The Community Rules of Eurth

Preamble

To ensure that every community member is able to have an enjoyable and creative experience, we ask our members to pay attention to the community rules described below. Forum posts and comments that are disruptive and ignore these rules may be subject to staff action. At the end of the day, all of these rules are here to help keep the community accessible, fair and honest with all of the members. Use your best judgement and common sense when posting. And most of all: have fun. Thank you for taking the time to read the rules and know that we appreciate you.

Article 1: Community Rules

1. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use this Service.
2. By registering on this forum, you agree to any and all terms and conditions set forth within this document at all times and any changes made to them thereafter. The forum Administration reserves the right to change these rules at any time without notification. 
3. This forum contains additional terms that further dictate procedures. By engaging in the roleplay forums, you agree also to abide by rules and guidelines outlined in the Roleplay Rules of Europa. 
4. Members are responsible for regularly reviewing this document, and by continued usage of this forum and that which it stands for, signify acceptance and agreement to such changes.
5. These terms may be updated at any time without notice. But we'll ping everyone just to be clear.

Article 2: Your Account

1. Please sign up using your NationStates name. 
2. All names are subject to these community rules. This also applies to content you display about yourself in our community (avatar, signature, profile posts, images).
3. Each member is responsible for any and all activity performed on their account. The sharing of accounts is highly discouraged, and each member is advised to keep their account secure.
4. You are not allowed to have multiple accounts on this board. This includes (but is not limited to) active, suspended, or banned accounts.
   1. Only one person may use an account, and you may only create one account on the forums.
   2. The use of multiple accounts to bypass punishments such as, but not limited to, posting restrictions, suspension, or bans is strictly prohibited and in such cases, the Administration reserves the right to ban the new account(s) created. 
   3. The use of multiple accounts for voting is strictly forbidden and frowned upon. Such cheating will result in the banning of the new accounts, and punishment against the original account.
   4. Additional accounts will be tracked down, and Staff will decide on the penalty.
5. Keep your account safe, because anything done from it will be considered your responsibility. It is highly advised that you do not give out any personal information via any part of the community. Members of staff will not ask you for anything other than account details that are needed for solving a technical problem you have requested help with.
6. Users under the age of 13 who reveal their age or face may have their messages/photos removed and accounts closed for privacy reasons.

Article 3: Your Content

The providers ("we", "us", "our") of the service provided by this website ("Service") are not responsible for any user-generated content and accounts ("Content"). Content submitted express the views of their author only.

1. Above all else, respect others. If you see disrespectful behaviour, report it, rather than further inflaming the situation.
2. Before you write or comment, ask yourself if your contribution increases the strength and virtue of the community. 
3. Although we feel that full internationalization is important, please keep all posts and replies in English.
4. Search before posting. If you have a question, please use the forum search function before posting, to make sure that it has not already been asked and answered. Searching the forums before posting will help prevent duplicate posts, which may result in you being able to find what you are looking for much faster.
5. Copyright and ownership. Comments and forum messages are owned by the poster.
6. No spam or offensive content. As a member of this community, you are asked not to post any prohibited content. You may not post, upload, link to, or email any content that contains, promotes, gives instruction about, or provides prohibited content. Prohibited content includes any of the following: racist, abusive, threatening, or harmful material; content that infringes any rights; pornography, nudity, or sexual content of any kind; excessive profanity; any personal information without the consent of the individual or invasion of privacy; illegal Drugs; terrorism; viruses, hack tools, or other harmful or malicious software; gambling; torrents, cracks, Warez, CD-Keys, Serials Numbers, etc. Posting of this nature will be removed by Moderators and persistent posting of prohibited content will result in a warning and possible banning. If we find that a member continuously makes inappropriate or unneeded posts, the member will be put under Moderator review for as long as deemed necessary.

Please remember that we are not responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy or completeness/usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of this forum. Any member who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact a member of the Staff. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so within a reasonable time frame if we determine that removal is necessary. You agree, through your use of this forum, that you will not use this forum to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a member's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law. Content that is intended to defame, slander, ridicule, mock, threaten, harass, intimidate or otherwise abuse another individual is also prohibited.

We reserve the right to move or remove off-topic comments or sub-conversations, and to edit a post’s content so it’s easier to find.

To keep conversations streamlined and productive, please:

• Search the forum for related posts before creating a new post.
• Start posts in the proper category.
• Don’t divert a topic by changing the subject midstream; simply start a new topic.

Article 4: Your Actions

Please be civil. Staff will try to use discretion and common sense about these offences while the board is small. However offensive posting or activities that break the terms of service cannot be allowed. We do not tolerate 'trolling' or harassment of any kind. Do not belittle, discredit, or aggressively criticise another member or their content. If you do not like something or have nothing constructive to add, it's best to simply move along. Content that can be construed as provocative, objectionable, discriminatory, or abusive toward any real-world individual or group, may be subject to moderation. This includes but is not limited to content involving politics, race, religion, gender identity, sexuality, or social class.

