TWC:FAQ
From TWC Wiki
| Total War Center Information: The Total War Center | Terms of Service | FAQ | |
|---|---|
| TWC Staff | Hexagon Council | Content Staff | Moderation Staff | Technical Staff | Tribunes |
| Content Areas | The Writers' Study | The Graphics Workshop | The Eagle Standard | Gamer's Gazette | The Helios | The Scriptorium | TWC News |
| Medals and Awards | Curia Awards (The Curia) | Hexagon Council Awards | Site Service Awards | Special Contribution Awards | Members' Awards | Contest Awards | Citizenship |
| History of TWC | History of the Syntagma | Triumvirates on TWC | Gaming Staff | Modding Staff | Curial Officers | Personal Perspectives |
| Other TWC Information: | Mod Register | TWC Downloads | User Badges | Forum Overviews | TWC Blogs |
| Other Wiki Sections: Total War Series | Total War Mods | Modding Portal | TWC Wiki | |
If you are a new user, welcome! Please start at the New User FAQ below and approach us with any questions. More experienced users may also find this page a useful reference, especially since the forum software has changed. Please check the TOC and start where you want!
- For the site's rules please see the Terms of Service. You are expected to follow them at all times on official TWC spaces!
- For a general overview and breakdown of the site, please see Total War Center.
- For answers to questions not covered here, feel free to reach out! We're happy to help and common questions can be added in.
We recommend the following to reach TWC staff for issues:
- The Questions and Suggestions forum, appropriate for most things, a public forum that can be replied to by fellow members and staff
- The Commentary forum for policy questions about moderation. See Infraction Appeals and Discussion
- Message an administrator closest to the scope of the question you have, for example, the Content Hex for Content Staff matters and so on
- Use the 'Contact us' form at the bottom of the forum pages, best for sensitive communications or discussion without an account
TWC values feedback and volunteer efforts: we survive because of the members who commit time and energy to making TWC carry on. If there is something that could be improved, please get in touch, especially if you'd like to help see it through.
This page is being actively drafted, to try and include all the changes caused by the recent upgrade to running on XenForo software.
New User FAQ
Welcome to TWC! Check out what interests you and make yourself at home! There are various communities and sub-communities available, appealing to different interests. If you can't find something or need assistance, don't be afraid to ask! If it's not already on the site you can make a suggestion in Questions & Suggestions.
Registering & Membership
If you haven't done so already, the first step is to register! You will need an activated account before you can post on TWC. After a small number of posts and being registered for one week, you will be a full member with access to post editing among other features.
| How can I register on TWC? |
|---|
|
Click the "Register" button on the forums (here). You will need to provide your date of birth, choose a user-name and password, provide a valid email address and agree to abide by the Terms of Service. You will receive an account activation email in your inbox. You MUST follow the link in that email before you can post. Until you do that you will be able to log-in but not post! If you do not recieve an email, see the following section... |
| What can I do if I haven't received my activation email? |
|---|
|
If it is not instantly in your inbox, please give it some time, as it can take a little while to arrive. If you still don't see it, check your spam folder. If it's not there you can request the automated email to be re-sent. If you still do not recieve the email, please reach out via the site contact form at the bottom of the index. |
| It doesn't let me use (insert offbrand email provider here)? |
|---|
|
Unfortunately due to spam we have been forced to blacklist various email domains which create emails with no restriction and have been commonly used as spam. We don't expect these to affect legitimate users, especially big providers like gmail, yahoo, proton etc, or custom domains as long as they're not used for spam - but it's mentioned for completeness. If this applies please reach out to us. This is a different issue from not finding the registration email. |
| I've activated my account, why can't I do "xyz" yet? |
|---|
|
New users will find that they cannot immediately access all the forum features. You must make 5 posts before you can use features such as; creating or voting in polls, editing posts and making a signature. Access to many of these features has been restricted to stop new accounts being set-up solely to spam the forums with advertising. If you urgently need to access one of the features, for example, needing to edit a post, you can contact a site moderator or report your own post with details of the change Spamming the forum with posts just to get past the 5 post limit is obviously discouraged, but areas such as the Coliseum or Thema Devia give opportunities to make frequent legitimate posts to reach that point on top of participating wherever else you would like. |
| What if I want to delete my account? |
|---|
|
Total War Center does not completely delete accounts on request for technical reasons, however what we do is blank the account. This means all sensitive data is removed including email, ip, and various customization like gender and game ownership. The username is anonymized and the account is permanently banned not to be recovered. In essence it becomes an empty shell. Posts generally are not removed. When made posts remain in place unless they violate the Terms of Service or are terminated individually by their author. TWC does not perform mass post wipes on request as this can have disruptive consequences on the forum both in technical terms and in conversation flow. If personal information was posted or an odd handful of standalone posts need scrubbing then we can be of assistance. As for who to reach: message any administrator or use the contact form on the forum! |
Forum Sections
The forum index page can seem daunting at first, separate sections are provided for each game in the Total War Series resulting in a very long list! The 'QuickNav' button on the forum menu provides direct links into the main sections.
