Welcome to the Black Mesa forums! You will be able to share your thoughts about the game, provide feedback and suggestions, ask for or provide help, and even create content you can share with the rest of the world with the Workshop!

However, in order to keep the place clean and tidy as much as possible, you will need to follow a few rules and other guidelines. The following topic covers what is allowed and what isn't. This applies across all sub-forums.

NOTE: Developers, officers and moderators reserve the right to remove any content they feel is inappropriate. If you feel something has been unfairly moderated, please leave a comment here. If you need to escalate the issue, please contact the Community Manager Natalino here.

All users are invited to first read the Rules and Guidelines For Steam: Discussions, Reviews, and User Generated Content as they cover the most common rules across every forum on Steam.

Please make sure to also have a look at the following guide to contribute positivity in the forums.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=143962136

Below are additional rules specific to Black Mesa or rules we really enforce.

When posting in the forums, please:

1. Search! It's there for a reason. Duplicate threads will get merged or deleted when seen
   
2. Respect your fellow scientists! Else your Sector C security officer might intervene! Act with decorum
   
3. Post in the correct sub-forum! If it's a bug, post in the bugs sub-forum
   
4. Give weight to your opinion and/or facts (explain or post sources to your claims)
   
5. Listen to a moderator's instructions
   
6. Use proper language - It's fine to be unhappy with something, but keep your posts constructive and within the topic's boundaries
   
7. Learn to accept that you may not always be right and that other people's posts matter
   
8. Use the report function to report posts that break the rules

Please, do not do any of the following:

1. Generally post content you know you shouldn't
   
2. Troll, flame, or otherwise provoke developers, officers, moderators and other users for any reason
   
3. Openly argue with a moderator on the forums
   
4. Unnecessarily bump or necro threads. It's best that you start a new thread
   
5. Post spam
   
6. External advertisement - Promoting your own work for Black Mesa is tolerated
   
7. Backseat moderating. Report posts that are breaking the rules and let moderators do the moderating
   
8. Post inappropriate links
   
9. Post NSFW content
   
10. Derail or hijack threads
    
11. Repetitively re-post closed threads
    
12. Use the report system to gain contact with a moderator
    
13. Use foul language or repetitively use censored words or links in a thread
    
14. Purposely bypass the filter (game hub moderators cannot edit users' threads or posts, so we'll be adamant on this)
    
15. Name & Shame - Encountered a cheater in-game? Just report them through their Steam profile. We have no power over this
    
16. Toy with the review system - the review system is for the game itself and developers, not to judge moderators, the users, the forums and whatnot
    
17. Double posts or more. One post is enough. Edit your post if you need to add information. We cannot merge posts
    
18. Use multiple accounts to evade a ban - If you do this, you are ground for a permanent ban across all your accounts

Please remember, just because there isn't a rule written up there doesn't mean it's allowed or that anything goes. When in doubt, contact a moderator.


In case of an infraction, here's what can happen:

• Thread locked.

We will let you know with a closing thought why a thread may be locked. A locked thread happens when it has run its course and veered off topic, was bumped for no reason, or when the original post doesn't warrant any kind of discussion.

• Post or thread deleted.

N.B. We can't always send notifications when something is removed, especially on posts and/or comments given that there are often many to deal with in a short time span. We expect most of you to understand why your post was deleted. If you are unsure of what happened, send a message to a moderator.
A private message will be sent if it is absolutely required. We wouldn't want to clog your Steam Community Messages with too many messages.

• Private Message.

We certainly don't want to convey the negative side of a warning because they leave a permanent stain, so if you did something incorrectly that isn't grave, we'll either let you know in the thread or we'll send you a PM. Don't hesitate to reply to that PM if you need more information.

• Warnings.

Warnings are a step further to PMs. They are clear messages to let you know you did something you really shouldn't have done whether it is something grave or something you have done on multiple times. Take them seriously. Don't hesitate to reply to that warning if you need more information.

• Temporary Bans.

Temporary bans are a clear indication that you have been doing something wrong like flaming other members on multiple occasions. The more you infringe the rules, the longer the length of the ban it's going to be. If your privileges are revoked, take the time to understand what you've done wrong, read the rules again and when the ban expires, try to stay in line. Don't hesitate to reply to the ban notification if you need more information.

• Permanent Bans.

A permanent ban is the ultimate punishment for a user. It means you have done something or things you shouldn't have and keep doing it even after being warned and temporarily banned. Permanent bans are non-negotiable and will not be removed by the moderation team unless there has been a clear mistake when being issued. You should've received several warnings and other notifications beforehand to change your behavior, but this may not always happen. Permanent bans aren't given out of the blue and certainly for no reason. Don't hesitate to reply to the ban notification if you need more information.
N.B. When a permanent ban is issued, all posts from the banned user may be deleted in that hub and you may no longer participate in it.

We hope not to get those lengths and we expect every user to behave. When in doubt, don't hesitate to ask by using our profile comments. A lot of mistakes can be avoided by just asking if something is permitted, tolerated or forbidden.

Please note, you don't get X number of chances before getting a ban. The information provided above is only used as an informative approach. We may permanently ban a user right off the bat if they post a piracy link in the forums and encourage such behavior. Also, please remember that moderators can see your moderation history for the Black Mesa hub, as well as deleted threads and posts and we may use it to appropriately take action against content you post.


The developers, officers and moderators are first and foremost users. Our presence alone should be enough to keep everyone in line. We will participate in discussions when need be.

We are not stalking anyone. If you feel you are being "targeted", then ask yourself the right questions. Are you sure you aren't doing anything wrong? Contact a moderator when in doubt.

We ask that every user make use of the report feature first and only contact us directly if there is an emergency that needs to be attended immediately.

We aren't power hungry monsters. When we say we don't like taking action against users, we mean it, but we can't let everything go, else it becomes a huge mess here.

Finally, when posts are getting deleted, it's because they break the rules in some way. This isn't censorship. Remember that this is a private forum owned by a private organization. We let everyone express their opinion so long as it is constructive.


Remember that moderators are here for you, not against you. We don't want you to feel oppressed nor under some kind of dictatorship. We're also unbiased moderators. If at any time you need us for something, you know where to find us. The only requirement is that you don't spam our profiles with useless messages. Only contact us if it is important.


This list includes moderators sans the developers:

Community Manager: Natalino

Forum Moderators:

• JMB
  
• Grumpy
  
• Nomad
  
• GTB79
  
• Peter Brev