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The Code of Conduct (CoC) describes the general rules, guidelines, and information that have to be followed while roleplaying on FTRP and generally actively being a member of this site and part of its community. Not following our rules to create a fair, fun, and safe environment for all members of this site may result in warnings and/or temporary/permanent bans, depending on the nature of a rule break or transgression against the rules and guidelines laid out by the Code of Conduct. We, therefore, want to ask you to read and follow these rules carefully to ensure that every member of FTRP may have a good time and enjoy their stay on this site.
IMPORTANT: Please note that it is highly encouraged to report rule breaks and other offenses that could potentially breach FTRP's Code of Conduct to staff immediately or as soon as you can to ensure that these breaches are dealt with properly and in a constructive manner (preferably present screenshots of a rulebreak if you can). You, of course, may remain anonymous when reporting a breach of the CoC. If you feel like you are being mistreated, staff is there to listen to your concerns and act on your behalf.
Below you will find the rules outlined by our Code of Conduct:
1. Be Polite
General Toxicity, Harassment, Passive Aggression, Rudeness, Bashing, Flaming, Slander, Baiting, and Manipulation are counterproductive to any constructive conversation and to our community environment and are therefore not only not allowed on FTRP, they will also be actively punished with warnings. This applies to both the site and the site's Discord Server as well as official guild chats.
- Details:
Bashing can entail the bashing of certain members, groups of members, staff, certain guilds, and/or the site and its policies or policies/decisions enacted by a member of staff in a manner that is defined as simultaneously negative and unconstructive to any healthy debate and conversation. If there are any criticisms you wish to raise it must be done in a manner that is respectful, constructive, and conducive to a healthy and non-toxic discussion, and it must be done in private by DMing an administrator of the site. "Making a scene" is not a helpful way to discuss a subject and is, in all cases, both discouraged and punishable.
Baiting is defined as attempting to attract the sympathy, pity, or aggression of another player, a group of players, or members of staff via negative and/or passive-aggressive public or private posts and/or public or private comments. An example of this would be "guilt-tripping", i.e. using the natural feeling of guilt in certain situations against another player to manipulate that player, or the existence of a pre-existing condition to influence others or garner their sympathy. Such behavior is frowned upon here in FTRP and any such behavior, if recognized, will be punished.
If you struggle with any pre-existing or developing condition, we wish for you to receive the proper care and treatment you require and deserve and highly encourage you to seek professional help in any case it is clearly needed.
Minimodding is when a member who is not part of the staff team or is not currently acting as a staff member reaches out to another member and informs them of a rule break they have or allegedly have committed and tries to handle it themselves. This includes things such as character-, magic-, equipment-, and lineage creation, job creation, and any other site system. If someone directly asks you a question and you know the answer, you may, of course, assist them, though any breach of the CoC or other site rules can be and will be handled by staff. If you witness the misuse of a site system please DM a staff member with a description of the problem and allow them to handle it. Handling any kind of rule break, magic or other grading issues, or roleplay issue yourself is not only annoying and invasive, it can borderline on harassment and is simply not allowed.
IMPORTANT: If you feel mistreated by a moderator, DM an administrator with a description of the problem. If you feel mistreated by an administrator, either DM an administrator, or should you feel uncomfortable with that, the owner of the site with a description of the problem.
Note!: Official Guild Chats are classed as official site chats and the CoC applies. The guild in question may additionally use and uphold their own chat rules, as long as these additional rules do not conflict with the CoC and any other official site rule. Guild Masters (and if witnessed, members of the staff team) are responsible for reporting any rule breaks that occur within their guild chats and bring the issue to an administrator. If the rule break goes unreported, the Guild Master, staff member, or the guild in question will receive a warning, depending on the circumstance. Guild Masters are also responsible for handling rule breaks within their own guild, permanently removing banned members of the forum from their guild chat (failure to do so will result in a warning against the guild) or removing repeat rulebreakers from their guild chat as well.
2. No Powerplaying, Metagaming, Autohitting, or Godmoding
Powerplaying, Metagaming, Autohitting, and Godmodding are not conducive to a fun roleplay or a fun community environment in any capacity and are thus not allowed in their entirety on FTRP. If you wish to plot a scenario that could include these with another player, please discuss anything that could be classed as such behavior with them out-of-character to see if they agree with your plot. If they do not agree, accept their refusal and don't harass or pressure them to accept. Any behavior observed that breaks this rule will be punished. Please note that killing another player character or their NPCs without their permission is forbidden under any and all circumstances unless explicit permission is obtained from said player.
- Details:
Powerplaying is defined as directly or indirectly controlling another player's character's or their NPC's actions, or forcing them into set scenarios without their agreement. This behavior is heavily discouraged and is a warnable offense if observed.
