WIP User Code of Conduct

User Code of Conduct

• Mission Statement
• Rules
  • Unacceptable Social Behavior
  • Freedom of Speech
• Moderation
  • Order of Action
  • Reporting Wrongful Action
  • Ban Appeal
• Cheating
• FAQ

Mission Statement

The RetroAchievements project aims to provide tools for creating achievements for retrogames and ways to enjoy such creations. We strive to promote a healthy and collaborative community around this hobby. Everything we produce is made available for free and we will never profit from it.

Rules

In order to support the growth of our community as described in our mission statement, we need some rules.

1. Don't be a jerk or generally obnoxious - nobody likes trolls.
2. Do not use the RetroAchievements website or Discord server to share or request copyrighted material. This includes direct downloads, links to ROM sites, etc.
3. Keep the Discord channels and forum threads on-topic.
4. When a moderator/admin asks you to stop, you should stop.
5. When in doubt, ask a @mod in Discord or send a message to RAdmin on the website.
6. Do not advertise products, services, or other Discord servers without approval.

Moderation typically follows a "three strikes" warning system, but there are certain behaviors that will not be tolerated and will likely expedite removing someone from the community. These behaviors include, but are not limited to:

• Bigotry. This includes racism, sexism, elitism; intolerance regarding others' nationality, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, etc.
• Public or private harassment.
• Unwelcome sexual attention or advances towards others.
• Doxing. This is publishing others' private information, such as photos, contact information, etc. without their explicit permission.
• Spamming, excessive shitposting, etc.
• Personal attacks, as in making abusive remarks on or relating to one's person, instead of providing evidence when examining another person's claims or comments.
• Posting pornography, as in images or descriptions of erotic behavior intended to cause sexual excitement.
• Posting gruesome or gory images intended to cause disgust.
• Heated public arguments.

Please report to moderators/admins cases where these rules and behaviors are being violated. The moderators will step in to cool things down if arguments start getting out of hand.

Freedom of Speech

Some people show up just to complain and all admins/mods are evil. We get it. If you want to constantly rant or dump derogatory comments about how we run things here, you're free to do that. However, this can be demotivating and wastes a lot of volunteers' time; therefore, we don't want it on our forums or Discord Server. There are plenty of options where you can do it around the internet.

Keep in mind that RetroAchievements.org is NOT a bastion of freedom of speech.

Criticism is welcome, but just be sure to be civil.

Moderation

If you feel moderation is needed, ping the @mod role on our Discord server, or direct your issues to RAdmin, a shared mod-mail account.

Order of Action

The moderation teams' goal is to assure users adhere to the User's Code of Conduct. If a member from moderation spots an action that is a breach of this Code of Conduct, the following steps will be taken for proper action:

1. Formal and diplomatic warning via carl-bot. (no sarcasm, no threatening tone).

2. If the warning is ignored, the offender will be kicked from our Discord server.

Note: For website offenses, Step 2 is ignored. If the offender ignores the warning in Step 1, the next action results in a ban as detailed below:

3. If the offender continues to ignore the moderation, they'll be banned from our Discord server. If the offender has the "Developer" role on the website, their privileges will be removed.

Reporting Wrongful Moderation

If you think moderators are not acting like described above, send a Direct Message to RAdmin or email [email protected]. This is a shared moderation account that all mods and admins see. The issue will be discussed and dealt with fairly.

Admins/mods who do not follow or enforce this Code of Conduct in good faith may face temporary or permanent repercussions as determined by other members of the project's administration.

Ban Appeal

If you've been banned and want to appeal to have your account access back, please send a site Direct Message to RAdmin. In the event that your site account has been banned, please send an email to [email protected].

Cheating

Check the Global Leaderboard and Achievement Hunting Rules.

FAQ

• When a member gets banned from the Discord server, are they automatically banned from the website?
• I created a Discord server because I want more freedom than what I have on the RetroAchievements community. Can I promote my server here?
• Is it mandatory for achievement creators to join the Discord server?
• If an achievement creator is banned from Discord will they lose the "Developer" role on the website?
• If I'm banned from the Discord server but I still want to create achievements, what should I do?

When a member gets banned from the Discord server, are they automatically banned from the website?

No.

The member will still be able to use our services to play retrogames with achievements. But if the disruptive behavior continues on the website, they'll be banned from there too.

I created a Discord server because I want more freedom than what I have on the official RetroAchievements server. Can I promote my server here?

No.

Is it mandatory for achievement creators to join the Discord server?

No.

Joining our Discord server is optional. But if you're in the list of banned users there, you cannot have the "Developer" role on the website.

If an achievement creator is banned from Discord will they lose the "Developer" role on the website?

Yes.

If I'm banned from the Discord server but I still want to create achievements, what should I do?

Send your appeal to RAdmin or [email protected] to try and have your ban lifted.

It doesn't really matter if you want to join the server or not, if you're in the list of banned users in our Discord server, you cannot have the "Developer" role on the website.