Crossroads Community Standards

We are, all of us, voluntarily a part of the storytelling community that is Crossroads. We come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences with a shared pastime and passion trying to enjoy each other’s company and collaboration while creating an interesting IC world in which we can all participate. Our goal and standard is for Crossroads to be a community based on mutual respect for each other and a willingness to create a fun storytelling and roleplaying experience for everyone involved. That said, it's still a game. In order to facilitate the game, there needs to be a common understanding, and buy-in to that understanding.

In an ideal situation, the community itself would be largely self-policing, and compromise would be managed by the parties involved without need for an established hierarchy. This sort of situation requires an investment of every member of the community. Investing in the community means adhering to certain expectations of behavior and conduct regarding community participation, and we are detailing these expectations so everyone can be on the same page, adhering to and supporting the same standards.

The standards we are upholding start with a foundation of respect. This is the key element for people to be able to participate in any group activity and social interaction.

1. Respect the game and the story.

The game is the community and the game is bigger than any single subset of the community. Your role in the community, IC or OOC, does not outweigh the needs of the community. Your contribution helps to shape the community and the IC story line that we have all come together to share and write, and while your contributions will be taken into account, you will not always get what you want IC or OOC. The mutual storytelling that so many of us are here to pursue requires OOC respect of the parameter

2. Respect your staff.

Being volunteers, they work toward facilitating fun for everyone in the community and sacrifice their own time and energy . They have been given their roles in trust, and it's important to respect their position in the game. Work with them, and they'll do what they can to make things happen. Do not come to staff on behalf of a third party, but encourage every person to pursue a direct communication with staff members.

3. Respect your players.

Players are everyone in the game; no one participates in the game who is not also a player in some regard. Players fill roles and create story, and every character name is also a person at a keyboard with the same real life concerns and feelings and situations that we ourselves have. What we have to give other players is the same respect that we ourselves would want to receive: respect for time, energy and ownership in this shared story. We have to respect everyone's right to play their char as they want, and grant them the space and freedom to do so, while keeping in mind the respect of the game and the IC structure/politics. Refrain from OOC drama.

4. Share and contribute to the community.

Just by RPing on Crossroads you are making a contribution, but we want to encourage everyone to contribute your time, your thoughts, your energy, your goodwill, your love for the game and the community. We want you to feel empowered to tell stories for others and to participate in the stories others tell. Keeping in mind guidelines 1-3 during this time, telling stories that enrich the game (while respecting the game narrative and balance) and include other players is one of our goals.

5. Be prepared for consequences if you don't follow the guidelines.

Adhering to the above guidelines is extremely important to being a successful member of this community. If you are unable or unwilling to respect and nurture these guidelines, Crossroads is not for you. There is and will be no hard-and-fast rule about how discipline is enacted. Disciplinary action will often be based on the specific instances and the abusive behaviors being committed. We will however say this: DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ABUSIVE BEHAVIORS. Abuse and drama need audiences and participants. Abuse and drama die when people don't engage them. Participating in them, which also includes doing nothing to stop them and letting people think drama and/or abuse are acceptable, helps them spread. Drama can degrade the game and erode the community. It is your responsibility as a player at Crossroads to be a proactive participant in keeping the community healthy. If you have doubts about what we mean by OOC drama, we have an explanation.

We wish to be clear, we know that people are going to have bad days. People will start or enter into situations that make themselves or others uncomfortable. Sometimes, people will deliberately do things that are hurtful. None of us are perfect, and we all have moments when we slip into a behavior that is not consistent with who we would wish to be. When it happens on rare occasion, it is the sort of thing that a community can understand and support. However when it becomes a constant pattern, it is something a community must correct or protect itself from.

If bad things are happening ICly: Keep it IC; your character would react in however way s/he would react in such a situation. It is important to respect the game by keeping the narrative flowing, and bad things can and will happen in the game, even to your character. If you are having emotional trouble dealing with the IC storyline or consequences your character may have engendered, take a breather, go AFK.

If bad things are happening OOC: Empower yourself to address the problem in whatever fashion does not in turn cause you to escalate the problem. Some tools for handing OOC problems so they do not escalate are:

• Tell the person explicitly how their actions are affecting you

Note: A lot of the time, the other person may not know that what they're doing is making you feel uncomfortable or hurt, so confirming this with them may help.

• Ask the person to quit contacting you

Note: This also means you have to quit contacting them as well. And if someone asks you to quit contacting them, do it.

• Leave the area

For example: Leave the scene, leave the channel, and leave the room.

• Pagelock the person

How: @lock/page me=!(*nameofperson)

• Log off

Note: If you are angry or upset by the situation the best thing you can do is log off and walk away from the computer. Depending on the circumstance, you may need to take a self-imposed vacation from the game for a few days.

Always log trouble situations and save the log in case you need it later. You should only escalate a situation to staff if you have attempted to address it yourself and that has not worked, and you want to make a formal complaint. Be prepared to provide logs. Do NOT communicate further with the person under any circumstances once you have asked staff to arbitrate. Do not talk about the situation to anyone but the staff member assigned to the arbitration. Keep the problem to a minimum so that staff can better help you. Staff will investigate the situation and if necessary met out disciplinary consequences.

We avidly pursue an environment of sharing and communal responsibility, and we want to both inspire people to join and protect it from those who are not on the same page. We hope that you will flourish at Crossroads MUSH!