Chat Guidelines & FAQ

[Torq]

CHAT GUIDELINES

If you find yourself being continually kicked from the room, there is something different about your computer... MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING INTERNET EXPLORER AS YOUR BROWSER!!! If that does not work, you should try the following: 1.) Clear your browser cookies--this doesn't just mean logging in & out of forums: this means going into your browser & actually clearing them (Internet Options --> tools). 2.) Make sure your cookies are set high enough (above 4k)--often people run out of cookie space. 3.) Make sure you are using Internet Explorer--although chat runs with other browsers, it's primary capatability is with IE, so it runs the best with IE. 4.) Check your internet connection--chat is a java-intensive program. Are you on a dial up? Wireless? DSL? Sometimes these drop out, so please be aware that a streaming chat may not work for you as well.


1. Be Respectful!!!
Everyone must show everyone else respect. Dom, switch, sub, female or male, everyone in the chat deserves to be treated with respect. Disrespect will not be tolerated and if you disrespect another chat member, you may lose your chat privileges. If a member is harassing you or in some way disrespecting you, please let a chat mod or admin know, rather then taking the matter into your own hands--please do not be a vilgilante- that is why we have chat staff!
All members in the chat room are equal! As such, a dominant may not step into a situation to "protect" their submissive in the room. The submissive can either handle the situation themselves, or contact a chat staff member--PERIOD. There is NO EXCEPTION!!! Chat staff may take action as needed in situations where partners are over-stepping bounds into situations in which they do not belong and/or are not involved.
The ignore button is a handy feature if you dislike someone in chat—click on their name on the participants list, then select “ignore.” New or old, ALL chat members deserve the SAME respect! New members may need to be helped as they learn the ropes--this isn't license to be rude or disrespectful to them or to PM them to "help"!
Additionally, no Dom is entitled to be referred to as "Sir" or "Ma'am" by any sub, and no sub is to be forced into protocol. PERIOD.

2. Age: You MUST be over 18 years of age to be a member on this site, this is NON-NEGOTIABLE! Regardless of the "Legal" age in "whatever" country your from for this site YOU MUST be 18 NO EXCEPTIONS!! Anyone found under the age of 18 will be banned at least till their 18th. birthdate. Underages who constantly re-register will be banned permanently. Any member who knowling allows an underage to stay is subject to the same ban. Your birth date must appear in your forums profile. Age play is permitted. However, there is NO permitted play of ANY kind younger than age EIGHTEEN!!!! NO Ecceptions!.

3. Do not PM/whisper without asking first in the main room
You MUST ask the person in the open room BEFORE you PM them. If you PM without permission, you will be warned by a moderator. Further infractions may result in loss of chat privileges. If you are PM’d without being asked first, please let the person know in the main room that you do not wish to be PM’d and a chat moderator will take care of the issue.

4. Trolling will not be tolerated.
The chat room is there for a community of common interests to come together & chat. It is not a personals site. If you wish to find a mate, the chat staff suggests posting a personals ad in the Personals Subforum in the Forums area. Likewise, not all people who come into the chat room are interested in “hooking up”—they may already be in a relationship, or just aren’t interested. Undesired or reckless pursuit of a member or a group of members by another will not be tolerated by the chat staff.
PM'ing every single "newbie" the minute they enter Chat to "help" them WILL be considered Trolling and will be subject to a Chat Ban. IF you indeed wish to help the newbies you can do it in the Main Room.
However, ALL new members will be treated with respect!! No new members will be called "trolls" or other derogatory terms--all new members are entitled to the same respect that "older" members are. Any inappropriate behavior by chatters will be handled on a case-by-case basis by administrative staff.

5. Do not utilize the “/me” or “:” feature, or letter "spamming".
1.The /me feature only italicizes and greys out your type and makes it hard to read in the room. Please type regularly and direct your comment to the person instead.
2. Please do not "spam" the room with MULTIPLE letters when saying hello or during convo's. "Spamming" is excessive letters and constant repeated words. Excessive is when words or letters span the page and are repeated. Simple IF a chat Mod asks you to "Cease an Desist" they have deemed it "excessive" simply STOP! {See Rule #9}

6. A moderator or chat admin may PM any user for chat business at any time and the user must comply with the moderator/admin’s request and chat in PM.
Any user who does not comply will be subject to loss of chat privileges.

7. No politics or religion discussions in ANY! room.
This rule is NOT up for debate or dicussion it will NOT be changed!
Take ANY politics or religion convo's to PM or in the Forums "Editorial Page" areas.
NO Exceptions NO Excuses!

8. All chat must be in English.
If you wish to chat in another language, take it to a PM or to a private room. This is a blanket rule--there are NO exceptions!!!

9. If a moderator or admin asks for your birth date/age in PM, you MUST provide them with the information in PM.
Any misrepresentation of your age or your birth date will result in immediate loss of chat privileges.

10. Room moderators and admins have discretion to take any administrative action they deem necessary at the time.
If you disagree with their decision, please save the chat log and email it along with a descriptive message to Torq via Forums. Room moderators and admins will often take care of chat business in PM, rather then in the open room. Please be cogniscent of this & understand that you might not have the "whole story", before attempting to interject yourself into a situation: once the chat staff has control of it, they will take care of it--that's what they're there for!

11. Banned or otherwise administratively disciplined members may not be in chat during their banned period.
If you are kicked or banned from the chat by a chat moderator or admin, you may not return to chat under another user name for the duration of the kick/ban. If the ban is permanent, you may never return to the room under ANY name. If you believe you were kicked or banned in error, please send a PM/email to delia & she will take a look at the situation.

