The GameFAQs Secondary Boards FAQ

Last updated: May 2, 2010. Recent changes:

• New autoflagged word: "i'm 12"
• New boards: "Ask the Mods", "GameFAQs Competitions"

Contents

1. Intro
2. Newbie Questions
3. Banned Words List
4. The Moderators
5. Damn Posting Limits
6. Secret Boards
7. Board User-Level Requirements
8. KoS
9. Miscellaneous Questions
10. GameFAQs Related Links
11. Contact & Credit

1. Intro

Just to clarify, the point of this FAQ is to provide any and all general information about the GameFAQs Message Boards that is not provided in one of the site's already existing documents (TOS, help section, etc...). Most of my knowledge comes from days and nights of lurking at Message Board Help. You can really learn a lot there if you try to keep up with everything. A lot of people have contributed to this FAQ over time; most of them don't even know it though, as I hadn't planned on writing this until the night it happened (8/23/2002).

If you've stumbled upon this FAQ without much knowledge of the inner-workings of GameFAQs, you may want to refer yourself to the site's help section and Terms of Service, which basically include all of the important information that this FAQ does not have:
GameFAQs Terms of Service
GameFAQs Help Files

You can contact the GameFAQs administrators via the feedback forms:
GameFAQs Feedback Forms

2. Newbie Questions

• Q: What does "FAQ" stand for?
  A: Frequently Asked Questions. Here are some other acronyms commonly used on GameFAQs:

  TOS	Terms Of Service
  TOU	Terms Of Use
  KOS	Kill On Sight
  NKL	No Karma Loss
  3KL	3 Karma Loss
  BUMP	Bring Up My Post/Message Position
  ITT	In This Topic
  TC	Topic Creator
  OP	Original Poster
  MIASU	Mark It And Shut Up
  B&/B7	Banned
  SPI	Sexual Preference Insult
  TY(VM)	Thank You (Very Much)
  BRB	Be Right Back
  BBL	Be Back Later
  BTW	By The Way
  TTYL	Talk To You Later
  G2G	Got To Go
  IM(H)O	In My (Humble/Honest) Opinion
  ISP	Internet Service Provider
  J/K	Just Kidding
  NT	No Text
  LT	Link Topic
  XD	A laughing emoticon
  LOL	Laughing Out Loud
  LM(F)AO	Laughing My (F'ing) Ass Off
  RO(T)FL	Rolling On (The) Floor Laughing
  WB	Welcome Back
  WTH	What The Hell
  WTF	What The F***
  FTW	For The Win
  W/	With
  W/O	Without
  B/C	Because
  W/E	Whatever
  1337	Elite
  AFK	Away From Keyboard
  OMG	Oh My God
  IIRC	If I Remember/Recall Correctly
  AFAIK	As Far As I Know
  QFT	Quoted For Truth
  SP?	Not sure about spelling
  IRL	In Real Life
  GG	Good Game
  tldr, tl;dr	too long, didn't read
  tldw, tl;dw	too long, didn't watch

