The New Member's Guide

[RedStarRocket91]

Hello, and welcome to 343industries.org - a forum run by Halo fans, for Halo fans!

 

My name is RedStarRocket91, and as the lead Moderator I'm in charge of managing things day to day here on the site. Like the rest of the staff, I'm a fan volunteer who started out as a member, and I'm now here to help you out in any way I can! I keep a thread in our Offbeat section where I answer member questions, so if you have any queries or concerns, don't hesitate to post: alternatively, why not send me a private message, or contact any of our Community Moderators? If you're looking for one department in particular, we also have a list of all our currently active staff members and their roles here!

 

We hope you'll enjoy your time here on the forums, and to help us keep them as pleasant as possible: if you haven't already seen it, it's a good idea to read our Privacy Policy and Rules page, and to check out the Announcements forum for the latest rule updates (Rule 1F in particular has received special clarification). Once you're ready to introduce yourself to the community, head over to Introductions and say hello – or just get posting! If you'd like to start decorating your profile, our Forum Productions department also takes requests for signature artwork, to give your posts some unique flair.

 

Another great way of decorating your profile is to pursue one of our various Awards, each of which will grant you a badge to be displayed proudly beneath your profile image on all of your posts, and can be viewed in their own section of your profile page. If you'd like to start earning them straight away, you can subscribe to our Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts, as in addition to keeping you up to date with our latest content and contests, you'll earn a unique badge for every one you follow. And if you ever think you haven't received an Award which you've qualified for, don't fret – our dedicated Missing Award Thread has you covered!

 

If you've signed up via either Facebook or Twitter, then your account is already verified as a full-fledged Member – all of the features of the forum are available to you, so go out an enjoy them! However, if you've signed up normally, then you'll currently be in the 'New Members' usergroup, which has several restrictions, including limited use of the private message system and no access to our live-chat Shoutbox. Don't worry, though – once you've made 5 posts, you'll automatically be promoted to the Members usergroup and the restrictions on your account will be lifted! Please note that currently, any posts made in the Introductions, Clan Recruitment, and Offbeat forums do NOT count toward either this limit or your total posts for purposes of member group promotion.

 

Once you reach 200 active posts, you'll be automatically promoted to our 'Trusted Members' usergroup, which comes with a new purple username colour to help you stand out from the crowd. After you hit 500, you'll be upgraded to our 'Dedicated Members' usergroup, which comes with an impressive grey username and the ability to choose a unique member title for yourself – and unlike name changes, which may only be made twice in any two month period, this title can be altered as often as you wish and contain special characters! We also have two unique member groups which can only be accessed under special circumstances; the first, our pink Member of the Month, which is awarded some time in the first week of every month to a member who has made an outstanding contribution to the community; and the second, our golden Legendary Members, which is granted to staff members upon retirement as thanks for their service.

 

Lastly, remember to visit the News page regularly, where our dedicated writers report on all the latest goings-on of the gaming world, and to check the link bar above the shoutbox, which we keep updated with the latest site events. You can also find our Twitch channel here, where we regularly broadcast our Community Events.

 

Once more, on behalf of everyone on the staff here at 343industries.org, I offer you a warm welcome to our community – which we hope you'll agree to be the friendliest corner of the Halo universe!

 

~Red