Myth-Weavers Help

Site Rules

These are the rules and standards for participating at Myth-Weavers, in both our play-by-post forums and our Discord server. They apply to every member and every staff member. Reading them is the fastest way to understand how the community works and what to expect from the people running it.

This page is public — you do not need an account to read it, and you can link to any section of it directly.

New to the site? The Help & Guides index walks through creating an account, finding a game, and posting. Welcome to Myth-Weavers is a five-minute quick-start.

Community Standards

Our Community Standards are expectations of conduct for all members and Myth-Weavers staff participating in the Myth-Weavers community, either in our play-by-post forums or in our Discord server. In the absence of any more specific guidelines or rules, these standards are the basis by which Myth-Weavers staff will assess posted material.

A Myth-Weaver is a Human Being, a Community Member, and a Gamer, all at once.

Reading, remembering, and adopting these three key points will help us sustain a friendly spirit here at Myth-Weavers that we can all be proud of. Here at Myth-Weavers, one should always be:

Therefore:

A Myth-Weaver is a Human Being, a Community Member, and a Gamer, all at once.

Global Rules

Our Global Rules outline what is and is not appropriate content to post at Myth-Weavers. These rules expand upon our Community Standards and provide specific requirements that must be followed. Violations of the Global Rules will be met with disciplinary action.

Hate speech prohibited: Don't post defamatory, abusive, bullying, harassing, racist, hateful, or violent material. Refrain from ethnic slurs, religious intolerance, homophobia, and personal attacks. This is a serious site rules infringement, and may result in an outright ban.

Sexual harassment prohibited: Unsolicited statements made with sexual or implied sexual tones towards other members, regardless of the genders of those involved, constitutes sexual harassment. If someone tells you to stop and/or states they are uncomfortable with what was said, stop immediately. This is a serious site rules infringement, and may result in an outright ban.

Respect intellectual property: Posted material on the site is not to violate copyright, patent, or other intellectual property laws. This would include file sharing (whether torrents, direct downloads, or peer-to-peer), links to unofficial wikis or other sites where rules are shared in whole or in part, or direct screenshots of copyrighted material. Myth-Weavers staff are the sole arbiters of whether or not content is deemed to be infringing, and will act accordingly to make sure the site is protected.

Worldly Talk prohibited: Worldly Talk (WT), which includes discussion of topics pertaining to morality, philosophy, religion, politics, and other big real world issues, is prohibited from the site after numerous, repeated past incidents. These topics are usually sensitive, emotionally charged issues, and the text-based nature of Myth-Weavers makes it hard to convey empathy, nuance, and other social cues that would make for meaningful interaction. In the end, these discussions detracted from our inclusive community environment, and so we made the conscious decision to disallow them. If Myth-Weavers staff states a conversation should change the direction in which it is going to avoid WT topics, heed that advice.

No advertising for off-site gaming: Myth-Weavers exists as a complete play-by-post gaming website. Advertising other sites on Myth-Weavers or using parts of Myth-Weavers to advertise games that will be played exclusively on other sites is not permitted. Feel free to use site resources such as character sheets, game forums, and the wiki, but do not advertise the game.

Keep it civil: Don't be inflammatory, either in wording or content. This means don't post "fighting words"; don't egg people on; and don't make posts worded in such a way that an argument will result. Don't engage in personal attacks, name-calling, or blanket generalizations.

No explicit content: Myth-Weavers is considered a PG-13 community. Posted material must not include obscene, indecent, or offensive content; description or discussion of illicit drugs; sexually suggestive content; or otherwise appeal to a prurient interest. A language filter is in place to avoid specific words; self-censoring to avoid the language filter, or leaving filtered words in your posted material, is not allowed.

No opinion pieces/rants: Often, discussion threads will cover topics that are subjective in nature, and on which members have deeply held and wildly divergent opinions (e.g., the Star Wars franchise, use or non-use of particular game systems, rule sets, house rules). Discussion of any of these elements should be purely constructive in nature or avoided entirely. If you have already made your immutable opinion known in one discussion of a topic, and that topic subsequently comes up in another thread, it is your responsibility to avoid participation. Staff reserve the right to immediately lock a thread if conversation is headed in an inappropriate direction.

Not for commercial use: Do not use Myth-Weavers for selling or promoting a product or service, unless it answers a specific question, is relevant to an existing, active discussion, or has specific Myth-Weavers staff approval. Pay to play or donate to play games fall under Commercial Use and are not allowed on the site.

One account per person: Do not register multiple accounts. If you need your account name changed, or if you have multiple accounts already, contact Myth-Weavers staff to resolve the issue. See Account Security and Settings for the rename process.

Report, don't respond: If someone is being a jerk, use the report button to alert the Myth-Weavers staff, and refrain from responding so staff won't have a bigger mess to clean up. See Reporting below.