• Q: How do you gain karma?
  A: Any given day that you log into one of your accounts and visit the boards, you will receive one karma point. An account must be at level 6 or higher to gain its daily karma. The daily karma update occurs shortly after 10 PM eastern time. You can also gain karma via the annual karma boosts or by reporting security exploits.
• Q: What are the current limitations on usernames?
  A: If you make a name using the standard GameFAQs signup form, it can have between 3 and 15 characters (alphanumeric plus underscores). If you make a name using the standard GameSpot/MP3.com/TV.com/MovieTome signup form (and subsequently login on GameFAQs), it can have between 2 and 15 characters (alphanumeric plus underscores/hyphens). If you log into GameFAQs with a universal account and someone on GameFAQs is already using that name, it will create a GameFAQs name with your universal name concatenated with " gf".
• Q: Where is the ____ board?
  A: If it's a game board, search for it by using the search box on the top of any page, or click the "All Systems" link and navigate by console. If it's any other type of board, check the category links on the bottom of the main boards page.
• Q: Who owns GameFAQs?
  A: GameFAQs is owned by CBS Interactive, a subsidiary of CBS Corporation. The former owner, CNET Networks, was acquired by CBS in 2008. CNET bought the site from CJayC in 2003.
• Q: Why are the moderators allowed to violate my freedom of speech?
  A: The First Amendment's protection of "free speech" only applies to the government.
• Q: What the hell? How did that topic get more than 500 posts?
  A: Even though a topic automatically closes at 500 posts, it still takes a few moments to actually close. So if a few people are posting at the same time after 499 posts, sometimes more than one will slip by. Also, moderators have the ability to post in closed topics, so this could be the cause. Currently there is a bug which causes topics to not close when a GameSpot user gets the last post, so such topics can go over 500 posts. The largest GameFAQs-only topic ever was on Life, the Universe, and Everything. Due to a glitch, it was able to reach 4145 posts before closing. The largest topic to take advantage of the GameSpot bug had over 38,000 posts. The 500 post limit was put in place on November 29, 2000.
• Q: If I delete my post, can a moderator still see it?
  A: Yes, moderators can see deleted posts by going into your Deleted Message History, but a record of your deleted post will only stay there for 14 days.
• Q: Can I ever lose my ability to mark messages?
  A: Yes. If you write something into the "other" box that violates the TOS, you could be banned, which would effectively cause you to lose your ability to mark messages.
• Q: How do I underline something?
  A: Hold Alt, press 0175, then release Alt. You will get "¯", which isn't exactly a real underline, but it's as close as you can get.
• Q: How do I display the "<b>" or "<i>" tags in a post?
  A: <b<b></b>> and <i<i></i>>.
• Q: Can I use wildcards when searching for topics?
  A: Yes. Use "_" as a single character wildcard, or use "%" for a wildcard of any length. Use "\_", "\%", and "\\" to search for "_", "%", and "\", respectively.
• Q: How can I close my account?
  A: You can close your account via the Feedback Forms.
• Q: How can I delete my account?
  A: It is currently impossible to delete your GameFAQs account. Also, inactive accounts no longer purge (inactive accounts used to purge a few years ago).
• Q: Why do some users not have karma and other information listed in their user profile?
  A: Either the user's account is below level 0 or they are from GameFAQs' sister site, GameSpot, with whom the game boards are shared.
• Q: Who moderates GameSpot users on the shared boards?
  A: The GameFAQs moderators deal with GameSpot users on the shared boards.
• Q: What are the basic requirements to become a moderator?
  A: Active on the site for at least a year, no banned, shared, or problematic accounts on your usermap, a relatively clean moderation history, and accurate information in your personal profile (name, address, etc).
• Q: What if I contest a moderation with something stupid/offensive?
  A: Then you will most likely receive this message: "Contest Abuse: Your contest has been determined to be an abuse of the moderation contest system. You have lost the right to contest further moderations." If it was bad enough, you can even be banned.

3. Banned Words List

This section is hosted on another page to keep this site acceptable to link to from GameFAQs.
*Warning! Scary offensive language ahead!! Enter at your own risk!!!*
Banned Words List

4. The Moderators

Current Moderators:

Absinthe Martini, Alucard188, Auto2112MBE, BethanyM, Big Bear is back, brian sulpher, bruplex, Burgess, Cheradenine, chobe, Cinder6, CNash, cold blue steel, Crazyreyn, CrimsonScythe, CVagts, DagothUrReturns, DanKirby, DarkAngel13, dcow366, Deathjester, Demonoid Phenomenon, DetroitDJ, Devin Morgan, Drunky, EL PARRo, Error1355, Fallacia, ff7bigfan, Flashman, Fossil, foxeye, Funguz, genie, Ghsdkgb, GValko, harryjamespotter, Hawk Eye, Iridium128, Jarek, Jerec, Kaas, Kali101, Kilroy84, Larcen Tyler, LavaLord, London Prophet, Ludwig Von 2, Math Murderer, max123, Med Jai, Meowthnum1, NightingaleNT, Philz20, Radevel, Rat Guy, red13n, renholder, RSmit, ruyeyama, SBAllen, Schmendricks Folly, Scottie theNerd, Seaman9999, ShadowX, siara79, Silent Voice, SineNomine, Solo, Sonson, Split Infinity, Team Rocket Elite, Terii senshi, TezzaLovesBarryB, TheMissingLink1186, TheOlympicHero, The Paragon, Tidus9554, Touchdown Boy, VerosPlague, VoiceOfKilrah, wally, War Doc, willythemailboy, wmac152, WolverineFan, Xboxlover2, Xenoserphia

Moderator Abilities:

Moderator Selection History:

* denotes former mods

Trivia:

