EN1 - Public Communication | Moderation, Rules & Policies


    SECTION 1 - AN OVERVIEW


        1A) Introduction

            These rules aim to provide guidance for the moderation of the public communication networks (all public/official game channels of the Subspace Communications Network, and all public/official english-language chat channels). These rules are intended to be used by both Moderators and the game community as the expected standard of behaviour on these channels.

            It's important to remember that these rules are by no means exhaustive. It is not possible to anticipate every possible scenario and moderators should use their discretion and good judgement, as long as those involved are treated fairly and the spirit of the rules. Whilst we appreciate the creativity of our community, it should not be applied to finding ways to behave inappropriately within the letter of the rules. Conversely it is also possible that a user could say something harmless with the best of intentions and accidentally break the letter of the rules despite adhering to their spirit, and these situations should also be treated fairly in accordance with the specific circumstances.


        1B) Moderators | Organisation & Responsibilities

            As a Moderation team, we aim to avoid banning a person wherever possible. However, in order to protect the community we may need to take this action in some cases. When a violation occurs or is said to have occurred, the moderators will investigate the incident to the best of their ability before making a judgement. This investigation will include judging the seriousness of the incident, and take into account the violator’s previous known history in public channels.

            Moderators must always judge fairly and without bias, and must deliver an appropriately scaled response in line with the rules and policies in this document. Evidence will always be required for any action taken by the moderators, and any ban or warning given to a player, at the time of delivery.


        1C) The Overseer

            The purpose of the Overseer(s) are to ensure that the policies and expectations of this document are upheld in both the moderation team and the game community. The moderation team is directly accountable to the Overseer(s) of the service they are moderating, and the Overseer(s) have the ability to hire or remove moderators from their team as they judge appropriate.

            The Overseer(s) may overturn a judgement made by a moderator if they deem it to be unfair or in contrary to the guidelines and expectations in this document. They also hold discretionary power to modify and extend bans and punishments given to rule violators, so long as they remain within the remit of this document. They have the final say in all judgements pertinent to moderation of their area(s) of oversight.
            The Overseer(s) are directly accountable to the Game Administrators, and any complaints involving them or questions about their conduct should be directed to the Admin team.


        1D) Moderation | Team Organisation and Jurisdiction

            There is one set of rules pertaining to the Moderation of all public/official game channels. However, there will be variances in the technicalities and punishments for both Chat and SCN - these will be explained later in the document.

            There will be two distinct moderation teams, one with the responsibility of moderating SCN, and one responsible for moderating Chat. It is possible for someone to be a member of both moderation teams, but these are mutually exclusive and should not be assumed.
            At the time of writing, both moderation teams are managed by one Overseer. It should be noted again that whilst it is possible for someone to manage both teams, it should not be assumed and the two positions can be held by multiple individuals.

            Moderators are protected within their jobs under game rules, and their jobs as moderators should be completely separate to any actions they take in-game. Any attacks or abuse levelled towards them as the result of their judgement as moderators will be dealt with severely by the Administrators.

            Likewise, any actions taken as a moderator which can be directly related to their in-game actions or personal grievances, and which otherwise contravene the contents of this document, should be called into question and investigated by an Overseer.


    SECTION 2 - UNIVERSAL RULES AND GUIDANCE


            1) Sanguinary, aggressive and vulgar language or discussion is not tolerated. This is bannable after two warnings in chat, and one warning in SCN.

                - A person may be warned for using foul language if it is an isolated incident, or if the language is considered to be a minor infraction.

                - Totally unacceptable or excessive foul language may result in an immediate ban.

                - See ‘Language Violations - Further Guidance’ in Section 3 of this document.

                - Self-censoring (substitution of symbols or letters to disguise the rule violation), where the language censored is still obviously a rule violation, and will be treated in the same fashion.
            2) Controversial topics of conversation, or topics that may otherwise be inappropriate, may be asked to be dropped in public channels should they contravene any other guidance stated in this document, incite anger or distress, or otherwise disrupt public communication channels. Continuing an inappropriate discussion is bannable after two warnings.

            3) Personal harassment is not permitted, and may be banned after one warning.

                - Personal harassment can be defined as attempts to: incite anger, provoke, annoy or cause disruption, beyond reasonable limits of normal interaction and RP.

                - This is mainly aimed at attempts to harass the person behind any player account. So long as the main intent of a role-play post/comment OR post/comment about an in-game action is not to harass the person playing the game, RP ‘harassment’ of a character will be allowed.

                - It should be noted that if it is judged that a player is intending to harass another player through the use of roleplay, this will count as a violation.

