Rules and Policies

Code of Conduct
Updated: 01/10/19

Introduction:
Secfenia was designed with the goal of creating a community of gamers working together to create intricate story lines while having fun. We wish to stimulate a pleasant and creative place for all of our players whether young or old. As such, we have developed this Code of Conduct for our community which sits in addition to the policies and Terms of Service. Any violation of this code of conduct done by a player by any account they use is tagged to the individual player. This code of conduct may change as needed to adapt to the community.

Section 1: Flaming/Baiting
A. Out of Character (OOC): It is okay to make your opinions known when it comes to the evolution of Secfenia's code or OOC interactions on the Server. However, it is not okay to use disparaging or abusive language to bash the players, Moderators or Administrators who contribute their time to this project. These posts may be removed and considered to be a serious offense. If you can not add something constructive to an OOC discussion, we recommend refraining from posting. Mocking someone is unacceptable in an OOC context.

B. In Character (IC): It's acceptable to disagree and debate a topic, but we ask that you keep disagreements civil, constructive and on-topic. Debate and discuss the content/topic and refrain from personal comments about those participating in the thread. Remember the goal is for everyone to have fun. Battles are great to see. Constant insults not so much.

Section 2: Translation
We recognize that English may not be the first language of many of our players. It is expected that any words used other than in English, whether based in fantasy or reality, be provided with a translation so that others can enjoy the story as well. You can do this either at the top of a forum thread, besides the word/phrase, or directly afterwards.

Section 3: Inappropriate Content
A. Cursing and Profanity: We recognize that different backgrounds see different words as profane. We use a very conservative set based upon the strictest sense to protect our players. If you are unsure, use another word or ask a member of our Community Team. Using replacement characters is not acceptable. However, a creative person may say "What the Potato" and it would be acceptable.

B. Sexual Content: Discussions past hugging, kissing, or touching places outside of what would be visible in typical bathing suits are not permitted. You should follow a "lights out" policy on this. While sex may happen, it should at best be implied and never directly stated. Full discussions leading to or heading to climax will result in eradication as a breach of our Terms of Service. Incest, rape, fetishes, and pornography is prohibited from being discussed on our service. Our Service is a place to meet others and engage in RP (whether IG, tavern, or in the forums). It is not intended as a dating, hook up, or a place to search for other to have private chats on another medium.

C. Violence/Drugs: There can and should be battles. However, depictions of gore is not permitted. Any OOC Threats of Violence will not be tolerated. Another touchy subject can be the mention of Real Life drug names. To avoid problems, your imagination for renaming it might be wise.

Section 4: Harassment
The community is designed to have fun. As such, Harassment is strictly forbidden. It is defined partially as (but not limited to): following a player/character from thread/room to thread/room deliberately insulting them instead of contributing to the topic in hand; bringing up the same topic or argument over and over again (especially when it is not related to the topic at hand); continuing to post insulting responses or OOC comments once notified that the posts are unwanted; making unwanted advances to other players; talking about ways to force a player to leave the game.

Section 5: Discrimination
It is strictly forbidden to discriminate against any player on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, spelling, grammar, language spoken, or religion.

Section 6: Advertising/Spam
A. Advertising: If you have a fan site or a family site, by all means let the community know about it, but advertisements and promotions that are unrelated to Secfenia do not belong on our service. This includes links to or promoting: commercial services, donations to organizations, or anything that would net you monetary gain.

B. Spam: It may be your dinner, but please don't do it here. Some types of spam may include: opening up multiple topics on the same theme either in the same or different forum; posting several times in a row; posting comments that have no relevance to the topic or resurrecting a thread that has had no post in over a month; quoting yourself or others while giving no explanation or reason for the quoting. An RP event announcement (such as weddings) may posted in the towns and vicergeal inns if it is Role-played as an announcement or letter to the people of the town/Viceroyalty.

Section 7: Images and Signature Limits
As this is an international website with a global community of players, individual bandwidths vary. The forum signature may contain multiple images so long as the total area does not exceed 200 pixels in height or 600 pixels in width nor above 300 KB in size. Text may be under the Signature banner as long as it is not excessive as deemed by our Community Team. All other images can not exceed 600 pixels in width or height nor be above 200 KB in size. If multiple images are used in a single post, the images can not exceed a total of 600 pixels in height.

