This is how it works here at Sythe.org:

• Users will be given infractions when minor rules are broken.
  • Infractions expire after 1 month.
  • A user who receives 5 infractions will receive a 3 day ban
  • A user who receives 7 infractions will receive a 7 day ban.
• Users will have more severe punishments as outlined below when major rules are broken.
• If a user commits any unconscionable act not explicitly in the rules, or has repeatedly broken rules, the staff reserves the right to punish the user in any way.

Users will receive 1 infraction for the following:

• Spamming:
  • Posting short, unhelpful comments (such as "cool", "nice acc,", "added" etc), including free bumps on other's threads
  • Posting for the sole purpose of increasing post count
  • Posting comments with little to no relevance to the topic
  • Creating multiple threads advertising the same thing, regardless of the section.
• Flaming, Harassment, Trolling:
  • Using excessive profanity, insults, or derogatory comments towards another user
  • Partaking in behaviour intended to disturb or upset another user
  • Deceiving members or staff for fun, humor, or to cause drama
  • Posting purposely to anger or to elicit a negative response from others for fun, humor, or to cause drama
• Excessive bumping*: -No double posting / delete posts within 8 hours (spam rules still apply)
  
• Accusing Someone of Scamming Without Proof:Chat logs do not count as proof
  
• Begging: asking to receive anything for free or asking for a staff position on Sythe.org
  
• Thread Hijacking: Offering your services/Sales on the thread of someone else's services or sales
  
• Trying to Sell Something that is Free: for example, Sythe's old autos or some free bot. However, selling the method of how to acquire these items is permitted in the relevant forum.
  
• Oversized Signature**: Maximum of 350 pixels in height including all quotes/text/pictures in it and a maximum of 650 pixels in width with all text/quotes/pictures. If this offense is repeatedly broken, you will simply be banned from having a signature.
  
• Oversized Avatar: Avatars have a maximum size of: 80x80 for users, 150x100 for staff and donators (width x height)
  
• Advertising MM Services: in any place except the User Services and MiddleMan Application forums
• Referrals: posting referral links(referrals are allowed in signatures only) for sites, surveys, other games, etc. This includes sites such as Share-cash.
• Grave Digging: If a thread hasn't had a post in several weeks or months, do not post in it (Except in the spam forum and some other forums / threads. Use discretion when posting)
• Requiring Vouches: You may not promise/require a vouch in the market. Vouches are given when the user you're dealing with feels you deserve a vouch, and no one is obligated to vouch under any circumstances.
• Exploiting Site Glitches: Blank posting and other things that exploit glitches in vBulletin / Sythe.org / the Donation Center are not allowed and punishment will be handled on a case by case basis. Use of unicode to blank post in the Spam Forum is the only exemption to this rule.
• Ignoring Staff Decisions: Ignoring staff orders, recreating locked or deleted threads or posts, evading censors, etc, will normally result in an infraction although any punishment is permitted on a case by case basis.
• Posting links to "Screamer/Shock" sites.: Misleading links/sites that lead to "screamer" or "shock" type sites is prohibited and will result in an infraction. Repeat offenses may result in forumbans/revocation of signature rights.
• PIN Sales: Sale of membership PINs is strictly prohibited. Any discussion of this will be infracted. If it continues, you will be banned for 1 month.
• Advertising - Posting or private messaging links to other sites is allowed if there is a legitimate purpose in doing so that benefits Sythe. Market threads may only link to websites if business is conducted on Sythe and alternative methods of contact (Skype, AIM, etc) are given. Accounts specifically created for advertising will be banned. To purchase advertising space email [email protected].
• Copyright Infringement: posting direct or indirect downloads that infringe on copyright or links of websites related to copyright infringement, including: movies, television shows, games, shareware programs, pirated software, cracks, books, etc. Multiple offences permit up to a month ban.

Users will be banned for 1 week for the following:

• Defacing user photographs: Defacing someone else's picture (drawing on it, photoshopping etc.) without that user's full consent will receive a 1 week ban.
• "Trade With Caution" Rank Evasion: If your account has been given the "Trade With Caution" rank (a TWC) and you use another account to evade the rank, all accounts used in the evasion will receive a 1-week ban as well as a TWC. Subsequent offences will result in a permanent ban on all accounts.

