Instructions:Guide

From TCGwiki

1. When do I submit a claim?
Preferably as soon as you do whatever it is your claiming. Why? Because then you don't forget, and it's in before the "new week" comment goes up. Other than claims for placing in contests, all claims must be verified by a mod from the participating community before prizes can be handed out. So if your claim isn't in on time, you don't get your prize on time. It's also very annoying for both us and the mods at the affiliated comms to have to go back to verify past weeks because you didn't claim something on time. Keep up please!

The exception to this being if you submit to the next week for the contest before the "new week" comment is put up. An example of this would be if voting for week 56 was going on, but submissions for week 57 went up the same or next day and you submitted to week 57 before confirmations were sent for everything from week 56, where voting is still taking place. In that case please wait until it goes up. New week comments go up anywhere between Sunday and Tuesday normally for most affiliates, except for kingdom_chorus (Thursdays) and rating communities that don't have new weeks because they aren't screened at all.

2. Do all of my claims have to be in a single comment each week?
No, they don't. It's actually easier for us with the randomizer if submissions and voting are in separate claims. Then we aren't having to go back and reconfigure everything for one person just to go back to what it was again and finish. Claims for placing should always be in a separate comment from submissions and voting however. Placement entries aren't screened, so we can hand those out as soon as they come in. If they're in the same comment as submission and voting claims, we may not notice that only one was replied to if the thread condenses, so the other claims could possibly be missed. We're only human after all. Help keep it easy on us please.

3. I placed at ________ and got the right trivia answer at xxxholic_still. Do they count as contributions?
Placements and trivia at xxxholic_still do not count as a contribution. It just merely adds to your current card count. Likewise, there is no placement reward for sesshy_icontest. This is because there's such a higher reward with the choice card option for submitting. Please stop asking us for them; you won't get it. Deal with it.

4. I got mod's choice at ________. Do I get a prize for it?
No you don't. Only actual placements [first, second, third] and special categories earn cards.

5. The prize claim post wasn't updated since Sunday! I'm still waiting on my prizes from there. What's taking so long and when will it be updated?
Prize claims take a great deal of time and patience. Not all mods have the liberty of having vast amounts of time every week. It is a rule that if the prize post is not updated in 2 weeks standard time, the backup moderator or just a moderator in general will take over that post to clear the backlog. Until then, be patient. Moderators have lives too you know. :3

6. I submitted to the comeback challenge at ouran_lims. Do I get the sign up prize again?
No. Move along.

7. I got a spirit card in my prize claim, what do I do?
You may take the spirit card plus the set number of cards that you're supposed to choose from. If the set numbers are 'choose 1 card from the 3 cards below' then you may choose the spirit card + one other card.

Yes, mods who maintain the spirit deck posts also sometimes trade with them. They are however restricted to spirit cards, trump cards, and marked/labeled current cards. That's not changing; get over it. Spirits always accept those cards or tell you straight out those are the ones they want. As for futures, keeps or mystery decks it's usually fairly easy to figure out what they want if you pay attention.

8. How do I count trades?
Trades count as 1 trade per normal card. Trading 2 normal cards for a special card or an event card counts as 1 trade. Trading a special card for another special card or event card is also 1 trade. Trading 3 normal cards for another 3 normal cards is 3 trades.

Giving a card to someone else counts as a trade. Multiple gifts count as multiple trades, though specials only count as 1.

Receiving card(s) from someone else do not count as trades. These must still be recorded in your logs as proof of receiving the card(s) though.

Please note that numbering your trades in your logs is extremely helpful. For one thing, it makes it much easier for you to tell when you've hit a trade event for a badge. For another, it makes it much easier for mods to check your logs to verify your prize and hand it out that much quicker.

Links to all trades, gifts, received cards of any kind are also extremely important and make things much easier. Mods hate having to go back through things manually to verify that your logs are accurate. Please link everything yourselves and save us the trouble and hassle. Thanks!

9. What counts as a contribution?
Generally speaking, submitting and voting count as contributions in most of the affiliates. Submitting for the rating communities is in the form of applications. While most communities do give out rewards for placing, these placements do not count towards your contributions total.

As with trade logs, numbering and linking your contributions is extremely helpful. See explanation in #8 for more details.

10. What decks will be retiring soon?
We can't, and won't, tell you. As of May 2009 we will start announcing the series retiring decks will be from, but you will not know the specific decks themselves until the official retirement announcement.

