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Last Updated: Year 22 Day 325
Communication

SWCombine is largely a community game so communication is key. There are various mediums of communication when it comes to interaction with others both In Character and Out of Character.

Those who do not meet our standards and become an issue will fall into a system of "Strikes" against them. Each Strike comes with ban time and serves as a warning, until Strike Three when a ban becomes permanent. "Strike 0" is also possible for very mild cases. This is just a note on your account and a warning conversation with staff. This allows staff to address edge cases, which if it becomes common, can result in a real Strike.

  • Strike 1 results in a 1 week ban.
  • Strike 2 results in a 1 month ban.
  • Strike 3 results in a permanent ban.

Strikes expire one year from the date of your most recent strike. Extreme cases may result in multiple strikes at once. These do not apply to any other type of ban.

Every community needs a set of rules in order to prosper. Below is our set of rules based on feedback from members and our experiences. SWC Staff have no intention of policing every medium of communication between players. This is a guideline for public and direct communications. Factions and groups are responsible for their own communities, but if it leaks over we will address it.

  1. Harassment is not acceptable. If someone asks you to stop or blocks you on a platform, you are to respect that. Harassment is the act of tormenting by continued persistent attacks and criticism
    • A mean comment or action is not usually by itself considered harassment. Please block people or ask them to stop.
    • A single instance of Sexual Harassment or Hate Speech is often enough by itself to count as harassment. A single act should be reported on top of blocking them.
    • IC and/or OOC power differences (rank, position, etc.) being leveraged to harass someone is double the punishment. These are seldom consensual relationships even if they give in to your harassment/advances.
  2. IC/OOC separation is not only encouraged, but required. Your character being in a faction that is enemies with another does not mean you can be rude to the player. We all play the same game and are members of the wider community. You also may not enforce OOC rules on your faction members/allies (such as who are their friends, who they talk to, and any OOC Teams they participate in). Faction leaders are not in charge of players OOC and players are expected to be able to enjoy the game/community in the ways they wish as long as they follow the rules
  3. Toxic behavior, especially that towards newer and/or younger players, is a stain on the community. A strike for toxic behavior will usually be the result of multiple reports or a visible pattern rather than a single incident. Players should feel welcome and safe (OOC at least) in their groups as well as the wider SWC community.
    • A mean comment or action is not usually by itself considered toxic. Please block people or ask them to stop.
    • Our core factions are expected, more so than every other group, to uphold a positive community in the game. Leadership of these groups should expect to be held to an even higher standard for this strike system. See the section below about Core Factions for more information.
    • Examples of this often includes harassment, manipulation, aggressive insults, and mistreatment of community resources.
    • Toxic behavior can be hard to define for every example, but it is obvious when it exists. Use the above as a guide, not an absolute list of every example.

The staff and moderators cannot see everything at all times. This is especially true of things that do not occur in public chats/forums. Take screenshots. Save logs. Make a ticket and upload images at support.swcombine.com to report issues. We want to do a better job of making everyone feel safe in the community here, but we cannot do it if we do not know what is going on. If you're uncomfortable posting a ticket, find a staff member you trust to speak to individually.

Everything will be investigated as far as possible. If you have felt this was untrue in the past, reach out again. Staff are humans and therefore not perfect.

You will not be punished for reporting something where you're unsure a wrong is done. Do not be afraid to speak up. It is very easy to tell who abuses the report system versus those with real concerns. Only repeat offenders will be warned or even come close to receiving a Strike.

Note
When your Faction is selected as a Core Faction, your leaders will be alerted to this status and given time to make appropriate changes.

Core Factions are groups that in one way or another are considered key communities in SWCombine. Usually this is due to Canon status, technology, size, and/or involvement in the community. One does not apply to become a Core Faction, these are selected by the Admins. Examples of Core Factions can be seen in what were selected as the first set: The Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance, Trade Federation, and Hapes Consortium.

  1. Core Faction leaders (or someone they appoint) are expected to participate in Game Development and Rules discussions as a group in an OOC, neutral place alongside the Administration/Developers.
  2. Core Factions must have a public Discord where people can contact the group easily.
  3. Recruitment should always be open, within reason. These groups cannot become "Invite-only".
  4. Admins do not need access to these groups' private chats/messages, but they are expected to handle and/or report any issues that arise there.
  5. All of the Community Rules above MUST apply to the faction on all communication platforms.
  6. For core factions, Strike 1 may result in removal from leadership rather than a ban. This is not done lightly and will need clear evidence.
  7. We expect leaders to be responsible for their own communities by reporting and/or handling toxic behaviors within it.

Team members are held to the highest standard in regards to their work. None of us are perfect and even staff can violate the rules. In this case, a team member is anyone on an SWC team whether player or asim/admin. This applies especially while doing their work/moderation public SWC communications.

A staff member who receives a strike will either be fired instead of a ban, or banned with a possible demotion. Many cases will likely result in both.