Results 1 to 12 of 12

Thread: Forum Rules

  1. ISO #1
    Ruler of the Universe Thingyman's Avatar Administrator
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    9,768
    Community
    PokerNet / 2+2
    Gender

    Forum Rules

    Forum Rules

    In general, there are three categories of rules at Mafia Universe:

    1) Forum Rules
    2) Game Rules
    3) Code of Conduct
    4) Moderation Policy: Privacy
    5) Angleshooting definition and rules
    6) Out of Game Information definition and rules
    7) MU Discord Server Rules
    8) MU Harassment Policy
    9) Trust Tells

    You should already have received a private message welcoming you and outlining a condensed version of the above rules. In the following posts, we expand further on the specifics of these rules as well as how we enforce them.
    Last edited by Arapocalypse; November 22nd, 2021 at 06:40 AM.

  2. ISO #2
    Ruler of the Universe Thingyman's Avatar Administrator
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    9,768
    Community
    PokerNet / 2+2
    Gender
    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.
    Last edited by Thingyman; October 8th, 2017 at 11:14 AM.

  3. ISO #3
    Ruler of the Universe Thingyman's Avatar Administrator
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    9,768
    Community
    PokerNet / 2+2
    Gender
    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 Your Role PM, Private Communication With Hosts/Players or Bookmarks

    You may not directly quote/screenshot your Game Host, your role PM, your bookmarks or any private communication with other players. (You may however, paraphrase in a way that leaves room for reasonable doubt). Fake screenshots and quotes will be treated the same as genuine ones.

    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?")

    Also, you may not refer at all to any private communication with the Game Host, whether you are lying about this or not.

    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.
    Last edited by Hally; February 13th, 2022 at 06:30 PM.

  4. ISO #4
    Ruler of the Universe Thingyman's Avatar Administrator
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    9,768
    Community
    PokerNet / 2+2
    Gender
    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!
    Last edited by dyachei; April 26th, 2020 at 01:40 PM.

  5. ISO #5
    Ruler of the Universe Thingyman's Avatar Administrator
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    9,768
    Community
    PokerNet / 2+2
    Gender
    Reporting Posts

    You, as a member, play a vital role in ensuring that these rules are being followed by all players. Please don't hesitate to utilize the report function, so that the moderators can deal with any issues as swiftly as possible. Also, it allows us insight into what you think is inappropriate content.

    To report a post, click the triangle containing an exclamation mark next to "Thanks" (as shown below) right below the post that you want to report. In your report, please provide any additional details that you feel might be helpful to the moderators in assessing the severity of the player's behavior or rule breaking.




    If a user must be reported for an overall issue or for an issue on discord, the report user function may be used instead.

    To do this, you may use the form above or you can go to a user's profile page and click the report user button that is found under the profile picture.
    Last edited by dyachei; April 26th, 2020 at 01:44 PM.

  6. ISO #6
    Ruler of the Universe Thingyman's Avatar Administrator
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    9,768
    Community
    PokerNet / 2+2
    Gender
    Moderation Policy

    Quote Originally Posted by Askthepizzaguy View Post
    There are two competing interests when people are moderated.

    Firstly, when we moderate people, it is intended to rehabilitate and inform. Not to punish. We're not in charge of issuing revenge on people. The worst thing we can possibly do to someone on here is to excuse them from their guest status. That's all. There are no actual punishments. Warnings and infractions are two words for the same thing. They are intended to give people ample heads-up to change their behavior before a ban happens.

    I absolutely hate it when someone who has zero points is suddenly given a temp ban. The circumstances have to be pretty extreme. It means either the person in question has no regard for the rules at all and has made it abundantly clear that a warning isn't going to help matters, or it means a lot of bad behavior happened before we could intervene and stop it. Both circumstances are a failure state. I hate personally failing and I hate the community failing. Nothing motivates me more on this website but to ensure this either NEVER happens, or it happens so rarely that when it does, the person in question knows full well why they got a time out, and probably has admitted they deserved one, to boot.

    However, the only time we talk about what has been done to a player's account, is when they are given a time out. This is done for transparency, to show the community that we do not have vendettas and that X amount of talkiing and warnings and moderation happened before we were forced to give a time out. In other words, that we followed a procedure, and the account in question knew they would get banned for the behavior, and did it anyway.

    This is not meant to publicly shame. It's to hold staffers accountable to the community.

    But there is a competing interest: People who have been wronged in games demand to know that things have been righted.

    And this is understandable.

