This isn’t an exhaustive list of things that you can’t do. Instead, take it as a guide to make it easier to communicate with one another, and to share this space with respect for one another.
This code of conduct applies to all spaces managed by VTT RED including on Github, Discord, and elsewhere. Violations of this code outside these spaces may affect a person's ability to participate within them.
If you believe someone is violating the code of conduct, we ask that you report it by emailing conduct@vtt.red.
-
Be friendly and patient.
-
Be welcoming. We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, colour, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability.
-
Be considerate. Your feedback or instructions will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the help of others. Any decision you take will affect users and community members, and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions. Remember that we're a world-wide community, so you might not be communicating in someone else's primary language.
-
Be respectful. Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behavior and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It’s important to remember that making people feel uncomfortable or threatened reduces the overall progress and vibrance of the community. Members of our community should be respectful when dealing with other members as well as with people outside of it, such as in the Foundry VTT Discord server, on Reddit, etc.
-
Be careful in the words that you choose. Despite being a games community, we must conduct ourselves professionally (some people work here). Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Harassment and other exclusionary behavior aren't acceptable. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Discriminatory jokes and language.
- Posting sexually explicit or violent material.
- Posting (or threatening to post) other people's personally identifying information ("doxing").
- Personal insults, especially those using racist or sexist terms.
- Unwelcome sexual attention.
- Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.
- Repeated harassment of others. In general, if someone asks you to stop, then stop.
-
When we disagree, try to understand why. Disagreements happen all the time and TTRPGs are no exception. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively. Remember that we’re different. Our strength comes from our varied community, people from a wide range of backgrounds. Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. Don’t forget that it is human to err and blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere. Instead, focus on helping to resolve issues and learning from mistakes.
If you believe someone is violating the code of conduct we ask that you report it to VTT RED directly at conduct@vtt.red, or directly to someone you trust known to be an authority in the community. All reports will be kept confidential. In some cases we may determine that a public statement will need to be made. If that's the case, the identities of all victims and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.
If you believe anyone is in physical danger, please notify appropriate law enforcement first. If you are unsure what law enforcement agency is appropriate, please include this in your report and we will attempt to notify them.
If you are unsure whether the incident is a violation, or whether the space where it happened is covered by this Code of Conduct, we encourage you to still report it. We would much rather have a few extra reports where we decide to take no action, rather than miss a report of an actual violation. We do not look negatively on you if we find the incident is not a violation. And knowing about incidents that are not violations, or happen outside our spaces, can also help us to improve the Code of Conduct or the processes surrounding it.
In your report please include:
- Your contact info (so we can get in touch with you if we need to follow up)
- Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved. If there were other witnesses besides you, please try to include them as well.
- When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.
- Your account of what occurred. If there is a publicly available record (e.g. a mailing list archive or a public IRC logger) please include a link.
- Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.
- If you believe this incident is ongoing.
- Any other information you believe we should have.
You will receive an email from a member of the VTT RED team acknowledging receipt immediately. We promise to acknowledge receipt within 24 hours (and will aim for much quicker than that).
The committee will immediately meet to review the incident and determine:
- What happened.
- Whether this event constitutes a code of conduct violation.
- Who, if anyone, was the bad actor.
- Whether this is an ongoing situation, or if there is a threat to anyone's physical safety.
If this is determined to be an ongoing incident or a threat to physical safety, the committee's immediate priority will be to protect everyone involved. This means we may delay an "official" response until we believe that the situation has ended and that everyone is physically safe.
Once the committee has a complete account of the events they will make a decision as to how to response. Responses may include:
- Nothing (if we determine no violation occurred).
- A private reprimand from the committee to the individual(s) involved.
- A public reprimand.
- An imposed vacation (i.e. asking someone to "take a week off" from Discord or GitHub).
- A permanent or temporary ban from some or all VTT RED spaces (Discord, GitHub, etc.)
- A request for a public or private apology.
We'll respond within one week to the person who filed the report with either a resolution or an explanation of why the situation is not yet resolved.
Once we've determined our final action, we'll contact the original reporter to let them know what action (if any) we'll be taking. We'll take into account feedback from the reporter on the appropriateness of our response, but we don't guarantee we'll act on it.
Finally, the committee will make a report on the situation to the VTT RED team, community moderators and administrators. The committee may choose to a public report of the incident.
If your report concerns a current member of the Code of Conduct committee, you may not feel comfortable sending your report to the committee, as all members will see the report.
In that case, you can make a report directly to any or all of the current members of the VTT RED Team or volunteer moderators and administrators, or a member of the community with authority in the community. They will follow the usual enforcement process with the other members, but will exclude the member(s) that the report concerns from any discussion or decision making.
