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This topic is lockedThis Code of Conduct ("CoC") is meant to supplement, not replace, general DM rules, and if situations arise that are not covered by the CoC but require moderator attention, the Admins will act as they believe necessary in the best interests of the site after consulting with the relevant staff and other Admins.
I. Post Content
1. Bigotry – DM takes a strong stand against discrimination in any form. Anyone found posting sexist, racist, homophobic or religious hate messages will be dealt with quickly and severely. Typically, the response from staff will be a lifetime ban.
2. Swearing - Only language found in the Wheel of Time may be used. If it is not in the books DO NOT USE IT. This applies on all boards.
II. Member Conduct
1. Privacy. No member of Dragonmount should ever publish private correspondence, without the approval of ALL Parties involved in the exchange. This includes PMs, E-mails, and Instant Messages.
2. Bullying. Bullying takes many forms and can be far more destructive than many people will realize. Some people will laugh off the most vicious comments; others may be driven nearly to suicide. The Staff reserve the right to remove any posts, avatars or sig pics that are deemed to fall into this category. As a general rule of thumb – if you wouldn’t say what you’re about to post in real life, in a dark alley, to someone twice your size and better trained in fighting than you, don’t post it at all.
3. Personal Attacks (including on Private Boards). Personal attacks on other members are not tolerated, period. Group Leaders and their staff are expected and obligated to deter any personal attacks made by one of their members. Failure to do so will result in immediate disciplinary action.
4. Account Information. The individual who registered for an account will be held responsible for all actions taken by the account. To avoid being accused of something you did not do, never give your account information to anyone.
5. Off-site boards.
(i) No Dragonmount member(s) may create an "off-site" which exists solely for the purpose of themselves and other Dragonmount members participating in Dragonmount related social interaction and/or private communication within a forum setting (either in an attempt to avoid information being viewed by Admins, or because they are dissatisfied with any aspect of Dragonmount's rules or members). Using Dragonmount as a place to recruit members to such forums is also prohibited. Any Group or subcategory that is found to have created a social off-site board expressly for Dragonmount-related communication will be dealt with on a case by case basis.
(ii) The only authorized off site webspaces that are acceptable are: Social or RP Group wiki's, and webpages detailing Group information or documentation.
(iii) Advertising of independant (non-Dragonmount affiliated) sites is allowed on Dragonmount by placing ONE link and invitation on the General board. Members are also welcome to place a link in their personal signatures subject to signature size rules. Please contact webmaster@dragonmount.com for permission for any other advertising.
(a) Ignoring instructions given by staff, or these rules is grounds for discipline, which will, for first offenses, typically take the form of a 30-day temp ban. However, if the nature of the conduct requires it, the discipline imposed may vary at the discretion of the Admins, up to and including a permanent ban even for a first offense. Should the conduct continue after the expiration of any temp ban or imposition of other discipline, or should the member require further discipline for other misconduct, the member will typically be permanently banned from the site. Again, however, the Admins have discretion to impose a lesser punishment should the situation warrant it.
(b) If you believe Staff is wrong in an instruction they gave you, open a discussion with them about it via PM (not on-thread). If, after making an attempt to discuss the issue with the Staffer, you believe you are not being adequately heard, feel free to include the relevant supervisor (see below for information on the Staff hierarchy). In the interim, follow the Staffer's instructions even if you disagree with them.
III. Conflict Resolution
As DM is on the Internet, it is inevitable that drama will ensue. If internet drama happens to you, please follow the following procedures.
1. Notify Staff of any Issues.
(a) If a member has an issue with another member (and this includes issues with DM Staff members- if the dispute is based on anything other than the Staff member’s actions as DM Staff), please bring it to the attention of the relevant staff (Moderator/Social Group Leader/Admin) by PM. A list of staffers, the boards they are responsible for, and their supervisors is available here.
(b) If a member has an issue with a DM Staff member’s actions as DM Staff (i.e. a problem with how a particular issue or situation was handled by the Staff member in their official capacity) please PM both the Staff member and the Staff member’s supervisor (again, the Staff hierarchy may be found here).
3. Speak Your Mind. DM will never discipline any member for telling Staff something Staff does not want to hear. That doesn’t mean that members have license to be ruder to Staff than they would to other members. But it does mean that if you see a problem, you need to tell us about it, no matter what it is.
4. Remember that Reasonable People Can Disagree. There are certain things that are black and white, of course: bigotry won’t be tolerated, favoritism is wrong, American football is better than soccer. But most disputes don’t fall within these realms of incontrovertible truth; more often, there are shades of gray, and reasonable people acting in good faith can and will take different positions even when looking at the same set of facts. As a general rule, people who come into a discussion of issues with this in mind tend to be able to find a mutually agreeable resolution much more often than people who don’t.
