. . : : Foreword : : . .

In an effort to ensure things stay pretty easy-going around these parts, the forum staff would like for the lot of us to be on the same page concerning how to treat one another. As much as we would like to think that we're all reasonably mature people capable of resolving problems on our own or having the foresight to not let problems grow into serious issues, it is simply a fact of life in any diverse community that friction based on views, ideologies, life choices, circumstances, diction, writing ability, misconceptions, and a whole host of other things are going to touch on our emotions and cause us to have problems with one another in some capacity. We can't say it should be much of a challenge for us to remain civil with one another, or that any of us really have an excuse to be less than friendly, but in hopes of fairly settling conflicts as they arise and to provide some consistency in rule applications and enforcement, we the forum staff have decided to update the community etiquette rules to be both more comprehensive, consistent, and less open to interpretation.

By being a member of this board, you are acknowledging that you have read and are aware of these rules, and that you agree to their terms. If you do not agree to these rules, then you may address your grievance to your community admins and argue your case for the offensive rule to be changed. Disagreement with the rules is not a license to break them, and anyone found to repeatedly break rules will be disciplined as necessary; if you as member cannot live with the rules stated herein, then you are free to not participate in the community.



. . : : General Community Rules : : . .

1. Content and Language
1A) Using the MPAA rating system as a guideline, ALL community content is to be no more explicit than what would earn a “PG-13” rating, with “R” being the exception for roleplays and literature; graphic sexual images or descriptions are additionally and expressly prohibited in all sections of the community.

1B) There is no excuse to direct inflamatory language towards another member, or to use what are commonly known as expletives when discussing about or with another person, and doing so will warrant corrective action. However, we realize people nowadays often casually (and sometimes creatively) insult one another as general greetings or as fun jokes; as long as both parties understand the intent, then no action will be taken to stop you. Using expletives in general coversation is par the course for kids nowadays, and their use will not be explicitly discouraged unless someone is getting seriously out of hand.

1C) The discussion of real-world religion and politics outside of that which directly relates to role play is not allowed in the chat or anywhere on the forums outside of the Gentlemen's Club and Discord. The rules for discussing such things shall be listed below in a separate section for the Gentlemen's club and Discord. We understand that the nature of nation role play means we can't preclude talk about and references to such topics through the course of discussing our own nations; however, community members shall make an effort to keep such discussions related to roleplay, and end those discussions if they drift too far away from the RP topic or become hostile.

2. Spam & Malicious Content
2A) Any and all accounts created solely to serve as spam accounts advertising off-side areas (both real and fraudulent) not previously approved by an administrator will be similarly banned.

2B) Spamming and flooding the boards with useless content shall receive an immediate and temporary ban on your account, with no exception or repeal; this includes non-linked image strings, Smiley Wars, and “Multiple character” replies outside of roleplay areas, and making fast back and forth replies with another person outside of The Corner without regard to the content or purpose of the thread. Double posting is discouraged in most cases except in instances where it is used for important updates to the topic of the thread, to advance the plot of a story/rolplay, and so on.

2C) Thread Necromancy is not explicitly bad, but is discouraged. As a general rule, any thread which has been inactive for at least a quarter of a year is deemed “dead”, and this is a generous definition; reviving it is what is called Thread Necromancy. This is fine if an RP has been waiting on you and you finally manage to post or if it's an informational thread and you have new data to present; this is not fine when it's someone's long-dead RP and you're just hopping in without permission, if you're just trying to chat it up after a topic of discussion's long concluded, etc.

2D) General "community spam" and forum "posting games" shall be kept to The Corner. Posts elsewhere shall serve some constructive purpose.

3. Harassment & Community Conduct
3A) This community is meant to be a nice one for people of similar interests to hang out and converse freely. Though not everyone will have the same interests as one another, there is absolutely no reason to create any bad blood between friends. This is the internet. We respect the rights people receive as part of the United States Constitution, but "muh First Amendment" holds no power here; if you can’t make a reasonable effort to be courteous to one another, then you do not belong here.

3B) Harassment is any behavior that disturbs or upsets, is characteristically repetitive, and often intended to be disturbing or threatening. Willful and deliberate harassment of any person will not be tolerated in our community, by any person, or against any person. Harassment of members and nonmembers outside the forum is still subject to you being banned from the community, including the forum, discord, chatbox, and anywhere else where the Eternity name is displayed. If you are found inequivocably guilty of harassment either on these boards or off-site, you will be permanently and irrevocably banned with no appeal.

3C) Respect your fellow members. Not everyone has access to high-speed internet, or unlimited data caps, or the want to hear your pottymouth or how "woke" you are in chat all the time. If it’s a huge picture, link it. If it’s a huge animation, link it. Video? That's right, link it. If you must make a sailor blush, find a thesaurus. If you find yourself steering way off topic or “thread hijacking”, then try to redirect it back on topic. Don’t antagonize people due to their interests, beliefs (including religion), lifestyle, etc… It’s just plain Respect, people. It’s not so damn hard.

