HMW2 Rules Concerning External Subfaction Sites

I have held off on making a final decision on this until now. The time has come to close the door on the unofficial "subfactions".
Considering the fact that there will be 4 official factions in the game, there is no need for any further divisions among the players.
It has also come to my attention that there are already plans to use the subfaction sites to cheat the confidentiality of the official faction forums here. That on top of the fact that these external sites involuntarily perpetuate lack of participation on the Seibertron forums make this decision all the easier.
The problems we have had with these group for the past several years are not going to continue into the new game. The thought has always been "we can do whatever we want outside this site". The problem with that theory is that Seibs pays hundreds of dollars a month for this site and game and I have spent hundreds of hours working on it, therefore, having ownership of the game itself is plenty of justification to put our foot down on instances where it is being referenced and used outside of this website.
The rules as of the reset will be as such:
Anyone starting or participating in external HMW subfaction forums will be subject to the following steps of reprisal:
1. warning
2. two week ban from Heavy Metal War
3. one month ban from Heavy Metal War and Seibertron.com's forums.
4. permanent ban from Seibertron.com
I don't like the idea of banning but it has come to this.
If the leadership or active members of these subfaction groups wish to continue playing the game after the reset then I am more than open to meeting with them in order to accomodate reasonable needs on the official site.
Other than that these rules are final.
Considering the fact that there will be 4 official factions in the game, there is no need for any further divisions among the players.
It has also come to my attention that there are already plans to use the subfaction sites to cheat the confidentiality of the official faction forums here. That on top of the fact that these external sites involuntarily perpetuate lack of participation on the Seibertron forums make this decision all the easier.
The problems we have had with these group for the past several years are not going to continue into the new game. The thought has always been "we can do whatever we want outside this site". The problem with that theory is that Seibs pays hundreds of dollars a month for this site and game and I have spent hundreds of hours working on it, therefore, having ownership of the game itself is plenty of justification to put our foot down on instances where it is being referenced and used outside of this website.
The rules as of the reset will be as such:
Anyone starting or participating in external HMW subfaction forums will be subject to the following steps of reprisal:
1. warning
2. two week ban from Heavy Metal War
3. one month ban from Heavy Metal War and Seibertron.com's forums.
4. permanent ban from Seibertron.com
I don't like the idea of banning but it has come to this.
If the leadership or active members of these subfaction groups wish to continue playing the game after the reset then I am more than open to meeting with them in order to accomodate reasonable needs on the official site.
Other than that these rules are final.