One Stop Rules Shop Peer Review

[Euroslavia]

The Revised Rules Thread - a Peer Review

Moderation staff have been working on an updated version of the One Stop Rules Shop. The old version hasn't been significantly updated since Jolt days, and the quantity and direction of moderation rules have shifted since then. What we are seeking is thoughtful and succinct suggestions for phrasing and organization of the thread. What we are NOT seeking are suggestions that certain classes of offenses be dropped from our rules. Nor are we seeking scholarly dissertations on all the possible ways to troll, flame, or spam; nor specific punishments for each.

If you wish to make a suggestion as to the phrasing of this document, please respond to this thread with one or more SHORT posts related to specific sections of the rules. If you think our sentence on Gravedigging isn't clear enough, suggest your own sentence ... NOT paragraph ... on the subject. Keep it under 300 words or so - massive essays or rules deconstructions will most likely be ignored. If you need to tackle several sections, take it a bite at a time. Maybe wait a few days between bites.

We're also not interested in spam, bitter dogfights, irrelevancies, or anything else that hijacks the thread in any way other than a peer review. Make your case, and move on. What gets included and what gets discarded will be at the judgment of site staff, so any posts based on appeals to popularity will likely be stripped out and discarded.

Some of you have stated that you could write a better set of rules than we could. Here's your chance to contribute. Remember, our players aren't lawyers and are in many cases under 18, so keep it clear, keep it short, and keep it understandable. Thanks for your assistance.

[Euroslavia]

Collected here for your amusement and amazement are summaries of most of the rules and conditions of NationStates, as set by Max Barry, site Administrators [violet] and SalusaSecondus, with precedents from Moderators past, present, and future. The core precepts for all rules in both game and forums can be found in the NationStates Terms of Service (TOS) (http://www.nationstates.net/pages/legal.html) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)http://www.nationstates.net/page=faq.

Please be aware that the following rules are not set in stone. Each case is different, and may be subject to conditions not readily apparent to the regular player. Consideration is given not just to the specific offense, but also the nation's (and in some cases, the player's) prior actions and infractions. Also, new rules may be added as circumstances dictate, and Max and the Admins may invoke special rulings as they see a need.


Table of Contents

• How do Moderators moderate?
• Game/Forum Rules and Appeal Process
• Acceptable Flag Policy and Information concerning the TOS and FAQ
• Script Rules

[Euroslavia]

How do Moderators moderate?

* For a list of active moderators, see here.

Moderators consider a number of points when coming to a judgement.
1. What rule was broken (Flaming, spamming, trolling)?
2. How was it broken and how badly?
3. What is the history of the poster in question? Is this an older member who has never received a warning? A brand new member who came in guns a blazing? Someone who has had multiple warnings?
4. What was the context of the post in question? Was the player baited into it? Is this two players who have been arguing with each other across the forum?

The same offense may receive a harsher punishment if the poster has a history of rulebreaking and a lighter one if the poster has a reputation for good behaviour; in general, offenses are decided on a case-by-case basis.

Note on Mod Actions: All Mod actions are recorded for Moderator record keeping and can be requested by asking in Moderation or through the Getting Help page. If a player feels that a Mod action was unjustified or too harsh, they may appeal using the appeals process.

• Warning Levels: An official warning or forumban (*** Red text ***) will cause your warning level to go up. Your warning level can be checked through the User Control Panel. The level goes down after a few months, though the record will remain for Moderator use. Bear in mind that your warning level is forum-side warnings only. There is no magic "warning number" that triggers a ban or deletion, Moderators judge based on a player's history as well as the rule being broken and how.

Can Moderators play too?
Yes, Moderators are all chosen from among the players and they are allowed to participate in RPs, debate in General, play games in F7, and propose legislation in the WA. Moderators are welcome to express their political, religious, and social opinions when appropriate. What a Mod cannot do is use his or her position as a Mod in the game to attempt to get ahead as it were. For example, a Mod cannot say, “Don’t argue with my opinion or I’ll ban you” in a debate in General, when not acting as a Mod.

• Special Instances: Mods may be occasionally accused of breaking various forum or game rules. These will be dealt with in the usual fashion, and the Mod accused will not be permitted to contribute to the ruling. Accusations of mods abusing their powers should be reported the Getting Help page, where our admins will be notified of the report. Please note that such accusations are treated very seriously and the administrators are less patient than we are, so do not make frivolous or unfounded complaints.

How do I know when a Moderator is acting as one?
Usually official Moderator Actions are rather noticeable. Using the *** warning text *** for example, or attaching a Moderator Signature. When it doubt though, ask.

Can a Moderator act as a Moderator in a thread that they are in?
Yes and no. A Mod will not rule on a person they are in a forum/game conflict (such as an RP conflict or a debate in General) unless the action is one were speed is needed (Such as posting graphic images). However, if a Moderator sees other posters breaking the rules, they are free to act as they see fit. Mods can also perform ‘bookkeeping’ tasks such as editing posts to repair bad code or splitting threads.

Do Moderators have to be on all the time? Are they on shifts?
No, Mods come on when they have time. Remember that Mods are unpaid volunteers.

Do Moderators have to monitor each thread and post?
No, there are far too many posts for that and not enough Moderators. Mods rely on players making reports in Moderation.

