This is a repost of a previous topic of mine, sans the discussions that already occurred there. The Code of Conduct is enforced, and we have had several violations recently occur within the past few weeks (including
during the VE meeting of all times).
So, I figure we ought to make sure you folks still understand this.
As there appears to be several occurrences lately that I have witnessed that deal with the CoC (
Code of Conduct), I figured it be best if there was a little review of what this thing called the CoC is anyways. And if you never seen the CoC before, you better take a peek at that first
And I know I am mostly preaching to the choir here, but this is an important issue. If a new member comes, into the middle of an argument/fight/swearing/etc, it can quite easily discourage their interest in the site especially if they are not entirely certain what is going on.
Quote:Rule 1 - Do not abuse your channel operator status, voice, or X-bot access: Abusing ops and X-bot access consists of kicking, banning or threatening kick/ban without reason or proper cause. Changing the topic and channel modes unnecessarily also is considered abuse. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
The issue with this is not Op abuse as much as people accusing ops of op abuse. Essentially, this works in conjunction with other rules here, which will be elaborated upon when I get to those. But yes, there is some Op abuse present and if you do witness it, please do not blabber about it in the main channel as this typically makes matters worse. Resort to PM in those cases.
Quote:Rule 2 - Do not take advantage of a service error or net split: Taking advantage of a Service error or net split is when ChanServ leaves the channel, or a server is split from the Network and the channel is effectively in two places, and members become ops themselves, or op other non ops. Only those who are meant to have channel operator status normally may hold ops in these situations. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
If you know what this is, you shouldn’t do it. If you have no clue, just don’t worry about it much.
Quote:Rule 3 - Do not be obscene: Swearing of all kinds is forbidden in the Vast Empire channel. Whether it be swearing in another language (English being the default language for all Vast Empire channels), concealed, implied or suggested swearing. Being obscene also refers to discussing sexual, pornographic, grotesque or generally undesirable subjects in detail. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
Swearing is very predominant unfortunately. Yes I admit I am occasionally guilty of it, but I have seen where it makes up at least half of someone’s vocabulary, which does not reflect well on that person’s intelligence. Kadbot (when he is on) will give you three warnings. This however is not three ‘free swear tickets’ that you can use. If you take advantage in some manner, such as with Kadbot’s ‘rule of three’ it is a bannable offense. Any op can kick you for ONE swear if they feel you are taking advantage of it. You have been warned.
Obscene is of course in the eye of the viewer, as what is obscene to one, may not be to another. Odds are if it can be considered obscene in some way, best to take it to PM or another channel.
Quote:Rule 4 - Do not over-use colors: Colors on an IRC channel are considered bad netiquette, however sometimes they are allowed. Constant usage of colors to the annoyance of other members is not tolerated. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class II Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
Don’t see this much, if at all, but it’s still on there. Kadbot does give you 3 warnings on this as well, but as with swearing, they are not the permission to use it 3 times every day. Abuse of that is a bannable offense. And yes I do it time to time, but I do it in good fun and very, very sparingly. Granted, the channel modes of the main have been set to strip the color tags from your messages, but if that is ever removed, this rule is still in effect.
Quote:Rule 5 - Do not insult others: Insulting anyone in the Vast Empire channel to the point of it not being taken as a joke is completely intolerable. This includes insulting on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, creed, etc. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
This is sadly too predominate in the channel. And people who attempt to defend themselves are generally charged with this instead of whomever caused the issue.
Quote:Rule 6 - Do not flood: Flooding constitutes as a large amount of text displayed in a short time entered in a channel or in private chat. This is not tolerated in any channel at all. Flooding members in the channel separately with text, pings, or another way is also not tolerated and can result in a first a kick, and eventually a ban from the channel if the flooder persists on disobeying this rule. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class II Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
*Quit Riqimo (Flood Timeout)
Quote:Rule 7 - Do not use clones: Cloning is when another person enters the channel when they are already present having two (or more) copies of themselves on the one channel. This is not tolerated on any VE channel and all clones are to be banned. Caution must be taken when there is a chance a clone could be a ghost. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class II Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
This is not seen much, and if it is, the only reason I am aware of is for when you are on a computer a good distance away from the one that is still logged in, or you happen to have a dice script loaded on one for a verpg game (which is essentially the only exception I am aware of).
Quote:Rule 8 - Do not impersonate an officer: On IRC, impersonating an officer can be as simple as changing your nick to a rank that you do not hold, changing your nick to another person's known nick or completely changing all IRC information (ident, hostmark, etc.) as well as nick and pretending to be someone they are not. Although the severity is ranging, all are subject to an immediate kick. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
Don’t believe I’ve ever seen this (outside of a 5 second joke of “Che5h” before the nick was rechanged), and I sincerely hope it stays that way.
