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Partner Community Liaisons

What do Partner Community Liaisons do? They liaise!

In all seriousness, they are go-betweens from each partner community to MU staff, and vice versa. If there's a larger-scale moderation or administrative issue that needs to be discussed, the Partner Community Liaison will be the main point of contact.

Partner Community Liaisons are granted some mod powers in their specific partner community, such as the ability to sticky threads and edit (non-in-game) posts. They are the face of the community to MU staff as well as the users, and are responsible for its basic maintenance.

Selecting a Partner Community Liaison

If you do not already have a designated or official Partner Community Liaison, please begin the process of selecting and/or designating them. This can be as simple as making official what's already in practice, or as complex as a full discussion and taking a vote. We are leaving the specifics up to you.

We strongly recommend that each partner community selects two Partner Community Liaisons. This is for purposes of backup in case one of the Partner Community Liaisons is absent, as well as potentially resolving any conflicts of interest should a Partner Community Liaison be involved in an ongoing game, etc.

Once you have designated your Partner Community Liaison(s), please notify us of your choice.

Welcome! We're glad that you and your community have chosen Mafia Universe as the host for your games, and we hope the site will provide a satisfying platform for your community.

As Mafia Universe is a sort of melting pot of communities by design, we recognize that some standards and expectations in games may not fully carry over from community to community, or from you to us. Nevertheless, we do expect you to adhere to certain standards of behavior while on our site.

The Forum Rules can be divided into three main sections: the general forum rules (don't post porn, hate speech, etc), the "rules for mafia games" (don't talk about ongoing games, don't talk about substitutions, etc), and the Code of Conduct (treat each other civilly).

• The general Forum Rules and Code of Conduct still apply.
• The "Rules for Mafia Games" do NOT necessarily apply. However, for example, if your community is lighter on the "don't talk about ongoing games" standard than Mafia Universe is, we still expect you to adhere to our standard when posting elsewhere on the site.

For your convenience, full texts of each section of rules may be found below. These are accurate as of February 2021. We will try to keep these posts updated should any rules change, but to be absolutely sure you are getting the most accurate version of the rules, you may follow the links.

General Forum Rules (still applies)

Originally Posted by Thingyman 1435183034 (#2)

Forum Rules

These rules apply to all members in all sections of Mafia Universe.

As a reminder, you have agreed to these general terms by registering on Mafia Universe:

By agreeing to these rules, you affirm that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, violent, sexually-explicit, threatening, violate any laws, or otherwise violate Mafia Universe policy.

The owners of Mafia Universe reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any content for any reason.

This policy covers, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Illegal Activity

Mafia Universe is not to be used for or in conjunction with any illegal activities. Mafia Universe is not liable or responsible for any user activity that may violate any national, international, or local laws or ordinances. It is your responsbility to know the laws that pertain to you and to act lawfully when using Mafia Universe.

You also may not encourage others to engage in, advertise, or promote illegal activities. This includes, but is not limited to, websites that feature content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights of any party.

2. Pornographic Material

Do not post or link to pornography or pornographic websites. Pornography includes posting images with obvious nudity, exposed genitals, or female nipples. That includes indirect links, photos, or videos with the pornography linked or displayed.

If a thread is tagged as NSFW ("Not Safe For Work") in its title, we may allow members to post non-pornographic images of persons who are wearing very little clothing. Those images may be removed at a moderator's discretion.

3. Gratuitously Violent/Disturbing Material

We do not allow gory or otherwise disturbing material to be shown on Mafia Universe. This includes, but is not limited to, graphically violent images of injuries, dead bodies, car crashes, suicide, executions, and murder.

You may only link to such material if used for discussion and hosted from a reputable source. In such cases, we require that you include a NSFW tag to warn your fellow users. Links to gory material may be removed at a moderator's discretion even if they have a NSFW tag.

4. Spam

Do not spam on Mafia Universe. You may not upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising. This includes promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," and other forms of solicitation. (The only exceptions are in specifically-designated areas -- namely, we allow users to advertise off-site games here).

5. Gambling

You may not gamble or invite others to gamble on Mafia Universe. This means you may not wager money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome. This includes any wagers on outcomes unrelated to mafia games. We will delete all such content.

6. Violations of Privacy

You may not violate other users' privacy. Under no circumstances may you spread personal information regarding other users without their express and clear permission - under no circumstances may you share personal information regarding a minor. Personal information includes, but is not limited to, users' names, emails, and addresses. We will delete all such content.

