Players can communicate in several way with each other, e.g. by

• sending a private message to a particular user using Dragon's message system,
   
  
• posting to Dragon's public discussion forums to address many users.
  The primary language for the forums should be English to ensure most users can follow the conversations and to allow moderators an easier task to check for violations of server policy.
   
  
• adding (several types of) game comments to running games.
  

Please note: No kinds of messages are ever removed from the server. Private messages are only removed from your list, but they stay in the database. Messages in a game stay there forever, the same applies for forum messages. Normal game messages will stay on the server as well.

The forum starts on the Forum overview page. Main forum features include:

• Write new and edit existing posts with a preview feature. The edited posts are kept in a history, but only the most recent entry is shown to other users. Before adding a post, check out the different forums to see in which one it fits best.
• Moderation (by forum admins). For example posts by the guest user must be approved by one of the forum admins to be seen. The forum admin might choose to accept or reject the message post in the forums.
• Indication of new posts in thread overview page
  
• Searching posts
  

The forums are comprised of several pages:

• A Forum overview page. Select a forum to see an overview of threads.
   
  
• A Thread overview page for a specific forum, e.g. go to the Support forum.
   
  
• A Thread reading page for reading the post messages for a specific thread in a specific forum or write a new topic or edit an existing topic.
   
  
• A Forum search page. More information about the search you can find in the help entry: How can I search the forums?.
  

The forum is built from a table with a top bar with navigational links, a (titled) content section and a bottom bar repeating the links in the top bar.
 
Here are the field items in the content section on the forum overview page:

• Forum name
  
• Forum description
  
• Number of Threads in a forum
  
• Number of Posts in a forum
  
• Date of last post in a forum (with author of last post, which can be hidden)
  

The thread overview page shows an overview of threads for a selected forum showing the initial post message of the threads.
 
Adding a New Topic from the navigation bar is making a new entry in this thread overview. The first post and answers to it are composed into a thread showing up on this page. Clicking on a thread will open the Thread reading page where all corresponding posts are presented in a threaded list.
 
New threads you didn't read so far are marked with a "new" indicator. Reading a thread means to open the Thread Reading page for a particular thread.
 
The navigational bar contains links to:

• Return to the "Forums" overview page
  
• Create a new thread writing a "New Topic"
  
• Opening the forum "Search" page
  
• "Mark all thread as read" to mark all "new"-entries as read (only available if there are some)
  
• "Prev Page" and "Next Page" to navigate, if there are many entries.
  

Here's a brief explanation of the field items in the content section:

• Thread: The subject line of the initial post of a thread.
  
• Author: The author who started the thread.
  
• Posts: number of posts in the thread.
  
• Hits: number of reads of the thread by other users
  
• Lastpost: date of the last post in the thread (with author of last post, which can be hidden)
  

Below the content table there's a select-box to change the number of shown rows.

The thread reading page shows an overview of all the posts comprising a threaded list and shows input elements to reply to single posts.
 
New posts you didn't read so far are marked with a "new" indicator. Opening this page for a thread will mark it as read. That means another view of this page or the Thread overview page makes the "new" disappear for the thread and posts.
When opening the page and the thread overview tree is disabled, the focus will be placed on the first "new" post, if there is any. The "new" indicators are linked to the next new post on the current thread page.
 
The navigational bar contains links to:

• Return to the "Forums" overview page
  
• Return to the "Threads" overview page
  
• Reload the page with "Refresh"
  
• Opening the forum "Search" page
  

In the second headline you can Show or Hide the thread overview providing an extra overview of all post subjects with their authors and last changed date linked to the respective posts. This thread subject overview has the advantage, that you can identify the "new" posts more easily especially if there is more than one. Your own posts are emphasized (in a bold blue font).
In that headline there are also links to switch the posts order between Old First, New First and the default Tree View.
 
Here's a brief explanation of the field items in the content section with the header line "Reading thread posts" followed by a reading hit count of the post:

• The first line shows the subject of a post.
  
• The second line shows the author of the post (with the rank and optional executives-icon ) and the creation date. An optional date showing the date of the last edit may be displayed with a link to show the revision history of your edits of your post. The last value in the line gives the index number of each post within the thread, for example "(No. 7)".
  
• The main text body of the post follow
  
• A line with icons to navigate within the thread and actions, that can be executed on a post.
  

Each post has a "Reply" link. Click it to write an answer to a particular post. When you use the input box at the end of the page, the answer will be appended as last post in the thread.
 
To add a new post, edit one of your submitted posts or replying to a post, you can type in your message in the input elements. You may keep the subject or change it. Use the "Preview" button to check, if your message is correctly displayed or contains any (format) error or typo. To send your post and store it on Dragon, finally press the "Post" button.
 
For messages you have written an additional "Edit" is shown. If you want to change one of your entries, follow the "Edit" link. Only the most recent version is shown. Making an edit does not change the LastPost date on the thread or forum overview page and neither the "new" indicator is raised for the thread or posts.
You or other users may view also older version in the revision history for one of your posts following the "edited" link in the content line where the author is displayed.