1. Account Hacking: Stealing another member's account by gaining their password. If you lose access to the forum, you can report this by TG to a Moderator's nation.
2. Flame: Expressing anger at someone in uncouth ways with OOC comments (i.e. swearing, being obnoxious, threatening etc.) though it does to watch what you post IC as well unless the other posters know you're not serious.
3. Flamebait: Posts that are made with the aim of angering someone indirectly. Not an outright flame, but still liable to bring angry replies. It's in the same context of trolling but with flame baiting, it's just the one person.
4. Gravedigging: Posting a reply on a long-disused thread; bumping threads that aren't used anymore without good reason.
5. Obscenities: Sexually graphic images and posts. Very strictly forbidden. Obscenities in the forums should be reported to this forum.
6. Quote Pyramids: When replies with quotes get quoted and then that reply gets quoted and so on and so forth. It's OK if it's just a few quotes but once they start getting monstrously huge, it is not OK.
7. Spam: Off-topic, irrelevant and multi-posts that clog the board. This includes posting lots of smilies which is known as Smilie Spam. Spamming in the forums should be reported through this forum.
8. Thread Hijacking. Appropriating a thread for a discussion totally unrelated to the original purpose of the said thread.
9. Trolling. Posts that are made with the aim of angering people. (like 'ALL JEWS ARE [insert vile comment here]' for example). Also is used to refer to making obviously silly topics that people nonetheless will reply to. (making a case for the proof that Teletubbies exist for instance. There will always be someone who feels compelled to post 'No they don't.' Threads like this should just be ignored.)
10. Trollbaiting. Posts that are made to attract trolls.
11. Spoilers. Please be considerate in regards to "spoilers" in current popular media. Appropriately label or hide information that could potentially ruin someone's experience.
12. Privacy. Don't invade the privacy of another individual. Don't post someone else's personal details or home address. Don't post pictures of your (ex-)partner inappropriately dressed; Don't post your (ex-)partner's home address.
13. Disregard for Staff Authority. Do not keep pressing issues once a staff member has cited a rule and/or rationale. Report the staff member if they are abusing their authority to the Administrators. Do not attempt to make personal attacks or filibuster your point on Eurth domains.

This applies to all content that is shared "In Character" (IC) or "Out Of Character" (OOC), there is no excuse.

Article 5: Consequences

As a consequence of these agreed-upon rules, the staff agreed on implementing the following system of warnings and punishments regarding roleplaying:

• Warning. Ignoring these established rules, as well as other behaviour deemed as 'misbehaviour' by the members in general and staff in particular, will be subject to the following warning: the member will receive a clear warning by a staff member. Members can inform the staff of any abuse by reporting a particular post/topic, or via private message.
• Strike 1. If the initial first warning is ignored and more misbehaviour from the member takes place within a 90-day period, then a three (3) day warning will be issued during which all posts on the entire forum will be presented to a staff member for review before appearing on the forum. This will also go on your permanent record as the 1st of 3 strikes.
• Strike 2. If both the first and second warnings are ignored, the following measures will be taken by moderation/administration: one (1) full week of moderation of all posts; a ban from the role-play section for a full week as well; the staff will discuss the matter and decide if additional punishment(s) are in order. This will also go on your permanent record as the 2nd of 3 strikes.
• Strike 3. If the member(s) still continue to be a pest, ignoring the same rules despite previous warnings and punishments, you will receive a 3rd and final strike on your permanent record. No further warning will be given. The member is immediately banned from the forum until pigs fly.

Don’t try to cheat the punishment system. If you are banned, the staff can ban all your other accounts on the forums.

Article 6: Reporting inappropriate content

If you come across content that is violating our rules, we encourage you to make use of the “Report” function that can be accessed via the corresponding button. We ask you to not, however, report content because it does not adhere to your personal standards, as we will only take action if the content is found to be in violation of our site rules.

If you encounter content that you find objectionable or no longer wish to see, please consider using our various blocking tools. Excessive and/or continuous disparagement of content based on your subjective standards is not conducive to a healthy community and as such will be subject to moderation. Attempting to enforce our site policies yourself through “vigilante” behaviour is prohibited.

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please visit our Helpdesk or use the contact form.

