IRC Chat Rules

[Xirena]

Chat Rules

In addition to the TravianGames IRC Network rules (included at the bottom of this post), the following rules and penalties apply to the #travian.com.au chat.


Chatroom Moderation

Our chatroom is monitored and moderated by IRC Support staff. On-duty staff have the @ symbol next to their names (it stands for "Op", as in "channel operator"), and are available to answer questions about the game and handle any chat rule violations.

Use of the chatroom is a privilege and is contingent on adherence to the rules. IRC Support may ban users without notice, depending on the severity of the offense. Should a user disagree with the decision of an IRC Support staff member, he or she may contact the Community Admin (Xirena) to state his/her objection, either in the chatroom or via forum PM. Decisions of the Community Admin are final.

Attempting to enter the chatroom while you are banned may get you permanently banned from the TravianGames IRC Network.


Offenses

The following offenses are punishable by warning, kicking or banning of the user.

Unacceptable language
Use of foul language and/or insults is not permitted. If an automatic censor is present, bypassing it will be treated the same as swearing. Suggestive language is also not permitted in the chatroom (if you really, really have to go there, do it in private messages and only with mutual consent). Denouncing other players/alliances and/or sedition is not permitted beyond light "trash talk".

Use of Caps
Writing in capital letters is considered shouting, and generally considered rude in chat. While the occasional exclamation is understandable and acceptable, repeated usage of caps or long strings of them is not permitted.

Flooding/Spamming
Flooding and/or spamming the chatroom is not permitted. While the system will often automatically handle such issues, Ops may deal with them as well.

Excessive Horseplay
While the occasional slap with a trout can be amusing, too much of a fun thing can be outright disruptive and annoying to other users. Don't be that person.

Artwork
There is a fine line between art and spam when it comes to chat. There is usually flood/spam prevention in place, so if you attempt to post multiline text art, you may be auto-kicked. We will not apologize for that. Posting suggestive or offensive text art is not permitted.

Scripts
Scripts that set your nick, join the room you want, or identify you with NickServ are permitted. All others are not.

Battle Reports
Links to battle reports may be posted in chat; however neither the report nor the responses in connection with it may contain the names of affected players, their villages or their coordinates.

Exception and conditions -World Wonders:

1. The linked battle report (or any responses connected with it) may not contain any identifying information other than the World Wonder name.
2. The defense numbers must be removed from the linked report.
3. You may show damage to buildings and World Wonder levels.
4. World Wonder battle reports may be linked unaltered ONLY after the server in question has ended.

Discussion of Other Games
Feel free to discuss other TravianGames offerings, such as Imperion or Wewaii. The discussion of online games (whether browser games or MMO) that are not TG is not permitted, as it amounts to advertising the competition. So not cool.

Contents of Private Messages
The contents of private messages may not be posted in the chatroom. This includes IGMs, chats, IMs, etc.

Abuse of the Help System or Staff Highlights
At times, we have had various systems in place to allow users to get staff attention in case we're not paying attention to the chat at the moment (hey, we have to feed our hammers, too!). If you use a method to alert staff, whether a !help system or by saying the staff member's name to "highlight" them, please be courteous and wait a reasonable amount of time for them to respond (5 minutes is perfectly reasonable - nothing is life and death in chat). Abuse of these alert methods is not only annoying and rude, it's not permitted.

Discussion of Bans
Discussing bans, whether in regards to chat, in-game or the forum, is not permitted. If you have an issue with a ban, please handle it appropriately. For chat or forum bans, you may calmly and politely discuss it with the Op or Mod who banned you, or take it to the Community Admin. For in-game bans, you may discuss it via in-game message with the Multihunter, take it to the Head Multihunter, or in extreme cases, contact the Game Admin.

Staff Baiting
You know the type: the person who takes advantage of gray areas, or who thinks it's funny to repeatedly skate right up to within a hair's breadth of outright rule violation and irritate the Op/Mod. Well, we don't tolerate that here. We also don't tolerate insulting, harassing, purposely irritating or otherwise making the Op's job more difficult.

Posting of Personal Information
For the protection of all users, the posting of personal information in the chatroom is prohibited. Personal information includes (but is not limited to): real name, address, phone number, school name and/or address (college/university name is okay), IP address, email address, and personal websites such as facebook, myspace, etc. Users may convey any information they choose via private message, but it is recommended that careful consideration is given before doing so. Minors should get parental permission before any information is given.

Not a Dating Chat
While the internet can be a great place to meet new people and we encourage the forging of friendships, our chat is not a matchmaking, dating or hookup room. Entering the chatroom and asking "asl?" or "any hawt chicks here?" is a great way to get yourself kicked and possibly banned. There are plenty of chatrooms online for such things; ours isn't one of them.

