Summary of IRC Guidelines and Infraction Policy
The IRC channels supported by Cryptic Studios are considered PG Rated, as a rule of thumb, if you would not say it to a young child then do not say it in chat.
Any violations of the rules which are considered serious, can and may result in a ban from the IRC channel. Below is a list of violations, this is not a complete list and a more detailed list of rules can be found under Infractions.
- Statements of Real-Life Threats towards anyone.
- Discussing Real-Life Personal Information.
- Attempting to circumvent a Suspension or Ban.
- Posting Cheats, Hacks, Trojan Horses, or Malicious Programs.
- Posting unreleased Content / Hacking Data Files.
- Impersonating a Cryptic Studios Employee, Moderator or IRC Admin.
- Protected Classes.
- Sales and Trading.
- Negatively referring to anyones Sexuality.
- Using obscene, vulgar or inappropriate language.
- Discussing or linking of objectionable or defamatory material
- Discussing Disciplinary Actions
- Harassing Material
- Illegal Drugs and Other Illegal Activities
- Flaming, Trolling, Spamming
Cryptic's IRC liason is
Falkoren, also known as
Cryptic_FalkorenModerators are not employees of Cryptic Studios.
The current Volunteer Moderation Team is:
- AbbyTheRat (also goes under Abby)
- Askray
- Baroness
- Dariuas
- Deerang
- Mysticales
- Osias
- RED_SHIRT
- Sleepkever
- Suricata
- Syberghost
- Zeroth
- \
If you have any problems or see someone possibly breaking the rules, you can either highlight them (say their full nick in channel) or send a PM (for example /query AbbyTheRat). Please bear in mind that the moderation team is not able to help with in-game, web, account or forum related problems.
IRC Guidelines
The Channels, #STO and #STOqa (Channels) are hosted on Coldfront, these guidelines are in addition to the Coldfront rules.
Moderation Team
The channels are supported by Cryptic and a group of volunteer Moderators selected by Cryptic. Cryptic employees and the moderation team will have Voice, Half Operator, Operator, Super Operator and Founder. These are identified with the symbols +, %, @, & and ~
Reporting Violations
If you believe that someone has violated our IRC Guidelines or you have spotted content that may otherwise require attention, please send a private message to a channel moderator with a brief description of what you believe is wrong. Notification is voluntary, but in no case should a user respond to a situation personally, thereby aggravating the situation further.
When reporting violations, do not quote them or reply to them. Responding to a violation in an inflammatory manner is a violation in itself and will result in appropriate action. It is also important to not spam moderators by excessively reporting members.
Enforcement
Interpretation and enforcement of the IRC Guidelines is at the sole and exclusive discretion of the Cryptic Studios and the Moderation Team.
If you violate these IRC Guidelines and/or show a disregard for them, access to the channels maybe restricted or disallowed. Depending on the severity of any violation Cryptic Studios may, but is not obligated to, remove users from channels without notice or appeal. These IRC Guidelines are subject to change at any time without notice.
Guidelines
- You are not allowed to post an affiliate URL that leads to you earning cash, banner impressions, credits, points and/or any other form of consideration.
- You are not allowed to give out personal, real-life information such as home addresses, home phone numbers belonging to any person, including, without limitation, yourself.
- As this is an English-speaking community, all postings must be in English, so that they can be well received and properly monitored.
- You may not use vulgar, harmful, harassing, fraudulent, threatening, abusive, libellous, defamatory, obscene, hateful, sexually explicit, racially/ethnically charged or otherwise objectionable language.
- Abbreviations, self censoring, and attempts to circumvent our censor software also violate these guidelines. If you feel that the software censor is acting in error, please contact us.
- Posts that discuss illegal activities, transactions, or websites such as warez, cracks, torrents, etc, are not allowed. This includes the posting of information that you have obtained illegally and/or without authorization or permission.
- Political, sexual and religious discussions are not allowed in these Channels.
- Respect is the name of the game. You must respect your fellow members and refrain from inflammatory comments as well as flaming, taunting, and general disrespect.
- Do not simply put down the opinion or advice given by others. If you don't agree with it, say why - respectfully. Don't just tell them they're wrong. Do not make uninvited remarks about typos, duplicate posts, posting styles, etc.
- When an opinion-based discussion is being had, do not state things like "there is no argument" as if your opinion is the only one or the only one that matters. When someone has clearly stated their opinion, do not say things like "Are you serious?" and "Are you kidding me?" Remember, this is not a debate club. This is a friendly discussion community. Allow people to have their opinion. No one is to act as some sort of opinion judge, responding to each one to say whether they agree with it or not or whether or not it is a valid, well thought out opinion.
- Cryptic Studios and the Moderation Team has the final say on all aspects of these channels. If you have a problem, you may make a complaint to Cryptic Studios directly and not publicly on the website. Raising issue in chat, creating threads or posts that question or reference administrative decisions or potential administrative decisions, such as kicks and warnings, is not permitted. If you feel that we have made a mistake, please privately contact the current IRC Cryptic Representative who is Cryptic_Falkoren or PM a member of the Moderation team and we will review the situation.
