Beginner's Guide To DGA

Greetings new DGA member! I'm sure there are many people out there that are new to forums, or new to Yugioh forums at least. Even if you're familiar with YUGIOH forums, DGA is far different than you may expect from, say, Pojo. This guide is intended to familiarize you with the systems we have here at DGA. The first thing you should do is check out the rules. We're not very strict here at DGA, but it's important to know what the rules are so you don't unintentionally break them. You can find the rules here:
https://tdga.forumotion.com/t4-dga-official-rules

.::The Ranking System::.

One of the first thing you may notice about the forum is that the names of our members are many different colors, and there are many different ranks. DGA is unlike any other Duel Academy as far as ranking goes, so it can get a little confusing at times. Let's do a runthrough of the different possible ranks you can have:

Administrator: Red
  A staff member. Administrators are the bosses of the forum. We are the ones who created the forum and the ranking system, so we create new topics, organize tournaments, wars, and weekly events, give out Experience, DGA Points, and ranks, set the rules, and make sure people follow the rules. Our most important job, however, is to make sure that your stay in the forum is as enjoyable as possible, so don't hesitate to pm us any questions or concerns you may have. If you feel that the forum could be improved in any way, make a topic with your suggestion here:
https://tdga.forumotion.com/f23-suggestion-box

Moderator: Black
The other kind of staff member. Moderators help run the academy in the same ways as Administrators, but they have less responsibilities and a bit more of a limit on what they can do to the forum. The main difference is that while Administrators create new things, Moderators only maintain and run those things. However, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask them either!

Teacher: Blue
The Article writers. These people write articles to help everyone understand the game better and introduce to us new cards and strategies. They are experts at the game, so ask them if you have any questions about yugioh in general.

Archlord: Purple
The war team, this contains the very strongest members of DGA. People in this dorm are veterans at the game, and are nearly unbeatable. This is THE highest duelist rank, attainable only by invite, or by reaching Dueling Level 5 and then buying a General Test.
Warrior: Teal 
This is the highest rank for a normal member, ranking only below Archlords, which are the war team. Warriors are people who have made it to Dueling Level 3 and made it past both the Conjurer Test and the Battle Test. If you are a Warrior, you are highly skilled.
Wizard: Orange
This is the rank below Warrior. Wizards are a good mix of knowledge and dueling skill. They had to duel through a lot of people to get Experience, but also took the infamous Conjurer Test and passed.
Archer: Gold
This is the rank below Wizard. These are decent duelists, who have won enough duels to get to Dueling Level 1.
Apprentice: Green
This is the lowest rank, below Archer. Everyone has this rank when they first join DGA.

.::The Experience System::.

So that's the ranks, but how do you get there? To get past the Apprentice level, you have to build up Experience. You gain experience whenever you duel in a Duel Arena, whether or not you win. But of course, you win much more experience if you win! You also gain Experience by winning Competitions and Tournaments. Here's how the Dueling Levels go:

0. - Apprentice
1. - Get after reaching 100 Experience. When you reach Dueling Level 1, you will automatically enter the Archer's Tower.
2. - Get after reaching 250 Experience. At this level, you have an opportunity to buy a Conjurer Test for 500 DGA Points.
3. - Get after reaching 425 Experience. At this level, you have the opportunity to buy a Battlefield Test for 500 DGA Points.
4. - Get after reaching 750 Experience. At this level, you have the opportunity to apply for Teacher. You do not need to pay for this test, and the test will be to PM your article to a member who is already a Teacher, preferably Scorpion67, and they will judge if it is good enough. At this level of exp, you also have the opportunity to get permissions to organise tournaments and an opportunity to buy a "title" of your choice for 250 DGA Points. Please note that you may NOT buy a title that already exists but does not apply to you (Such as Admin, King of Games, etc.).
5- Get after reaching 1000 Experience. At this level, you have the opportunity to buy a General Test for 1000 DGA Points. Archlord will remain a rank to be attained by invite as well.


.::The Point System::.