Autohitting, as the name implies, is hitting, injuring, damaging, or killing another player or their NPC without their permission or without giving them a chance to dodge an attack. Naturally, this is not allowed.
Metagaming is defined as applying out-of-character knowledge in-character, or your character possesses knowledge that, realistically, they would not have access to. This includes any and all information about events that have happened or have not yet happened in-character. A classic example of metagaming would be any and all instances of unwanted telepathy or mindreading, which naturally are not allowed without explicit OOC permission from any affected party. Please always ask for out-of-character permission if you wish to use information your character does not and should not have access to and create an in-character means to do so in case you wish to obtain said information.
Godmoding is playing your character as omnipotent, omniscient, able to solve every problem, able to land all their hits while never taking any hits in return, or not allowing your character to be hurt when they realistically should have been does not make for a fun RP scenario in most circumstances. This behavior should be avoided and, if displayed in particular excess, is definitively a warnable offense. Try to be realistic in the portrayal of a character.
Character Deaths are only allowed with the explicit permission of the player who controls the character for their character to be killed off. Harassing or nagging a member to try and manipulate them into allowing their character to be killed is decidedly against the rules and will be punished. If a character falls to zero HP, by default, they will go unconscious. For more information on this matter see the Character Rules.
3. Be appropriate
FTRP is a PG-13 Forum, which means that explicitly mature content is not allowed in the Discord Server, in Roleplay, Applications, Biographies, and other on-site locations. The use of excessively explicit imagery and descriptions is punished as per Forumotion's Terms and Conditions and will be removed under most circumstances.
4. No Plagiarism
Using someone else's work and claiming it as your own is theft and is not tolerated under any and all circumstances.
5. You may not spam or advertise
Please do not advertise outside of the designated Advertisements and Spam board on this forum. Spam can include PMs or DMs of advertising nature, excessive double-posting or chain-messaging, random or off-topic posts anywhere on the forum or in IC threads. Spam, in most circumstances, will be removed. Ignoring this rule will result in warnings or bans, depending on the nature of the advertisement/spam.
6. Loophole Exploitation
Using any gap or oversight in the rules and systems of the site in an exploiting way or for your own gain, either in-character or out-of-character, is explicitly forbidden. This also includes cheating site systems to give yourself an advantage in contests, votes, or other similar site mechanics. If you see the potential for a loophole in the rules or systems of the site contact a member of staff with a brief description of the problem. If you feel like one of your own abilities, spells, or other applications may unintentionally exploit or abuse a site rule or system in a way, you may also contact a staff member without fear of repercussion and ask the staff member in question for advice and feedback on the matter at hand. If you are suspected of loopholing, any of your affected applications may be pulled and asked to be corrected at any given time and without warning. Depending on the circumstances, this is also a warnable offense.
7. Quitting and inactivity are not rewarded here
Announcing that you are officially quitting the site for any reason results in you forfeiting everything you have earned on all of your characters, excluding VIP items (though not VIP EXP and VIP Jewels). If you wish to take a break from the site or are going to take a leave of absence for an extended period of time please post an official hiatus thread here to inform the community and the staff team. There is no negotiating this and the following activity rules (though the staff team reserves the right to make certain exceptions depending on circumstance). Players who have been inactive for more than three months without an announced leave of absence or a hiatus will automatically forfeit all of their possessions, such as equipment, pets, raffle items, Items of the Months, and any other equipment or consumable. This does not include Jewels, EXP, or VIP Items.
A player may be considered inactive if they do not post, or post extremely sparsely, over the course of more than 1 month without taking a leave of absence or hiatus. This means players who are considered inactive may be removed from guilds by their guild masters, their applications may be archived, and they are subject to losing any in-character position they may hold (such as Rising Star, Warlord, Slayer, Ace, etc.).
Posting an open-ended leave of absence or hiatus thread means a player will have 3 months from the point of the inactivity notice first being posted to regain sufficient activity or they, too, will be considered inactive and may face the same consequences as specified above.
A "Semi-hiatus" or a notice of lowered or decreased activity is not accepted. Players are either classed as on or off hiatus and activity has to be evaluated from either of those two positions, with a "Semi-hiatus" or notice of decreased activity counting as an open-ended hiatus notice. Note that in order to be considered active, you must post actively and consistently in-character. Simply coming off hiatus and making a few posts before going back on hiatus will not be accepted as "active" and does not constitute any sufficient or consistent activity. Attempting to circumvent or loophole activity rules in any way, especially in order to keep a position you hold, is punishable and will result in warnings. Relating to this, announcing a leave of absence after receiving an activity warning for an applicable in-character position (such as Slayer, Warlord, etc.) is not accepted and can/will still result in the loss of said position if the criteria to retain the position are not met.