Staff mandate: Myth-Weavers staff are the final arbiters of acceptable content. Staff have full authority to moderate, edit, move, delete, or undelete any posted material to enforce rules enumerated, implied, or unwritten, acting on their best judgment. This mandate does not constitute an obligation of enforcement. Ignoring staff direction may result in a warning. If you disagree with the decision of a staff member, follow the Appealing Staff Decisions process.

Definitions

For how private blocks, whispers, and private tags actually behave in the editor, see Forums, Topics, and Posting.

Posting Guidelines

Our Posting Guidelines address specific formatting and content requirements to make it easy for the community to read and understand your posted material. The Myth-Weavers staff may take action to request changes to your posted material or to modify it directly, but violations will not involve disciplinary actions unless they are repeated occurrences.

English language: For site inclusiveness and ease of moderation, all posted material in the public parts of the board must be in English, this includes Game Planning and Game Ads. In addition, games advertised or with planning threads on site must be run in English. Using game forums to run private games in other languages is permissible.

Reference by page number: Because members can change how many posts appear on a page (between 10 and 30 posts), do not use page numbers to reference within a thread.

Large images: Do not post images or gifs that are large enough to break the thread layout or otherwise clutter the thread. Resize large images, especially in the public forums.

General readability: Myth-Weavers is a written-word medium. Do not post in ALL CAPS, all lower-case, leet-speak, punctuation-less, etc. as it makes it much harder for others to read your posted material. Break large text blocks into paragraphs.

The Post Editor guide covers the formatting tools available to you — spoilers, fieldsets, image uploads, and quoting.

Forum-Specific Rules

Game Advertisements

On-site and hybrid games only: Game advertisements are permissible if and only if the game is being played in some capacity via Myth-Weavers. While you are free to establish a game here and play via Roll20, Discord, IRC, Skype, Tabletop, or any other format, at least some part of the gaming must take place at Myth-Weavers if you intend to advertise here. On-site gaming can come in many forms, including but not limited to an adventure log or out-of-character discussion thread, but use of Myth-Weavers character sheets does not by itself fulfill this requirement. The advertisement thread title should identify the off-site resources being used (e.g., "[Discord]"), and the advertisement thread should explain how these off-site resources are being used and what on-site resources will also be used.

No looking for GM: If you need a GM, do not create a game forum and a game advertisement thread. Post your request in the Gaming Discussion forum.

GM decisions final: During the recruitment phase, the GM has already decided on the parameters of the game, such as system, number of players, play style, etc. These decisions are final and not open for debate.

Applications in game forum: Do not request applications to be submitted via Private Message or email. Applications should be posted in the game forum. Use of Private Threads and/or Private Tags in the application process is acceptable and at the GM's discretion.

See Finding and Joining a Game and the Recruitment & Application Guide for how advertisements and applications work in practice.

Gaming Discussion

The Gaming Discussion forum is for discussion of topics related to role-playing games, as well as game planning. Because gamers tend to be passionate about these topics, the forum-specific rules exist to channel that passion into productive discussions and avoid violations of our Community Standards and Global Rules. These rules apply in addition to the Global Rules.

Interest Checks: All posts gauging interest for a GM or players for a certain system, setting, or game idea should be posted under Gaming Discussion. Threads may not be "bumped" without some sort of engagement with the original topic, and repeated "bump" posts will be considered spam under Myth-Weavers guidelines.

Homebrew content: Homebrew content should be posted with a Homebrew tag. Discussion of homebrew content in the Gaming Discussion forum is permitted and appropriate.

Disallowed topics: Because of extensive experience with issues arising from these discussions, the following topics are not allowed on Myth-Weavers, and any threads which fall into these areas will be closed. This is an inappropriate content infringement.

Game Forums

Game forums are for the playing of play-by-post games on Myth-Weavers. The forum-specific rules exist to ensure fair play and support a positive gaming experience, and apply in addition to the Global Rules.

Conduct Between Players and DMs: Disagreements with a DM surrounding rules, application process, player selection, and game content are not matters to be moderated by Myth-Weavers staff. DMs are the final arbiter of any of these elements, unless they violate our Global Rules. Please do not use the report function to adjudicate disagreements unless absolutely necessary.

GM responsibility: The GM is responsible for reporting violations of site rules that occur in their game forums. In-thread reminders of the rules should usually be sufficient; however, GMs can and should use the report button to alert the Myth-Weavers staff to problem areas or significant rules infringements.

GM duty of care: The GM is responsible for keeping their players informed of circumstances. While real life issues may sometimes preclude this, the GM should make a reasonable effort to inform the players of delays, hiatuses, or other conditions where the GM will be unable to post for extended periods.

Running a game? The Game Master's Guide covers your tools for managing forums, members, and visibility. Fair play around dice is covered in Dice Rolling.

Moderation Guidelines

Myth-Weavers staff are responsible for enforcing the site's Terms of Use. These guidelines outline what you can expect from Myth-Weavers staff, how the disciplinary process works, and how to address grievances and appeals.

