About Us

Site History
Staff Biographies
The SimHQ Pledge to Our Readers
The SimHQ Privacy Statement of Policy
Forum Registration and Use Agreement
Frequently Asked Questions

Site History

Since 1997, SimHQ has existed to provide the simulation community with the best articles, news, message boards, and tips to make our common passion more enjoyable. What started out as one man’s personal web site has quickly risen to become the community’s leader for sim information.

This didn’t happen by accident… it took dedicated volunteers, the support of our readers, and a continuing desire to be the best. Many of our writers not only have “been there and done that” around the world, but continue pushing the envelope today. They are our inspiration and our ‘reality check’ that we are, after all, gaming, but their deep knowledge of the topics they write about shines through in their articles.

Another ‘SimHQ difference’ is our technical knowledge. We’re all tinkerers…the kind of people who understand what makes our PCs tick, and who always seek to make our sims run the fastest, most stable, and with the highest quality that it can. Several of our staff either currently work for the world’s leading technology companies, or have in the past. We’re the best of both worlds…a site focused on simulations, but deeply interested in the hardware that makes it happen.

Many of us have written for other commercial or fan sites, and the experience hasn’t always been a good one. That desire to be accurate, truthful, and respectable comes through in any of our articles, and it’s the core of our Pledge to our Readers. Check the pledge out, and think about it the next time you’re reading an article trying to decide whether to spend your hard-earned money on a software title or piece of hardware. We mean what we say, and for good reason.

If you’re a long-time SimHQ reader, you already know all of this, and hopefully have seen it in action. If you’re new to our site, welcome, and thanks for choosing us. Be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page to learn more about the history and current operations of the site, and please drop us a line if you have any suggestions, comments, or questions!

Click here to go to top of this page.

Click here to go to top of this page.

The SimHQ Pledge to Our Readers

• SimHQ has never and will never force one of its writers to change an article due to commercial pressure or the desire to please / recruit an advertiser. Articles written by SimHQ staff will be edited for clarity and grammar only. And yes, we have lost a few advertisers because we refused to change a review, or because the advertiser didn't get the review they wanted.
  
  
• SimHQ has never and will never mislead industry companies by using voluntary cooperation / publicity as a leverage for commercial solicitations.
  
  
• SimHQ has never and will never write articles about fictional products as if the products are real or planned.
  
  
• SimHQ has never and will never limit discussion or promote discussion of a certain simulation-related product because of commercial and / or advertising reasons.
  
  
• SimHQ will promise to make full disclosure in articles if the object being written about have been tested by the author, or if any SimHQ staff receives any kind of reward, monetary or otherwise, for their involvement in the development of that product.
  
  
• SimHQ will promise to ensure that its content will be original publications, not reprints or recompilations of existing articles, unless it is so noted.
  
  SimHQ staff have agreed to assume the following responsibilities:
  

• SimHQ staff will never use an alias to criticize another site or magazine publicly.
  
  
• When discussing matters related to another site, SimHQ staff will always publicly announce their affiliation with SimHQ.
  
  
• SimHQ staff will never exaggerate their experience in biographies, articles, or features, or offer misleading representations of past experiences.
  
  
• SimHQ staff will never knowingly publish an untruth.

Click here to go to top of this page.

The SimHQ Privacy Statement of Policy

The trust of the simming community is essential to the success of SimHQ. Therefore, we take concerns regarding privacy very seriously.

What Information Does SimHQ Collect On Its Traffic?

We collect general site server statistical information from all visitors to SimHQ, both to monitor utilization and for site security purposes. While this information contains such features as the machine (IP) address you are using, as well as the date, time, and file(s) requested, it typically cannot be used to identify you on an individual basis. Specifically, our tracking software logs the following:

• Web Browser Used
• Operating System Used
• Visitors Top Level Domain (i.e. yahoo.com)
• Full Server Address
• Visitor IP Address
• Links that brought a visitor to SimHQ
• Links followed from SimHQ
• Hits to local documents and files
• Hits by time, day, week, and year

Cookies

Persistent client side data ("cookies") are used for some features on the site, particularly the Forums. This cookie is a built-in feature of the Forum software and is used primarily for the purposes of tracking whether new message board threads have appeared since you last visited, and your preferences in viewing SimHQ.

