Welcome to the Butterscotch Shenanigans ("Bscotch") Code of Conduct (a.k.a. the "Be a Good Person Policy")! The Code is a set of guidelines and expectations for how to be an upstanding member of the Bscotch Community, and what happens when someone isn't.

We're all here to play games, make friends, and live our best lives. We expect everyone to engage with each other, and with us, in that spirit.

Note that there may be more specific rules posted in any particular Community space, Bscotch Service, or Game. The Code of Conduct provides more general expectations.

Changelog

The Code of Conduct is subject to change at any time.

• Version 4.0.0 (August 15, 2021). Completely rewritten to be friendlier and more concise. No change in intent or meaning, but substantial changes to framing and what is explicitly included.
• Version 3.2.0 (May 28, 2019). Gentle editing throughout to improve the text (no meaning changed).
• Version 3.1.0 (May 7, 2018). Added TL;DR.
• Version 3.0.0 (February 2, 2018). Complete rewrite of the old Code. It was boring. All the same ideas are here, better explained.

Moderators

A "Moderator" is a member of the Bscotch Community, a Bscotch Employee, or an automatated system that has been given the authority and tools to enforce the Code of Conduct and deliver certain Consequences in a particular Community space, Bscotch Service, or Game.

Guidelines

The following guidelines are not comprehensive, but should be sufficient for Community members and Moderators acting in good faith to judge whether a given behavior violates the Code of Conduct.

Community Guidelines

1. Never act in anger or frustration. Take a step back and give yourself a moment to cool down before engaging.
2. Approach every interaction in good faith (meaning you have the best of intentions, and assume the same of everyone else).
3. Consider the community and how your actions impact it. Always try to have a positive impact.
4. Embrace human diversity in all its forms. Do not tolerate intolerance or advocate for it.
5. Don't do anything that is intended to ruin someone else's experience or mood (no "trolling").
6. Don't do anything to make any person, or any group of people, feel unwelcome.
7. Never make jokes related to aspects of human diversity, physical or otherwise. Even if it seems to be taken in good humor, you can't know if someone truly is okay with what you said/did or if that person was simply playing along to avoid conflict.
8. Don't mock people or make jokes at their expense.
9. Let people like what they like. Don't tell someone their favorite game, band, or programming language sucks, or make fun of them for whatever they're into.
10. Respect personal boundaries, physical and otherwise. Physicality that seems warm and friendly to you may be unwanted by someone else.
11. Avoid sexual references and jokes. It's extremely easy to cross boundaries on this topic, and boundaries vary enormously.
12. If you use profanity, the words you say must not be associated negatively with some group of people. This is tricky: sometimes we don't even know how offensive a word is because we aren't familiar with its origin, or don't have the cultural context that explains the offensiveness, or because the word is inoffensive in some contexts and offensive in others.
13. Do not deny the existence of the social injustices and inequalities that define our world. This reality is implicitly in the background of every social interaction.
14. Call out Code violations either directly (be polite!), through available reporting systems (e.g. in-game buttons), or by informing a Moderator.
15. When someone thinks you are in the wrong, believe them. Even if you don’t understand their position, start with the premise that they are right and that there is knowledge you are missing.
16. When you discover you might be in the wrong, remember that it is not anyone else's responsibility to teach you why. Take it upon yourself to learn (via the Internet, where you can learn anything). You might not understand right away, and that's okay! In that case, accept that there may be a gap in your world view and take time to ponder it.
17. Apologize quickly and sincerely when called out, even if you don't fully understand what has happened.
18. Do not argue with Moderators about the Code of Conduct, their decisions to impose a Consequence, or whether or not a particular action was appropriate. Good-faith discussion is always welcome.

Gaming & Rumpus Guidelines

1. Any violation of our Terms is also a Code of Conduct violation.
2. Don't ruin someone else's game by cheating.
3. Don't submit support requests if you pirated our games.
4. Don't submit support requests if you've hacked our games.
5. Don't demand help from moderators or other community members. (Politely and patiently asking is fine!)
6. Don't try to circumvent the limitations or intentions behind our games and services.

Consequences & Reporting

Not all violations of the Code of Conduct are created equal, and the consequences will scale with the severity of the violation. Community moderators, Butterscotch staff, and robots deployed into our communities (collectively, "Moderators") all have full and complete discretion regarding if and what actions to take in response to bad behavior. As we, our services, and our communities change, so might consequences.

Consequences range from being publicly or privately called out, to being expelled from a subset or all of our community spaces, to being blocked from some or all social parts of the Butterscotch applications and services, to having Butterscotch accounts (Rumpus and BscotchID) permanently deleted. Severe consequences (like account deletion or limiting game features) are extremely rare and only enacted by Bscotch Staff or by Bscotch-developed automated systems. Moderators make a distinction between good-faith and bad-faith violations and enact differential consequences accordingly.

Consequences are expected to be accepted with dignity and without argument. If someone receives Consequences that they feel, honestly and in good faith, are unfair, they may privately ask a second Moderator to weigh in. If all else fails, they may make an appeal to Bscotch Staff.

If it is a Moderator who is violating the Code of Conduct, or unfairly/unreasonably doling out consequences, or if there are any other factors making it so that you cannot safely report a violation, please inform Butterscotch staff. Moderators and Staff must follow the same Code of Conduct as everyone else!

FAQ

Who decides?

The collective Bscotch community and those who steward it decide what is and isn't a violation of the Code of Conduct.

Everyone's experience in and of the world is different. The Code of Conduct isn't about right and wrong, fair and unfair. It's about ensuring a happy, healhty, inclusive community. Sometimes that means you won't agree with the rules, and that's okay! But we still expect you to adhere to it.

What about Freedom of Speech?

Butterscotch is a private enterprise, not a government, so "freedom of speech" doesn't apply.

What about Tolerating Intolerance?

Why don't we tolerate intolerance? Why doesn't the "Don't make anyone feel unwelcome" rule apply to people who make others feel unwelcome? See the Paradox of Tolerance.