INDOMITA CODE OF CONDUCT

• General Behavior

  • 1. Indomita operates entirely in English, and users are asked to use this language in public areas or when communicating with staff.
    • a. Foreign language is allowed when a direct translation is provided. For example, “Mahalo! (thanks!)”.
    • b. Foreign language is also allowed in names, biographies, etc.
    • c. If staff finds a foreign word or phrase used that violates our TOS/Code of Conduct in English, it will be treated as its equivalent in English.
  • 2. Indomita uses a Teen (ESRB) guideline in regard to content and language.
    • a. Swearing and cursing is allowed in mild forms so long as it is not excessive.
      • i. Examples of permitted words include “damn”, “shit”, and “ass”.
      • ii. Swears of a sexual nature or that reference things of sexual nature (sex, genitals, etc) are not allowed.
      • iii. Swearing must never be directed at another person, on or off site.
    • b. Hate speech, slurs, and words associated with hate groups are not allowed.
      • i. This includes ethnic slurs like ‘g*psy’, even if not used intentionally as a slur.
      • ii. This also includes words, phrases, and slogans that are primarily used by supremacist or hate groups.
    • c. Mentions of violence or sexual content are allowed without warning so long as they are not explicit.
      • i. Excessive violence, gore, blood, or viscera should be marked with an appropriate content warning and still be considered reasonable for a viewer over the age of 16.
      • ii. Light, non-explicit mentions of sexual content such as suggestive themes are allowed but should contain a content warning.
      • iii. Explicit sexual content is not allowed publicly or privately on Indomita.
      • iv. Any mention or depiction of abuse, regardless of type (physical, emotional, sexual, etc) should be marked with a content warning.
    • d. Discussion of, or reference to, gambling and substance use is permitted in limited circumstances.
      • i. No such content should promote real-world use of substances.
      • ii. No gambling games may be run on site.
    • e. Content that may be seen as disturbing to some individuals should be labelled with a content warning. This includes, but is not limited to: abuse of any kind; sexism; racism; death; substance use; stalking; addiction; identity discrimination; and extreme offensive language.
    • f. Using symbols, letters, or foreign languages to mask inappropriate words or content is not allowed.
    • g. Any questions about specifics regarding what is (or isn’t) appropriate conduct can be directed to admin@indomita.net for further explanation.
  • 3. Users may not share any personally identifiable information on the site. This includes, but is not limited to: real names (given or surname), phone numbers, physical or mailing address, credit card number, social security number, etc. Stay safe and protect your privacy.
    • a. Links to social media accounts or websites (Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, YouTube, etc) may only be included if they do not have personally revealing identification.
    • b. Exemptions may be made by asking permission at admin@indomita.net. These exemptions will only be granted to adults, not minors, and must be within limited purpose and reason (for instance, an artist linking to their official website or portfolio.)
  • 4. Users may not ask for real life advice on Indomita.
    • a. This includes personal, medical, psychiatric, veterinary, or relationship issues.
    • b. Mentioning these issues is understandable and we will not punish you for bringing them up or discussing them. It is specifically seeking help or providing explicit personal information that is not allowed.
    • c. Please seek qualified or professional help, including local hotlines. We recommend checkpoint.org to connect you with the best services you need in your local area.
  • 5. Begging and soft begging are not allowed and may earn warning points or a temporary chat/forum ban depending on the severity.
    • a. We define begging as asking repeatedly for items, currency, characters, artwork, or other items/services. For example, “Can anyone send me 5 Chrysos?” or “Does anyone have a spare Feathering?”
    • b. “Soft begging” is defined as the repeated mention of wanting something without directly asking for it. For example, “My horse would be just perfect with Evorsus” alone is not soft begging. However, repeatedly mentioning that you need or want Evorsus for that horse suggests an intent to get others to send you that item, and would be considered soft begging.
  • 6. Intentionally targeting other members to harass or antagonize them is prohibited and may result in warning points or suspensions depending on severity.
    • a. This rule applies to all users of the site, including members, moderators, writers, artists, and administrators.
    • b. Indomita acts solely on the basis of this behavior happening on Indomita or its official channels (ex Discord).
      • i. Indomita does not police off-site interactions. The only exception is when this results in behavior on Indomita itself (for instance, players intentionally harassing another’s horses/factions after discussing these plans on a private chat server).
      • ii. For this reason, and for personal safety, we recommend (but do not require) users to stick to official channels of communication on Indomita.
    • c. While staff does investigate and act on issues of harassment, they are not meant to moderate personal disputes. Players who have a disagreement with each other are encouraged to work it out privately and civilly. If this cannot be done, players are asked to block each other and cease interaction.
    • d. Disagreement between users is not considered harassment unless it involves targeting behavior or hate speech.
    • e. Mentioning, implicating, or targeting a specific member to disparage them, even if the member’s name is not mentioned directly, is not allowed. For example, it’s okay to say “Make sure to secure any important items in your herd inventories, since anyone can use them!” It is not okay to say “Watch out guys, there’s a player going around stealing from herds.”
