Entering 2026: Community Guidelines & Game Rules

[GreekIdiot]

Hey everyone,

With 2026 now upon us and as we attempt to look beyond 2024-2025's limbo, after speaking with Louis and various players and receiving feedback, I'd like to address 2 topics:

1. Clarity for the community's self-management - specifically clear the air for mods/admins in terms of responsibilities and tools at their disposal
   
2. Balance regarding the game's RP state and general levels of game rule enforcement
   

For (2), I personally share the opinion expressed by Mbites and others: use the existing tools at our disposal, which are, generally speaking, the game rules on RP and CPs we already have. 

Thus, the question is more about the level of enforcement. For example, the level of enforcement for primary controllers (here) remains intentionally low(er), to help with game activity.

Having said that, I'd like to pass the torch to our lovely admins to collect, address, decide and inform the community on the resolution of any pending issues which may have been sitting in the grey zone of indecision not through their fault, due to point (1) above. On that, please see some proposals below.

Comments and feedback are more than welcome by anyone.

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Proposal to change 2A (here) to:

2A. Management Guidelines
Admins and mods:

1. Must ensure the community remains a fun, safe and creative place for everyone
   
2. Must understand that abusing their position will likely lead to their permanent ban from the community and the game
   
3. Must immediately ban players who are breaking the aforementioned guidelines in red
   
4. Must enforce the rest of the aforementioned guidelines in a "timeout" manner - meaning that issuing obscure warnings with no point of offering a solution is absolutely unacceptable
   
5. Must keep in mind that arguments, disagreements and friction between players is generally a healthy part of any community and must be aware that intervening when the aforementioned community guidelines are not in question, is a counter-productive tactic
   
6. Must understand they are held to the highest standards of the aforementioned guidelines
   
7. Must stay out of deliberations when they have a conflict of interest as players
   
8. Must raise community conflicts to game masters for mediation
   

Proposal to add 2B:

2B. Players

1. Can dispute mod decisions to admins, and admin decisions to game masters
   
2. Can apply to join the mod team anytime
   
3. Can propose changes to community guidelines and game rules
   
4. Can suggest features and ideas to the game

Proposal to add 2C:

2C. Mods

1. Must handle requests and enforce community guidelines and game rules on a day-to-day basis
   
2. Can tag admins and game masters to ask for feedback and even delegate work
   
3. Can appoint/remove junior mods
   
4. Can appoint senior mods

Proposal to add 2D:

2D. Admins

1. Must support, assist and protect mods
   
2. Must handle any disputes raised by players about mods
   
3. Must supervise the enforcement levels (stricter/looser) of community guidelines and game rules and set the direction for mods with the goal of preserving the game's balance
   
4. Can get involved in the day-to-day anytime
   
5. Can override mods on decisions and enforcement
   
6. Can appoint/remove mods

[Mbites]

Hello everyone, 

after speaking with both Zanz and Greek, I am going to share some counter proposals for Greek's Rule Update, mostly cleaning up and some moderate changes to the structure of the team.

2A:
Rule 1 should be moved toward an intro-section because its more of a goal rather than a rule.

Rephrase Rule 4 to something along the lines of "Enforce guidelines in a thoughtful, reconciliatory manner with the goal of reaching a working solution for all participants of a potential rule break."

Rules 5/6 seem like nice symbolic sentences but dont add any value, so we think they should be remove to "declutter."

Rule 8 should be rephrased to clarify its meaning, after talking with Greek we've agreed on  something like "Must raise conflicts which are multi-sided and complex in nature to Game Masters if they do not clearly warrant sanctions in the form of a temporary or permanent ban."

2B:
Rule 1, while stating intended procedure is nice, its hard to actually put into practice as everyone has DM access to everyone and people are not going to follow it in all likeliness, while this doesnt really need to be removed, we do not think it really adds anything either.

2C:
Rule 1 should be removed as its intended meaning is something different.
Suggested replacement: "Both Mods and Admins handle requests and rule enforcements but Admins are not expected to be as active or permanently available."
3/4 should be changed because the position of Junior Mod has been obsolete for a while and the intended rotation within the team is not working due to various factors such as simply the size of the community. Hence we think 3 should be replaced by "Can appoint/remove Mods" because the two-class system should be abolished. Subsequently 4 should be struck.