Can Moderators moderate a thread in which they have bias?
Yes and no. Mods might be active as Mods in a thread where they would seem to have a conflict of interest. That said, Mods usually do not moderate in threads or situations where they feel their judgment is not neutral or there would be an appearance of bias.

Note on Mod Oppression and Mod Bias: NationStates moderation is based on acting against rule-breaking in the games and the forums. Political opinions do not factor into official decisions by moderators. We make our rulings and interpretations as official representatives of NationStates, and are acting in the name of Max Barry. Our only agenda is RULES ENFORCEMENT. All viewpoints are acceptable so long as they are argued within the rules.

Privacy: While anyone can request moderator intervention, certain aspects of moderation decisions are not discussed with players due to concerns over privacy and security. Moderators cannot and will not give out email addresses, IP addresses, passwords, or other personal details about players or nations, regardless of who is asking. This is for your protection as much as it is for ours. Because of this, some cases may be resolved with no visible effect: i.e. If a WA multi-scan is requested and comes back negative, there is no need for anybody beyond the mods to know. If you forgot your password and didn't supply an email, we have absolutely no way to know that the nation is in fact yours. The security of your nation is ultimately your business, not ours.

Jurisdiction: NationStates moderators are responsible for problems and issue with the game and interactions on our Nationstates forum. We have no jurisdiction over any offsite forums, nor do we guarantee the content of such to be accurate in any way. While some Mods may also be channel ops on NationStates-related IRC channels, they are not operating in an official NationStates capacity in that role (with the exception of #themodcave on gamesurge.net). Please don't bring non-NationStates business to the NationStates forums, Getting Help page, or #themodcave.

[Euroslavia]

General Guidelines

1) Keep it PG-13. The standard for both the forums and game is the US movie rating "PG-13". Mild swearing may be tolerated, mild sexuality may be hinted, but explicit or excessive versions of either or both may result in proportional mod response. Anything that crosses this boundary is subject to punishment depending on how far it goes.

2) Don't Be A Dick. While being abrasive, mean-spirited, and mean are not against the rules, they do make you much harder to get along with and will be considered as aggravating circumstances, whether intentionally or not. Someone who's generally decent but has an off day is always going to get cut more slack than someone no one likes to be around. Additionally, if someone's being decent, it's really hard for that person to do something that will get them in trouble. When in doubt, a simple guideline is Don't Be A Dick. Thanks, Scolo.

3) No rules lawyering. Agreeing or disagreeing with a moderation decision at whatever length you wish is perfectly within the rules. However, moderator decisions are not to be taken in bad faith. For instance, if something is ruled to be acceptable, don't turn around and use that ruling to bait another player (e.g. "In this case, I don't think Player 2 intended to be malicious when he described Player 1 as a 'maladjusted rapscallion.'" "Okay. Hey, Player 2! You're a maladjusted rapscallion! Moderator 3 said it's okay to call people that!"). This will never end well for you and it's best to simply leave things be; if you are doing so in an attempt to demonstrate that a moderator decision is wrong, simply file an appeal.

Reporting Guidelines

Forum-side violations are to be reported in the Moderation Forum. All other violations are to be reported using the Getting Help Page. The GHP may also be used in any instance in which you would prefer your privacy to remain intact, and is our preferred method of receiving player reports as it allows for better bookkeeping. For time-sensitive complaints, employ our IRC channel, #themodcave on irc.gamesurge.net -- more information about our IRC channels.

Forbidden Actions

Most importantly, in-game violations should be reported to the Getting Help Page while forum violations should be reported via the Moderation Forum.

Advertisements: Advertising sites unrelated to NationStates is not permitted. If you really want an ad, contact the Admins, and purchase banner space. Advertisements for websites/forums directly related to Nationstates are allowed.

Customizable Field Violations: Using offensive terms and language in a nation's motto, currency, national animal, and/or national title. Also applies to using a swastika or other offensive and/or pornographic imagery in a national flag (For more information on this decision, go here). Note that malicious use of any human or racial terms as national animals is expressly forbidden.

*Ex-Nation Flag - Don't use it. It's a moderation tool, and is meant solely to designate ex-nations.
*Commend/Condemn icons - only the WA gets to hand these out. Don't use them.
*Game Moderator/Forum Moderator/Administrator/Issues Editor/Roleplay Mentor badges - don't use them. See "Impersonating a moderator" below.
*Animated flags are subject to removal as well if they're overly flashy or disruptive to the eyes.

Offensive Material: The standard for both the forums and game is the US movie rating "PG-13". Mild swearing may be tolerated, mild sexuality may be hinted, but explicit or excessive versions of either or both may result in proportional mod response. Anything that crosses this boundary is subject to punishment depending on how far it goes.

Flame/Threats: Personal attacks against other players, expressed via OOC (out-of-character) comments; insults, swearing and anything posted with intent to offend. In-character remarks can be interpreted this way as well; watch what you post if other posters are unaware you're not serious. Erudite slams while maintaining a veneer of politeness can also be considered flaming. Repeated instances of flaming directed at the same player can be considered harassment, a more serious offense.

Flamebaiting: Posts that are made with the aim of angering someone indirectly. Not outright flame, but still liable to bring angry replies. Flame baiting is a far more subtle and covert action; it is an underhanded tactic that is designed to provoke a response from another player. It's in the same context of trolling but with flamebaiting it's just the one person.