SimHQ's Policy on Children

While this site is a general purpose information provider, it is not directed, in whole or part, at children under the age of 13. Children under the age of 13 years are expressly prohibited from providing any personal information. We strongly recommend parental supervision of children when using this, or any, web site. For more information on children's online privacy generally and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, please see the FTC's Kidz Privacy site. If you are a minor (under the age of 18), you may not take part in any contest run by SimHQ.

Sharing of Personal Information

Certain features of the site (such as registration for the message boards) do require the provision of personal information. The following categories are requested during the board registration process, but only those marked with an asterisk are required.

• User Name*
• Password*
• Email*
• City, State, Country
• Occupation
• Homepage
• Interests
• ICQ Number

We may occasionally request additional information, primarily for contests or giveaways. If you are a minor (under the age of 18), you can not take part in these contests.

Banner Ads

Our banner ads are monitored by a software package that tracks exposures, hits to the banner, date / time, and the viewer's / clicker's IP address. All banner ad "customers," whether free (such as affiliates) or paid advertisers, have access to the information for THEIR banner ad(s) ONLY.

Dissemination of Personal Information by SimHQ

Any information collected by SimHQ, for instance at a survey or in a contest, is for the internal use of SimHQ and will not be disclosed to third parties without your prior expressed consent. An exception to this is under extraordinary circumstances, such as a court order. Other examples of exceptions are to notify a contest partner of the winner's names, addresses, etc. OR if a party requests that SimHQ provide a feedback form for them on their product for readers to fill out. Another exception to this may be aggregate data shared with advertisers (for instance, "90% of our viewers responding to a survey rate our news as "excellent"). This policy is effective and updated on July 31, 2000, and is subject to change without notice, particularly as new site features are added. For any questions about this policy, please contact guod.

Google Advertising Cookies and Privacy Policies

Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve display and text ads on the SimHQ.com site.

Google's use of the DoubleClick DART cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads to the users based on their selections and interests on the SimHQ.com site and/or other sites on the Internet.

Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy. http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html

Users may visit the vendor web sites to opt out of cookies (if the vendor offers this capability). Users can opt out of some, but not all, of these vendor cookies in one location at the Network Advertising Initiative's opt-out web site at http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp.

SimHQ uses third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our web site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. More information about this practice and your choices about not having this information used by these companies is available here http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

Click here to go to top of this page.

Forum Registration and Use Agreement

SimHQ’s forums are intended for our members to learn and exchange information about our common interests, share experiences and enjoy time spent with one another. We expect members to treat each other with respect and civility. The forums are open 24 hours a day. Our moderation is done on a wholly volunteer, unpaid basis. Accordingly, we cannot watch every post in every thread all the time. SimHQ array (“The Site”) is not responsible for any member's posts, emails, or messages array(collectively, “Postings”), including without limitation the content, tone and accuracy of a Posting, or for any material in a Posting that may be offensive to a particular viewer. The author of each Posting is solely responsible for its contents, and each viewer waives all claims, rights and causes of action he or she may assert against The Site arising from or in connection with a Posting. The views of any member, however relayed, are not necessarily the views of The Site or any entity associated with The Site or any of its advertisers. We encourage members to notify us of any Posting that may be objectionable so that we may deal with it accordingly. These concerns can be addressed to any of the moderators, staff, or the webmaster. We reserve the right to edit or delete all or any portion of any member’s Posting as we in our sole discretion deem appropriate. Your use of The Site is at our discretion and you agree to abide by our rules as they may be amended from time to time, including but not limited to the following:

You agree that you will not use The Site to post or link any material that is deceptive and/or defamatory, abusive, hateful, harassing, obscene, discriminatory, profane, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or in violation of any law, license or copyright. The Site’s server may not be used for illegal purposes or in support of illegal services, will not be used to harm or attempt to harm minors in any way, and will not be used to transmit anything that threatens or harasses another person. The Site actively discourages cheating, and the posting of hacks or cheats for any games is forbidden. You agree that you will not attempt to impersonate another person.

