There are a number of guidelines you must follow to keep yourself from being villified here.  It's mostly common sense, but then, so is the fact that coffee is hot, and that kind of thing can cause lawsuits... so I'll spell out a few things here.

Disobeying these rules can/will result in any of the following punishments:

* Message deletion
* Message mangling
* Profile mangling
* General ridicule
* Banning
* ConfusedGuy will sic his FF2 screenshots- er, evil demented minions upon you
* Any combination of the above

And remember, if we've banned you once, we can ban you again.  Trying to come back with another account after being banned does nothing but waste your time and amuse us. 

* Don't be a jerkass
Yes, you can flame - but don't just flame randomly.  If you have a reason to insult someone, then insult them, like nature intended, but don't just go and be offensive to everyone.  Here at CPE Inc., we like witty retorts, not childish name-calling.

* Don't be a brainless twit
We can't regulate intelligence, that would be a bit cruel (as much as I personally would like it ) - but if you act like an idiot, you'll be treated like one, plain and simple.

* Keep your act clean
Explicit cursing, explicit sexual language, pornography, and excessively violent/gruesome content will not be tolerated, and will be dealt with harshly.

* Don't argue theistic beliefs
Everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe - don't antagonize them for it.  Any insult to another person's beliefs (or lack thereof), or an attempt to convert someone, will get you at least 50% closer to banning.  For that matter, don't be racist or sexist either.
Of course, all this applies in seriousness.  If you're telling a joke, go ahead and tell it (as long as it's not too incredibly offensive).  Everyone should have a sense of humor - and if they don't, well, they came to the wrong forum.

* Users, Stay Alert and Alive...
Ok, that may sound eerie, but to avoid banning or account deletion you need to pay close attention to this rule.  In order to keep your account at CPE, you must be active at least once a month or have notified a moderator of other circumstances.  Also, no sharing accounts. If it is suspected that there is account sharing/impersonation occuring, that is grounds for automatic banning of the users in question.

* No moderator in-fighting
Yes, we moderators can torture each other with our power quite easily; however, such things are always returned with revenge, and more, and more, and so on and so forth.  Any in-fighting will be reported directly to the CrazedPenguin himself, and in lieu of his intervention, I the Confused one will amend the situation personally.
Unless, of course, it's all in good fun. 

punishment- Loss of mod status for a month

* Stay on-topic
Things should go in their rightful place.  Organization is good.  Disorganization breeds chaos, and chaos breeds disorder, and all three of those words actually just mean the same thing.  But I like organization, and all posts must be put in their proper place, by force if necessary.

Speaking of on-topic...

 

Just so you stay on-topic.  If you don't, we'll just move things anyway, but you could help us out, you know...
Plus, if you get on the moderators' nerves, we'll ban you.  Simple, no?

* Social
Talk about...basically anything.
Here we are, the biggest topic area by nearly 300 posts, the Social area.  Post about anything that doesn't fit elsewhere (and that meets the forum guidelines) in here.  Chain topics are fully acceptable, as is useless random gibberish, if you are so motivated.

* Gaming
Video/computer game discussion area
While it can't be guaranteed that anyone can help with any game, someone just might know a few, and could offer some help if you need it.  Anything about gaming, on any platform, in any genre, goes here.

* Debates
This is SERIOUS. Do not post anything off-topic or joking here, or risk getting lowered a mod level or banned altogether.
Everyone's gotta be serious every now and then.  Got an issue to raise?  Something you don't think is right, or something serious you just want someone else's input on?  As long as it meets the forum guidelines, discuss it here.  And, like the description says, be serious (no joking around allowed here, contrary to the other topic areas).  If you're not sincere, the [i]minimum[/i] penalty is a deleted post.

* Links to Elsewhere
The name says it all...exchange links to other places here. NOWHERE ELSE!
In an attempt to stop spam before it starts, all outgoing links (unless they're informational sources for a post in another topic area) must be put here.

Remember, this place is run entirely arbitrarily - the mods are not above altering the rules and regulations as circumstances/humor dictates.

If you don't like the rules, you can always go somewhere else.  We're not stopping you.

And, please, try to use correct spelling/grammar... it's nothing we're going to ban you for, but it's a courtesy to people who read your posts.  If people can't understand what you have to say, you'll just be ignored.

 

In closing, remember, this is all in good fun - don't take it too seriously.
(Except the Debates.  Those are serious.)

Oh, and...
LOOK OUT FOR THAT ELEDOLPHIN!