  • 7. Items, characters, and game currency may not be sold for real life currency or traded for other currency/items/etc on other games.
    • a. This rule applies regardless of whether the trade is conducted on Indomita or off Indomita.
    • b. This rule does not apply to user generated content such as visual art or writing services (so long as it abides by the rules of Indomita’s intellectual property).
  • 8. Items, characters, and game currency may be traded freely on Indomita with other players for other Indomita items, characters, and currency.
    • a. Indomita recommends use of the official trading and transfer system to avoid potential errors or bad trades. This system is logged and monitored.
    • b. Users who make trade agreements outside of this system should make these trade terms clear and through official Indomita channels.
    • c. While Indomita is under no obligation to enforce player transactions, if something goes wrong with a trade and players cannot resolve it peacefully, they may contact staff to assist with the issue.
      • i. Staff will do their best to investigate and enforce the original agreement, with proof of the agreement that has been made through on site channels (forums or private message, for instance).
      • ii. Staff does not enforce item values: it is up to the player to determine if a trade is fair before agreeing to it.
      • iii. Users found to be abusing another player through trades will be issued warnings as deemed appropriate by administration.
  • 9. Bots, automated scripts, clickers, and other programs which interact or interfere with Indomita are prohibited.
  • 10. Bugs and exploits should be immediately reported to staff.
    • a. To expand on these definitions:
      • i. A “bug” is when something happens in the game that should not happen. For example, if you use an item to add Overo to a horse, and it adds Splash instead, that is a bug.
      • ii. An “exploit” is when a user takes advantage of a bug or error on site for their personal gain. For example, if an item appeared in the Chrysos Shop for 0 Chrysos and a user bought dozens of them without reporting the issue to staff, this would be considered an exploit.
    • b. Exploits should always be reported privately to staff and not in public areas.
    • c. Exploiting (taking advantage of a bug) will be issued warning points or a ban depending on the nature and severity of the issue.
    • d. This rule extends to users who are aware of another user exploiting, while they themselves are not.
    • e. This rule also applies to sharing exploit knowledge to others, even if the user is not using the exploit.
  • 11. Indomita has a tough stance against plagiarism and copyright misuse.
    • a. All content that a player posts should either be their own, or be posted with credit to the original creator.
    • b. Content which is partially created by the user (for instance, colored line art or photomanipulation) should always credit the other creators involved.
    • c. Content from other creators should always be used with permission where appropriate:
      • i. Visual content (ex photography, digital art, line art, banner graphics) must be credited to the original artist and have a license which allows use on Indomita. For example, CC0 licensed content or DeviantArt lineart where the artist says “You may use this art off DA with credit.”
      • ii. Written content (prose, poetry, songs, and quotes) should be credited to the artist/author/speaker. Permission is not required so long as the content is used in moderation (for example, quoting an entire article or entire song is not appropriate; quoting smaller portions such as a few sentences or a chorus is fine).
      • iii. Certain content which has become socially acceptable to share without credit - for instance, gifs (animated images) from movies or TV shows - do not require credit on Indomita, though we prefer that you still include credit.
    • d. Credits for content from other creators should be placed either directly next to the content shared, or written in another accessible place. For example, avatar credit may be given on your user profile; credit for lyrics in a horse profile can go in their notes.
    • e. Shared content found not to adhere to the original creator’s terms will be removed and warnings may be issued.
    • f. Claiming another creator’s content as your own will result in a warning.
    • g. Plagiarism rules extend to tracing or copying another’s art without acknowledging the original creator. For instance, it is okay to make art with tracing, and even to share that art, so long as you credit the original source material. It is not okay to make art using tracing and sell that art to others without giving acknowledgement or credit.
    • h. Characters on Indomita may be “fan horses” or belong to “fandoms” - that is, they may directly reference other media such as cartoons, TV shows, movies, and books. Inspiration for these characters should be mentioned and players are encouraged to add their own originality to these characters.
    • i. Character designs - that is, the visual appearance and selection of genes and patterns on a horse - are not considered property of a single player. Similarities between horse designs are considered coincidental and an expected part of play.
    • j. Original characters, lore, art, etc are considered property and copyright of the user that creates them, and plagiarism of them is not allowed.
      • i. Similar ideas are not considered plagiarism; for instance, two different factions with horses that can talk to the dead would not be considered plagiarism.
      • ii. Names are not considered original property.
      • iii. Content created as fan content, including that based on Indomita lore, is not considered protectable under plagiarism, even if characters may be interpreted similarly.
      • iv. While these above points apply, staff asked to investigate these issues will take into consideration all instances of similarities in context before making any decision.