Forbidden Links/Warez Requests: Referral links such as Cyber-war, Outwar, plus all other variants, and even such sites as kevan.org, ebaumsworld, albinoblacksheep, plasticnipple, Encyclopedia Dramatica, and Fred Phelps' godhates<group> hate-mongering sites are not allowed. Use discretion when linking to another site.

Garish Posts: We like fonts and colors, really we do, but anything used in excess becomes annoying. Think twice about posts that make other users cringe... especially if you've been repeatedly asked to refrain by players and mods alike.

Gravedigging: Posting a reply on a long unused thread. Adding legitimate new material is permitted, but the acceptable age varies from forum to forum. Check the stickies in each forum to determine the standard for what constitutes gravedigging.

Harassment/Griefing: Harassing/griefing a nation or region because of what they did or said is forbidden in telegrams, Regional Messageboard (RMB) posts, and on the forums. Save abusive telegrams so that moderators can examine them. Use the Additional Information checkboxes on the Getting Help Page to report abusive RMB posts. Report abusive forum posts in the Moderation forum.

Homework: Requests for assistance with homework in any forum are forbidden.

Impersonation: Any attempt to maliciously impersonate another nation or region, including employing a similar name or attempting to hack nation or region passwords, is illegal according to the FAQ. Passing nations from one player to another is legal, but inadvisable as the receiver also inherits any warning history attached to the nation. Impersonation of moderators can lead to immediate deletion.

IP addresses: IP swapping among admins of offsite boards is outside our jurisdiction, and as such, we can take no action. IP swapping in public on our boards is not permitted.

Mods as a Weapon: Threatening another nation with moderation action if they don't do "action" is not allowed. Representing yourself as a moderator is considered impersonation, and is not allowed. This includes using the moderator's warning code. (See also "Impersonation", above)

Nation Hijacking: Stealing someone else's nation by gaining their password is a very serious offense and likely to result in a permanent ban from the site.

Posting Past a Forumban/Lock: If a nation is forumbanned, that nation's player is not permitted to post on the forums with other puppet nations until the forumban expires. Doing so will result in the deletion of both the puppet and the originally forumbanned nation. Questions or appeals regarding a forumban should be submitted via the Getting Help Page. Similarly, do not repost a locked thread unless given permission by a moderator.

Puppet Flooding: Any player or group of players creating large numbers of puppets for the purpose of spamming, harassing, or annoying a region, be they invaders, defenders, or natives, may find all such puppets ... and their main nations ... deleted without warning as Regional Happenings spammers.

Spam, and the different types of it
There're many types of spam, but the general definition is making a post that doesn't have any sort of use. Excessive bumping, tagging, and random posts with irrelevant information are all examples of spam. The same applies to in-game posts on regional messageboards and telegrams.
*Excessive Bumping: Bumping is adding a meaningless (*bump*) post to a thread to push it back to the top of the list. Bump rates vary between forums, but as a rule, once every 24 hours is the maximum outside General or II where it may be acceptable to bump any thread that has fallen off the first two pages. If the bulk of your posts are bumps, you should take it to mean that no one is interested in your topic, and let it die.

*Forum Spam: Off-topic, irrelevant and multi-posts that do not belong, such as smilie spam and attempting to increase your post count. Tagging is considered spam as well, since we have the "thread subscription" feature (it's in your Profile and a menu option on every thread).

*Regional Advertising Spam: The only places where you are allowed to put region advertisements are: The Gameplay Forum (they will be deleted if posted elsewhere) and the regional messageboards of the game-created regions (The Pacific, The North Pacific, The East Pacific, The South Pacific, The West Pacific, Lazarus, Osiris, Balder, The Rejected Realms and the Official Warzones). Note that it is not legal to advertise in copycat regions such as "West Pacific". One ad per 24-hour period or per 10 posted messages, whichever is longer.

Recruitment telegrams may be sent to residents of game-created regions. No 24-hour rule here - one per nation, period. It is your responsibility to know who you've attempted to recruit.
RMB Ads are allowed in player-created regions if and only if the region has a "Recruiter Friendly" tag; however, telegrams to individual nations are still not allowed.

*Image Spam: Posting of images, particularly repeated or multiple images, that do not serve to help the flow of the thread. This includes images in both in-character and out-of-character posts.

*Regional Messageboard Spam: Posting multiple messages on your messageboard within a short period of time can be considered messageboard spam. The only person that is allowed to do so, to clear the messageboard is the region's founder.

*Regional Happenings Spam: Going in and out of a region while filling the regional event's board with departing and arriving messages. This includes doing so with more than just one of your nations and is not allowed. Use the Additional Information checkboxes on the Getting Help Page to capture abuses.

*Signature Spam: Maximum size should never exceed eight lines, including blank lines and a quote box is four lines; signatures should not use more than two of these. Signatures exceeding eight lines will be reduced using spoiler tags. Large font sizes should be avoided and may be trimmed without warning. See Advertisements and Forbidden Links above.

*WA Advertising Spam: Non-natives and region-hoppers are forbidden to post WA advertisements or requests for proposal approval outside of their native region. The game-created regions (Listed above) are no exception to this rule. Requests for proposal approval may be telegrammed to WA delegates, except where the region's 'No GA/SC Campaigning' tags designates otherwise. More than one request per proposal may be considered spam.

