Cyberchat - Freeform Roleplaying Chat

Cyberchat

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CyberChat© Rules, Policies, and Procedures

In both registering to, and/or entering into the NexxusChat chatroom, known as CyberChat, you agree to follow the rules, procedures, and policies. Users, staff, and owners are expected to have read these and abide by them. Not knowing they exist, or not having read them, is no excuse. Any of the following rules, procedures, and policies are subject to change without notice, however as a courtesy, the CyberChat staff will notify the users of any substantial changes (This also applies to coding changes). Any questions or concerns pertaining to these policies can be sent to the CyberChat Staff by visiting Staff Email Form.

Our Goal:

The Moderators (mods) and Administrator (admin) are here to ensure that the rules outlined below, are enforced, and to encourage the flow of Role Play (RP). We ask that you don't harass them for trying to keep this chat safe and trouble free. Any user who refuses to cooperate, refuses to cooperate in a civilized manner, or makes it difficult for the staff to do their job will be subject to kicking and/or any other punishment deemed appropriate by the administrative staff. If you have a problem with a moderator or an admin, do not continue to argue with them. Log your conversation and send it to the staff. If you're not comfortable doing that, each permanent staff member has a personal email. username at nexxuschat.com

Consideration Clause:

There will be no vicious, offensive, insulting, degrading or racial name calling or treatment of fellow users. Though it is realized that sometimes in jest we throw out comic labels, cruel attacks of any kind will not be tolerated. This is to assure that we adhere to one simple rule in this chat: 'Do unto others as you would have done unto you.' We wish to create a pleasant, non-harmful atmosphere and though the users are welcome to debate, argue points or otherwise discuss controversial subjects, they must do so with courtesy to the other users who may not share there same viewpoints. Any user that violates this rule will be subject to penalization.

Profanity:

1. There will be a default censor in effect when any user enters a default room. This default censor will replace the use of profanity with a series of symbols. It is the users responsibility to remove this censor, if they so choose, when they enter each room. Excessive swearing ( Profanity in each or every other IC/OOC post) will be considered spam and is subject to penalization under that rule. Beyond this, there are no rules pertaining to profane language.

2. Room names and User names MAY NOT contain profanity, vulgarity or be otherwise considered offensive.

3. Profiles MAY NOT contain profanity, vulgarity or be otherwise considered offensive. At the moderators/administrators request, the profile must be edited. Refusal to do so may result in further punishment.

Harassment:

1. Harassment is defined as taunting, or making fun of anyone based on race, religion, color, or sexual preference, name calling of any kind, distributing personal information about another user without their consent, repeated requests to another player for OOC information (ICQ #, AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, email address etc.) that they do not want known, or otherwise directing unwanted attention toward another user. This also applies to any Real Life (RL) details a person wishes to keep private, and any form of behavior that would be considered harassment in Real Life (RL).

2. Backseat moderating is against the rules and is defined by attempting to enforce the rules while a staff member is in the room or suggesting/telling a staff member what they should or should not do. The offender will be asked to stop and if they do not, administrative action will be taken.

3. Users found promoting Real Life hate campaigns will be permanently banned. Hate campaigns include sexism, racism, and homophobia, but are not limited to being those alone. In Character (IC) hate campaigns may be acceptable if the other players agree. Please remember, In Character (IC), and Out Of Character (OOC) are two separate things.

4. It is also forbidden for a user to make Real Life (RL) threats against another user. Punishment for this will be given according to the severity of the threat, and the number of threats the offender has made before, and whether or not the party threatened wants to make a complaint. *** In ALL cases of Real Life (RL) hate campaigns and threats, proper authorities may be contacted at the discretion of the administration. If this is the case, you will be notified.***

Steps to be taken in the event that a user feels they are being harassed in regards to ruling one under harassment:

1. In the event that a user feels that they are being harassed, they are required to put into place the ignore function (/ignore username). This will delete any and all messages from the opposing user from the screen and make any further posts invisible to the user who first put the ignore function in place.

2. If the harassing user goes out of there way to avoid this function, (i.e.: Changing user names, following said user to other rooms, etc ) the staff, at that point, will be required to step in and penalize said user.

3. If rules two through three are broken, punishment will be either as stated or at the discretion of staff

Sexual Content:

Profiles may not knowingly contain links to pornography or otherwise sexually explicit materials. This includes profiles and the main chat. While the certificate of this site is PG-13, and that does allow for brief nudity, a picture, unlike a movie or TV show, is static and unmoving.