Some helpful links to main forum sections can also be found in the expandable menu sections below:
Who's Who
| Who runs the site? |
|---|
|
TWC is independently owned by GrnEyedDvl, a builder of red oak stools from Denver who has a chonky big internet pipe, spare server racks, and some nerd skills and uses these things to provide the forum straight from his house. He is deputized by the Hexagon Council, a ragtag team of administrators who usually have a corner of the site to run. There are many corners indeed. Collectively they make decisions for the site's future, with their conclusions mediated but usually granted by the owner. From there is a Moderation Staff (with its own 'Hex') to keep things orderly, a Content Staff (also with its own Hex) to promote development and make things look alive, and more roles listed on the Staff page. Depending on the area, some parts of the site are rather independent or at least have a deep history. Mod teams get relatively open reign of their forums and areas, and while it's a bit under the weather at the moment, there is a Curia which among other things once elected an administrator. Forum staff carry badges and typically colored names to help identify who they are and what, broadly, they do. |
| How do I find the staff member responsible for an area? |
|---|
|
Staff and what roles they fill are listed at Staff, and often the areas of responsibility are included alongside. Mod forums typically have project members as local moderators, and should generally have a list of who's in the team listed in their area. If nothing else, you're on the right track by looking into the people who posted the stickied threads although take note of when they were last around. This isn't as reliable for staff areas as many things were created a long time ago and staff has changed a lot in the meantime, so the official list is best to reach the right person. If nothing else, message a staff member who's been around lately, and we'll get back to you... |
| What are local moderators and why aren't they site staff? |
|---|
|
Local moderators have the privilege of running a forum either for their project or because they're passionate about an area and are trusted to keep it curated. The forum is quite large and so only people of a usually more 'global' scope are actually part of Staff, distinguished by colors and badges. |
| What are those weird badges? Divus, citizen, patrician?? |
|---|
|
There are three kinds of badges on the site. Staff badges, which will say Staff except for the Hexagon Council (administrators) and Moderators (no cookie for guessing). Curial badges, related to the forum's civic system which are granted for accomplishments on TWC as voted by other 'citizen' members in the Curia. Divus is for a highly accomplished retired administrator recognized by the Curia, for example. And finally developer group badges, for larger development teams that have a hosted forum and other presence on TWC. We're an old forum and we like our bling, please excuse us... |
Conduct & Resolving Problems
| Someone is posting some really stupid stuff in the mudpit, why can't I call them a moron? |
|---|
|
TWC, for better or worse ;), is very open to diverse opinions and offering a place to express and challenge them without being flamed. There are many ways to deal with 'stupid' content that does not devolve into insults, personal reference, etc; a list of what doesn't fly is built into the Terms of Service. You should attack the argument, not the poster. This includes any side channels like direct messages. |
| Alright, I can't call them a moron. What should I do instead? |
|---|
|
This applies generally, but especially in the Discussion and Debate section:
|
| I'm getting flamed, what should I do? |
|---|
|
Flame them ba- no, don't do that. Instead there is almost always a report button be it in threads or direct messages or profile posts: please use this and avoid engagement with the offending content. They will be handled appropriately. Responding in kind will only get you a slice of trouble. You don't deserve that, let them take the heat. If a report button is not immediately handy, please message a moderator or administrator. |
| Come on, why did you censor that word? It's not that bad. |
|---|
|
TWC's censor exists for two things. Curb some language that always drags down dicussion, and keep the site advertiser friendly. Ads are required for TWC to be solvent, so we cannot have content that bypasses it: this more than anything is why TWC is so strict. Certain words are not deemed to be that much of a problem and so you might be surprised that 'arse' is not censored. This is one of a handful of words used by Creative Assembly in an older title. The list may change depending on needs. If there's a word on there you really think doesn't belong, feel free to let staff know. |
| Can I go on discord and call the stupid person a moron there instead? |
|---|
|
Not on 'TWC' Discord or anywhere linked to the TWC name. |
Moderation Actions & Appeals
TWC's staff moderators enforce the Terms of Service throughout the site and can issue warnings and infraction points for breaches. There are methods of appeal if you feel you have been given an infraction unfairly (that is outside the terms of the ToS).