    This is why we have a policy of not publicly naming what exactly was done. You, as a community, can give us feedback as to whether or not it is correct. However, as the senior moderator of this site, and with what I know about moderation, I am going to ask you guys to trust me that this is the best way forward, because I know exactly what happens when we go public with everything. I'm going to describe what happens with the alternative, so you can make an informed decision as to how you want to be moderated.

    What happens when we say who has reported what, what level of infraction happens, etc:


    1) People who wish to report things without offending their friends or teammates suddenly have no such guarantee of privacy.

    2) People will inevitably read into alignment and erroneously conclude a mafia buddy wouldn't report his mafia pal, for example.

    3) It will cause additional stress and strain on relationships between friends in games, at a time when they're already aggravated by the situation itself, and the fact that they're being moderated.

    4) People will begin reporting things in purely retaliatory fashion, going after even the most boderline posts, or completely legal posts, not to improve the quality of the game, but as revenge.

    5) When people are infracted and warned, they will feel publicly shamed, and this does not help them calm down and let things go, at all. It inflames the situation further.

    6) When people demand to know how many points were given, or want to know why someone was only warned, not given a point, or they start comparing points between one another, they will use their (extremely) incomplete information and no knowledge of this person's history, and their lack of understanding of any mitigating circumstances such as being provoked, and so forth, to judge whether or not we are doing our jobs properly. They will insist on what they believe is fairness, but which is not actually fairness.

    Some people simply are not cut out to be moderators. They lack introspection, they cannot call a spade a spade and must twist the perception of things in their favor all the time, they are hostile, vindictive, and petty. They are impatient, and demand everything becomes a ban right away. They demand unequal evenness. For example, if someone has a long history of bad behavior, ignores a mod instruction, and gets a severe penalty for a post that, on the surface, looks exactly the same as someone else only getting a formal warning, they will demand what I call "unequal equality".

    7) Finally, instead of issues getting quietly and discreetly resolved, and then put in the past where they belong, things become subject to public debate. And then it also becomes somewhat democratic.

    There's a reason why trials are decided by a judge or a small jury of one's peers, not a popular vote. Justice is not always popular. Justice is not always simply harsh penalty or forced-equal treatment. Justice is not the absolute letter of the law with no leeway ever given. Justice is not treating unpopular people more harshly. Justice is not public shaming. Justice is not a mob of wronged people deciding your fate. Justice needs to be even-handed, considered, impartial, and fair. Justice needs to consider all context, frequency, history, and severity.

    Justice is not the same as counting up every post that goes over the line and giving 1 point for each one.

    Justice is not the same as equal crime is equal punishment always. There are circumstances where the exact same post is much more of a problem, like when you have a history, and have already been warned.

    That is why our system exists as it does.

    That is why most of what happens is not done in the public eye.

    What we can do, is quote one of the posts we have moderated, and make a public note that the behavior was unacceptable.

    That lets the community know something was done. Not specifically what was done, unless there was a ban.

    But public shaming, or having people who have no idea what is being done, or what the circumstances are, or what would be the most just outcome, telling moderators how to do their job, this is an intolerable way of doing moderation.

    I'm sorry to say it, but if you frequently have bad encounters during games, and you've been warned or infracted recently, you probably don't have the correct temperament to be a successful moderator. Because you lack the experience, temperament, and even-handedness, not to mention all the private information and histories of everyone involved, you should accept the fact that you're in a very poor position to second-guess a moderator.

    You may do so, after games are done. If you wish to drag things out into the public eye, my team has always been instructed to conduct themselves in private as if everything they've ever said or done is about to be screenshotted or quoted and pasted publicly.

    I do not even begin to fear such an outcome, because I know the professionalism of my team. At any time, if you wish to make private matters public, you may do so. As long as it is not in the middle of a game. That's against the rules of the site.

    Bring grievances with the moderation public and we'll discuss them. Bring them to us privately and we can get several impartial moderators not involved with your grievance into things. You can even talk to the site owner himself and he can give his opinion to you. There's a way of addressing moderation you don't like.

    But, as a friend, and as someone who wants you to both have a good experience, and also, to avoid embarrassing yourself, I'd recommend you do not make private matters too public. You will harm your relationships with fellow forumgoers and probably only further establish that we did our jobs correctly.

    But it is your decision.

    Note that if this default condition of private talking and private giving of infraction points is reversed as a policy, I will most likely resign and I probably wouldn't be alone. What MU would turn into after that point would be a circus of unfairness and drama.

    This is by far, the superior choice. Trust my experience on this. Your feedback and disagreement is welcome.
    Last edited by dyachei; April 26th, 2020 at 01:41 PM.