1. With that in mind, profile pictures CANNOT show bared crotches, buttocks, or genitalia (outlined or bare) for males or females, and it cannot show female nipples. A sexually explicit pose, or composition, is also forbidden (including bondage and hentai), regardless of whether or not it meets the above guidelines. Such pictures, or profile text, depicting such a scene will be considered advertising for cyber sex. An Admin or Moderator will request the picture or profile to be edited, or possibly removed, dependent upon content. If the User refuses, the Administration (Admin and Mods alike) will /kick or /ban dependent upon repeated offenses/level of transgression. (Picture Theft: Taking pictures from a website without permission from the picture owner is illegal. Users found stealing pictures (by linking directly to the picture, or uploading it to a secondary account such as image host, tinypic, etc.) will be subject to temporary or permanent suspension of access to the Chat. Any person that feels his or her work has been stolen and is in use on our site, must contact the staff with proof of ownership. Once said proof is shown, our staff will take steps to have the person remove the link or picture from their profile.)

2. Profiles shall not contain information of a solicitous nature. This includes but is not limited to statements such as "Sex toy, sex slave, used for breeding" and the like. -Descriptive or graphic sexual subjects/topics and soliciting cyber sex or 'cybering' are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN in all public rooms.

3. Any sexual contact with a player who you know is a minor (under the age of consent) in their country/state is strictly prohibited in all rooms, both public and private. Punishments for this will suit the transgression, and may lead to banishment and in extreme cases the involvement of appropriate authorities.

4. Descriptive or graphic sexual subjects/topics and soliciting cyber sex or 'cybering' are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN in all public rooms.

User Made Rooms:

User made rooms are under the responsibility of the users who make them and are subject to the same rules as default rooms, but room mods have the option to exclude the rule on spamming. Public room tags will not contain any information of an inappropriate or solicitous nature. Rooms tags are restricted to descriptive terms and specific era's only (i.e. Night, Day, Snowing, Modern, ICR etc.). Our goal is not to chastise users by creating gender specific or private rooms. If you feel the need to do so, we ask that you create a private room for such purposes. Failure to comply may result in the dumping of said room. If a user continues to make said room in protest, the user may be subject to punishment at the discretion of staff. (Please note that in Freeform rooms you are still entitled to ignore a user if you do not wish to interact with them.)

1. Before kicking/banning a person from the room, the user MUST be warned and given a chance to stop or leave. The warning MUST include the offense that the user committed (so the user knows what room rule they are breaking).

2. If the user commits the offense again, the room mod can kick the person.

3. If the person returns and continues to commit the same offense, the room mod can ban the offender from the room.

Spam:

Any user who uses CyberChat for the purposes of spamming will be subject to punishment by staff.

1. Spam being defined as, but not limited to, the repetitious posting of nonsensical or meaningless letters, numbers, text or URLS, random/excessive caps or punctuation, and the use of black or covert font color.

2. Advertising which includes, but is not limited to, passing out links for, as well as placing information in your profile related to anything other than role play on CyberChat or its affiliates, without permission from the owner, is also considered spam.

3. Any user who persistently talks (as opposed to whispers) Out Of Character in In-Character only rooms will be asked to role-play; failure to comply may result to kicking or any punishment deemed appropriate by the administrative staff.

Security:

Attempted port scans, probes, uses of known network security tools or otherwise seeking of security flaws in CyberChat (including use of chat flaws to enter the chat while banned) without express permission from the Webmaster will make that user subject to permanent banning. ISP and Federal officials may also be notified.

Likewise user's who attempts what may be construed as a Denial of Service attack on the Nexxuschat network will be subject to permanent banning. ISP and Federal officials may also be notified.

Procedures for Violations:

All violations will be handled at the discretion of the staff member dealing with the situation. However, below is a general guideline.

Violations of the AUP will be penalized using a warn/kick/ban system. If a user attempts to evade punishment or breaks a rule when there are no staff present, they are still subject to punishment. A warn and/or kick may be placed in there profile so that they are aware that there next offense may be a kick and/or ban from the site.

1. The first offense will result in a warning either in whisper or out-loud within the chat.

2. The second offense, be it the same exact offense or any other listed above, will result in a kick from the chat.

3. If the user continues and a third offense is recorded, the user will be banned in accordance to the banning system below.