3D) If you intend for whatever reason to leave Eternity with little to no intention of returning, do not attempt to delete your posts. Regular members lack the power to do this properly, and any attempts at doing so will be reversed. If you have serious reservations about having certain posts remain after your departure, then ask a staff member to assist you, and we will look into the matter.

4. Signatures & Profiles
4A) Forum signature character limit is set to 9001 characters, to include all text and code. Total dimensions of signatures should not exceed either 800 pixel width or 400 pixel height to prevent screen stretching for most people; forum staff will break offensive signatures without warning, and leave you a kindly worded note explaining why.

4B) Changing your screen name is allowed. Be reasonable: find something you like, and try to stick with it as long as possible; abusing this policy and changing your name every five minutes is a quick way to have this privilege revoked.

4C) Community members may only have one chat, forum, or Discord account per live person, with the exception of Community staff (for testing and administrative purposes). Zombies may have as many as they wish. Any person caught with multiple accounts will have all except the oldest deleted, which will receive a minimum account suspension of either one (1) day or an "infraction level" equal to the total number of accounts, whichever is greater; if you fail to receive an activation email or have other account issues that hinder your ability to login or otherwise use the forums, contact a staff member and we will resolve the issue for you.

5. Community Improvement
5A) The community is not perfect, and can always be improved. If you have suggestions on how to improve the community, there are two threads for that:
- This Thread should be used to suggest improvements to the layout and function of the forums, chat, discord, and other aesthetic or functional improvements.
- This Thread should be used to suggest all other general improvements to the community as a whole.

6. Admin Enforcement & Complaints
6A) The following hierachy of actions will be taken by forum staff in the following order regarding infractions of any rules, unless a specific section calls for some other action to be taken:

1st Infraction: First verbal/written warning

2nd Infraction: Final verbal/written warning

3rd Infraction: 1-day account suspension of posting privileges within the entire community.

4th Infraction: 2-week account suspension of posting etc.

5th Infraction: 3-month account suspension etc.

6th Infraction: 1-year (12-month) account suspension etc.

7th Infraction: Permanent account suspension etc.

6B) Any bans issued for infractions of the rules shall be honored by the person who has been banned, and the ban shall include all aspects of the community (the forum, chat, discord, NS RMB, and any other places that bear the Eternity name) unless otherwise stated by the admin issuing the ban. Should the person receiving the ban attempt to circumvent it by any means and place messages or other such posts in violation of said ban, then that person's ban shall either be extended by one week per message/post or the terms of the ban moved up one infraction level - up to and including permanent account suspension or deletion - at an annoyed admin's discretion.

6C) If you have compaints and issues about an aspect of the community, the forum, or of another person, below is the recommended process you should follow in getting your complaints addressed:

- For Role Play Issues: Contact the RP Director, via PM. The Director will get back to you as soon as possible.

- For General Board Issues: Contact the Chief of Public Relations.
- - If he is unavailable, contact the Chief of Staff Support.
- - If neither of the above are available, contact the Root Admininstrator, but understand he is your last resort.

- For Interpersonal Issues & Complaints: Contact the Chief of Public Relations.
- - If he is part of the problem (or otherwise unavailable), contact the Chief of Staff Support.
- - If he is part of the problem too (or otherwise unavailable), contact the Root Admininstrator.
- - Failing all else and as a last resort, contact the Chief of Logical Reason.

6D) The community staff are volunteers who give of their own time and resources to keep things running smoothly and in reasonable order, and their words are law when it comes to rule enforcement regardless of who it is. If a member of forum staff tells Member X and Member Y to stop arguing about Topic Z, then Member X and Member Y WILL stop arguing about Topic Z. Failure to heed the words and warnings of our forum staff will have consequences for your continued enjoyment of our community and its resources.

6E) Admins and mods are not above the forum rules. We are, however, tasked with enforcing them. If you have a perceived problem of a staff member breaking rules or exerting clear bias in his/her enforcement of the rules, then follow the procedures for interpersonal issues above for having your complaint resolved; lashing out at the world as if everyone is against you will not get your problems resolved.

6F) If you seriously, seriously have issues with members or aspects of the community that are giving you consideration to leave us for good, please make every effort to speak with an admin so we can try and resolve these issues both for you and other members. Throwing a tantrum and threatening to leave the community in an act to leverage the overinflated value of your activity in the community as a means to get what you want will get you a resounding, "Bye sweaty, good luck out there."



. . : : Category Specific Rules : : . .

7. Modern Tech Role Play
7A) Specific MTRP rules are kept in this thread.

8. Alternative Role Play
8A) Alternative, Non-NationStates or nation-based role play, or nation-based role play that takes place in a universe outside Siora will be conducted in this section.

8B) Currently, "Alternative Role Play" (henceforth "ARP") has three subsections, where more can be added as need demands it:
- - Fantasia Design - This is where you can plan and place OOC threads for your non-SMTRP role plays; this exists for your convenience, and you are not required to make a thread here to create/start role play in Fantasia.
- - Fantasia - This is where you can start and reply to non-SMTRP role play threads.
- - Andlosheim - Both OOC and story threads for the Andlosheim magical fantasy role play setting may go here. Andlosheim-specific rules might be found in its OOC section.