Section 8: Bypassing a Ban
Banned players may not post either by their PC or NPC characters. Proxy posting for a banned player is prohibited. If a message needs to be delivered to the Community Team for the banned player it should be done via PM or emailed to our Support Team. Remember, you are responsible for ALL content that you post, even if you are only quoting someone else. Just because someone else did it, does not make it right.

Section 9: Private Messages
Forum PM's, Tavern Whispers and IG OOC messages may not be reposted as IC factual statements without the permission of the original player who said it. IG IC messages may be reposted without permission as it is an RP letter from one character to another. Messages from a Private or Restricted forum are not covered by this rule. However, Private or Restricted forum groups may make their own rules regarding this matter punishable by IC methods only (including the banning of the individual from the Private/Restricted Forums and Court Cases)

Section 10: Outside Communication
Any communication or interaction made outside of the Secfenia servers (either via Instant Messenger, email, skype or any other source) are prohibited from being posted and is prohibited from being a requirement to hold any position in the game. These outside tools are considered Out of Character discussions and as such are not part of the role-play environment. Official role-play of Secfenia is done via the IG interface, the taverns, and the forums. Links to outside chat services is prohibited from being posted in any portion of Secfenia whether it be public, via whispers, or mail. Requesting players to use outside communications services regularly could be a violation of this rule depending upon the situation.

Section 11: Private Identities
No one may post any content, quoted or paraphrased, that includes any identifying real life information about another player (i.e. pictures, age, location, etc) that is not publicly given and consented to. A player's visible timezone in game is only available if the player consents to it. Always be safe when it comes to your personal information. Never share messenger/email information in public forums. Players are not permitted to discuss for any reason who the Identities of players, NPC's, Elders or Mages are via any medium. If you suspect a player of violating our Terms of Service, contact Zachrin directly and privately.

Section 12: God-modding
We recognize and encourage the use of role-playing within our community. The IG (In Game) component is the base of all In Character interaction and a leaping stone for role-playing opportunities into the forum and/or tavern. It is not okay to force someone's character into situations that they have not agreed to or did not occur IG. If you wish to write a story about another character, it's best to contact them and get a sort of agreement. Writing about a non-IG event without their permission is god-modding. In the event of an IG event, you should try to work with them regarding what happens to them. Death is not necessarily final in Secfenia and the opponents can rise from the grave or heal from their death like state. Permission may be given by one player to another to god-mod their character under certain circumstances. In the event that you desire to allow this, you should post in the respective thread or keep an IG or Forum PM with the given permission. If someone complains and there is not a copy of this anywhere, we will be forced to assume violation of this section.

Section 13: Inciting Others to Violate
Inciting Others to Violate the Code of Conduct, Our Policies, or our Terms of Services is considered a serious offense.

Section 14: Private or Restricted Moderation
A. Family, Organization and Guild Moderators or Restricted Moderators are expected to uphold the Games Rules (Code of Conduct, Policies, and Terms of Service). If they feel uncomfortable doing so, they should contact a member of the Administrative team to step in to do so. Failure to enforce the rules can lead to the removal of a Moderator at the discretion of the Administrative team

B. Any player who has been suspended may not serve as a moderator for either a Family, Organization and Guild forum or restricted forum for 9 months from their last infraction.

C. Family, Organization, and Guild Moderators must comply with the Family, Organization and Guild Forum policy located under policies tab. Restricted Forum Moderators must comply with the Restricted Forum policy. Ignorance is not an excuse. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a member of our community team.

Section 15: Legal Cases
Legal cases may be done either via the IG Legal system with an extended RP aspect in the tavern and/or forum. IG Mails may be added by any witness for a court case. The legal system can decide cases upon the IC areas of the game (IG, tavern and/or forums) with the knowledge that some aspects may be considered hearsay based upon Section 9. All Legal cases may be appealed to the Halls of the Mages. Any Judge who judges too harshly may be punished at the discretion of the Administrative team.

