There are several different kinds of user account. Some transfer between them is automated, others are specific project access, and others still are paid.

New Users

When first registered, a new user has very limited read-only access until the account and email have been approved by an admin. They can be rejected for being a spam board, for being from a malware domain, or for being logged in from a blocked country. (At the moment, Ukraine, Russia, and China.)

After approval, there's a 72 hour no-post moratorium - this prevents the majority of spambots who do get through from sticking around, as the average spam-bot-machine changes identity every 24-48 hours.

Finally, there's a 10 post minimum and 30-day limited posting time - during this time, all posts are moderated. This 30-day window can be shortened by positive reputation awards from moderators and moot members. 100 positive rep will move someone into regular user.

New users have green screen names

New users have limited posting access in many areas, and can't post new threads in many areas.

Regular Users

Once through the moderated posting stage, users have full access to the public areas of the boards. Note that this is the "general" level of membership.

Regular users have blue screen names.

Moderators and Supermoderators

Certain trusted users help run the board, mostly by killing spam, approving posts, and enforcing the rules. All have established track records of good posts, and extensive access to the forums. They are not paid. Every moderator sees every reported post notice and every infraction notice, so there is review. Appeals go to the Admin(s).

Moderators and Supermoderators have red screen names if they choose, and have a red or silver star in their information line.

Moot Member

Some users support the board by purchasing Moot Membership. This grants them access to some areas of the board that regular users don't have, and increased permissions. They can also opt out of the reputation tracking - it does't actually opt them out, as much as it simply prevents others from seeing reputation-based labels.

Moot Members have a Moot Tower Icon in their information line.

Naughty Users

Users who have broken board rules receive infraction points, which eventually go away. Any poster with three unexpired infraction points is returned to moderated posting status, including a green screen name.

Admin

At the moment there are 4 admins - Aramis, Cryton, McPerth and Avery.

Aramis is a volunteer, and is the day-to-day bbs lead administrator

McPerth is a volunteer, and is the day-to-day spam blocking administrator

Cryton is a volunteer, and is the fill-in administrator

Avery is Marc Miller, the board owner and creator of Traveller. While generally hands-off, he is aware of all reported posts and infractions.

Project Membership Usergroups

T5 Beta

It was only open to those who bought the preview CD from FFE, and granted access to the T5 playtest boards. It still exists, for legacy access, but the playtest forums themselves are now in archival mode only.