Moderator Posts

Myth-Weavers staff are pulled directly from the community. Staff members are also gamers; they enjoy conversing with the various denizens of the Weave, often GM or play in games, and generally like to have a good time.

If a moderator posts in a thread, this is usually to take part in the discussion at hand. However, if needed, a moderator may also take moderation action in that same thread. Moderator participation in a thread should not be construed either as permission to break the rules, or "snooping" for offenses.

Reporting

The fastest way for staff to be made aware of an issue is for a member to report it. Reports should explain what the issue is so that staff can quickly understand the problem.

Only one report is necessary — members may not receive feedback on their reports, as the results of those reports are generally only handled between staff and members who may receive disciplinary actions for them.

As a reminder, the reporting function should be reserved for material that breaks one of our Site Rules. Reports that are found to be in bad faith, retaliatory, or otherwise personally motivated in nature may be subject to disciplinary action.

Disciplinary Action

As an open, friendly community, we prefer to solve problems through discussion and we will do so where appropriate. This is normally done in the form of warnings and public or private (including a zero point warning). Repeated or flagrant infractions may result in temporary or permanent banning depending on accumulation of points and severity of the issue.

If you want further explanation or clarification from the issuing staff member please request it via Private Message.

If you feel you have been unfairly punished follow the Appealing Staff Decisions process.

Public Warning

If a thread is getting out off track, or is derailed down a path that will eventually result in a locked thread or disciplinary action, Myth-Weavers staff will post a public warning. Public warnings are in highlighted (bold blue or bold purple) text and are official direction from staff. No blame is assigned, and the warning does not attach to any specific user's record.

Public warnings may also be given at any time within the Discord channels, should a topic of discussion be deemed against the public interest, and carry the same weight as a warning given on the website. Disregarding an official warning on either platform may result in a warning with points assigned.

Warning

Warnings may indicate that you violated a Community Standard, Global Rule, or Forum-Specific Rule. These warnings will include an explanation of the issue, the number of points associated with it, and how long those points will remain on your account.

Some warnings may not accrue any points, and are intended more to officially communicate something to a member, such as a rules infraction that may be a first offense, or a violation that does not, in staff members sole purview, rise to requiring point accrual.

All warnings between the moderators and individual members of the community are tracked on the Myth-Weavers website. This allows transparency so that staff can make sure that moderation actions are appropriate.

Should you wish to appeal a warning, you may contact Colin with why you believe a warning was erroneously applied.

Suspension/Ban

A ban is the most serious form of disciplinary action and is reserved for accumulated infractions, repeat behavior, or egregious violations of the Terms of Use. Bans fall into two categories: temporary and permanent.

Temporary bans (suspensions) are levied to afford you a "cooling off" period and a chance to review the Terms of Use. While a temporary ban can occur automatically in cases of accumulated warning points, Myth-Weavers staff may levy a temporary ban of as little as one day if circumstances warrant.

Permanent bans are a last resort for the Myth-Weavers staff when all prior disciplinary action has not succeeded, or where an action is so egregious as to preclude the possibility of a good relationship with the community. Permanent bans of active members are always discussed with administration prior to enactment. (Staff may levy permanent bans for accounts that were obviously created for inappropriate purposes, such as spam, bots, sock-puppets, etc. without discussion with administration.)

Appealing Staff Decisions

If you disagree with the decision of Myth-Weavers staff, or feel you have received disciplinary action inappropriately, you have the option to appeal. Your appeal should explain the circumstances from your point of view and identify why you feel the staff decision was incorrect. A successful appeal can result in a reversal of the warning and reduction/removal of points.

The decision will be reviewed between the moderator who issued the warning and other moderators/admins as necessary. Once an appeal has been ruled, it may not be appealed again.

Policy Enforcement

Myth-Weavers staff are the final arbiters of acceptable content. Staff have full authority to moderate, edit, move, delete, or undelete any posted material to enforce rules enumerated, implied, or unwritten, acting on their best judgment. This mandate does not constitute an obligation of enforcement. Ignoring staff direction may result in receiving a warning as described above. If you disagree with the decision of a staff member, follow the Appealing Staff Decisions process.

Contacting Myth-Weavers Staff

The best way to contact the Myth-Weavers staff for general issues, including suggestions, feedback, and bug reports, is to post in their respective subforums. These forums are checked regularly by all active staff, making it easily accessible for anyone to begin working on your issue. You can and should use Private Tags to ensure sensitive information is only visible to the Myth-Weavers staff. Avoid using Private Messages to contact Myth-Weavers staff unless the staff member specifically requests it, as this makes it difficult to involve other staff members if needed.

If you have an issue with a Myth-Weavers staff member's posted material, send a Private Message to Colin.

For bugs and feature requests specifically, the Issue Tracker is usually faster than a forum post.