Community Rules

The rules laid out here apply to all services maintained by Unknown Borders.

1. General provisions

1.1 Scope of the rules
The rules laid out here apply to all services maintained by Unknown Borders. This includes but is not limited to the Community, Forums, Studio, Projects, Services, the Bug Tracker and any other community channel that is directly maintained and/or otherwise officially endorsed by Unknown Borders.

1.2 Additional rules
The services as meant in 1.1 and parts thereof may list additional rules on top of these rules on their media or through another channel. Unknown Borders and all staff members (as noted in rule 3.1) reserve the right to add, subtract or edit rules and posts as they see fit without prior notice.

1.3 Vision behind the rules
The rules are enforced to maintain order and respect among Unknown Borders, the Unknown Borders community and the gaming community as a whole. It is important to recognize the many differences in backgrounds and skills present within the community and to strive for the highest levels of respect towards one another at all times.

1.4 Notices/infractions/bans
Failure to comply with the rules set in this list entitles any member of staff to hand out a justifiable punishment. Not every situation will be the same and all will be judged on a case by case basis. In this community, notices are used in many first offense cases and light offenses. Infractions are handed down for more serious or repeated offenses. Earning an infraction puts points onto your profile which have expiration dates and can have certain effects on your account, most notably the ability for your posts to gain approval from the moderation team before they are posted into the forum. The most severe offenses and consistent patterns of unrepentant rule violations are punishable by bans from community participation. Bans can range anywhere from several hours, to ultimately a permanent one and may extend across the services as meant in 1.1. Staff members will have the final say in all situations.

1.5 A Final Word
Unknown Borders, the sole owner and operator of the community, provides a space where community members can interact with one another and members of the Unknown Borders team. It is a place where everyone can share their ideas, opinions and feelings throughout the development process. While we do allow dissenting opinions and encourage healthy and constructive debates, please remember to follow the rules and present them in a manner of suitable taste and respect. In other words, you don't go to your friend's house and start smashing their windows, so don't do something as equally offensive in ours.

2. Messages

2.1 Definition of message
A message includes any and all means a user has available to communicate with other members. This includes, but is not limited to forum posts and private messages, IRC chat messages, Twitch chat messages and Facebook comments, links, avatars, signatures, usernames and general profile information.

2.2 Forbidden content
Messages which contain, discuss or link to the following are explicitly forbidden:

  1. Copyright infringement or software theft;
  2. Discussions of a political, ideological or religious nature;
  3. Adult content, such as nudity, sexually suggestive or explicit images, gore and drugs;
  4. Insults and threats, stalking or any other behavior construed to be of a potentially rude or otherwise harassing nature to/of other users, members of the mod team or members of Unknown Borders;
  5. Any discriminatory (racist, sexist, etc.) language, actions or iconography, with or without historical context;
  6. Disclosure of private conversations without the consent of all parties;
  7. Use of vulgarity, profanity and any technique that skirts the language filter;
  8. Accusatory comments that lack merit, offer no proof of concept or are of a potentially slanderous nature;
  9. Links that promote projects and/or products that are meant for the personal profit of either party, this specifically includes linking through ad.fly;

2.3 Forbidden messages

  1. Messages that contain no content except terms like “+1”, “Bump” or any variation on the type of message that is used to needlessly boost threads and/or keep post counts up;
  2. Messages made for the perceived purpose of stirring up and otherwise getting a rise from users (ie, flamebaiting, troll posts);
  3. Messages that only contain images in response to a certain subject dependent to the context of the thread (ie. reaction images);
  4. Messages that purposefully change the subject of conversation in a thread without a natural tie to the topic at hand;

2.4 Language, placement spelling and grammar

  1. Users must make an effort to place a new thread in the right forum section. Posts deemed to be in an incorrect section will be moved to a proper one;
  2. Users must attempt to use proper grammar and spelling in all messages. Txt-speak, 1337-speak and other exclusionary forms of speech are prohibited; and
  3. All messages must be in English.

2.5 Necroposting
Posting in a thread that has not received a new message in a defined span of three months is known as “necroposting”. Necroposting is often frowned upon but not forbidden provided that your post does not break the other rules in this post, most notably rule 2.3a. These threads may be closed at the discretion of the staff.

3. User-staff relations

3.1 Definition of “staff” and “member of staff”
A member of staff is someone appointed by or on behalf of Unknown Borders to handle (part of) one or multiple services as meant in 1.1. Unknown Borders administrators and forum moderators are two such examples of this definition.

3.2 Moderator action requests
If you feel a certain message requires staff attention please send a report to the moderators by clicking the appropriate button underneath the post. Do not just call it out in a thread and do not assume that your requested action will be taken because you have done so. This is considered "backseat moderation" and may actionable.

3.3 Impersonating members of staff
Impersonating members of staff is not allowed. This includes registering with or using a nickname that resembles theirs, uses any words intended for use of parody, reuse of avatar photos and any other perceived misrepresentation and/or slander through use of impersonation.

3.4 Open discussion of staff decisions and general disrespect
Open discussion of staff decisions and the refusal to abide by them is strictly prohibited. This includes bans, infractions and internal decisions Unknown Borders makes about personnel. Messages deemed to be rude, confrontational and otherwise disrespectful to staff may be removed immediately. If you disagree with a member of staff contact him or her first and hold all discussions in a civil manner. If the answer isn't satisfactory you can contact a senior member of staff.

3.5 Staff privacy
Contacting staff members outside the confines of the Unknown Borders community regarding their work and/or actions taken as a member of staff here is not allowed unless the staff member explicitly and unambiguously asks you to do so. Unwanted encroachment on their personal time may lead to a justifiable infraction being served.

4. Account security and personal information

4.1 User responsibility
A user is responsible for the security of his or her own account. As a result, any action that takes place with an account will be considered the responsibility of the user who uses the account. It’s highly advised that you do not give out any personal information through any means on any part of the Unknown Borders community. Higher ranking members of staff will not ask you for anything other than account details that are specific to solving specific problematic queries and only with the permission of the user.

4.2 User Names
User names must abide by all rules set in this list. If a username breaks those rules, is felt to be suspicious or of otherwise suspect translation, it will be subject to change.

4.3 One user per account, one account per user
Only one person may use an account, and one person may only create one account on the site.

4.4 Users under the age of 18
Users under the age of 18 who reveal their age and/or face on official UB community channels, may have their messages/photos removed for privacy purposes.

5. Miscellaneous

5.1 Evasion of punitive measures
Members who intentionally evade the effects of punitive measures such as a banishment or post restriction are subject to an immediate and permanent ban of any or all of the services Unknown Borders provides for the Unknown Borders community.

5.2 Signature Images
Signature images are allowed as long as they are maximum 900px width and 170px height. Failure to follow, will result in the signature being removed.

Take note: Unknown Borders and the staff reserve the right to change these rules or add to them at any and all times they deem this necessary and without prior notification. Unknown Borders and the staff also reserve the right to act and enforce punitive action in any situation they deem unwanted - even if the situation does not break any of the rules set in this list.

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