New Code of Conduct

WizO_Adele · Aug 4, 2003

Updated Code of Conduct
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=community/coc

Items of note:

Trolling and baiting have been added.

People will lose ALL screen names when losing a name. (No more breaking the rules with a "throwaway name".

Also note, that it's not "three strikes". We've reduced the number of warnings we're willing to dish out. People are expected to behave like adults.

And here it is for you lazy people who don't want to click on the link.

All Wizards.com site members and guests are responsible for knowing the information contained in the following Code of Conduct.

Wizards of the Coast, Inc., reserves the right, but does not assume the responsibility, to restrict communication which Wizards of the Coast, Inc. deems in its discretion to be harmful to individual guests, damaging to the communities which make up Wizards.Community, or in violation of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.'s or any third-party rights.

Prohibited chat room, board, e-mail list, and Magic Online behaviors include (but are not limited to):

profanity, vulgarity, or explicit content For example:

"masking" by using alternative characters/spellings and spaces to get around profanity filters, leet-speak, and combinations of words that produce an offensive result (e.g. ura hugeazz, Tow El Head)
"filter testing"
discussion of or in-character enactments of "cybering" or sexually explicit material
discussion of or in-character enactments of graphic violence or bloodletting

hate speech (e.g. racial, ethnic, sexist, homophobic and religious slurs)

promotion of or engaging in certain illegal activities, For example: drugs, drug paraphernalia, rape or solicitation of a minor, computer hacking, and copyright violation

harassment of another specific person (e.g. persistent flaming or continued personal attacks on the boards or "in-character harassment" without prior out-of-character permission.)

trolling or baiting by putting to the screen inflammatory statements designed to illicit a negative response from the community

spamming through repeated posts, or off-topic content by word or intent to boards or lists (e.g. scrolling, flooding, polling, or by "bumping" a boards post more than once in 48 hours)

advertising or promoting a business or commercial site

impersonation of another person, site staff or Wizards employee by either screen name or self-representation (e.g. faking a screen name by using similar-looking characters, "spoofing" speech in a chat room, or claiming to hold an official title or position relating to the site)

reregistering a banned screen name, a variation of a banned name, or declarations under a new screen name that you are "really" the banned name or attempts to resubscribe to a e-mail list under another address after being put on REVIEW by the list moderator. (for further explanation, see below)

off-topic posts or casual chat/IC play in the wrong chatrooms For example:

out-of-character chat in designated in-character rooms
casual chat or non-combat play in designated combat-only rooms, or, conversely, combat play in non-combat rooms
casual chat or free-form role-play in designated structured rules/dice-based game rooms
at WizO discretion, off-topic chat or posts in topic-specific rooms/forums
card trade anywhere other than designated trading areas

cheating in a tournament level Magic Online game by bribery, fraud, exploits or any other means designed to disrupt the integrity of a tournament. To learn more, check with the latest version of the DCI's Universal Tournament Rules

participating in trade scams which includes, but is not limited to:

soliciting account information (passwords, coupon numbers etc.) whether by chat or email
downloading, posting for download, creating or using any kind of mod or cheat program or otherwise hack the Magic Online systems

These disruptive behaviors are grounds for removal; WizOs, Magic Online moderators, list admins and Wizards/Magic Online site administrators are the final judges of whether a guest's behavior qualifies as inappropriate or a disruption.

Additionally, all screen names and Magic Online clan names must conform to all the above Code of Conduct rules. All names

must not include protocol prefixes and domain suffixes (e.g. http://, .org, .com), be a reference to a business, or be construed as an advertisement
must not harm the reputation of another player, or any Wizards of the Coast, Inc. or Leaping Lizards Software, Inc. personnel by intent or effect
must not be or reference offensive or notorious persons, controversial political figures, or cultural tragedies
must not contain discernibly inappropriate abbreviations and acronyms
at this time, all Magic Online clan names must be in English

In other words, behave yourself. Treat other people you encounter in the rooms just as you would treat them in person--politely.

Disciplinary Procedures
If a member of Wizards.Community/Magic Online has demonstrated he or she cannot behave, the member WILL LOSE ALL of his or her usernames registered at that time. This prevents a user with multiple screen names from misbehaving with one “throw away” screen name while preserving another “good” screen name.

At the point of screen name loss, the patron may register a new name(s) with the stipulation that it not be a look-alike, variation of, or reference to the lost name. Doing so—or further violations of the CoC—will only result in all screen names being lost again and the patron being barred from website community access altogether. For example, if a user with the name BadDwarf loses his name for CoC infractions, registering BadDwarf2, B@dDwarf, or FormerBadDwarf would not be allowed. The user must create a new name altogether.