Section 16: Complaints, Appeals and Disciplinary Actions
A. OOC Complaints about Players: All players are expected to handle complaints regarding OOC matters about other player's actions via the appropriate non-public channels. We have designed a system to help our players receive a fair and equal process without discrimination. If you feel a player has broke any rule, please follow the steps below. You should not proceed to the next step until you have attempted resolution with the previous step. If you desire to talk about an issue that you feel affects others that is OOC, you may bring it up in the OOC section so long as you don’t use it as a way to disparage your fellow players. If you do not feel comfortable talking to the individual in question privately, please feel free to follow the following chain to get the matter addressed:

Forums: Moderator of Forum > Amaryllis Tavern/IG Issue: Amaryllis

It is imperative that all players understand that our moderators and players have real lives. It's best to give 48 hours from the first contact before a second.

B. Appeals: All decisions made by our Moderation team may be appealed following the proper chain of command (Community Team > Amaryllis > Zachrin). All appeal decisions are final.

C. Disciplinary Actions Discussions: We understand that sometimes people may have questions or concerns about a moderation disciplinary action. We're happy to discuss and review specific moderation actions, but we ask that you please contact Amaryllis privately. We do not allow discussion of specific moderation actions on our forums or in the taverns. Also, please remember to be respectful to the Moderation Team in all forms of communications, whether public or private. Disrespectful/abusive communications will not be tolerated. They are doing their best to make your experience a great one. As a general rule, we do not discuss the details regarding situation, but may use more general terms.

D. Disregarding the Instructions of the Moderation Team: Receiving a warning and/or infraction and then repeating the same behavior within a short period of time is considered to be disregarding the instructions or directions of the Moderation Team. This is a serious offense and is weighted heavier than if one were to receive another infraction for the same offense.

E: Starting a new thread or contributing to a new thread that is a continuation of a thread that has been locked is considered disregarding the instructions of the Moderation team. If you object to the thread being closed, you can contact the next person up the chain to appeal the decision. In the end, Zachrin has final say on any decision to lock a thread.

Section 17: IC/OOC
A. Our IC environments (IG, tavern, and forum) give our players different methods to do their IC and RP actions. IC needs to be kept separate from the OOC portion. Mixing them only leads to problems. If you need to go between the two, make it very clear which is what and that you are speaking from the other point of view. Examples of how to do this include saying IC or OOC to start a shift from one to the other. If you are in an IC area, people will assume you are speaking IC. If there is confusion, you can politely talk with the player in question to help clarify it. Remember that what transpires between characters is not the same as the interaction between the players behind the characters. Characters may be aggressive with each other and this should not transcend to the players behind the character. An IC action might result in an IC effect. If you push other people’s buttons, expect them to push back.

B. Characters may have many different styles and types. Light, Neutral and Dark characters exist. We do not specifically ban any type of character you may want to play. However, if you choose to play certain types, you will paint yourself into certain corners. For example, those who desire to play a villain should have a thick skin and be willing to be hunted by the heroes. If you play a Succubus and focus heavily on the sexual side, you will find yourself violating this Code of Conduct.

In the end, try your best to work with your fellow players. If you aren’t sure, talk to them. If you don’t feel comfortable talking to them, talk to the Community Team and we will try to work out a solution that can work for the both of you. Remember, you don’t have to RP with others if you don’t want to. There are always places to move to and adjust yourself into it.

The above rules above cover 98% of situations that we will run across in the game and the other 2% are left to Community Team's discretion. If we feel that anything in a post is inappropriate for our service, for any reason, we do reserve the right to take appropriate actions for the overall good of the community, even if it's not specifically mentioned in our Code of Conduct. In a nutshell, please be respectful, constructive, and civil at all times while on our service. The majority of our players never receive a warning or even a point from our team. The minority will be guided towards compliance.

Secfenia is a friendly place with a lot of really great players and we're glad you've chosen to spend time with us. Remember, we're all here to have a good time and the Community’s team door is always open for questions and/or concerns.

Final Words
The rules above cover 98% of situations that we will run across in the game and the other 2% are left to Community Team's discretion. If we feel that anything in a post is inappropriate for our service, for any reason, we do reserve the right to take appropriate actions for the overall good of the community, even if it's not specifically mentioned in our Code of Conduct. In a nutshell, please be respectful, constructive, and civil at all times while on our service.

Have fun! The service is a friendly place with a lot of really great players and we're glad you've chosen to spend time with us. Remember, we're all here to have a good time.

Policies
Our Policies are located IG under the Policies Tab