                - Normal behaviour that is not directed toward a player with malicious intent cannot come under this rule (i.e. lazily typing someone's name because you are a lazy typer, not because you are attempting to harass them).
            4) Personal attacks or insults directed to another player with malicious intent are not permitted. Insulting another player will be bannable after a maximum of one warning.

                - Insults directed to an RP character, or related to an in-game action, are permitted so long as they do not contravene any of the other rules in this document. The prohibition of insults refers only to those made against another player in a personal context.

                - This refers to insults made with malicious intent, meaning anything not intended to be received in good humour. If the recipient of the insult is present and is not willing to press charges, the insult may be allowed to pass without Moderation interference (so long as it does not contravene any other rules or guidelines within this document).
            5) Spamming is not permitted. For the purposes of these rules, spamming is defined as the repetition of a post, word or any character (or the combination of any of the previous) in a non-sensical and excessive fashion. This is bannable after two warnings.

                - Excessive use of capital letters or symbols, as well as the use of languages that become excessively long when translated (i.e. binary) also come under this rule
            6) You may not add terms such as "NPC", "Admin", "CM" or other official administration related terms to your nickname. Nor may you impersonate any form of Game Management. When in doubt, please contact the Overseer(s) or an Admin. Failure to comply will result in an unlimited ban in chat and SCN until the situation has been resolved. The only exception to this rule are those who are part of the appropriate Moderation, or Admin, team.

            7) Impersonating another player without their consent will result in a ban after only one warning.

            8) Expressions or comments made in a derogatory or discriminating manner are not permitted. These can refer to but are not limited to: sexuality, race, ethnic background, religion or gender, and includes the use of jingoism. These violations can result in either a warning or an immediate ban, dependant on the seriousness of the offence.

                - The use of exclamations referencing a religion or deity (i.e. 'God Damn') that could be deemed as offensive to a religious group should be discouraged and warned if used, and banned after two warnings have been issued.
            9) Advertising non-related to STNE or incoherent self-promotion is not permitted. This will be banned after two warnings.

                - It is understood that in some cases players will want to discuss other games and activities, and this should be allowed so long as it is not intended to persuade players to leave STNE, or for personal/corporate profit.

                - If discussions involving other activities or games are becoming excessive in chat and disrupt STNE activity, a Moderator can order its removal from Main.
            10) It is prohibited to publish illegal, pornographic, racist, discriminating or offensive programs, links, articles etc. An immediate ban will follow.

            11) The publishing of links that cause browsers to freeze up, windows to open that cannot be closed, cause something to pop up on the screen, and any links that are otherwise malicious, is not permitted. This will be bannable unless it is very clear that the player posting said link acted without malice.

            12) Personal issues and grievances related to game management are to be regulated and dealt with through official channels, not via public communication channels. Not taking conflicts/discussions to a personal channel will result in a ban after a maximum of two warnings.

            13) Challenging or defying the authority of a moderator, if they are acting within their remit and in line with the rules and guidance of this document, is bannable after one warning.

                - Debating a moderator’s judgement politely or asking for justification for their decision is allowed, should it be believed that they are acting in contradiction to this document.

                - Challenging or defying the authority of a Moderator can be classed as continuing an activity in contradiction to the rules and guidelines after receiving a request to stop or a warning from a Moderator, and will warrant an immediate ban.
            14) Creating a second account (multi-accounting) to circumvent a ban will result in a report of multi-accounting to the STNE Court by the applicable moderator, and a blanket ban on both SCN and Chat for all accounts until the court has reached a verdict.

            15) Each player should adhere to legal regulations, including penal law, youth protection, trademark rights, copyright, etc.

            16) The spirit of these rules should be followed. Coming up with creative ways to avoid the exact letter - including attempting to hide behind RP - will not be rewarded and rules should be enforced based on the apparent intention when written.

        NB: A ‘warning’, for the purposes of SCN Moderation, will be defined as the censor or deletion of a post. A ‘ban’ in this context is standardly a ban on game-regulated SCN channels for up to 1 week, but this may vary depending on the situation.



    SECTION 3 - ADDITIONAL UNIVERSAL INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE


        3A) Language Violations - Further Guidelines


            The following contains non-exhaustive guidelines on the appropriate punishments for various language violations.

            The consequences in chat will be as follows:

                Fuck - Instant ban for 24 hours
                Cunt - Instant ban for 24 hours
                Shit - Final warning and kick
                Reference to genitals, outside of the genuine use of scientific terms to describe anatomy - Warning

            Violations occurring in SCN that include the above terms will be immediately deleted, and the player may be restricted from posting on game regulated SCN channels for up to 1 week, depending on the seriousness of the offence.