Violations of a specific discussion list's additional rules (keyword use, overquoting, etc.) generally are not treated in the same manner as violations of the Code of Conduct. See the list's Welcome Letter or FAQ if you have questions on how those types of violations are handled.

These procedures are only meant to be rough guidelines, as each chat, boards, list and Magic Online situation is different and may require other measures to ensure the family orientation of the site. Situations that often require harsher action are: scheduled chats with a guest speaker, very full rooms where WizO/Magic Online moderator-to-patron ratio is low, out-of-hand flame wars, and flagrant and/or intentional disregard for the CoC.

You Can Make Wizards.Community a Better Place
Our moderators can't be everywhere at once. Therefore, if you witness actions in chat, boards, lists or Magic Online that you believe harms a guest, damages Wizards.Community, or violates Wizards' or some third-party's rights, please make a note of the time/place where the event occurred and contact a WizO, Magic Online moderator, or list admin immediately. If they aren't handy, please see our community contact page.

Fenmarel · Aug 7, 2003

Just a few questions

Disciplinary Procedures
If a member of Wizards.Community/Magic Online has demonstrated he or she cannot behave, the member WILL LOSE ALL of his or her usernames registered at that time. This prevents a user with multiple screen names from misbehaving with one “throw away” screen name while preserving another “good” screen name.

I am just wondering, will the email addies be what is used to decide who is playing which character or the IP addy? The reason I am asking this is because what if you have a family where many members chat on the site, if one messes up does that mean the whole family must make new screen names?

Also note, that it's not "three strikes". We've reduced the number of warnings we're willing to dish out. People are expected to behave like adults.

So now we can mess up basically once or twice? So if a wizo or other moderator is in a bad mood, the first time a player messes up they can be off the site for good?

umm what is leet speak? I understood the examples but never heard them referred to anything similiar to leet speak before.

harassment of another specific person (e.g. persistent flaming or continued personal attacks on the boards or "in-character harassment" without prior out-of-character permission.)

So does this mean that if a character has a problem with another character we have to ask the player of said character if our character can bad mouth them? And how will the moderators know if permission was granted in the first place or not? What if the permission was given on an IM and after awhile one of the players gets ticked at the other player and decides to report it? Basically the way this reads to me is that at all times the characters must be nice and proper so they don't offend another IC.

impersonation of another person, site staff or Wizards employee by either screen name or self-representation (e.g. faking a screen name by using similar-looking characters, "spoofing" speech in a chat room, or claiming to hold an official title or position relating to the site)

Now is this IC or OOC? I have a character that claims to own the Roads Tavern even showing fake writs of ownership now and then, does this now mean that I am in violation of the CoC now because of these actions?

These disruptive behaviors are grounds for removal; WizOs, Magic Online moderators, list admins and Wizards/Magic Online site administrators are the final judges of whether a guest's behavior qualifies as inappropriate or a disruption.

Does this mean that like in baseball that the umpire is always right? What I mean is that what ever decision is made at the time of the infraction will stand? I am wondering if we might have to start worrying about one wizo giving us a gentle prod in the right direction then after reviewing the logs another wizo decides that a harsher penalty is needed or vice versa.

Nevine · Aug 7, 2003

Re: Just a few questions

harassment of another specific person (e.g. persistent flaming or continued personal attacks on the boards or "in-character harassment" without prior out-of-character permission.)

Fenmarel said:
So does this mean that if a character has a problem with another character we have to ask the player of said character if our character can bad mouth them? And how will the moderators know if permission was granted in the first place or not? What if the permission was given on an IM and after awhile one of the players gets ticked at the other player and decides to report it? Basically the way this reads to me is that at all times the characters must be nice and proper so they don't offend another IC.

I think this is refering to those infamous "wonders why" emotes and attacking characters/player's through emotes where they technically can't respond. Also persisting to "attack" a character after you've been asked OOC to stop would count.

Edit: It could also mean asking if you can attack a person (or anything that would involve their freedom of destiny) before doing so.

Rhane Arturant · Aug 7, 2003

Re: Just a few questions

Fenmarel said:
umm what is leet speak? I understood the examples but never heard them referred to anything similiar to leet speak before.

1337 = leet = elite: it's called 'leet speek', the language of script kiddies - or "1337 h4xx0rz" - where numeric and punctuation characters are used to resemble letters, usually resulting in a 'language' that is bearly readable.

Used to be used by kids so that a parent or casual observer couldn't read over one's shoulder and immediately decipher the words on the screen.

So "Hello" would be written as "H3110" and whatnot. Also tends to be a way that people use to get around language filters..

