The Beyond3D forum community rules are minimal, straightforward and all underpin a core tenet of "be nice to each other". There's a lot of scope for a heated discussion in 3D graphics and we encourage it at Beyond3D, but only if you're able to stay civil and keep the conversation on-topic and moving forwards.
Circular discussion and argument is frowned upon pretty heavily, as is moving off-topic rapidly, shilling for your favourite company and not listening to experienced members.
We have a lot of industry participation on the forums from all walks of graphics life. In fact, that's one of the great things about Beyond3D: you can be posting in a thread about a game or a piece of hardware and the folks who built it might well pop up and add something to the discussion.
So the rules are:
If you get stuck and need some help understanding a moderation decision or some other aspect of how we run the forums, head to the Site Feedback area and make a post and ask.
If all else fails, drop me, Rys, the forum's Admin, a line by email. rys@beyond3d.com will make its way to me.
Lastly, we have a basic user promotion system. It's not something to game, but more of an indication of how long and prolifically someone's been participating over the years:
Pretty simple!
You get various extra stuff as you make your way up the ranks, but nothing crazy. Regulars and above can edit their own posts, have a signature, and give themselves custom user tiles, Veterans can add colour to their signatures.