| Where do I complain about moderators and their actions, or if I feel I am being mistreated? |
|---|
|
If you think you are being mistreated or that a moderator is acting outside the ToS then you should PM one of the administrators who oversee moderation on a daily basis. These are the current Moderation Overseers:
You can also post about any problems you're having, or your thoughts about moderation, in the Moderation Commentary Thread where administrators will try to resolve your problem or answer any of your relevant questions regarding site moderation. It is best to be calm and coherent when talking about the matter in public as it breeds positive conversations, which further breeds solutions and satisfaction. |
| How do I appeal an infraction I think I've been given unfairly? |
|---|
|
There are a variety of possible methods please see below:
Appeals against infractions follow much the same process in both the Praetorium and the Tribunal. To open an appeal against an infraction, simply create a thread requesting an appeal. Try to provide relevant information about the infraction such as the approximate time the infraction was given, the name of the moderator who issued the infraction, and the relevant thread or forum. After you have created the thread, a moderator will post the infraction and deliberations will begin. You may explain your position in the appeal thread. After you have given your side of the story, a thread will be created in a hidden forum and deliberations will be initiated. Once a decision has been reached you will be informed of the verdict. |
| My account's been banned but I haven't logged in or done anything. What's going on? |
|---|
|
Unfortunately there have been issues for some times where older accounts have been compromised, either through weak passwords or a broader breach (such as account leaks elsewhere and the password being reused on TWC). The accounts are then used to spam the forum. These cases force us to ban the account regardless if it was once a legitimate member. Just reach out to us and we can get it straightened out, but first ensure all of your accounts are up to date and that you are using secure passwords. We have no reason to believe this is a flaw in TWC's systems at this time causing accounts to be entered through an exploit, but Technical Staff have been informed of this trend and we may institute measures to protect accounts of a certain age unused/with weak passwords as we are able. |
TWC Wiki
You're here! Welcome to the TWC Wiki! This Wiki hosts information about the TWC site and the Total War games; it includes articles on TWC site history, site information, summaries of modding knowledge, lists and pages for mods, and overviews of the games themselves as well as their features. Making it better is a never-ending process for a site that's been online over a decade.
| I can't find an edit button, only "view source", why is that? |
|---|
|
Users must be logged in in order to edit pages. If you have ever previously logged in your account name and password should still be valid. If you haven't logged in yet you will need to request a wiki account on the forum. Once you have logged in you should see an "edit" button on most pages, you will also get the option to "create" pages if you follow a link to a page that does not exist yet. Some popular pages are semi-protected so that very new users cannot edit them and a few pages like the Terms of Service and System Files that change the default behaviour of the wiki are protected so that only wiki administrators can edit them. If you spot something that needs changing on one of those pages you can edit or create the "discussion" page for that article to explain what is needed. |
| I can't see a "Register" button, how do I get a wiki account? |
|---|
|
You can't register for an account directly on this wiki. The function has been removed because the standard wiki software is too vulnerable to spammers and bots signing up solely to spam advertising. To get a wiki account please first log in to TWC and post a request in this thread. A wiki admin will make you an account using your forum user-name and message you with a temporary password for the wiki account (which you should change as soon as possible). If you give the wiki your email address you can thereafter retrieve your account if you forget the password, you can also "watchlist" pages, which works similarly to a thread subscription and gives you an email notification of changes. You are welcome to request an account even if you don't want to edit the wiki, being able to log-in allows you to use the watchlist and set various preference options such as viewing the wiki with a different skin. |
| How can I help out? |
|---|
|
The Help page gives some editing advice to get you started and suggests ways you could help the wiki and gives you an idea of what the priorities are at the current time, but you're free to just find pages and subjects you're interested in and work on them as you see fit. You're always welcome to contact the Wiki Director for advice, especially if you might be interested in joining the Wiki Team. |
