Stronghold Nation Community FAQ

What is Stronghold Nation?

Stronghold Nation is the most active online community fansite for Firefly Studios' Stronghold series. We have an online hub for community downloads, forums, a gallery and a history section on real history dating from prehistoric times to modern day. You can read more about us here.
Do I need to register?

No, you don't need to register. Registration is optional and allows you to participate in our community. You can also choose to register via an external service such as Google, Microsoft, Steam, Discord or others, but you may only have a single account at any one time.
What are the benefits of registering an account?

By registering an account on our community, you will be able to participate in community discussions, upload your own content to our downloads hub, personal message other community members, upload your own gallery images and much more.
What happens if I have multiple accounts?

Registering or utilising multiple accounts is contrary to our terms of service as no individual may have more than a single account. We recognise that accidents do happen however, and if there is some form of accident where you have inadvertedly registered a duplicate account, or you may have had an account a long time ago and lost access, send a PM to a site Administrator who should be able to merge your account or sort this issue for you. Deliberate attempts at creating a second account, for instance to evade a ban or detection by Moderators, will result in all your accounts being permanently suspended.
Can my child register an account?

Stronghold Nation is fully compliant to Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). As such as we cannot accept registrations from children under the age of 13. If you are under the age of 13, your parent/guardian must register an account and use it on your behalf. If you are under 16 years of age, you are entitled to register your own account, but should only use it with the supervision of your parent or guardian.
How do I change my password?

You can change your password via the Change Password page: Account Settings -> Password. If you are having issues logging into your account you can use the "password reset" function on the login page, although you can also ask an Administrator to reset your password at any time for you.
Are there any costs associated with an account?

No. There will never be any costs associated with a member account. No advertisements will ever be displayed on the community and it will never be turned into a subscription service with "Premium" or paid content, as it was never designed to be used for that purpose. The Community was designed to help, teach and connect people who love the games we focus on, and not to make a living or for any financial gain. Significant investments in terms of time, energy and funding have been made by many individuals throughout the duration of Stronghold Nation in order to elevate our community to the global hub it currently is today, and we are exceptionally grateful to everyone who has built our community. We will never charge.
Why are usernames in different colours?
Usernames are shown in different colours to indicate which user group a member is currently in. Different user groups have different abilities on the community. The different user groups (and their respective colours) are shown below.
- Webmaster - the main Administrator of the community and responsible for its daily management, operations, strategic vision and long-term sustainability.
- Head Administrators - These members are incredibly active in the community, and are the principle Administrators charged with its running and overall management. These are often the most active, longstanding and helpful users on the whole community.
- Administrators - These members are longstanding within the community showing significant expertise and knowledge, participating in community decisions and suggesting overall improvements. They are assigned specific roles or tasks related to running and managing certain aspects of the community.
- Global Moderators - These members are very active who have contributed to the community many times, shown a desire to help and fully understand the rules and personality of the community. They have global privileges over the whole community and are empowered to ensure that members are following the rules and the community reputation remains intact.
- Moderators - Members who have specific skills or interests in certain aspects of the community and have exhibited great expertise, leadership and professionalism are assigned full moderator privileges over those areas. These members lead specific forum(s) and help start or lead discussions.
- Community Liasions - Members who show they are fully capable of following the rules and repeatedly shown they can answer questions accurately, or have great expertise in certain areas. They have forum-based Moderator privileges in their specific areas of interest. These members are often looked on much more quickly than the other groups for moderator nomination.
- Experts - Members who have shown they have exceptional knowledge in certain games or areas of the community have their own special colour to indicate their advanced knowledge of scripting, modifications, general gameplay or other areas. These members are often looked on for the Moderator nomination process.
- Contributors - Members who have contributed exceptional content to our community, discovered major breakthroughs or have otherwise played a significant role in shaping our community.
- Alumni - Former staff members who have stepped down or become inactive over time. As a special sign of respect and gratitude, they have their own group colour.
- Members - All other members of the community.
What do all of the different titles mean next to usernames in posts?
The community uses a member title system, which automatically applies member titles to each member, depending on how many posts they have made on the community. While there are certain exceptions to this rule as certain members have customised titles (for example won via past Competitions), there is no heirarchy in terms of post count or other "status" on our community and these titles are legitimately awarded per-user, not for instance because a member is a staff member. The titles which we have used are based on Medieval Society and these are as follows:
1. Village Idiot - 0
2. Serf - 1
3. Peasant - 3
4. Armed Peasant - 6
5. Freeman - 11
6. Commoner - 18
7. Thane - 27
8. Yeoman - 38
9. Spearman - 51
10. Archer - 66
11. Maceman - 84
12. Crossbowman - 105
13. Pikeman - 129
14. Swordsman - 156
15. Knight Bachelor - 186
16. Knight Banneret - 220
17. Knight Errant - 258
18. Royal Champion - 300
19. Baron - 346
20. Viscount - 396
21. Earl - 457
22. Marquis - 511
23. Duke - 576
24. Archduke - 646
25. Grand Duke - 711
26. Earl Constable - 787
27. Earl Marshal - 863
28. Regent - 951
29. Prince - 1,045
30. King - 1,145
31. High Emperor - 1,252
What are Clubs in the Community and how are they different from forums?

Clubs are a way of allowing users to form common interest groups, exchange ideas, subscribe to new content or follow specific mods. If you're interested in engaging a specific sub-section of our community or achieve a specific goal or poject, you can create a Club to achieve this. Forums are discussion forums to exchange opinions and ideas around the games, gain help, support and technical assistance, and are focused on the Vanilla (i.e. original) version of the games. They differ from Clubs because they are focused on the full content of the main game rather than certain aspects or community or modding groups. Any member can start a club.
Do you have a mobile app that I can use?