  7. ISO #7
    Know the dark side Askthepizzaguy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Norway
    Posts
    10,474
    Timezone
    UTC+02:00
    Community
    Forums.totalwar.org
    AKA
    Professor Aks
    Gender
    MU Discord Server Rules

    These rules apply to all members in all sections of Mafia Universe's moderated Discord channel.

    1. Follow the Code of Conduct: https://www.mafiauniverse.com/forums...ull=1#post2276
    2. Do not engage in or promote illegal activity.
    3. Do not spam.
    4. Do not post NSFW or gratuitously disturbing material, or include said material in your avatar or nickname.
    5. Do not gamble.
    6. Do not violate other users' privacy.
    7. The moderators reserve the right to ask for your identity on Mafia Universe, and to ask you to change either your global or server nick to reflect this.
    8. Do not engage in bigotry or hate speech, even jokingly.
    9. The #debate channel falls solely under the jurisdiction of @Makaze and is subject to different standards of behavior and moderation, though the above rules still apply.
    10. Do not harass people in DMs.

    The moderation staff is ceding full control of the #debate channel on the Discord server to Makaze. They will be the sole arbiter of corrective action within that space. They cannot ban you from the server at large, but they CAN remove your access to that channel.

    Failure to comply with these rules may result in a warning, server mute, or a temporary or permanent server ban. Please contact a teal Discord Moderator or a blue Moderator if you are concerned about the behavior of another user.
    Last edited by dyachei; April 26th, 2020 at 01:31 PM.

  8. ISO #8
    Loansharking blot test Newcomb's Avatar Head Moderator
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    5,234
    Community
    🐴
    Gender
    Angleshooting

    Angleshooting is defined as doing things, or applying rules, in ways they weren't intended in order to gain an advantage in a game. In mafia, a common example of this is using OGI (out of game information) to exert public pressure or influence on the game, to publicly give reads based on OGI, or in more extreme cases, to use information acquired through illegitimate means to covertly influence a game. Angleshooting also covers all intentional uses of any flaws/quirks in the forum software / modbot in order to subvert the spirit of the game.

    This definition is purposefully non-specific, because angleshooting is more of a general idea than a specific case. Generally speaking, you know it when you see it, and it can run the gamut from relatively innocent/harmless to malicious and blatant cheating.

    A good rule of thumb is if you're attempting to push a game in a particular direction, and your reasons for doing so are not based on what's directly happened in the game, or meta, you're in the danger zone.

    Mafia Universe is firmly against angleshooting. If you are unsure if a particular action/read is angleshooting or not, (privately) ask the game host and/or a moderator. If you encounter something in a game that you believe to be angleshooting, report the post and inform the game host, and the moderators and game host will take a look at it.

  9. ISO #9
    Loansharking blot test Newcomb's Avatar Head Moderator
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    5,234
    Community
    🐴
    Gender
    Out Of Game Information (OGI)

    Mafia, as a game, can only work when the players inside the game abide by a certain kind of fiction. It's not roleplaying, not exactly, but the idea that a mafia game exists inside its own little bubble is what prevents games from degenerating into rampant angleshooting, prevents games from spilling over into other games, and lets us call each other liars without making it a personal attack.

    Game integrity being paramount to healthy, fair games, MU places the highest priority on preserving it.

    Here's the Spirit of the Game version of OGI, and the reasons we're against OGI influencing a game:

    The spirit of the rule regarding OGI is essentially this: no one should ever post anything that isn't about the game that a second player could reasonably make an alignment read based on.

    Frequently, it's the second-order effects that OGI has on the game that are so disruptive. Even if you personally see nothing wrong / nothing alignment indicative about asking the game host a question in the thread, or commenting on a player's online activity elsewhere, or making a read based on what someone who's in another game is doing in your game, it's the catastrophic ripple effect that discussing these things in the game thread has on game integrity that's the problem. Players can and will read into your OGI comments, and players will read into those comments, and so on, and suddenly the game is no longer self-contained, no longer actually about the game.

    To be clear: Sometimes OGI will influence a read of yours. It happens to everyone. "Man, Person X is posting up a storm in this other game, but is a complete lurker here. Wonder if they randed wolf." That kind of thinking is bound to happen sometimes; it's unavoidable to a certain extent. What is completely unacceptable is publicly bringing up that read in the game thread.

    Here's the short version, the quick and dirty "how should I act in a game" version: For the purposes of a game of mafia, everything outside the bubble should be treated (publicly) as if it doesn't exist.

    • What a player is or isn't doing online (outside of the game), anywhere, doesn't exist.
    • The game host doesn't exist. (All communication with / about mods should be done privately)
    • Reports don't exist (if you need to report something, just do it, don't mention it publicly and do not threaten to report someone.) Similarly, infractions and warnings don't exist. If you get one, handle it privately, don't mention it in the game thread.

