Foruming
Introduction to Foruming, why?
Let's first of all define what Foruming means. Foruming is the act of partecipating in the life of the forum.
Now the question is "why?". The answer is easy: as you've seen in the previous tutorials, I linked stuff from anywhere around the forum, so, as it is guessable, it is an awesome source of data, decks and strategies.
Why not give it a look, then?
Rules
Rules (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/rules/) are needed for an healthy community, so make sure to read them. Read them whole as they will be needed in your future life in the community.
Index
While following is a general description of most boards, you may need an index to know which ones you should visit first. While the forum has its original Forum Index (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/forum-index/), here's my personal guide to my Foruming Tutorial:
1.Introduce Yourself will, definitely, need to be your first step into the forum;
2.Check out the Multilingual Board (check the paragraph "Off-Topic Discussions";
3.If you are new to both the game and the forums, you may need some help with your deck, feel free to check out Deck Help and ask for tips;
4.Based on what you like best, you may want to start frequenting the boards listed in "Events and Competitions", "Improving the Game", "Deck Ideas" and/or "Off-Topic Discussions.
Introducing yourself
It wouldn't be nice to ask for help without introduce yourself first, would it?
There's a board, lIntroduce Yourself (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/introduce-yourself/), made for this exact reason. Create your own topic by clicking on "New Topic", write whatever you would want others to know, nickname, why you chose that nickname, your favourite Element, your blood type or whatever. Go on and make an awesome first post.
News
The first two sections cover various News about the Forum and the game, respectively called Forum News and Announcements (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/forum-news-and-announcements/) and Patch Notes and Developement (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/patch-notes-and-development-news/). Those two boards should be checked pretty often, because they offer good informations about updates which may or may not be important for you but is good knowing. Good examples may be the Quick News (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/forum-news-and-announcements/quick-news/) topic for the Forum and Elements 1.32 (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/patch-notes-and-development-news/elements-1-32/) and 1.4 (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/patch-notes-and-development-news/elements-1-4/) for the game. They all offer good informations worth knowing, so you should check them now and then.
General Discussion
General Discussion (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/) is the board which lets you talk about everything Elements-related, and, as such, the board in which you should post something you don't know where it belongs to. A couple of nice topics are the List of staff positions and other forum titles (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/list-of-staff-positions-and-other-forum-titles/), Ask a simple question, get a simple answer (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/ask-a-simple-question-get-a-simple-answer/) and the Forum Index (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/general-discussion/forum-index/). The Ask a simple question topic is a good place in which to ask for something easy you want to know about.
General Discussion has two child boards, and one of them is Farming Studies and Statistics (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/farming-studies-and-statistics/). Here you will find a lot of data about Elements, as you can see in the main topics: Decks Used Against Arena with Stats 1.32 (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/farming-studies-and-statistics/decks-used-against-arena-with-stats-1-32/), AI4/Halfblood Stats Thread (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/farming-studies-and-statistics/ai4halfblood-stats-thread-(1-321)-decks-and-spin-chance/), The Return of FGei (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/farming-studies-and-statistics/the-return-of-fgei-(for-v1-32x)/) (which is about to be replaced by The Dictator's False Gods Stats Thread (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/farming-studies-and-statistics/(1-32)-false-gods-stats-thread/) and Unified Efficiency Index (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/farming-studies-and-statistics/unified-efficiency-index-how-to-compare-apples-to-oranges/).
Here you can post your own study if it is Elements-related and may be your favourite board if you are a maths lover.
Events and Competitions
In Side Quests I spoke largely about the various PvP Events and Competitions around, but some were left untalked of. That's because the other were more of Forum Events, which didn't get you anything in-game (still, I spoke about War and Trials even though they are purely Forum Events because they are the most important ones). Now that you aim to be an active member of the community, checking the Events and Competitions (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/events-and-competitions/) Board will be one of your needs if you want a challenge.
As you can see, that board is a box of Child Boards with various events. You may expecially like the PvP Events (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/pvp-events/) Board which is a continuous source of challenges where you can propose your own or adhere and vote on other's.
If you want a Challenge, this is your board.