TERMS OF SERVICE (A reminder of what you agreed to when you registered)
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All members agree, through their use of this forum, that they will not post any material which is false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, adult material, or otherwise in violation of any International or United States Federal law. You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have written consent from the owner of the copyrighted material. Spam, flooding, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are also forbidden on this forum.
Note that it is impossible for the staff or the owners of this forum to confirm the validity of posts. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the posted messages, and as such, are not responsible for the content contained within. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information presented. The posted messages express the views of the author, and not necessarily the views of this forum, its staff, its subsidiaries, or this forum's owner. Anyone who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to notify an administrator or moderator of this forum immediately. The staff and the owner of this forum reserve the right to remove objectionable content, within a reasonable time frame, if they determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, please realize that they may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately. This policy applies to member profile information as well.
You remain solely responsible for the content of your posted messages. Furthermore, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the owners of this forum, any related websites to this forum, its staff, and its subsidiaries. The owners of this forum also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or any other related information collected on this service) in the event of a formal complaint or legal action arising from any situation caused by your use of this forum.
You have the ability, as you register, to choose your username. We advise that you keep the name appropriate. With this user account you are about to register, you agree to never give your password out to another person except an administrator, for your protection and for validity reasons. You also agree to NEVER use another person's account for any reason. We also HIGHLY recommend you use a complex and unique password for your account, to prevent account theft.
After you register and login to this forum, you will be able to fill out a detailed profile. It is your responsibility to present clean and accurate information. Any information the forum owner or staff determines to be inaccurate or vulgar in nature will be removed, with or without prior notice. Appropriate sanctions may be applicable.
Please note that with each post, your IP address is recorded, in the event that you need to be banned from this forum or your ISP contacted. This will only happen in the event of a major violation of this agreement.
Also note that the software places a cookie, a text file containing bits of information (such as your username and password), in your browser's cache. This is ONLY used to keep you logged in/out. The software does not collect or send any other form of information to your computer.
Note that it is impossible for the staff or the owners of this forum to confirm the validity of posts. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the posted messages, and as such, are not responsible for the content contained within. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information presented. The posted messages express the views of the author, and not necessarily the views of this forum, its staff, its subsidiaries, or this forum's owner. Anyone who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to notify an administrator or moderator of this forum immediately. The staff and the owner of this forum reserve the right to remove objectionable content, within a reasonable time frame, if they determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, please realize that they may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately. This policy applies to member profile information as well.
You remain solely responsible for the content of your posted messages. Furthermore, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the owners of this forum, any related websites to this forum, its staff, and its subsidiaries. The owners of this forum also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or any other related information collected on this service) in the event of a formal complaint or legal action arising from any situation caused by your use of this forum.
You have the ability, as you register, to choose your username. We advise that you keep the name appropriate. With this user account you are about to register, you agree to never give your password out to another person except an administrator, for your protection and for validity reasons. You also agree to NEVER use another person's account for any reason. We also HIGHLY recommend you use a complex and unique password for your account, to prevent account theft.
After you register and login to this forum, you will be able to fill out a detailed profile. It is your responsibility to present clean and accurate information. Any information the forum owner or staff determines to be inaccurate or vulgar in nature will be removed, with or without prior notice. Appropriate sanctions may be applicable.
Please note that with each post, your IP address is recorded, in the event that you need to be banned from this forum or your ISP contacted. This will only happen in the event of a major violation of this agreement.
Also note that the software places a cookie, a text file containing bits of information (such as your username and password), in your browser's cache. This is ONLY used to keep you logged in/out. The software does not collect or send any other form of information to your computer.
Copyright Policy:
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
It is our policy to respond to clear notices of alleged copyright infringement. This page (http://www.dragonmount.com/dmca.php) describes the information that should be present in these notices, how to submit them, and how Dragonmount will respond to such notices.
Regardless of whether we may be liable for such infringement under local country law or United States law, our response to these notices may include removing or disabling access to material claimed to be the subject of infringing activity and/or terminating subscribers. If we remove or disable access in response to such a notice, we will make a good-faith attempt to contact the poster of the affected content so that they may make a counter notification.
IV. Staff Rules
1. Privacy. Membership on Staff is a privilege and should be treated as such. Staff are expected to maintain confidentiality and discretion at all times. This includes all Staff level communications whether on a Staff board, a private internal Group Staff board, email, MSN or PM. Staff matters are not for public consumption and may not, in full or in part, be published to or discussed with other parties unless permitted by their Group Leader (for Group Staff Boards) or the relevant Admin (for DM Staff Boards).
2. No member of Staff should criticize another member of Staff (in their capacity as Staff) on public boards. If a member of Staff feels so strongly that they have to say something it should be done on the Staff board, or by PM, E-mail or IM. The same goes for publicly criticizing decisions made by Admins. You do not have to respect the person, but you should always try to respect the position.
