Site Rules

This page provides a summary overview of our rules and gaming standards. The complete Rules for Fair Play and Rules for Fair Use covering playing games and use of the site are posted on the Forum.

Many technical issues are described in the Information forum.

For a summary of the rules of the game, see the Game Rules page.

User Misconduct

We take cheating and other misconduct seriously at PlayDiplomacy. Site management will take appropriate action for violation of our rules, whether you are aware of them or not, and whether you have a premium or non-premium account, up to and including removal from games and restricting access to the site.

If you become aware of cheating on site, review the guidelines for reporting cheating and either send a private message (a “PM”) to a moderator or post in the Cheaters forum. DO NOT make cheating accusations in public press, chat, or elsewhere in the forum.

Summary of Site Rules

Below are the main rules for using PlayDiplomacy.com and playing games on PlayDiplomacy.com. Each rule is linked to the section of the rules where it is stated in more detail.

At the end, there are links to Site Rules which don’t relate directly to games.

1.     Accounts

·       Multiple accounts are not allowed. We have a strict one member, one account policy.

·       Schools accounts are an exception to the above. An account created using the ‘For Teachers’ facility does not count as a personal account and a member who uses a Schools account may create a personal account also.

·       Usernames must not: be sexually explicit; abusive towards race, sexuality, sexual orientation or gender; contain obscenity or profanity; reference illegal acts, or otherwise have content which may be widely offensive.

·       False or temporary emails should not be used as we may need to contact members occasionally.

2.     Fundamental Rules

·       Multi-accounting. Players are not allowed to: operate more than one account in the same game, or access, or be given access to, another account in the same game or an account that shares any games.

·       Team/Shared accounts are not allowed in Ranked or No Rank games.

·       Players must enter a game aiming to get the best possible result from the game.

·       Screenshots of games are not allowed to be communicated in any way.

·       Separating games from the forum. Players are not allowed to use the forum to influence a game where this can be avoided.

·       Game names must not: be sexually explicit; abusive towards race, sexuality, sexual orientation or gender; contain obscenity or profanity; reference illegal acts, or otherwise have content which may be widely offensive.

·       Hacking or otherwise hijacking another player’s account is not allowed.

·       Maliciously impersonating players or site management is not allowed.

3.     Communications

·       All communication about a game must be in the game. This is part of the User Agreement and must be strictly followed in Ranked and No Rank games (we make exceptions for Friends and Schools games).

·       Encrypted and coded messages (to mask the content of in-game messages) are not allowed.

·       Public Press posts must not feature content that is: extremely abusive towards other players, obscene or profane; abusive towards race, sexuality, sexual orientation or gender; overtly sexual; threatening, whether the threats refer to action on-site or off; others’ personal information; spamming; or advertising. Discussions of possible cheating or accusations of cheating must not be placed in Public Press.

·       Power-to-power messages in games must not: feature content that contravenes our cyber-bullying policy; be extremely abusive or aggressive; be defamatory, or contain illegal content.

·       In variants where communication is restricted, no other method of communication is allowed other than provided for in the rules for that variant.

4.     Cheating

·       Pre-game alliances. Players are not allowed to: enter a game with a pre-arranged alliance, join a game with the intention of deliberately allying with another player or power or invite another player to join a game as an ally.

·       Coaching/teaching is not allowed in Ranked or No Rank games.

·       Equal treatment. All players in a game must be treated equally; players are not allowed to treat others especially on the basis of prior relationships.

·       Persistent alliances/team play are not allowed.

·       Cross-game interactions. Players are not allowed to: form alliances or exchange favours across different games; join a game specifically to attack another player in that game; threaten reprisals in a current game for events in past games (or in a future game for events in the current game) or for events outside the game.

·       Cross-game information sharing. Players are not allowed to: exchange information in any way or form about active games; share information from active or archived games about another player in the game that cannot be found from information open to anyone on the site, or refer any player in the game to another game using the name or number of that game.

·       Threatening to report a player for cheating in order to affect the game, or that player’s play, is not allowed.

·       Hijacking a game. Players are not allowed to enter a game solely to: enter orders then leave the game to deliberately disrupt it; enter orders to target a specific player in the game and then leave; send malicious message to a player, or post malicious Public Press, and then leave the game.

5.     Specific rules for variants

(a)    Anonymous games.

In Anonymous Players games, players do not know who is in the game.

In Anonymous Countries games, players do not know which player is playing which power.

Gunboat and Public Press Only games are also anonymous.

In ALL anonymous games, players should avoid revealing their identity if it is necessary to report a game and not reveal their participation in the game outside of the game.

Players MAY claim an identity inside the game, however, as this will not be known until after the game is finished.

(b)    Gunboat games.

No explicit communication is allowed in these games.

(c)    Public Press Only (PPO) games.

Players may only communicate via Public Press in these games.

(d)    Fog of War games.

Players may only pass on information about the ‘fogged’ areas on the map using any communications allowed in the game.

6.     Rules for different game categories.

This link explains how the site’s rules are modified for No Rank, Friends and Schools games.

The most important features are that Friends and Schools games will not routinely be investigated (although players in those games may be subject to investigation in some circumstances).

Other Rules

The following links will explain other rules for using PlayDiplomacy.com.

Rules for using the site’s Chatbox.

Rules for using the Forum.

How the site deals with cyber-bullying.

How to report abuse.

Deadlocked Games Procedure.

The site’s Appeals Process.

The site and its management reserve the right to enforce the site’s rules and sanction any member who breaks them irrespective of whether the individual concerned agrees with or accepts the rules, whatever the status of the individual’s account.

By using PlayDiplomacy.com account holders agree to follow the rules of the site.

Site rules may be subject to change and modification at any time.

While PlayDiplomacy.com undertakes to maintain an up-to-date version of the rules on this page, the rules the site operate under are maintained principally on the Forum.