Cards
Cards (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/cards/) is a board which contains the cards of the game posted in their Element's Child Board. Here you can find discussions about specific cards and is thus a good board if you want inspiration for a deck. Nothing else to say here.
Improving the Game
The next boards are boards which aim to improve the game. The first one is the Card Ideas and Art (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/card-ideas-and-art/) in which every user can post a card he invented and hope it makes it to the game (even though it's rare). Here you'll find Design Theory, too, which has articles on how to create a balanced card and such in order to improve the quality of the cards posted.
In-game Troubleshooting (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/in-game-troubleshooting/) and Report In-Game Bugs (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/report-in-game-bugs/) should cover any kind of trouble you could have while in the game. Whenever you have a doubt about something in the game working in a certain way and think it is a bug, refer to the In-Game Bugs board and see whether that has already been reported or not.
Game Suggestions and Feedback (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/game-suggestions-and-feedback/) is a board in which you can post suggestions about the game. It also has two Child Boards: Nerf/Buff this card!
Those two Child Boards are for players who aren't content with a certain card judging it either too powerful or pretty useless. You can create a topic there to discuss about a card and propose some changes and why they should be made.
Deck Help
In Deck Help (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/deck-help/) you can post your deck and get help from other players. Some tips:
0.1.This board isn't for asking decks, you post yours and ask for fixes;
0.2.Check whether the deck already exists by following Chapuz's Tutorial (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/deck-help/how-to-search-for-decks-51112/);
1.Post the deck's code using the Deck button (the one with three cards in it) or writing "
Hover over cards for details, click for permalink
code goes here
" and paste your deck code inside;
2.Use the title to describe the deck, don't write "Help!" or such, but give it a name, write in brackets if it's a mono, duo, trio, quartet or rainbow and where you want to play it (AI3, AI4, FG, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, PvP1, PvP2);
3.Write without using abbreviations and try to keep a decent grammar, expecially if you are in an English-speaking country;
4.Write your concerns and if you have addtional ideas and if there are cards you don't want/can't use.
Deck Ideas
In Deck Ideas (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/post-deck-ideas-here/) you can post your deck(s) and let the community see them. This is mostly for decks which have been tested a lot and found a, pretty much, stable build. The decks are sorted by type and, when mono, Element. You can even start a Deck Compilation (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/deck-compilations/) if your decks have something in common.
Opponents, Strategy and Decks
The next boards cover the various decks AI plays, from Random, Normal and Elder (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/random-normal-and-elder/) to False Gods (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/false-gods/), without missing Half Bloods (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/half-bloods/). Even though the topics these boards cover can be covered in General Discussion, Deck Help and Deck Ideas, those are more specific ones. False Gods' Board, though, also covers the strategies to use against each deck. If you know which False God will be the next one (oracle prediction), you can enter that False God's Child Board and look into "Oracle: *False God Name*" for some upped and unupped counter decks.
As a bonus round, The Arena (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/the-arena/) is also covered. Being the Arena a shifting meta, there's no way to know which decks are on at the moment. However, some players post the results of the decks they have posted into the arena after they have been taken down. If you're working on an arena farmer, other than playing a lot of games in the aimed League, you can try reading a couple of posts to get a general idea of what's around and which are the best decks.
Elements Portal
Elements Portal (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/elements-portal/) puts together projects regarding the community of elements but hosted on a different site (example, the chat is on blab). Here you'll find the links to the Elements wiki, the greatest source of data regarding Elements in one place (and not scattered around the forum, but in form of, indeed, a wiki). Elements Tools are also linked, check them out because they might prove useful. Elements radio is, instead, a project brought back to life by BeefSupreme in an attempt to create a radio for Elements players. Check it out and remember that help is always wanted.
Off-Topic Discussions
Off-Topic (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/off-topic-discussions/) (usually called OT) is the board where you can talk about anything unrelated to elements. While a look should be enough to know what every child board talks about, you may expecially like the Multilingual Board if you aren't a native English speaker. Here you can chat with your countrymen in your country's language and ask for help about anything.
Other than that, Off-Topic hosts a lot of Forum Games and funny topics. Make sure to check it out.