Community Standards

Community Standards

Our Mission

Indie+’s mission is to help indie creatives reach a larger audience by providing opportunities to a diverse range of people and ideas. Our goal is to expand both the audience for indie games and the community of indie gamers by providing indie gaming content on a regular basis through Google+ Hangouts and other media.

To that end, we’re putting forward this document to lay out our community standards. If you’ve come to an Indie+ event, none of this will surprise you: we expect all members of our community to be kind to other members, to play games with respect and passion, and to listen to new ideas and opportunities with an open mind. If you’re interested in the details of that agreement, including your exact responsibilities, we encourage you to keep reading!

Promises & Responsibilities

Indie+ promises to provide:

• Gaming environments that are fun and open to all
• Events and content free of harassment or abuse

 

• Opportunities for members to produce content for Indie+

 

Indie+ expects its community members to take responsibility for their own actions, specifically:

 

• Not harassing others as well as reporting harassment and or calling out harassment if they see it happening to others

• Respecting the stated boundaries of fellow community members and events

• Being informed and choosing to participate in content that is appropriate for their needs and tolerances.

 

Indie+ Community Standards Agreement

Indie+ hopes to be a strongly trusted brand among gamers, writers, broadcasters, game publishers and other indie people interested in small press games. To that end, this document spells out the rights and responsibilities of the Indie+ community, including Core Members, Presenters, Channel Owners, and Community Members at large, to ensure that the community is a safe and productive place for all Indie+ Members.

1. The Community Standards Agreement (CSA) applies to all involved with the Indie+ Community, including:
   1. Core Members include the leadership team that plans and executes Indie+ events and any additional members working closely with the leadership team. At this time, the core members are:
      1. Mark Diaz Truman
      2. Rich Rogers
      3. Brendan Conway
      4. Jenn Martin
   2. Presenters include members who host or guest in events through Indie+.
   3. Channel Owners include the managers of Indie+ Channels
   4. Community Members includes anyone who interacts with Indie+ events by participating directly in them or indirectly via comments etc.

1. Indie+ promises to provide events and content free of harassment or abuse. While Indie+ does host events for adults and consisting of adult material, the community can explore these topics in a mature fashion that does not violate boundaries or cause intentional harm or discomfort to community members.
   1. Members are responsible for not harassing others, reporting harassment when they feel safe and comfortable to do so, calling out harassment if they see it happening to others (whether that’s bringing an Indie+ staff member’s attention to it or saying something themselves), and respecting the stated boundaries of fellow participants. Members are also responsible for observing content notes for programming and selecting content that is appropriate for their needs and tolerances.
   2. Channel Owners and Presenters are responsible for ensuring the content they put out is neither harassing nor abusive, that reports of harassing content will be promptly investigated and resolved, and that Channel Owners and Presenters promote material in keeping with the community standards. They are also responsible for issuing content notes at the start of each Indie+ event when exploring topics of a sensitive or troubling nature.
   3. Core Members are responsible for making available a way to report harassing or abusive behavior, investigating and resolving reports of harassing behavior, and responding to harassment reports as they happen to ensure a safe environment.
   4. Harassment includes:
      1. Offensive verbal or written comments related to age, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, social class, or game preferences
      2. Sexual or gory images in public spaces without appropriate warning
      3. Deliberate intimidation, cyberstalking, or unwanted sexual attention
      4. Sustained disruption of talks or other events
      5. Indecent exposure
      6. Revealing personal information about someone without their permission

 

• Reporting Harassment

 

1. Google’s Tools: Google allows you to report posts or comments on Google+ as offensive. Detailed instructions can be found here: https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1253377
2. When in a Hangout, you can:
   1. Mute someone else’s microphone. https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1254313?hl=en
   2. Request a Hangout Presenter to kick out a harassing player, either in the Hangout or with a private chat message.
3. Contact Indie+: Please alert Indie+ to any misconduct.
   1. You can do this directly in Google+ or to the Indie+ page.
   2. Email the core members:  Community@IndiePlus.org
4. Contact Authorities
   1. If you believe yourself to be in immediate danger, please contact your country’s emergency services.
   2. Save everything – e-mails, chat windows, screenshots.
   3. Contact whatever service is being used to harass you – the email host or Google.
   4. If they don’t provide a satisfactory response, go to your local authorities.

 

1. Indie+ promises to provide gaming environments that are fun and open to all. Within Indie+’s technological and organisational limits, we strive to provide a mix of games and gaming environments for Members.
   1. Members are responsible for embracing a game’s theme and tone, sharing the spotlight and enabling other players to have fun, and muting their microphone if they need to use their phones, talk to others off camera, or eat.
   2. Channel Owners and Presenters are responsible for coming to gaming sessions prepared to play, showing up before the session begins to check in with Indie+ staff, welcoming new and experienced gamers alike, and spreading spotlight time to all participants.
   3. Core Members are responsible for scheduling games and gaming sessions, training new Presenters and Channel Owners, and promoting a diverse and fun environment for all during the planning process.
   4. General tips for playing games through Indie+:
      1. Don’t act like a jerk
      2. Don’t use “it’s what my character would do” as an excuse.
      3. Don’t tolerate cheating and other fun-killing behaviour.

