Boundless is a world for many things - fun, creativity, socializing, solo-play, and competition. Games are inherently competitive, and situations where conflict can arise are common. For this reason we the players have created this charter to set expectations for those coming to join us in this incredible world.
Respectful behavior and communication are always required within the game and forums. There is a zero tolerance policy for harassment or any inherently offensive, hateful, or malicious behavior or speech of any kind. Mods will have full authority to immediately institute temporary bans, and to review and consider permanent bans.
Play the game and use the client as intended. The use of any dishonest or unfair advantage of any sort will be met with a permanent ban.
Always strive to play and converse in the spirit of the game. If you are asked by players to refrain from certain activity or communication it is strongly recommended that you consider their request. The Boundless community has long prided itself on being kind and friendly. Please do your part to contribute to that atmosphere.
Players will not go out of their way to obstruct, alter, or infringe upon the creations of other players.
Ultimately, the goal of Boundless is to have fun. Helping others have fun is a goal for which we all will strive. Treat others as you wish to be treated and make the world of Boundless a better place with you here.
** If anyone has any quibbles or ideas in order to improve this charter, please share them now. I’d like to keep this short, and I’ve agonized over phrasing and concepts to keep it concise, accurate, and readable. Thanks!
Ok so obviously no bottling / hacking / cheating… but where are the lines when it comes to a gaming mouse/keyboard to toggle a mouse button / convenience scrips? things like this can be vital for ppl with disabilities (like arthritis)
and then there is the issue of multiboxing… should it be allowed? can it be stopped? This is an MMO and given enough time and popularity there will be both bots and mulitboxers… but should they be considered the same? a quick search brought this post up on the topic that had a dev response…
this made me smile… as there are already lots of crosses creepers Marios Steves and other symbols from the outside world built in Boundless already… even the graveyards on Munteen Vii and Nashril have “natural” crosses =) not the spirit of the statement i know but yeah =)
anyway it’s a good working draft ^^ Boundless has an awesome community and is one of my favorite parts of the game, so naturally im interested in protecting it. Im sure some would be put off a bit by this but i think a charter is still better than not setting forth some measure of expectations for player behavior.
Crosses in the world of Boundless are… crosses in the world of Boundless. So they are in-game content.
As for multiboxing, I’ll leave that to the devs and the EULA.
And cheating most certainly does not refer to any hardware or software that let’s someone play the game in the way any other person without such a disadvantage would have. I actually suffer from arthritis, and while it does not inhibit my gameplay much, your point is well taken. No one would construe that as cheating.
i generally don’t mind the real world references (although im not crazy about the Minecraft stuff) and i agree that i don’t want my game time dominated by politics/religion etc… but where are the lines and, other than stating that we would like this behavior to not happen, what can we really do about it?
i guess what i’m trying to say is that it concerns me (especially when perma ban is mentioned) how open to personal interpretation much of this is, but at the same time I don’t see any solutions to such a problem (over defining would be just as bad if not worse)… so i guess i’ll shut up now
I totally agree. This guideline was added for two reasons.
A. It was mentioned by several people in the other thread.
B. It makes good sense because I tend to view Boundless as more roleplay oriented than most other games, primarily because of the community.
That being said, it comes back to Rule #3. Be considerate, and if people ask you to stop, then stop. I agree, I don’t mind some OOC chat, but when it gets stale and the horse is dead… I’m done. Maybe we could ask the Devs for an OOC channel to add emphasis to the roleplay nature of the game.
Maybe make it “refrain from referencing the world outside Boundless in an offensive or derogatory manner”. That then allows any conversation which isn’t offensive, allowing my example of a film.
You could even make it “refrain from speaking in an offensive or derogatory manner” to further iterate upon Rule 3
Thanks for all your work on this. Please find my (hopefully) constructive criticism below. It’s written quickly, so sorry for errors or if I misinterpreted anything.
