Hello everyone! As we mentioned a little bit ago in a site-wide alert, we've recently updated the RpN rules. In general, most of the changes are just rewordings meant to help users better understand what the rules are and what they mean. However, many people have asked for a list of specific changes, so here's a changelog to sum up.
Introduction/Mission Statement
- Adding this was one of the main changes. The purpose is not just to give a bit of info about us, but also to explain the purpose of the rules, and explain that users are expected to behave in accordance with the spirit as well as the letter of the rules. We wanted to make it clear that users who deliberately skirt the rules but are still displaying toxic behavior will still be held accountable.
- We also wanted to have a proper table of contents, and link directly to the terms of service and privacy policy. Ultimately, we wanted everything to be in one thread, or at least linked in that thread, for easy reference.
Respect
- Moved from another rule: Offensive Terms (word filter).
- Moved from another rule: Request to use spoiler BBCode tags when discussing spoilers.
- Moved from another rule: Discussion of Account Suspensions or Warnings.
- Removed to another rule: Vigilantism.
Vigilantism
- Moved from another rule and expanded for clarity.
- Specific guidelines added.
Explicit Sexual Content and Extreme Gore (slightly renamed)
- More specific explanations and examples of what is not allowed.
Safe and Inclusive Environment: Mature Content and Restricted Themes
- Renamed from “Illegal or Immoral Content.”
- Moved to another rule: Plagiarism, etc.
- Expanded for clarity.
Account Security, Sharing, and Multiple Accounts
- Added to explain long-standing (and unchanged) staff policy regarding multiple accounts and shared accounts, and encourage users to be careful of their personal information.
Advertising and Spam (slightly renamed)
- Expanded for clarity.
- Moved from another rule: Spam
Plagiarism and Intellectual Property
- Moved from another rule and expanded for clarity.
Minimizing Drama and Conflict
- Added to give users guidelines on handling conflict and drama on RpN.
Distracting Content, Language
- Reworded and reformatted for easier reading.
- Moved to another rule: Spoilers.
Offsite & Discord
- Another major change, this explains our stance on offsite content and links.
- Also provides steps to take when a user has a problem with offsite content, particularly Discord.
Roleplay Rights
- This used to be in its own thread, but has been moved to the site rules thread.
- Some minor rewriting, but the lists of rights are unchanged.
Recruitment Rules
- This used to be in its own thread, but has been moved to the site rules thread.
- Reworded for clarity.
Warnings, Courtesies, Suspensions, and Appeals
- Rewriting and reformatting of the “Guideline Enforcement” section of the previous version of the rules.
- Nothing has essentially changed, it’s just been explained slightly differently.
- Added explanation of “courtesy warnings” for clarity.
- Added explanation of and guidelines for the appeals process.
We've also updated the warnings themselves to reflect the new rules and more human tone. Also, instead of sending a PM, we have a new system that will display the warning as a notice at the top of the page, requiring the user to acknowledge it before they continue. The warning text (both courtesy and other warnings) will include a snippet of the post that prompted the warning as well as a link to the appeals ticket section (which can be accessed even if the user has not yet acknowledged the warning).
Introduction/Mission Statement
- Adding this was one of the main changes. The purpose is not just to give a bit of info about us, but also to explain the purpose of the rules, and explain that users are expected to behave in accordance with the spirit as well as the letter of the rules. We wanted to make it clear that users who deliberately skirt the rules but are still displaying toxic behavior will still be held accountable.
- We also wanted to have a proper table of contents, and link directly to the terms of service and privacy policy. Ultimately, we wanted everything to be in one thread, or at least linked in that thread, for easy reference.
Respect
- Moved from another rule: Offensive Terms (word filter).
- Moved from another rule: Request to use spoiler BBCode tags when discussing spoilers.
- Moved from another rule: Discussion of Account Suspensions or Warnings.
- Removed to another rule: Vigilantism.
Vigilantism
- Moved from another rule and expanded for clarity.
- Specific guidelines added.
Explicit Sexual Content and Extreme Gore (slightly renamed)
- More specific explanations and examples of what is not allowed.
Safe and Inclusive Environment: Mature Content and Restricted Themes
- Renamed from “Illegal or Immoral Content.”
- Moved to another rule: Plagiarism, etc.
- Expanded for clarity.
Account Security, Sharing, and Multiple Accounts
- Added to explain long-standing (and unchanged) staff policy regarding multiple accounts and shared accounts, and encourage users to be careful of their personal information.
Advertising and Spam (slightly renamed)
- Expanded for clarity.
- Moved from another rule: Spam
Plagiarism and Intellectual Property
- Moved from another rule and expanded for clarity.
Minimizing Drama and Conflict
- Added to give users guidelines on handling conflict and drama on RpN.
Distracting Content, Language
- Reworded and reformatted for easier reading.
- Moved to another rule: Spoilers.
Offsite & Discord
- Another major change, this explains our stance on offsite content and links.
- Also provides steps to take when a user has a problem with offsite content, particularly Discord.
Roleplay Rights
- This used to be in its own thread, but has been moved to the site rules thread.
- Some minor rewriting, but the lists of rights are unchanged.
Recruitment Rules
- This used to be in its own thread, but has been moved to the site rules thread.
- Reworded for clarity.
Warnings, Courtesies, Suspensions, and Appeals
- Rewriting and reformatting of the “Guideline Enforcement” section of the previous version of the rules.
- Nothing has essentially changed, it’s just been explained slightly differently.
- Added explanation of “courtesy warnings” for clarity.
- Added explanation of and guidelines for the appeals process.
We've also updated the warnings themselves to reflect the new rules and more human tone. Also, instead of sending a PM, we have a new system that will display the warning as a notice at the top of the page, requiring the user to acknowledge it before they continue. The warning text (both courtesy and other warnings) will include a snippet of the post that prompted the warning as well as a link to the appeals ticket section (which can be accessed even if the user has not yet acknowledged the warning).
