The Terms of Service of Atharen
Fundamentals
These are the terms which every member of Atharen agrees to in order to continue to play on the website. This is a writer's community specifically built to help writers enjoy their hobbies and interact peacefully with other players, and these terms are designed to ensure a more approachable experience for all players.
To begin with, there are a few ways in which these rules are approached here that make their application more based on the culture we intend for the website.
Firstly: Importantly, few of these rules have specific penalties. The severity of each action determines the disciplinary outcome, and we acknowledge the nuance of every situation. An individual with a history of poor behavior will be given a harsher sentence for the same rule-breaking than someone who simply had a rough day. Everything in relation to these penalties is nuanced, but the issuance of penalties is to be done objectively, looking at context and history.
Secondly: This site is ultimately run by friends, and we seek to maintain a friendly atmosphere. That's really the core to most of the rules. Someone who is constantly displaying adversarial and toxic behavior is not going to last here, and staff does not need a smoking gun to ban a player for awful behavior.
Third: All claims are alleged until proven. Regardless of whether a player felt they were being discriminated against, harassed, etc; we will need to look at factual information and determine an outcome. That is simply the standard.
Fourth: All site rules apply to our public Discord chat. Additionally, private DMs - regardless of platform - can merit disciplinary action as well, if the user(s) in question are found to be perpetrating a toxic or hostile environment.
With that being said, here are the rules.
Core Rules
1. The facilitation, solicitation, or engagement of illegal activities performed by any of our members or staff is not allowed. If any such behavior of any kind is discovered and proven, this can result in penalties up to and including a permanent termination from the website, depending on the severity of the activities.
2. As a fundamental to interactions with other players and staff on this site, all members are asked to be respectful and treat their peers with dignity. Being rude, demeaning or insulting to others is not something we appreciate, nor want on the website.
3. We ask that you be honest when approached by staff. While mistakes happen, abuses can usually clearly be seen, and lying to staff when questioned can worsen your punishment.
4. Ultimately, this is a writing website. Players who use the site and its Discord server primarily as a chatroom are allowed to do so, but we ask that the focus be on writing and character development within the world of Atharen itself.
5. All members must be at least 13 years old to be a part of Atharen, and 18 to gain Adult Forum access.
↳Behavorial Rules
1. Players proven to be intentionally inflaming conflict, trolling, or otherwise trying to provoke negative reactions from their peers will be met with disciplinary action.
2. Players posting or otherwise directing disturbing, hateful, discriminatory, threatening or otherwise harmful content to other players or staff will be treated with great scrutiny and will be issued disciplinary action. Any legitimate threats of violence or other intentional harm will be met with firm disciplinary action.
3. No sexual harassment or physical intimidation of other players or staff is allowed. This is taken very seriously and will merit swift, harsh consequences.
4. No player is allowed to publicly engage in political or religious discussion of any kind on Atharen. This is usually met with solely a reminder, but further consequences can follow if a player persists.
5. Toxic, spiteful or otherwise negative behavior against other players is unacceptable. Consistent history of this can warrant a ban from the site, as this is meant to be a community group of friends, or at least friendly acquaintances. Such behavior is strictly not tolerated.
6. To reiterate and more broadly apply a previously mentioned term: discrimination of any kind is not allowed. If it has been found that a player has been discriminated against for an intrinsic characteristic, the discriminatory party will be given strict disciplinary action.
RP Rules
1. Overplaying a character's skill is not allowed. An example of this is someone with 5 in Blades perfectly cutting someone in half, or performing a similar feat, especially consistently. As a note for further rules listed here, an excess of such infractions can result in a grade being temporarily or fully withheld, depending on the severity of the action.
2. Metagaming lore information or information about another character is not allowed. Metagaming is when a writer assumes knowledge of something their character has no reason or ability to know, typically using their own OOC insight. Any such information is acquired as 'lores', given by moderators or reviewers. Please note that highly secretive lore information will most likely need to be awarded or pre-approved by a moderator.
2a. Metagaming can also occur when a player uses OOC animosity against another player or staff member to assault or otherwise antagonize their PC in-game. While basic metagaming may be accidental and is usually offered a reminder, this toxic form of metagaming is strictly prohibited.