Thread Hijacking: Appropriating a thread for a discussion totally unrelated to the original purpose of said thread. Hijacking can take the form of a single post or a long discussion. Such posts may be split or deleted, and the poster warned.

Don't start threads describing the best way to get away with murder, rape, child abuse, software piracy, bombing the UN, killing the President, or anything of that nature. We don't find it amusing, and it puts the forums at risk. Egregious posters of such may be banned, deleted, or even have their ISP contacted.

Trolling/Baiting/Gloating: Trolling is defined as posts that are made with the aim of angering people. (like 'ALL JEWS ARE [insert vile comment here]' for example). Someone disagreeing with you does not equate to trolling. Intent is incredibly important and will be judged by the moderators to the best of their abilities. Disagreements are expected and conducting yourself in a civil manner is ideal. Trollbaiting is the action of making posts that attract trolls. A prime example of trollbaiting would be gloating over the results of an election.

Gloating over punishments handed out to other players is not acceptable. Another form of the offense, IGNORE gloating, is typically seen in the roleplay forums, though it can appear elsewhere. Politely informing another nation that you are henceforth using the "ignore" feature is acceptable, but repeating it in different threads or over long periods is considered gloating and will be dealt with appropriately. Other cases will be considered on an ad hoc basis.

Trollnaming: A specific violation that combines thread hijacking and flamebaiting. Trollnaming is when a user responds to someone's post by calling them out for trolling. This does nothing to advance the actual topic of discussion, and may lead to the thread going off its original topic in favor of debating if that user is a troll (thus thread hijacking.) It can also be taken as trying to provoke an angry reaction out of the accused player (thus flamebaiting.) If you suspect someone is in fact trolling, the proper place to make your accusation is in the Moderation section of the forums, NOT in the thread where you think the trolling is taking place.

WA Multiing: A basic rule is one WA nation per person. (You may have as many non-WA nations as you like.) Any WA nations operated from the same computer will be treated as multies. If you have family that want to be in the WA too, work it out with them. There is no way for us to truly know how many people are on the other side of the computer.

Appeals Process

Appeals
For forum problems, you should start on the forums, preferably in Moderation with a link to the ruling that you're appealing. Asking for a second opinion is permitted. An exception to this is a forumban - that must be made via Getting Help to avoid breaking forumban. If two or more mods have already ruled on that case, or the thread is locked, that's it for the forums. Your next stage is a Getting Help request, or Final Appeal.

For game problems, Getting Help is your first choice. You may ask for a review of moderation decisions. If there are also forum issues, include links to the theads. For deletions, be certain to include another nation name or an email address where you may be reached. Game rulings are logged by the system, so we know who made the original ruling and will pass it to a different Game Mod for the appeal.

Final Appeals
If you feel that the first appeal was unjust, you may post a final appeal via the Getting Help page. Please note in your request that this is a final appeal. The appeal will be logged where all mods can see it, and will be judged by a panel of no less than three mods, excluding the original ruling mod and including at least one Senior Game Mod. The presence of a Senior is to ensure the panel is sufficiently experienced, not to provide a higher authority: the panel's decision will be reached by consensus, with no individual having greater influence than another.

Frivolous appeals may result in warnings to your nation. Most forum warnings and minor forumbans are likely to be considered frivolous. Final appeals may take several days, so be patient.

Please be aware, that while mods may choose to honor a third-party request for a second opinion at their discretion, they are not required to do so. Formal appeals must be made by the person who was subject of moderator action, and not by a third party. Third-party appeals will not be heard.

Admins, including Max Barry, are not moderators: they are not involved in rulings, including appeals. If you bypass this process and go directly to admin, they will almost certainly toss it back at the mods, or simply ignore it. Admins will only be involved in cases involving changes to the game framework, or serious claims of moderator abuse; e.g. that would require a moderator to be stood down. In this case, admins will be alerted by mods.

Please remember to remain polite and courteous at all times. This makes the appeal easier on everybody, including you.

[Euroslavia]

Acceptable Flag Policy

Originally posted by [violet].

As per the FAQ, flags are subject to the same minimum standard as any other content: they can't be obscene, illegal, threatening, malicious, defamatory, spam, or have the primary aim of offending or upsetting people. And:

Originally Posted by http://www.nationstates.net/page=faq
Does that apply to my nation's flag?
You betcha. In fact, we're much stricter on nation flags than we are on forum posts, because they're not open for challenge and debate. If you want to make a political point, don't use your flag -- use the forum, where other people have a right of reply.

I expect there will be many borderline cases (there always are), but it's a simple principle. If a flag celebrates death, slavery, violence, or other not-nice things against real people, that's malicious, and will have the primary effect of offending.

We don't ban particular patterns of colored pixels, we ban any content that is malicious in nature. The mods' job is to judge which is which. Swastikas, for instance, are not permitted, as their primary association for most people is the Nazi genocide. Conversely, the hammer and sickle is permitted because the atrocities committed by Communist régimes do not outweigh the simple ideological connotations in the mind of the average viewer. And because I know this is going to come up again: I realize that you can point out a bunch of different groups that committed terrible acts, and yet we're not banning their flags. That's because we're not banning the symbols of every group that scored a particular body count; we're prohibiting content that is malicious in nature and to most people will have the primary effect of offending. Not a few people, not just you, but most people. That's the criteria.