• Faye Valentine X, Fantasy Man, Absinthe Martini, Icebrand, goople, cold blue steel, Wolfshade, Cat Nip, Proctodynia, and The Pain Monster are all alternate mod accounts created by users who want(ed) to keep their real identity a secret. Cat Nip is Split Infinity and The Pain Monster is Jerec.
• Users who have had their mod status switched to a different account include: CVagts/j00, OrochiJin/Orochi Jin, Garibaldi84/Garibaldi, Cat Nip/Split Infinity, Jerec/The Pain Monster, and dreen/foxeye.
• Devin Morgan, A I e x, and Split Infinity have been the site's leading FAQ contributor (in terms of KB) at one time or another. Kasket Darkfyre is the site's leading review contributor (in terms of KB).
• La Vaca was de-modded and temporarily banned when darkangel76 suspended his alternate account (RicoTGB) for censor bypassing.
• Devin Morgan was de-modded for one day after he closed a topic without good reason.
• crimsonassassin was de-modded after he supposedly trolled the GameSpot mods and AlexN (a GS admin) asked CJayC to de-mod him.
• Prior to becoming moderators, dyse, SineNomine, and A I e x had accounts that were banned. Also, numerous moderators have had accounts on their usermaps banned (the most famous example is "Scum", an account which was shared by many users).
• Nemesis once moderated one of CJayC's messages on Current Events after CJayC called someone a lamer for hacking AEtherSPOON's account. Following that, Nemesis closed and re-opened his account, officially announcing his retirement.
• KatThePoet once deleted one of CJayC's topics on the Metroid Fusion board due to a post from an offensive username.
• A user once removed one of CJayC's topics on Message Board Announcements by using an exploit.
• CJayC's topic on The Daily Grind about April Fools Day in 2006 was moderated (possibly due to ASCII art in the first post), but the topic was later restored.
• Devin Morgan, AEtherSPOON, SBAllen, SPENCERNAMAN, replicant, wallywest80, Kaboobi, GalFord, Bastard Knight, mouse53149, ChiZPoof, Garibaldi, Auto2112MBE, London Prophet, LordOfDabu, Xanthoroz, EL PARRo, Fossil, Bishounen no Miko, and kirpikong have all been "hacked" at some point in time.
• On March 7, 2005, hundreds of users had access to CJayC's account for about 15 minutes due to a bug.
• The accounts Faye Valentine X, Agent Falcon, and OrochiJin are all purged from the user rolls.
• SBAllen, Shdwwrym, tiger8191, wally, Sashanan, Scottie theNerd, Garibaldi84/Garibaldi, OrochiJin/Orochi Jin, pastaman44, GalFord, CronoGamer, Silverfist, WrestlingRPGfan, Math Murderer, and Jerec have all willingly taken time off from their positions.
• There are two Knight's, two Jester's, two Wally's, two Crono's, two Whizkid's, two Tiger's, two Cold's, two Fan's, two Crimson's, two Mr's, two Death's, two Paragon's, a Jarek, a Jerec, and a whole lot of confusion...
• Absinthe Martini, BethanyM, Bishounen no Miko, CrystalMoon, darkangel76, dreen, Faye Valentine X, kirpikong, Lain, Moonlight Sprite, Palidor, Quistis, Rydain, Shadotak, siara79, Terii senshi, TezzaLovesBarryB, and Cheradenine are the female mods and former female mods of GameFAQs.
• A I e x, Auto2112MBE, Banfi 2k, Big Bear is back, BlitzBoy, chobe, CNash, cold blue steel, Crazyreyn, CrystalMoon, Darth Maul, dcow366, Funguz, GalFord, genie, javence, Jerec, JL Lee, Kaas, KatThePoet, Kildread2, Kimari Lonzo, Lain, mao2, Math Murderer, max123, Mr Bump, pastaman44, Quistis, Robbobloke, RSmit, Sashanan, Scottie theNerd, seifer psx, siara79, Silent Voice, Solo, Split Infinity, TezzaLovesBarryB, Touchdown Boy, WhizKid, and Xenoserphia are the foreign mods and former foreign mods of GameFAQs (which is based in the USA).

