the SAS Hangar > Announcements

Welcome to the SAS! There are THE RULES

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SAS~CirX:


Welcome to the Special Aircraft Service , a site dedicated to making life less complicated and more entertaining for Offline Players of IL2 1946
...although online players are welcome also of course :D. By joining this forum, you are well on your way to being officially cool!

TO VIEW ATTACHMENTS OR MAKE A POST IN THIS FORUM, YOU WILL NEED TO REGISTER AND LOG-IN

However, general browsing and downloading is open to all :)

Below are answers to the following Questions:

Why does the SAS exist?
What are the Copyrights and Credits Positions of SAS?
What are SAS Support Policies for Mods and Packs?
Does SAS have an age restriction?
May I discuss Politics and Religion and Nationalism and stuff on this board?
What about flame wars, trolling, and general nastiness?
Can we discuss IL2 related politics?
Can we use bad words and post nudity on this forum?
I am a modder who have mods I want to post, but I cannot start new topics
What is the SAS position regarding copyrighted material from other games and places (outside of IL2)?
What about special SAS agreements with other sites and teams?
About other problems with this Board or Life in General?


More FAQ to come. This thread is a WIP  :D .


Why does the SAS exist?
We are here to have a place where mods for IL2 can be made, discussed, and used, without the politics involved in such things. We are here only for the game IL2-1946, and although there are discussions here about other games like CloD and BirdsOfPrey, we are not into them, they have their own dedicated forums elsewhere.

We are here only for the modding of IL2, whether it be though our mod-activators, or our dedicated packs like Dark Blue World, or the packs of other sites and groups. We are not a skinning site, we are not an IL2 stock version user group. There are other sites that cater better for all the legitimate stuff in IL2. We here are about IL2-1946 MODDED BABY YEAH!


What are the Copyrights and Credits Positions of SAS?
We are not a Copyright Protection Agency, we are a gang of pirates and mercenaries. We will not discuss, defend, or promote anyone's copyright, permissions right, or any imagined or real right regarding IL2. If it is in IL2, it is available for use. In the end, if something is made in the structures and tools used for IL2 mods, it is technically illegal, immoral, and there is no money in it anyway. This last point covers official patches and updates also. So to put it simply, at SAS, anyone can take any piece of any mod or of IL2 and do anything with it. And we also don't care (because we cannot really do anything about it) what people on other modding (or official developers) sites do with stuff found here.

If you are a modder or artist heavily into copyright, and ownership, and fighting about people asking permissions and stuff from you, then go make mods for MS FlightSim. The SAS was started to get away from this crap, and if there are people not comfortable with it, start your own forums where you can police everyone as much as you like.

We do not care about discussions of "permission violations" or "copyrights" on other forums. We will not allow any of it it here. By anyone. Ever. NO POLITICS. As we said before: We are not a Copyright Protection Agency. Any discussions or bitchings or PMs or posts about this will be ignored and removed. Again: if you don't want your stuff used by others, get the hell away from IL2. (And stay off the INTERNET while you are at it)

What we CAN do however, is assist and insist that mods and parts used are credited. We insist that modders who borrow and steal from each other make a decent effort to credit properly, and if something of yours appear here without a proper or correct credit, please don't be a complete asshole and throw a tantrum. Just ask nicely for it to be corrected. The universe does not revolve around your ego, but you do deserve the proper credit, and we are happy to help with that, as long as you are not screaming.

Look: We know some people wont like this, but this is the reality of it. We cannot DO anything about it. If someone does not post here, they will post elsewhere. The admins of this site are also players and modders, and would rather play and mod, instead of fighting "respect" and "copyright" and "permission" battles that gets no-one anywhere and truly does not even exist. I am really not into spending all my time on this forum adjudicating and sorting these things out. I also want to play and mod, as do others. Some will say that this will chase away good modders and artists from IL2. That is bull. We all know that we cannot really control this stuff, and even though it may be unpleasant if someone took a mod or part of a mod of yours and did something else with it without getting your explicit permission, you know, at the end of the day, how the hell do you think Oleg felt? We are simply saying, enough of that, no more. Lets get real about it.