Permanently banned members automatically forfeit all of their possessions. Everything they own will return to the site and they, nor any other player, can claim what they own as their own. Staff determines what may happen with any VIP items, Items of the Month, and other similar possessions they have owned.
8. Don't Brag
Bragging about your character's abilities, magics, items, spells, et cetera falls under toxicity and is heavily discouraged. Bragging is defined as discussing the aforementioned attributes of your character publicly in an overly toxic or negative manner that could make others feel bad and/or inferior. Feel free to talk about your characters and your plots, though please do not attempt to put other members of this forum down. This can be a major hindrance to any and all enjoyment of roleplay on this forum and is a definitively punishable offense if observed in excess.
9. Be Fair
Be fair to your fellow members of this forum. Don't attempt to manipulate them or abuse them for your own gain, don't attempt to cheat to give yourself or others an advantage, don't try to put others down for your own gain in any way or capacity. This also includes not using spells, abilities, equipment, items or other aspects of your characters if they have not been approved or purchased unless all involved players explicitly agree upon this in plot circumstances. Remember that behind every player is a real person, so please treat your fellow roleplayers with respect, dignity, kindness, and fairness.
10. Staff has the Last Word
Please respect members of staff and their decisions, whether in gradings, the enforcement of rules, or the occasional exception that can, and sometimes must be made circumstantially. This includes corrections or warnings in regards to circumstances not explicitly covered in the rules but deemed harmful to the spirit of the rules or the community of the site. Do not try to start bad-faith discussions with staff members and please bring forth any and all criticism you may have in a constructive and respectful manner, preferably in private with the staff member in question, or another member of staff should you feel uncomfortable. Concludingly, please remember that staff are people, too, and sometimes you will find that, outside of their positions as staff members, they are quite agreeable people if you give them a chance.
Punishments for Breaking the CoC
Users are punished by being given warnings. These inform the member in question of the circumstance of their rulebreak and the rulebreak itself. Warnings are recorded, do not vanish over time, and are not deleted (though a warning may be rescinded if all staff members agree it was unjustly given).
One rulebreak results in a verbal warning
Two rulebreaks result in an official warning
Three rulebreaks result in a minimum one week ban
Four rulebreaks result in a minimum one month ban
Five rulebreaks result in a minimum three month ban
More than five rulebreaks result in a permanent ban
Depending on the frequency or nature of a transgression of the CoC one or several levels of warnings may be skipped. If you can definitively prove you did not break a rule you may politely and respectfully appeal a warning that has been given to you. Denying a rulebreak that you clearly committed or rudeness towards the staff member administering the warning is not acceptable, however, and may be grounds for further punishment depending on the circumstance.
Roleplay Guidelines
General Roleplay:
FTRP is a website known as a roleplay forum that, as the name implies, uses a forum-type layout that provides the platform on which people may conduct their roleplay, sometimes referred to as "Message-Board Role-Playing". For a general definition of what a Roleplay Forum is, see the corresponding Wikipedia Article. As explained therein, users on this forum use messages, so-called "posts" to roleplay their characters in sections of the forum called "threads", which usually span a self-contained story or storyline that can include one or multiple players with surrounding Out-Of-Character gameplay mechanics that can be used to guide, control or enhance the roleplaying experience of players or certain types of players that wish to partake in those systems. If some of these roleplay-specific terms don't quite make sense to you just yet, you can find a link to a website explaining roleplay terminology here. If you are unfamiliar with forum roleplay in general, it is highly recommended that you take a look at these terms and familiarize yourself with them in some way, as they are used frequently on this forum. Applying the aforementioned terms to this website, it is a Consent-based AU / Alternate universe Fairy Tail Roleplay Forum.
FTRP has some additional guidelines to enhance the roleplayer's experience. The following guidelines apply to general roleplay on the forum and are used as a reference for members and staff alike in case it is needed.
Characters:
Every account must have an approved character before one may roleplay on the forum. The character a player roleplays and their approved character must be the same. In general, roleplaying canon-characters in any form, player or NPC, is not allowed, and people use their own Original Characters (OCs, for short) to roleplay on this forum.
Threads:
Unless a roleplay thread is explicitly marked as open, you may not join that thread or only join that thread with the explicit agreement of all other players in that thread. Roleplay on this forum is, in general, agreed upon before the roleplay topic in question is started, and is, with some exceptions, generally private.
Post-Order & Time Limit:
Creating a thread with the participation of more than two players calls for the establishment of a post-order. A post-order determines who posts first, second, third, and so on, in a given roleplay topic. Every participant of the thread needs to follow the established post order and wait for others to reply. If a member fails to reply within an agreed-upon timeframe the member in question may be skipped at the discretion of other members in the thread, and can, if the other participants within the thread agree, post at a later point. Communication is key in such cases, and it is highly encouraged to discuss these decisions with your roleplay partners. If the member in question fails to post even then the posting cycle continues as normal with the exception of the skipped member. Social threads, usually, do not have a post order unless otherwise specified by the creator of the thread, though it is advisable to let all participants post at least once before replying again. The guidelines as specified above, in this case, apply.