7. Hotlinking

Hotlinking means embedding an image on Mafia Universe by linking to the same image on another website, thereby using that site's bandwidth. This can incur malware warnings if linked to a disreputable source. We do not want to be associated with malware warnings and you will be held accountable for triggering such warnings. If you are unsure whether or not you are hotlinking or potentially incurring a malware warning, you should re-upload it to a dedicated image-hosting site (Photobucket, imgur, imageshack, tinypic etc.).

8. Inappropriate Avatars or Signatures

Avatars and signatures should follow all the same rules that apply to posts. For example, any avatars or signatures that contain (or link to) images that are pornographic, gory or discriminatory in nature will be removed by a moderator. Our definition of pornographic avatars is not necessarily limited to pictures of persons with no clothing, but can also extend to pictures of persons with very little clothing. Additionally, note that any unsolicited or unauthorized advertisements are also disallowed for signatures.

9. Inappropriate Usernames

Usernames that create or break tags, or usernames that are links to other sites, are all illegal. For example, an account named "[quote][/quote]" is disallowed, and so is an account named "Google.com". We reserve the right to also ban other types of problematic usernames.

10. Hate Speech / Slurs

Do not engage in bigotry. Do not act with prejudice, use hate speech, or show bigotry towards classes or groups of people.

This includes the casual use of slurs especially when directed at other patrons, even if not naming them specifically. This includes "memes".

It's a casual gaming site, full of people who want to relax. Do not turn either MU forums or discord into a place to debate the politics of hate speech or offensive slurs, or to debate MU policy on slurs. People leave the server because they don't care to hear your opinions on the subject, and they don't want your opinions on the subject made into the topic of a casual conversation.

We will not post a full list of slurs, but beware of the following kinds of language, especially when directed at another user, implicitly or explicitly

1) Slurs which involve a person's ethnicity or national origin
2) Slurs which bash groups such as religious groups
3) Slurs which involve gender discrimination, orientation discrimination, sex discrimination of any kind
4) Offensive speech which does not use a slur but is equally discriminatory or provocative, especially when asked to stop. Adhere to CoC rule 1.

Code of Conduct (still applies)

Originally Posted by Thingyman 1435193540 (#4)

Code of Conduct

In order to form a better community, we must all agree that participation on Mafia Universe is both voluntary and a privilege, and that we must establish a standard of behavior which is friendly and respectful to all. Our goal is to create a community welcoming and fun to all people who want to be a part of it. So, here is the Code of Conduct that all users and staff are expected to adhere to:

1) Treating others as you would like to be treated, is sometimes not enough. Do more. Lowering your own standards will not grant you the right to mistreat others. Treat others as they wish to be treated: If someone makes a reasonable request to you, please comply. If someone makes an absurd request, please decline politely.

2) Help maintain MU’s friendly environment. In games, not all players wish to be competitive, and no one is required to be excellent at the game; that is an individual's right. Do not degrade your fellow guests and fellow players by calling them stupid or bad. In particular, we have a zero tolerance policy for flaming players that are new to the game.

In casual conversation, not all participants wish to discuss graphic, sexual, or political content. If people ask you to stop discussing politics, religion, graphic sex acts or graphic acts of violence, if they ask you to stop using insults / slurs / bigoted language or to quit attacking or bashing people, even if you think it is a joke, it is no longer a joke. Please stop.

3) Remember that while you are playing for fun, others take the game seriously. Please do not play against your win condition or play in a manner which is deliberately harmful to your side.

4) Treat each other with civility even if you are frustrated. You have every right to get irritated or upset with someone, but it is better to let them know that in a civil manner, use the report button, or use the ignore button, than to flame and bait.

5) Treat each other with civility even after and outside the game, in private messages, or on voice chat. Reserving bile and insults for private messages, harassing each other when the game is over, or trying to get away with severe CoC violations by simply doing them in voice chat is not okay. If we receive screenshots of private message abuse, reports of voice chat abuse, or you are otherwise being uncivil anywhere we moderate or to anyone on Mafia Universe based on interactions you had with them on MU, you may be warned, suspended, or banned at our discretion.

6) Be considerate of those around you who have invested in Mafia or Mafia Universe. Do not spam, troll, sabotage, or be passive-aggressive. Do not threaten or otherwise provoke people. Read the rules of games before signing up to them. Read the forum rules and adhere to moderator's instructions. Make our community welcoming. Be the reason people come back.

We will take notice if you are behaving in a manner that causes people to leave our site or moderated discord. If you are severely or repeatedly involved in bad interactions, you may be excused without prior warning.

7) Play with a sportsmanlike attitude. It is unsportsmanlike to mock another person's win/loss record, their performance within a game, or to attempt to circumvent the rules and cheat. Refer to the forum rules and each individual game's rules for definitions of what constitutes cheating.

