Online

The Moderators are here to help you.

Overview

The nature of the internet is that it removes the element of personal interaction and exacerbates differences of opinion. If we are not careful this turns discussions into arguments in a way that is detrimental to the enjoyment of the game. For this reason we have chosen to implement a firm and frequent approach to moderation - our goal is to put appropriate limits in place to ensure that we provide an online space on Facebook and our forums for all participants to share their enjoyment of Empire without getting drawn into arguments.

All the appropriate rules for conduct at events also apply when making posts on any official Profound Decisions forum or Facebook group. In particular please make sure that you have read and understand the rules for language and equality and diversity.

Counting players and crew, Empire has nearly two thousand participants at each event, it's not realistic to expect anyone to like every other participant. What we require is that people treat each other with respect regardless of their personal feelings. These rules are designed to give our moderators a basis for judging when that is not happening and to take action accordingly. If you have an issue with the posts of another participant then please bring it to the attention of a moderator and allow them to deal with it.

Posting Guidelines

• Treat each other with respect
• All posts should relate to Empire
• Put each post in the single most appropriate forum or Facebook group
• Please report any breach of the rules to our moderators and leave it to them to deal with

Please treat each other with respect. Remember that players in Empire will come from many different traditions of LRP, so just because they don't do things the way you do them doesn't mean that it's wrong. Respect their opinion, assume good faith and remember that sometimes you need to work a little harder to make yourself understood over the internet, where it's easy to mistake someone's intent and you're talking to strangers not just your friends who get the joke. Don't harass other users, don't post anything that constitutes a personal attack and avoid forms of speech that could be interpreted as bullying or abusive. Treat people the way they would want to be treated.

Please keep your posts on topic, our forums and groups are for Empire, so if the discussion strays too far away the subject of Empire we'll ask you to take it elsewhere. Please make sure you read the Empire wiki and the FAQ before asking a question as it's quite possible it's already been asked and answered.

Please ensure that your posts are in the appropriate area. For example if you want to put a post offering to sell or swap some kit on the forum then you should use the Trading forum. If you are looking for a member of a Wintermark group on Facebook then you should post in the Wintermark Facebook group. Do not duplicate the same post across multiple different forums or different groups (it is fine to duplicate something on the forum as well as on Facebook). Don't post spam, that's posting the same post more than once or posting unwanted advertisements. If you're a trader please use the trading forum to post about your wares.

If you spot someone breaking the rules please flag it for the moderators attention. On Facebook select "report to admin" by clicking in the top right hand corner of a post. On the forum click "...(show more)" then the flag icon on any post. Please don't call them out for it, report it, and let the moderators handle it.

Fan Fiction

• Please use the existing Facebook group for any fanfic

We understand that lots of people love to read and write fanfic - and the Empire community is no exception. However there is a small risk that players may confuse fanfic with canonical updates to the campaign if the fiction is posted on one of the main Empire facebook groups. For this reason there is a specific Facebook group called Empire LRP: Fiction Sharing which was explicitly intended as a place for Empire players to share stories they have created. All fanfic stories should be posted here, not in one of the main facebook groups.

Moderation

• Please report any problem posts to the moderation team
• We will delete any content that does not meet our guidelines for posting or online behaviour

We have a team of moderators whose job is to watch the Empire forums and Facebook groups and ensure our rules are being followed. They will remove posts that they feel contravene our guidelines or anything which has devolved into an unconstructive argument. To report a post, on Facebook select "report to admin" by clicking in the top right corner of a post. On the forum click "...(show more)" then the flag icon on any post.

If we have to remove a post or take other action then we'll either make a note in the thread or send you private message explaining why. Depending on the situation we may warn people who have broken the rules, suspend them either short or long term, or ban them permanently at our discretion.

Do not discuss individual moderators or moderator decisions on the forum; if you need clarification about a decision that's affected you please contact the moderator who took that action by private message or email the moderation team. If you are not satisfied with the actions taken by a moderator then please raise the matter by emailing Matt Pennington directly.

Hot Topics

The areas below are topics that almost invariably degenerate into arguments, or are simply not appropriate for our forums or Facebook groups.