The Really Bad Stuff
There are things that we consider really, really Bad. Yes, with a capital B. Do any of these things and you are very likely to find yourself instantly banned.

• Sexually explicit posts
• Links to adult sites
• Links to sites promoting illegal activities
• Hate speech. "All deserve to die", for example. "I can't stand " is not the same thing at all. One is clearly malicious hatred, the other is simply dislike.
• Impersonating staff or any official
• Improper nick. Users may not set a nickname that violates these rules, is suggestive, explicit, or otherwise objectionable.

TravianGames IRC Network Rules (copied from the IRC /rules function)

I. GENERAL
(a) Every user of the TravianGames IRC-network is obliged to treat other users friendly and with respect. Racist pronouncements or pronouncements that are offensive in any other way are not allowed.

(b) It is forbidden to undertake or be involved in any of the following actions:

• Flooding of servers or channels (botnets included);
• Spreading any ----ographic, racist or otherwise offensive material or illegal material;
• Spreading any material of which the user is not the rightful owner;
• Joining and/or starting channels where users concentrate on or talk about actions and/or things which are forbidden by the rules of TravianGames;
• Clones. When a user wants to connect more than 3 clients to the network, he/she is obliged to contact irc@travian.org. This applies to LAN-parties, universities, schools etc;
• Spamming and/or advertising without the written approval of the TravianGames IRC staff (this includes (MMO) games);
• Hacking, spreading of virusses and trojans included;
• Pretending to be a networkservice or another user;
• Abusing possible problems with the IRC-network;
• Violation of channel-specific rules;
• Organising or taking part in channel wars;
• Unnecessary use of scripts;
• Intentional influencing of the servers;
• Acting against in the EU applicable laws.
• Do not test your limits by challenging operators

(c) Users violating I.a and/or I.b could be banned or punished otherwise.

(d) For further information about a ban or other punishments, users can send an e-mail to irc@travian.org. The user needs to add the chatname, used host/ip, logs or explanation about the reason of punishment and how to prevent this problem in the future.

(e) The channel #help is provided for questions about IRC..

(f) The IRC staff have the right to change these rules at all times without prior notice. It is the user's reponsibility to be aware of any changes made to the rules.

(g) The IRC staff and/or Travian Games GmbH and its partners can not be held responsible or liable for any pronouncement made on the TravianGames IRC-network and the possible actions made as a result of this.

II. CHATNAMES
(a) Chatnames are personal.

(b) Use a safe password and keep it secret. Every user is responsible for the confidentiality of his/her password.

(c) Use a working email-address during the registration of your chatname. You will receive a confirmation-mail after registration.

III. CHANNELS
(a) Advertising a channel (for example 'Join channel #chan') is prohibited. Advertising your channel could result in closing the channel.

(b) Channel wars are prohibited and could result in closing the involved channels.

(c) If you're uncertain about the use of a script, contact an IRCop to be sure your script is allowed.

IV. IRC STAFF
(a) The decision whether or not to punish an user is solely be made by the IRC staff. (**This refers to network-level punishments)

(b) The members of the IRC staff are displayed in the motd (Message Of The Day) or by writing /IRCOPS. This list can be modified at all times without prior notice.

(c) The IRC staff consists of volunteers who contribute to a fun TravianGames IRC-network because of their enthusiasm for MMO's and IRC. Treat them with respect!

(d) Ignoring (warnings of) IRCops may result in a ban.

(e) If a user is being suspected of abuse or abusive operations, the user can be fully monitored (including Private Messages). This is for the safety of our Network Services and users.

(f) Do not provoke IRCops

V. PARENTS AND CHILDREN
(a) The IRC staff tries to keep this network and the network channels appropriate for the use be children. Neither the IRC staff nor Travian Games GmbH can guarantee that all channels are appropriate for the use by children.

(b) Children under the age of 16 need permission of their parents before joining this network.

VI. BOTS/BNCs (Bouncers)
(a) Individual well-behaved bots are allowed, but any bot violating the abuse policies or which is found to be misconfigured or otherwise annoying may be removed without notice.

(b) Bots are NOT allowed to be in official channels without permission of the Admin and/or IRC channel manager. Please do not bother IRCops with this question, we will reject your request.

(c) We highly recommend that bots set usermode +B (bot mode) - /mode BOTNICK +B.

(d) Misconfigured Bots/BNCs (Bouncers) may be removed from our network without any notice.

VII. ADDITIONAL NOTIFICATIONS
(a) You're responsible for your own connection(s) to our network. There's nothing we will do if your connection is denied because of abuse.

(b) This is a privately owned and operated IRC network. It is accessible to the public, but we reserve the right to deny use of services or connection for any reason we see fit at any time.

(c) Please remember that IRC is a privilege, not a right. If you really disagree from the actions which are taken you can contact us on irc [at] travian [dot] org.

Last edited: 26-04-2010 (day-month-year)