About Emergency-planet.com, the rules and this forum

[pyrothijs]

This topic contains all important information about our sites, the applicable rules and this forum. Remember that when you signed up you agreed to all of the rules mentioned below, regardless if you have read them or not, the rules still apply. So we strongly recommend you read this topic carefully before posting new messages! This will prevent any unwanted punishments.

The site
The site was founded on the 14th of november 2005. Emergency-planet.com is one of the largest sites about the game series called "Emergency" or "911: First Responders". These games put you in charge of different emergency units, among who are the Police, the Fire Department, Ambulances and Technical Units. The site is available in Dutch and English language. In the future we hope to offer the information on the site in even more languages.

On our main site you will find different types of content that will help you through your game and/or addition content to your game. Like walkthroughs, unit descriptions and cheats for all the Emergency-games. The main site also contains a download centre where you can download modifications like the Los Angeles mod or the NL mod. In the download centre you can also find several usefull files to replace corrupted game files.

For the Dutch visitors: you can also find Emergency Planet on HYVES! Check out our HYVES page here.

The terms of service
By visiting this site or any of the other sites owned by Emergency planet and by registering on this forum you agree to have read and agreed with our Terms of Service (TOS). They contain all rules applicable on the main site and on this forum. After registration you need to respect the TOS or you can be punished.

The full version of the TOS can be found here. You can find the most important rules below. Remember these are only the most important rules, you also have to abide to all other rules in the TOS. So please make sure you have read the full version of the TOS entirely before becomming a member of this forum.

>On all of the contents on the EMP-sites rests copyright. Visitors are not allowed to violate that copyright in any way.
> Members are obliged to follow the directions given by the forum staff. Members must also show respect to the forum staff.
> The default language on this site and forum is English. Other languages are only allowed if they are explicitly approved (e.g. in the Dutch part of the forum) or if an English translation is added.
> Before you can post on the forum you need to register with a valid e-mail address. After you have registered you will receive a validation e-mail at that address. You need to click the link in that e-mail before you can post on the forum.
> Usernames, personal photos or avatars can not contain any references to things that are not allowed on the EMP-sites. Usernames may not seem to suggest a user has a position within the forum staff when he or she does not have such a position.
> Before creating a new topic users must have searched the forum (FAQ/search machine/tutorials/pinned topics) for a solution. When creating a new topic the topic needs to be placed in the correct category and the title needs to clearly describe the problem.
> Users cannot delete or lock their topics or post. If you want your topic/post to be deleted or locked please contact a moderator with your request and provide a link to your topic.
> Your signature can not be larger then 500 by 180 pixels and 450 kb in size. The signature also can not contain anything that isn’t allowed on the EMP-sites.
> When you make a request for technical help you are required to upload a DXDIAG file and a logfile with your help request or else we will not help you.
> We do not allow:
*the use of vulgar, profane, offensive or obscene language;
*typing in CAPITAL LETTERS or oversized text;
*posting (links to) sexually explicit content or other content deemed unappropriate for our underaged visitors;
*talking about or linking to illegal activities forbidden by Dutch law or any other law, including downloading games without paying for them or to infringe anyone's intellectual property rights (copyright);
*placing (links to) to advertisements on this forum without prior written consent or placing/sending (links to) any messages that can be considered spam;
*hotlinking, hyperlinking or framing any of the EMP-sites or their contents;
*double posting, use the edit button in stead if you want to add information to your last post;
*posting the same question more then once on the forum;
*posting large files like a DXDIAG file, logfile or scripts in a post. These files need to be uploaded as an attachment (see forum FAQ);
*asking for the release date of a mod in any way;
*quoting images or videos without deleting the {img} or {video} tags.
*posting in dead threads (a thread which has not been active for over 3 months).

If you violate these rules or any other rule from the TOS, the forum staff will take measures. These measures can include:
-an unofficial warning (forum members are given certain directions by the forum staff which must be followed);
-the adjustment or complete removal of posts, signatures, avatars, your personal photo or other profile information;
-an official warning (this one will be registered in our database);
-temporarily or indefinitely suspending a members posting abilities or enforcing a preview before posting (only together with an official warning);
-suspending a members ability to send Private Messages (PM).
-a temporary or permanent ban (4 official warnings will automaticly result in a ban!).

You can object to punishments with the moderator who issued the punishment or by sending an e-mail to info[at]emergency-planet.com (replace [at] by an @).

Only the staff members are allowed to issue warnings and other punishments. Members aren't allowed to 'play forum police' when they see someone break the TOS. In stead they can alert the forum staff via the report button. The staff will recieve a notification about the post and will act upon the report. NOTE: the report post button isn't meant to ask questions! It is solely intended to report serious violations of the TOS. Abuse or misuse of this button will not be tolerated.

The moderating team
All webmasters, administrators and moderators on this site and the forum are volunteers. They are not being paid at all. Not for maintaining the site and the forum, not for providing (technical) support and not for trying to help the forum members develop modding skills. On top of that all members of the forum staff have a job and a private life (girlfriend, family, friends, etc.) in addition to helping you out on this forum.

Every member of the forum staff tries to visit this forum at least once a day. We have tried to attract moderators from all parts of the world so that a staff member can visit the forum during day time, no matter what timezone you are in. Also note: not all staff members are computer experts, although they all have above average knowledgde of computers, they cannot answer all questions about computer problems. This also counts for modding efforts, some staff members just happen to be better modders then others. So depending on the type of question you have, not every staff member will be able to help you answer it.