While we do not currently have a mobile app, this is something we are considering if there is enough demand and funding available in the future. However, you can use the TapaTalk mobile app (iOS, Android) to browse and make posts or topics on our forum, or reply to your personal messages. Once you have created a TapaTalk account, you can sync your Stronghold Nation account and log straight in every time you use the app. As always, if you have any issues please get in touch.
What is reputation?

Our Community uses a "like system" in which you can upvote (like) a member for their post if it was helpful or insightful, or downvote (dislike) replies which are unhelpful, incorrect, rude or abusive. This was never intended to provide "status" amongst members, but simply to express gratitude for the time and effort spent by our members, and to point other users to helpful replies. So if you do find a reply helpful, please do consider upvoting it so that other members and visitors know you felt it helped.
What are the reputation titles?
Reputation titles are shown on your profile based on the amount of community reputation you receive. They are also based on Medieval society and are as follows:
1. Exiled -20
2. Disgraced -10
3. Shunned -5
4. Dishonoured -1
5. Serf 0
6. Peasant 5
7. Commoner 10
8. Worker 15
9. Tradesman 20
10. Craftsman 35
11. Mercer 50
12. Squire 60
13. Knight 70
14. Chevalier 100
15. Baronet 150
16. Count 250
17. Marquis 400
18. Archduke 500
19. Overlord 650
20. Monarch 800
21. Deity 900
22. Legendary 1,000
I'd like to submit an article for publication on the community

First of all, thank you very much for your help! We appreciate all support and members who are willing to help make a difference. You can get started by sending your article to either the Webmaster or one of the Head Administrators, who will be able to add this to the relevant area for you, assuming your content can be verified for its accuracy. Thank you very much for your efforts.
I'd like to get involved or become a part of the team

Stronghold Nation is a community based website. We value all input from any members, and are delighted to have new contributions to and knowledge on our site. While we aren't really strict about who we accept as team members, it's best that you have specific skills or valuable knowledge that we can rely on to help the whole of our community, and the wider Stronghold community beyond. If maps and scenarios aren't your thing, why not try a game modification or new breakthrough of some kind? It's best to start small, get to know the community, perhaps submit a few downloads, help lead or create discussion on our forums, or send us a few articles. If you'd still like to become a team member, you can send a PM to our Webmaster at any time who can help you decide if it's something you'd really like to invest in. We'd love to have you on board =)
I'd like to make suggest a new feature or update

We're open to all suggestions to improve the site. If you feel like your idea can improve the Stronghold Nation community, please feel free to get in touch! PM an Administrator to discuss your idea and we will try our best to accomodate it.
I've found some incorrect or outdated information. How do I let you know this?

While we endeavour to ensure all the information on the community is fully accurate and up-to-date, with a community of our size we appreciate we may on occasion miss certain things. We would be extremely grateful if you could contact us and let us know: (i) what the issue is that you've found, (ii) what the page URL is that you have found the mistake on, and (iii) what correction you think should be made.
I've submitted a download to the community but it's not appearing yet. Why?

We malware-scan and fully review all downloads prior to them being published on our community. This is for safety reasons to ensure that all content is safe, and also to ensure that the content is fully working as the user intended (i.e. so there are no general map making or other scenario errors for instance). We can't say how long it will take to review your file as this depends on the number of other submissions in the queue along with how complex each individual file is to check, so they may not necessarily be approved in order of upload. However, under normal circumstances we should be able to do this within 7 days of your submission. If you're having concerns about your file, you can PM an Administrator with your submission number or the name of your file and we will see what we can do.
I have an issue or problem with one of your staff members

We thank you for your honesty and openness, and the potential to repair any disparity. While we endeavour to always do our best to not only enforce the rules impartially but also follow them, we are all human and there can be occasions where things can fall short of the mark or not appear as they seem. However public discussion is not the place to address this. In the first instance you should always try to take this up privately with the staff member who has dealt with the issue or you have a disagreement with. If this cannot be resolved you should contact an Administrator, or an Administrator one user group higher than the Administrator you are having the issues with. We will always listen to your concern and try to deal with you in as fair a way as possible while fundamentally acting in the best good of the whole community.
My topic was closed! What did I do wrong?

Firstly, it should be stated that you haven't necessarily done anything wrong and there isn't really anything to worry about. If your topic was closed, it's likely that the staff member who closed it provided a reason why this action was performed as a last post in your topic prior to closing it. Feel free to send them a follow-up PM as to why this was done if you would like more clarification, but please don't start a new discussion about this on the main forum as this should be handled in a private channel. We don't like taking Moderator action unless we absolutely have to, and we always give members another chance. So please don't worry about this.
What are the ban policies and procedures on the community?

Most communities operate a standard operating procedure of stacking warnings, penalties and bans. At Stronghold Nation we feel that these are very bureaucratic and limiting, and instead encourage our staff to take intuitive proportionate action in relation to what offences they are moderating against. The penalties provided are entirely at staff discretion and in whatever order the staff member feels is most appropriate. You can however always submit one appeal against each moderation action by contacting a Head Administrator or above. We will always listen and discuss your concerns amongst the other staff but are under no obligation to speak to you directly about the matter other than providing you with our final verdict.
Do you collaborate with other Stronghold groups or communities?

Yes! We work with many standalone Stronghold Communities big and small, and would welcome any discussion that will allow us to establish a connection with you, collaborate or work on common aims. We are also open to providing a platform for your own community to grow here with customised downloads sections, a forum and a place to write your own articles if you are just starting up. Feel free to get in touch if you'd like to work with us or if we could help accomodate you.