The following Guidelines have been established for the Fringes of Algo web site. The purpose of these Guidelines is to maintain a friendly atmosphere for all members, preserve the quality of site content, allow the site to continue maintain a good relationship with our web host and advertisers within their requirements for content, and protect the site from potential legal action or damages. By participating or registering at this site, all users accept the responsibility to behave in accordance with these Guidelines, which govern all content submitted to this site by users, including, but not limited to, message board posts, private messages, literature, images, downloads, and profile information. If you have any questions or suggestions about these Guidelines, or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be glad to help in any way that we can.

We hope you will enjoy your time at Fringes of Algo and be a long standing member of our community. We are glad to have you here!

Participation Guidelines

  1. Because of the live nature of the content submission and display on this site, it is not possible for us to review and/or confirm the accuracy or validity of any content before it is posted. Therefore, you acknowledge that all submissions made to this web site express the views and opinions of the author and not the site staff (except for posts by these people) and hence they will not be held liable. If you believe that someone has violated these Guidelines or you have spotted content that may otherwise require attention, please contact a staff member. Please do not respond to a situation personally, as this may aggravate the situation further. Responding to a violation in an inflammatory manner is a violation in itself and will result in appropriate action. #
    1. Notification of staff is voluntary and anonymous. Staff will be aware of who notified us, but will not share that information unless required to do so by law. #
    2. Staff can be contacted in several ways. An icon link for reporting posts and private messages can be found near the message. Other issues can be reported by private message or the Contact form. Please include any and all relevant information in your report, such as a link to the issue and a brief description of what you believe to be a problem. #
  2. This site is aimed at a general audience, which does include children who are legal minors. Please do not post content that is abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually explicit, adult, otherwise inappropriate, that may violate any applicable laws, or that may invite others to post such content. Content of this nature is not permitted on this site. Please do not post any links to other web pages that contain prohibited content. #
    1. Some leniency is allowed in fictional works submitted for inclusion on this site. We recognize that, in fiction, conflict and character personality can serve as important tools of story telling. We do not wish to impede usage of these elements for that purpose. Works may include abusive, slanderous, hateful, threatening or violent material for interaction between fictional characters. Using such content in a context that applies it to non-fictional characters or persons is prohibited. Obscene, vulgar, sexually explicit, adult, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate content are always prohibited, even when involving only fictional characters. #
    2. You may post a link to another web site that contains content that would not be permitted on this site only if the content is not displayed directly on the specific web page accessed from the link and the overall purposes of the other web site do not include providing content that would be prohibited on this site. #
    3. Many web pages include dynamic sections that change quickly, such as sidebars of recent of popular news postings. When posting a link to such pages, you should ensure that, at the time of your posting, these areas do not include content that would be prohibited on this site. If such content is found in those areas at that time, including the link in your submission would violate these Guidelines and cause the submission to be removed. If later review discovers that the dynamic content has changed to contain prohibited content, including the link in your submission would not be considered a violation of these Guidelines, but the submission may still be removed. #
  3. The software used to operate this site has features that will automatically block the submission of certain content that is not permitted under these Guidelines. Attempting to bypass these blocks to post prohibited content is also not permitted. This includes, for example, abbreviations, self censoring, and substitution of letters. If you attempt to make a submission and the software informs you that a term is blocked, you must remove that term from the submission entirely or the submission may be removed. Submissions that trigger the term blocking features may be automatically flagged for further review by site staff members, who will check for such bypass attempts.
    1. If you feel that the term blocking features may be acting in error, please contact a member of site staff to confirm that the term is intentionally not permitted. The list of blocked terms may, in some cases, prove to be more restrictive than intended and feedback regarding these issues will help us to improve the function of these features. Using bypasses when contacting site staff in regards to issues of this nature is permitted. #
    2. At the current time, private messages are not automatically flagged for further review. Further, site staff will not review private messages for bypasses of the prohibited content blocks unless a more serious matter occurs or a user involved in the message exchange reports an issue with the language being used. #
    3. If you attempt to submit a link and the link triggers the term blocking features, that link has previously been ruled as having prohibited content. The link is not permitted and should be removed from your post. #
    4. In line with the prohibited content leniency for fictional works, some term blocking bypasses are allowed within the narrative context of fictional works. These bypasses are limited to the form of replacing all but the first letter of a term with non-descriptive symbols, such as asterisks (*) or dashes (-). This leniency applies only to fictional contexts and lightly vulgar language. Lightly vulgar language excludes any terms that are highly obscene, sexually related, or anatomically explicit. #
  4. Please do not post content that violates laws or discusses illegal activities, transactions, or web sites such as warez, cracks, etc. Such content will be removed to protect this site from possible legal action. #
    1. Requesting or providing unauthorized downloads of commercial products, including video games or video game console BIOS files, is an illegal activity and is not permitted. Discussion of other topics related to video game emulation (including but not limited to save games, translations, patches, and emulators) is generally permitted. To the best of our knowledge, such items have never been ruled as illegal in a court of law. #
    2. Posting a full work created by others without permission is an illegal activity. Using a work created by others, or the expression of ideas in such a work, in your own works without permission is plagiarism and may also constitute the illegal activities of copyright infringement and fraud. A "work" is defined as any product or material created by a person, group, or business, including but not limited to, artwork, photographs, literature, news articles, web site pages, and commercial video games. "Permission" is defined as written permission (either physical or electronic) from the legal copyright holder(s) of a work stating that you may reproduce or distribute that work. If you have received such permission to use a work, please include a statement with your submission confirming this and cite the original source and copyright holder(s). Any works posted without confirmation of permission will be removed unless staff determines the usage to fall under Fair Use. #
    3. Fair Use legal clauses, which can be vague, generally allow for legal reproduction or distribution of small portions of works created by others without explicit permission of the legal copyright holder(s). Fair Use requirements vary with individual cases. In order to help ensure compliance, no more than one-fifth of an original work may be reproduced on this site. This is a total that applies to all users; if one-fifth of a work has already be reproduced by other users, no more of that work may be posted. All usage must cite the legal copyright holder(s). #