11. I got a card at the Card Shop, Card Exchange, Cert Redemption, or Card Spirit. I might have donated to the Card Donations or claimed a prize there, too. What do I count it as?
Nothing. The Card Shop, Card Exchange, Card Donations, Cert Redemption, and Card Spirits do not count as either trades or contributions. Using any of these services from the game does need to be recorded in either your activity or trades log, but they do not count towards any totals for badges or prizes.

Leveling up, mastering a deck, or getting cards for events with your badges also don't count as anything other than needing to be recorded.

12. If we drop a level due to donations, card events, or lotto, do we get to claim the level up again for that level?
Nope. That's unfair to the other members if you get more cards for your own error. There is no de-leveling in this game. You stay at the same level until you reach the number of cards for the next.

13. I claimed first mastery or no-cert mastery for the first time, but I didn't get any cards. Don't I get a prize?
You do, but you need to tell the mods that it's your first time claiming that prize. Believe it or not, we can't keep track of everything. We'll verify something we see, but we don't go looking through everything for you to see if you've ever claimed it before or not.

14. When do new decks come out?
When the head deckmaker feels like putting them out. End of story.

15. I saved up all these old masteries I haven't claimed yet. Can I use them to first master a new deck?
No you may not. Only current/new masteries may be used to claim cards from new decks. In other words, decks that you've mastered the same day that new decks are released or after. Why? Because otherwise it's not really fair to all the rest of the players who may want to try and first master that deck, is it? The most anyone gets from contributing or making is 1-4 cards, so why would it be fair for you to get all 20+ the very same day? Don't do it. We don't like it, and we might chomp on you for attempting it.

Any chain/group mastery that results in the completion of a new deck by a single player on their own is a violation of this rule and will not be allowed. Do not set up large mastery quantities to force a first mastery. It will only result in your mastery being void and you having to pick all different choice cards. It's annoying for mods too and we don't like having to tell you to change them either.

To be on the safe side, a limit of 4 cards per any 2 mastered/chained decks in a single claim can be from any single new deck. This does NOT mean to claim your masteries 2 decks at a time. If they're chained or all mastered at once, claim them that way. This only means that up to 4 cards may be from a single new deck at a time. This is also where claiming as you master actually comes in useful. It generally negates most, if not all, of this since large chain masteries are usually more uncommon. Decks are still considered new and fall under this rule until they have been out for more than 3 weeks or at least 2 players have mastered them.

16. I'm waiting on the last card for my deck to get first mastery from card exchange, card shop, or I have offered a spirit card to one of the spirits. I'm garunteed to get it, but the moderator hasn't been on in a while to update it. Would it be alright if I claim the mastery without receiving the card yet?
Yes that is fine as long as you are guaranteed to get it [i.e. card exchange, card shop, or spirit card]. Prize claims are not guaranteed until they are fulfilled by a moderator. Choice cards from claims are not considered late for the use of masteries until after Tuesday of the week they are due. If you are claiming a mastery with a pending card, include the link to where the card is pending in your claim. In line with the original rules, the only choice cards you can not claim mastery with are from the event badge entry as events are sometimes subject to change and therefore are not always guaranteed.

In regards to mod vs. non-mod first mastery: you may only claim first mastery of a deck a mod has already mastered within the first 3 weeks that it has been released. After that non-mod first mastery doesn't exist.

17. There aren't any cards showing in the Card Shop. Do I just request whatever I want there?
No you don't. Read the instructions at the Card Shop first please. You can only request cards that are in the shop. No cards in the shop = no requests.

18. Can I only request each prize at the Card Donation Center once?
No. You can claim the same prize as many times as you like as long as you have the points to pay for that prize. Remember, the points are subtracted from your accumulated total once you use them to claim a prize.

19. I'm certing a card for someone, but I'm also collecting the same deck or will be in the future. Can I still get no-cert mastery for it?
As long as you aren't certing the card for yourself or to trade with someone else for a certed card from that same deck, then yes, you can still get no-cert mastery.

20. I have a complaint about Mod Pay and/or a complaint about the amount of cards moderators have.
Suck it up. Deal with it. We work our asses off to keep the community running. Mod pay is the result of LOTS of work. Move along now.

21. I have the card making .psd. Would it be alright if I made myself a user card?
You may, but you cannot trade it for anything. The only thing you can use it for is to decorate your own card post. Other users may not use your card.