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    Rules

    Member Code of Conduct
    Guidelines for Choosing a Username
    IRC Rules
    IRC Psi Sparring Rules
    IRC Op Protocols
    Moderator Responses to Rules Violations

    Member Code of Conduct

    • Members are discouraged from manipulating non-psi energy types and engaging in magical practices. No member may teach direct manipulation of any energy form/pattern other than the psi energy form/pattern in any Guild area. Use of alternative methods of energy-working is not barred to members outside of Guild areas. If you have questions on what this means, please consult the energy types section of the FAQ.
    • No member may reveal the legal name of any other member, in any way, without obtaining express written permission from that member. Members are also recommended to use a pseudonym over open communications channels (i.e. telephone, e-mail) and when dealing with the public. When choosing a pseudonym, members are required to consult the Guild’s guidelines on this matter.
    • If, at any time, any member wishes to engage in use of psi abilities for monetary gain, it is required that they consult the Guild guidelines on this subject. Failure to do so will require a penalty to be decided by the board of internal affairs. (This rule is not presently applicable).
    • No member may, at any time, use his/her psi abilities for any aggressive action. This is null if it is absolutely required in defense of life–yours or another’s–, property, or to prevent potential life threatening injury, or if the action is declared by the Guild’s department of defense as necessary. Persons who do not work within that department are not obligated to use their ability at its directive.
    • No member may, at any time, allow any non-Guild person or persons to read, or hear, any Guild documents, in full or in part, without the authorization of an administrator. This excludes those documents which have been released by the Public Relations department, and excludes documents written solely by individual members which do not contain information specifically acquired through use of the Guild’s resources–that individual has the rights to their own work, though other members do not have rights to that individual’s work.

    Guidelines for Choosing a Username

    1. Why do the guidelines exist?
      The sole purpose for having guidelines for this matter is that we do not want to put forth a bad image when dealing with the public. For example, if a good number of the Guild members’ psi names are relating to aristocracy positions, the public may think that there is a monarchy in place within the Guild. This is not the case. (Yes, that was a joke. ;) So, we need to make certain that the public understands this without going too deep into our documents. In addition, if many members have names which are in part the same as one another, this could create confusion in the form of mistaken identities.
    2. How to use this document
      Read the guidelines. Choose your name in accordance with the guidelines. If you are not clear on something in the guidelines, ask. “There are no stupid questions, only stupid mistakes”. Make sure you keep up to date with any changes in the guidelines. Names chosen prior to alterations in this document will be “grandfathered in”. (This means that the person will not have to change their name).
    3. The Guild guidelines for choosing a psi name
      In the event that a member chooses to use a pseudonym, it is required that the member does not use titles, including but not limited to, Lord, Lady, King, Queen, Earl, Prince, Princess, Count, Countess, Baron, or Baroness, as the first word in their name. This is null of the member in question holds such a title legally. In such event, the member in question must provide proof of this claim. Titles within other organizations which are not legally held titles do not qualify. Members may use their rank within the Guild as a title if they wish. Members are also asked to refrain from using titles as a secondary portion of their name. Please do not play “musical names”. Pick one, and stick with it. If you undergo some radical life change, and feel you MUST change your name, we will add a procedure by which you may apply to do this, at a later date. If you have any further questions on this matter, or require clarifications of the requirements stated above, please email us.

