The Next Level Forum FAQ

Here you can find answers to questions about how the board works. Use the links or search box below to find your way around.

Registration and the User Control Panel (User CP)

Privacy Statement

The Next Level respects personal liberty and is run with the belief that privacy is an integral component of freedom. This privacy statement outlines the ways in which the site collects, uses, and protects personal information.

By using this site, you agree to its terms, as set forth in this statement and in other areas of the site. The Next Level contains links to many other pages but is obviously not responsible for the actions or policies of those external resources.

Collecting Personal Information

You may use this site without explicitly providing any personal data. However, as is the case with most current Web use, you will be exposing some information that cannot in itself personally identify you. This data includes - but is not limited to - your IP address, your Web browser and operating system versions, which pages you view on this site, and the URL of the Web page you were visiting immediately before you came here. Outgoing links to online merchants like Amazon.com may be rewritten with affiliate code so that our site is credited as a referrer on any pages you view or purchases you make.

In order to serve our readers, we partner with third-party advertisers that may use browser cookies to collect data about your visits to The Next Level and other Web sites in order to serve advertising of relevance to you. To learn more about how information is collected and your options regarding its use, you may refer to the Network Advertising Initiative site at http://networkadvertising.org/.

If you participate in the community by joining the forum, commenting on a news article, etc., you are responsible for the information you provide. If you communicate with the site via e-mail, you are exposing your e-mail address and implicitly giving permission to The Next Level to reply to your message in accordance with this privacy statement (see the section below entitled "Using Personal Information").

Forum subscriptions and other financial transactions are generally handled through PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) and are subject to its policies. However, some transactions may be completed with The Next Level directly, and those are governed by this privacy statement.

Using Personal Information

Anything you post in a publicly accessible part of the site is the property of The Next Level. Personally identifiable information (that is, data that can lead directly to you in the outside world, such as a full legal name, home address, or telephone number) will be removed on request if you do not have access to edit it, but non-personal information will be retained unless there is a compelling reason to delete it.

If you are a member in good standing and you wish to change the personal information associated with your account, you may do so through the forum software. Only your user name is handled differently, but this can be changed via request to an administrator. You are cautioned to think twice before using your real name as your user name.

Your information may be used to personalize your user experience, publish a profile on the forum, and correspond with you. Members of the community who have not opted out may receive automated e-mail with birthday wishes, forum news, and similar content. Your e-mail address is kept private.

Protecting Personal Information

Reasonable steps will be taken at all times to secure your personally identifiable information against loss or misuse, including disclosure to any third parties. Of course, The Next Level may disclose information when prompted by law, litigation, and matters of safety to government agencies and Internet service providers.

Contacting The Next Level

Questions and comments about this site may be submitted via contact form or sent to:

The Next Level
17 E. Monroe, #101
Chicago, IL 60603

This page may be updated at any time with changes to our privacy policy.

Rules of Conduct

The Penalty System

Each administrator and moderator can issue warnings and assess penalties for violations of the forum rules. Penalties are tallied with the use of infractions ("red cards") and warnings are given as "yellow cards." An established user may be given one, two, or three red cards per violation, and these remain attached to the user for varying lengths of time, all depending on the nature of the offense. Having three active red cards in your name results in an immediate ban. In general, the first ban is for one day, the second for up to one week, the third for up to three months, the fourth for up to one year, and the fifth can be permanent.

Users that register only to spam a site or product or to cause a disruption will be permanently banned on sight.

In issuing red cards, staff will follow the spirit of the table below, but The Next Level reserves the right to ban anyone for any reason and any duration at any time.

One Card
Encouraging Others to Violate Copyright Laws - card expires after 10 days
Linking to Pornography or Gory Images - card expires after 30 days
Promoting Racism, Sexism, or Homophobia - card expires after 15 days
Nudity in an Avatar or Signature - card expires after 30 days
Hostility Toward Another Forum Member - card expires after 10 days
Stalking Someone on the Boards - card expires after 30 days
Starting a Frivolous or Redundant Thread - card expires after 30 days
Posting More than Three Off-topic Comments in a Row - card expires after 5 days

Two Cards
Posting Another Member's Personal Information - cards expire after 10 days
Attempting to Drive Traffic to Another Site - cards expire after 10 days
Using a Misleading Topic Name - cards expire after 10 days
Misrepresenting the Target of a Link - cards expire after 30 days
Posting a Message or Picture to Disrupt a Topic - cards expire after 10 days

Three Cards - Instant Ban
Posting Links to Illegal Download or Password Sites - cards expire after 24 hours
Posting Pornography or Gory Images - cards expire after 24 hours
Using PMs or E-mails to Promote a Web Site - cards expire after 7 days
Having Multiple Forum Accounts - cards expire after 7 days

A user will always receive a warning or penalty notice via private message and is expected to discuss the matter intelligently and rationally if he feels he has been slighted.

Banned users will not be allowed to edit or delete any part of their posts.

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