5. Damn Posting Limits

There was an error posting your message:

• To prevent flooding, no user can post more than 2 messages per minute. Please wait and try your post again in 60 seconds.
• To prevent flooding, users cannot create more than 3 topics in any 15-minute timespan. Please wait and try your post again later.
• To prevent flooding, users cannot create more than 10 topics on any single board in one day. Please wait and try your post again later.
• Your topic title contains a single word over 25 characters in length. This can cause problems for certain browsers, and is not allowed.
• Topic titles must be between 5 and 80 characters.
• Topic titles cannot be in all uppercase. Turn off your CAPS LOCK.
• Topic titles cannot contain non-ASCII characters.
• A topic with this title already exists. Please select another title.
• Your message contains a single word over 80 characters in length. This can cause problems for certain browsers, and is not allowed.
• Messages cannot be blank.
• The maximum allowed size for a message is 4096 characters. Your message is ____ characters long.
• Messages cannot be in all uppercase. Turn off your CAPS LOCK.
• Your HTML is not well-formed - please check for unmatched quotes and tags.
• There was an error sending data to this page; your previewed message was not properly stored.
• There was an error sending data to this page; your user ID does not match the previewed message.
• Invalid data was passed to this page.
• There was an error sending data to this page.
• There was an error posting your message; please try again.
• This topic has been closed. You cannot post in it.
• This topic has been deleted. You cannot post in it.
• You are not authorized to create topics on this board.
• You are not authorized to post messages on this board.
• You are not allowed to post at your current user level.
• The topic you entered contains one or more banned words. You will need to change the topic title in order to post. Please change your topic, and please note that using symbols or misspelling banned words to bypass the censor is grounds for immediate revocation.
• The message you entered appears to contain one of the words that GameFaqs has deemed inappropriate for use under any circumstances. The only acceptable means of using this word is to completely block it out (i.e. "****"). Partial blocking, misspelling, or other attempts to use the word is considered a censor bypass, and a severe terms of service violation.

6. Secret Boards

The term "secret board" often refers to game boards where off-topic posting is allowed. You can tell which boards allow off-topic posting by clicking "Create New Topic" and checking to see whether or not you get a warning message telling you to stay on-topic.

The following systems have at least one board where off-topic posting is allowed: 3DO, Amiga, APF-*1000/IM, Apple II, Arcadia 2001, Astrocade, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit, BBS Door, CD-I, Channel F, Colecovision, Commodore 64, DVD Player, Famicom Disc System, Game.com, GameGear, GP32, Intellivision, Jaguar, Jaguar CD, Lynx, Macintosh, Microvision, MSX, Neo-Geo CD, NeoGeo, NeoGeo Pocket Color, Nintendo 64DD, Nuon, Odyssey, Odyssey^2, OS/2, Palm OS, PC-FX, Pinball, Playdia, Pocket PC, Redemption, Sega 32X, Sega CD, Sega Master System, SG-1000, Turbo CD, TurboGrafx-16, Unix/Linux, Vectrex, VIC-20, VirtualBoy, WonderSwan, and WonderSwan Color.

Special Boards:

The "official" secret boards:

• Brilliant - first post by misterbum
• Nine - first post by iGenesis
• Level - first post by hdt12345678910111213 (hotdogturtle)
• Room - first post by Cosmic
• Blink - first post by monkeybrigade
• Board 250
• WOT
• Eggbeater
• Spork
• Spatula
• Semprini
• State - first post by spudY2K
• IT'S OVER 9000 - first post by Swordless Link
• Maniacs - first post by spudY2K
• Manos: The Hands of Fate - first post by Steve
• The Goggles, They Do Nothing - first post by Llama Masters
• Snakes on a Plane - first post by Crazyreyn
• Empire - first post by FireZeal
• Angela - first post by Eggie
• Jenny - first post by DuckX3
• Jumpman - first post by barbarianbob
• Rollin' - first post by TakatoMatsuki
• VGFA - first post by barbarianbob
• Lame - first post by meninite
• The End of the World - first post by ChatbotSana
• The End of Time - first post by barbarianbob
• Rnd() - first post by Black Tyger
• Pie
• Wow - first post by barbarianbob
• Toaster Oven - first post by The Phoenix of Sno

Special Social Boards:

The de-linked social boards:

• Capcom vs SNK *Social*
• Digimon Games *Social*
• MegaMan *Social*
• Pokemon Games *Social*
• Palace of Wisdom
• Zelda Games *Social*
• Resident Evil *Social*
• Mario Games *Social*
• Yu-Gi-Oh *Social*
• Sonic Games Social
• Three Kingdoms Social
• Metroid *Social*
• Xbox General - Social
• GameCube General - Social
• PlayStation2 General - Social
• GameBoy Advance General - Social
• Roleplaying and Fanfiction - Social
• Wii General - Social
• Xbox 360 General - Social

Beta Boards:

The boards that were created prior to the GameFAQs/GameSpot merge in April 2004:

• GameFaqs Forums Beta Bug Reports
• GS-GFQs Sharing Test Board
• GameFaqs Forums Beta Discussion

7. Board User-Level Requirements

You must at least be level 0 to read any of the boards, at least level 5 to post messages on any of the boards, and at least level 10 to post topics on any of the boards. Moderators can read all of the private boards.