    4. Remixes, which are generally music and/or videos created by modifying, combining, or re-interpreting pre-existing works, are often created without the permission of the copyright holder(s). This may or may not constitute copyright infringement, depending on the nature of the remix. Some game developers have also encouraged the creation of remixes, further obscuring the issue. Discussions of and links to remixes created for non-commercial purposes are permitted here. If copyright holder(s) raise an objection to a remix that uses material to which they hold the rights, remixes using any material from that source will no longer be allowed. #
  5. English is the primary language of this site. In order to properly monitor posted content, we ask that the majority of submitted content also use English. The occasional use of other languages in small amounts is acceptable, given that this site often covers items based in Japanese or other languages. A post should be at least 70% English in most cases. #
  6. Political discussions are allowed only in the private, members only forum set aside for that purpose. Strong political sentiments should be kept out of profiles, signatures and other content.
  7. While features like member post count or achievements have meaning, they should also not be taken too seriously. Attempts to artificially increase your standing in these features are prohibited. This includes the mass creation of short or meaningless posts. When participating in game threads such as "Word Association Game" or "What song are you listening to right now?" please do not post consecutive replies within a short period of time. #
    1. Once you have posted in a forum game topic, do not post to that topic again until either two other people have posted to the same topic or a period of at least 48 hours has passed since the final post was created. #
  8. Please do not post the same information in multiple forums or topics on this site. When posting your message, please try to post it in the most appropriate place within the organizational structure of our community. Identical messages posted in the same or different forums will be removed. #
  9. Please do not post advertisements. Advertisements include: posts created specifically to promote an entity, web site, product, or service you are affiliated with in some manner; affiliate links (which may lead to you earning cash, banner impressions, credits, points, etc. at other sites); an excessive number of links to a single web site; promoting entities or services to attract members and content away from Fringes of Algo. #
    1. Some advertisements may be posted in your signature in your profile. These include affiliate links and links promoting an entity, web site, product, or service you are affiliated with in some manner. Such links should be limited to your signature. #
    2. A small number of exceptions may be allowed, if the advertisement is relevant to a discussion at hand. You may only post a link to a site that you are in some way affiliated with if the link specifically answers the question that is being asked and the answer cannot be simply posted without the link. Even in such a case, please link directly to the page where the information can be found. #
  10. Please do not post personally identifying information of other persons without their consent. Examples of such information would be real names, ages, phone numbers, addresses, nicknames, or past nicknames. It is also advised to avoid posting personally identifying information regarding yourself for your own security and safety, especially phone numbers or addresses. #
  11. Please refrain from posting comments that may be inflammatory, defamatory, insulting, flaming, disrespectful, or that may incite others to respond with such comments. The words you use to express yourself are important. Please be respectful of all people and groups, even if you believe they are not represented in this community; chances are they may actually be represented in some manner now or in the future. This community consists of members from many nationalities, races, religions, and walks of life. #
    1. If you disagree with someone's opinion or actions, you may choose to express this disagreement and give your own opinion. However, limit your comments to the opinions or actions; do not attack people. Remember also that everyone is entitled to their opinion and not required to change their opinion during any discussion. Do not make statements like "there is no argument" as if your opinion is the only valid or important one. When someone has clearly stated their opinion, do not say things like "Are you serious?" or "Are you kidding me?" Comments of this nature are disrespectful. #
    2. Do not make uninvited remarks about posting styles or mistakes, such as typos, grammar issues, or duplicate posts. Accidents happen to everyone, whether they be a person's mistake in hitting a wrong key or an internet hiccup resubmitting a posting form. #
    3. When reviewing works in the Creative Corner section, please provide critiques in a respectful, positive, and constructive manner. Remember that the author(s) of the work have invested time and energy into their work. Pointing out issues to help the author(s) improve their work or skills is encouraged unless the author(s) state they do not wish to receive such criticisms; just please be respectful of their efforts when doing so. #
    4. Works in the Creative Corner section should not be used for the purpose of addressing, attacking, or otherwise referencing non-fictional persons such as political figures. #
  12. All members must be over or exactly 13 years of age. Persons under 13 years of age are not allowed to register due to certain provisions in United States law. If it is discovered that an account belongs to someone under 13 years of age, the account will be closed until the person reaches 13 years of age. #
  13. As a user, you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. While private profile or registration information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent (unless required by law), the webmaster, administrator and moderators cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised. #
  14. Site staff reserves the right to review, remove, edit, move or close any content on the site at any time should they see fit. This includes all content governed by these Guidelines. #
  15. The administrator and moderators have the final say on any decisions related to this site. If you have a problem, you may make a complaint to them directly and not publicly on the web site. Creating threads or posts that question or reference administrative decisions or potential administrative decisions, such as post removals and thread closures, only aggravates a situation further and therefore is not permitted. We are not perfect and if you feel that we have made a mistake, please privately contact a staff member and we will review the situation. If you would like a copy of your removed post so that you can adjust it and repost, please contact us. As long as we wouldn't prefer you to simply start over, we'll be glad to send you a copy. #
  16. Please be aware of the Legal Disclaimers. The "Copyrights of the Web Site" and "Publishing Rights Statement" sections are considered part of these Guidelines. Also, please be aware of the privacy policy. While it is not considered part of these Guidelines, you should look at it at least once anyway.
    1. We know that people will have to leave our community (of their own free will or otherwise) from time to time and to that end, we do not delete accounts, posts, or other content posted on our community. All content is granted to us with perpetual electronic publishing rights. This is required to serve the web site to each visitor and because any content posted on this community becomes a part of the community, even if the person who submitted it is no longer present. You may request an item to be removed at any time, but we will decide when and if to remove content from our community. If you wish to no longer be identified with our community, we will be glad to close your account and alter your profile information to remove all identifying characteristics. After account closure, you will no longer be able to participate in this community and this action is not reversible.
  17. These Guidelines are subject to change at any time without notification of users.
  18. Whenever you are participating in this community, please keep in mind that we strive to create a fun, friendly and inviting atmosphere. So, please have fun and enjoy the community!

