Code of Conduct#
Pokemorph MUSH (or “PMM”) is a community of members from around the globe with diverse experiences, beliefs and personalities. Our Code of Conduct aims to help keep our community positive, inclusive, and welcoming to marginalized walks of life. Everyone on PMM has the right to be respected for who they are, and we are dedicated to providing a positive experience for all players, regardless of age, gender or gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, neurodivergence, physical appearance or body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, religion (or lack thereof), education, or socio-economic status.
The list below is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather an outline of the general behavior you will be expected to have and can expect other players to have on Pokemorph MUSH. The MUSH is run at a loss as a labor of love, and the administrators would like nothing more than to never need to step in. Please be on good behavior, don’t bring problems without solutions to the space, and remember who you share the world with.
As a general rule of thumb: if another person (either another player, or a staff member) asks you to discontinue an activity or behavior, respect this request. If you continue to ignore these requests, you may receive a strike or a temporary suspension. PMM Staff reserves the right to take any action they deem appropriate at any time, up to and including a permanent ban from Pokemorph MUSH without prior warning.
Be welcoming and respectful; practice empathy and patience. Consider others’ experiences, lives and points of view. We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports all walks of life: this includes, but is not limited to, forming a welcoming space for members of any race, ethnicity, culture, social and economic class, education level, gender and gender expression, orientation, age, size, family status, religion, and mental and physical ability.
Don’t be a jerk. Try to be positive! See above and below. Be civil - don’t start arguments for the sake of arguing; don’t be a jerk about things people like that you do not like. If you disagree with someone, try to understand why - remember we are all different, and the strength of community comes from diversity and empathy. Being unable to understand another’s view point doesn’t necessarily mean they are wrong!
Pokemorph MUSH can be considered to be rated 16+.
Content acceptable in public rooms, discussion, bulletin boards (+bboard) and chat channels is: swearing, light to mild violence, or tasteful nudes in art or character descriptions. Heavier violence is allowed with express OOC consent arranged prior to it happening in a scene.
Post reasonable content warnings when sharing links, if applicable: such as linking to or posting any content (drawings, video, stories, etc) containing tasteful nudity, violence, or any other potentially upsetting or “Not Safe For Work (NSFW)” imagery.
Explicitly sexual discussion, characters, imagery, and links may NOT be shared in bulletin boards (+bboard), public rooms, or public chat channels.
Tasteful nudity is defined as, for our purposes: Artwork featuring non-sexually-explicit nude characters, defined as having flaccid and/or closed genitals and no sexual fluids present. These images may be shared on public chat channels with a content warning for nudity.
No real-life nudes or sexually explicit content (photos, video, etc of real people), or imagery that could be mistaken for photography (hyper-realistic CGI renders).
Be mindful of your language and the words you choose. Consider channels and public areas on Pokemorph MUSH to be rated ESRB Teen at most. Language and behavior to avoid includes, but is not limited to:
Excessive and/or frequent swearing
Violent threats, harassment, threatening and/or demeaning language towards another person
Racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, ableism or any other language that is intentionally or could be construed as intentionally offensive and demeaning towards marginalized peoples
Posting sexually explicit material in public chat channels or rooms
Posting excessively violent material, particularly without warning
Advocating for, encouraging, or defending any of the above behavior
While we believe in the power of reclaiming slurs and allow personal usage of such on PMM chat channels, we do ask that you only use slurs which you, personally, can reclaim, and in self-reference only; please be mindful of how using even reclaimed slurs may impact others. Keep the above points in mind when using slurs, too!
If someone asks you to stop - be it certain actions, discussing a particular topic, or so on - STOP.
Understand and respect that the word of PMM Staff is law, and we will expect it to be obeyed as such.
Don’t engage in overtly sexual behavior in public spaces or chat channels. PMM is not a sex MUSH. While we do allow adult-oriented RP to take place in private, locked rooms, it must be between consenting adult players. By “adult-oriented RP” we mean any RP that is explicitly sexual, sexually suggestive or sexually-charged in nature, or otherwise focused on or more than incidentally involving, any sexual discussion, conduct or paraphilia(s). It is your responsibility to determine all players involved are 18+ years of age before engaging in any solicitation or RP. Erotic role play (ERP) is not the focus of PMM.
Keep spoilers off public spaces or chat channels, with the sole exception of the +Spoilers channel. If in doubt whether discussing a plot event or the like is a spoiler, use the +Spoilers channel (you are welcome to invite people on other channels to move to +Spoilers with you to join the discussion).
Keep discussion of political and/or religious topics to a minimum in public spaces and chat channels. If you’d like to discuss ‘hot topic’ issues - particularly if someone has asked you to stop, but you’d like to continue with other player(s) who are mutually interested in carrying on with the discussion - you are welcome to move it to pages (private messages), or use the OOC Danger Room. You can get to the Danger Room by typing OOCC and then DR on the MUSH.
Do not discuss punitive actions on other players on +bboard, nor on public chat channels. If you believe someone was suspended or banned unfairly, we ask that you bring your concerns to PMM Staff via +request. If you wish to gloat, you may do so in private discussion.
Don’t powergame or godmode in RP; don’t be a bad faith player. We’re all here to have fun; remember that roleplaying is a collaborative effort, not a solo story! There’s no score, and no possible victory. Have fun!
Don’t “doompost.” By which we mean: continuous venting in public spaces or chat channels, or joking about “dark” topics (such as suicide, self-harm, rape, sexual assault or hate crimes). Everyone has bad days and many people suffer from any number of mental or physical conditions; some venting on occasion is fine! However, Pokemorph MUSH is not intended to be a free, on-demand therapy service.
If you are struggling with mental health and suicidal ideation, we urge you to check out the following resources:
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help-now/ (LGBTQ friendly, has online chat or SMS text options)
https://translifeline.org/ (for trans persons in the USA & Canada)
http://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/ (Worldwide international crisis centers)