8. KoS

A KoS ("Kill on Sight") is the worst punishment on GameFAQs. It happens when a user violates the TOS to the point where the administrators feel the user should no longer be posting on the site. In this scenario, the user either goes under "Name KoS" (allowed on the site, but if the user publicly reveals their identity, they are banned) or "Full KoS" (the user's IP address may be blocked from creating accounts and moderators are to suspend the user's accounts whenever they are found). Very few users ever reach KoS status.

It is speculated that the system will disallow users who have an ISP with a high number of banned accounts from making accounts on anything except pending review. This usually provides a small amount of protection against KoSed users trying to get back in. CJayC was known to go as far as banning/reviewing names of notorious users from account creations and banning/reviewing commonly used passwords of notorious users.

In extreme cases, the user's ISP and other authorities may be contacted. CJayC got a few websites shut down for hosting private information from GameFAQs, and he threatened to issue a cease-and-desist order on more than one occasion.

9. Miscellaneous Questions

• Q: When were the GameFAQs message boards opened to the public?
  A: November 7, 1999 at 9:43PM CST.
• Q: When was the karma system first implemented?
  A: August 19, 2001. Everyone was given karma retroactively according to the date that they signed up.
• Q: Who was the first person ever to register?
  A: Besides CJayC on 11/4/1999, it was Demon of Elru (user ID #11) on 11/7/1999. Accounts 2 through 10 were all tests.
• Q: Who was the first banned user?
  A: A user named DrunkenSailorStyle.
• Q: Are there any message purge rates that are not mentioned in the help files?
  A: Yes, these are the real purge rates:
  • Under 6 messages: 10 days (inconsistent)
  • 1-100 messages: 30 days
  • Exactly 100 messages: 10 days (inconsistent)
  • 101-250 messages: 20 days
  • 251-500 messages: 15 days
  • 501-1000 messages: 12 days
  • 1001-2500 messages: 10 days
  • 2501-5000 messages: 7 days
  • 5001-7500 messages: 6 days
  • 7501-10000 messages: 5 days
  • 10001-12500 messages: 4 days
  • 12501-15000 messages: 3 days
  • 15001-20000 messages: 2 days
  • Over 20000 messages: 1 day
• Q: What are private boards?
  A: Private boards are boards which have restricted member lists. Users can be added to or removed from a private board's member list by that board's administrator(s). LUE, TOS Discussion, The Space Bar, and Mine is Bigger Than Yours are assumed to be administrated by the site administrators; the other private boards are each owned by different GameFAQs users. Private board owners can add/remove co-administrators by themselves, but must request board name changes by contacting the site administrators. 10 private boards (810 to 819) were created in early April 2004 after applications on Iconia and Idolatry; board 820 was created later in 2004 as a reward for a reported vulnerability; board 821 was created on 12/12/2005 as a reward for a reported vulnerability; board 822 was created on 7/7/2008 (SBallin'! contest #1); board 832 was created on 7/16/2008 (SBallin'! contest #2); board 823 was created on 7/31/2008 (SBallin'! contest #4); board 824 was created on 8/1/2008 (SBallin'! contest #3); board 825 was created on 8/12/2008 (SBallin'! contest #5); board 833 was created on 10/14/2009 (SBallin'! contest #6); board 834 was created on 10/20/2009 (SBallin'! contest #7); board 848 was created on 10/27/2009 (SBallin'! contest #8); board 835 was created on 11/20/2009 (SBallin'! contest #10); board 836 was created on 11/20/2009 (SBallin'! contest #9). Users must be level 20 or higher to be invited to a private board.
• Q: How many annual karma boosts have there been?
  A: The first karma boost (10%) was given to all active users on 11/7/2001. The second karma boost (7%) was given to all active users on 11/5/2002. The third karma boost (8%) was given to all active users on 11/7/2003. The fourth karma boost (10%) was given on 12/21/2004 to all users who had upgraded their accounts to the new universal login system. The fifth boost (6%) was given to all active users on 11/7/2005. The sixth boost (7%) was given to all active users on 11/7/2006. The seventh boost (8%) was given to all active users on 11/7/2007.
• Q: When did we get extra daily karma in 2006?
  A: After missing 2 net karma during the April redesign, we received 1 extra karma on the following days: May 17, May 18, May 23, May 24, May 25, May 31, June 1, June 2, June 8, June 9, June 13, June 14, June 15, June 16, June 23, July 6, July 7, July 12, July 13, July 18, August 15, August 16, September 6, September 7, September 12, September 26, October 11, October 26, and November 7. We received 2 extra karma on the following days: May 20, May 27, July 25, September 1, and November 13.
• Q: How do certain older users have punctuation in their name?
  A: There are 10 known existing users that created their accounts a long time ago when punctuation was allowed in usernames. The symbols were apparently only allowed at the end of usernames. Also, there are 4 GameSpot users who had punctuation in their GameSpot names (other than hyphens/underscores) who have logged in on GameFAQs and now have GameFAQs accounts with punctuation. Here are those 14 users:

