unclear.
• Don't curse or swear – period! Don't try to get away with it by using symbols in place of letters, too. We all know what you're trying to say, and you will receive a warning.
• Don't "name and shame." This is a form of bullying/harassment and will not be tolerated. 
• Don't make false or misleading claims:  Be factual and support, if necessary, with legitimate sources.  Unsourced or incorrect claims will be deleted.  Properly sourced material for possible member submissions (guides, tutorials, historical) is required.
• Don't advertise. For anything: pay-to-play gaming sites, products or items for sale, referral links or advert links/images in forum signatures, avatar posts, blogs, profiles, you name it! 
• Don't link to "shady" sites. Links to other sites should be appropriate and not contain content like adult material, known scams, or unsafe software.
• Don't "necro post." Reviving, updating, or bumping old, outdated, and irrelevant threads is not helpful for our community.
• Don't make legal threats. The forums aren't the ideal place for legal discussions, and posts, including legal chat, will be removed.

 

And here are the complete DevStrike! Forum Rules & Guidelines:

 

 

DEVSTRIKE! FORUM RULES & GUIDELINES

We want our forum to feel at home for all members. Everyone should feel comfortable asking for help, and sharing their tips and tricks, opinions, and thoughts with other members.  Our forum has global perspectives and different passions, which should be respected. That's why it's important that everyone feels comfortable expressing themselves.

We must implement a few rules to keep our community safe and fair. Our guidelines show you the type of behavior we need to create an enjoyable, safe community for everyone. That includes things like:

• Preventing any toxic behavior.
• Keeping things fair and respectful.
• Creating clean content.

These guidelines don't include all behaviors, and moderators can decide if something is toxic or unfair based on the context.

FORUM RULES & GUIDELINES

Our forum moderators oversee all posts. Posts that break the rules and guidelines may be removed. If you break the rules, we also may need to sanction your forum account. If you want to appeal a ban or moderation decision, please contact a member of the Moderation team.

DevStrike! also utilizes an “auto-moderation” tool, which will change swear or cuss words.  Offending text is clearly flanked by asterisks, and a substitute word is generated upon posting. If you are unsatisfied with the edit, please edit your text with a word that does not violate the forum’s guidelines.

DO AND DON'T

Here's a breakdown of what to do and what not to do here on DevStrike! Forums.

Do

• Post in the right place. Check the section you're posting in before submitting. If a post is in the wrong place, we might move or remove it.
• Use the search feature to see if there's a thread for your question. If there is, use it instead of making a new one. Try to include all your points in a single place.
• Be descriptive. Give us as much constructive information as you can. Name your thread accurately and be descriptive with your comments.  That way, everyone can be ready to help you and add constructively to the conversation.
• Be constructive.  Every post should have some value. If you need to post a negative reply, justify it constructively.
• Post in the language of the forum. English only.
• Keep it on-topic. If someone created a thread, it's because they're looking for an answer to their question or want to discuss a specific topic. Changing the thread's topic isn't helpful or constructive to any Forum member.
• Keep it forum and game-related. We're not here to debate politics or religion, lobby, or boycott for anything, so keep the conversation about our World of Warships.
• Keep content clean and appropriate. Members and guests of all ages see the DevStrike! Forum.  Make sure that any posts or images you use, or any websites you link, conform with the DevStrike! Forum Rules & Guidelines. Appropriate language is required.
• Be patient. Other members will post in your thread when they are interested or have an answer or comment for you.
• Cool off, think before you post.  Sometimes, a post on the Forum may annoy or irritate you – step back and think before you post.  Cooler heads often prevail.
• Report toxic behavior. Our Forum is a place for you to express yourself and your individuality. But it's not just your space; it is for everyone, so respect others even if they have a different opinion. If you see any toxic behavior such as harassing, bullying, threatening, or encouraging violations of rules and guidelines, always report it through the dedicated report tool or directly to a Moderator.

Don't

Doing something on this list often can get your forum account warned, suspended, or sometimes even permanently banned.

• Don't bully or use toxic behavior. It's against the rules and is a path to getting banned from the forums. Your membership on the Forum may also be reviewed. We count on you to keep toxicity out of our community. Personal defamation, harassing, bullying, threatening, offending, or any harmful behavior towards others is not acceptable - ever.
• Don't abuse the formatting options. Nobody likes being YELLED AT! This means don't overuse:
  • ALL CAPS
  • Extra-large fonts
  • Repeated symbols

• Don't call out Community Managers and Officials in thread titles. Be cool, folks. We know you want to grab our attention, but good thread titles like the example in Dos will help you get our attention much easier.
• Don’t use “purple-colored fonts.”  These are reserved for moderators.  The default font works best for readability on all theme backgrounds.
• Don't call for boycotts or misuse petitions. Inappropriate petitions and any boycott discussions do not contribute to a useful and productive forum.
• Don’t make claims or attack games or companies.   Inappropriate or potentially libelous claims against any game or company are not acceptable.
• Do not selectively quote.  Selective posts tend to lack complete context in most cases.  If you use selective quotes, provide the necessary context.
• Do not alter original quotes.  This is strictly forbidden.
• Don't post personal information. Forum posts are visible to everyone and can appear in search engine results. Protect the privacy of yourself and others.
• Don't be inappropriate. That means no obscenity or other explicit posts, i.e., sexting. This includes role-play threads. Remember, this forum can be read by all ages.
• Don't be rude. No matter your feelings about other people, our Forum will not be the place to attack another person. That includes public figures or other forum users.
• Don't chat about moderation. Our moderators are here to keep this place favorable and helpful for everyone. Discussing how moderators do things on the forum is unacceptable; if you have any questions about your moderation history, feel free to contact a moderator.
• Don't impersonate anybody. This includes DevStrike! staff, other community members, celebrities (such as streamers), or anyone else. Doing so results in a permanent ban.
• Don't spam or flood boards. That means don't post disruptive numbers of messages, memes, gifs, and images, e.g., posting the same message in multiple forums or sending the exact DM multiple times. Spamming can include:
  • Bumping threads or messages: Doing this once or twice is fine. Multiple bumps in a short period of time are considered spamming. Use your bumps wisely.
  • Post blank or 'no text' messages: You won't receive an answer if your question is unclear.

