Planetfall Code of Conduct
This is our code of conduct. You will notice that it is fairly straightforward and blunt. We are not wasting time with legalese and tortured language. We even included some profanity for good measure. This is simply a statement from the staff as to how we expect you to behave at our game. The reason we can get away with this simplicity is because ­ Playing is a privilege, not a right. The staff reserves the right to expel any player or remove any character from the game and site for any reason at any time, permanently or temporarily. If this rule disturbs you, we will remind you there is really no defense against the staff of a private organization who are intent on being unfair, and no amount of rules will protect you from that. The staff are not power­drunk jackasses intent on jerking you around. You will have to trust the staff to act in good faith for the good of the game. The simplicity of this rule also makes abuse of power less likely ­ no one can point to some procedure or byline and say they were simply operating by some arcane standard so their behavior is allowed. Nope, the staff has been given absolute power ­ and they have no procedural excuse if they choose to abuse it. So, without further adieu… Be mature and respectful.
This is only a game. Keep the drama in­character and only in­character. Do not target characters because you do not like the player. Do not engage in childish behavior, or adolescent high school bullshit. Be in the scene.
Play out the game world. Every time you do not try to act out and roleplay, you are seriously hurting the illusion of the world and detracting from everyone’s experience ­ including your own. If you are wounded and your character would be in pain, act like you are in pain. If you are ‘fixing’ something, improvise and play out fixing it. Improv, it is not hard. If you need help, ask your fellow players for tips on how to do it. A game where everyone is playing to their fullest is orders of magnitude more enriching than a game where everyone but one person is. Do not be that person. If you need to go out of character, keep it brief and quiet or take it to the area designated for such things. Maintain tone and immersion.
Maintaining the tone and immersive nature of the world, and not making a mockery of things, is paramount in a shared world. Inside jokes, cute references, repeating movie lines, intrusions of modern pop culture, all slowly degrade the shared universe into a farce. Which is fine if you are running a farce, but we are not. Please maintain the tone of the game. Planetfall is a realistic game set in a hard science fiction future. We want to depict realistic people who come from a very different place and time than ourselves. In tone, it is similar to Ridley Scott’s Alien, and the hard sci­fi of Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Frederik Pohl, with some Heinlein social commentary thrown in for good measure. These works of fiction take their world seriously, and are not sarcastic or farcical in their presentation of real human beings in a future world dealing with a harsh situation. Some might call this approach ‘gritty’, but it is not without the normal human emotions of joy and humor ­ but make sure you are laughing because of an in­world joke, not because you, the player, got the cute reference to a 20th century TV show. Think of the serious science fiction shows and movies you love, and how the characters take their situations seriously and aren’t goofball comic relief idiots, because it would directly interfere with the issues and ideas they were trying to convey. Ultimately, Planetfall is humanist ­ it focuses on the human experience, and wants to depict it in all its complicated glory and frailty in a mature way. Be part of that. Be supportive of your fellow players.
Help them out. Foster an environment where we all work together to make a good game. This does not mean not to be adversarial in­character. In fact, when two characters are adversarial, it becomes even more important to try and reach out OOC to make sure the conflict and drama are fun instead of an anxiety­ridden power struggle. Be respectful of the staff’s time, energy and authority.
Every interaction with the game’s staff do takes the staff’s most limited resources ­ time and energy. There will come a point in many of these interactions where the staff not only has the prerogative, but in fact a duty, to cut off the amount they spend on a particular issue or problem. From rules debates to concerns over policy, players have the right to make their point heard, but the staff has an equal right to declare an end to a discussion and simply make their decision final. In this regard, the staff will attempt to be clear, concise and direct in stating their position on a matter, for both time’s sake and to make it easily referenced later by players and staff. Relatedlly, we do not do ‘tone’ arguments ­ if you understand what someone said and how they meant it to be taken, but have a problem with their tone or how they said it, you are wasting everyone’s time, including your own. This can even include discussions which could continue without them ­ since tribal knowledge or misunderstandings will often require their further monitoring and intervention. And remember, it’s possible for the staff to understand your position perfectly and still not agree. Ultimately, in the immortal words of Jay­Z, “we runnin’ this shit,” and for good reason. The creators and central staff of the game are the only ones who can really be trusted to have no other loyalties other than to the quality and health of the game. We obviously want everyone to have a good time ­ but we’re also the ones making the calls here. And once we’ve made a final call, the discussion is over. Obey the spirit of the rules.
We like picking at rules. The fact of the matter is that no rule is so well written it cannot be argued inside out against its intention. But the intent and spirit of a rule is almost always clear. Finding loopholes and workarounds is neither cute nor smart. It is annoying, the kind of thing that keeps us from playing board games with smart­ass children. It also hurts the overall game for everyone involved. This is different than mere misinterpretation of a rule. Misinterpretation is a good faith attempt to apply a rule whether it favors you or not. Disobeying the spirit is a search for weaknesses to exploit for your own benefit or amusement. One is merely being human, the other is being a chucklefuck. Guess which we’ll hold you accountable for. Embrace the tragedy.
Enjoy your character’s failures and frustrations as much as their successes. You remember that great movie where the main character did everything right and got all that they wanted immediately without any hiccups? Me neither. We are both simulating a world and telling a story ­ both of which rightfully contain failures, deaths, injuries and the like. Embrace it. You’ll find it is quite fun. If you are feeling ambitious, we even recommend you try playing to lose. Make your character flawed, have them make tragic or wrong decisions due to their emotional vulnerabilities. Be vulnerable. It’s a blast. Play safely.