    IRC Rules

    1. Swearing is allowed if kept to a minimum and within good taste(i.e. nothing blatantly vulgar, foul, and/or overly personal.
    2. Flooding will not be tolerated.
    3. Advertising of psionics channels, websites, or non-profit services is permitted WITH the permission of an operator. Excessive and repeated spamming is not tolerated. Advertising of non-psi-related channels, sites, or services, or for-profit services, is not permitted.
    4. Trolling and randomly picking on or annoying people for the fun of it will result in removal, as will proselytizing (attempting to convert others to your religion), and advertising without permission.
    5. All modifications for these rules in the future shall go before a vote of the staff.
    6. No flooding or annoying repetition.
    7. No Ad Hominem, personal attacks, or other behavior meant to intentionally cause harm or hurt to another user. A personal attack is a comment intended to specifically insult, enrage, or hurt the feelings of another individual. This includes evasive statements which are designed to attack a person through their ideas or beliefs (ex. “Anyone who would believe that theory would have to be stupid, it’s a really dumb idea”). Disagreement with or reasoning why you do not agree with an idea or belief is fine…insulting its creator or holder through it is not.
    8. Should someone cause problems in the room, an annoyed user must pm a mod to get them to attend to the problem at hand. The user should not attempt to moderate the problem themselves.
    9. If a mod tells you to take the discussion or argument at hand to another room or pm, you must do so or be considered disruptive.
    10. Joking must remain within typical business professional boundaries. I.e. no overtly sexual jokes, no offensive jokes based on race, color, creed, sexual orientation, religion, etc.) If you think it might be offensive, do not say it.
    11. One nickname will be used and maintained in the chatroom at all times. If you wish to change your nickname permanently, please let the mods know so they don’t kick you by mistake. Variations on a nickname indicating status changes (ex, ‘WingedWolfAfk’) are allowable, as are modifications to allow for roleplaying in other channels, as this is a gaming server (ex, ‘Ubermage|Luc’).
    12. Offensive nicknames are strictly prohibited.
    13. Complaints of mod behavior will be emailed or pmed to the director (Winged Wolf), or to the Networking or Chat administrator.
    14. Anything considered offensive or non-PG shall be taken to the appropriate room, #Psion_Guild_Adult, or #Psion_Guild_FFA. This includes sexual innuendo, blatant sexual descriptions or text-actions, extreme vulgar language, and discussions of drug-use or illegal behavior conducted by or condoned by the person speaking.
    15. Multiple languages are allowable in Guild chat areas, so long as scrolling and spamming is not involved.
    16. Please do not use Guest nicks. These are nicks assigned by the server, usually with a number, to people who do not have a registered nick and do not choose a nick.
    17. Idling (particularly for purposes of logging) is permitted, but nicks should be altered to reflect the fact you are absent.
    18. Otherworlders.org is also a gaming server. Because of this, we request you be very polite to any wayward gamers who come into the channel. If they aren’t aware that we are a real psionics chat, inform them NICELY. Their confusion is understandable. There may also be people who are aware that we are about real psionics, but their only experience with it is via gaming–be nice to THEM, too.
    19. Adult topics may be discussed, but discretion and tact are required. Vulgar or lurid descriptions of sexual behavior, for example, are not tolerated. There are persons in the room who are underage, so we ask that you keep such discussion to a PG level. Vulgar sexual innuendo is also not tolerated. Server rules prohibit use of profanity in nicknames, channel names or descriptions, and quit messages.
    20. Persons that enter the channel off-topic, and remain off-topic, will most likely be kicked, or even banned. It IS intended to be a psionics discussion channel. A great many other things, from the mundane to the esoteric, come up in discussion, but the purpose of the channel revolves around an interest in psionics. Persons who have no such interest, and intend only to discuss OTHER things, will be banned.
    21. Persons who enter the channel for the express purpose of demanding that psis present “Prove It To Me Now” will be banned. This channel is for the benefit of psions, and psi activity requires an expenditure of energy and effort. No one has the right to demand that of another. Polite inquiries may be tolerated, depending on the tone of the inquiry.