Number 1 is just missing “harassment” in its zero tolerance list.
I don’t think that this is useful. It’s not just “hackers will be banned”, it also implies that if an honest player uses some advantage which they believed is simply part of the game, they may be banned also. IMHO, the intentional use of bugs or hacking of the client are more of a terms of service item.
This is great. I think we should change the voice though. “Players should not go out of their way to…”
This does not define a right and is far too open to interpretation. I don’t think that we can regulate or enforce kindness and compassion clauses. Would you ever ban a player for being simply unkind? What gives one player authority over another? I think that the spirit here should be more “Every player has the right to freedom from harassment” and that idea is covered by number 1.
I like the statement about kindness and compassion as an expected norm. Perhaps it can prefix number 1 or be used in the final statement?
The second sentence is clutch. I wrote a whole blurb about the first sentence before realizing the intention due to the second sentence. Please combine the two.
“Please refrain from engaging in conversations related to topics, such as politics and religion, that some may find controversial or distracting.”
@willcrutchley I’m glad you brought this up as it was my strongest issue with the charter, and my working on the phrasing will be helpful. What if it said, ‘Please refrain from prolonged, public discussions or behavior that reference the world outside of Boundless. Try to keep out of game topics limited to private channels only.’
Thus my use of the words ‘dishonest or unfair’, and ending the first sentence with the words, ‘use the client as intended’. This rule was not originally in my list, as I thought the it belonged more in the territory of the EULA. However, I’ve added it because of a couple mentions.
Again, great suggestion. I’ve written this in like 30 drafts, so the voicing is all messed up and I can’t even see it all now. I hated that phrasing and couldn’t figure out why. Thank you!
I agree kindness and compassion can’t be enforced or regulated. My phrasing there was to emphasize a suggestion, not a rule. There is no mention of a ban there, and ultimately I make it clear that if what you are saying or doing is irritating someone… work it out or stop.
Why is having a second sentence a problem? Both sentences together make the guideline very clear. I really don’t like a single, complex sentence that doesn’t start with the broad qualifier of, ‘This may include…’
Well, the thing is, I don’t think that there should be a rule that stops us from talking about certain topics, so long as those topics aren’t offensive. Therefore I think we should be able to talk about things outside of the world of boundless inside boundless. That’s why I phrased it the way I did
Or a clan channel, or something of the sort. Not spamming it over open region channels, etc. Maybe I could simply mention to respect the intent of each chat channel, and to keep any OOC subjects on such a channel. Not sure if the Devs (@james!) have an OOC channel planned.
My thoughts exactly so I was thinking about something along these lines (basically original point 5 with some additions; I bolded key words showing its all guidelines and not “shoulds”):
“When using general/public channels of communication please refrain from prolonged, public discussions or behavior that reference the world outside of Boundless. We understand not all conversation can nor should be kept strictly within the game context. However, do your best to stay away from lengthy conversations that some may find controversial or distracting (this may include any references to politics, religion, history etc.). The rule of thumb here is to watch others reactions to your messages and avoid aggravating their mood and experience of the game.”
It got a bit long as I was typing from my head it can sure get shorter.
Not to be too critical, my apologies, but the second half of that paragraph is redundant.
Is a wordier rephrasing of, ‘Please refrain from prolonged, public discussions or behavior that reference the world outside of Boundless. This may include any references to politics, religion, or other out-of-game topics that some may find controversial or distracting.’
There’s really no use for the addition, other than adding words and unnecessary detail.
I am really adamant about not going into unneeded detail and being wordy. The longer the block of text is the less likely it is people will read it. There’s a critical mass of text that, once people glance at it, they tune it out and move on. If it’s brief and concise they engage. The length of this statement is already a bit long for me, but what’s there needs to be said. Honestly, I’m hoping to cut out #2 and leave that to the EULA. Five points is much better, in my opinion.
PS. Thank you for all your input in helping me create this document. Your voice has been one of the more useful.