  User Name	User ID
  Noel H.	105
  Sac!	126
  Who Cares?	617
  Akané	5368
  Cid.	8618
  pikawho?	13112
  Ash K.	13645
  Diablo!	14298
  Bopig!	14358
  Wil!	16539
  )-(avoc	1781487
  RobM.2K2	2233160
  Zephr C.	3048378
  G$1	3109293

• Q: How do certain older users have names that start with numbers?
  A: This was another thing that was allowed back when the message boards first opened. Here are some known users whose names begin with numbers:

  User Name	User ID
  64manic	627
  6bit	3156
  1 1 1	9952
  2 Rude	18296

  Additionally, in 2003, each contributor name was linked to a message board account (which were automatically created based on the contributor names); some of these started with numbers. This limitation is no longer in place.
• Q: How does this old user have such a short name?
  A: The user "Id" (user ID #6216) is the only known old GameFAQs user with less than 3 characters in his username. When the boards first opened, spaces were allowed at the end of usernames, and he registered as "Id   ". These spaces were not visible on the boards and were later accidentally removed.
• Q: How did these old users get consecutive spaces in their names?
  A: The users "Bored Gamer" (user ID #10780), "Ryoga Hibiki" (user ID #12695), and "Ultima Weapon" (user ID #15082) each have two consecutive spaces in their usernames, and "Bored Gamer" (user ID #15227) has four consecutive spaces in his username. When the boards first opened, consecutive spaces were allowed in usernames. The extra spaces are only visible in the HTML source.
• Q: Have any users ever had karma transferred to a new account?
  A: Yes, at least four users have been allowed to transfer karma from an old account to a new account because of problems with their old usernames.

  Old User ID	Old User Name	New User ID	New User Name
  ???	BBBBUUUUUURRRRRRPPPP	479104	Kiori Hayabusa
  ???	Twink	660449	CWall
  26147	DanFookes	2739228	CaptainCAWisma
  40632	tommyvandyke	4975785	magistermene

• Q: Have any users ever had their usernames changed?
  A: Yes. There are seven known users who have had their usernames changed while keeping the same user ID. It is believed that some of these changes were a result of problems during the universal account upgrade process, while others changes were specifically requested.

  User ID	Old User Name(s)	Current User Name
  21	Sailor Bacon	SBAllen
  63399	Mem010	M3m010
  149416	CripplerCrossface13	MantleNotMouse
  377500	Hyper Inferno, Hyper_Inferno	Hyper Inferno
  632710	hakikev	Hak
  834874	Sins Tox1n	MarkSmith
  947076	bluerain	bluerainisglad

