Code of Conduct

Introduction

This code of conduct governs the environment of the Nuzlocke Forums Staff Team, consisting of the Discord moderators, moderators, tech team, and administrators, as well as all featurers, contributors, and volunteers - herein referred to as the “Staff Team”. Its creation is spurred by the goal of continuous improvement in staff policies, procedures, and behaviors. Much like the Nuzlocke Forums community as a whole, the Staff Team is made up entirely of volunteers and fans from all over the world. While our cultures and personal beliefs may differ, we all strive towards the same core goals within the community.

We believe that laying out these values and obligations to one another, and to the members of the Nuzlocke community, will reinforce the community’s trust in the team, and encourage us collectively to take on prompt but appropriate actions and discussions, both publicly and privately, to align our interests, and to focus our efforts on improving our own proficiency and efficiency with regards to all of our respective duties, responsibilities, and actions.

The Staff Team will commit to review and revise this code as necessary to maintain the highest standard of communication and action.

Scope

The contents of this code of conduct apply to all Staff Team members and “official” community group interactions, including those acting on behalf of the Nuzlocke Forums in other communities. The code will also apply to the organizers of all sponsored community events and projects, as they are conducted.

Values

We want our teams to be an engaging, productive, and safe space for all members. Each of the Staff Team groups agree to make a commitment to our core values, as laid out below:

• Respect - We resolve to treat everyone with dignity, politeness, and courtesy.
• Transparency - We resolve to be open in the ways we communicate and conduct business when appropriate. Integrity and accountability are paramount.
• Community Focus - We resolve to listen to the members of the community with compassion and professionalism, and make decisions with the best interests of the community in mind.
• Agility - We resolve to remain flexible yet focused on important matters as they arise. We respect the work/life balance when it comes to conducting Staff Team business, and resolve to step in when available to assist other team members.
• Diligence - We resolve to plan and document all goals, procedures, and standards, and measure our success by our willingness to prepare and plan as a team.

Responsibility to each other

The Staff Team resolves to apply all core values to all individual members of the community, both Staff and non-staff alike.

The Staff Team is an equal opportunity group. We are committed to providing roles to any member of the community that meets the necessary requirements. All decisions regarding appointments and promotions are to be made based on ability, experience, and behavior, and to be made with no discrimination by race, gender, color, nationality, age, religion, disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic as protected by United States law.

The Staff Team embraces diversity and values community safety above all else. All team members are respected for their contributions and their differences. We resolve to provide a community environment that is inclusive and free from hostility, intimidation, aggression, and other such behaviors that might interfere with engagement and performance. Discrimination and harassment, regardless of type, is strictly prohibited.

The Staff Team respects and resolves to protect any and all personally identifiable information (PII). As is consistent with United States Law and many corporate policy standards, access to PII is limited to specific groups and individuals as determined on a need-to-know basis. Staff Team members with access to PII, either explicitly or implicitly, resolve to treat all such information confidentially. The access of PII for any unlawful or private usage, or for usage where such information is not explicitly necessary, is strictly prohibited.

Responsibility to the community

We encourage all Staff Team members to engage in and promote leadership to the community at large. Team members who participate in community events or discussions do so as individuals and not representatives of the Nuzlocke Forums, or their respective teams, unless specifically noted and approved to do so.

The Staff Team resolves to abstain in any activities or events where their permissions or other roles and responsibilities may lead to bias, or an unfair advantage in the event of a contest. The team also resolves to ensure any participation in events or activities does not interfere with the Staff Team roles and responsibilities, where necessary.

Responsibilities of the Moderation Team

We, the Moderation Team, resolve to oversee the Nuzlocke Forums and Official Nuzlocke Forums Discord channel(s) to ensure the rules of each environment are upheld. In addition, we will have responsibility to manage the forums and Discord as defined below:

• The Moderation Team will hide or edit posts, mediate between users, or otherwise manage problems within the user base.
• The Moderation Team will field issues as reported by the community, either with the built-in reporting tools or through direct communication, where applicable.
• The Moderation Team will deliver warnings or other such disciplinary actions as a full team, to ensure fairness and consistency to all members.
• The Moderation Team will conduct administrative work to help manage or improve the community site and Discord server. As such, we may move, close, or open threads and channels within the Forums and Discord, respectively.
• The Moderation Team will propose or enact changes to the board to improve it for everyone.
• The Moderation Team will help with the efforts of Contributors in an administrative capacity, where able.

Responsibilities of the Administrative Team

We, the Administrative Team, resolve to oversee the Moderation Team and work directly above them. As a result, we have all the responsibilities of the Moderation Team, in addition to those defined below:

• The Administrative Team is primarily responsible for fielding and judging complaints about moderator behavior, and performing oversight on their activities.
• The Administrative Team will take the lead on ensuring Moderation Team projects are progressing and being implemented appropriately.
• The Administrative Team will handle any issues surrounding conflict or conduct between other teams or team members.