1. First ban: User will be banned from the chat for a period not longer than ten days.

2. Second ban: User will be banned from the chat for a period not longer than fifteen days.

3. Third ban: User will be banned from the chat for a period no longer than thirty days.

4. Fourth ban: User will be permanently banned from the site.

Offenses in the OOC chat room:

1. Offenses in the OOC room will be dealt with in the same warn/kick/ban system. However, a ban from this room will be limited to this room. A violation outside of the OOC room will result in a ban from the entire chat. If a user is banned from the OOC they are still obligated to follow all the rules listed above in the IC rooms. Failure to do so will result in a ban from the entire chat.

Note: Users may talk about their bans on the forum, but bringing your ban to the forums will not in any way get it overturned. You will still need to email the staff for that to happen. Staff will not post any logs pertaining to the bans nor are they required to respond to any challenges about bans on the forum. Staff members also have the right not to discuss bans or warnings with users in or out of chat. If a staff member asks you to email the staff with your concern and/or question, please respect that.

Code of Conduct:

All the information found below applies to all chats on the Nexxuschat, Realms-rp, and Nexxushost network, as well as any official chat related forum system found on this or any other site. Official means any forum moderated or ran by chat staff, owners, or those residing on any of above named networks.

The Staff Are Role Models:

Being a staff member means that you are an example as to what it means to be a good user of this chat. It means being civil and respectful of others and the rules while logged into your staff username or while operating in an official capacity. It means that when faced by users who are intentionally being belligerent, offensive or otherwise attempting to anger you, to walk away or to let another staff member get involved. It also means at all times remaining impartial when passing judgment.

While not logged in under your staff handle, the standards are not released although they are reduced to an extent. While you are no longer obligated to be civil at all times, you are still obligated to follow the rules. Furthermore, while you are freer to express yourself, you need to keep in mind that your actions still reflect upon the staff as a whole.
Respect Privacy:

Staff have access to information that is sensitive to players. To release IP information, email addresses, real names, other characters, or any other related information is not allowed. At all times a staff member is to respect the privacy of the users of the chat and to enforce said privacy. Staff is not allowed to release this information at any point in time unless specifically instructed to by the appropriate authorities.

Information pertaining to bans, kicks, or any staff only matters are not to be discussed in a public manner or privately with anyone outside of staff or unrelated to the matter. Such information can lead to unauthorized access of such features, or the using of said information against the user in question. In cases where a user has been banned, only administrators have the authority to release information to the banned user. Any requests for information should be relayed to them immediately.
Do Your Job:

While being a moderator is a volunteer position, you are not free of obligations. Being a moderator means that while logged in as your moderator handle, you will not be inebriated, under the influence of any substance or inattentive. While logged in, you are to handle any complaint or issue that is brought to your attention to the best of your ability. If another staff member is already handling the issue, you don't need to get involved but offering your help is generally appreciated.

If at any point in time you feel you can no longer carry out your duties, please log out. If this is for an extended period of time, please inform the staff or resign from your position. It is understood that being a moderator or administrator can be mentally draining and frustrating. If you find yourself unable to cope with this, do not force yourself to. No one will hold it against you.
We Are A Team:

At the end of the day, no mod should make a call on their own. If at any point a situation develops that you're unsure of how to handle, ask other staff who are on at the time. This is why we have a mailing list, our IM info is listed and why there is such a large number of us. Getting a consensus helps us all come to make the right decision. If no one is available, submit a log under the abuse form regardless. While punishment may not be as immediate, it at least provides a means for all to understand the situation. (If you are drawn away from chat for short periods of time, be aware that the /away command will reset the message screen. If you have anything in there that may be pertinent, it is best to save it before setting yourself as away.)

It also stands to reason that undermining a fellow staff member is not tolerated. No insulting, demeaning or fighting among staff should be visible to the users. Doing so makes that staff member, and the team, less effective. If a staff member makes a bad call, it is not the place of another staff member to overrule it simply because they disagree. In such cases, bring the incident to that attention of either the staff as a whole or an administrator. Only administrators are allowed to overturn a punishment or issue apologies to users. In the case of administrators, the head admin has the authority to overrule. For the head admin, only the owner may intervene.
Punishments:

Failure to follow the principles outlined in numbers one through four is grounds for punishment as deemed fitting by the head admin. Such punishments include, but are not limited to, suspension, demotion, expulsion, or ban. While staff have more authority than users do, they are still also bound, and subject to, the rules and punishments as outlined in the AUP.