1.
Multi-accounting. Account holders are allowed just one active account at any time (see
Multiple Accounts under Fair Use). This means that:
(a) No account holder may operate more than one account in the same game.
(b) No account holder may have access to more than one account in the same game with the exception of any game which requires this.
(c) An account holder is not allowed to give access to her/his account to another player in the same game or to an account holder with whom s/he shares any active or pending games.
2.
Substitutes. Account holders are only allowed to substitute for another account holder if they do not share ANY pending or active games.
See
Substitute Feature3.
Team and Shared Accounts. All accounts in Ranked or No Rank games must be single-person accounts.
See
Adaptations for different game Categories4.
Players must enter a game aiming to achieve the best result possible from the game. This intention may be modified by circumstances in the game but players are not allowed to
enter a game with the intention of drawing with another player or other players, or to lose the game.
See
Adaptations for different game Categories5.
Re-entering a game. Account holders who open a new account are not allowed to enter a game from which a previous account has surrendered, auto_surrendered or been removed.
See
Adaptations for different game Categories6.
Screenshots. Taking screenshots which allow game information to be passed to other players in the game is not allowed.
Public Press and Messaging Rules7.
Public Press (reproduced from Fair Use rules for reference). Posts made in a game’s Public Press may not feature any of the following content:
- Racism;
- Overtly sexual or sexualised material;
- Content which express hatred towards sexuality, sexual orientation or gender;
- Threats linked to actions off- or on-site;
- Extreme profanity;
- Abusive personal attacks on members of an extreme or defamatory nature;
- Posting other people’s personal information;
- Spamming;
- Advertising;
- Any accusation or discussion of potential cheating by active players in the game;
- 'Flood' Public Press.
Posts which, in the opinion of the site’s management, contain such content, whether in text, images, GIFs or other forms, including links to content which is prohibited, will be removed and appropriate action taken.
NB1: Casual obscenity will not be acted upon – Moderator decision.
NB2: Mild personal abuse will not be acted upon – Moderator decision.
NB3: Content which contains illegal material of a sexual nature or which promotes illegal activities will result in a permanent ban from the site.
NB4: We accept that, occasionally, slow processing may lead to players sending the same post unintentionally. 'Flooding' will therefore be taken to be excessive posting of the same, or similar, messages and 'excessive' will be within the judgement of the investigation moderator.8.
Messaging RulesThe following rules are on player-to-player or power-to-power messages in a game. Although the main focus will be Ranked and No Rank games, these rules also apply in principle to all game types. However, in Schools games the Teacher will moderate content, and Friends games will be given more leeway to reflect tacit agreement among the friends on what is acceptable between them.
- Members are not allowed to send direct (power-to-power) messages in games repeatedly, ie 'flood' another player's inbox (based on a Mod's assessment)
- Messages should follow the same guidelines as PP, although since they are 'private' Mods will grant more leeway when judging inappropriate content
- Messages between players/powers must not be encrypted or coded in such a way as to make the message unintelligible.
NB: Non-English messages between native speakers in games are fine. If we can translate a message and it makes sense, there's no problem.- Account holders must communicate about a game with other players using the in-game systems only. No out-of-game negotiations or communications are allowed.
Note on message accessability.
Mods need to see messages when investigating cheating accusations. If messages are encoded or outside the game system, this will NOT result in sanctions on their own.
This will, however, be taken as corroborating evidence if there is other evidence of possible cheating. For instance, should a Moderator find evidence of meta-gaming and be unable to discount this by looking at messages between the players or powers, this will add to the evidence that can be seen.
They WILL be taken as a reason to contact account holders so that the practices described stop.Meta-gaming RulesThe following rules define what the site considers meta-gaming, ie using something from outside a game to influence the way the game progresses.
9.
Pre-game Alliances.
(a) Account holders are not allowed to enter a game with a preset alliance, ie. with an alliance between them arranged before the game started.
(b) Account holders are not allowed to invite a player from one game to another game with an agreement to work together in the second game.
10.
Arranged alliances when replacing another player in a game.
(a) Account holders are not allowed to join an on-going game with the intention of helping or working with other players in the game by prior agreement.
(b) Account holders are not allowed to invite another account holder to join an on-going game with the intention that they work together in that game.
11.
Coaching/Teaching. Account holders are not allowed to use Ranked or No Rank games to teach the game to others.
See
Adaptations for different game Categories12.
All players in the game should be treated equally. Account holders are not allowed to treat other players in a game specially or differently because of existing or past relationships.
NB: We accept that, human nature being what it is, it may be that it is easier to trust someone who you know and that it is difficult to trust someone who has betrayed you before; what we are looking at here is clear evidence that actions in a game are based on these relationships.13.
Persistent Alliances & Team Play.
(a) Entering several games with the same account holder(s) and creating similar alliances is not allowed.
(b) Playing as a team (that is, consistently working together across several games) is not allowed. This includes working together to eliminate opposition and then ‘fighting it out’.
NB1: The guidelines are that no more than 1 game in 5 should feature similar alliances, have similar outcomes or the same pattern of alliances.
NB2: The above is ONLY a guideline, however. Should an investigation show clear evidence that 12(a) or 12(b) are being broken, action will be taken regardless of the number or proportion of games involved.14.
Cross-game Interactions.
(a) Account holders are not allowed to form alliances across games (eg “We’re in two games together so let’s work together in both of them”).
(b) Account holders are not allowed to exchange favours across games (eg “If you do this for me in this game, I will do this for you in that game”).
(c) Account holders are not allowed to enter a new game, or join an on-going game, with the aim of attacking a specific player in that game in retaliation for events or actions in a past or current game, or in response to events outside of the game.
(d) Threatening actions, reprisals or retaliation in a game for events or actions in a past or current game, or in response to events outside of the game, is not allowed.
(e) Threatening actions, reprisals or retaliation in future games for events or actions in a past or current game, or in response to events outside of the game, is not allowed.
15.
Cross-game Information Sharing.
(a) Exchanging any information across active games is not allowed, whether the players involved share both games or not.
(b) Sharing ‘secret’ information from active or archived games on any player in the game is not allowed (eg Player A shares information on Player B with Player C from power-to-power messages in another game that Players A and B shared).
(c) Referring a player to another game using the game’s name or number is not allowed.
NB1: Secret information is any information that cannot be found in Public Press or Stats, eg passing-on information from power-to-power messages.
NB2: Whilst references to specific games is not allowed, general references to another player’s style of play, which could be found by reviewing her/his play in games or stats, is allowed.16.
Threatening to Report Cheating. Threatening to report a player for cheating unless s/he acts in a specific way in the game (eg blackmailing a player so that s/he acts in a certain way) is not allowed.
17.
Hijacking a game - joining an on-going game and taking malicious action - is not allowed. This includes:
(a) Entering orders to deliberately disrupt a game and then leaving the game.
(b) Entering orders to attack a specific player in response to events or actions in a past or current game, or in response to events outside of the game, and then leaving.
(c) Sending malicious messages to a specific player in response to events or actions in a past or current game, or in response to events outside of the game, including then leaving.
(d) Sending malicious Public Press, including then leaving the game.