What are SAS Support Policies for Mods and Packs?
There are none. We are not a support forum, and thus, no one HAS to help you or answer your question. Only rule is that if someone does, you have the right to expect it to be polite and well mannered. Any support provided for a mod or a pack is free and the choice of those providing the support. The SAS is an open and free forum, and you are not paying us to help you out. You are not a customer, and we are not here to serve, or service, you. With that said, we do have our own official SAS Mod Activator and Dark Blue World pack. Many of the team members involved in its building are present here and usually happy to help. For all other mod packs, it is best if you seek advice from their official sites. In the tech help forum there are more detailed guidelines for posting support questions, that may help you get the right help faster. http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,84.0.html


Does SAS have an age restriction?
Yes. Although we realize the morons come in all ages, we do find that many very young children have not yet developed the necessary social and communication skills needed to be able to represent themselves in an acceptable manner. We have a no under 16 age restriction. Not that you wont be able to get in if you are under age, just that, if you don't behave, we will use it as a reason for and instant ass kicking if you ever step out of line. Pleading "But I am only 13" is not a recognized defence here, and will not get you anywhere nice on this board. Users have to attest to their age when registering.

Also when wanting to look into the "Babes of the Week" board, you have to read the disclaimer and verify that you are an adult. Whatever you actually are after that, is not our problem.


May I discuss Politics and Religion and Nationalism and stuff on this board?
No. HELL NO. Since it seems that we are absolutely incapable of having a conversation about anything without someone starting shit with politics or religion, all talk of it on this forum is PROHIBITED. This includes uncouth comments regarding nationalism, race, inclination, or any of anyone's special little opinions about "the state of the world", or anything else in that field.

Any such talk will get deleted, and the poster will face a ban.
What constitutes "uncouth" ? the moderators will decide on a case by case basis. I believe most here will know what sort of stuff we don't want, and will appreciate not having to wade through the spew of others while reading the forum. And I know what you may be saying now " freedom of expression, blabedybla, rights to free speech..." 

Get over it, we own this site. You have NO FREE SPEECH here. You only have the privilege of free speech, after you have exercised your responsibility and duty to not be an asshole. The moment you impede upon someone else's free speech, you sacrifice your privilege to it and may suffer the consequences of the SAS Ban Hammer.


What about flame wars, trolling, and general nastiness?
Rudeness to other members is COMPLETELY PROHIBITED. No matter how new that member is or how stupid their question is. No one is forcing you to answer them. If you cannot be polite, respectful, and at least helpful and to the point, then do everyone a favor and shut the fuck up. This is a forum for grown ups by grown ups. We have been round the block a few times, don't try us out. We want a cool open and friendly forum, where guys and girls who like to fly around in a certain WW2 flightsim get to spend time with each other, and talk about this sim, and the history of the subject matter we are all interested in.


Can we discuss IL2 related politics?
No. I understand that many members have strong feelings about things in the realm of the IL2 world. Strong feelings about some mods, some packs, teams, forums and individuals. I want to take this opportunity to implore such members to be mindful that there is a difference between making a civil criticism, or pointing out an error or a bug, and a personal attack. Here at SAS we will not allow any personal attacks. I believe everyone here are adult enough to understand the difference. The SAS is a neutral, A-political and FREE IL2 forum geared towards modding. Regardless of my or other's personal feelings about anything and anyone, we will not tolerate sniping and flaming.


Can we use bad words and post nudity on this forum?
Fuck no! Just because I do it does not mean everyone can. But seriously, we are relaxed about language, and we will view it in context. Sometimes one has to say "shit". Mostly you don't. Don't do it unnecessarily. Some people browsing this forum are on the verge of death, and you may actually kill them with your profanity. Which brings us to nudity:
there is a board called "Babes of the Week", that you can join manually by going to the Member-groups function in your profile, provided you are over-age.
You can freely join this group by going to your profile, and under "Modify profile" find "group membership". Find the group "Adult", and join it by declaring that you are 16 or older. Once you do that, you are there deliberately and under your own responsibility. You can also freely leave the group anytime.
There you can look at pin ups and stuff like one will see in the mess tent of a fighter squadron. We had this when the forum started years ago, so it is more of a tradition than a necessity. We are not a porn site, so abuse of that will get it closed.
So don't post nudity on the open forum or in your avatar, not because we are against it, just, we don't have the energy to deal with the dead old-people's bereaved and outraged relatives. Just think of what would be appropriate to view at work and keep it at that level, then you will have no problems.


I am a modder who have mods I want to post, but I cannot start new topics
To start new topics in the mod download categories, you need to be in the "modder" member group.
If you have a finished mod you made, that you want to post in one of the mod download boards, please just PM me, and I will adjust your profile so you can. You can also request membership to this group by going to your profile, and under "Modify profile". Why did we do this? Simply to have less occurrence of empty discussion and other topics in the download forums. In there, we want every topic to be a get-able mod.


What is the SAS position regarding copyrighted material from other games and places (outside of IL2)?
While this site deals with the unauthorized modding of the game of IL2, there seems to be a lot of tolerance for it,even one may say, an unspoken agreement, between the developers and the modding community.We do feel that we add value and life to this sim in our way. This has been discussed on numerous occasions, I don't need to repeat it all here.