8C) All role play here is still subject to the General Community Rules. Both community staff and thread creators have the authority to create and enforce specific rules for their stories, campaigns, and other such threads in the "ARP" section, and to decline the use or characters or participation by certain parties if those characters/people are deemed unreasonable or in violation of community rules. Specific rules for specific Fantasia role plays may overrule general forum role play etiquette.

8D) RP thread creators (or GMs) here have the authority to perform non-lethal autos for the purpose of preserving or progressing the plot with or without consent. However, creators/GMs MUST give critical warning before executing something that would terminate a character's life; failing to heed critical warning is the fault of the role-player.

8E) As a general rule, respect common sense reality in our role plays and remain in character. In the absence of specific RP rules, try respecting general SMTRP writing etiquette (section 1) as best you can. Of course, RP creators may give permission or set guidelines that not only bend reality or allow for out-of-character moments, but also disregard normal RP rules and etiquette entirely, at their discretion.

9. Universe's End Restaurant
9A) This section of the forum contains all non-RP community content, and is split into the following sections:
- - The Bulletin Board - Exists for community announcements and news, houses the rules, and displays helpful information. This is not for spam games.
- - The Diner - Exists as the general catch-all chat forum for anything that does not belong in any other forum. This is not for spam games.
- - The Gameroom - Exists as a place primarily for video game stuff, but may also encompass tabletop and others. Come here to seek out players for your multiplayer extravaganza, to discuss games and show us your neat gaming things, tell us about cool stuff you've played, show off your gameplay, and more. This is not for spam games.
- - Writer's Bloc - Exists as a forum for all non-RP literature, from sharing your own writings, the writings of others and your thoughts thereof, learning or teaching the principles of good writing, and more. May also include writing competitions. This is not for spam games.
- - The Corner - This is for spam games.

10. The Gentlemen's Club
10A) The Gentlemen's Club exists as our forum for serious discussion, essays and debate about a wide range of topics including history and politics, among others. This section is intended for substantial and worthwhile discussion: interactions shall remain respectful, and any replies to topics will strive to include well-thought rationales and information relevant to the discussion, and other such things more stimulating than simple outbursts of agreement or disagreement without accompanying argument, rationale, or something else that otherwise adds something of value to the discussion. Your sarcasm and wit are neither "substantial" nor "something of value."

10B) In order to post anything, here, you must be willing to accept that your opinions on a subject can change, and be fully prepared to admit that change; if this is beyond your capability and you believe that the purpose of a discussion is to "win," then you need not post here. There is no "winning" here; you don't get a reward, and no one will think more highly of you for your "win." This forum exists as an exchange of ideas, to refine your own understanding on subjects through the forging fires of discourse.

10C) In the case of an argument or debate breaking out over topic...good! Keep the discussion factual, respectful, and focused narrowly on the specific arguments. According to research, the likelihood of changing someone's opinion in an argument drops off dramatically after three back-and-forth exchanges, so if the disagreement has not been reconciled by then either rethink your argument and try a different approach, or concede that the argument is going nowhere and agree to disagree. L 1 F 3 H 4 X

11. Oblivion Compound
11A) This section of the forum contains all community administrative areas, and is split into the following sections:
- - Hall of Forever - Community members come here to discuss big community happenings, events, and to participate in improving the community. Community improvement efforts, petitions, and suggestions primarily fall into this area.
- - Twilight Castle - The Community Administration's "public offices" are located within this section. This section exists as a public space to view the public release of the Community Administration's behind-the-scenes work.
- - Embassy Square - This space is dedicated to Eternity's external affiliated communities, and exists as a space for other communities to advertise themselves, share their own newsletters and information, and generally co-mingle in hopes of sharing members and minds.
- - Library of Eternity - This is where dead threads worthy of remembrance go to be displayed before the public, instead of buried beneath years of newer threads or relegated to the trash bin.

12. Extras
12A) Chatango
i. All general forum rules also apply to conduct within the chatango chat box.
ii. Political and religious discussion or debate outside that which relates to our role play is not to occur in the general forum chat. There are proper places for such exchanges, such as the Gentlemen's Club or Discord.

12B) Discord
i. The official Discord server is to be found here.
ii. All general forum rules also apply to conduct within the Discord server.
iii. Discord admins may include additional rules regarding conduct on the Discord server as they wish, though the General Community Rules shall have primacy over any Discord rules that are either contradictory or less stringent. Check the Discord server's welcome screen for specifics regarding Discord rules and their changes.
iv. Discord admins may police the Discord chat as they see fit, including temporary muting and restriction of access. Permanent actions against violators of Discord server rules will be enacted in accordance with the community infraction policy as outlined in section 6A of these rules, and will require community staff approval before action is taken.
v. Suspected abuse of power of and general complaints about the conduct of Discord admins shall be levied with the Chief of Public Relations.

12C) Nationstates
i. All above mentioned general forum rules also apply to conduct within NationStates and the Eternity NationStates regional message board.