WizO_Karalyn · Aug 7, 2003

Re: Just a few questions

Fenmarel said:
I am just wondering, will the email addies be what is used to decide who is playing which character or the IP addy? The reason I am asking this is because what if you have a family where many members chat on the site, if one messes up does that mean the whole family must make new screen names?

We will use whatever means we have in order to make the determination. It is no mystery that we know of IPs, as you can clearly see at the bottom of the post it states "IP logged". I had a patron ask me this very same question a week or two back. The answer is, yes, if one of you in your family disobeys the rules that badly, it could possibly result in all of you losing the names. I stress could possibly, as each situation is different. I don't reccommend anyone tries testing this possibility out, mind. My only advice on that, is that everyone be mindful of the rules. To be completely honest, the rules of the CoC are not unusual, and for the most part, only ask for common courtesy to be observed.

So now we can mess up basically once or twice? So if a wizo or other moderator is in a bad mood, the first time a player messes up they can be off the site for good?

Only in extreme situations do I see that it would be possible for a player/patron to "mess up" the first time and be off the site for good. And in those instances, it's quite obvious it was intended and not a mess up.

umm what is leet speak? I understood the examples but never heard them referred to anything similiar to leet speak before.

I see this has already been answered by Rhane. Also keep in mind, that Pig Latin and other "non-officially spoken"/made up languages can count as well.

So does this mean that if a character has a problem with another character we have to ask the player of said character if our character can bad mouth them? And how will the moderators know if permission was granted in the first place or not? What if the permission was given on an IM and after awhile one of the players gets ticked at the other player and decides to report it? Basically the way this reads to me is that at all times the characters must be nice and proper so they don't offend another IC.

I don't know what your campaigns are like, but I know that in any of mine, there's always the opportunity to say "well this is how my character is feeling and why they act like that". Plus, it's easier to tell on a face to face basis wether or not someone's taking out an ooc dislike on you ic, or visa versa. In a chat room, it's not so easy. If permission was granted on site, we will know. Rest assured that we do our best to get both sides of the story. No, your character doesn't have to be nice and proper IC. But, as mentioned previously, sometimes it's easy to tell when someone does the emotes with the :wonders bit. Also keep in mind that is tricky. People on line can harass a player via in character means, and then defend that by stating it was their character that had a problem with the other character, not the player having a problem with the other player. As I've said, it's not so easy to see as it is in a face-to-face situation. Also keep in mind that if a player asks you via a pm to stop either 1) harassing/bothering/etc their character 2) harassing/bothering/etc them 3) attacking the character or other things, please do so. It really isn't worth trying to play with someone who doesn't want to participate anyways, and can only lead to problems.

Last but not least, always remember that if a user is bothering you, you can always use the /ignore add username command to stop getting messages from them. Just keep in mind not to "wave the iggy stick" as we say (not make it apparent that you're ignoreing them to just irritate them/etc) or you could possibly get a warning for it yourself.

Now is this IC or OOC? I have a character that claims to own the Roads Tavern even showing fake writs of ownership now and then, does this now mean that I am in violation of the CoC now because of these actions?

I would imagine this would be predominately OOC, but I can see that there is a possibility that someone would be doing it "IC" and warrant a warning. As the CoC states, each situation is different and often needs to be evaluated individually. But don't let Karalyn, Siani, or any of the other bar staff see you impersonating ownership, IC, and not expect them to do something about it. :smiles:

Does this mean that like in baseball that the umpire is always right? What I mean is that what ever decision is made at the time of the infraction will stand? I am wondering if we might have to start worrying about one wizo giving us a gentle prod in the right direction then after reviewing the logs another wizo decides that a harsher penalty is needed or vice versa.

I really don't think this is something you have to worry about.

Hope that answers your questions, and if any of my fellow moderators see any points I may have missed, please don't hesitate to correct me.

-Karalyn

WizO_Reesa · Aug 7, 2003

Re: Just a few questions

Fenmarel said:
I am just wondering, will the email addies be what is used to decide who is playing which character or the IP addy? The reason I am asking this is because what if you have a family where many members chat on the site, if one messes up does that mean the whole family must make new screen names?

It has always been the same way - if someone in your family decides to use your character and messes up, or uses a new character and gains themselves an IP Ban, then you'd be removed as well. Fortunately though, that happens very rarely.

Fenmarel said:
So now we can mess up basically once or twice? So if a wizo or other moderator is in a bad mood, the first time a player messes up they can be off the site for good?

Actually, no. As before, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you feel a WizO has acted unfairly (Bad mood, for example) then you can write adele@wizardsmoderator.com and ask her about it. As the Lead for the ISRP Area, Adele can review what's going on. No WizO should take a bad mood out on someone. That's unfair. We are to uphold the CoC, not make issues personal.