• Don't curse or swear – period! Don't try to get away with it by using symbols in place of letters, too. We all know what you're trying to say, and you will receive a warning.
• Don't "name and shame." This is a form of bullying/harassment and will not be tolerated. 
• Don't make false or misleading claims:  Be factual and support, if necessary, with legitimate sources.  Unsourced or incorrect claims will be deleted.  Properly sourced material for possible member submissions (guides, tutorials, historical) is required.
• Don't advertise. For anything: pay-to-play gaming sites, products or items for sale, referral links or advert links/images in forum sig
• Don't link to "shady" sites. Links to other sites should be appropriate and not contain content like adult material, known scams, or unsafe software.
• Don't "necro post." Reviving, updating, or bumping old, outdated, and irrelevant threads is not helpful for our community.
• Don't make legal threats. The forums aren't the ideal place for legal discussions, and posts, including legal chat, will be removed.

PLEASE NOTE: Some players here and in-game may have disabilities due to trauma or medical conditions and may be sensitive to certain words. Here on the Forum, we ask you to carefully consider the use of certain words or phrases and the context in which they are used. For example, instead of saying, “Subs are cancer to the game,” please substitute the word “toxic” or other suitable for the word “cancer.”  Instead of saying, “That is not a healthy (crazy, nutty) opinion,” perhaps reword your response to say, “That isn’t helpful” or “That is an interesting observation.” We realize some words have dual meanings, so we ask you to be respectful and consider the emotional impact and possibly substitute words that still express your thoughts and opinions.

DON'TS TREATED WITH ZERO-TOLERANCE

These are more serious don'ts. That means we might ban you immediately if you do something from this list.

• Discriminate. That means no sexism, racism, etc.
• Be a troll, bait, or flame. This includes deliberately trying to cause an argument by making sarcastic, off-topic, rude, or disruptive posts and discussions.
• Do anything illegal. To ensure everyone feels safe, it's important that you follow the local laws when playing our games. This includes keeping things legal and reporting anything you see that breaks the law or promotes doing so. This means no:
  • Identity theft
  • Identity fraud
  • Doxing
  • Stalking
  • Making personal threats
  • Blackmail and extortion
• Posting anything that references adult materials. 
• Sharing your forum account. Sharing your account will get you banned. It belongs to you only.
• Posting copyrighted material. This includes images as well as text. If you don't own it, don't post it.  If in doubt, keep it out.
• Creating more than one forum account. Accounts created for inappropriate or unauthorized reasons will be banned.
• Posting real-life threats.

IMAGES, AVATARS, AND SIGNATURES

Many of our rules about images and avatars are the same as our Dos and Don'ts. But to make sure it's clear, here's what you can and can't do.

IMAGES / AVATARS

You can:

• keep it clean, with appropriate images for all ages.
• make your own images. We like your style.
• use a royalty-free image.

But don't:

• use personal photos or visually distracting avatars.
• infringement on any copyright.
• include religious or political content. 
• use racist, hateful, controversial, or illegal content.

SIGNATURES

You can:

• include a cool picture. The above rules for images also apply to signatures.
• keep it tidy, with up to 3 lines of text.

But don't:

• make it too long. The longer the signature, the more cluttered the boards will get. Limit your signature to 3 lines or less. Don’t include remotely linked or animated images to your signature.
• have large pictures or text. Sometimes bigger isn't always better.
• link to pirated and/or harmful content.

YOU HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM POSTING ON THE FORUMS - WHAT NOW?

Being temporarily banned from the Forums means that you have broken the rules or have not been participating in a constructive fashion. Take a break. Please take time to review the rules and guidelines as posted above.

A short-term ban is our way of preventing further disruptive behavior and asking you to reexamine how you behave. Do not discuss your ban on public forums or ask your friends to post about it for you. That could also extend your ban and even get your friends in trouble.  Keep in mind that discussing moderation is against our rules.

After evaluating the severity of the violation, a moderator or staff member will issue an appropriate sanction:

• Written warning asking you to behave according to our Rules & Guidelines.
• A short ban to forum account of up to 2 weeks.
• A medium ban to the forum account for 1-3 months.
• A long ban to the forum account for 6 months.
• A permanent ban on your forum account.

Depending on the context and previous violation history, some of these stages may be skipped or, on the contrary, repeated several times before further escalation. For example, in the worst-case scenario, a clear and severe offense may result in a permanent ban outright; however, we do not come across such cases often. On the other hand, repeated lesser violations can also result in a ban. Still, only if they accumulate and the behavior does not change despite several warnings and shorter-term bans. 

Contact our Moderation team () if you feel you have been wrongfully banned.

 

Current version: 20 Nov. 2023