2D:
We think most of these proposed additions are fine but do not add anything besides stating the obvious.

[GreekIdiot]

Initial proposal revised after feedback presented in the previous reply.
Proposed 2B, 2C and 2D have been merged into a compact 2A and 2B, instead.
Section 6 (here) will be deleted entirely, it was meant as a hasty placeholder anyway.

2A. Management
Mods and admins are here to ensure the community remains a fun, safe and creative place for everyone without prejudice or bias. They also understand that abusing their position will likely lead to their permanent ban from the community and the game.

Thus, they must:

1. Must ensure the community remains a fun, safe and creative place for everyone
   
2. Must understand that abusing their position will likely lead to their permanent ban from the community and the game
   
3. Ban players who are breaking the aforementioned guidelines highlighted in red
   
4. Enforce the rest of the aforementioned guidelines and the game rules in a thoughtful and reconciliatory manner with the goal of reaching a working solution for all participants
   
5. Must keep in mind that arguments, disagreements and friction between players is generally a healthy part of any community and must be aware that intervening when the aforementioned community guidelines are not in question, is a counter-productive tactic
   
6. Must understand they are held to the highest standards of the aforementioned guidelines
   
7. Stay out of deliberations when they have a conflict of interest as players
   
8. Raise complex and multi-sided issues to game masters for mediation, provided that they have first attempted to resolve them with the community
   
9. Handle requests and enforce community guidelines and game rules - but note that admins are not expected to be as active or available as mods

2B. General

1. Players are generally advised to raise issues first to mods, then to admins and only as a last resort to game masters
   
2. All players can apply to become a mod, propose changes to community guidelines and game rules and suggest features to the game, at any time
   
3. Admins appoint and remove mods
   
4. Admins supervise the enforcement levels (stricter/looser) of community guidelines and game rules and set the direction for mods with the goal of preserving balance
   
5. Admins can override mod decisions

Please feel free to pinpoint any additional changes for a 2nd iteration.

On a sidenote, @Mbites, it would be very helpful if the team made a list of issues you currently have pending and want to tackle, and send them to Louis and me so that we're aware what's on your agenda while we focus on the release and community engagement/promotion. 

We understand this particular part needs to be private to avoid misunderstandings across the community, so please send them via DM on Discord.

[GreekIdiot]

Synced with Mbites and Zanz, update looks good.

This will remain open until the weekend for any community feedback, then we'll implement.

[Zanz]

Slight clarification - in accordance with rule 6C.2 the feedback period for the proposed change will be at least 2 weeks. The proposal in question is in Post #3 of this thread and will remain open for comment until at least 3 February.

[Doc]

I am actively reading this forum but feel this discussion is out of my scope as a player. It seems well above the player.

I value transparency in leadership, and frankly would like a lot more on internal deliberations of the mod/Mgmt team in regards to decisions about rules changes and game features. Perhaps there is way to incorporate that expectation into the rules you all are making here, so players can understand the reasons decisions that they do not agree with are made, and to see who said what about the decision that led to the decision.

[Mbites]

I am actively reading this forum but feel this discussion is out of my scope as a player.  It seems well above the player.

I value transparency in leadership, and frankly would like a lot more on internal deliberations of the mod/Mgmt team in regards to decisions about rules changes and game features.  Perhaps there is way to incorporate that expectation into the rules you all are making here, so players can understand the reasons decisions that they do not agree with are made, and to see who said what about the decision that led to the decision.

I agree with the positive benefits of transparency and I myself am not against being transparent, current "norm" is that we as a team debate amongst each other and then share our stances and the arguments (that usually come from anyone of us, its commonly quite mixed) that led to this stance, so that we have a "team proposal/opinion" that can easily be put under community scrutiny. Personally I can imagine that we might get lost on changes if we put individual mod/admin opinions/arguments on the board that are each getting debated, but If you have any specific ideas on how to introduce more transparency feel free to share with us, we're happy to hear you out.