The Site’s server will not be used to make unsolicited offers to sell or buy products, items, or services, or to advance any type of financial scam or scheme such as pyramid schemes. We reserve the right to cooperate with legal authorities and/or injured parties in the investigation of any suspected crime or other wrongdoing, and to provide information we know about you in the event of a complaint, claim, suit, or other legal action or investigation involving you. You agree to remain solely responsible for the content of your Postings, and to indemnify and hold harmless The Site, it’s owners, staff, moderators or it's ISP, all advertisers and their agents, their affiliates, successors and assigns of the foregoing parties, for all expenses of any nature incurred with respect to any claim or demand arising from or based upon your Postings.

Image posting and reposting. We cannot allow unauthorized, copyrighted images in the SimHQ Forums. If you find an image that you know is copyrighted and not posted by the owner, email the webmaster and it will be deleted.

We will allow:
a) images created by the poster;
b) screenshots taken by the poster;
c) images and/or screenshots directly released from developers to promote their games/sims.

Do not post images originally published on another enthusiast web site. In all other cases beside these examples a link to the image at the source site must be used in lieu of the reposted image. We ask that members not repeatedly embed images in their posts, similar to a signature image. Any images not complying with those criteria will be deleted. SimHQ members are responsible for ensuring that images they post meet the criteria outlined above.

Unauthorized advertisements, solicitations, chain letters, commercial or bulk e-mail array(SPAM) are not allowed.

The Site may amend these rules from time to time without notice.

Effective September 10, 2010

Click here to go to top of this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the SimHQ Staff and a contributing writer get paid?

The staff donates their hours to SimHQ. The hours provided by our volunteers each month is well into the hundreds.

I would like to advertise on SimHQ. Who do I contact?

If you would like to advertise on SimHQ, please contact guod via email (guod@ simhq [dot] com) or if you're a registered SimHQ member, by PM (private messaging).

How much does SimHQ cost me to join?

Nothing, except your time. :) SimHQ always has been and always will be 100% free. Some specific content is restricted to registered members to say thanks for registering on our web site.

How much does it cost to maintain SimHQ?

Operations for the SimHQ servers costs around $700 USD each month.

Do you really have to run advertising?

Right now, yes we do.

Because SimHQ remains 100% free, the site depends primarily on advertising revenue to exist.

We ask that you consider allowing our ads to run and not block them, and support our advertisers whenever you can. We make a big effort to try and provide advertising that we think our readers would be interested in, and while some non-sim ads display occasionally, we continue to make an on-going effort to tune, tweak and refine. Believe it, if we didn't need to run ads, we wouldn't. It is more work for us.

I want to support SimHQ financially. How can I do that?

You can support the SimHQ cost of monthly operating expenses, but please understand SimHQ Inc. is not a 501C3 company as defined by U.S. taxation laws, so SimHQ does not accept donations. A "donation" means you could expect to claim a tax deduction or possibly something in return for sending in your money.

If you would like to help support the site operational expenses financially, there are two specific ways:

a) Send to:

SimHQ Inc.
P.O. Box 1478
Richmond, Texas 77469-1478
USA

OR

b) Send to the SimHQ PayPal Account:

Email: guod@att [dot] net
Account: SimHQ

Click the "Personal" tab, then select "This money is being sent as", then click on the "Other" button.

What else can I do to support SimHQ?

Purchase a book, video, or other product through our Library. A small percentage of the Amazon sales help maintain the site's costs.

Supporting our advertisers’ banner ads and letting them know you appreciate their supporting SimHQ.

Buy some goodies from our CafeExpress store. We make $1 USD on each item sold.

You can also support us by recommending us to a friend, and by visiting the site yourself! That helps our traffic numbers which in turn helps us to sell advertising to offset costs.

Wasn’t the site once owned by....?

SimHQ has had six owners since it was started in 1997. They are:

Frank "Crimson" Morissette, Founder (1997-1999)
Robert "Baron" Litchfield (1999-2000)
Dan "Crash" Crenshaw and Pete "Pygmy" Marone (2000-2001)
Bubba "Masterfung" Wolford (2001-2004)
Doug "guod" Atkinson (2005- )

Click here to go to top of this page.