Call of Duty Black Ops OFFICIAL Code of Conduct.
In short, the rules here are really quite simple...
1. NO ADVERTISING: Advertising and soliciting other members to buy, sell, or view any products or services through the COD HQ forums is strictly prohibited and will result in the immediate banning of your account. Topics/Posts that contain advertisements will be permanently deleted.
2. NO SPAMMING: Topics/Posts that are just complete nonsense or duplicates of topics/posts that have been made before will be deleted or in some truly inadvertent cases may simply be Locked or Merged. As a member of the COD HQ, you should use good common sense when posting. Before making a new Topic, make sure that you have performed a thorough SEARCH in order to ensure that a Topic/Post hasn't been made previously. Spamming has a serious impact on the members that are thoughtfully contributing to this community, therefore it will be dealt with first by Warnings (which will result in point deductions from your account) and in cases where Warnings are not effective, your account will be Permanently Banned.
3. NO FLAMING: Posts that are knowingly made to harass, threaten, embarrass or cause the distress or discomfort upon another Member of the COD HQ Community or any other individual or entity will be dealt with extremely harshly. In some cases, Warnings may be issued, but Flaming is likely to result in Permanent Banning. It is therefore advisable to always be respectful of your fellow Members; this does not mean you cannot disagree with someone, but you do not need to tear a person down in order to prove your point.
4. NO OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE: Using offensive language (the bad words that we all know so well), in any context, is not allowed here at COD HQ. We believe that our intelligent members can make their points and offer their contributions WITHOUT the necessity of vulgarities. Posts containing offensive language will be edited and/or deleted by the Forum Moderators and Warnings will be issued as appropriate. Repeat violations of this policy may result in more severe actions, up to and including Permanent Banning.
5. NO RACISM: Topics/posts that contain or exhibit any form of racism, whether direct or indirect, overt or implied shall immediately be deleted or edited by the COD HQ Moderators as deemed appropriate. Violations of this policy may result in Permanent Banning without Warning.
6. NO POST PUMPING: Topics/Posts made that serve no other purpose than to increase the Member's own post count are considered disruptive to the community and interfere with other Member's usage of COD HQ forums. Violations will be dealt with through deletion of the thread and issuance of Warning(s). Repeat offenses of this policy will result in Permanent Banning of the violator's account.
7. NO CROSS-POSTING: Making several posts of the same question across multiple forums is not allowed. It is up to each individual user to select the forum which most appropriately fits the Topic/Post. If you are unsure which forum to use, send a Private Message to one of the Forum Moderators. Cross-posting violations will be dealt with by deleting all cross-posted threads, and leaving in place only the relevant post.
8. USERS MUST MEET WEBSITE AGE REQUIREMENTS: The purpose of the Age Gate at the front of the site was to ensure that members are actually the appropriate Age to view this site and interact with the content here. For the purposes of the COD HQ, that minimum age is 17. Therefore, any member that is identified to be clearly in violation of this Age Requirement (i.e. Those that boast in the forums that they do not meet the minimum age requirements) will be Permanent Banned from the COD HQ forums. This rule further applies to Members that are deemed by Forum Moderators as not exhibiting the level of maturity expected of Members who meet the website's Age Requirement.
9. NO LINKS TO UNACCEPTABLE CONTENT: Topics/Posts that contain offsite URL links to content must fall within the scope of standard established by this CODE OF CONDUCT. Any URL links or other references to offsite content provided in Topics/Posts by Members that contain Pornographic, Racial, Offensive Language, Defamation, or any other derogatory content are strictly forbidden. Posts containing offending URL links will be edited and/or deleted by the Forum Moderators and Warnings will be issued as appropriate. Repeat violations of this policy may result in more severe actions, up to and including Permanent Banning.
What should I do if I see a violation of the COD HQ CODE OF CONDUCT?
REPORT IT! Every post on every thread contains a "Report This Post" icon (in the lower left of the actual Offending Post). It is absolutely the DUTY of every Member who discovers any and all acts in the COD HQ forums that are in violation of this CODE OF CONDUCT to alert the Forum Moderators. The Forum Moderators are greatly concerned with maintaining order and high standards for our Members, but we need your help! So, if you come across any violations of the CODE OF CONDUCT, simply report it. Your reports will be kept confidential.
What happens if I violate the COD HQ CODE OF CONDUCT?
Depending on the severity of the violation, a number of actions can be taken by the COD HQ Forum Moderators. At a bare minimum, our Forum Moderators have been given the tools to EDIT, DELETE, MERGE, and MOVE offending Topics/Posts. In addition, our Warning System has been tied into the COD HQ points system. Therefore, each time you receive a Warning for violation of our CODE OF CONDUCT, you are in fact receiving DEMERITS that will reduce your overall POINT ACCUMULATED. It is even possible that Warnings received could demote your RANK achieved (assuming that the points deductions received take you below the minimum threshold for your RANK. For more severe offenses, the COD HQ Forum Moderators have been empowered to strip Member's of their RANKS and ACCUMULATED POINTS on either a temporary or permanent basis.
For the less interested or involved COD HQ Members (or for the TROLLs that make their appearances from time to time), Forum Moderators also have the ability to Permanently "Ban" a given user name or an offending IP Address (or both).
PLEASE NOTE: Nothing contained herein these rules is intended to conflict with Activision policies regarding Privacy or the Terms of Use of this website that you have agreed to through your continued use of this website.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: Activision will have no responsibility to monitor the Message Boards or any Content posted thereon. However, Activision reserves the right to remove, edit or delete content that Activision, in its sole discretion, determines to be unsuitable for the Message Boards. Each Message Board participant is responsible or liable for any material he or she posts on the Message Board, including the transmission, posting, or other provision of text, files, links, software, photographs, video, sound, music or other information or material to any portion of the Message Boards (the "Content"). You understand that the uploading to and/or posting of any Content in any Message Board shall not be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Activision, and Activision shall not be liable for any use or disclosure of any Content.
You agree to indemnify Activision for any and all claims, damages, losses, and causes of action arising as a result of your posting or uploading any Content to any Message Board or your failure to comply with these Terms of Use. Without limiting Activision's rights set forth above, Activision reserves the rights to delete, move, or edit Content that it, in its sole discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, violates any person's rights of privacy or publicity or is otherwise unacceptable.