We would also like to remind you that, since all staff members are volunteers, we are not obliged to help you or to answer your question. Our help on this site is a courtesy, because we like showing people how to make the Emergency-games even more fun. Despite that we will still do our very best to answer every question as soon as possible. All we ask in return is that the forum members treat us with respect and listen to what we have to say. Because of our jobs and private life it is possible your question/remark won't get answered immediatly. If that is the case we ask you to try to be patient, usually your question will be answered within a day or three.

The forum staff can be recognised by an icon below their avatar. The icon consists of a blue globe next to a blue rectangle that lists the staff members function written in black letters. Like the ones you can see below:


Click here to see which forum members are part of the forum staff

NOTE: people with this logo under their name aren't part of the forum staff. They have been banned from all of our sites because they violated our Terms of Service (see above). This means they can never access all our sites again.

The Forum
In addition to the main site we have set up this forum. The forum is intended for users to exchange ideas, solutions and other thoughts about the Emergency-series and to help each other with moddifying the game. You are required to register if you want to post on this forum to reduce the amount of spam. During registration you need to fill out a valid e-mail address. A registration e-mail will be sent to that address, you need to click on the link in that e-mail before you can post messages on the forum.

As explained above, no staff member can keep an eye on the forum 24/7. Because we would still like to help you solve any problems or questions you have, even during our absence, we have several handy tools on the forum. Please use these tools before posting your question on the forum! This prevents people from asking the same question over and over again (which takes up a lot of our time). The tools we are talking about are:
*The FAQ section of this forum
*The tutorial section of this forum
*The search engine on this forum (top right hand corner, for a brief description click here)
*In every subforum the most important remarks/most frequently asked questions are pinned. Try to look through these posts first to see if the answer to your questions has already been mentioned. The pinned topics can be recognized the black text 'Pinned:' in front of the topic title.
When starting a new topic make sure the title is understandable. Titles such as: HEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!!!!!!! // PROBLEM // ERROR // WHY ME?????? // etc. do not define what your problem is. Because nobody knows what you problem is, they will not look at your topic thus leaving your question unanswered. It is better to define the problem in your topic title so people can see if they know how to help you. Good topic titles would be: Crash to desktop while playing LA MOD // Different files error while playing multiplayer // How do you change the skin of a car? // Can't finish mission 10 // etc.
If you need more room to describe your problem you can use the 'topic description' area to define the problem further.
(BTW: all answers to the questions above can be found in the FAQ or with the search function, just try it!).

If you require technical help (e.g. because of a game crash, lag, unexpected error, etc.) you need to upload a DXDIAG file and a LOGFILE. If you have trouble with a certain script please upload that script. Without these files we cannot help you and your help request will not be answered! DO NOT copy and paste the text of those files into your post, instead use the forums upload function to attach the files to your post.
Make sure you describe all the steps you took before you encountered the problem. It will help us answer your question quicker or at least narrow down the possible errors.

Donate
This website is, as previously stated, run by volunteers. Despite the help of all volunteers, maintaining this website and the forum costs a lot of money. The costs are mainly for our server, but we also have to pay for bandwith and our domain. We generate some income from the advertisments on this site, but that isn't enough to cover all the costs. Therefore we have set up a system to donate to our site. You can donate using the following manners:
-Buy your games and movies via our Amazon.com shop. You get a small discount on the price and a part of the money is wired to our site. It's a win-win situation! You can acces our amazon.com shop here.
-Donate via Paypal by clicking on this icon under a staff members avatar.
-Contact Stan via info[at]emergency-planet.com (replace [at] by an @) and ask for the account number of emergency-planet.com so you can wire money to us. If you do not live in the Netherlands make sure to ask for a IBAN and SWIFT code.

Your money is used to maintain the site and this forum. For more information about the financial situation of this site and what will happen with your money, check out this topic.

And finally...
We wish you all a very pleasent stay at www.emergency-planet.com and our forum. We hope your stay here will help you enjoy the Emergency-series even more. We hope you can find answers to your questions so you can fully enjoy playing this great game!

The Emergency-planet.com Staff

[Newfoundking]

Just a reminder to everyone on our report function. This is a great tool to get in contact with the staff if you see something not working right, or a person breaking the rules. Think of it like 911/112/999/whatever emergency number you have.

If you see a person making posts that are, for instance, trying to provoke a fight, you'd report it via the report button beneath the like this box. This sends a message to all moderators and admins to check it out and judge it accordingly. You will not get a notification of us taking care of anything, and sometimes, it will be a non issue, and we won't actually do anything with the post. Remember, we enforce the rules.

Some instances to use the report function:

• A member has created numerous posts in a row
  
• A member has asked for release dates
  
• A member has used vulgar language or curse words
  
• A fight, or flamewar has started
  
• A person, or bot, is posting spam.
  
• A person's signature is exponentially larger than it should be, creating an eyesore for other members.
  

Some instances NOT to use the report button.

• You want help with a mod, game, or a post
  
• You don't know how to make a post, or use a function
  
• You want to contact a moderator personally
  
• Someone has hurt your flower-like feelings over a statement of fact, not meant to start a fight
  
• Small signature violations, and other small rule violations. (We don't mind one or two, but if you find yourself reporting everything you see, stop. You can over report too)
  

We also have a downloads section where you can report files that are broken. This report isn't for things you don't like. You only report if the file will not download. If it gets downloaded, but doesn't work or you have problems with the actual mod itself, that's a problem to take up with the author, not the site.

When NOT to use the Downloads Section report function:

• You don't know how to open the filetype
  
• The model doesn't work like you want it too
  
• You've found a bug in the mod
  
• You don't like the mod
  
• You have a suggestion for the mod
  

These types of reports will almost always be deleted upon receiving, and we will not forward your complaints to the author, and in some cases of repeated abuse, after we explained it, we have issued warning points.

I hope this enlightens you on how to use our Report system, so we can better serve you!