Terms of Service

Last Revised 2022-06-19

Section I - General

1. Icon-Era
Icon-Era ("we", "us", "our") is an online website / message board (“website”) that intends to promote fair and open discussions around videogames and technology.

2. User Agreement
This user agreement (“agreement”) is a legal contract between us and you, and sets out the terms of your use of our website and its services, including, but not limited to, the provision of access to an online message board. By accessing the website you agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, and if you don’t agree with such terms, you should not visit the website or use its services. This agreement also includes all terms and conditions spelled in our privacy policy, which explains how we collect and use your information.

3. Liability
We and its Administration and Moderation team (“staff'' or “the staff”) are not responsible for any user-generated content and accounts. Content submitted expresses the views of their author only. We are also not responsible or liable for any actions or decisions someone makes based on what they read on the website.

Section II - Admissions and Accounts

4. Admission

Icon-Era membership is not a right, and can be granted, revoked or refused based solely on the judgment of the staff. Each member can only have one account, and If the staff detects that a user is utilizing multiple usernames, all of the user’s accounts will be subject to immediate and permanent banning.

5. Age Restriction

This Service is only available to users who are at least 18 years old. If you are younger than this, please do not register for this Service. If you register for this Service, you represent that you are this age or older.

6. User Registration

User registration requires a username, password and email address. We reserve our rights to block the use of email addresses from certain providers during the registration process at our discretion and without any warning to you. While we don’t implicitly restrict the usage of reputable free email providers (e.g. gmail or hotmail), the staff recommends that you register your account with an Internet Service Provider (“ISP”), education, or workplace email address. Account registration utilizing temporary email providers is not allowed.

7. New Account Onboarding Period

New accounts will be subject to an onboarding period of 30 days, whereby their posting cadence will be limited and new threads will be subject to Administration or Moderation (staff) approval. Icon-Era Staff reserves the right to not approve threads created during the onboarding period.

8. Account Deletion

Users may request for their account to be deleted at any point, via their user portal - Once this request is submitted, the user will be immediately logged off, an email will be submitted confirming the request, and a cool down period of 30 days will be applied, during which the user may log in their account and cancel the deletion request.

Section III - Moderation

9. General

While we support and value the right to free speech, certain rules and regulations apply. Users must adhere to the principals of “my freedom ends when the freedom of others begins”, and the Staff may act in such a way to limit a user’s freedom of speech via closure of threads, comment moderation, and temporary or permanent bans, in line with Section IV - Engagement Guidelines. Constructive criticism and suggestions are allowed, and users are encouraged to share their opinions in threads designed for that effect. If users perceive administrative actions have been unproportional or unfair, they can reach the Staff team via the appropriate channels.

10. Legal Action

Section IV - Engagement Guidelines

11. Language

While Icon-Era represents an international community, the de facto language for our forums is English. The forum’s Staff reserve the right to remove content in other languages, except in cases where the forum and/or thread clearly outlines that its language is other than English.

12. Content

While using our service, users agree that they will adhere to minimum standards of decorum when addressing others. Content or material that is knowingly abusive, defamatory, false, harassing, hateful, inaccurate, invasive of a person’s privacy, obscene, sexually oriented, threatening, vulgar, or otherwise in violation of any law, will be subject to moderation and depending on their gravity, may lead to your account being banned. This is not an exhaustive list, and users should use common sense when sharing their opinions. Ethnic and racial slurs will not be tolerated and will lead to your account being banned with no recourse. Profanity of any kind should be kept to a minimum.

13. Images and Videos

Images and Videos, whether uploaded directly into the forum or shared via image or video sharing platforms, that include sexual or gory content, are discouraged, and the Staff will act in the best interests of the community when warning users about such content. Standard safe-for-work common sense rules should be considered when sharing content of such nature, and the moderation may issue a written warning on first offense. Meme and image spamming is not permitted. Avatar images should be static and family-friendly. Sharing of pornographic content will result in a temporary ban, and sharing of content that depicts criminal activity, including but not limited to paedophilia or murder, will result in immediate account termination, and for your details to be reported to your local law enforcement.

14. Copyrighted Material and Piracy

We encourage the technical discussion of emulators and game technology, however sharing restrictions apply to all users. Links to pirate download websites, directions on how to obtain pirated content, and sharing of content created via pirated software is thereby prohibited and may result in your account being terminated. When sharing articles, users should not include full transcriptions or scanned images. Short excerpts are permitted and should be attributed. Fair-use policies apply.

15. Self-promotion

Icon-Era is content-creator friendly, however certain restrictions apply. Users shall not self-promote and share their content except when thoroughly vetted by the Administration and Moderation, and shall do so exclusively in threads created for such purposes. Users may request to be vetted and be categorized as content-creators, with the Administration reserving the right to refuse such categorization. Branded advertisements are not permitted.

These aforementioned Terms of Service are subject to change at any time without notification.