Users will be banned for 2 weeks for the following:

• Self / Fake Vouching: If you fake vouches, steal vouches or in any way attempt to pass of illegitimate vouches as legitimate you will be banned for 2 weeks and be given a TWC. A second offence will result in a permanent ban.
• Interacting on Two or More Accounts/Sharing Accounts: you are strongly advised not to create more than one account at Sythe.org, but, if you do, ensure that the accounts do not interact. Sharing accounts is not allowed.

Users will be banned for 1 month for the following:

• Porn/Gore: posting pictures, videos, links to websites related to porn/extreme gore, etc. The staff will decide what constitutes porn or gore. It is not for you to decide. Steer clear of posting anything which could be interpreted as this.
• Plagiarism: plagiarism (including the ripping of GFX and RS/User Ed Guides) results in a forumban from the pertinent forum as well as a one month ban the first time it happens.
• Disclosure of Others' Personal Information: posting information such as private emails / MSNs, private Skype accounts, Facebook accounts, addresses, phone numbers, private photos, etc. of someone other than yourself without explicit consent of that person will result in up to a 1 month ban regardless of whether or not the information is publicly available.

Users will be banned permanently for the following:

• Scamming: or any suspicious behavior similar to scamming (i.e. attempting to scam), this includes Runescape name Sniping. This also includes:
  • Impersonating other members, and any other similar behavior.
  • Impersonating ranks through the use of your signature.
• Malicious Off-site Activities: If you are found to have committed offences elsewhere (as in, on other sites) which would constitute a ban here on Sythe.org had they been committed here, we may use these offences as an indicator of your character and choose to ban you from Sythe.org. Offences committed prior to your Sythe.org membership may also be considered depending on the nature of the offence.
• Posting Infected Files/Malware: Keyloggers, viruses, trojans, etc...
• Returning After a Ban/Ban Evading: If one of your accounts has been banned for whatever reason and you return under another account, that account will also be banned. Frequent ban evasion will result in an IP ban.
  • Evading a temporary ban will result in both accounts being banned for the length of your current ban plus an additional week
• Selling your Sythe account: Self explanatory.
• "Blackhat"/Malicious Activities: Using software tools for deceptive, malicious, or harmful intent (Hacking/DDoSing/Social Engineering). Punishment for these offences will be dealt with on case-by-case basis, but will most likely result in a permanent ban.
• NB: 'Counter-scamming' (i.e. attempting to recover your property from a scammer) is not against the rules, but attempting to scam someone who previously scammed you is. There is a big difference between the two. You should be aware that if you attempt to recover your property from a scammer, that scammer may attempt to report you on sythe.org. If you have insufficient evidence to back your claims that you were indeed recovering your stolen property the staff may be forced to ban you.

Additional Notes/Clauses:

• If there is a banned account on your IP address, other accounts attached to the IP will also be banned. Moreover, if there is any interaction between accounts attached to the same IP address, all accounts will be banned.
  
• If any account (Sythe, Skype, Runescape, etc) you own is hacked, and the hacker scams with that account, your Sythe account will be banned. You must reimburse all scammed members before the staff will consider unbanning you.
  
• Name changes are only given to staff who wish to have a more professional name. They are not a donation perk in any way.
  
• Businesses/Partnerships: Anyone running a business or partnered service implicitly agrees to share responsibility for the actions of their co-owners, as well as any workers they employ. Thus, if a partner or worker scams, all owners of the business will be banned until the debt is repaid. Workers, however, are not liable for anyone's actions but their own (although it is up to the staff to determine who falls into that category).

* How bumping infractions are handled:

• First Violation: single-point infraction and removal of posts in violation
• Second Violation: 3-day forum ban from the particular forum in which you were over-bumping
• Third Violation: 1-week forum ban from the particular forum in which you were over-bumping
• Fourth Violation: 1 month forum ban from the particular forum in which you were over-bumping

**How Signature Violations are handled:

• First Violation: Warning
• Second Violation: 2 Week Signature Disable
• Third Violation: 3 Month Signature Disable
• Fourth Violation: Permanent Disable

NOTE: Signature violations do NOT expire. Just because the infraction has expired, does not mean the warning has also expired. Signature Violations are PERMANENT.

Last Updated: December 18, 2012