        3B) Disputes


            When in disagreement over a ban or warning, the player is entitled to file in an official complaint. The following form must be filled in and send to the appropriate Overseer(s) for review.

            Your Player ID: (e.g. 33123)
            Date and time of ban/warning: (Use full date format, e.g. 1st September 2014)
            Banned/Warned by: (Indicate the nickname and ID of the Moderator who banned or warned you)
            Indicate your reason for filing in this complaint: (Ban is too harsh / Ban did not end when it should have / etc.)
            Comments: (Please elaborate your reason in detail)

            Please provide evidence with your dispute claim in the form of a screenshot, or a timestamp if you are not able to provide a screenshot.

            An official complaint will usually be processed within 48 hours.


        3C) Self-Ban Requests


            A user may request a chat or SCN ban from the Overseer(s), for a variety of reasons. Though it is not the wish of the Moderation team to see anyone banned, we will accommodate the wishes of those who want to have their ability to post publicly revoked for a specific amount of time.

            A user may not request a ban shorter than 4 weeks, nor may they request a ban / series of bans that last longer than 3 months. A request may not be changed once it has been made and confirmed, and the full ban term must be taken.



    SECTION 4 - THE SPECIFICS OF CHAT MODERATION


        4A) Ban Lengths and Types


            Bans may be one of three types, dependant on the nature of the chat offence:


                ’Normal’ Ban | The user is restricted from posting on ‘EN1-Main’ and their alliance channel, though they are still able to view both channels and their occupants.

                ’Complete’ Ban | The user is restricted from posting in any channel or query, though they are still able to view these.

                Other | The Overseer(s) may decide it appropriate to restrict a person’s ability to view the ‘EN1-Main’ channel, dependant on chat violations committed by this person. This will only affect the ‘EN1-Main’ channel and can only be enacted by an Overseer.


            The following ban lengths will be those standardly used when moderating the chat system, dependant on the severity and the nature of a chat offence.


                Minor Offences | 1 hour 'cool-off' ban

                Standard Ban | 24 hours

                Severe Ban | 48 hours (Used for more severe chat offences)

            Any ban longer than 48 hours must be cleared with the Overseer(s). The ban lengths work as stated above, regardless of ban history, unless otherwise stated by the Overseer(s) (i.e. repeat offenders or very serious breaches of chat or game conduct).


        4B) Warnings


            A warning may be delivered to a player for minor offences, if they are found to have broken the rules and guidelines in this document. Whenever a warning is delivered to a player, a reason must be given which indicates that they have broken the rules, and evidence must be required should it be requested by the warned individual.

            Warnings will last for a period of 24 hours, and may stack a maximum of three times before a ban should be issued by the Moderation team - a ban will be issued if three warnings are delivered to a player for any reason.

            Warnings should be given to a player immediately after the breach of the rules, where possible, and the player should always be notified if they have been warned, and to what extent (i.e. if they have received a final warning and will be banned for their next offence, they should be informed).

            Warnings that are believed to be in contrary to these guidelines should be brought up with the Chat Overseer(s), who will judge the case and either repeal or uphold the warning and any subsequent ban.


        4C) Kicks

            A kick should be issued to a player on their third warning, or immediately should the nature of their offence require it, as per the guidelines in this document. If a player is kicked, a notification in the channel they were kicked from should be given, with a reason for the kick, to ensure that the behaviour is not repeated. This can either be given through the use of ‘Modsay’ or publicly, but it must be given at all times.

            A user may rejoin Main Chat by typing '/j en1.main' in the chat window at any time after they have been kicked.


    SECTION 5 - THE SPECIFICS OF SCN MODERATION


        All game regulated channels, not privately owned, are subject to Moderation of varying degrees. Some channels require posts to be of an RP format whilst others do not, but posts in all publicly owned channels must adhere to the rules found in Section 2 of this document.



