Newbie Questions

What does "FAQ" stand for?

Frequently Asked Questions. Here are some other acronyms commonly used on GameFAQs:
1337 - Elite
AFAIK - As Far As I Know
B& | B7 - Banned
B/C - Because
BBL - Be Back Later
BRB - Be Right Back
BTW - By The Way
BUMP - Bring Up My Post/Message Position
FTFY - Fixed That For You
FTW - For The Win
FWIW - For What It's Worth
G2G | GTG - Got/Good To Go
GG(WP) - Good Game (Well Played)
IIRC - If I Remember/Recall Correctly
IM(H)O - In My (Honest/Humble) Opinion
IRL - In Real Life
ISP - Internet Service Provider
ITT - In This Thread/Topic
J/K - Just Kidding
KOS - Kill On Sight
NKL - No Karma Loss
NT - No Text
NWD - Notify Without Delete
OMG - Oh My God/Gosh
OP - Original Poster
QFT - Quoted For Truth
RO(T)FL - Rolling On (The) Floor Laughing
SP? - Not sure about spelling
SPI - Sexual Preference Insult
TC - Topic Creator
TLDR | TL,DR - Too Long, Didn't Read
TLDW | TL,DW - Too Long, Didn't Watch
TOS - Terms of Service
TOU - Terms of Use
TTYL - Talk To You Later
TY(VM) - Thank You (Very Much)
W/ - With
W/E - Whatever
W/O - Without
WB - Welcome Back
WTF - What The F***
WTH - What The Hell
XD - A laughing emoticon

How do you gain karma?

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 by reporting security exploits or by winning competitions. Before 2009 there were annual karma boosts, and there have been several small karma boosts on other dates. Also, users who bought GameFAQs T-shirts during May or June 2013 could gain up to 1000 karma.

What are the current limitations on usernames?

Usernames can have up to 15 characters (alphanumeric plus underscores and hyphens).

Where is the ____ board?

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.

Who owns GameFAQs

GameFAQs is owned by GameSpot, a subsidiary of Red Ventures. GameSpot was acquired by Red Ventures in 2020. Prior to this acquisition, GameSpot was owned by CBS Interactive, itself a subsidiary of CBS Corporation. The former owner, CNET Networks, was acquired by CBS in 2008. CNET bought the site from CJayC in 2003.

Why are the moderators allowed to violate my freedom of speech?

The First Amendment's protection of "free speech" only applies to the government.

What the hell? How did that topic get more than 500 posts?

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. There was formerly a bug which caused topics to not close when a GameSpot user got the 500th post, so such topics could continue indefinitely until posted in by a GameFAQs user. 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 a bug had 1,315,101 posts. The 500 post limit was put in place on November 29, 2000.

If I delete my post, can a moderator still see it?

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.

Can I ever lose my ability to mark messages?

Yes. If you write something into the "Other" box that violates the TOU, you could be banned, which would effectively cause you to lose your ability to mark messages.

How do I underline something?

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. You may also use the "<cite>" tags around the text that you underlined.

How do I display the  or  tags in a post?

<b> and <i>.

Can I use wildcards when searching for topics?

Yes. Use _ as a single character wildcard, or use % for a wildcard of any length. Use \_, \%, and \\ to search for _, %, and \, respectively.

How can I close my account?

You can close your account by using this form.

How can I delete my account?

You can delete your account after it has been closed for 30 days by using this form.

Why do some users not have karma and other information listed in their user profile?

Either the user's account is below level 0 or in Cold Storage, or they are from GameFAQs' sister site, GameSpot, with whom the game boards were formerly shared.

What are the basic requirements to become a moderator?

Active on the site for at least a year
350 Karma
No banned, shared, or problematic accounts on your usermap
A relatively clean moderation history
Accurate information in your personal profile (name, address, etc.)

What if I contest a moderation with something stupid/offensive?

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.