Well that brings up the next question then: how do I get DGA Points to buy tests? You gain DGA Points in several different ways. You gain a few DGA Points every time you post so if you're extremely active, they can build up after a while. But the real way to rack up points is to win Duel Arena Duels, Competitions, or Tournaments. You win 100 for Competitions and 300+ for Tournaments. Not only are DGA Points used to buy tests, but you can spend your points on many different shops here in DGA for many different perks. You can find all DGA Shops here:
https://tdga.forumotion.com/f51-dga-shops

.::The Testing System::.

Okay then, now you know how to get the DGA Points and Experience necessary to rank up. But what are these tests I keep talking about? There are three different tests.

The Conjurer Test:
You must be at least Dueling Level 2 and have 500 DGA Points handy to take this test. There will be five different Conjurer Tests, all with different questions. This is so if you fail, we can give you a different test when you build up enough DGA Points to try again. If you have enough Experience and enough DGA Points, ask an Admin for one of the five tests and we will send them by PM and give you 30 minutes to answer. This test is based entirely on ruling knowledge of Yugioh. You will be asked to solve 10 ruling/dueling scenarios, and you have to get at least 8/10 questions to pass the test. No dueling is involved in this test and the 500 DGA Points go to the Admin who tested you.

The Battlefield Test:
You must be at least Dueling Level 3, have 500 DGA Points handy, and be a Wizard to take this test. There will be five different Battlefield Tests, all with different questions. This is so if you fail, we can give you a different test when you build up enough DGA Points to try again. If you have enough Experience and enough DGA Points, ask an Admin for one of the five tests and we will send them by PM and give you 30 minutes to answer. This test is based on both dueling skills and ruling knowledge. You will be asked to solve 5 ruling/dueling scenarios, and you will duel the Admin in a match duel with siding. You can get a total of 20 points on the test; 10 for the 5 ruling/dueling scenario questions (they count 2 points each), and 10 for how well you perform in the match. You have to get at least 16/20 to pass the test. The 500 DGA Points go to the Admin who tested you.

The General Test:
No information is currently available on this test.

.::Dueling Systems::.

"Whoa now Harper, I have to duel you for the Battlefield Test? How?" Well, there are several systems that allow you to play Yugioh online. DGA's official dueling system is Dueling Network (DN). DN is the best system for various reasons, including having the most cards, better graphics, better interface, better sound effects, better server, no download so you don't have to constantly update, and no way to hack it. In tournaments this is the system we use, but you may use other systems if both duelists agree. Here's the link to the DN website:
http://www.duelingnetwork.com/

.::Communication::.
There are many ways to communicate with fellow DGA members. I'll give you a list of the different ways.

Dueling Network
A great way to communicate is through the private chat on Dueling Network. This is probably the most popular way to find someone. Just friend them on DN and chat with them when you see them online.

Personal Messaging:
You may send personal messages to anyone in the academy as long as you have posted at least once. You can find the pm button at the bar at the top of the page, near the right hand side.

Chatango:
We have a chatango chat program in the forum itself as well. Just look to your right and you will see it. Chatango does not require any downloads and it's a good way to chat with people online on DGA without spamming or checking your inbox every few seconds.

Skype:
Many of us here use Skype. You can use it for the chat, group chat, or even for voice and video chat should you want to do that. Best of all, Skype is totally free Here is the link to download Skype:
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/

Also, there is a topic here in DGA where users post their Skype names. Here it is:
https://tdga.forumotion.com/t3-official-dga-skype-contact-list?highlight=skype

Hamachi:
Yet another way to communicate is hamachi. It used to be very popular but isn't so much anymore with the release of DN. But there's a few reasons you might want to use it anyway; hamachi not only helps to find who is online, but sometimes it is needed to host a duel in a dueling program besides DN, should you want to use a different dueling system. Here is our academy's official premium hamachi network. It will almost never get full unlike most networks, so please join:

079-033-739
Pass:DGA

Many members here also have private hamachi networks you can join.
Hamachi is also free, here is the link to download it:
https://secure.logmein.com/US/products/hamachi2/download.aspx


That's about it! There are many, many other things to do here at DGA, but i will let you explore the forum and see them for yourself. The Off-Topic section in particular is the most diverse, there you can talk about anything you feel like sharing with us. If you have any questions or concerns, pm me or another Administrator or Moderator. I hope you all enjoy your stay at DGA and have the best time possible

~Harper7000