8) If you are moderated, it is not a punishment, and it is not an attempt to publicly or even privately shame you. It is our way of guiding you toward our expectations for the health of Mafia Universe. We want you to feel welcome here. You will always be welcome here if you make an honest attempt to follow the rules.

9) If you sign up to a game, or attempt to host a game, or embark on any other project which invites others to participate, please attempt to keep your commitments to the best of your abilities. Note that it is permitted for Game Hosts to bar you from their games if you repeatedly abandon your commitments.

10) You may receive moderation based on a series of objectionable posts or messages even if none of them are individually egregious. Rude and obnoxious posts may not individually merit moderator intervention, but they are not tolerated as a pattern of behavior. If you are frequently involved in unpleasant encounters, the moderators will have a lower threshold for intervention. Ignoring a moderator’s instruction when asked to improve is grounds for moderation.

Lastly, have fun and be good to one another... and to yourself!

Rules for Mafia Games (may or may not apply on your community, still applies elsewhere on the site)

Originally Posted by Thingyman 1435185725 (#3)

Rules for Mafia Games

(These rules apply to all mafia games on Mafia Universe unless your Game Host explicitly specifies otherwise. Revisions may occur.)

It is important for you to note that even if you disagree with some of these rules, you are still bound by them. Furthermore, ignorance of the rules will not constitute a defense, though leeway and guidance will be given to new players.

Breaking or bending these rules will often result in one or more of the following moderator or Game Host actions: Forced removal from the game (modkill), forced substitution, official warnings, infractions or, in severe cases, site bans.

1. One Game, One Account

You may only use one Mafia Universe account per game. You may not use an alt (alternative account) to gain information from players in a game you are in. You may not pretend to be two separate human beings. Also, hydras (two players sharing an account) are only allowed in non-hydra games if the host agrees to it and if the names of the two players are known.

Breaking this rule without your Game Host's explicit approval may result in a permanent ban from Mafia Universe with no appeal.

2. Do Not Sabotage

You are expected to play to your win condition(s). Intentionally undermining your team is not allowed. Joining a game with sole intent to troll is not allowed. ("Bad" or "alternative" plays, however, are allowed, if you sincerely believe in their merit.)

Severe or repeated offenses may result in a permanent ban from Mafia Universe with no appeal.

3. Do Not Directly Quote or Screenshot PMs Relating to the Game

You may not directly quote your Game Host, your role PM or any private communication with other players. (You may however, paraphrase in a way that leaves room for reasonable doubt). You may also not refer at all to any private communication with the Game Host, whether you are lying about this or not.

Similarly, you may not ask fellow players questions with intent to make them break these rules. ("What color was the word "Town" in your Role PM?")

Fake screenshots and quotes will be treated the same as genuine ones.

Game Hosts may redefine what is acceptable to quote.

4. Do Not Exploit Loopholes

You are expected to abide by the spirit of the rules, not merely the letter. If you are misusing the rules in bad faith then severe action will be taken. (Likewise, if we believe a player broke the letter but not the spirit of the rules, we may be lenient.)

5. Do Not Discuss Ongoing Games Outside the Game

As long as a game is ongoing, you may talk about that game only where the host gives you explicit permission.

Simply mentioning ongoing games without elaboration ("I'm playing in Game Q") is potentially dangerous. You can severely compromise a game's integrity by adding a new and unwanted source of information to the game.

6. Do Not Operate a Shared Account ("Hydra") Without Permission

You are not allowed to share accounts with other players during a game, unless the rules of that game explicitly allow this (i.e. if you're playing in a designated "hydra" game). You are also not allowed to ask for outside help or coaching without explicit permission.

7. Do Not Make or Utilize Ciphers

All information in a game thread needs to be accessible to all players. Secret codes requiring keys are thus banned. Videos of yourself commenting on the game are banned, as not all players can watch such videos. (Note that "breadcrumbing", gentle clues that anyone can piece together, are allowed. Links to videos and images made in good fun are allowed.)

8. Avoid Flaking

Signing up for a game is a commitment. It is unfair to the host and the other players if not everyone signs up able to meet this commitment. You are expected to meet your host's definition of sufficient activity. If an emergency prevents you from being able to play the game, then you should contact the host and request to be replaced, while at the same time providing them with a valid explanation of why you require a replacement. However, note that replacing out is only for actual emergencies; subbing out because you are unsatisfied with your role, because you suddenly no longer feel like playing the game, because you realize that you would rather not actually play several games at once are all non-valid reasons for subbing out, for example. Moderators and admins are keeping track of subbing and activity patterns, and if someone has a history of subbing out for poor reasons or not meeting the minimum activity requirements, they will be banned from signing up for games.