        5A) Channels that require RP:

            Main Channel (SCN) (Channel 1)
            Archive of Historical Documents (Channel 2)
            S.O.S. Channel (Channel 3)

            The mixture of reality and the STNE universe is not permitted in these channels, and posts should remain strictly ‘in character’.
            Main Channel (SCN)

                The purpose of the main SCN channel is to be a forum for direct communication, addresses or announcements between settlers, either posted generally or to specific groups/individuals. Any public broadcast is eligible to be posted within this channel. This may be in the RP form of video, audio or text but must always be ‘in character’. Only posts that adhere to this description will be permitted to remain in this channel.
            Archive of Historical Documents (SSCN)

                The purpose of the SSCN channel is to be a forum for various works of writing and ‘RP’ to be shared between players. These posts may be dialogue, monologue or prose (in a non-exhaustive list) and will describe ‘RP’ events that take place in the STNE universe, in any scale.
                The ‘RP’ in this channel, whilst publicly readable, should not be referenced by another player unless the original owner gives consent. The content posted on this channel is not necessarily public knowledge, and posts in this channel may reference events that are ‘secret’, unless a player directly involved in the ‘RP’ announces it publicly. Clarification should be sought before a post is referenced to or expanded upon, as the use of private ‘RP’ post content or private message content without the author’s consent may warrant a post deletion.
        The author of an SCN post is responsible for ensuring that their message adheres to the rules in this document, and is in an ‘RP’ format where appropriate. A preview function exists to enable the checking of posts for formatting, spelling or other mistakes and this should be used where possible to mitigate any actions required by the Moderation team. A post may be edited for a period of 5 minutes after its posting, to correct any mistakes that are found.

        Spelling mistakes are not grounds for a post’s deletion, but the author should make every effort to ensure that mistakes are not present at the time of posting. This is to ensure the integrity of the ‘RP’ content within these channels.



        5B) Prohibitions on SCN Channels Requiring RP Content


            Pure Non-RP content
            Logs (Reports of activity copied from the ‘Logs’ section of the communication page)

            Game-technical words like "player", "game", "tick", "round", "point", "STNE", "account", "forum", "bug", "admin", "multi", etc.
            Smilies and emoticons
            Reference to already censored (blackened) SCN posts
            Reference to SSCN posts or private transmissions (Unless authorised to do so by the original author)
            Reference to events outside of the STNE universe


            NB: The above content may be included in an SCN post, in small quantities (Less than a third of the post’s length on the screen), if placed between [ nonRPG ]... Comment ...[ /nonRPG ] tags. This may only be used to supplement or explain the content of an ‘RP’ post made in these channels.

            Example:

            ... Comment ...


        5C) Consequences of violating SCN rules


            If a post is found to violate the rules and guidelines found in Section 2 of this document, it will be immediately deleted from the SCN channel it has been posted in, with a report filed in Channel 1872, noting the author and the reason for its removal.

            If a post is found to be in violation of the prohibitions found in Section 5B of this document, it will be censored (blackened) for a period of 48 hours, to enable a correction and re-post of any content to ensure standards are met. Once this period is over, it will be deleted from the SCN channel it was posted in, with a full record (minus formatting) of the post, the author and the reason for deletion filed in Channel 1872.

            As stated previously in this document, a warning in the context of SCN moderation is defined as the censoring or deletion of a post.
            A ban from public SCN channels may be levied if required. The standard length ban will be 72 hours, but this may be longer for more serious offences. A ban may last no longer than 1 week.

            The SCN Overseer(s) may judge, in more serious cases, that a blanket ban of all SCN channels, both public and private, is necessary for a limited period of time - this can only be enacted by an Overseer.


        5D) Formatting Tips:


            <b> bold </b> (b = bold)

            <i> italic </i> (i = italic)

            <u> underline </u> (u = underline)

            <ul> Un-ordered list </ul> - This intends text in an SCN post or IGM, and can be combined with the below <li> tag.

            <li> List Item </li> - Please note that if this is written by itself it will form a numbered list, but <li> formatting can be contained within a <ul> tag to form a bullet-pointed list.

            [player : 'ID-Number'] - Example: [player: '4'] = Federation (ID has to be written without the ' ' - just : 4 )

            [Alliance: 'ID-Number', id] - Example: [Alliance: '113', id] = The United Federation of Planets ( ID has to be written without the ' ' - just :113 ) - Note that adding ',id' has given the Alliance ID, and this functions in a similar manner with player tags.

            [Ship: 'NCC-Number'] - Example: [Ship: '19265'] (ID has to be written without the ' ' - just : 19265)

            * Text colors & pictures do not format correctly and are not permitted via SCN channels, and URL links are not clickable.




DECLARATION

The above rules have been judged to be fair and appropriate by the EN1 community and the current Overseer of Moderation on the server, to the best of our knowledge. These rules shall come into immediate effect and should be followed by all, without exception.

If for any reason this document is not upheld, the violators should be held accountable for their actions.


Signed,

[CM] TRESKA
Moderation Overseer - EN1