 

1. Indie+ promises to provide opportunities to produce content for Indie+ in the form of Indie+ Channels. To represent a diverse range of ideas and expand participation, Indie+ uses Channels in which anyone can provide content to the Indie+ community.
   1. All channels will be focused on content related to tabletop gaming.
   2. Channels have a named Channel Sponsor among the Indie+ Core Members who have agreed to:
      1. Represent the Channel and Channel Owner in Indie+ leadership discussions.
      2. Undertake all work relating to the contents appearance on Indie+ pages and web sites.
   3. The content and management of the Channel is the work of Channel Owners who are responsible for:
      1. Creating channel content.
      2. For scheduling and promoting their own Channel.
      3. Running their Channel in a professional and complete manner.
      4. Implementing the CSA to the best of their abilities within their content and in discussions or comment threads relating to their material.
   4. Core Members are responsible for overseeing the content made available through Channels, especially those Channels that each Core Member has specifically sponsored.
   5. Presenters are responsible for abiding by any additional rules or requirements set forth by the Channel Owner in addition to the general requirements for participating in an Indie+ event.
   6. Members are responsible for engaging with content available through Channels as they would engage with any other Indie+ event.
   7. Launching a Channel: Any Community Member may apply to launch a Channel, provided they are in good standing with Indie+. Channel creation is subject to the following guidelines:
      1. Each channel requires a named Channel Sponsor from the Indie+ core team. The relationship between the sponsor and creator is a personal one based on trust and respect.
      2. Indie+ Core Members have no obligation to sponsor a channel and may turn down a request for any reason, including personal taste. Promoting and supporting a channel’s content takes time and effort from the sponsor and they have the final decision over which individuals and channels they choose to work with.
      3. Channel Managers are free to approach multiple different core team members to find a sponsor.
      4. Indie+ Core Members trust the judgement of their fellow Core Members and accept the sponsor’s decisions relating to which channels to support. However the Indie+ leadership team may discuss all channel creators and content, reserving the right veto a channel, if in the judgement of the majority of the team, the content goes against Indie+’s published mission or the objectives stated in this document.
   8. Guidelines for all Indie+ Channels:
      1. Subject Matter – All channels should be tabletop gaming related. This may be directly related (e.g. how to play games, the playing of games, discussion about game mechanics, gaming tips & tricks), related to the gaming industry (e.g. discussions about Kickstarter), subjects relevant to the development and growth of the hobby (e.g. representation of women in games, racial / cultural bias in games) or promotional material for a games (e.g. a specific game on Kickstarter).
      2. Format – Channels can involve material in any content format, including Hangouts, podcasts, text posts and graphics, as long as they can be archived and enjoyed at a later date. E.g. Hangouts On-Air are archived on YouTube and remain available but normal Hangouts are not recorded and are therefore not acceptable.
      3. Availability – Channel content must be public and access must be in no way limited to a particular group of people.
      4. Frequency  – New channel content should appear not less than once a month and ideally at regular intervals at agreed times though this is not mandatory. We expect new Channels to start with a commitment of at least three Channel episodes.
      5. Originality – All content should be created exclusively for the Indie+ channel or for near simultaneous release on Indie+ and the creator’s own avenues of distribution (e.g. their blog or iTunes).
      6. Acknowledgement – All channel content must acknowledge Indie+ and explicitly state its support for the Indie+ Community Standards as part of its introduction (e.g. within in the first minute of a Hangouts On-Air or a podcast. Blogs and similar must display a suitable message or graphic with the post, which must be included on RSS and other feeds.
      7. Unacceptable Content – Hate speech and similar subject matter is never acceptable. Content consisting only of links or just reshares of other people’s material is unacceptable except where appropriate for the medium (e.g. to link to a podcast episode or to reshare a Hangout On-Air), when they must be accompanied by a suitable introduction to or summary of the content.
      8. Contentious Content – Content which deals with sensitive issues, contains points of view likely to offend, or includes swearing, sex or nudity must carry an appropriate content note at the start of the content to allow members of the audience to make an informed decision whether they wish to engage with the channel and its content.
      9. Diversity – We expect Channel Owners to put forward a variety of ideas pertaining to their chosen topic. There’s no perfect formula for diversity, but we hope to see Channel Owners engage a wide range of ideas, people, and cultures.

 

1. Community Standards Enforcement. Failure to uphold and abide the community standards by any individual may result in their removal from Indie+ events, disqualification from future events, blocking, removal from the Core Membership / leadership team. The Core Team reserves the right to take any course of action it see fit to uphold these standards in line with Indie+’s stated mission.

1. Changes To The CSA. For the short and probably medium term, the core team will simply update the CSA as needed, based on what the community asks for.  Longer term, management of this document will be considered along with how the core team are selected within a formalized Indie+. This will be part of the continued evolution of Indie+.

1. Acknowledgements. The policies and suggestions of many groups and individuals were used to build this Community Standards Agreement. Thanks to John Stavropoulos and GoD, BiCon, Sakura Con, Knutepunkt, Wiscon, Nine Worlds Geekfest, Anthrocon, Geek Feminism, partners.net, Lord of the Rings Online and Blizzard, Kelly Vanda, and Rowan Cota.

 

<<Last Updated: Mar 19, 2015>>