But importing copyrighted material from other games or simulations, does cross a very important line.
for one, it is illegal, and two, the copyright holders of other simulations have no fear of blow-back from actions taken against a forum dedicated to a product that is not theirs.

In any server hosting agreement, the clause about not hosting copyrighted materials are usually under the section "grounds for immediate suspension"
And while, with IL2 stuff, this is not a problem (hell, if Oleg wanted us gone, we'd be gone!), it is a problem with other companies who may even feel that, sinking a site like the SAS will be a good blow for a competing product, or who, at the very least, has nothing to loose by blasting us out of the Internet.

To do this would only require a legal notice served to the hosting company, and that would be bye bye SAS.

Since one of our main responsibilities is for the protection of this site, we cannot allow such blatant infringements on the copyrights of other companies to be available here. I am sure that in the past, and in the future, things will be borrowed from here and there, but, always please, with written permission and always done(or re-done) properly and completely and in a way that does not put the entire site at risk.

After having posted this notice, we may choose to regard the posting of such mods as an attack on the site

Please remember though that this is regarding payware content of OTHER games and companies we talk about here. If it is in IL2, then no official permission is required. Only proper credits.


What about special SAS agreements with other sites and teams?
We have in the past, for the sake of peace and tranquility, made official agreements, or stated official positions, on other teams, sites, and even official developers. We are getting out of that game though. Even though we will always strive to be the best friends and neighbors of everyone, we also feel that a lot of politics makes us enjoy visiting this forum less.

As we state above: We are powerless, and after a fashion, unwilling, to get involved in the old "ownership and permissions" games. Quite simply, if you made something for or in IL2, and you put it on the INTERNET, it is up for grabs and use by anyone anywhere. If you are not comfortable with that, do not blame us, it is not our fault. This is an old game, we hacked it , no one is making any money off anything anymore, so lets all get over ourselves already.

We will not get involved, or even allow, any discussions about permissions, copyrights, ownerships of any mod or anything related to IL2. It is not what we signed up for, it is not what this forum is here for. People can scream and cry on other sites all they like, but over here, we only are into modding and playing. And we are aware that out policy cuts all ways: We will not support anyones screams about their mods which they posted here being used on other sites. We are not a Copyright Protection Agency. We are not a Modding Morality Watchdog Group.

However: We ARE HEAVILY AND SERIOUSLY INTO PROPER CREDITING. And while we cannot do anything about people fucking up credits on other sites, we can and will ensure that on our site, if someone uses a piece of yours, that it gets properly credited. A credit in the mod world is all the thanks, payment, and respect a guy gets, and we think modders deserve that courtesy and respect.

So, if there is a crediting omission or mistake you find anywhere, first politely ask the poster to fix it by PM (and you can copy one of the admins in the PM too if you like). If that does not work, politely ask an admin by PM to look into it. If that does not work, politely PM me. Throwing a tantrum and screaming about it is useless and stupid and irritating, please don't do it. It is unnecessary. Somewhere in the above steps, it WILL get sorted out.

So, after a fashion, we will be removing threads here relating to agreements with other sites. We believe that what is stated above covers all eventualities.(at least all ones we are interested in getting involved in). We hope that in the above, we carry on the spirit of any previous agreements, making the many separate ones superfluous. Our policies above cover our relationships with all other IL2 sites and teams, unofficial and official.


What happens if I break the rules?

The moderation team have adopted a simple 'three strike' policy. If you break the rules the first time, you will be publicly warned that you have done so. Depending on the severity of the offence, you may be placed on warning and actively watched. If you break the rules a second time, you either receive a temporary ban or be placed on Observer status (where you will be unable to post). If you have any status or special access on this site (e.g. Modder), you will be stripped of it. If you continue to break the rules after your second warning, you will be permanently banned from this site without recourse. This applies to all members, including moderators and modders. This has only ever happened to a handful of people and we don't like doing it, so please respect this site, its rules and its members.


About other problems with this Board or Life in General?
To overcome most all problems with this board and everything else, we have found that the best setting is the adoption of a

peaceful and tranquil zen-like state of grace and patience

Enjoy!

S!
SAS~CirX & SAS~Anto
 :)

Updated 25 November 2012

theMiSfiT:
reserved

theMiSfiT:
reserved

SAS~Anto:
*UPDATE*

Rules have been updated to include our site's policy in regards to breaking of rules.

I suggest all members have an opportunity to refresh themselves on the rules so no misunderstandings occur.

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