Enforcement Policies

These are the policies used in the enforcement of the Participation Guidelines. All policies and punishments are subject to the discretion of site staff.

  1. If any content in a submission is found to violate the Guidelines, the entire submission may be removed from public view. Site staff will not edit submissions made by users unless a means of maintaining the original content exists. Removing an entire submission allows the original content to be preserved for later reference or restoration if needed. That is often not possible with editing submissions.
  2. Submissions may remain in public view while reports of violations are being reviewed, at the discretion of site staff.
  3. A notice will generally be issued to the submitting user when content is removed due to a violation. These notices may include the content of the violating submission, at the discretion of site staff. Infraction points may also be assigned the user. Infraction points currently expire after 60 days.
  4. Occasionally, the removal of violating content may also necessitate the removal on non-violating content. For example, if a post is removed due to inflammatory content and a following post contains a quoted portion of the first post, the following post may also be removed. This is generally not considered a violation on the part of the quoting poster. The quoting poster may, at the discretion of site staff, be contacted with the text of their post and invited to re-post it in edited form.
  5. If a user continually or seriously violates the Guidelines and shows a disregard for them, our staff and our community, they run the risk of losing their ability to participate at this site. We reserve the right to deactivate any account without warning. Attempts to bypass a revocation of the ability to participate may result in stronger action.
  6. Site staff will not discuss actions taken in the enforcement of violations with any one other than the member who committed the violation, unless required to do so by law. These actions are regarded by site staff as private matters between the staff and the member in question.