This topic has a sole purpose of clearing up some misconceptions that have shown up on the forum. (And to explain some of the rules that people misquote)

1: Everyone is human. (Except the spam-bots)

Because of this, remember that everyone also makes mistakes, and everyone has a life beside the one they're sharing with you on the wonderful Internet.

2: Administrators and moderators are not omnipotent.

We can't know every little thing that happens and will happen on this forum. If there's something that you feel is wrong, click that fancy report button and continue on with life. If there's a problem that's a bit bigger than the report button, feel free to PM the admins\mods and explain what's happening.

3: An IRC log is not enough evidence to prove anything.

Well... it isn't unless you're the IRC operator and provide us with proper IP's so we can check their claims with our user database. Otherwise it's one person's word against another as an IRC log doesn't always show the real identity of the person typing away.

4: BetaArchive doesn't own the files on the FTP, but we do discourage people mirroring it publicly.

This isn't because we have any more right to these files than you do, it's because we want to make the uploader's and mrpijey's time repacking and checking worth something. But, because we don't own these files, we aren't going to police this rule much. Just don't go spreading word on BetaArchive that you've got a mirror and it doesn't require a login. (or whatever you decide to do with it). Along with it being rude for stealing other people's time (And putting 2TB of strain on our bandwidth), you'd also look dumb because every file on our FTP has a file inside saying it came from BetaArchive. (If you decide to repack every single file, that's your own choice.)

5: The Admin's \ Mod's word is final.

If we say that you're flaming, then you were. If we say that you're out of line with something you've posted, you were. Say what you like about us, but our word is final. If you don't like this, you can either PM the person who gave you the warning\ban, or if it's just something you don't like with the site, feel free to make a suggestion. We're glad to hear what you have to say, but don't expect us to implement them all.

6: If you've got a problem with another user, please take care of it privately.

I'm personally sick of seeing people let loose on another user for who-knows-what and just being plain rude to one another. If you really do have an issue with another member, there's the PM button that will let you contact them and let you work things out privately. If things get out of hand, feel free to contact us (The staff) to let us know what is up and have us step in. Please avoid posting about issues you've got with other members publicly, as it just makes you and the other person look bad.


(And I expect that you won't be posting "I Agree" posts on this, because that's dangerously close to a "thank you" post and we don't like those.)

Have a nice day =)

#5. Can't agree on that one. Too much human error for true justice to be performed anywhere. Online or IRL.

Also, I'm an IRC operator on the network related to any potential situation, so if you need any logs or anything you consider suspect I'll do my best to help you out.

I dare say, QFT.

Now I've not been around much of late, mainly because I've been doing a lot of work stuff lately, and when I get home the last thing I want to deal with is Exhibit A arguing with exhibit Q about something so minor it was not even worth pointing out, let alone in public.

I should also say, IRC logs should be taken with a pinch of salt half the time, unless the people on there are genuinely credible. Even that can't be enough (IP masking, etc).

Just going to say this seems more like common sense but it seems like it needs repeating more and more in life.