Tyranid Mod :: Frequently Asked Questions

Forum Basics

Why do people around here hate noobs?: We've had essays on this subject before, and the proper answer is relatively detailed.

In short: It's because we're busy.

Basically, we're continuously trying to move the Tyranid Mod forward and get things done. We don't mind that people might not know what's going on - that's actually to be expected - but regularly having to repeat the same stuff over and over because some newcomer is too lazy to read through the information we put up to help people keep up to speed becomes remarkably aggravating when it happens on a daily basis. We've literally had thousands of people come through our website over the years we've been doing this. And we've had to answer the same old questions many, many times.

If you want to make us happy, look around. It's that simple. Look around, read the information we put up to help you. Once you've read it all through and still have questions, then feel free to ask.; Top

Y r teh m0dz t3ll1ng m3 0f f0r mi sp3llink?: We like the forum to be readable.

Apart from the fact that we like being able to understand what people are saying, a lot of people on the forum don't speak English as a first language and if you write in a legible and coherent manner it makes it easier on them too. Strangely we find that people who aren't native English speakers tend to be easier to understand than a lot of people who come from English-speaking nations, since they actually pay attention to their spelling and grammar.

So no txtspeak or 1337speak and try to spell decently. We understand that not everyone can spell properly - at least one of our members is dyslexic - but please at least try and make yourself understandable.; Top

Where should I post?: It's almost always best to use the search function (top right of your screen) to see if there's already a thread on the topic you wish to talk about - and if there is, it's often best to post in there. If you think the thread necromancy rule might apply or if it's not quite what you're after (or if you can't find anything), post a new thread.

The forum is divided up into boards for specific topics, please try to create new threads in the appropriate board (the General board is not the Chat board and so on). Occasionally we'll move a thread to a more appropriate board if we feel that it's not in the right one - but it's only if you seem to have ignored the entire forum layout that we'll get annoyed about it though.

If you need to ask a question but don't think it requires an entire thread to itself and you can't find the appropriate thread to ask it, PM a moderator.; Top

What's thread necromancy and why am I not meant to do it?: Thread necromancy is posting in a thread that's been dead for a month or more. We don't like it when people do this, and generally we'll give warnings out for doing it.

There are notable exceptions to the necromancy rule - that is, if a thread is stickied or in the Balance board it doesn't count, and it doesn't count if there have been significant new developments on a thread's topic and thus it's worth adding to the thread.

However, if a post does not fall into either of those two categories, then chances are it's going to be spam - and spamming in a dead thread gets people's hopes up that you might have said something interesting or important and most people will find it rude if you haven't. That's when we'll give warnings.; Top

What is spam and why will it get me in trouble?: Spam is any post that is void of meaningful content or is made intentionally ignoring of a conversation topic.

Posting spam repeatedly is liable to get you warnings because it uses up forum bandwidth and is just plain rude. In addition, getting rid of it gives more work to the administrators and moderators who'd much rather be doing something productive.; Top

What are flaming and trolling?: Flaming is intentionally posting offensive material - whether aimed at someone specifically or just generally attacking a whole group of people. Trolling is repeatedly flaming people or baiting them into what will become a flamefest (or just generally being intentionally disruptive).

Flaming can earn you anything from a warning up to an instant ban and trolling will easily earn you a ban. We have a forum of people of multiple races, faiths and backgrounds - all of whom are human (or so we assume). Treat each other like humans.; Top

I want to post download links on the forum for games and stuff!: Don't.

As a general rule of thumb, posting download links for games (or music, or software of any sort) is a bad idea. We don't allow people to post links to download copyrighted material as this will get the mod team in trouble. Unless something is specifically stated as being freeware, please don't post download links.

For the record, no, abandonware is not legal. There is no such legal term or status for any game. Unless the game was made prior to 1964 or hasn't had its copyright renewed for 28 years, or unless it has officially had its copyright relinquished or made public domain or freeware (and no, copyrights for companies that no longer exist don't count and neither do copyrights that are probably owned by can no longer be traced), it can't be freely transfered or downloaded.; Top

Is there anything else I shouldn't post?: Apart from games, music and software there are a few things we'd prefer you didn't post.

Firstly, no Zerg references. You wouldn't believe how many times we've had people tell us that Tyranids are like Zerg, or that we should (or shouldn't) do something because that's how the Zerg do it, and so on and so forth. It's not helpful.

And for the record, as far as we've been able to discern, neither Zerg nor Tyranids are based on each other. Nobody stole anything from anyone (except from H.R. Giger) - alien infestations are just a science fiction archetype. There really doesn't seem to have been any GW/Blizzard deal to make a 40k game that got changed into something else at the last minute. It's probably just a myth someone made up.

Secondly, please don't make posts telling us what we "have to do" or "have to include". We appreciate suggestions but don't insist that your idea is the only way of doing something, or that we have to do it because you want it that way, or start voting on what we ought to be doing. It's rude and generally ignores the ton of work we've put into designing the feel and balance of the mod.

Thirdly, no one-line posts unless you are really good at condensing important information into a single sentence. Single word posts, single sentence posts and the like wind up taking up space and saying not much of anything - in other words, are spam. You don't like spam emails, we don't like spam posts.

Finally, no porn. It's a fairly obvious one - if it's not safe for work, it doesn't belong here.

Basically just use your common sense.; Top

OMG! That moderator was mean to me!: Chances are you broke the forum rules and that's why they were "mean".

If you have a problem with a moderator, or think they're being unfair - doing things to you or others even though no rules were broken - send a PM to an admin and talk to them about it. Don't start a thread about it listing your griefs against a moderator, that's just a good way of ticking people off.; Top