Article 7: User-staff relations

1. Definition of 'staff'. A member of staff is someone appointed to take care of community services, including the forums, Discord and NS region. Some of these services have additional rules that must also be followed. 
2. Moderator action requests. Do not publicly call for moderator action or try to enforce the guidelines yourself. Politely informing someone of a rule is fine, but it's best to just report the post.
3. Open discussion of staff decisions. Do not openly discuss action (or inaction) taken by the staff (bans, warnings etc.). If you have concerns about a moderator action, follow the next advice.
4. Contesting moderation action. All of the moderators are active community members who try to set a good example and apply the rules as appropriately as possible. But they are only human and can make mistakes from time to time. If you disagree with something they have done, please contact them or a senior moderator privately, and the issue will be re-examined.
5. Staff privacy. Unwanted invasion of a member of staff's personal time is not allowed. Please do not contact them outside the community to discuss their work here unless they specifically ask you to do so. 
6. Evading restrictions. Members who try to evade a ban or restriction will be permanently banned from any or all of the services our community provides.

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Amendments

Amendment I to Article 3: Your Content (Added: 19 May 2020)

Outlines caveats to "copyright" and Intellectual Property and how issues regarding these items are to be dealth with by staff. To view the original proposal please click here.

Intellectual Property- Managing Lore

1. Any Staff Member can point out an inconsistency or flag an inactive member. Flagged items will be reviewed. Only 1 Administrator is required to approve a case for further action. If it is an Administrator that has initially flagged the case, the approval of a peer Administrator is required.
2. In the case where an inactive or banned member’s Intellectual Property is seized by the staff, RP Moderators can be given the initiative to audit and edit their IP content. In the absence of such volunteer work, Administrators, by default, should handle the audit & edit.
3. RP Mentors, have the job of disseminating information, discussing the edited lore with the wider community. If there should be debates or arguments among community members about canonicity or interpretations of the new edits, the Mentor should step in and clarify the facts of the matter.

Plagiarism

1. No candidate, member, or guest may use the work of another member, an external author, an external organisation, or any work that is not their own. If an artist, author, or content creator approves of the use of their content by a member of this community it is imperative that the member credit the creator fully through name/username and source (wherever it was originally posted.
2. Even if credited, Roleplay content cannot consist only of cited works. Such RP that contains no significant amount of original content will be disregarded.
3. A strike may be applied if the staff determines that a member has plagiarised a work willfully and in bad faith.

Amendment I to Article 4: Your Actions (Added: 20 January 2023)

Adds further examples of rule-breaking actions

1.  Dishonesty and variations of dishonest, untruthful behaviour: there are several ways this can take form in community interactions:
   1. Outright Falsehood: verbally or textually issuing explicit falsehoods about information used for administrative purposes (e.g. being within the age of majority, verifying your adherence to the rules, etc.), roleplay purposes (e.g. the canoncity of previous posts, in-universe realities like the placement of your military units, etc.), or other information or facts needed by moderation to ensure the running of the community.
   2. Reverse Plagiarism: If to plagiarize** something means, "to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source" (merriam-webster.com, 2023), then reverse plagiarsm is interpreted by Eurth Staff to mean, "to steal and pass off (your own ideas and words) as another's : use (your own production) falsely credited to another (usually more credible) source.
   3. Acting in Bad Faith: to act in a way that has the effect of misleading others, such as the Eurth Staff into drawing inaccurate conclusions, usually to abstract or occlude one's own ends. Instances of a Member "acting in bad faith", is left to the interpretation of Moderators or Administrators (Admins). Despite being nebulous, passing judgement of acts of bad faith is often necessary due to the Eurth's Staff obvious lack of authority to obligate Members to produce evidence or pass due process; lacking the power to subpoena or make other more substantial demands, Eurth Staff may pass judgement when enough substance or evidence is shown (in the form of staff-taken screenshots, forum post records, open-source data. etc.) to strongly implicate a Member acting in bad faith (i.e. fraudulently, maliciously, etc.). Examples include but are not limited to: presenting false evidence to staff for any reason (such as altered screenshots, misinformation from linked or referenced sources, spreading rumours, using vague or misleading language to influence decisions for your own ends, exploiting rule technicalities to avoid consquences or further your own ends etc.).
2. Unprecedented Offenses: Staff may deliberate on an action or actions that harm or may harm the operations, integrity, or peace of the Eurth Community. An "Unprecedented Offense" does not require the breach of any existing Eurth Rule to be determined. However, the action must present the staff with a present threat to community operations, integrity, or peace; wherein the threat or potential threat of "harm" is the requisite burden that deliberating staff must agree upon (i.e. Staff must agree that an action caused or may have caused issues within the community worth discussing). Consequences may vary depending on the degree of harm caused or potential harm the action(s) may have caused. A due process must follow wherein verifiable articles are presented that support the claim of harm or potential harm.
   1. All Administrators and RP Moderators much reach a consensus on the issue. RP Moderators must be attentive and may be consulted.
   2. Deliberation here must be taken with extra care as the result may set a precedent and consequent Amendment or addition of Eurth Rule(s).

**plagiarize. 2023. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarizing

Amendment I to Article 5: Consequences (Added: 19 May 2020)

Outlines the process by which staff ban and suspend offenders.