Responsibilities of the Tech Team

We, the Tech Team, in addition to following a private code of conduct for handling behind-the-scenes procedures and other activities or projects where such details are considered confidential, resolve to model the Moderation Team’s responsibilities, as well as take on those additional responsibilities defined below:

• The Tech Team is primarily responsible for keeping the website server and forum software up and running smoothly.
• The Tech Team will provide technical assistance and guidance to members of the community and other Staff Teams, as well as fielding requests for new processes or site features, along with the Moderation and Financial teams where necessary.
• The Tech Team will take the lead on any projects or project roles that require server-side processing, or modifications to the existing server or forum configuration, including evaluating the scope and impact of such projects on server performance, data integrity, and user experience. The Tech Team has the sole right to deny projects or modifications for any such reasons.
• The Tech Team will log all maintenance, site upgrades, and changes to core server features. Depending on the type and severity of these updates, specific details may or may not be shared publicly.
• The Tech Team will respect data privacy and will not access PII or other information without an express need to do so. Access to hidden data and PII is restricted to specific team members who have demonstrated an ability to perform work directly related to the systems or databases in which this information resides.
• If another Staff Team member needs access to specific data, the Tech Team lead(s) will have the sole ability to approve or deny access via an encrypted, secure transport protocol.

Responsibilities of the Financial Team

We, the Financial Team, resolve to take on these additional responsibilities, along with our respective formal Moderation or Administrative Team responsibilities:

• The Financial team is primarily responsible for managing the Nuzlocke Forums’ cash on hand, including budgeting and payment of server and software licensing costs. The Financial Team has the sole right to deny expense requests by other teams, provided the costs do not directly relate to mandatory services to keep the site running, nor necessary protections for site security or the integrity of site data (including PII).
• The Financial Team will take the lead on any financial discussions regarding the addition of new site features or software which requires a one-time or recurring payment.
• The Financial Team will log and publish an end-of-year fiscal report which identifies all donations, contributions, and revenue generated, where applicable, as well as an expense report showing where money was spent within the community.
• The Financial Team will manage the accounts of various services as used by the Nuzlocke Forums community, along with the Tech Team.

Responsibilities for Featurers, Contributors, and other Volunteers

We, the Featurers, Contributors, and other volunteers who host events or manage projects on behalf of the community at large, resolve to abide by the Forum Rules and conduct ourselves in accordance with this Code. When hosting events or projects, we resolve to abide by the following guidelines to ensure fairness and equal opportunity for all community members:

• Event Coordinators, Judges, or other persons who conduct reviews or otherwise provide feedback on member content resolve to judge impartially.
• Members hosting contests or other events with prizes shall be ineligible to receive prizes in their own events, unless specifically approved by the Moderation or Administrative Team.
• Project team and project leaders resolve to see their work through to completion or, in the event they are managing a recurring segment or event, they resolve to bring the project to a natural end point, when able, to allow for proper and complete community engagement.
• If a project team member or leader is unable to complete a project, they shall make a reasonable effort to find a suitable member to replace them, when able.

Corrective actions for prohibited behaviors

In the event a member of the Staff Team is found to be in violation of the Forum Rules, or in the event a member of the Staff Team is found to be in violation of the Code of Conduct, it falls on a senior Staff Team group (or groups) to issue a corrective action. These corrective actions are intended to halt any prohibited behavior before it is allowed to affect the community or group at large.

Corrective actions may include, but are not limited to:

• Verbal advice/warnings, either publicly or privately as the situation requires.
• A temporary or permanent stop on activity related to the breach of conduct, which may include locking topics or channels to reset the conversation or action being taken.
• Removal of certain members or groups from participation in an activity or discussion, if it is deemed they are unwilling or unable to adhere to the code of conduct or forum rules during said activity or discussion.
• In the event of repeated or severe violations of the code of conduct, the Administrators, at their sole discretion, may choose to remove individuals from a related role or group, either temporarily or permanently.

Reporting a problem

If a Staff Team member or community member witnesses a breach of either this code of conduct or other rules and guidelines, as laid out in the Nuzlocke Forums, they are encouraged to report it. We provide a means for both personal and anonymous reporting to the Administrative team.

To report a general problem, you can message an Administrator directly on either the forums or on Discord.

To report an anonymous problem to the entire Administrative team, you may follow the instructions at this link: Code of Conduct Report

Where to go for questions or advice

The Administrators have processes and procedures in place to help guide and instruct members on following this Code, the forum rules, and other guidelines. When in doubt, please engage with the Administrative Team at any time if you would like clarification on any of these values. The Administrators are here to help any and all members of both the community and the Staff Team, and we welcome opportunities to provide additional guidance where desired.

Community contributions

We encourage any and all members of the Nuzlocke community to put forward suggestions for improvement or change in the Code of Conduct. All propositions will be reviewed by the Nuzlocke Moderators and Administrators. While we do not guarantee suggestions will be explicitly incorporated into the Code, we value those contributions made by the community at large. You can use the suggestions thread in the forums or privately DM the staff to contribute an idea.