12. All conversations in ALL rooms are subject to moderation.
Please remember that chat, like all other areas on the internet is a PUBLIC area. Therefore, if you wish to have a “private” conversation with someone and don’t want it to “slip” into the main room use "Private Chat" NOT "Whisper" or remove it from the chat room altogether. PM's, Whispers and/or Private Chats are NOT! moderated, logged or recorded EXCEPT between the parties having said Chats, IF they choose to.

13. Members not present in the room may not be discussed.
Regardless of what the discussion is, members who are not present in the room may not be discussed in conversation. This includes banned members.

14. Be respectful of all kinks.
Besides underage, munting, politics or religion, any and all kink may be discussed in the chat room. Everyone enjoys a different part of BDSM, and in turn, we must all be respectful of eachothers' kinks. If there is an issue, please take it up with a room moderator or admin--do not tell the member they need to take their conversation elsewhere--they are just as free to chat in any room as you are!

15. Rooms and their usage
As folks may have noticed room(s) have been re-arranged and assigned "topics"
1. The intent of various rooms is to a. Expand the site/chat, b. to allow multiple convos, c. Keep an assemblence of COMMON Sense.
2. A. The Lobby is the "default" room, meaning it's where everyone enters, greets, says their hello's, etc. The Lobby is for Adult conversations! (After all, we ARE a ADULT site--strict protocols, NO!, but RESPECT for Adult conversations, YES!) Hence, there will be NO "grab-ass childish" behaviour, NO glitter play, etc. The room is for Adult Convo! If the room is busy or crowded and involved in a BDSM/Adult convo., please take your Vanilla/other convo/interest or play out of The Lobby and to the proper room.
3. The remaining rooms are fairly self-explanatory:
First and foremost, NO Rule or Guideline will ever be 100% black and white-- this is why we have Chat Staff. Second, there is no exact number of participants in chat that dictate when the other rooms need to be used. HOWEVER, once members are asked by Chat Staff to move a conversation to another room, the members have three (3) choices: 1. Move to a different room; 2. Stop that convo and join in the current Lobby convo; 3. Be kicked from chat by the Chat Staff.
NOTE: ALL Chat Guidelines are still in effect in ALL rooms. RESPECT! Being the #1 Rule!

16. Ongoing forums, chat or staff issues may not be discussed in Chat.
Any ongoing forums issues, chat issues or issues being discussed with staff members may not be discussed with other members in Chat. There is no "transfer" of problems from forums to chat or chat to forums. Any members found to be "garnering support" for their particular problem in chat/Forums will be subject to a ban.

17. Posting Links in Chat NEVER EVER post any links on this Site or Chat that involves underage/children (18) in ANY fashion what-so-ever. NO PICTURES NO VIDEOS NO LINKS NOTHING TY ANY postings of this nature will result in an IMMEDIATE LIFETIME ban from the SITE!

If there are any room issues and no moderator or chat admin is present, please SAVE THE CHAT LOG and email it to Torq (torq654@hotmail.com) and/or send Torq a PM in forums with Log.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS...

1. How do I set my avatar?

Answer: To set your avatar, go into forums, click on the User CP tab at the top. Then click on the “edit avatar” link on the left of the screen, and upload an avatar. Please don’t use the forum provided avatars—they don’t seem to work well in chat. PLEASE BE PATIENT! It might take a few days for your new avatar to show in the chat room!

2. How do I whisper?

Answer: The chat has 2 whisper functions. The first is a “whisper,” (commonly called a PM). To whisper, right click on the person’s name on the participant list, and select “whisper”. It will insert a “/msg [user]” into your txt box. Now type your message, then click enter. Whispers appear in the main room, but only show to yourself and the person you are whispering with. They appear as “A says to you”… or “You say to A.”

The second option is a Private Message actually opens up a separate tab in the main chat window. You can have a conversation with a user in a private message and it acts like an instant message. The downside is that you have to tab between the private message and the main chat room.

3. How do I block someone?

Answer: If you want to stick another user on ignore, right click their name on the participants list and select “Ignore User.”

4. What are all those other rooms?

Answer: When you enter chat, you arrive in The Lobby. 90% of chat is done in the lobby—generally open chat, not necessarily heavy scenes. Those generally take place in the other rooms within the Chat Program (The Dungeon, Fun Times, Truth or Dare, etc.). You can take your chat with users into another room if you want to be alone. To access those rooms, click on the open door tab at the top of the chat screen (left most button).

5. What if I want to make my own room?

Answer: You can do this. Go into the rooms tab and then you can make your own room. Please be aware that the chat room rules extend to all the rooms in the chat program. However, you can create a private room and password protect it if you wish to have some privacy.

6. How do I find out info on other people?

Answer: On the participants list, right click on their name, a small menu will appear, click “View Profile.” If you can’t see these profiles, you probably have just registered and haven’t confirmed your account via your email yet. You have to do this first.

7. How do I get a colored font?

Answer: Click on the square box with 4 different colors located right above the text typing window.

8. How do I turn off those smileys? Or avatars? Or shrink the font in the main window?

Answer: There is a gray wheel located at the top of the main chat window. You can adjust all these settings by clicking on that wheel.

9. How do I change my name?

Answer: Send a PM to Torq Site Admin.--simple as that!

For other helpful info, click on the small question mark located on the tool bar above the main chat window or ask a room moderator or admin. We’re happy to help!