Banning & Suspension

1. Any Staff member can apply a strike to a member and should record it for review. At least one Administrator must then confirm it.
2. An Administrator must not impede the process if another staff member of a different role has provided the clear case of rule-violation. At strike 3, the Administrator must not delay and must execute the ban as soon as able.
3. If an RP Moderator has identified content in RP or Lore that is inappropriate or does not meet Eurth Parameters and has issued repeated warnings to the author to rectify the offending element, the RP Moderator has every right to call that misdemeanour a strike.
   1. In order to avoid this, the author of the offending content must rectify the issue as soon as able. The author must communicate with the RP Moderators to prevent any misunderstanding. Rectifying the mistake in an attempt to have the strike removed is clearly too late and will not revoke the placement of the strike.

Amendment II to Article 5: Consequences (Added: 20 January 2023)

1. Probation: A Probationary Period wherein a Member is limited or denied access or privileges to Eurth Domains may be placed on any Member or Candidate for any rationale relating to Academy Guidelines, Community Rules, Discord Rules, or Roleplay Rules. Probation may also be enacted while Staff deliberates on possible breaches of Eurth Rules. The passing of Probation on any Member or Candidate is not equivalent to a strike nor is a confirmation of guilt towards the breach of any Eurth Rule.
   1. The period will be defined by an Administrator (Admin) or RP Moderator. The time alotted to the Probationary Period may not have a minimum but may not exceed a period of 30-days from the time the Probation was passed. At the end of a 30-day period, the Member-on-Probation or any Staff advocate may appeal for the lifting of the Probationary Period.
   2. To be passed, any Staff member may submit a request for Admin or RP Moderator approval. Once approved, the Staff member, voting Admin or Moderator will announce the Probation on the Discord Channel #staff-bulletin-board and tag all Staff (@staff) and cite the reason for the Probation's enactment.
2. Expedited Ban: A particularly egregious breach of Community Rules, Discord Rules, or Roleplay Rules may cause staff to call for a vote to ban (read: expel from all Eurth Domains), the perpatrator(s) or offender(s) who have not received the requisite number of strikes. Ruling on this consequence may on a case-by-case basis and does not require the breach of an established Community Rule, Discord Rule, or Roleplay Rule; this measure may be enacted on Unprecendented Offenses (See Amendment I Article 4, Section 2. January 20, 2023) which Staff rules as sufficiently egregious. In other cases, Members caught "Acting in Bad Faith" (Amendment I Article 4, Section 3. January 20, 2023) or members that have been verified to act in ways difficult for staff to trust (i.e. act in a way that a bad actor can abuse because of the obtuse nature or deniability of their actions) may be considered for an Expedited Ban. 
   1. An Expedited Ban may be preceded with a Temp-ban or suspension ban until while Staff deliberates and votes on the issue.
   2. For an Expedited Ban to be passed as a consequence, all Administrators (Admin) in active service at the time of staff deliberation must pass an AYE vote. An RP Moderator vote may replace an Administrator vote if 48-Hours have passed without acknoweldgement from the absent Administrator. At least 50% of actively serving Administrators must be present and voting for the Expedited Ban to be passed. The Consensus Model applies here. NAY votes pause the process and the NAY voter must declare their rationale on Staff Channels.

Amendment I to Article 7: User-staff relations (Added: 19 May 2020)

Adds Staff Role definitions to Article 7. To view the original proposal, click here.

Role Responsibilities

• Administrator Responsibilities:
  • Reviewing disciplinary cases on all Europans.com domains (Nationstates.net, Europans.com, Eurth Discord, Eurth Content on iiWiki.us) and Finalising Bans/Suspensions
  • Approving and Editing Proposed changes to Community and RP rules.
  • Approving and Editing Proposed changes to Eurth canon (lore and interpretation of previous RP)
• RP Moderator Responsibilities:
  • Checking and Flagging the RP content for inaccuracies, inconsistencies, or breaches of Eurth Parameters (Realism, Modern-Tech)
  • Reviewing and Flagging factbook articles (iiwiki, Nationstates, Forum) for inaccuracies, inconsistencies, or breaches of Eurth Parameters (Realism, Modern-Tech)
  • Guiding discussions on the forum or the discord; ensuring that planning and debates on discord use information and premises that are realistic and faithful to Eurth’s parameters.
• RP Mentor:
  • New Member Guidance; helping newcomers get acquainted with rules, lore, and RP mediums.

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Backlog of inspiration for better rules

• http://www.computerbuddies.us/sofweb/netiquette.htm#ten rules
• https://www.notion.so/Community-Guidelines-461a6860abda41649e17c34dc1dd4b5f
• https://www.breatheheavy.com/exhale/index.php?/faq/terminology/rules/