| What rules apply on the Wiki? |
|---|
|
Please note that the Terms of Service and the TWC Wiki Policy & Guidelines apply throughout the Wiki; importantly you must not submit copyrighted work without permission! Deliberate vandalism or repeatedly ignoring the Wiki Staff may result in temporary or even permanent removal from the Wiki (which is not open to appeal on the forum), breaches of the ToS may also result in disciplinary action taken against your forum account. |
| Are there any rewards for working on the Wiki? |
|---|
|
There are a series of TWC Wiki Editor Award medals available to non-staff for merit and time served as a non-staff member editing the wiki. The medals are given at the discretion of the Wiki Director and Hex. Wiki Team members who are part of Content Staff instead receive the Scribe's Quill award for their service, but members of other staff branches (e.g. moderation) who do work on the wiki unrelated to their staff role could also be eligible for the Wiki Editor Award medals. You can't directly acquire forum rep for edits or pages on the wiki, but if you post somewhere like the Discuss the Wiki thread to explain what you've been working on, that can help generate more help/interest and you may incidentally find your posts about it receive rep. |
| Should I join TWC Staff and the Wiki Team? |
|---|
|
If you are interested in organizing the wiki, send a message! If you are a regular editor who wants to lend input to staff sections, you are also free to apply and be considered. Otherwise if you just want to edit articles without formality, being Wiki Team is not required. Content membership does require a higher standard of behavior than other members and you are asked to follow certain conventions, such as directing your concerns about other staff branches through internal forums first (we'd rather not berate ourselves in public, but bantor is quite fine!). If this sounds alright to you however, feel free to say send a message. To join, please contact the Wiki Director or Content Hex. |
What's Changed FAQ (vBulletin to Xenforo)
As of May 2025, the layout and organization of the site changed massively. If something important is not covered, please contact the administration.
| What happened to Social Groups? |
|---|
|
Social groups were not able to convert to Xenforo unfortunately. |
| Why can't I make a poll? |
|---|
|
The ability to make polls is set per-forum and unfortunately did not carry from vBulletin. If there is an area you think should allow creating polls that doesn't, let us know in the Q&S! |
| I had a developer group/hosted mod forum and can't find it? |
|---|
|
So here's the scoop on developer groups.
To attempt to locate or restore a developer forum, just shoot a message to an administrator! Mod forums are being cleaned up as well. Mods without a viable download that have been dead for many years may enter an unlisted archive, where their content will be accessible by direct link. Please let us know if there is something in a forum like this you wish to locate. TWC quite rarely hard deletes anything, and so odds are that legitimate content is still somewhere. |
| I had a blog, where did it go? |
|---|
|
Your vBulletin blog is likely somewhere in here. We can promote it to the new blog system if you'd like! |
TWC Features
The new XenForo site has a host of new and improved features. Information on how to use many of these will be posted in TWC Tutorials - How to use TWC.
| Can I create private content (blogs, albums, etc?) |
|---|
|
Yes, it is possible to create albums and blogs, which are not visible to the general membership. However they are visible to staff members at all levels. These features are intended for say, mods working on previews and other stuff not meant for immediate public consumption, and not for things that should be truly private. |
| How can I track content I want to revisit? |
|---|
|
Forums and threads will have a 'watch' button at the top of thread content, but below the site navigation and announcements. Content can also be 'bookmarked' which can be more granular, for example, every forum post. You can also watch/bookmark article and blog content. What's the difference? Watching will notify you of any new content related to the watched resource. It is offered as-is without organization. Bookmarks will not notify you of updates but you can find them any time, sort them into categories, give them names to help identify why you saved them. What should you use? Up to your preference. You can find bookmarks under the bookmarks area of your profile, and also under a tab when you select your profile but do not visit the page around the forum. Watched content can be found in the navigation bar for whichever part of the site you're on. On the wiki there is a watchlist if you have an account and are logged in although it works a little differently, there are no bookmarks, but you can make yourself a custom sidebar! |
Blogging on TWC
TWC has a new multi-functional Blogs Section. Please see the article about how to create a blog for rules and details.