[Doc]

I am actively reading this forum but feel this discussion is out of my scope as a player.  It seems well above the player.

I value transparency in leadership, and frankly would like a lot more on internal deliberations of the mod/Mgmt team in regards to decisions about rules changes and game features.  Perhaps there is way to incorporate that expectation into the rules you all are making here, so players can understand the reasons decisions that they do not agree with are made, and to see who said what about the decision that led to the decision.

I agree with the positive benefits of transparency and I myself am not against being transparent, current "norm" is that we as a team debate amongst each other and then share our stances and the arguments (that usually come from anyone of us, its commonly quite mixed) that led to this stance, so that we have a "team proposal/opinion" that can easily be put under community scrutiny. Personally I can imagine that we might get lost on changes if we put individual mod/admin opinions/arguments on the board that are each getting debated, but If you have any specific ideas on how to introduce more transparency feel free to share with us, we're happy to hear you out.

I think I would suggest a viewable but like closed forum where players could at least see the discussion would be beneficial for some, me certainly. Again, speaking for myself, I benefit from the discussion rather than the result. I am a person with very strong personal opinions but I am also fairly easily persuaded by a good argument that brings up something I didn't think of that can sway my opinion. I really benefit from those discussions, and it makes it easier to accept the results when it comes out.

I don't suggest that the public be able to comment. I often just would like to know why decisions were made. Having a viewable forum for discussions would resolve that. Also, limited to discussions of policies and game rules. I think disciplinary and corrective discussions should still remain private for the sake of those who are being looked at.

[Zanz]

The changes proposed in this thread have been implemented and this thread is now closed. Section 2A and B have been amended/added, and Section 6 has been stricken from the rules altogether. The below is the content of Section 6 as it previously read, so that it is available and can be linked for future review should it be useful.

6. Other

6A. Requests

1. Generally speaking, you can make requests about various parts of the game at https://prtcy.com/library/
   
2. Requests can only be made by players who have at least 1 primary slot in a nation
   
3. If you can't find what you're looking for on the link above, please use https://forum.prtcy.com/thread-320.html
   
4. For the Classic Edition (when/if it's up and working), please use https://forum.prtcy.com/thread-130.html
   

6B. Moderation Responsibilities
For all members of the mod team:

1. Activate accounts on this forum which do not seem suspicious of trolling/spamming
   
2. Enforce the entirety of these game rules and community guidelines on a day-to-day basis - see each section for details
   
3. Deliberate, decide and handle incoming requests on the #docket channel on the official Discord Server
   
4. Manage the game's content and settings on https://prtcy.com/library/
   
5. Handle incoming Classic Edition requests when/if possible on https://forum.prtcy.com/thread-130.html (bills / reactivations only)
   
6. Attempt to help, guide and mediate in ongoing and unresolved disputes between players
   
7. Generally maintain and manage this forum
   

Additionally for junior mods:

1. Timeout anyone breaking community guidelines on the official Discord Server
   
2. Escalate any problems and solutions to senior mods
   

Additionally for senior mods:

1. Remove anyone breaking community guidelines highlighted in red on the official Discord Server and this forum
   
2. Add/remove junior mods - don't forget to add/remove on this forum, as well (Legacy will sync on the next ticker)
   
3. Escalate any problems and solutions to admins
   

Admins are appointed directly by GreekIdiot and are essentially trusted members of the community who also have an above average understanding of technical stuff, or at least how technical stuff works. Admins help maintain the game in the background and are not involved in the day-to-day upkeep of neither the game nor the community, such as handling requests and resolving disputes.

They're also here to provide redundancy when it comes to relying on 1 person - in this case GreekIdiot - on important stuff, such as handling escalations from mods and players, disabling/enabling game features, and so forth.

6C. Updating Game Rules & Community Guidelines

1. Any player can propose an update of any kind; please open a topic under https://forum.prtcy.com/forum-52.html
   
2. All updates (even those made by mods/admins) require a public feedback period of no less than 2 weeks