• Q: What user levels are not listed in the help files?
  A: The following levels are in the help files, but their description does not match the description on user profiles:
  • 0: Inactive
  • 1: Read-Only
    Account can only be used to read messages on the boards.
  • 2: Locked
    Account locked by an administrator to prevent abuse. Contact a GameFAQs admin for more information.
  • 3: Purgatory
    Account suspended for a set period of time by an admin for numerous and/or severe TOS violations.
  • 10: Provisional (1)
    New account created in the past 48 hours. To prevent flooding, can create 1 topic, 10 messages per day (3 per hour).
  • 11: Provisional (2)
    Account created more than 48 hours ago, but has zero karma. Can create 1 topic, 20 messages per day (5 per hour).
  • 15: New User (1)
    Awarded to users with positive karma after 48 hours. Can create 5 topics, 30 messages per day. Can delete own messages, close topics.
  • 38: ? Block
    Awarded to users with at least 5000 Karma. Wow.
  • 50: New Moderator
    Moderators new to the moderation staff
  • 51: Moderator
    GameFAQs Message Board Moderators, handle marked messages and user issues
  • 52: Veteran Moderator
    Moderators who joined the staff in 2002 or earlier
  • 53: Lead Moderator
    Moderators who also handle some administrative duties
• Q: Who are the VIPs?
  A: Many years ago (around 2002), CJayC allowed users to email him at a special address if they were a member of the video game industry, and if they provided proof, he would change their level to "40: VIP". Applications opened again in 2005, but with stricter requirements. Users who meet the qualifications are now upgraded to one of the higher VIP levels (41, 42, or 43). If a user is at one of the higher VIP levels, their real name, job title, and company name is placed below their board user level in their profile. Here is the list of all known current VIP users:

  User Name	User ID
  Level 41:
  Fragnarok	40562
  Master G	47459
  mdude4	100146
  AerisHime	4600545
  BestEditor	4735793
  Level 42:
  Lisa Shock	158193
  Id of Ith	267227
  JDMS	322845
  hydro94545	440762
  Jay FNG Philbrook	559311
  Dumass	852716
  AtariMattlab	3629121
  PhilipVanLuke	3736689
  Level 43:
  evilpaul	97611
  Amphitrite 1	122171
  Logick	184005
  galacticsushiman	210779
  adamajah	288052
  Darthsol	291853
  stv2049	331503
  DJAMES	476669
  Mr Strange	501837
  Prophetatvi	505633
  nitzmoff	515839
  tragic	534961
  Blackronin5150	583496
  olkingsoul	2297757
  L_Spiro	3341084
  Pennaduro	3410615
  Nickf42	3592294
  igetgames	4697195
  Antisimplistic	5481323

• Q: What subdomains does GameFAQs currently use?
  A: There are 7 IP addresses that serve 47 different subdomains:
  • 216.239.113.186 - www.gamefaqs.com, db.gamefaqs.com, boards.gamefaqs.com, beta.gamefaqs.com, m.gamefaqs.com
    www.gamefaqs.com serves the main site including the polls, reviews, and contribution/recognition sections. db.gamefaqs.com serves the user-submitted FAQs, game saves, and images. boards.gamefaqs.com formerly served the message boards.
  • 216.239.125.203 - membership.gamefaqs.com
    This serves some of the account confirmation pages and password changing pages.
  • 216.239.122.34 - bwp.gamefaqs.com
    This serves the sponsored links pages.
  • 216.239.113.224 - adimg.gamefaqs.com, ads.gamefaqs.com, mads.gamefaqs.com
    These serve some of the advertisement pages.
  • 216.239.122.227 - dw.gamefaqs.com
    This serves some of the advertisement pages.
  • 216.239.116.130 - ui.gamefaqs.com, ui01.gamefaqs.com - ui32.gamefaqs.com
    These serve the user-submitted screenshots.
  • 10.15.8.164 - stage.dev.gamefaqs.com
• Q: What was Marked Message Accuracy?
  A: It was GameFAQs' system for letting the moderators know who marks messages correctly and who does not, allowing GameFAQs to prioritize message marks accordingly. At one time, users were able to see their MMA rating.
• Q: What was AutoMod?
  A: As the name suggests, messages can be automatically moderated if a certain amount of users mark them. It was disabled due to abuse in August 2002. The number of marks needed was unconfirmed, but is rumored to have been somewhere between 10 and 20. A user who had been auto-modded would receive a deletion if they had no current moderations. If they had 1 or more moderations on record, they were suspended until CJayC could review their situation.
• Q: What is a Generated Message?
  A: When a user has a TOS violation in their profile (username, signature, quote, e-mail address, or IM name), a moderator can generate a message for that user. The message will appear on the Generated Messages board in the form of a topic (titled "Generated Message") and the user can then be suspended for that message. An administrator will review the user in question and if there is indeed a violation in their profile, the profile will be cleared and most likely the user will be warned (unless the violation is serious enough or they have an extensive moderation history, in which case the user will be banned). Also, moderators can generate messages from message markings and moderation contests when a user abuses those features, which will also most likely result in a warning/banning.
• Q: Can I be moderated for a message after it has been overturned after a previous moderation?
  A: Yes, you can. This is also the case for previously no-actioned posts, but a moderator must mark the no-actioned post for it to get into the moderation queue a second time.
• Q: How do sigwipes work?
  A: If a user has a violation in their signature, the lead mods and admins have an automatic tool that can remove the user's signature from all their existing posts, but many sigwipes are still done manually.
• Q: How does my Usermap work?
  A: Your account gets connected to another account on a usermap when you log into one after the other in a short period of time. Users are tracked using both IP addresses and cookies, but it is not precisely known how accounts get on the same usermap. The help files claim accounts are dropped from usermaps after 60 days, but it is believed that accounts possibly might stay on usermaps indefinitely.
• Q: How does a Usermap Axe work?
  A: Let's pretend Yaggy is one user and CJayC is another. Yaggy has 10 accounts and shares one with CJayC. That account now shares the usermap of all of Yaggy's accounts, and all of CJayC's accounts. If CJayC violates the TOS on one of his own accounts, he might lose all of his accounts and the shared account. But if the shared account is the one that makes the violation, then both users might lose all of their accounts.
• Q: What can GameSpot moderators do?
  A: GameSpot moderators do not have control over GameFAQs moderations, but they do have a few abilities on the shared boards, including the ability to sticky, unsticky, and close topics.
• Q: How can I see the archived topics on Message Board Announcements, SBallin'!, and GameFAQs Competitions?
  A: Search for "%" on those boards.
• Q: How can I block the ads on GameFAQs?
  A: It varies among different operating systems, but here is the link to a page with all of the information I've compiled:
  Ad Blocking and CSS Tweaks