This is a physical activity, so it is quite possible to get hurt. But do not do anything unreasonably risky or dangerous, or do anything that puts your fellow players at risk. Remain aware of your environment. Do not dismantle rickety objects, jump from tall heights, shove others into tall grass or water, etc. etc. Be aware of possible poisonous animals (e.g., snakes) and show appropriate caution in tall grass, do not turn over rocks, tc. Be aware of dangerous items (e.g., broken glass) in the play environment. We are not the cops.
It is not our job to deal with actual criminal activity. We would like to be informed if something happened at our site, but in cases of actual crimes, contact the police and we will cooperate fully with them. Those under investigation for a crime committed at our game or against one of our players are suspended from the game until it is resolved, and those convicted of such can and likely will be expelled permanently at the decision of our staff. Do not harass other players.
And now the elephant in the room. Harassment is a bit of a hot button issue and a difficult one to nail down. Some ignore the issue. Others cast it as part of the game itself. Others attempt to solve it with all the subtlety of trying to kill a mosquito with a sledgehammer ­ and create similar amounts of collateral damage. We had five requirements for crafting our harassment policy: 1. It treats the issue seriously and recognizes the reality of it in our society. 2. It takes effective and necessary steps to create a comfortable environment for all our players. 3. It does not criminalize being merely awkward, while also expecting players to grow and adapt. It is amazing what happens to people once you remove them from the context of a society which has done nothing but shame and attack them for being who they are. 4. It creates an atmosphere of fairness that is critical to anyone feeling safe in our group, rather than creating tension, and does not remove common sense and human judgment from the equation. No system of blind laws has ever achieved justice. 5. It does not read like a wish list for emotionally abusive people on any side of the equation. In our definition, harassment includes: ● Bullying, threats and intimidation ● Relational aggression, e.g. whispering campaigns, rumor mongering, shaming tactics, clique culture, slander and other attempts to discredit or damage the social status of other players ● Repeatedly violating personal space, inappropriate touching or giving unwanted levels of attention to another player ● Sexual harassment, including sexual comments directed at others, unwanted sexual advances, repeated attempts to start an unwanted relationship, demands for sexual favors and sexual slurs ● Bigoted statements or slurs aimed at any group of people, including ethnicities, genders, political affiliations, or sexual orientations ● Excessive or repeated unwanted contact or communications with a player, in or out of the game If you feel you are being harassed or are uncomfortable, we ask, but do not demand, that our players assume good faith and ask the other player to cease their behavior. But if you are uncomfortable with this, the staff will speak to them on your behalf. Sometimes, people do not realize what they are doing, and we will take your word on how you feel and what your perception of the situation was. If you are informed that your behavior is out of line or making others feel uncomfortable, once again, try and assume good faith. We are all here to have fun. Take it as a lesson and correct your behavior. While we understand misinterpretations can occur and seem unfair, it’s all down to perception, so correct the perceived behavior graciously. The staff will intervene in a situation politely only once, and may skip doing so entirely in favor of going straight to a disciplinary action in the case of grievous incidents. In this case, or if a second incident or complaint occurs, that’s when the “fun” part begins. The staff will assess the situation. They will ask both sides for their account of the incident, along with any third parties involved. Evidence may be asked for, and depending on the severity of the alleged event, one or both of those involved may be suspended from play until it is resolved. The game owners may appoint a specific staff member or members to deal with a specific incident or all such complaints. Sometimes, the event is nebulous, e.g. situations where the complainant was the only witness to actions that made them feel uncomfortable and the other player insists nothing happened. In such a situation, the staff will likely decide to accept the word of the complainant. The staff will also take into account patterns of similar behavior toward other players in their judgment. Disciplinary Actions
In the event of a harassment complaint, cheating or other negative behavior, the following actions can be taken by the staff. ● Warning: In the case of a first­time isolated minor incident, a warning will likely be issued. No one is entitled to a warning, but the staff may prefer to issue one rather than come down hard. But no more than one warning for the same or similar behavior should ever be issued ­ after that, it is time for more decisive action. ● Suspension: A player can be suspended from attending events, including social events related to the game, or using the online features of our community for a set period of time or events. This is actually the least likely punishment to be employed ­ if someone is brazen enough to ignore a fair warning, this is an unlikely deterrent; but is more reserved for ignorance or grievous errors of the moment that nonetheless warrant a punishment. ● Ban: A player is banned permanently from all events, including related social events, and loses all characters and benefits of membership. Refunds for event tickets will be issued at the discretion of the staff. Memberships, donations and any other contributions of money or material to the game will not be refunded or returned. The Inclusion Advisors
Let’s face it ­ the staff is (at the time of this writing) white guys. While we certainly have our own unique experiences and are not completely ignorant of the world, we may be unaware of the context of certain complaints or content. We can certainly imagine and sympathize with the realities of other identities, but that understanding will always be incomplete ­ just as it would be incomplete the other way around. To that end, in cases where identity and inclusiveness are at the center of an issue ­ be it a harassment complaint or a concern involving our games content ­ the Planetfall staff has our inclusion advisors. They are volunteers from different backgrounds than our own who we can trust to give their own neutral input into such sensitive matters and advise us on appropriate action. They are primarily there to advocate from the worldview of other backgrounds and provide context so that the staff can take a just and fair action. They may even be appointed to handle an issue or complaint themselves. This position is invitation only. But, also in the interest of fairness, it is not the job of the inclusion advisors to label and judge other players. Such policing has a chilling effect, and just puts the Sword of Damocles over someone else’s head ­ the very opposite of creating an inclusive environment for everyone. And remember, have fun!* * Apparently, all game codes of conduct are required by law to have this line at the end. So we’re erring on the side of caution.