GameFAQs Help: Board Basics

The message board rules are spelled out clearly in the Message Board Terms of Use, or TOU. The TOU is enforced strictly, but the majority of the rules are common sense, and the large majority of board accounts are never found violating them. It is highly recommended that all new users read the Annotated Terms of Use at least once before posting on the boards.

Karma is the numerical representation of your board status. Accounts level 6 or higher earn Karma at a rate of one per day that the account is logged in and visits the message boards at least once.

Karma is lost when an account is used to post messages that are in violation of the TOU; 3 Karma for a "Notification", and 10 Karma for a "Warning". For a Timed Suspension (given out for very serious violations), any amount of Karma can be lost. Once karma is lost, it's lost forever, and will not be restored unless the moderation is successfully contested.

As your Karma increases, so does your board level, which grants additional privileges and features on the boards.

Board levels indicate the amount of karma that a user has and the privileges that come with that amount of karma or the current restrictions on the account due to violations of the Terms of Use. Restrictive levels are only removed during the normal daily user level update at roughly 7pm pst.

• (-4) Closed - Account closed by user. Closed accounts cannot be re-opened under any circumstances.
• (-2) Banned - User has been banned from posting messages for one or more Terms of Use violations.
• (-1) Suspended - User's posting privileges have been suspended for one or more Terms of Use violations, pending review by an Administrator.
• ( 0) Inactive - User has not yet activated their account using a valid e-mail address. Cannot post messages.
• ( 1) Read-Only - User can read most message boards, but cannot post messages.
• ( 2) Locked - Account suspended by user to prevent abuse. Contact GameFAQs for restoration.
• ( 3) Purgatory - Account suspended indefinitely by admin for numerous TOU violations.
• ( 4) Pending Review - Account activated, but pending review by an administrator before use
• ( 5) Warned - User on "parole" for one or more major Terms of Use violations. Can only post 3 messages per hour (10 per day), no topics, restored after 48-72 hours.
• ( 6) Negative Karma - User has karma of less than zero. User can post a total of one message per day, and any further TOU violations are grounds for banning.
• (10) Provisional (1) - Created with Freemail/AOL/WebTV. Upgraded to New User after 48 hours with positive Karma. Can create 1 topic, 10 messages per day (3 per hour).
• (11) Provisional (2) - Created with regular e-mail. Upgraded to New User after 24 hours with positive Karma. Can create 1 topic, 20 messages per day (5 per hour).
• (15) New User (1) - Can create 5 topics, 30 messages per day. Can delete own messages, close topics.
• (20) New User (2) - Awarded to users with at least 20 Karma. Can create 10 topics, 50 messages per day. Can now mark messages for moderation.
• (25) New User (3) - Awarded to users with at least 40 Karma. Can create 10 topics, 80 messages per day. Can now view own posting history.
• (30) Regular User - Awarded to users with at least 75 Karma. No posting restrictions.
• (31) Veteran - Awarded to users with at least 150 Karma. No posting restrictions.
• (32) Legend - Awarded to users with at least 350 Karma. No posting restrictions.
• (33) Elite - Awarded to users with at least 700 Karma. No posting restrictions.
• (34) Icon - Awarded to users with at least 1000 Karma. No posting restrictions.
• (35) Idol - Awarded to users with at least 1500 Karma. No posting restrictions.
• (36) Ancient - Awarded to users with at least 2000 Karma. No posting restrictions.
• (37) Sage - Awarded to users with at least 3000 Karma. No posting restrictions.
• (41) VIP - Media - User confirmed as a professional member of the gaming media.
• (42) VIP - Industry - User confirmed as a member of the game industry, although not directly involved in game production.
• (43) VIP - Production - User confirmed as a member of the game industry, involved in game production.
• (50) New Moderator - Moderators who are assigned to a specific category of marked messages.
• (51) Moderator - GameFAQs Message Board Moderators, handle marked messages and user issues.
• (52) Veteran Moderator - Long time GameFAQs Message Board Moderators, handle marked messages and user issues.
• (53) Lead Moderator - General moderators who also handle some administrative duties.
• (60) Administrator - Administrators can review and ban suspended users, as well as controlling all other aspects of the boards.
• (70) Data Administrator - Account used for Coding/Testing of Boards

Any user level 20 or higher can mark messages that violate the TOU for moderation. By clicking on the "Message Detail" link right above each message, you'll be taken to a new screen that allows you to report the violation to the moderation staff. The moderators then will review the message, and if they find that it does indeed violate the TOU, it will be deleted.

You can go to your User Preferences page simply by clicking on your username in the blue bar at the top of each board, topic, or message listing. From there, you can adjust your settings and make changes to your signature or quote.

The quote is shown only on your user information page, and does not appear in your posts. Your signature is the text that is appended to any message you post.

You can use the standard HTML bold and italic tags. <B> marks the beginning of bold text, </B> ends it. <I> marks the beginning of italic text, </I> ends it. Be warned, however, that posts made in all bold or all italic could be considered disruptive, and would be deleted as TOU violations.

If your account was set to Read-Only and you feel like it shouldn't have been, you can fill out this form to attempt to get it upgraded. If you currently have banned/suspended accounts on your usermap, have an offensive username, are using an abused ISP or proxy, or are abusing the account creation system in any other way, your account will not be upgraded.

Once you've created your account, activated it, and logged in, you should see a link in the blue menu bar near the top of the screen saying "Create New Topic" or "Post New Message" wherever you're allowed. If you don't see either of those links, then the problem may be that you're not logged in with an active account, or the message board you're reading doesn't allow you to post or create topics at your level.

Once your account is Level 15 or higher, you can click on the "Message Detail" link for your own message and use the deletion option there. You cannot delete any topic that contains more than your own first post, nor can you delete the message that was used to create the topic.

If nobody has posted in your topic for a few minutes, you can close it. Simply click on the "Message Detail" link for your first message in the topic and use the close option there.

If you feel like you would make a good moderator for the message boards, you can fill out an application here. Please read everything carefully to ensure that you qualify for the position before filling out the application.

You can't. Usernames are permanent. If you want a new username, you will need to create a new account.

No. Karma is tied to one account, and cannot be transferred.