Fenmarel said:
umm what is leet speak? I understood the examples but never heard them referred to anything similiar to leet speak before.

Both Rhane and Karalyn touched on this very nicely. I did want to add that speaking any language other than English can be considered disruption. The site is American based and, therefore, English speaking. Speaking a word or two of another language, or a sentence, is fine. However, having an extended conversation will get you a warning. (First a nudge to speak English, then a warning if you ignore the nudge).

Originally posted by Fenmarel
So does this mean that if a character has a problem with another character we have to ask the player of said character if our character can bad mouth them? And how will the moderators know if permission was granted in the first place or not? What if the permission was given on an IM and after awhile one of the players gets ticked at the other player and decides to report it? Basically the way this reads to me is that at all times the characters must be nice and proper so they don't offend another IC.

Karalyn handled this really nicely but I thought I'd add my own thoughts. While it's always good to ask for permission on site via PMs, some people you know you can do stuff to/with just because you know what they're like. For example - Reesa is always teasing Nevine or giving him a hard time. I know that I can give Nevine a hard time, so I don't ask him permission. Generally acting IC won't get you in trouble. Like Karalyn said, if someone asks you to stop in Pms, then respect their wishes. If someone claims you are harassing them, it will be fully investigated and yes, it does gain both sides of the story. I know this for a fact since I had to help deal with a harassment issue and had to get all parties involved to write Adele so it could be handled correctly.

Originally posted by Fenmarel I have a character that claims to own the Roads Tavern even showing fake writs of ownership now and then, does this now mean that I am in violation of the CoC now because of these actions?

I really think the main issue is people walking behind the bar and serving, acting as if they are WizOs, WotC employees etc. There are some in character acts where you're allowed to do "official" things, like bus tables or muck the stalls for example. I really don't think your character claiming to own the tavern would be considered to be impersonation. The main thing to remember is this: What does it look like to others? By this I mean that your buddies may know your character really doesn't own the CRT but a new player or someone outside of your circle of friendship might mistake that to be an "official" person.

Let's see ... another example would be for "Reesa" to be in the Emporium as a regular person and tell others she's "Marshal Reesa" (known as WizO Reesa). Because there is no "WizO" before the name, that is considered impersonation. I hope that helps explain my comment better.

Originally posted by Fenmarel Does this mean that like in baseball that the umpire is always right? What I mean is that what ever decision is made at the time of the infraction will stand? I am wondering if we might have to start worrying about one wizo giving us a gentle prod in the right direction then after reviewing the logs another wizo decides that a harsher penalty is needed or vice versa.

You will not have to worry about one WizO giving you a gentle prod then another Wizo deciding something harsher is needed unless there is a complaint about it. For example - you come into the CRT and start talking about or rather hinting about sex. The WizO on duty might nudge you about it, so you change your speech until the WizO leaves. Once they leave, you start changing your talk to once again discussing or hinting at sexual contents. They complain to another WizO or to Adele, who then reviews the issue and finds that yes, you do deserve to be warned about it. In that case, you'd receive an official warning. In MOST cases, however, the gentle nudge will be enough.

As I said earlier, if you ever receive a warning and feel the WizO was too harsh, or you don't agree, write in about it. The issue will be reviewed.

~ Reesa

Ssussunriyh · Aug 8, 2003

Re: Re: Just a few questions

WizO_Reesa said:
...speaking any language other than English can be considered disruption. The site is American based and, therefore, English speaking. Speaking a word or two of another language, or a sentence, is fine. However, having an extended conversation will get you a warning. (First a nudge to speak English, then a warning if you ignore the nudge). ~ Reesa

Just to be on the safe side, I'd like a bit of clarification... Does this apply to characters speaking Elvish or Drow, via dictionary sites or translator programs? I'm referring to the actual (fictional) languages rather than - Soandso says: [Elvish] "Whatever..."

WizO_Reesa · Aug 8, 2003

Re: Re: Re: Just a few questions

Ssussunriyh said:
Just to be on the safe side, I'd like a bit of clarification... Does this apply to characters speaking Elvish or Drow, via dictionary sites or translator programs? I'm referring to the actual (fictional) languages rather than - Soandso says: [Elvish] "Whatever..."

Yes.. this refers to ANY language outside of English. You may use a line or phrase here or there but having two characters sit and have an entire conversation in Tolkien's Elven will cause you to receive a warning. The best way to avoid being warned for speaking in another language is to do what you said in your question, tag the line with "elvish" or "drow" etc. The chat site, and boards, are English speaking only.

