RPoL

There are several official RPoL Forums.  These are all public, meaning that every registered user can post in them (unless they have been banned from the forum).  Most forums will have a Notice at the top where any important rules are posted -- be sure to read the notices as they'll assist you in getting the sort of response you want to your post.

Official Public Forums on RPoL are found under the category "RPoL Forums".  They are:

• Beginners: This is a good forum for introducing yourself if you're new to the site, and for getting basic RPoL help and advice.  Game ads are not permitted in Beginners.
  
  
• Game Proposals, Input, and Advice: This is a forum Game Masters can use to either get feedback and advice on their existing ideas and game concepts, or to propose a game they haven't yet created to see if there's enough interest to start it.
  
  
• Game Systems: This forum is for asking for help with the technical aspects of various published game systems, or for asking advice on refining system rules.
  
  
• General RPoL: The General RPoL forum is a place to get help from other RPoL users on using RPoL.  Discussions about RPoL's future and policies also occasionally happen there.  Note that if you need help with something only a site Moderator or Admin can do, it's better to use rMail to contact them directly.
  
  
• Offsite Gaming: In this forum, users can post an advertisement for a game they run off RPoL, if they'd want to do such a crazy thing.
  
  
• Technical Discussions: Various technical aspects of RPoL and its mechanics can be discussed here.
  
  
• Wanted - GMs: In this forum, players can advertise for GMs to run games for them, or GMs can advertise for co-GMs for their existing games.
  
  
• Wanted - Players: Ads for games on RPoL that need players go here.  The Wanted - Players forum has a special format which allows threads only to be started by GMs who have games which are eligible to be advertised.  Anyone may reply to these ads (so long as their reply is on topic).  (See below for more details.)

There are also some official RPoL Forums which may be read by users, but which have restricted posting access.  Usually these forums are for informational purposes.

These forums are found under the category "RPoL Forums":

• FoRPoL: FoRPoL stands for "Friends of RPoL".  This forum is run by a group of volunteers who assist RPoL in its financial obligations.
  
  
• Heaven: This is a place for links to various gaming resources.  New links can be suggested using the Request Access link in Heaven.
  
  
• The RPoL Chamber of Lost Souls: When a user is banned from the site (or some other drastic action must be taken against a user), they are listed here.  This serves two purposes: first, it allows those who may be playing games with the problem user to know why the person will not be participating in their games any longer; and second, it demonstrates the sort of behavior that is not tolerated on our site.

Under the "Discussion" category you'll find a forum called Community Chat.  This is a place for users to relax and talk with one another about things which do not really go in the other forums.  Community Chat is a moderated forum, and good behavior is expected there.

In addition to official forums, there may be several Discussion Forums located in the Discussion category which are open to public posting.  These forums are not official, and may have their own rules, so it's a good idea to check them out before posting in them.

While RPoL has Portraits available for use in games, we do not display these in forums where people post as themselves.  We consider the Portraits only appropriate to role-playing, and so they are only available inside games.

When posting a Message, be sure that it is on topic for both the Forum it's being posted to and, if it is a reply, the Thread into which it is being posted.

Only registered and verified users can post messages.  To reply to a thread, use the "Post a Reply" link found at the thread's lower right.  To post a new thread or topic in a forum, use the "Post a New Topic" link at the forum menu's upper right side.

When posting a new thread, it's a good idea to make the subject of the thread descriptive of the thread topic.

The Wanted - Players forum is a special kind of forum where strict control is maintained to give everyone a fair chance to advertise their games.

Only the owner of a game can post an ad for it in Wanted - Players, though anyone can freely reply.  Only posts made after a week has passed from the original ad will update the thread.  This stops constant bumping, which stops other GMs from having an equal shot at having their ad on the forum's "front page".

GMs will find that they will only be able to create an advertisement for a game if:

1. the game is flagged as requesting players (in the "Edit Game Details" area of the "GM Menu" in the game);
   
2. the game has an introduction written for it (use "Edit Game Introduction" in the "GM Menu" of the game); and
   
3. the game has one or more threads.

While replies are permitted in the forum only a post made more than one week (or multiple of one week) after the ad was made will bump the ad to the top of the forum and show its "New Message" Indicator.  This means ads can receive replies which are not indicated by the system to readers, so it's a good idea to check ads every now and again to see if there are replies which need to be answered.

RPoL has a team of Moderators who work in their spare time to maintain order on the site and to keep forums on topic.  They have several powers at their disposal, ranging from editing or deleting posts, to removing threads and banning users from individual forums or the site at large.

Moderators generally do not edit or remove posts without leaving a message within the problem post for the original author.  If your post has been edited or removed, and you still have questions about it, contact the Moderators using rMail to discuss the issue.

By using RPoL, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use, which includes accepting moderation and agreeing to obey Moderator instructions.

Forum bans are possible on RPoL.  The are generally used to reinforce a forum's rules when a user has been posting outside the allowed subjects for a forum.  If you've been banned from a forum, you will need to contact the site Moderators (using rMail) to have your privileges restored.

Moderators do not remove messages on site without providing a reason, so looking up your most recent posts and checking them is a good idea, and can often alleviate confusion.