Quote:Rule 9 - Do not annoy people: As different people have different annoyance levels, it is up to the discretion of any present ops or "sub-ops" as to what action is to be taken and when. Someone can be considered annoying when a person or persons are disgusted with the persons behavior, actions or conversation. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class II Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
For some reason, the people that folks try to annoy seem to be the channel ops. Why the heck you want to annoy the person who can easily kick ban you (or even kline) is beyond me. But nonetheless, op or not, you shouldn’t annoy someone excessively. Maybe one line is fine as a small joke, but beyond that you can be watching your address get the “+b” treatment.
Quote:Rule 10 - Do not be aggressive or argumentative: When talking on the channel, do not in any way confront other members, start arguments or put other members down. All people are there for the enjoyment and the experience of IRC and that is not to be disturbed. If anyone is overly aggressive, report them. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
Debates are common, and are perfectly allowed, but not to the point where you are debating for the sake of an argument or attacking the other person and or his/her beliefs. Here’s a piece of advice, don’t ever introduce religion in any manner, even as stating your beliefs, or another’s. It sadly, more often than not, turns into violent missionary crusades. Best way is to just drop it. Politic discussions are common around these days for obvious reasons. But by all means, avoid stereotyping someone based on what they see issues as. Everyone has a different background, and thus has a different view in how they see a politician or issue. If you want to make people see your political views, get off IRC and go volunteer for that cause/person/organization. And for all debates, if you want to be listened to, listen as well. Else you might as well find yourself on the ban list, or on everyone’s ignore list (which is worse in my opinion).
Quote:Rule 11 - Do not openly disobey a superior officer or channel operator: If an op or a superior officer gives an order, kicks a person or sets a ban, they are not to contradicted or argued with in public. If you have a disagreement with the order or action, speak to them in private or consult their superior officers. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
Simply put, if you have an issue,
PM the person. You should try to remember the following: PIP PIP. Praise In Public, Punish In Private. Of course some of you are probably thinking the higher ups do it in public.
This is simply because the violator makes it a public issue in the first place. Quote:Rule 12 - Do not use unauthorized bots: All bots that are to be used must be cleared by the Head of High Council first. This means sending a copy of the script and any relevant information about the bot. If an unauthorized bot is caught, both the bot and owner will be banned. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
Simple enough
Quote:Rule 13 - Do obey a superior officer: If a superior officer gives an order to a junior officer, whether Vast Empire or IRC related, it must be followed. The Vast Empire Command Hierarchy is always in effect on IRC and must be followed. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
If you are asked to drop a topic, it is probably a good idea to do so. Usually the discussions that people are asked to drop are actions that are either leading to kick and they are simply giving you a warning, or something that should be considered in PM rather than public chat.
Quote:Rule 14- Do heed an the warnings/requests of a channel operator: If a channel operator or sub-op gives a warning or asks a member to cease an activity, it is to followed immediately. After one warning the member continues to misbehave or break the Code of Conduct, that member may be kicked or banned depending on the offense. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
Notice how this relates to Rules 13 and 11? You can probably guess that the channel ops are important with how frequently they come into the CoCs. We don’t throw Ops out to everyone, only those that are considered worthy of wielding them and not abusing the privileges.
Quote:Rule 15 - Do not post pornographic or erotica URL's or advertise obscene channels (i.e. #KiddiePorn) in the channel. Any member who violates this rule will be punished. The punishment will range between a Class I and Class III Offense pending on the severity of the member's actions.
First off, that channel does not exist you sick perverts. Secondly, this site advertised as PG-13, and we essentially do our best to keep it that way. If someone is ruining that image with such things, they can quite easily find themselves with “access denied” the next time they try to connect to the server.
Quote:Rule 16 - Do not be stupid
Everyone believes they have an abundance of common sense. Sadly this is not the case, and we have the occasional person going “Z0MGZZ!!1!11 I GOTZ THE WINNZOR!!!ONE!11!” or similar annoying manner. Just behave like a
normal human being (yes, very hard I know), and you should be reasonably secure you are not violating this rule.
Now there may be some confusion as to what
exactly is a kickable offense. Here’s a list of many
but not all of the actions that can get you kicked or worse:
- Swearing
- Insulting other members
- Attacks on Race/Gender/Religion/etc
- Excessive use of colors in the main channel
- Flooding
- Annoying anyone past their threshold of annoyance
- Posting links to adult, porn, erotica, illegal, etc sites. Goatse and the like are included in this.
- Encouraging any of the above (if you encourage, you are considered just as guilty as doing it yourself)