Thanks
Reesa

Incensius · Aug 8, 2003

Actually, no. As before, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you feel a WizO has acted unfairly (Bad mood, for example) then you can write adele@wizardsmoderator.com and ask her about it. As the Lead for the ISRP Area, Adele can review what's going on. No WizO should take a bad mood out on someone. That's unfair. We are to uphold the CoC, not make issues personal.

I have to admit that's very much true, and that more than once dearest marshall Adele has helped and more than that. But i do have to ask something though: what do you consider a gentle nudge?
Would a gentle nudge.....i don't know....eg:a wizo as fen put it is having a bad day or something (work with me) and notices something they consider out of the ordinary, even offensive, takes that person to a private room or by using PM's...and tells them to leave the site at once and that their present character SN and all is gone...but they're free to build a new one as long as it has nothing to do with the previous one???
Is that a gentle nudge or a not so gentle nudge?
Because i have no clue as to how things work in the wizo hierarchy. In my imagination (feel free to correct me if i am mistaking) when smething similar to that happens then the wizo gives out a warning to the person and notifies a superior to ask what the best way to handle things is. But if that first wizo is having a bad day then they won't notify and just directly ban that certain character.
The point to the whole story which i'm sure you just scrolled away from

is that the so-called bad days do happen or the way things work in the wizo quarters is different than i had thought....

WizO_Reesa · Aug 13, 2003

Incensius said:
I have to admit that's very much true, and that more than once dearest marshall Adele has helped and more than that. But i do have to ask something though: what do you consider a gentle nudge?
Would a gentle nudge.....i don't know....eg:a wizo as fen put it is having a bad day or something (work with me) and notices something they consider out of the ordinary, even offensive, takes that person to a private room or by using PM's...and tells them to leave the site at once and that their present character SN and all is gone...but they're free to build a new one as long as it has nothing to do with the previous one???
Is that a gentle nudge or a not so gentle nudge?
Because i have no clue as to how things work in the wizo hierarchy. In my imagination (feel free to correct me if i am mistaking) when smething similar to that happens then the wizo gives out a warning to the person and notifies a superior to ask what the best way to handle things is. But if that first wizo is having a bad day then they won't notify and just directly ban that certain character.
The point to the whole story which i'm sure you just scrolled away from is that the so-called bad days do happen or the way things work in the wizo quarters is different than i had thought....

Okay.. firstly.. no WizO will directly ban someone when having a bad day and if they do, they deserve punishment. In that case you would write Adele and explain your feelings, she'd review the logs and issues and handle it as necessary.

As far as a gentle nudge, I'll use examples that I do.

If I see someone getting too close to the line (example used of discussing something sexual) I will often have Reesa clear her throat or give the person a pointed look In Character first. If the person continues, then I'll send them a PM that reminds them or informs them that I feel their activity is getting a little close. Something along the lines of ((I just wanted to remind you that discussing your activities in bed last night on the site isn't welcome here. There are young children that access this place and really don't need to see such activities. Thanks.

)) If they continue then I will state that I have already told them once, if they continue then it could result in further actions.

I hate to warn people so I try to do everything in my power to let you know you're getting too close to the line in character without having to warn you. I know how easy it is to get caught up in the role-play and forget where you are. I've had Reesa dump buckets of ice on people who seemed to be "making out" or suggest renting a room or perhaps being dunked in frigid water.

tells them to leave the site at once and that their present character SN and all is gone...but they're free to build a new one as long as it has nothing to do with the previous one?

That's not the exact wording used but in a case like that, the player would have been warned in PMs that their actions will result in a loss of name if they don't stop their actions. If they continue to misbehave, they will be removed (booted from site) after being told their actions have resulted in the removal from the site and told to review the CoC. If they return and then continue the same actions for which they were removed, THEN they would be informed continuing will result in the loss of their screen name and their character. If they continue to ignore this notice, then they will be removed and loose their character and screen name.

Remember: With the CoC procedure in place now, you will loose EVERY name associated with you.

If the issue is very severe (example role-playing out a rape scene on site) then there is a chance you will be removed, no questions asked and you will loose your names.

If a WizO ever speaks to you in the manner you said, and you feel they should not have, write Adele and explain your situation. She will discuss it with whatever WizO is in question, review the logs of the chat, and will then handle the issue in whatever manner she feels is necessary.

I hope that helps explain things a little better. I can't give you the exact process or wording for every issue as they do vary depending on the issue itself. If you do have specific questions, you can always ask Adele in a private email and she can reply for you. The bottom line is that a bad mood is no excuse to be rude or unfair. Everyone should always be treated with respect - WizO or regular patron.

Thanks
Reesa