3. Automatically assuming the outcome of an action against another PC or a moderated NPC is against the rules. This includes persuasion attempts, attacks, etc; this is not allowed. Though with some exceptions, this is also not allowed by moderators against other PCs.
4. A player or moderator is not allowed to kill another player's PC without their consent. In the case of moderators, there are some exceptions. Players who have been shown to be extremely abusive of the site rules in their actions, including both RP and behavioral breaches, can have their PCs killed. Also, players can maim or severely damage other PCs without explicit permission, if a moderator allows it; this can only be allowed if the PC is acting far outside of their character to remain passive in such situations. Don't try to kill other PCs - but also don't use this rule as a safeguard against legitimate, IC retaliation if your character is asking for it.
5. All posts on Atharen are expected to be at least 250 words. This is a literate website; this requirement is the absolute bare minimum.
6. Threads can be intervened in or have their grades temporarily or fully revoked for extreme grammatical errors and other issues; this website, again, is literate.
7. Plagiarism, which includes utilizing AI to write content, is absolutely not allowed. Threads found to be plagiarized will be locked and no grade can be given to the plagiarizing player. This can also result in further consequences.
8. Characters must track their skill points and other imperative character information accurately and honestly.
9. Characters can begin play before their CS is approved, as long as it is completed in totality. However, they cannot receive reviews until their CS is approved.
10. Characters may not be in the same family as another one of their own characters or otherwise may not benefit their other characters in any way. This means you may not conveniently leave money for another one of your own characters to acquire, may not leave behind an estate for them to occupy, and so on. If it seems suspect as to whether or not you should do it, you are best served asking staff for advice or foregoing the action.
11. Players may not post rambling, low quality or drivel-heavy solos merely to achieve word count, in order to produce XP. Writing on Atharen is meant to be quality and cohesive, with purpose and story to a given piece of work.
Placeholder Rules
1. To begin with, a description: placeholders are empty threads that are submitted within the time-frame of the present season so that they may be completed, potentially, after the next season begins. An example of this is posting a thread on the 28th of February titled 'Placeholder 1' so that one can write a Frost thread out after March is already underway. This is commonly done to complete longer, unfinished storylines, or to write out job threads.
2. A player [must] post their placeholder before the new season has begun. For the sake of all procrastinators, this is generously determined by Hawai'i-Aleutian Standard Time, GMT-10.
3. Players can post up to 5 Placeholders per character. However, specific individuals who abuse placeholders to fluff their post count (submitting tons of placeholders they never complete) may be talked to and may have this number limited. Please be aware that placeholders are meant to be completed; if they are never completed, they should eventually be deleted.
External Site Rules
1. Players or guests are allowed to publicly advertise external sites in the Discussion forum, as long as they are writing related.
2. While not against the rules, it is encouraged not to publicly bash other sites on Atharen.
Adult Forum Rules
1. No one under the age of 18 is allowed to access the Adult Forum. In order to access it, you must be given technical access by a ranking staff member by requesting it directly and confirming your age.
2. The graphic sexualization of children is not allowed in the Adult Forum, or on Atharen as a whole, in or out of RP. This includes anyone beneath the age of eighteen, regardless of the age of consent in your country, state or province. This includes not only actively graphically sexualizing minors, but imagining it in a character's thoughts, or describing it in dialogue. Any cases of graphic sexualization of children will be met with a permanent ban, without the ability to appeal.
3. Public or even private mockery, unwanted teasing or ridicule of someone's Adult Forum activities is strictly prohibited, and will result in the termination of the offending player's Adult Forum access, until staff deems they should regain their access. The Adult Forum is a place for all content - as long as it is legal - to be engaged in freely, without public mockery or scrutiny. If you are disturbed by a particular thread, don't read it.
4. Adult Forum content involving sex or sensuality requires the sapience of both parties. This means that any sexual content involving non-sapient or non-living species is against the rules.
Miscellaneous Rules
1. Once something is submitted to Atharen as a piece of development, you have given us the right to retain it. While you may wish for a development piece to be taken down, we can reject your request, and each time a player or moderator submits a piece of development, they are acknowledging this.
2. More to come.