If your report concerns all members of the VTT RED or community moderators or admins, accountability is still possible. If you're comfortable, reach out to a member of Foundry Gaming staff or volunteer Discord moderation team. Email or direct message the Necrotic Gnome team. There may be others in the community you can tell. These people aren't familiar with the specific guidelines we've placed here, but we trust they will do their best to take steps for accountability according to a similar degree of professionalism and responsibility.
Any of the parties directly involved or affected can request reconsideration of the committee’s decision. To make such a request, contact the VTT RED team at conduct@vtt.red with your request.
All responses to reports of conduct violations will be managed by a Code of Conduct Committee, or in the case where there is not a committee available or the committee members have adjourned temporarily, members of the VTT RED team, the community moderators, and administrators.
The VTT RED team will establish this committee, comprised of at least three members. One member will be designated chair of the committee and will be responsible for all reports back to the board. The board will review membership on a regular basis.
When a report is sent to the committee they will immediately reply to the report to confirm receipt. This reply must be sent within 24 hours, and the committee should strive to respond much quicker than that.
See the reporting guidelines for details of what reports should contain. If a report doesn't contain enough information, the committee will obtain all relevant data before acting. The committee is empowered to act on VTT RED's behalf in contacting any individuals involved to get a more complete account of events.
The committee will then review the incident and determine, to the best of their ability:
- What happened.
- Whether this event constitutes a code of conduct violation.
- Who, if anyone, was the bad actor.
- Whether this is an ongoing situation, and if there is a threat to anyone's physical safety.
This information will be collected in writing, and whenever possible the committee's deliberations will be recorded and retained (i.e. transcripts, email discussions, recorded voice conversations, etc).
The committee should aim to have a resolution agreed upon within one week. In the event that a resolution can't be determined in that time, the committee will respond to the reporter(s) with an update and projected timeline for resolution.
If the act is ongoing (such as someone engaging in harassment in #django), or involves a threat to anyone's safety (e.g. threats of violence), any committee member may act immediately (before reaching consensus) to end the situation. In ongoing situations, any member may at their discretion employ any of the tools available to the committee, including bans and blocks.
If the incident involves physical danger, any member of the committee may -- and should -- act unilaterally to protect safety. This can include contacting law enforcement (or other local personnel) and speaking on behalf of VTT RED.
In situations where an individual committee member acts unilaterally, they must report their actions to the committee for review within 24 hours.
The committee must agree on a resolution by consensus. If the committee cannot reach consensus and deadlocks for over a week, the committee will turn the matter over to the VTT RED team for resolution.
Possible responses may include:
- Taking no further action (if we determine no violation occurred).
- A private reprimand from the committee to the individual(s) involved. In this case, a committee member will deliver that reprimand to the individual(s) over email, cc'ing the committee.
- A public reprimand. In this case, a committee member will deliver that reprimand in the same venue that the violation occurred (i.e. in Discord for a Discord violation; email for an email violation, etc.). The committee may choose to publish this message elsewhere for posterity.
- An imposed vacation (i.e. asking someone to "take a week off" from Discord or GitHub). A committee member will communicate this "vacation" to the individual(s). They'll be asked to take this vacation voluntarily, but if they don't agree then a temporary ban may be imposed to enforce this vacation.
- A permanent or temporary ban from some or all VTT RED spaces (Discord, GitHub, etc.). The committee will maintain records of all such bans so that they may be reviewed in the future, extended to new VTT RED fora, or otherwise maintained.
- A request for a public or private apology. a committee member will deliver this request. The committee may, if it chooses, attach "strings" to this request: for example, the committee may ask a violator to apologize in order to retain his or her membership in the moderation team.
Once a resolution is agreed upon, but before it is enacted, the committee will contact the original reporter and any other affected parties and explain the proposed resolution. The committee will ask if this resolution is acceptable, and must note feedback for the record. However, the committee is not required to act on this feedback.
Finally the committee will make a report for the VTT RED team. In case the incident or report involves a current member of the board, the committee will provide the report only to the appropriate people.
The committee will never publicly discuss the issue; all public statements will be made by the VTT RED team.
In the event of any conflict of interest a committee member must immediately notify the other members, and recuse themselves if necessary. If a report concerns a possible violation by a current committee member, this member should be excluded from the response process. For these cases, anyone can make a report directly to any of the committee chairs, as documented in the reporting guidelines.
If you've read this far, you might be interested in being on the Code of Conduct Committee. Contact a community admin or moderator for more information.
Django Code of Conduct ©️ Django Software Foundation, licensed under CC-BY-3.0. Numerous edits were made according to the specific needs of VTT RED LLC and our community.