The SRB2 Message Board, commonly referred to as the SRB2 MB, or simply MB, is the main point of communication for the SRB2 Community. In this message board, users can discuss SRB2 topics, release custom modifications, or ask about help regarding the game. It also hosts an off-topic section for general discussion and debates.
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The forums are the separate areas for users to make relevant posts.
These are the forums for any discussion related to SRB2.
The Off-Topic forums for discussion not related to SRB2.
The Archived forums is a special area of the board where old but important sections are kept.
The Hosted forums are unrelated to SRB2, and are simply hosted on the SRB2 MB's webspace. These forums should be regarded as separate from the SRB2 MB.
The rules of the SRB2 Message Board are designed to keep order. Here is a list of the rules:
The rule enforcement system consists of warnings, infractions and bans. Infractions are issued for rule-offending posts and contain a specific number of points and an expiry date, depending on the nature of the violation. Warnings are issued for less offending posts and do not contain points. Once a user has a specific number of points, a ban is issued. The ban system consists of three strikes. One strike is a 1-week ban, a 2nd strike is a 2-week long ban, a 3rd strike is a 52-week long ban (which is equivalent to a year-long ban), and an extra strike after the 3rd is a permanent ban.
When an offending post is spotted, it's a practice by the moderators to edit it to be more appropriate. This action is explicitly marked on all affected posts. Also, topics which break the rules are often locked, usually accompanied by an explanation as to why.
Administrators (or Admins) and moderators (or Mods) are established on the message board to enforce the rules. Moderators can lock, move, edit, and split topics and posts. They can also view the IP of users, and issue warnings to those who violate the rules. The higher-ranking Administrators have access to everything on the boards, and can ban users who have violated the rules too many times. There are also Judges that have moderation powers in the Submissions forum, and Developers that have moderation powers in the Bug Reports forum.
The SRB2 Message Board briefly risks out-of-the-ordinary changes to celebrate April Fools' Day. During this event, the Message Board sometimes features a different background and logo along with modified user titles to fit a certain theme.
The first April Fools' Day theme took place in 2007 in which the message board appeared with a red skin, and was renamed "Nazi Allied Blitzkrieg 2," which is a reference to calling admins "Nazis" because of harsh rules, or extreme measures taken to maintain such rules. They also created new rules, which were simply not to "piss [the admins] off," and that breaking one rule would get you a permanent ban. Many people changed their avatars in the spirit of the holiday, but many viewed the nature of the joke as tasteless and offending.
Taking place in 2008 and in direct contrast to the previous prank, "Rainbow Unicorn Blast 2" had very little rule enforcement and was focused as if towards 12-year-old girls. The boards were changed to a blinding pink, and a MIDI of the Barbie Girl theme song (which was later turned into a "Rick Roll") played in the background of the forum. Administrators were dubbed "Faerie Queens" and Moderators were dubbed "Faeries." As with the previous April Fools' Day theme, many users were displeased by the event, though most of the issues were not against the theme itself but rather against the excessive spam and relatively obscene material that were posted during the time.
This event was also accompanied by a slopes update starting the SRB2 10th Anniversary Blog. While the update was indeed fake, the blog wasn't and was replaced by some genuine updates a few days later.
This took place in 2009, and was focused as if to a completely "noobish" community. It had a white background with a picture of Sonic tiled on it, larger post text, animated sprites of six Sonic characters trailing the mouse pointer, and "Open Your Heart" playing in the background. The only forum available was one called "srb2 bulletin board", with every other board hidden for the day. This theme had generally decent reception, but there were a few users who were displeased with the large amounts of spam that this April Fools' Day joke encouraged. The event was also criticized for not allowing members to post in the regular boards that day.
A few days earlier, a preview video of Arid Canyon Zone in Version 2.0 had been posted on YouTube. The fact that it was April Fools' Day led many to believe that the video was a joke.
This was the first April Fool's Day not to have a specific theme. Rather, several separate events and jokes were prepared by the staff. The most prominent was a staged argument that involved making Sonic's eyes green in SRB2, with some of the developers supposedly supporting the idea and some criticizing it. Additionally, Match Test Zone, which - as the name suggests - is a level used by the developers for testing the Match system, was released on the main page of srb2.org, advertised as the most substantial SRB2 release yet. As a third event, a deliberately crashing version of XSRB2 was released into the then-empty Hall of Fame section of the Releases forum, but was replaced the next day by a genuine release. This April Fool's Day had generally positive reception, though some users criticized the lack of a theme.