Terms of Use

These are the terms which every member of Ransera agrees to in order to continue to play on the website. This is a writer's community specifically built to help writers enjoy their hobbies and interact peacefully with other players, and these terms are designed to ensure a more approachable experience for all players.

To begin with, there are a few ways in which these rules are approached here that make their application more based on the culture we intend for the website.

Firstly: Importantly, few of these rules have specific penalties. The severity of each action determines the disciplinary outcome, and we acknowledge the nuance of every situation. An individual with a history of poor behavior will be given a harsher sentence for the same rule-breaking than someone who simply had a rough day. Everything in relation to these penalties is nuanced, but the issuance of penalties is to be done objectively, looking at context and history.

Secondly: This site is ultimately run by friends, and we seek to maintain a friendly atmosphere. That's really the core to most of the rules. Someone who is constantly displaying adversarial and toxic behavior is not going to last here, and staff does not need a smoking gun to ban a player for awful behavior.

Third: All claims are alleged until proven. Regardless of whether a player felt they were being discriminated against, harassed, etc; we will need to look at factual information and determine an outcome. That is simply the standard.

Fourth: All site rules apply to our public Discord chat. Additionally, private DMs - regardless of platform - can merit disciplinary action as well, if the user(s) in question are found to be perpetrating a toxic or hostile environment.

With that being said, here are the rules.

Core Rules

1. The facilitation, solicitation, or engagement of illegal activities performed by any of our members or staff is not allowed. If any such behavior of any kind is discovered and proven, this can result in penalties up to and including a permanent termination from the website, depending on the severity of the activities.
2. As a fundamental to interactions with other players and staff on this site, all members are asked to be respectful and treat their peers with dignity. Being rude, demeaning or insulting to others is not something we appreciate, nor want on the website.
3. We ask that you be honest when approached by staff. While mistakes happen, abuses can usually clearly be seen, and lying to staff when questioned can worsen your punishment.
4. Ultimately, this is a writing website. Players who use the site and its Discord server primarily as a chatroom are allowed to do so, but we ask that the focus be on writing and character development within the world of Ransera itself.
5. All members must be at least 13 years old to be a part of Ransera, and 18 to gain Adult Forum access.

Behavorial Rules

1. Players proven to be intentionally inflaming conflict, trolling, or otherwise trying to provoke negative reactions from their peers will be met with disciplinary action.
2. Players posting or otherwise directing disturbing, hateful, discriminatory, threatening or otherwise harmful content to other players or staff will be treated with great scrutiny and will be issued disciplinary action. Any legitimate threats of violence or other intentional harm will be met with firm disciplinary action.
3. No sexual harassment or physical intimidation of other players or staff is allowed. This is taken very seriously and will merit swift, harsh consequences.
4. Toxic, spiteful or otherwise negative behavior against other players is unacceptable. Consistent history of this can warrant a ban from the site, as this is meant to be a community group of friends, or at least friendly acquaintances. Such behavior is strictly not tolerated.
5. To reiterate and more broadly apply a previously mentioned term; discrimination of any kind is not allowed. If it has been found that a player has been discriminated against for an intrinsic characteristic, the discriminatory party will be given strict disciplinary action.