    The exceptions to "the bubble" are a player's previous mafia history / mannerisms / preferences (everything generally covered under the term "meta") excluding ongoing games, and a player alluding to their own real-life status in the context of thread activity levels.

    For example, saying you're going to bed, or going to miss the first 24 hours of a day for RL reasons, or that your cat is on fire, are perfectly acceptable statements. (Though MU strongly encourages you to expeditiously assist your cat instead of posting about it in a mafia game.)

    When you make such a statement, however, it is required to be alignment agnostic. No one should be able to plausibly read anything about your alignment into anything you say about your RL status.

    Respect the bubble. Game integrity is an ideal that only works if everyone in the game actively works to maintain it.
    Last edited by dyachei; April 26th, 2020 at 01:35 PM.

  10. ISO #10
    Season 5 Champion GeneralHankerchief's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    On my ethereal cloud
    Posts
    13,047
    Timezone
    UTC-05:00
    Community
    Totalwar.org (The Org)
    AKA
    GH, Fuchs
    Gender
    MU Harassment Policy:

    Most reportable incidents on MU go through the regular process of reporting. People breaking the CoC, using slurs on Discord, or violating game integrity in some manner - there's a report button, use it. Or if it's on Discord, ping a mod.

    Harassment can be a different situation. Sometimes it's a mixture of public and private, and oftentimes it involves personal, sensitive, or uncomfortable matters. For any situation where privacy and user safety/comfort is an overarching concern, we now have a system in place where the goal is to strike a balance between safety, privacy, fairness, and efficiency.

    Mafia Universe is committed to ensuring that you are protected, treated with dignity and respect, and supported. To achieve these objectives, we recommend prompt, complete, and unrestricted reporting of harassment allegations. If you just need someone to talk to, we are here for that too.

    If you believe that an MU user is privately harassing you - including, but not limited to repeated personal attacks, threats, or unwanted advances - and you wish to bring the mod team into the matter, you have two options, which fall under the categories of restricted reporting and unrestricted reporting:

    Restricted Reporting: Under these circumstances, the victim’s report and any details provided to the mods will not be acted upon, and the accused person will not be informed. This brings something to our attention, lets us build a pattern of behavior, makes us aware of a potential problem, and completely protects your privacy. A restricted report can, at the reporter's discretion, become an unrestricted one at any time.

    Unrestricted Reporting: With an unrestricted report, three things will happen:

    1) We will contact the person you're accusing, making them aware of the accusation and any and all evidence you've provided. We may contact you again as well during this process for clarification / additional information. This step is essentially the moderation team looking over the evidence, talking to both parties about it (separately), and using their judgement to determine if a line has been crossed, and if so, what an appropriate action is.

    2) At the conclusion of step 1, we will inform both parties of the results, and inform both parties what if any action is being taken at this time.

    At a minimum, you as a user should expect that if you feel you are being harassed or discriminated against, you can reach out to us for support.

    At a minimum, when you make a report like this to the moderation team, we expect you to provide us with:

    1) A clear indication that you're making either an Unrestricted or Restricted report. (A restricted report can become an unrestricted point, at the reporter's request, at any time)

    2) Logs/screenshots/evidence

    3) Examples of how you have addressed the harassment yourself

    While you may make us aware of harassment of someone else, only the victims can decide if the report is Unrestricted, and only direct reports from the victim will be acted upon.

    Unless the report is either extremely open-and-shut, or extremely frivolous, unrestricted reports consume a large amount of the moderation team's time and energy, and we ask for your patience. These matters are something we take very seriously, there are a ton of grey areas and judgement calls, and we want to get it as right as humanly possible, and that takes time.

    If you wish to make either a restricted or unrestricted report, you should contact: anyone whose name is light blue, blue, purple, or the current Administrator in charge of moderator affairs (as of this writing, Ampharos.)
    Last edited by dyachei; April 26th, 2020 at 01:39 PM.
    Lenny - Today at 10:08 AM
    Atpg sometimes the paragraphs you write are pretty good


    $200 - mashes (base rate)
    $150 - mashes with themes I enjoy
    $300-$500 - mashes with themes I don't enjoy
    $300 - invitationals or near-invitationals
    $100 - non-invitational mountainous or close offshoot (mountainous arson, etc)
    $150 - sub-in fee, D1-SOD3
    $100 - sub-in fee, SOD3 or later
    Inquire by DM - offsite game on the Org
    $500 minimum - offsite games elsewhere, negotiable by PM

