PSA – Forum Rules and Alternative Accounts

Hi everyone,

Due to a noticeable increase in violations, we wanted to clarify and emphasize the importance of the User profiles section of our Forum Rules:

While I.1 is fairly straightforward, allow me to run you through the remaining three sections and explain the reasoning, consequences, and procedures that apply in those cases.

Usernames

First, let’s go over the username section. We often receive questions with regards to username changes. While in practice this is possible, the feature is restricted to our staff and such requests are not always granted.

The reason we do not allow username changes is to avoid the confusion that is often caused for other forum users familiar with the previous username. Because of this, a username can be changed only in these cases:

• Real life information has been revealed by accident when the account was created (i.e. John Doe)
• A spelling mistake has been made when entering the username when the account was created (i.e. meant to type DoctorX but typed DctorX)
• The name is offensive, is a source of ridicule, is absurd, or is too long or complex (i.e. DirtySockXXX9000)
• The user changed their public username elsewhere and would like to keep their online presence consistent (i.e. with Twitch or social media platforms)

Regardless of the reason for the name change, it can only be performed once a year. To request a username change, please use the support form and file a ticket under “Account” -> “Change account details”. You can also use this category in case you provided incorrect information in other areas of your profile, such as your date of birth.

In case your intended username was originally offensive, and you have come forward and requested a change before posting – you will receive no reprimand or warning. However, if we find out an offensive username through reports or monitoring, this will lead to a warning or ban, depending on the severity of the offense.

Account sharing and transfer

Moving on to a more serious offense – account sharing and transfer. You should never share the login details to your account with anyone. There are no exceptions to this rule. This also applies to parents or guardians who wish to create an account for their underage (under 16) children.

While frequent changes of the username can be confusing, having multiple people behind a single forum profile is complete chaos. Sharing accounts also exposes personal details listed on it to all parties involved, which in turn poses security risk to the owner of that data (email address, date of birth, etc.). Security of the account details is always the owner’s responsibility.

If you believe that your account security has been compromised, please contact us immediately by filing a ticket under “Account” -> “Account hacked”. If you lost the login details, file a ticket under “Account” -> “Lost account details”.

If we notice suspicious activity on the account through reports or monitoring, such account will be suspended until further investigation. Accounts that were confirmed to have been shared or transferred will be permanently suspended.

Alternative accounts

And finally, the elephant in the room – creation of alternative accounts. No matter the reason, you may not create or use more than one account on our forum. In light of recent events, I would like to re-iterate that it is especially against the rules if:

• You created an alternative account to bypass a ban on your original account
• You created an alternative account to cause unrest on the forum, even more so in a thread that was originally created by you (for example, behavior in this thread - essentially asking yourself "when relez", arguing with yourself and others, and other meaningless posts)
• You created an alternative account to impersonate another user, or member of staff

In these cases, all accounts you have created, including the original one, will be permanently suspended. You will no longer be able to create new accounts on the forum.

We approach some cases with more leniency, such as when:

• You created multiple accounts by mistake or due to a technical error,
• You created a new account and then realized that you were previously registered,
• You wanted to change the username but created a new account instead,

AND you have submitted a support ticket and included a list of accounts, which one you would like to keep, and an explanation of what led to this outcome. In this case, you will receive no reprimand or warning, and we will update/remove your accounts as needed.

In other cases, if we notice alternative accounts through reports or monitoring, they will be removed, and the original account (determined by the creation date or number of posts) will receive a warning.

If you have any further questions on this topic, feel free to email support@beamng.com