Here's how I handle potential conflicts of interest, comment moderation, privacy, social media, and AI-generated art and text. You'll also find info on membership perks. If you have any questions or comments, please email admin@wericmartin.com.
SITE USE
All of the content on this site and on associated social platforms not specifically credited to another author is copyright W. Eric Martin. Please do not republish this content without a credit and a direct link to the original source.
EDITORIAL POLICY
I am a fully independent creator of text, audio files, videos, and other creative material for board game fans, designers, and publishers. Site revenues come from paid memberships, tips, and advertising/sponsorships. I do not accept paid brand placements or referral links, and I do not create paid previews, reviews, or playthroughs.
I will disclose if I am writing about a current advertiser. Advertisers have no control over content, and they do not preview, approve, or have the ability to request changes to any content.
Publishers and designers who submit review copies of games are not automatically entitled to coverage.
PRIVACY POLICY
When I say I value your privacy, I mean it. I do not track data from visitors, members, or email subscribers, including email opens, visitor sources, behavioral metrics, demographic data, or link clicks.
The only information I gather, for the purpose of on-site advertising, is the numbers of visitors, members, and subscribers to the site. All other types of tracking are not available or are turned off.
NOTE: We cannot control data practices on advertiser websites once a visitor clicks an ad.
COMMENT MODERATION
Please keep comments on-topic and be kind to your fellow board gamers. Harassment, name-calling, doxxing, spam, self-promotion, off-topic comments, and low-effort negative comments (e.g., "yuck" or "bad art") are prohibited.
I reserve the right to remove comments for any reason.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Board Game Beat is a Fediverse-first publication. This means I prioritize federated social media platforms such as Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy, and Peertube above exploitative, privacy-invading platforms like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. I welcome you to join me in the Fediverse! (Here's a beginner's guide to the Fediverse.)
MEMBERSHIPS
We offer five tiers of membership, including a free tier. You can downgrade or cancel your subscription at any time through your account, and your subscription will end (or downgrade) at the end of the current paid period. You can also upgrade at any time, of course, and any perks will apply immediately!
There are no refunds on completed membership payments. If you sign up for an annual membership, please add a reminder to your calendar the week before your renewal to avoid surprises.
Add a quick calendar reminder.
ADD TO YOUR CALENDAR (.ics)Our subscription payment system also sends an automatic renewal notice a week before your plan renews. Unfortunately, the reminders can’t be disabled for monthly plans, but you can safely ignore them if you intend to stay subscribed.
I reserve the right to remove email subscribers and members as needed to maintain a welcoming environment.
You are not required to use your real name on your membership.
Deluxe Edition Membership Notes
Deluxe Edition members get a yearly physical thank-you gift. For our launch year, 2026, that gift is a custom Board Game Beat dice & component bag.
Deluxe Edition Annual: We ship your gift shortly after you join.
Deluxe Edition Monthly: We ship your gift after you’ve been at the Deluxe tier for 4 consecutive months.
Why the 4-month requirement?
We’re a tiny operation and ship worldwide, so we can only send physical gifts as a thank-you to long-term Deluxe Edition supporters, rather than to one-month test drives.
Where can you ship?
We ship the Deluxe Edition dice bag to U.S. and Canada, and to most EU and major international destinations served by Pirate Ship’s Simple Export Rate. In rare cases we may be unable to ship physical perks to certain countries due to postal or legal restrictions; if that happens, we’ll work out a digital alternative with you.
We ship the Deluxe dice bag from the U.S. by economy mail. We keep the declared value low and describe it as a small member gift so that, in most cases, it travels as regular mail with no extra charges.
Customs, VAT, and postal rules vary by country, and in rare cases your local post office may charge a small handling or VAT fee on international packages. We unfortunately can’t control or reimburse these fees, so please keep this in mind if you’re outside the U.S.
How many gifts can I get?
One gift per Deluxe Edition member account per membership year. If you stay Deluxe in future years, we’ll send a new item close to your anniversary date.
AI POLICY
I'm old school; I do not use AI to write or edit posts, rulebooks, website pages, or anything else.
I will do my best to avoid posting images and board game art that were created using generative AI. This can be tricky, so feel free to let me know at admin@wericmartin.com — not via a public comment — if you have proof that an image I've posted was created with generative AI.