    All prices in USD, rates subject to change.
    Looking to waste an afternoon? Vamos Cartagena - Football Manager 2018 AAR (complete!)
    The sequel to the above: An American Manager in America (complete!)
    The conclusion to the epic trilogy: An American Manager in San Marino (on hiatus)
    Stopping the Juggernaut (how to fight back against powerwolfing/bad situations as town)
    The Ten Worst Miseliminations in Champs History and How to Avoid Them (taken down per author request)

  11. ISO #11
    Hype! Arapocalypse's Avatar Discord Moderator
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Posts
    40,607
    Community
    Mafia Games Discord
    AKA
    Ara
    Trust Tells

    At its baseline, we define a trust tell as the invocation of a game-transcending promise that a specific action makes the invoker town, without there being any other strategic reason for that action to exist as a part of gameplay. To be clear, it doesn’t matter if the action is truly clearing or what your alignment is when you invoke it. To quote our angleshooting rules: a good rule of thumb is if you're attempting to push a game in a particular direction, and your reasons for doing so are not based on what's directly happened in the game, or meta, you're in the danger zone.

    An easy example: a player explicitly states "I am town" as only the town alignment over multiple games and makes sure other players know that this statement is 100% alignment-indicative, so that this player always becomes an Innocent Child or outed mafia in every game they play.

    What constitutes the invocation of an outside structure in a game promise isn’t always so clear-cut. Saying "I promise I'm town" and referencing your past meta is fine. However, saying "I have intentionally reserved this action to be 100% trustable" invokes a type of external honor structure that applies to one alignment differently than the other and becomes a trust tell. You can’t set up an action to confirm yourself as a villager for reasons unrelated to gameplay and then invoke it in an attempt to clear yourself.

    In cases where the line between trust telling and normal gameplay becomes murky, it will ultimately come down to whether something falls outside the spirit of the game. If you’re unsure whether something you want to post in a game constitutes a trust tell, privately ask a moderator before posting it. If you believe someone else may have trust told, report it and moderators will take a look at it.
    Message a ghost at Arapocalypse#0834!

    [9:07 AM] boq, bbt's boss: Be Boq
    [9:07 AM] boq, bbt's boss: Wait for the principal in the cafeteria
    [9:07 AM] boq, bbt's boss: Be offered coffee by the peeps there
    [9:08 AM] boq, bbt's boss: "Nice"
    [9:08 AM] boq, bbt's boss: Grab a random mug. Enjoy your coffee. Notice that it says "principal's mug" on it

  12. ISO #12
    1610 roro__b's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Sweden
    Posts
    10,251
    Timezone
    UTC+02:00
    Community
    Hattrick
    AKA
    dobby
    Pronouns
    he or idc at all
    Gender
    New Flake Moderation Process

    • First sub: Flake moderators will contact the player, regardless of the reason for subbing out, and warn them that one more sub will probably result in a sign-up ban. If the reason provided is considered RWSTFO or something unacceptable like that, we will go straight to a sign-up ban, or in rare cases, a full site ban.

    • Second sub: This will usually result in a sign-up ban. Exceptions include if the second sub happens a long time after the player’s first sub (years -ish) or if the player has otherwise shown high/consistent activity in games.

    • Subout after a previous ban: This will usually lead to a new sign-up ban instantly. In most cases, this ban will be a longer one.

    • Repeated instances afterwards may lead to a very long, or permanent sign-up ban.

    • If a player that subs out or flakes is playing in more than one game, we will instantly temporarily ban the player from multi-tabling, and on top of that warn the player that repeated subouts will lead to a full signup ban.

    • If a player in the game is not meeting post requirements or min-posting without actually participating this will be treated as a sub since it's at least equally game-ruining.


    Ban lengths usually range from 1 month - 3 months - 6 months - 1 year - permanent. The standard progression is usually 1 month -> 3 months -> 1 year.


    For more information, see the linked thread.
    Last edited by Hally; August 17th, 2022 at 04:03 PM. Reason: changed wording slightly
    1610

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  •  

Keyboard Shortcuts

about us
Mafia Universe is a community hub for people who enjoy playing the forum variant of Mafia (also known as Werewolf). We offer fully automated Mafia games and a wide variety of customized features crafted to optimize your game experience. We also proudly host the Internet's only database of Mafia/Werewolf communities.

We hope you stick around!
Role of the Day
Illusionist

The Illusionist starts the game with 1 gun (1-shot day vigilante shot). Once per game on any night, the Illusionist may choose a target. If the Illusionist fires their gun during any day phase after having chosen a target, the gun will be revealed as having been fired by the Illusionist's target.