3. All staff members that report directly to the Admins must post a LOA on their relevant staff board if they will be unable to check DM's boards or their email for longer than four days. This post should include a return date and we ask that if you cannot return on the stated date that you let the Admins know.
4. If a LOA in excess of 30 days is required, the staff member may be required to resign, unless there are exceptional circumstances. All positions require active leadership and management, which cannot occur if you are absent excessively.
5. Unannounced LOAs will be treated as job abandonment. Offending staff members may be terminated after two weeks unannounced absence.
6. LOAs should be posted on the relevant Staff board, as the Admins should not be expected to go searching through the site looking for a reason why said Staff member is not around.
7. All Staff will act in an adult manner showing respect at all times and on all boards, whether public or private, to both members and fellow Staff. In the case of Staff, it is the position you respect not the person.
8. When a decision is made and it is not the decision a member or Staffer wanted, they will accept it with good grace and move on. Continually badgering and haranguing about the decision will result in a warning. If the warning is ignored, the member or Staffer may be subject to discipline, up to and including banning. Any Staff member violating this rule will be dismissed and replaced.
9. The Staff structure will be adhered to and any person, Staff or member, who tries to circumvent this structure, will be told to talk to the appropriate member of Staff and it will be explained to the member of Staff that the person tried to work around them.
V. Staff Structure
Social Admin --(Social Groups Admin)--(Social Groups Assistant Admin)--(Social Group Leader)--(Social Group Staff)
RP Admin --(PSW Community Admin)--(RP Groups Admin)--(RP Group Leader)--(RP Group Staff)
Discussions Admin/WoT Admin---(Moderators)
The Moderators and Group Leaders are the Admins’ Staff, and as such are appointed by the Admins. Group Staff are appointed by the GL, and when a new Group Leader is appointed at any time, they have the right to ask the former Group Leader's Staff for their resignation, and choose their own new Staff.
VI. Social Group Leader Responsibilities
1. Expectations. Social Group Leaders Must be able to dedicate at least 10 hours per week to their Group, the Social Staff board and DM Staff board. This includes keeping up with threads on the afore mentioned boards, engaging in Staff discussions, participating in Staff projects, posting in your Group, reading posts at your Group, leading activities or discussions in your Group, actively developing and improving your Social Group, and any other leadership responsibilities for your Group. Social Group Leaders must announce a LOA if they will be away from the forums for longer than 4 days. Excessive LOA's will result in the administration requesting the Group Leader's resignation (unless there are exceptional circumstances--that must be communicated to the Admins). Social Group leaders are also expected to ensure that at least one Wheel of Time related activity is conducted by the Social Group each month, and to make at least two tweets from the DragonmountSoc account per month, as discussed on the staff boards.
2. Social Group Report. Social Group Leaders are expected to post Group reports once a month on the Social Staff board. Your report should reflect how well your group is performing and what you are doing with your group. Social Group Leaders are encouraged to offer ideas, kudos, suggestions or general comments in each others monthly reports.
2a. Social Group Report Format. Social Group Reports are due by the 10th of each month. You may post them as early as you want, but have them posted by the 10th of each month. Posting a Group Report is much like a roll call each month and unless you are on an announced LOA, missing this deadline will be considered unannounced LOA. If the deadline of the 10th is missed a pm or email will be sent to the missing SGL. If no response is received, it may be considered job abandonment per the Community Rules.
Group reports are expected to follow this format, with all points acknowledged in each report.
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Membership
How many members do you currently have?
How many are active (this can be done through a roll call or your estimations)?
How many were purged in the month (this will just tell us how often you clean up your member list, it is not expected you clean your member lists each month)?
New members (hopefully you know how many new people joined your group in a given month)?
Activities/Discussions
What activities did your Social Group partake in or what discussions were the most popular? Mainly what did your Social Group do in the given month.
Raisings or Announcements - It is not important to list every single raising as many Social Groups have a great many in a month. It would be nice to inform us who moved into important positions in your Social Group though. Like Dwyn becoming Keeper or Caddy becoming a Capo. What other important Announcements do you have.
Upcoming Projects
We should all have at least something planned for the future of the Social Group. These could be upcoming planned discussions, activities, Social Group visits, etc.
Tweets: Two examples of tweets you posted from the DragonmountSoc Twitter account
How many members do you currently have?
How many are active (this can be done through a roll call or your estimations)?
How many were purged in the month (this will just tell us how often you clean up your member list, it is not expected you clean your member lists each month)?
New members (hopefully you know how many new people joined your group in a given month)?
Activities/Discussions
What activities did your Social Group partake in or what discussions were the most popular? Mainly what did your Social Group do in the given month.
