User:Aquanim/DraftCodeOfConduct

The TL;DR version

Treat other players with respect. Don't be a dick.

• Be polite.
• Help new players and be patient with them.
• Play in a way that is respectful to your team.
• Kick and exit polls are powers on loan from moderators. Do not misuse them.
• Don't be disruptive, rage or grief.
• Don't reveal information while spectating.
• Don't cheat.
• Don't evade moderator actions.
• Only discuss provocative topics like politics or religion in #off-topic or the Asylum subforum.
• Don't post or link to pornographic content or sites anywhere.
• Don't make multiple accounts without a good reason.

Code of Conduct - General rules of Zero-K community

Zero-K strives to create a welcoming and friendly gaming environment. This Code of Conduct outlines our expectations for members of the Zero-K community. We ask that you abide by this code in public games, in public chat, and in the public forums.

1. Respect Other Players

• Be mindful of your language and tone. Good-natured banter is tolerated; being hostile and abusive is not. Remember that intentions can be lost in the format of text chat. Do not flood chat with messages or otherwise attempt to annoy others or disrupt games.

• Don't be hostile or abusive when other players play poorly or ignore your advice. Blaming other players for a loss can easily become hostile and abusive. Don't direct your frustration at others.

• Spectators can chat with players, offering advice or conversation, in some of the more casual game types. Avoid excessive public commentary, revealing hidden information, and do not heckle. If a player wants to play without interruption then the spectors should respect this desire and cease using public chat. Feel free to discuss the game in spectator chat (hotkey Alt + Enter).

• We do not tolerate language that is abusive, bigoted, racist or sexist.

2. Help New Players

• You are not obligated to interact with new players, but if you do, offer them friendly advice and help with any issues they may have. Mentor them and teach them how to play. Be forgiving of their mistakes and be sympathetic when they fail to perform well.

• Do not expect or demand that other players (new or otherwise) follow your advice, and do not insult or abuse them if they do not listen to you.

3. Cooperate With Your Team

• When playing in a team game, do your best to coordinate with your teammates and to work for the mutual success of the whole team. Communicate your intentions. Ask for help when needed and offer it to others when they need it.

• Understand that not everyone on your team will be willing or able to communicate and cooperate to the same degree; have patience with them and do your best even so.

• Pursuing all-or-nothing strategies without the consent of your team, or resigning on your own because you faced an early minor setback, is disrespectful to your teammates. A pattern of such behaviour may result in moderator action, and in any case you will be damaging your own reputation in the community.

• Do not grief, teamkill, or otherwise attempt to sabotage your team or any of your teammates. This includes deliberately playing poorly in order to ruin the game. Note that using tactics that others disagree is allowed, as long as you are attempting in good faith to play well and are not trying to ruin others' enjoyment of the game.

4. Maintain Fairness

• Do not cheat. Cheating includes using any method that would give you information that is usually obscured by the fog of war. Custom widgets that control your units, sound warnings, place marks etc. are fine. Particularly useful widgets should be released publicly, both to reduce unfairness and because this is one of the ways Zero-K receives improvements.

• Spectators with access to public chat should avoid giving away hidden information. Err on the side of caution - even apparently innocuous messages can give away information in subtle ways. It is especially important for resigned player to leave their former team to play out the remainder of the game without your input. Feel free to discuss the game in spectator chat (hotkey Alt + Enter).

5. Respect Moderator Actions

• Moderator arbitration is intended to resolve disputes, not prolong them; as such, we expect you to respect and abide by their decisions. Do not try to avoid penalties such as mutes and bans by using other accounts; mute/ban dodging of any kind is punishable by immediate banning of any alternate accounts used and often an extension or increase in the original penalty.

• Moderators use their best judgement in deciding when to impose penalties and how severe to make them. They consult with each other to ensure their judgement is appropriate and fair. When reviewing potential violations of this Code of Conduct, moderators apply the spirit rather than the letter of the law. Warnings are preferred over penalties, but penalties can and will be applied where warnings are ignored or the severity of the violation warrants it. New players are given the benefit of the doubt; repeat offenders and verbally abusive players are not.

• If you feel a moderator has acted unfairly, you may file a complaint using the "Contact administrators" button on your user page or (if absolutely necessary) on the forum and explain your position. Please be respectful to all parties when discussing the issue. Rants are highly unlikely to lead to a productive outcome and will often simply result in a thread lock.

6. Use Polls Responsibly

• Several tools available to players (including kicking players and exiting a game) are ordinarily moderator powers but are available to users by means of a poll for cases when a moderator is not available. These tools should only be used in ways that a moderator would use them.

• In particular do not kick players for failing to play or cooperate to your standards. Kicking players for griefing is acceptable, but in the heat of the moment it is often very difficult to distinguish between griefing and unintentional poor play, and you may well be required to defend your decision afterwards.

• Do not start polls excessively. A poll is unlikely to pass if it failed decisively a few minutes ago, barring large changes to the situation, so spamming polls is a form of disruptive chat. Do not use polls as a heightened means of expression, such as starting a kick poll to express your displeasure at a player rather than out of any belief that the poll will pass.

7. Avoid inflammatory forum topics

• Due to their highly inflammatory nature, political and religious discussions are relegated to the semi-hidden "asylum" section of the forum and the "#off-topic" channel in lobby and Discord. Please avoid bringing them up elsewhere. Note that even in these subforums/channels the other parts of the Code of Conduct still apply.

• Posts or links to pornographic content/sites or similarly unacceptable material are forbidden and will result in bans.

8. Multiple accounts

• Don't cheat the rating/balancing system to appear less skilled/lower ranked, e.g. by creating new accounts ("smurfs"). Side accounts may be used for testing purposes. Any purpose which does not fall into one of these categories should be cleared with a moderator first.