• Additional Forum Guidelines

  • 1. All posts should be relevant to the thread and topic being discussed, and all threads should be placed in the most appropriate forum.
  • 2. All advertisements for other games are restricted to “Other Sites”. While you may freely mention or discuss other games in the chat box or other forum areas, referral links, advertising, and encouraging players to join another game should be restricted to this forum only.
  • 3. Spamming is not allowed in the forums. This includes intentionally posting the same thing multiple times in a row, and posts written with no value added to the thread (such as replying with only a smile emoji or typing nonsense).
  • 4. “Bumping” a thread - posting in it to nudge it back to the top of the forum - is allowed once per day (per thread), given the following:
    • a. The thread has not had activity for over 48 hours; AND
    • b. The thread is not already in the first 10 threads listed in that forum.
  • 5. “Necroing” an old thread (that is, posting in a thread that has not been active in several months or longer) is allowed if you have something to contribute to the thread or are re-using/bumping your own thread.

• Additional Chatbox Guidelines

  • 1. All advertisements should go in the Ad Chatbox.
  • 2. All roleplay done in chat (“short form”) should go in the RP Chatbox.
  • 3. The chatbox is a bug free zone. If something isn’t working right, use the bug report feature.
  • 4. Heated discussions should be taken to private messages or the forum.
  • 5. If a moderator asks you to stop the conversation, do so. Continuing or arguing afterward will be considered a warnable offense.

• Additional Discord Guidelines

  • 1. All Indomita ToS and Code of Conduct apply on the Discord server.
  • 2. Discord users must change their nickname to include the name they go by on site, and their user ID.
  • 3. Additional Discord rules and guidelines can be found on the Discord server and will be enforced as official code of conduct rules.

• Staff Conduct

  This is a summary of the full Indomita Staff Agreement. If you wish to obtain a copy of the full staff agreement, please email admin@indomita.net.
  • 1. “Staff” of Indomita are sorted into two groups: Administrators and Community Moderators.
    • a. Administrators are the game masters of Indomita. Their duties include creating and managing game events, creating new game content, fixing bugs, addressing TOS/Code of Conduct violations, and overseeing the Moderators. They have access to the game’s database files and assets.
    • b. Community Moderators are the helpers and mediators of Indomita. Their duties include assisting other players and monitoring all social game areas (chatbox, forum, Discord, etc) for terms of service / code of conduct violations. While moderators can edit or remove other user’s content that violates ToS/CoC, they cannot issue warnings. Moderators do not have access to game files, but may be asked to assist with testing from time to time by administrators.
  • 2. Administrators and Community Moderators are both bound to confidentiality; that is, they must withhold all confidential information presented to them as a staff member, including:
    • a. Actions (warnings & bans) taken against members of the community.
    • b. Messages shared from members in confidentiality to staff.
    • c. Account information of other members such as IP addresses, IP location, transactions, and other behavior.
    • d. Conversations between staff members in staff communal areas such as Discord channels unless all staff members that participated agree in its sharing and it does not violate other confidentiality rules.
    • e. Unreleased information, game systems, game art, or game development discussions unless authorized by an administrator.
  • 3. Administrators and Community Moderators are both bound to an expectation of professionalism, which includes (but is not limited to):
    • a. Refraining from arguments with other members.
    • b. Being polite and respectful to others.
    • c. Having extensive knowledge about Indomita. While you are not expected to know everything, you should also be capable of finding the answer in the game documentation or asking for assistance.
    • d. Offering members clear and understandable information.
    • e. Deferring sensitive matters to the staff member(s) best suited to handle them.
    • f. Patience and poise in the face of stress. If you can’t remain calm, then don’t stay involved with the situation.
    • g. Avoidance of issues where conflict of interest will arise.
  • 4. A "conflict of interest" is a situation in which an individual's personal interests and connections are either in conflict with, or can appear to be in conflict with, their position as staff on Indomita. This can include personal relationships, belief systems, gameplay involvement, and a myriad of other issues that might cause a staff member to choose between the interests of Indomita and their own personal interests.
    • a. All administrators are expected to disclose any conflict of interest they may have with other members on the site to each other.
    • b. Community moderators are not expected or held to conflict of interest disclosure, as they cannot take punitive action against other members. However, they are expected to disclose biases in any situations that may arise for discussion.
  • 5. “Fraternization” is the act of having social interactions in a regular and meaningful way with other players. For our purposes on Indomita, this primarily involves participating in private (non-official) Discord servers about Indomita, including faction-based Discords. Per staff policy:
    • a. Administrators should not participate in private Discord servers for Indomita unless they are staff run (Administrator/Community Moderator Owned).
    • b. Community Moderators are free to participate in private Discord servers and other social activities.
    • c. All staff may run their own Discord servers for their own Indomita factions.
    • d. All staff may also participate in group chats and private chats with other members.
  • 6. Staff members are given access to tools that regular players do not have access to. This includes, but is not limited to, the ability to mute, warn, and ban players; to see personal identifying data (ex. IP addresses); to have access to items without cost; and to alter game data. Proper and restricted use of these tools is expected from all staff.