PPC IRC Rules

These are tentative rules for the #PPC IRC Channel. Firstly, some meta-rules:

Rules exist to codify where the community draws the boundaries of what it finds acceptable. The rules are subservient to the community, and not vice-versa.

Closely related to that: The rules do not exist to trip people up with technicalities. This is absolutely about the spirit of what is said and done, not about the exact wording.

The rules themselves:

Rule 0: Thou shalt read the Constitution. Thou shalt abide by the Constitution.

http://twistedskein.webs.com/PPCHome/Constitution.htm

Rule 1: Personal attacks. Don't. Seriously. They are Not Cool, with capital N and C.

Rule 2: isms of any sort (racism, sexism, etc) are not welcome here.

Rule 3: It's really hard to mark comments on an IRC channel as "NSFW". Thus, if you'd have to label it NSFW on the Board, it probably shouldn't go on the IRC. Just to hit a few specific examples:

Rule 3.1: The words f**k, s**t, c**t, p***y should be avoided, as should profanity of similar caliber.

Rule 3.2: Explicit erotica is the same way.

Rule 4: Habitual profanity is not cool. Swearing up a storm, be it at another chatter (which is also covered under Rule 1), a fic, or life in general, should not be done.

There are two ways in which people break rules. The first is innocently - they forget, or don't realize that it's a rule, and so on. The second is wilfully. The statute of limitations on most of these is very short - kicking someone three hours after an event is wrong, except for the most exceptional of situations. These are listed in order of severity. They are not steps for escalation - making the same mistake twice does not warrant being bumped up to the next severity.

The least severe response to an innocent breaking of the rules is a Leaning On, which consists of anyone saying "Dude, that is not cool, and it's also kinda against the rules", or similar. Note the ordering there-Leanings On are notices from the community that someone has left the territory that the community finds acceptible, and can be delivered by anyone. Try to avoid dogpiling, but never be afraid to speak up.

The second response, and this is where wilfull violations start, is a kick. This is a single, simple kick, definitely not an "and-I'll-kick-you-again-if-you-don't-stay-down" kick. This is as high as single violations of Rule 3.1 go.

The third response is a warning of a ban. This one only gets skipped in incredibly exceptional situations.

The fourth response is a ban. Bans are to be used sparingly, and never for personal reasons - any DA can request a review, and if it's not for a bleeding good reason, order it reversed. If someone gets banned for something, please save logs to be better prepared for audits later.