Remember any topic can be covered except politics or religion.
Direct Messages
The Direct Message system on XenForo is substantially different than the one used on vBulletin, please see Direct Messages on TWC for full details.
| I've seen direct messages refered to as 'PM's are they 'private'? |
|---|
|
Direct message content is not publicly viewable, but there is nothing preventing recepients re-posting message content elsewhere, or adding other users to the conversation, so the direct message system should not be used for anything you want to remain truly private. Abusive content can be reported by the recipient and acted on by staff. In the most extreme circumstances, for legal or other serious issues, the site owner can access direct messages by checking through logs by hand. |
Account Changes
The article on Account and Profile Setup gives details of some features unique to the Total War Center.
| I would like to delete my account |
|---|
|
On TWC accounts cannot be fully deleted. We can strip the profile of identifying/sensitive/personalized information, rename it to something general ("removed user" + date is the format), anonymize the email, and disable it so it cannot be logged into again. Select posts can be removed especially if they give sensitive information, however we do not have tools to conveniently purge post histories. And doing so would disrupt threads and take considerable time to process. For hardly used accounts this is more feasible. To submit a request like this, please use the contact form or message an administrator while logged in, or email the forum at [email protected] from the account's registered email. |
| How can I change my username? |
|---|
|
This is available in account details on your profile, available once every 180 days at time of writing. Your choice and reason will be submitted for admin review, likely to be approved if it is appropriate and there's no technical hurdles to be aware of at the time. |
| I can't remember my user-name/password, how can I log-in? |
|---|
|
If you remember the email you used you can submit that in the form accessed by pressing Forgot your password? Sometimes members use an atypical username, or include special symbols in it and forget them, hence they can't re-login again, in that case, use the contact us option and explain your problem. |
TWC Downloads
TWC offers a comprehensive Download Section where you can store smaller files, or provide links to off site content.
TWC Media Galleries
The Media Section allows you to create image galleries.
Modding on TWC
TWC provides a range of features that can help modders including the possibility of having their own hosted mod-forum.
| Where can I post information about my mod? |
|---|
|
Each of the game sections has a 'Modifications' sub-forum, these are normally subdivided further with separate sections for WIP/Proposals and Released Mods. If you start your thread in the wrong section or would like it moved when the status changes from WIP to released, you can message a moderator for the forum, or report your own post to request the move. (Moving the thread will mean anyone already subscribed to it can find the new location) Substantial released mods or very active mods in development may benefit from having their own Hosted Mod Forum. |
| How can I get a Hosted Mod Forum? |
|---|
|
To obtain a hosted forum at TWC mod teams need to be able to show that they already have a good track record of making progress with their mod. If you have a mod and would like to apply for a subforum, private message a Modding Hex. Links to the profiles of the current Modding Hex/Hexes can be found here. |
| How can I advertise my mod? |
|---|
|
In addition to posting mod details on the forum, modders can create pages for their mods on this Wiki, and blogs about the mod on TWC. Modders can also request News Announcements for releases, updates, previews, recruitment drives etc. The announcements will appear in TWC's articles section, and can feature within widgets on most forum pages. Note that announcements should point people to their TWC thread or wiki page, and not necessarily off-site ie, directly to moddb or a discord server. |
| Can I upload my mod to the TWC server? |
|---|
|
The Download Section can be used to post small (max 200MB) mods, tools and resources for the Total War games. You can also create a page in the downloads section which links to a larger file hosted externally, the page can be retained and edited and the file link changed for later updates allowing you to see the total number of downloads over various versions. For suggestions on sites to host larger files, check out the wiki page about Upload Sites |
| Will my copyright be protected? |
|---|
|
Mod contents are not normally treated as having a 'copyright' as they are in some part based on the game assets and software. However, TWC maintains a policy of protecting modders 'rights' within TWC and will not host mods that have used modders' work without permission. The Mod Register provides a way for modders to register brief details about their mod and include a permission statement indicating their intentions regarding re-use of their content. The Terms of Service also includes a penalty clause for using modders' work without permission. Modders are strongly encouraged to make an entry into the registry, particularly to be clear how a mod was created and its usage permissions by other members. Reuse in another project with attribution may be authorized by administrators if no permissions policy is set and the author has been absent for a long time. |