Mafia Universe has a minimum post requirement per phase of 1 Post Per Phase, meaning Players that do not post at least once per game phase, of any phase length, may be subject to penalty. The Host may increase this minimum requirement, but may not decrease it. Given an appropriate explanation for flaking consistently, violations may also be judged on a case-by-case basis. Our hope is that if an individual signs up to play in a game, that they will contribute to that cause.

9. Do Not Discuss Substitutions, Concessions, Reports, or Infractions During Play

These topics are forbidden to discuss during play, as it may cause people to infer alignment in a manner that has nothing to do with actual game play.

Discussing substitutions or discussing moderation, particularly after a moderator has instructed players not to, will be an infraction.

9a. Substitutions: Noting that a player X has subbed for player Y is fine. Noting when that occurred is fine. Discussing why someone has been subbed out, announcing you will sub out, telling someone to sub out, public speculation as to someone's alignment based on the substitution itself, all forbidden. Think what you will about this person's alignment, at your own risk. But using the substitution as reasoning is disallowed. It's bad for the game.

To be clear, you can talk about the player who was subbed out. You can say that they were subbed out. You can say when they subbed out. You can say why the player that subbed out was scummy based on what they did or didn't do while they were a player. All that's being (not) discussed here is speculation as to why they subbed out. That's all the rule forbids. If you can be careful and stick to the legal stuff, you'll be fine. It's a very limited rule. The word "sub" is not lava, you can touch it. You don't get penalized for saying that a player was subbed in or out. Just don't discuss why they were subbed out. The "why" is what is ruled out. Think what you will, speculate internally. Just remember, the part that is illegal is "why they subbed out." It's not part of the game.

9b. Concessions: Do not discuss concessions in any capacity in game threads. This includes, but is not limited to, asking why someone or some team has not conceded, calling for a team or individual to concede, or using arguments such as "In this position as [alignment] I/[player] would always concede." Any and all actual requests of concession should remain between the conceding party and the game host.

9c. Infractions, bans, and reports: Do not discuss these in game threads. They are not part of the game. It's also inappropriate to bring up the fact that you will report, are reporting, or have reported someone for their behavior. Just report it, don't make it a topic of conversation. If someone got an infraction or a ban, if they wish to discuss it they can discuss it with the moderation team, it's not a topic for public debate and hearings. Appeals, which are rare and require a good reason to even be considered, do not go in the feedback section, in the discord chat, or anywhere on MU boards. Those discussions will be handled in private. Taunting or flaming people for having reported them or having triggered an infraction or a ban will not be tolerated. Making a mistake and mentioning that you've reported or will report someone will be talked to at minimum.


10. Do Not Edit or Delete Posts

You are not allowed to edit or delete your in-game posts, even if you believe it to be an innocent action (fixing a typo, for example). Post edits and deletions can be used to send unauthorized private messages and cheat. (Also avoid links to Google Drive, Dropbox or other dynamic content, given that documents uploaded here are "live" and can be edited at any time.)

11. Do Not Deadpost

You are not allowed to post in the game thread after you have died except at the Game Host's discretion.

12. In-Game Posts Have No Enforceability Elsewhere

Bets made within a game are not enforceable outside a game. A concession is not valid unless sent to a host privately. All posts made within a game are assumed to be part of the game, though this doesn't excuse personal attacks (see Code of Conduct). (If they're not, they belong outside the game.)

13. Do Not Bash Other Communities

It is completely unacceptable to bash other communities or other players based on how they usually play where they are from. You can disagree with a playstyle and you can even be upset with it, but you are under no circumstances allowed to insult a whole community or in any way make another person feel unwelcome because of cultural differences. If you want another person to adapt to a new environment, try a gentle and friendly approach.

To a very large degree, this rule falls under our Code of Conduct below, but it's being included here as well to make it more visible and clear to all players.

Specific clarifications about talking about ongoing games:

"Can I talk about an ongoing game in a non-partner community section of Mafia Universe?"
No.

"Can I talk about an ongoing game in the Discord if the game rules allow it?"
If you are not in any other games that have strict OGI rules, then yes.
If you are in any other games that have strict OGI rules, then no.

"Can I talk about another game I am in if the game rules allow it?"
If both games allow this, then yes.
If either game does not allow it, then no, not even in the game that allows it.

When playing multiple games, the strictest set of rules wins.

To report violations of the rules under Mafia Universe's jurisdiction (general forum rules, Code of Conduct), please use the "report" button below every post, or accessible on every user's profile. To report violations of rules under your community's jurisdiction, contact your Partner Community Liaison.

TL;DR Partner Communities have some leeway in the "Rules for Mafia Games" section of the site rules, but are expected to follow the general Forum Rules and Code of Conduct.

We hope you enjoy yourselves on Mafia Universe!