As such, what causes a flag to be more or less offensive is dependent on a variety of current events of a cultural, political, military etc nature, and may change without warning. For example, if a zombie attack destroys Japan, a flag displaying zombies eating Japanese citizens may become widely offensive and be removed as a result.

The forums permit relatively free speech on a range of issues, so, as the FAQ says, if you've got a political ax to grind, do it here, where people can argue back. Please don't put it in your flag when you know it will piss people off.

A Note concerning the NationStates Terms of Service (TOS) and FAQ
While it should go without saying, some players apparently think the TOS and FAQ don't apply on the forums. They do. Don't be stupid.

Terms of Service (TOS)(http://www.nationstates.net/pages/legal.html)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (http://www.nationstates.net/page=faq)

Delete-on-Sight (DoS or DOS): Any player who has so worn out his welcome with rule-breaking behavior over a variety of nations may be declared DoS by the moderation staff. Any new nations created by this player can and will be deleted when spotted, and any threads they started or posts they contributed will be removed without warning. This is reserved for the most egregious violators, and is never unilaterally declared by a single moderator, but is agreed upon by a majority of active Mods and Admins. The list of DoS nations will not be made public, so don't ask.

Humor on the forums: This site is based on a work of political satire, and is intended to be fun. Humor is welcome here, but be aware that standards of humor vary widely. It's up to you to balance your idea of humor against what the rest of the players here find funny, and it's up to the mods to be the final aribiters of what is permitted and what isn't. Keep in mind that this is primarily a political game, so try to keep the humor running along those lines.

Copyright: Users of Nationstates own the copyright to everything they post here under international law, assuming it's copyrightable material in the first place and belongs to them. The legal section only grants the site's Admins the licenses they need to store your material and make it viewable on someone else's computer. 'Royalty-free' means you cannot charge them for doing so. Were you to find someone had, for example, stolen your Nationstates weapon designs and used them in a movie or a line of toys, you as the copyright holder would still be fully entitled to take action against them. Putting something up in our forum does not remove your right of copyright ownership.
It's doubtful you could file action if someone went so far as to actually build, say, an NS-designed tank, because the description the user provides is not exhaustive enough for 'industrial application' and would require massive additional work on behalf of the tank-builder.

On the other hand, if another user steals your designs [and that would be either using images without your permission or reproducing large portions of text unaltered], that is plagiarism which deserves to be its own offense.. If you point the moderators at the thread, they'll tell them to knock it off. Characters are covered by the same rules as technology; copying one directly and entirely is plagiarism (as above). Original characters are protected by copyright. Characters taken from existing media are not; no action will be taken in case of a dispute over Darth Vader.

Quoting posts in replies does not require copyright permission, since the 'fair use' part of copyright law allows reproduction of copyrighted works for purposes of criticism or commentary.

Finally, remember This. Is. Nationstates! -- not to be confused with /b/. Leave the "4 teh lulz" and rules-lawyering at the door.

[Euroslavia]

Script Rules

This rule describes how you may use automated tools, such as scripts, macros, and browser add-ons, to interact with NationStates.

It is acceptable to use a tool that merely modifies how pages look to you. For example, a script that adds particular buttons in your browser when viewing other people's nation pages is fine. Similarly, any kind of information-gathering script is acceptable, subject to the rate limits below.

It is illegal to use a tool to automatically cause something in the gameworld to change, other than your own nation. Examples include: moving regions, sending a telegram to another nation, banning a nation from a region, creating a nation, and endorsing another nation.

A tool is working "automatically" if it executes an action in any way other than by immediately responding to a user's mouse click (or similar input), at the ratio of one click to one action. For example, a tool that sends ban requests to the server at five-second intervals, regardless of user input, is executing actions automatically, and illegal. However, a tool that makes ban buttons appear on pages where they aren't normally present is legal, as this requires a user's click something to change anything in the gameworld.

You may use a tool to execute actions that only affect your own nation, such as answering issues or changing custom fields.

Rate Limits

If you wish to use a script to gather information from NationStates, you are encouraged to use the official API, rather than scraping HTML pages. If there's data you can only get from the HTML, we will probably add it to the API if you ask. The API is able to handle scripts far more efficiently and thus has quite high rate limits (currently 100 requests per minute).

Scripts that don't use the API must send no more than 10 requests per minute.

Scripts are completely banned on the forum (http://forum.nationstates.net).

Exception: Sending Telegrams

In recognition of the fact that NS has a very crude messaging interface, with an improved one in the works:

A script or automated tool may send telegrams, providing that it does so at a rate of no more than 3 telegrams per minute.

The rate limit is adjudged per region/group/cause. That is, a group of people may not work together to send more than this rate of telegrams to promote the same region, WA resolution, or other cause.

Please note: This does not overrule the broader site rules regarding spam. You are required to stay within those rules, too.

NB, per this thread, starting June 1st 2012 this exception does NOT apply to sending recruitment telegrams. Those may only be sent manually.

Script Authors

It is illegal to distribute a tool that breaks game rules when used in its primary, default, or intended manner.

[Frisbeeteria]

Before you post here, read the first post. This is NOT a discussion of what rules should be dropped. This is a discussion of specific phrasing in the rules.