Role-play Rules

1. Overplaying a character's skill is not allowed. An example of this is someone with 5 in Blades perfectly cutting someone in half, or performing a similar feat, especially consistently. As a note for further rules listed here, an excess of such infractions can result in a grade being temporarily or fully withheld, depending on the severity of the action.
2. Metagaming lore information or information about another character is not allowed. Metagaming is when a writer assumes knowledge of something their character has no reason or ability to know, typically using their own OOC insight. Any such information is acquired as 'lores', given by moderators or reviewers. Please note that highly secretive lore information will most likely need to be awarded or pre-approved by a moderator.
3. Metagaming can also occur when a player uses OOC animosity against another player or staff member to assault or otherwise antagonize their PC in-game. While basic metagaming may be accidental and is usually offered a reminder, this toxic form of metagaming is strictly prohibited.
4. Automatically assuming the outcome of an action against another PC or a moderated NPC is against the rules. This includes persuasion attempts, attacks, etc; this is not allowed. Though with some exceptions, this is also not allowed by moderators against other PCs.
5. A player or moderator is not allowed to kill another player's PC without their consent. In the case of moderators, there are some exceptions. Players who have been shown to be extremely abusive of the site rules in their actions, including both RP and behavioral breaches, can have their PCs killed. Also, players can maim or severely damage other PCs without explicit permission, if a moderator allows it; this can only be allowed if the PC is acting far outside of their character to remain passive in such situations. Don't try to kill other PCs - but also don't use this rule as a safeguard against legitimate, IC retaliation if your character is asking for it.
6. All posts on Ransera are expected to be at least 300 words. This is a literate website; this requirement is the absolute bare minimum.
7. Players who are at or below the number of 50 posts (OOC and IC) are considered in the beginning stages of acclimating to Ransera. As such, during this time all players have the ability to reevaluate and reallocate their staring Lores, Experient Points (XP) and general character ideas. Players should coordinate with their local moderation staff to guide their beginning stages of play or seek guidance and clarification from the Support Forum after initial character approval.
8. Threads can be intervened in or have their grades temporarily or fully revoked for extreme grammatical errors and other issues; this website, again, is literate.
9. Plagiarism is absolutely not allowed. Threads found to be plagiarized will be locked and no grade can be given to the plagiarizing player. This can also result in further consequences.
10. Characters must track their skill points and other imperative character information accurately and honestly.
11. Characters can begin play before their CS is approved, as long as it is completed in totality. However, they cannot receive reviews until their CS is approved.

External Site Rules

1. Players or guests are allowed to publicly advertise external sites in the Discussion forum, as long as they are writing related.
2. While not against the rules, it is encouraged not to publicly bash other sites on Ransera.

Adult Forum Rules

1. No one under the age of 18 is allowed to access the Adult Forum. In order to access it, you must be given technical access by a ranking staff member by requesting it directly and confirming your age.
2. The graphic sexualization of children is not allowed in the Adult Forum, or on Ransera as a whole, in or out of RP. This includes anyone beneath the age of eighteen, regardless of the age of consent in your country, state or province. This includes not only actively graphically sexualizing minors, but imagining it in a character's thoughts, or describing it in dialogue. Any cases of graphic sexualization of children will be met with a permanent ban, without the ability to appeal.
3. Public or even private mockery, unwanted teasing or ridicule of someone's Adult Forum activities is strictly prohibited, and will result in the termination of the offending player's adult forum access, until staff deems they should regain their access. The Adult Forum is a place for all content - as long as it is legal - to be engaged in freely, without public mockery or scrutiny. If you are disturbed by a particular thread, don't read it.

Artificial Intelligence, Generative Text, Image Generator Program Rules

1. Ransera as an entity is based in the United States of America. Currently, the United States Office of Copyright and Registration adopts the following stance:

 “When an AI technology determines the expressive elements of its output, the generated material is not the product of human authorship. As a result, that material is not protected by copyright and must be disclaimed in a registration application” (See https://www.copyright.gov/ai/)

1. Any such material that is generated using A.I. tools and is posted to Ransera is therefore not protected by the U.S. Government’s current application of Copyright Law.
2. The use of A.I. Generated Images on Ransera is accepted provided the utilization of those images does not attempt to be commercialized by the poster in any form.
3. The use of A.I. Text Generated materials (ChatGPT, NovelAI etc.) is acceptable only when the use of such materials is done to provide a narrative prompt (Writing Prompt, Adventure Idea) that is then only applied as the premise for guiding human writing.
4. The use of A.I. Text Generated materials (ChatGPT, NovelAI, etc.) is NOT accepted as a substitute for human authorship on Ransera. Ransera is a collaborative creative writing forum created with the intent to foster a community of human writers in a form of written-word role-play gaming.
5. Any attempt to use or submit A.I. Text Generated materials (ChatGPT, NovelAI, etc.) as a form of substantial post (meaning 300 words or a significant portion of 300 words) wherein that generated material forms a bulk of or is suspected to form a bulk of its composition, renders such a submission invalid. This type of submission is incompatible with the basic premise of Ransera as a platform for creative writing expression.

Miscellaneous Rules

1. Once something is submitted to Ransera as a piece of development, you have given us the right to retain it. While you may wish for a development piece to be taken down, we can reject your request, and each time a player or moderator submits a piece of development, they are acknowledging this.
2. Rules are subject to change as it is deemed necessary and prudent to enact or dismiss them by the Architects of Ransera.