| Can I use assets from this mod? It hasn't been updated in a long time and the author never got back to me! |
|---|
|
If the modding permission is "free to use" or "with attribution" you are good to go, attributing the original creator for their part in your mod. Permissions can be found through their entry in the Mod Register if they made one, or specified when the mod was published. If the permission is not specified and there is no entry in the Register, please refer to the Modding Permissions Policy for exact requirements, but the key is this: you must reach out to the author even if they have been absent for a long time, and if you do not get a response in a reasonable time (a few weeks) you must reach out to the Modding Hex. They can look into it and if they believe there is no issue, they may authorize use until the modder returns and says otherwise. At this time there is unfortunately no recourse if a mod's permissions are 'by request only' or 'do not reuse', even if the mod has been dormant for some time. This is an area the administration is currently discussing. The Modding Hex: vacant, please contact any member of Hex |
Volunteering & Citizenship
TWC rewards those who participate! Browsing the forums, you may notice that many users have at least a few medals, perhaps a badge and title, a coloured name etc. Rewards and positions can result from anything like helping with graphics, to proving yourself for the moderation team, to being a good modder, to patching up errors on the wiki. Whatever your niche, if you're dedicated at something on the site and stick to it, you will almost inevitably be rewarded, and if you're really putting in legwork, you may be offered Citizenship or a staff position (they do not mutually exclude or require each other). If you just want to be a normal user doing your thing, that's perfectly fine too!
If you want to strive for more, or think you could help the site in some way, please read on:
| What is Citizenship? |
|---|
|
Citizenship is recognition for your contributions to the website. It is a badge, a coloured title, a bit of recognition and a small selection of extra forums to post in (the Curia). It is also a path to the Magistrate position and local moderation/management positions within the Curia. Finally, it is a place to propose users for existing awards or suggest new awards, as well as make and vote on suggestions for both the Curia itself and for the website in general. Note that votes passed in the Curia are still subject to administrator review, and further, citizenship does not entitle authority over other members. Likewise, you are not obliged to participate in the curia and discussions - but it would be appreciated if you lend your voice from time to time, if only in voting. |
| How can I become a TWC Citizen? |
|---|
|
The minimum requirements to be considered for the award are; to have made at least fifty posts, been registered for at least two months, and not have received a warning within the last six months. You will also need to have contributed constructively to the forums, and have another Citizen act as a Patron to propose your application to the Curia. Please see here for more details. If you believe you deserve this, message a current citizen and who knows? They might just wish to patronize you. |
| How can I join or help staff? |
|---|
|
To join staff, please message the relevant administrator or Director. They'd be happy to consider you! If however you are brand new, are not accepted into staff, or are not ready to take the responsibility of a staff title, there are other opportunities. To be a part of Staff formally requires members to have a good history of complying with the ToS. Within staff some additional rules such as non-disclosure of private information apply. Moderation, Administration (Hex) and Technical departments will tend to be more stringent in their requirements, the Administration and Technical Departments particularly will require that you've built up a high level of trust over a longer period of time on the forum. The widest range of opportunities tend to be within the Content branch. |
| Total War Center Information: The Total War Center | Terms of Service | FAQ | |
|---|---|
| TWC Staff | Hexagon Council | Content Staff | Moderation Staff | Technical Staff | Tribunes |
| Content Areas | The Writers' Study | The Graphics Workshop | The Eagle Standard | Gamer's Gazette | The Helios | The Scriptorium | TWC News |
| Medals and Awards | Curia Awards (The Curia) | Hexagon Council Awards | Site Service Awards | Special Contribution Awards | Members' Awards | Contest Awards | Citizenship |
| History of TWC | History of the Syntagma | Triumvirates on TWC | Gaming Staff | Modding Staff | Curial Officers | Personal Perspectives |
| Other TWC Information: | Mod Register | TWC Downloads | User Badges | Forum Overviews | TWC Blogs |
| Other Wiki Sections: Total War Series | Total War Mods | Modding Portal | TWC Wiki | |