Some of these issues are controversial and tend to produce a lot of acrimony when discussed online giving the false impression that these issues dominate our events. Worse, they often involve situations where the experience of online criticism of a specific behaviour is indistinguishable for individuals from criticism of them. We won't allow posts that constitute personal attacks or posts that constitute an attack on the behaviour of individuals. Our moderators will closely monitor these "hot topics" and pre-emptively delete any posts that they feel are likely to lead to an adversarial discussion of the issues.

Some of these issues are simply not appropriate or acceptable and will be deleted by our moderators as soon as they become aware of them.

Politics, Religion, and Language

Politics and religion are incredibly important subjects and we encourage people to engage and debate these issues - just not on our forums and groups. Our online community exists so that participants can discuss the imaginary politics of the world of Empire, not real world politics.

Inappropriate language, such as the use of gendered words, is another subject that invariably rapidly degenerates into acrimony. There is no effective way to criticize a person's language on the internet without it being experienced as a personal attack. We will allow positive discussion of ways that participants can embrace the gender-blind Empire setting and implement that in their roleplaying - but delete anything that is negative, a personal attack or is based on criticism of other people's roleplaying.

If you are concerned by the use of inappropriate language, then please bring it to the attention of a moderator and they will contact the other participant, reminding them of our guidelines to try to avoid gendered words and similar.

Moderation Policy

It is not constructive to discuss individual moderators or moderator discussions in public. Anyone who has any concerns on this front is strongly encouraged to email Matt Pennington with the details. However it is fine to discuss the moderation guidelines provided the discussion remains civil and hypothetical and does not include references to individual examples.

In-character Debates

Empire is not a system which employs "FOIP" - a requirement that you can only find things out in play at events. It is fine to ask simple in-character questions, things you think your character should know or any questions about the system. If the information you have asked for is not controversial in-character then other participants are free to give you the answer to your question or to encourage you to find their character at an event and seek out the information in-character.

However we strongly discourage online discussion of important or controversial issues. These issues form part of the plot of our event and we ask everyone to respect that.

There are specific rules for roleplaying between events. Anything that breaches these rules - any post that contains trade negotiations, religious debates, military planning, magical discourse, or political discussions and appointments will be removed.

Criticism of other LRP Systems

Live roleplaying is an amazing community, that is at its best when participants share original ideas and best practices between different systems. So it's fine to make a post calling out a positive example of something other games do well - or do better than Empire does - that gives us a basis for discussing ways to make Empire a better game. But please bear in mind when posting, that Empire is such a large system that we will have participants who love the game you are referencing as well as participants who tried it and did not enjoy it.

What is not permitted is anything that is critical of other LRP systems. We are not in a position to improve other people's games - so we are not interested in hosting any discussion that is critical of other LRP systems. Most LRP systems have their own forums or Facebook groups for their players to post comments about their games - posts that are about other games should be posted on their Facebook page, not on our forum/groups.

Our Facebook groups and our forums are the right place to criticize Empire or Profound Decisions and it is fine to do so. However bear in mind that all LRP games are produced by the combined efforts of a team of volunteers who are passionately invested in the game they create. The most effective criticism is an analysis that presents a fresh perspective or insight into some aspect of the game - rather than simply a passionate declamation of how much you personally don't like a particular element of the rules, setting, or plot. There is also guidance on the wiki about providing feedback. Criticism directed at named individuals will be treated as a personal attack and moderated accordingly and our rules requiring civility towards our volunteers apply on our forums and Facebook groups as well as at events.

Many people who play Empire enjoy the game - and that often engenders a desire to protect the game from criticism. We believe a good LRP stands on its merits, and benefits from analysis, critique, and discussion. We ask all participants to be mindful of the fact that just because you have not experienced a problem does not mean the problem does not exist. Our moderators will remove posts if they judge that their only contribution is to suppress criticism or silence debate about Empire.

Personal Attacks

We will not tolerate any post that our moderators feel constitutes a personal attack on another live roleplayer - regardless of whether or not they use our official online forums/groups or are a regular attendee at our events. Avoid posting while angry; if you are disagreeing with participant then ensure that you remain polite and avoid ad hominem responses.

If you feel anything posted on our official forums or Facebook groups violates our rule prohibiting personal attacks then please report it to our moderators, do not respond in kind.

Don't Do Stupid Shit

Don't post anything that's illegal, racist, sexist, homophobic, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise objectionable. This includes links to such material as well.

Further Reading

• Conduct
• Reporting
• Sanctions
• Moderation
• Must-Avoid Policy