[Individuality-ness]

Regional Messageboard Spam: Posting multiple messages on your messageboard within a short period of time can be considered messageboard spam. The only person that is allowed to do so, to clear the messageboard is the region's founder.

Is there really a need for the bolded part, since nowadays all RMB posts are saved for posterity? It might have been useful before NS starting saving our RMB posts, when a founder going -- CLEARING SPAM -- would cause the deletion of the offending posts, but since we just save all posts, is it not better to suggest sending a GHR to get a moderator to suppress offending posts?

[Hydesland]

It is cool that you are doing this, I am always impressed by the professionalism of NSG mods compared to the other forums I visit.

"Don't start threads describing the best way to get away with murder, rape, child abuse, software piracy, bombing the UN, killing the President, or anything of that nature. We don't find it amusing, and it puts the forums at risk. Egregious posters of such may be banned, deleted, or even have their ISP contacted."

Not sure why that is under the section of thread hijacking, should it have its own title or be moved somewhere else?

edit: I would suggest the title "Seeking help with illegal activities: or something similar.

[The Blaatschapen]

2) Don't Be A Dick. While being abrasive, mean-spirited, and mean are not against the rules, they do make you much harder to get along with and will be considered as aggravating circumstances, whether intentionally or not. Someone who's generally decent but has an off day is always going to get cut more slack than someone no one likes to be around. Additionally, if someone's being decent, it's really hard for that person to do something that will get her in trouble. When in doubt, a simple guideline is Don't Be A Dick. Thanks, Scolo.

*underlined by me*

I suggest to use 'them' rather than 'her'. Posters aren't necessarily female(or male/anything else for that matter) so best to keep those pronouns genderless.

[Euroslavia]

2) Don't Be A Dick. While being abrasive, mean-spirited, and mean are not against the rules, they do make you much harder to get along with and will be considered as aggravating circumstances, whether intentionally or not. Someone who's generally decent but has an off day is always going to get cut more slack than someone no one likes to be around. Additionally, if someone's being decent, it's really hard for that person to do something that will get her in trouble. When in doubt, a simple guideline is Don't Be A Dick. Thanks, Scolo.

*underlined by me*

I suggest to use 'them' rather than 'her'. Posters aren't necessarily female(or male/anything else for that matter) so best to keep those pronouns genderless.

Edited, thanks!

[Lymantatia]

Harassment/Griefing: Harassing/griefing a nation or region because of what they did or said is forbidden in telegrams, Regional Messageboard (RMB) posts, and on the forums. Save abusive telegrams so that moderators can examine them. Use the Additional Information checkboxes on the Getting Help Page to report abusive RMB posts. Report abusive forum posts in the Moderation forum.

--BUMP--

WA Multiing: A basic rule is one WA nation per person. (You may have as many non-WA nations as you like.) Any WA nations operated from the same computer will be treated as multies. If you have family that want to be in the WA too, work it out with them. There is no way for us to truly know how many people are on the other side of the computer.

Revise a few parts
*Change "because of what they did or said is forbidden in telegrams, Regional Messageboard (RMB) posts, and on the forums" to "due to their actions is disallowed regardless".
*Change "If you have family that want to be in the WA too, work it out with them. There is no way for us to truly know how many people are on the other side of the computer." to "If your brother or someone who lives in your house wants to join the WA, don't let them do so, because we cannot tell who is on the computer".

[Milograd]

*Signature Spam: Maximum size should never exceed eight lines, including blank lines and a quote box is four lines; signatures should not use more than two of these. Signatures exceeding eight lines will be reduced using spoiler tags. Large font sizes should be avoided and may be trimmed without warning.

Isn't it impossible to use font sizes that are larger than the default size for signatures here?

I don't think that I understand why this is included.

EDIT:

Copyright: Users of Nationstates own the copyright to everything they post here under international law, assuming it's copyrightable material in the first place and belongs to them. The legal section only grants the site's Admins the licenses they need to store your material and make it viewable on someone else's computer. 'Royalty-free' means you cannot charge them for doing so. Were you to find someone had, for example, stolen your Nationstates weapon designs and used them in a movie or a line of toys, you as the copyright holder would still be fully entitled to take action against them. Putting something up in our forum does not remove your right of copyright ownership.
It's doubtful you could file action if someone went so far as to actually build, say, an NS-designed tank, because the description the user provides is not exhaustive enough for 'industrial application' and would require massive additional work on behalf of the tank-builder.

Shouldn't their be a break after the end of the first paragraph? It looks a bit odd without one.

[Tsuntion]

Note on Mod Actions: All Mod actions are recorded for Moderator record keeping and can be requested by asking in Moderation or through the Getting Help page. If a player feels that a Mod action was unjustified or too harsh, they may appeal using the appeals process.

• Warning Levels: An official warning or forumban (*** Red text ***) will cause your warning level to go up. Your warning level can be checked through the User Control Panel. The level goes down after a few months, though the record will remain for Moderator use. Bear in mind that your warning level is forum-side warnings only. There is no magic "warning number" that triggers a ban or deletion, Moderators judge based on a player's history as well as the rule being broken and how.

Having the Warning Levels bullet here doesn't make any sense to me; there's no mention of the red text, of warnings, or anything like that in the Note on Mod Actions paragraph. I'd suggest just making Warning Levels its own mini-section under "How do I know when a Moderator is acting as one?" rather than a subbullet here.

