Forum Guidelines - Please Read

Welcome to the Hearthstone General Discussion forums! Before you begin posting we’d like you to understand a few things about how to post here, what’s appropriate to post, as well as how to best use these forums.

Please read and be aware of the Code of Conduct and the forum posting guidelines. These will ensure that we can all enjoy discussing games with one another.

Posting
To get started you’ll need a BattleTag. This is a name you choose that identifies you throughout all Blizzard games. If you currently play World of Warcraft, Diablo III, or StarCraft II you probably already have one. If you do not play any of these games, you’ll want to visit www.Battle.net, log in to your existing account (or create a new one), and then choose to create a BattleTag on the left. You will also need a game license attached to the account, even if it’s just a Starter Edition. If you’ve just created your BattleTag and/or attached a game license you may need to wait a short while before being able to post. Learn more about BattleTags here!

Important Reminders:

Search
The search function at the top of the forum page is extremely effective and robust. Before you create a new forum topic, please be use it to search for similar topics, blog posts, or web pages that may contain the answer for which you are looking. Making a new thread on an existing subject can result in your thread being deleted or, if you continue to re-post the same content, the loss of your forum privileges for spamming.

Rating
The forum rating system can be used to promote positive discussion, demote unhelpful comments, and even report posts that violate the forum Code of Conduct. By hovering over a post you’ll be presented with several options, including a “thumbs up” (Like) and a “thumbs down” (Dislike) icon. Clicking the “thumbs up” icon will rate the post up. If enough people like a post, it will gain a Highly Rated status and appear at the top of related search results. Highly Rated posts will also have a highlighted background. Clicking the “thumbs down” icon will expand a drop-down menu which will include “Dislike,” "Trolling, “Spam” and “Report” options. “Dislike” will rate the post down. If enough people dislike a post, it will be darkened, and with a lot of dislikes it will be hidden completely. You can also quickly report a post as trolling or spam, or use the report function to fill out a more comprehensive description of a violation.

Please note that you can only rate each post once. Use your power wisely to help foster a positive and helpful forum community.

Info
Follow and talk to us on Twitter @PlayHearthstone and on Facebook.com/Hearthstone.en for game news and information.

Guidelines

In addition to the forum Code of Conduct, here are some common courtesy guidelines to follow. While these do technically fall within the bounds of the Code of Conduct, they cover more specific examples of common errors that will lead to thread deletions or posting privileges being revoked.

The Hearthstone forums are for discussion of topics directly related to Hearthstone.

The forums here are specifically to discuss the game and related topics. Any topic not related to Hearthstone, Battle.net, or Blizzard Entertainment is subject to deletion.

Don’t post in all capital letters, use a misleading title, excessive punctuation, and/or non-standard symbols, etc.
While everyone wants their posts read, we ask you to refrain from using these types of tactics in order to bring more people to your thread. Let your post stand on its own merit. Threads violating this guideline are subject to deletion.

Using the words “Blizzard,” “Blue,” or any community team members’ names in a thread topic is frowned upon.
Everyone would like Blizzard to read and acknowledge his or her post, and we understand that; however, use of such words in the subject line does not help that come to pass. Please make your thread title relevant to the post subject. Threads violating this guideline are subject to deletion.

Posting “First” or IBTL (“in before lock”) constitutes as spamming.
You will be suspended if you create a post that is intended to call out that you achieved a specific reply number in a thread. This is considered spamming. Posting IBTL (“in before the lock”) is not helpful, and if you feel a thread should be moderated please use the rating button to do so.

Do not “bump” posts.
The act of posting simply to bump a thread is considered spamming. This also includes bumping very old threads for no reason (called “necro bumping” or “necroing”).

Petition posts are frowned upon.
These are discussion forums and, as such, we ask that you hold discussions. Creating a thread to ask for replies as votes is not a discussion. Threads violating this guideline are subject to deletion.

Do not post about locked or deleted threads.
Posts that are moderated have a reason behind the moderation. It’s up to you to read the forum Code of Conduct and these guidelines to determine what you did wrong, learn from your mistake, and attempt to post again without breaking any rules.

Naming and shaming constitutes harassment
Accusing players by name, denouncing them for behavior that might, or might not be justified can lead to post/thread deletion and a suspension. While such warnings may sometimes be warranted, allowing targeting of others in such a fashion is open to abuse and thus not allowed. You may present your point of view while preserving the anonymity of those involved.

5 Likes