Waypoint Forum Rules and Code of Conduct!

[Danika]


The goal of the Waypoint Community is to be an inclusive, fun place to talk about games and other things. Waypoint is a site focused on “why we play” and that’s the common interest that brought us all here. These rules are intended to promote that environment.

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 ---------- [b]Rule 1[/b] > Bigotry, including but not limited to discrimination or hate speech based on race, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, or any other attacks on one’s personhood, will not be tolerated. Don’t put marginalized people in the position of having to explain or defend their marginalization. It is not their job to educate you. Do your own research.

Rule 2

Threatening behaviour or harassment of any kind will not be tolerated. This includes taking your problems across various social platforms. Our community and its platforms are not to be used to to launch attacks on others.

Rule 3 Revised 6/22/17

Danika is available if you have any concerns on the forums. Otherwise, do not DM members of the Waypoint staff for private conversation, direct feedback, or pitches unless requested by them. There are appropriate channels to pitch your work or offer Waypoint/VICE feedback. Do not use the forums as a launching pad for your pitches.

Rule 4

Use content warning tags where appropriate (e.g. body horror, gore, graphic/potentially triggering subject matter in linked content etc.). We understand this is subjective and ask you to err on the side of caution. Please flag or DM a mod re: posts you think are insufficiently tagged or inappropriate. Relatedly, don’t make jokes at the expense of content/trigger warnings.

Rule 5

Don’t be needlessly explicit. Remember that there are minors and people who are sex repulsed in the community. Don’t “perform horny” for laughs, as there are people in the community who are not comfortable with that. This includes things like jokes about your kinks or daddy jokes.

Rule 6

Don’t post pirated materials or links to pirated materials. Don’t suggest you have access to pirated materials.

Rule 7

If you’re a creator, share your work in The Workshop. We love seeing your stuff, but we ask that you don’t make posts about the things you create as being your first and/or only posts. Please make an effort to be a member of the community and not as someone only interested in self promotion.

Rule 8

When posting someone else’s fan work (fanart, cosplay etc.), please do your best to source it and provide links to the creator’s social media or portfolio. If you don’t have the source, do a reverse image search to look for it. While we understand this is not always possible, we think creators being properly credited and visible is good and important.

Rule 9

Don’t spam: keep your dokes and jokes in the Jokes N’ Dokes category.

Rule 10

Remember that the games journalism community is small, our community is visible, and other personalities have been active here - act accordingly. Do not speculate on hires or personal lives of staff or personalities of this or any other site; remember, this is a person’s livelihood, not fantasy football.

In addition to the rules above, the Moderation Team and Staff reserve the right to remove a user for reasons not explicitly covered here if deemed necessary.

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 ---------- [i]Rules will be noted as new or updated for any addendum to them with date of change.[/i]

Revised/Addendum Log

• 6/22/17 - Revised Rule 3 for clarification

[Danika]


When an infraction is made, it is a group effort to weigh in on any punitive measures that might be administered. Situations and issues are discussed within the moderation team, escalated when needed, and action is taken when deemed necessary.

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 ---------- **Rules 1, 2:** _Revised 6/22/17_ > These are the rules that contribute to people feeling safe. As such, we take them most seriously and will be least lenient upon infraction. We will review the situation as a mod team, read the relevant logs, talk to involved people, and the most likely outcomes are that you a) will receive your first and final warning or b) that you will be banned without a second chance.

Rules 3-10: Revised 6/22/17

You will be issued one or two warnings depending on severity. If you continue to disregard the rules or fail to adapt, you will be banned. Use discretion.

Gross Violation of Code of Conduct

The code of conduct is written to keep things respectful and mature. Repeated violation of it may result in punitive action taken towards the offender, depending on the issue scaling with severity.

Disciplinary action for unprecedented events or situations not covered by our rules will vary.

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Because decisions and actions that are taken are decided upon as a group, we stand firm behind them. If you wish to and are able to contest a ruling (i.e. have not been banished from the forum for extreme misconduct), contact us privately through DM. Do not seek out other avenues or platforms to establish contact if you have been banned from the forum or any other Waypoint social space. Please be mindful that being combative and aggressive towards us does not help in opening a constructive dialogue between the moderation team and staff.

Revised/Addendum Log

• 6/22/17 - Moved Rule 3 into Disciplinary Action Rule Grouping 4-10

[Danika]


A note on the kind of conversation we’d like to create here. The mod team wants the Waypoint community to be able to discuss complex topics in a thoughtful manner. We also want to create a community that looks out for itself.

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In order to achieve these aims, we would recommend that people:

• Consider other peoples’ perspectives.
• Act in good faith (do not: troll; play devil’s advocate; create straw men; move goalposts, etc.)
• Within reason, give people the benefit of the doubt.
• Be thoughtful and conscientious of other people’s time.
• Avoid making blanket statements or speaking in absolutes, or stating your opinion as fact.
• Work to de-escalate rather than inflame heated conversations
• Be mindful of group dynamics in discussions and arguments.
• Use facts and show sources to illustrate an argument.
• Do your best to refrain from using dead language. These are phrases so overused they’ve lost all meaning (e.g. SJW, PC, problematic, etc.)
• Don’t block-quote a post and pull it apart line by line.
• Let an argument go if there is no benefit to continuing it. Do not insist on getting ‘the last word’ in.
• Don’t spoil: use spoiler tags.
• Don’t double post. Edit your previous one instead.

If you see people breaking the rules or grossly violating this code of conduct, please bring it to the attention of the moderating team (e.g. by flagging it on the Forum and/or messaging a moderator). We greatly appreciate it.


Tips and Helpful Information

Community Clans and Guilds Added 6/22/17

We welcome people setting up guilds and clans for the Waypoint community in the games they enjoy. However, we insist that people avoid using the Waypoint name, branding, or assets. Feel free to take inspiration from community memes. In any descriptions, inside or outside the forums, it should be noted that it is an unofficial fan guild. Guild leaders should admister and moderate fan guilds themselves; bring it to the forum moderation team in exceptional circumstances.

Things someone should do if they break the rules and aren’t banned:

Hold their hand up, admit they might have been wrong, learn from their mistake, and take a breath. Make an effort to do better next time. Don’t repeat mistakes.

What you should do if you see the rules being broken or aren’t sure:

Flag or DM the mods and say “hey, just in case you all missed this, maybe you want to check it out.” Flags and DMs are not ‘nuclear options’; we would rather you bring your concerns to us directly rather than let them go unaddressed.

If someone is making you feel uncomfortable (this includes via DM or on another platform):

Reach out to the mods via DM. It’s why we’re here. We can’t get a situation sorted out if we don’t know it exists.

Flagging

Help us keep the forums in good order by using the flagging system. Use the flag icon found on the bottom of a post after clicking in the triple dots to reveal more options. See example:



Contact us

Please create a DM and add “Mods Waypoint Moderators” to the “Add a User” box. See example:


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Revised/Addendum Log

• 6/22/17 - Named Section “Tips and Helpful Information”
• 6/22/17 - Added Community Guilds and Clans

[robowitch]

This set of Waypoint Forum Rules has ceased to be in use as of 07/20/2018. Please find the new Waypoint Forum Rules here.