[Jamie Anumia]

Exception: Sending Telegrams

In recognition of the fact that NS has a very crude messaging interface, with an improved one in the works:

A script or automated tool may send telegrams, providing that it does so at a rate of no more than 3 telegrams per minute.

The rate limit is adjudged per region/group/cause. That is, a group of people may not work together to send more than this rate of telegrams to promote the same region WA resolution, or other cause.

Please note: This does not overrule the broader site rules regarding spam. You are required to stay within those rules, too.

Regarding Recruitment Telegrams, per this thread, scripts may NOT be used to send telegrams - they must be sent manually.

This section caught my attention on first glance, it's phrasing needs to be improved, in my opinion. The rules regarding recruitment need to be made more clear. Lots of nations (from what I've seen) still seem to ask 'where can I get an auto recruitment script?' or other similar questions. I do also question whether the last line in its current wording is clear enough, since it's obviously talking in the past tense now, I've included a re-worded suggestion above in green, I just personally feel that the message that auto-recruitment is not allowed needs to made absolutely clear without any room for interpretation.

[Cerberion]

2) Don't Be A Dick. While being abrasive, mean-spirited, and mean are not against the rules, they do make you much harder to get along with and will be considered as aggravating circumstances, whether intentionally or not. Someone who's generally decent but has an off day is always going to get cut more slack than someone no one likes to be around. Additionally, if someone's being decent, it's really hard for that person to do something that will get them in trouble. When in doubt, a simple guideline is Don't Be A Dick. Thanks, Scolo.

Perhaps it's just me but if we want to encourage people to be mature and have good interactions, the rules should probably not have stuff in it like "Don't Be A Dick".

It sets a tone and even an expectation of what might be okay, such as "hey, you need to read this rule because it applies to you."


Maybe:

2) Treat members with courtesy and respect. While being abrasive, mean-spirited, and mean are not against the rules, they do make you much harder to get along with and will be considered as aggravating circumstances, whether intentionally or not. Someone who's generally decent but has an off day is always going to get cut more slack than someone no one likes to be around. Additionally, if someone's being decent, it's really hard for that person to do something that will get them in trouble. Thanks, Scolo.

[Ovisterra]

3) No rules lawyering. Agreeing or disagreeing with a moderation decision at whatever length you wish is perfectly within the rules. However, moderator decisions are not to be taken in bad faith. For instance, if something is ruled to be acceptable, don't turn around and use that ruling to bait another player (e.g. "In this case, I don't think Player 2 intended to be malicious when he described Player 1 as a 'maladjusted rapscallion.'" "Okay. Hey, Player 2! You're a maladjusted rapscallion! Moderator 3 said it's okay to call people that!"). This will never end well for you and it's best to simply leave things be; if you are doing so in an attempt to demonstrate that a moderator decision is wrong, simply file an appeal.

The wording of this is a little confusing. Might it be worth adding something like "The intent of a post (while sometimes hard to judge),is a very important factor when determining if it's actionable or not."?

Other than that, I think the entire thing works quite well.

[Frisbeeteria]

Before you post here, read the first post. This is NOT a discussion of what rules should be dropped. This is a discussion of specific phrasing in the rules.

If you have comments on somebody else's post, raise them in the Comments thread. This is NOT a discussion topic or a Q&A thread.

All such posts have been (and will continue to be) moved to the Comments thread.

[Sichuan Pepper]

Exception: Sending Telegrams

In recognition of the fact that NS has a very crude messaging interface, with an improved one in the works:

A script or automated tool may send telegrams, providing that it does so at a rate of no more than 3 telegrams per minute.

The rate limit is adjudged per region/group/cause. That is, a group of people may not work together to send more than this rate of telegrams to promote the same region, WA resolution, or other cause.

Please note: This does not overrule the broader site rules regarding spam. You are required to stay within those rules, too.

NB, per this thread, starting June 1st 2012 this exception does NOT apply to sending recruitment telegrams. Those may only be sent manually.

I would suggest adding in bold that scripts are currently illegal for recruitment use. It currently is hidden in the post and easily overlooked.

Suggested inclusion in blue :

Exception: Sending Telegrams

In recognition of the fact that NS has a very crude messaging interface, with an improved one in the works:

A script or automated tool may send telegrams, providing that it does so at a rate of no more than 3 telegrams per minute.

The rate limit is adjudged per region/group/cause. That is, a group of people may not work together to send more than this rate of telegrams to promote the same region, WA resolution, or other cause.

Please note: This does not overrule the broader site rules regarding spam. You are required to stay within those rules, too.

Use of scripts or automated tools to recruit nations are illegal
NB, per this thread, starting June 1st 2012 this exception does NOT apply to sending recruitment telegrams. Those may only be sent manually.

[Free South Califas]

Original: “There're many types of spam, but the general definition is making a post that doesn't have any sort of use.”

This is not a useful definition, because many spam posts do have a clear use - advertising, for example. Just not an acceptable use, or one that’s considerate of others’ time. The quoted sentence above, if it is in any way preserved, could be modified toward that end (two style changes are also desperately needed), i.e.:

Suggested revision: “There are many types of spam, but the general definition is content that doesn’t have any sort of use beyond one player’s personal interest or gain.”