- Whenever you are participating in this community, please keep in mind that we strive to create a fun, friendly and inviting atmosphere. We hope you enjoy the discussions and have fun when participating in any of the channels.
Comments
The nature of IRC chat makes it impossible to remove offending content. Thus infractions may result in a suspension on a first offense, to protect the environments and comfort of the chat. Cryptic Studios and the Moderation Team reserves the right in its sole discretion to change warnings and suspension and identify infractions in the Channels. We use the following penalty system:
- First level of infractions is a warning and may result in a kick
- Second level of infractions will result in a kick and may also result in a 24 hour ban
- Third level of infractions will result in a 24-48 hour ban
- Fourth level of infraction will result in 72 hour ban
- Beyond the fourth level of infraction, any further infractions will result in a permanent ban
Depending on the severity of an infraction, the action taken may result in a jump to another level without warning at the sole discretion of Cryptic Studios and the Moderation Team.The following list sets forth some of the more common types of infractions. This list is not intended to be a complete list of all infractions.
Statements of Real-Life Threats towards anyone
Statements or any messages which allude to, contain language, comments, references, links, symbols, terms and/or imagery about and/or promote and/or otherwise support, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, violence or threats against another user may be subject to an infraction.
Discussing Real-Life Personal Information
Chat messages that allude to and/or contain language, comments, references, links, symbols, terms and/or imagery about, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, real-life information about other users and/or Cryptic employees, officers and/or directors (and/or any of their family members) may be subject to an infraction.
Circumventing a Suspension/Ban
The use of another nick and/or IP to circumvent a suspension or ban may be subject to an infraction and an instant ban of the new nick.
Posting Cheats, Hacks, Trojan Horses, or Malicious Programs
Chat messages that allude to, contain language, comments, references, links, symbols, terms and/or imagery about and/or promote and/or otherwise support, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, cheats, hacks, cracks and/or malicious viruses/programs (e.g., keyloggers, Trojan horses, websites or files that take control of another persons computer, etc.) may be subject to an infraction.
Posting Unreleased Content / Hacking Data Files
Chat messages which contain language, comments, references, links, symbols, terms and/or content that, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, show/display and/or discuss any of the following may be subject to an infraction: (a) unreleased in-game items or equipment; (b) areas that have been unlocked by hacking into client data files; and/or (c) data not available through normal gameplay.
Impersonating a Cryptic Studios Employee, Moderator or IRC Admin
Chat messages that allude to and/or contain language, comments, references, links, symbols, terms and/or imagery that, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, attempt to impersonate a Cryptic Studios employee, a moderator or IRC Admin of Coldfront may be subject to an infraction.
Protected Classes
Chat messages that allude to, contain language, comments, references, links, symbols, terms and/or imagery about and/or promote and/or otherwise support, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, hatred, discrimination and/or denigrations based on or related to any protected class (e.g., race, ethnicity, religion, sect, color, national origin, age, gender, familial status, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status, genetic information, etc.) may be subject to an infraction.
Sales and Trading
Chat messages that allude to, contain language, comments, references, links, symbols, terms and/or imagery about and/or promote, advertise and/or otherwise support, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, the purchase, sale and/or trade of any account, character and/or other game asset may be subject to an infraction.
Extreme Sexuality/Violence
Chat messages that allude to, contain language, comments, eferences, links, symbols, terms and/or imagery about and/or promote and/or otherwise support, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, pornography and/or extreme violence or sexual acts may be subject to an infraction.
Strongly Obscene/Vulgar/Inappropriate Objectionable Material
Chat messages that allude to, contain language, comments, references, links, symbols, terms and/or imagery about and/or promote and/or otherwise support, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, strongly obscene, vulgar, inappropriate and/or otherwise objectionable material may be subject to an infraction.
Defamatory Material
Chat messages that in any manner, whether directly or indirectly, defame any other user and/or any Cryptic Studio employee, officer and/or director may be subject to an infraction.
Discussing Disciplinary Actions
Chat messages that, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, discuss disciplinary actions taken by Cryptic Studios against any user (including the poster) may be subject to an infraction.
Harassing Material
Chat messages that, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, repetitively insult and/or otherwise harass any other user and/or any Cryptic Studio employee, officer and/or director may be subject to an infraction.
Mildly Obscene/Vulgar/Inappropriate or otherwise Objectionable Material
Chat messages that allude to, contain language, comments, references, links, symbols, terms and/or imagery about and/or promote and/or otherwise support, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, mildly obscene, vulgar, inappropriate and/or otherwise objectionable material may be subject to an infraction.
Illegal Drugs and Other Illegal Activities
Chat messages that allude to, contain language, comments, references, links, symbols, terms and/or imagery about and/or promote and/or otherwise support, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, illegal drug use and/or other illegal activities may be subject to an infraction.
Flaming, Trolling, Spamming
Chat messages that, in any manner whether directly or indirectly, involve any of the following activities may be subject to an infraction.