Third Person, Past Tense:
The standard for roleplay on FTRP is using a Third-Person past tense style of roleplay. An example of this would be "Seijin was hungry. He looked around to see if there was any food, but found nothing.". Other forms of roleplay, such as first-person roleplay or present tense are discouraged, but not explicitly forbidden. These forms of roleplay are permitted if every participant in a thread agrees to their use. An example of roleplay of this style would be "I am hungry. I look around to see if there is any food, but I find nothing.".
Paragraphs, Not Sentences:
Newer roleplayers might have a hard time adapting to FTRP's system of roleplay, but please be as descriptive as you have to be for an entertaining roleplay experience. It is encouraged to post more than a few lines of roleplay per post. The lower limit is 50 words per post at least. Oneliners are similarly discouraged.
Roleplay & Plot:
Sometimes people have strong feelings on certain matters, but players will always have the final say about their own plot, or in the case of guild masters, the plot of their guild. Any attempt to intervene in, sabotage, influence, and/or manipulate a player's or guild's plot without the explicit permission of said player or guild master is a serious matter, as our roleplay experience is based heavily on a consent system. If such an attempt is discovered or reported, and the partaking members are found to engage in such behavior, it will be punished. Harassing or manipulating people in order to get a plot of a nature as specified above changed or swayed in a certain direction is also similarly punishable. Any roleplay actions that happen as part of these offenses can and will be ignored in regards to the character or guild plot they have been trying to affect or influence. The same rules and guidelines as specified above apply to any site-wide plot or lore, which is controlled by the Administration and may not be changed or influenced in any way without explicit permission.
Additional Protocols and Policies
Waiting & Bumping:
Moderators and Administrators have up to 7 days to grade your application after they have claimed it. If those 7 days pass and your grader has not yet addressed your application in question you may politely reach out to them and inform them of that circumstance. If the staff member in question does not respond to the member within 48 hours, please contact an administrator and inform them of this. After that, you may re-submit the application in question for grading.
Post Deletion:
FTRP staff does not delete certain posts or threads for members. In some instances, depending on the situation at hand, threads may be archived or split at a user's request. Certain posts pertaining to warnable offenses may be moved or archived into special sections of the forum for evaluation, storage, or accessibility.
Discord Rules and Policies:
The reach of the Code of Conduct as detailed above extends to the FTRP Forumotion website itself for both public posts and private messages, the official FTRP Discord Chat, and official FTRP guild chats, on Discord or other platforms. The Code of Conduct extends to private messages between members of the forum when reported. If you are certain that another member of the forum is breaking / broke the CoC in private with you (Such as site PMs or Discord DMs) please gather sufficient evidence and bring the matter up to an administrator.
Members of the Forum who are not part of a given guild may not and should not have access to the corresponding official FTRP guild Discord chat, and should not be allowed in those same Discord chats. If members find themselves in an official FTRP guild Discord chat while not being part of said guild, they should be removed from said Discord chat at the next opportunity. Members who are classed as inactive under CoC#7, members who have been archived, members who have been on hiatus for more than 3 months, or members who fail a guild activity check or site activity check are to be removed from the Official FTRP main Discord chat and any applicable official FTRP guild Discord chat at the next opportunity. Members removed under any of these rules are not to regain access to any official FTRP guild Discord chat until they have regained a sufficient, consistent, and visible level of activity. Failing to adhere to any of these rules will result in consequences for any guild or, if applicable, any single individual responsible for enforcing these policies (Such as Guild Masters, Aces, and members of the Staff Team), as they find themselves in breach of CoC#7. If you observe a guild or any single individual responsible to enforce these rules continuing to knowingly breach any of these rules, please gather sufficient evidence and bring the matter up to an administrator.
Privacy Policy
A member's IP address may be used in case of long-term or permanent bans or in case of legal action, should it be required, as per the Terms and Conditions of the Forumotion Host System. Administrators on a Forumotion website can and may check a user's IP address and accounts attached to that IP when determining alternate or duplicate accounts. In the context of the site, sharing an IP address between different accounts will count as alternate accounts. Family status, as well as relationship status, to any other members who share your IP can and will not be taken into consideration in this matter unless it can be made definitively clear and it can be proven without question that separate people are accessing the same IP address. Members of this site do not have access to IP addresses or information attached to them and should not ask for such information unless there might be legitimate legal concerns, in which case an administrator must be contacted. For further information on this matter please carefully read the Forumotion Privacy Policy.