Come to think of it, this could actually just be the spam rule, with a few short explanations of the most common kinds of spam (currently listed as pretty much their own separate rules), plus trollnaming, abuse of appeals, etc.

---

*Change "If you have family that want to be in the WA too, work it out with them. There is no way for us to truly know how many people are on the other side of the computer." to "If your brother or someone who lives in your house wants to join the WA, don't let them do so, because we cannot tell who is on the computer".

I disagree. We shouldn't make gender assumptions, for one thing; more to the point, there is no rule against multiple people joining the WA from the same computer, they just need to coordinate it.

I suggest: "If you have family or roommates who want to be in the WA too, work it out with them. It is your responsibility to make sure you have resigned from the WA before someone else joins from your computer. There is no way for us to truly know how many people are on the other side of the connection."

[The New World Oceania]

Script Authors

It is illegal to distribute a tool that breaks game rules when used in its primary, default, or intended manner.

This title and the proceeding text seem not to relate to eachother. Perhaps a better title for this section may be "Script Abuse," or rather simply merging this information with the first section in this area (Script Rules).

[Salandriagado]

So, I decided to do some proof reading for you:

Opening paragraph:
Should have an "and" before "site Administrators", "site" in "site Administrators" should probably be capitalised. The URL after (FAQ) should be in brackets to match the previous URL's formatting, and formatting of URLs elsewhere.

"How do moderators moderate": Jurisdiction section: "We have no jurisdiction over any offsite forums, nor do we guarantee the content of such to be accurate in any way." would seem to imply that you do guarantee the accuracy of content on these forums, so something like "We have no jurisdiction over any offsite forums, and make no guarantees about the content of any forum." might be better.

"Reporting Guidelines": the S is not coloured the same as the rest of the title.

"Offensive Material" (under "Forbidden actions"): This is a word-for-word repeat of "Keep it PG-13" above. Are both necessary, or can one be cut out?

"Homework help": this could probably do with some clarification - does it include assistance with other school work that isn't homework? Something like "Requests for assistance with homework, or other school work, are forbidden, in any forum." if so.

"IP addresses": you should probably explain what IP swapping is for people that don't know.

"Spam and the different types of it": the larger font used here seems to imply that everything down to "Appeals Process" is a type of spamming. Reducing the font size and just using the bullet points / different colours to indicate subsections would probably be better.

"WA Advertising Spam": " Non-natives and region-hoppers are forbidden to post WA advertisements or requests for proposal approval outside of their native region." seems a bit clunky. Something like "It is not permitted to post WA advertisements or requests of proposal approval outside of your native region, or to region-hop in order to post them in other regions." seems a little better to me, though it could still do with some improvement.

"Thread Hijacking": the second paragraph under this isn't about thread hijacking, and seems to be missing its title.

"Terms of Service (TOS): There's a space missing before the following URL.

[Scoochi2]

Rate Limits

If you wish to use a script to gather information from NationStates, you are encouraged to use the official API, rather than scraping HTML pages. If there's data you can only get from the HTML, we will probably add it to the API if you ask. The API is able to handle scripts far more efficiently and thus has quite high rate limits (currently 100 requests per minute).

Scripts that don't use the API must send no more than 10 requests per minute.

I think the underlined part should be reworded to "currently 50 requests per 30 seconds", as that is what the script limit is actually (sending 51 requests in 30 seconds and then 0 for the next 30 seconds will still get a temp-ban on the script, even though it sent 49 requests less than the rules state).

[AiliailiA]

Collected here for your amusement and amazement are summaries of most of the rules and conditions of NationStates, as set by Max Barry, site Administrators [violet] and SalusaSecondus, with precedents from Moderators past, present, and future.

The core precepts for all rules in both game and forums can be found in the NationStates Terms of Service (TOS) (http://www.nationstates.net/pages/legal.html) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)http://www.nationstates.net/page=faq.

Please be aware that the following rules are not set in stone. Each case is different, and may be subject to conditions not readily apparent to the regular player. Consideration is given not just to the specific offense, but also the nation's (and in some cases, the player's) prior actions and infractions. Also, new rules may be added as circumstances dictate, and Max and the Admins may invoke special rulings as they see a need.


Table of Contents

• How do Moderators moderate?
• Game/Forum Rules and Appeal Process
• Acceptable Flag Policy and Information concerning the TOS and FAQ
• Script Rules

[violet] written in black could be confusing for new users.

Perhaps an opportunity to introduce them to the colors used for Moderators' and Admin's names elsewhere on NS.

(That's my nibble ... very pleased to be asked thankyou.)

[Alleniana]

Note on Mod Actions: All Mod actions are recorded for Moderator record keeping and can be requested by asking in Moderation or through the Getting Help page. If a player feels that a Mod action was unjustified or too harsh, they may appeal using the appeals process.
• Warning Levels: An official warning or forumban (*** Red text ***) will cause your warning level to go up. Your warning level can be checked through the User Control Panel. The level goes down after a few months, though the record will remain for Moderator use. Bear in mind that your warning level is forum-side warnings only. There is no magic "warning number" that triggers a ban or deletion, Moderators judge based on a player's history as well as the rule being broken and how.

Shouldn't there be a paragraph break between the two paragraphs?