Raisings or Announcements - It is not important to list every single raising as many Social Groups have a great many in a month. It would be nice to inform us who moved into important positions in your Social Group though. Like Dwyn becoming Keeper or Caddy becoming a Capo. What other important Announcements do you have.
Upcoming Projects
We should all have at least something planned for the future of the Social Group. These could be upcoming planned discussions, activities, Social Group visits, etc.
Tweets: Two examples of tweets you posted from the DragonmountSoc Twitter account
3. Social Group Leaders are members of DM Staff. They act as representatives of the members of DM and therefore their input is vital in the decision making process. Social Group Leaders are expected to be actively engaged in discussions on the DM Staff board.
4. Social Group Leaders should act as role models to other DM members. It is encouraged for Staff to offer different viewpoints on subjects on the DM Staff board but once a decision is made it should be supported by staff outside the Staff board.
VII. RP Group Leader Responsibilities
(Please note: All references to Staff boards include both the main Staff and the PSW staff boards.)
1. Expectations. RP Group Leaders must be able to dedicate at least 10 hours per week to their RP Group, the PSW Staff board and DM Staff board. This includes keeping up with threads on the aforementioned boards, engaging in Staff discussions, participating in Staff projects, posting in your RP Group, reading posts at your RP Group, leading roleplays in your RP Group, actively developing and improving your RP Group, keeping your AGL(s) informed of and up-to-date on RP Group matters, ensuring your AGL is active on the PSW Staff board and any other leadership responsibilities for your RP Group. RP Group Leaders must announce a LOA if they will be away from the forums for longer than 4 days. Excessive LOA's will result in the administration requesting the RP Group Leader's resignation (unless there are exceptional circumstances--that must be communicated to the RP Admins).
1a. RP Group Leaders are expected to attend the monthly PSW Staff meetings on MSN. If you cannot attend, your AGL is welcome to attend in your place. Please notify the RP admins if this is the case.
2. RP Group Report. RP Group Leaders are expected to post RP Group reports once a month on the PSW Staff board by the 10th. Your RP Group report should reflect how your RP Group is performing, active/inactive membership count and any news or upcoming plans for your RP Group. RP Group Leaders are encouraged to offer ideas, kudos, suggestions or general comments in each other's monthly reports. Links to draw attention to specific role plays are welcomed.
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2a. RP Group Report Format. RP Group Reports are due by the 10th of each month. You may post them as early as you want, but have them posted by the 10th. Posting a RP Group Report is part of your RGL duties. If you can not make the deadline, please inform the RP Community Admin or RP Groups Admin. If the deadline of the 10th is missed a pm or email will be sent to the missing RGL. If no response is received, it may be considered job abandonment per the Community Rules.
RP Group reports are expected to follow a similar format, with all points acknowledged in their report.
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Membership
How many members do you currently have?
How many are active (this can be done through a roll call or your estimations)?
New members/Returning members?
Activities/Discussions
What did your RP Group achieve/do in the given month?
Raisings or Announcements. It would be nice to inform us who moved into important positions in your RP Group such as Staff.
What other important announcements or news do you have?
Were there any notable role plays during the month or major plotline role plays started/completed?
Upcoming Projects
We should all have at least something planned for the future of the RP Group. These could be upcoming planned role plays, major plot line role plays, inter-RP Group role plays, etc. You may also have updates regarding archiving or website projects.
How many members do you currently have?
How many are active (this can be done through a roll call or your estimations)?
New members/Returning members?
Activities/Discussions
What did your RP Group achieve/do in the given month?
Raisings or Announcements. It would be nice to inform us who moved into important positions in your RP Group such as Staff.
What other important announcements or news do you have?
Were there any notable role plays during the month or major plotline role plays started/completed?
Upcoming Projects
We should all have at least something planned for the future of the RP Group. These could be upcoming planned role plays, major plot line role plays, inter-RP Group role plays, etc. You may also have updates regarding archiving or website projects.
3. RP Group Leaders are members of DM Staff. They act as representatives of the members of DM and therefore their input is vital in the decision making process. RP Group Leaders are expected to be actively engaged in discussions on the main DM Staff board as well as the PSW Staff boards. You are also encouraged to liaise and interact with your fellow GLs outside of Staff.
4. RP Group Leaders should act as role models to other DM members. It is encouraged for Staff to offer different viewpoints on subjects on the DM Staff board but once a decision is made it should be supported by staff outside the Staff board. RP Group Leaders (and AGLs in the case of the PSW Staff boards) are expected to maintain confidentiality and discretion at all times. Staff matters are not for public consumption. Any problems, issues or queries regarding PSW or general Staff decisions should be referred directly to the RP Community Admin or RP Groups Admin.