    22. Religion and politics are two subjects that can be extremely touchy, particularly in an international arena. If you feel a need to discuss these issues, do so in a civil and polite manner. If a discussion of this sort gets out of hand, the moderators may request that you move it to #Psion_Guild_FFA. Those who do not comply with this request may be kicked, or even banned if they return and continue it. Debates pitting scientific theory/fact against theological theory/beliefs are forbidden in the main channel, as they always turn into unproductive arguments. These may always be conducted in #Psion_Guild_FFA.
    23. Please do not use font or color changes on text–leave them on default. Bolding or underlining may be used selectively, but not to excess. People use a variety of clients to access IRC, and their personal settings may render your text invisible. Colors also tend to annoy many people, particularly if they are bright or hard to read. Also avoid using scripts which scroll text in-channel.
    24. Please do NOT pester the regulars to scan you, check your shields, or otherwise use psi to see how you are doing. If you are really concerned, state your concern, and see if anyone will volunteer to help you out. If no one does, don’t press the issue. If someone does scan you, don’t become angry if they don’t perceive what you want them to. Using psi requires expending energy and effort, and those in the room don’t want to be doing it all day. Any such activities should be carried out in #PG_Practice, and not in the main channel.
    25. Please do not “haze” the newcomers to the channel. This include references to initiation rites, talking complete nonsense to see if they will believe you, or otherwise attempting to fool them so you may laugh at their expense. Do not laugh at them for asking questions, or call them fluffy for expressing ideas you disagree with, or lacking knowledge.
    26. Do not practice psi functions in the channel. That is what the channel #PG_Practice is for. Do not scan or ping people in the channel. It is intended to be a conversation channel. Please do not request that others scan or ping YOU, or perform other psi activities IN the chat channel. If you are using the Practice channel, minimize or close the main channel window.
    27. If you feel a channel operator has abused their position, please contact Winged Wolf or Amaya with a log of the incident. Channel operators are the folks with a &, @, or % symbol by their name. If someone harasses you in private messages, or you have an issue you want to discuss regarding channel operation or problems with another individual, you may discuss it with one of these people. DO NOT argue with or question a channel operator about a moderating action in-channel. You will be moderated further if you do so. You may PM them to request details on why moderating actions were taken against you, and you may discuss the issue in #Psion_Guild_FFA. Please do not argue with or question a channel operator about a moderating action taken against ANOTHER user, in-channel. The same rules apply–you will be subject to moderation yourself.
    28. DO NOT pester for op status. If we decide we need more ops, we’ll pick someone, but most likely we have as many (or more) than we need, already.
    29. Hate Speech is NOT TOLERATED in any Guild channels, including #Psion_Guild_FFA. This includes derogatory comments made about another’s race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin. We also do not permit derogatory comments about individual’s energy-working path (ie, mage, psion, etc), nor about their alleged genetic status in regards to energy working (Nons versus born-psis, etc).
    30. Operators will judge what comments and conversations are appropriate. There is not always a clear-cut line between what is offensive and what is simply a friendly joke. If you feel that an offensive comment made against you has been ignored, you may PM an operator to address the issue. Please do not assume that a comment made against another was intended as an offense, if it did not offend you personally. Some individuals may share inside jokes, or otherwise have knowledge of what will or will not offend a friend.
    31. The Guild is intended to become a professional organization and as such a professional atmosphere will be maintained. Our primary purpose should take precedence over peripheral subjects. Users should never allow an off-topic discussion to swamp out an on-topic discussion.

