Welcome to What if Machine! If you haven't done so already, please register for a free account to access additional content and features including the ability to interact with other users. Our primary mission is to discuss alternate history, fiction, and roleplaying in a friendly, civilized atmosphere. We invite you to enjoy all that the What if Machine community has to offer. In these forums you'll explore subjects of interest to you and make new relationships with fellow historians and gamers. Before getting started, please take some time to familiarize yourself with the global site rules that apply to all areas of the forum. The rules are not exhaustive and are simply meant as guides. If there are any differences of interpretation, the moderators have final say in the matter. Please refer to this page from time to time for any updates What if Machine may make to it. Keep in mind that there may be additional supplemental rules for specific areas of the forum. Any supplemental rules will be sticky topics at the top of the relevant forum(s). Still with us? Good. Welcome to What if Machine, and enjoy! Section 1: Account Rules Use of the forum is not a right. It is a privilege granted to you by What if Machine under the terms of use and can be revoked at any time without warning. Do not establish or use more than one account. Your account is for your use only. Do not disclose personal information about yourself or third parties such as real name, address, etc. on the site. Please do not ask for your account to be deleted. If you no longer wish to participate simply stop posting, your account will remain if you decide to return. Your account can be voluntarily banned if requested, which will prevent you from accessing the site, but it will not remove your posts or your profile. This voluntary ban can be lifted upon request, simply use the “Contact Us” feature to make a request. Section 2: Content What if Machine is an English language forum. Messages should be written in the English language or include an English language translation. Please use your best judgement when posting. Do not use obscene or offensive language, or engage in personal attacks on members. Disruptive and disrespectful behavior is not permitted. Neither the owners, administrators, nor moderators of What if Machine will be held responsible for the content of any message. Members grant What if Machine non-exclusive rights for the content they post. Please keep in mind the difference between the fictional and real worlds when it pertains to the actions of characters as depicted by writers and roleplayers. That said, we ask writers and roleplayers to use common sense in what is being posted and please label works unsuitable for casual audiences or not safe to read at work as such to help other members avoid content unsuitable for opening under those circumstances. Do not post any material (including images) which is defamatory, abusive, vulgar, hateful, threatening, harassing, obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit, invasive of a person's privacy, or is in violation of the rules of What if Machine or the laws of the United States. Posting anything containing viruses, malware, or anything to harm a person's computer, device, or network is prohibited. The moderators reserve the right to involve appropriate authorities or agencies if it believed such action is warranted. Soliciting and commercial advertising are prohibited. Section 3: Posts Posting the same topic across multiple forums or multiple threads is considered spamming and is prohibited. Hijacking existing threads with off-topic comments and questions is prohibited. Continuing conversations from a locked thread in another thread without moderator permission is prohibited. When you quote from a post, you may delete sections that are not relevant to your response, but distorting the original poster’s meaning and other forms of deliberate misquoting are prohibited. Bumping a thread to the top of a forum without posting new content is discouraged but allowed once 24 hours after the last post. All other bumping is prohibited. It is okay to respond to posts in old threads only if you have substantial new contribution to make, such as to extend a timeline. Otherwise you should make a new thread under the same name but add a number to the thread title (Thread Name 2, Thread Name 3, etc.). Section 4: Private Messages The private message system is for private correspondence and not for public consumption. Do not post private messages on the public forum without permission from all parties involved. The administrator reserves the right to view all conversation messages. If you feel the private message system is being used to threaten, intimidate, or otherwise harass you, please contact a moderator for help. Section 5: Copyright Copyright infringement is illegal and What if Machine will adhere to the law to the best of its ability. When posting copyrighted material, please use small sections or link to the article. When posting copyrighted material please give credit to the author in your post. Do not pass off the work of others as your own. This is copyright plagiarism and will not be permitted. Photos, videos, audio, etc. remain the property of the creator or copyright holder and this site in no way makes a claim on these properties, even if linked to or displayed by users of our forum. Articles, images, and other content without proper attribution will be removed completely if brought to the attention of staff. Section 6: Moderators Moderators are users who have volunteered to help keep What if Machine a friendly place. They help users with the website and enforce the rules. Please cooperate with them. Section 7: Moderation What if Machine reserves the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason. We prefer not to block any user's access to What if Machine but we can and will do so if necessary. What if Machine does not use a points based infraction system, everything is decided directly by moderators. Infraction messages are to help everyone keep track of warnings, kicks, and bans. Let the moderators enforce the forum rules – no backseat moderating. Whenever you see a person breaking the rules, use the report post feature. This will send a message to the moderators, who will take action as they deem appropriate. What if Machine cannot guarantee that any action will be taken as a result of your request. Moderators respond to issues in three ways - warnings, kicks, and bans. Warnings may be a casual "don't do this" message in a thread. Don't ignore warnings. Kicks disable the ability to post content on the site, although the site remains readable and private messages and the reporting system may still be used. Bans disable access to the site. The following actions are bannable offenses: -- Support or advocacy of genocide and other mass murder. -- Threating other members. -- Committing offenses through IP concealment or another account. -- Circumventing a kick or ban by using another account. -- Spamming or trolling shortly after signing up. Section 8: Appealing Moderation You can appeal moderation directly to the moderator who posted about it by private message. Please include a link to the post you want to appeal. Bans can be appealed to the administrator using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom right of the page, you do not need to be logged in. Section 9: Contacting Us If you have questions about the staff, the forum, or our rules, please contact us. When contacting the owner or a specific moderator please make use of our Private Message system or email us. Do not post a topic in a forum regarding your situation.