10. GameFAQs Related Links

Spinoff Message Boards:

• The Secret Level - Peter Griffin
• Canadiana - Shuzo
• Flying Turkey - Magus
• Random Insanity Online - BackAgain
• YA RLY Lite - sirbular4885
• The Social Revolution - SourlDieseL
• LUElinks - LlamaGuy

Miscellaneous:

• GameFOX - Karamthulhu
• GameFAQs Archive - Roaddhogg
• GameFAQs User Database - Your Eliteness
• Karma Calculator - headbanger
• GameFATs - Xim
• Secret Board Archives - Scum
• GameFAQs Weird/Funny Topic Archives - Broo2
• GameFAQs Chat Logs - Bears092
• The Lord Of The Mods - Scottie theNerd
• GameFAQs Prolific Ranking - dark52
• FAQ Writer Rankings - timski
• FAQer Profiles and History - Crazyreyn
• ASCII FAQ - warriorness
• GameFAQsContests.com - creativename
• GameFAQs @ the Internet Archive
• GameFAQs @ the English Wikipedia

11. Contact & Credit

If you feel you have a noteworthy addition, you can create a topic on the To be on Top message board on GameFAQs.

Special Thanks goes to acidfreeze30, AggroSk8er, AGHodges, Anubis IV, BAMX, Betelgeuse, billyb2004, billybobfred, Biospark27, _Captain_, Corbon440, Crono LV99, darkangel76, Devin Morgan, Doodleheimer, DJ Meowth, dws90, enalzi, Enygmatic, FBI Porker, hotdogturtle, iamtheprodigy, IONO, ixfd64, jimfish, Kadamony, Kaitlyn, King of Cats, Land Of Gamecubes, leakytoilet, littleman1314, Luster Soldier, manocheese, Math Murderer, Mauron, Mingy Jongo, misterbum, NickBush24, NO CHANCE 316, Numenor, OnionKid2002, PaperLink64, R351D3NT3V1L4, Ragn_Charran, Ryajinor, Sashanan, ShadowDragon777, SineNomine, SourlDieseL, Space Medafighter X, Sparkmen, Spring Rubber, spudY2K, stx4, Superaielman, TheEmulatorGuy, Therum, The_Ryman_06, TMola, Total Lost, TRC, Twisted Silence, UseMyExciter, Volt7x, wallywest80, WhizKid, Xythar, Yaggy, zoips, anyone else who may have helped me along the way, and of course, the man who created it all- CJayC.

This FAQ has been brought to you by Kirby Still On Top, TrueDFX, and RockMFR

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