    IRC Psi Sparring Rules

    1. If you can’t make a complete and adequate shield, you have no business sparring.
    2. You should be able to target accurately. Practice targeting BEFORE you begin sparring. If you can’t hit your target more than 90% of the time, you don’t spar.
    3. Moderate your hits. Begin with a minimal amount of force, and work your way up, so that you do not overwhelm your opponent’s shield immediately, and risk harming them.
    4. Favor simpler attacks–psi blasts, drills, small bombs….and not things which might escalate out of your control, such as constructs that self-replicate or spiral up in power.
    5. Do not use nervous system ability, psychokinesis, kinetic ability, or other abilities which might physically harm or even kill your opponent if not carefully controlled.
    6. Spar ONLY in #PG_Practice on IRC, not in the #Psion_Guild channel. Be sure that everyone who is in the room knows what’s going on.
    7. This should go without saying, but do NOT attempt to hurt or harm your opponent. This is meant to be practice, not a real fight. Damage done in psychic combat COULD be permanent, if it is severe enough.
    8. Sparring in groups of more than 2 should only be done by those who have completed the classes, gotten to at least week 5 in the manual, or who have an equivalent or higher experience level with shielding, targeting, and psychic combat.

    IRC Op Protocols

    1. The rule will be warn, devoice (5 minutes), kick, kick ban (hour, 24 hours, week, month, 6 months, perm) for disruptive users. Persons evading a devoice move directly to kickban.
    2. Mods will remain separate from all civil debates and arguments in order to maintain an objective status should stepping in be required. If the mod deops they can participate in the debate. Most debates that become highly emotional should be moved to #Psion_Guild_FFA. Calm debates may remain in Main.
    3. Favoritism or vendettas are expressly forbidden and can result in the removal of status, and other punishments as deemable by the directors.
    4. All modifications for these rules in the future shall go before a vote of the staff.
    5. Mods must put all bans and logs that correspond if appropriate on the ban list in the forum as documentation including ban length time, and date of removal. Bans deemed unreasonable by the administration will be overturned.
    6. Bans set by mods can only be undone by vote of the administration and the mod that set them.
    7. Undermining other moderators either in pm or in front of users is prohibited and can result in the loss of status. This refers to communicating a dissenting opinion to the user who was moderated, or to other users, on a mod action taken by another mod. It does not refer to discussing a mod action with that mod in PM. This should not be done in open channel, however. It may be done in the moderator channel.
    8. If an operator is abusing, he should be placed on probation so that his activities will be monitored for a set period of time, and a Director (or Networking department administrator, or Chat admin) can remove his privileges without a majority vote.
    9. Backup mods shall be named and maintained in case of a lack of normal moderators at any given point in time. Backup mods do not gain access to the ops channel, or to the Administration topic area on the forum. Ban documentation by backup mods should be e-mailed to Winged Wolf.
    10. Should an emergency situation arise where the room must be brought back into immediate order due to severe flooding, spamming, attack, or mass scale upheaval, moderators shall have the authority to bring the room back to order by any and all means within reason. Documentation of all actions should be provided for in the forum for bans/moderator actions.
    11. DO NOT ARGUE with a person who protests your request to move a discussion, or any other moderating action you take. Proceed to the next step if a protest occurs. You do not need to defend your moderating action in-channel. You may defend it in PM or in #Psion_Guild_FFA if you wish or feel it necessary. If a person PMs you to discuss a topic, and you do not wish to discuss it in PM, you may direct them to FFA, to E-Mail, or to the Guild forum Rants area. This means if you warn someone, and they say “What? That’s not against the rules, I shouldn’t be warned for that, this place sucks…” you say nothing to them–you devoice them. If they evade the devoice, you kickban them. You may warn a person once that they are able to discuss these matters privately or in FFA, but no more than once. This may be difficult to learn to do, but with determination and experience, it will become easier to respond this way. If a person genuinely wants an explanation, they can PM you for one, or you can PM them to explain it in detail. Arguing with moderating actions in-channel should not be permitted.

    Moderator Responses to Rules Violations

    Consequences are CUMULATIVE. If you are warned on day 1, and commit another offense on day 2 (even if it is a different one), you will be kicked, not warned. And so on. This resets after 1 month.

    • “Summary” offenses: Warn, devoice, Kick, 1 Hour Ban, 24 Hour Ban, Week Ban, Month Ban, Permanent Ban.
      • Excessive swearing
      • Spamming without permission (unless it’s repeated and flooded)
      • Trolling/personal attacks
      • Continuous, disruptive argument or complaining
      • Blatant jokes, offensive (adult) material
      • One-Nick Rule (if your nick change contains at least the first 3-6 characters of your regular nick, it is *not* a separate nickname under this rule — it is considered a status change, which is not punishable unless the status is something explicit/illegal)
      • Pestering for scans
      • Other rules not mentioned as requiring a more severe action
    • “Misdemeanor” Offenses: Kick, 24 Hour Ban, Week Ban, Month Ban, Permanent Ban.
      • Flooding/spam-flooding
      • Exceptionally graphic/vulgar/offensive material (being especially descriptive about certain acts, rather than just mentioning or alluding to them)
      • Any “Summary” offense taken to its extreme in one shot.
      • Hazing, libel (Misinforming newcomers, particularly if malicious).
      • Proselytizing
      • Open sexual harassment of a channel member.
    • “Felony” Offenses: Month Ban, Permanent Ban.
      • Hate speech (especially discriminative speech)
      • Facilitation of illegal activity (software piracy, drug dealing, etc.)
      • Links to pornography
      • Deliberate ban evasion
      • Sexual harassment of a channel member in private message or IM after being asked to cease.
    • “Capital” Offenses: Permanent Ban.
      • Dissemination of computer viruses or other malicious software
      • Links to illegal pornography (such as child pornography)
      • Any Felony offense taken to its extreme in one shot