General Rules & Policies

In-Game Rules & Policies

Website Rules & Policies

End User Agreement & License

Privacy Policy

Website Rules & Policies

The Pirates of the Burning Sea website, forums and IRC chat channels are provided at no extra cost to your monthly subscription, and are intended to be a place where players can interact in a friendly environment. Flying Lab Software truly values our friends in the Pirates of the Burning Sea community, and we believe that they are entitled to the most pleasant experience possible.

In order for that to work, we expect our community members to follow certain behavioral expectations and rules. If you do not feel that you can follow them, then we ask that you do not use these resources.

Expectations
Forum/website Rules
IRC Channel Rules
Penalties

Expectations

These are general expectations for behavior on the Pirates of the Burning Sea community resources.

If community members should come across a post that violates any of the following rules and expectations, they are asked to use the Report Post feature of our forums, including a brief but thorough explanation of the reason for reporting the post in question. Repeatedly spamming reported posts as a method of revenge or harassment will not be tolerated.

1. Be respectful of all other users. We know that you won’t always agree with your fellow players, or us. We’re happy for you to post your point of view as long as it is respectful and constructive.

2. Let forum threads serve the purpose they were created for. Sometimes you may decide that a change of subject is needed. If that happens, create a new thread. Don’t hijack someone else’s.

3. Keep your feedback constructive. Sometimes you might feel angry about something we’ve done. We understand, but before you post, why not take a break, have a nice hot drink, maybe go for a walk? Angry kneejerk posts with no constructive feedback are likely to be removed.

4. Don’t get personal. You might have an issue with something a fellow player has done in-game or on the forums, or maybe you think we’ve made a silly decision. That’s fair enough, but please don’t turn that into a personal attack. If you do, we will simply remove your post, and your point, however valid, will never be heard.

5. Post in the right place. We have various sections on our forum, so please familiarize yourself with them to ensure that you are posting your thread in the right area. This will make our forums a lot easier to manage and read. If you find that your thread has vanished, and you don’t think you broke any rules, the chances are that a moderator moved it to the correct forum section.

Website Rules

This is a list of things that are specifically forbidden on our forums and website.

• No Flaming – While debate and discussion are encouraged, we will not tolerate rude or insulting posts, personal attacks or inflammatory posts of any kind.
• No Trolling – Creating or posting in a thread for the sole purpose of harassing a user, stirring up hostilities, or derailing/hijacking a thread topic is not allowed.
• No Spamming – Posting multiple threads or posts with the same or similar content is not allowed. This rule also applies to the use of our forum private message system to spam other members.
• No Impersonation – Impersonation of other forum members, members of the development team, the forum moderators or any other official representative is not allowed.
• Do not abuse staff members – We respect your opinions about our game, but we will not tolerate personal attacks against any member of staff. Please file a support ticket if you have an issue with any staff member.
• No Foul Language – This includes the use of invectives like fag or gay (or any variation), sexually explicit language, racially or culturally insensitive comments, or the use of any words understood as offensive to others. We also ask that you do not attempt to get around the forum word censor.
• No Offensive Images – This includes forum icons, User Content, and message attachments (including screenshots) deemed pornographic, defamatory, offensive or otherwise inappropriate.
• No Defamation – Bashing of other gaming companies, individuals or game titles is not allowed on the Pirates of the Burning Sea forums.
• Do not pick on new users – Please remember that new users will not always know where to find information that may be common knowledge to the seasoned forum user.
• Do not discuss Exploits, Hacks or Cheats – Suspected Exploits, Hacks and Cheats in Pirates of the Burning Sea should be reported via the Support Website not the forums. This includes accusations of individuals, nations, and societies. We also ask that you do not post any messages that we send you via the support system (see below).
• Do not infringe Copyright – Attachments and User Content must not include any content which is the intellectual property of any organization or individual other than Flying Lab Software or yourself.
• Do Not Post Official Correspondence – Without express, written permission, the posting of any private correspondence between official representatives of Flying Lab Software and forum members are forbidden. This includes any private messages, conversations or support ticket responses involving GMs, Developers and Forum Moderators.
• No Advertising for Commercial Purposes – The advertising of in-game services or society recruitment is acceptable, provided it is posted in the correct forum sections. Other advertising is forbidden, unless with the express, written permission of Flying Lab Software.
• No Discussion of Illegal Activities – This includes software and music piracy and discussions involving illegal drug use.
• Do Not Discuss Politics, Sex, or Religion – While we do allow some off-topic discussion in the off-topic forum, threads or posts about real world politics, sex, or religion will be removed.

IRC Channel Rules

First, the rules of the Coldfront IRC network apply.

• No Harrassment
• No channels with profanity/sexually related content in the name
• No public channels with profanity/sexually related content in the title
• No public or private channels that trade in warez or sexually related content
• No nicks that can be taken as profanity, sexual, or warez related
• No channels that advertise other IRC Networks or redirect users
• No racist channels and/or nicks or any other discriminating type of behavior

#burningsea is considered to be Teen rated, like the official forums. The channel has a profanity filter in place, which will automatically censor obscenities..

Do:

• Read the channel /topic and latest !news
• Be constructive
• Help others
• Be polite

Don’t:

• Spam
• Troll
• Inflame
• Defame
• Insult
• Harass
• Discriminate
• Private message FLS staff without permission
• Pester FLS or channel staff
• Discuss the big three—Sex, Religion, Politics

Penalties

If you do not follow the rules and expectations, then we reserve the right to issue warnings and take action against your account.

On the website / forums:

1. You will be given a warning OR an infraction point via the forum PM system or email.
2. If you accumulate sufficient infraction points then your account will be temporarily banned from the forums.
3. If you continue to violate the rules you will earn progressively longer bans and eventually a permanent ban from the forums.
4. If you evade a ban by using an alternate forum account, we may take action against your in-game account.

We reserve the right to accelerate this process in severe cases, at our discretion. Our forum moderation staff will be the sole arbiters of this process, however you may file an appeal to any warning or ban using our support website.

In our official IRC chat channel(s):

1. You will be given a warning via private message.
2. If we have to warn you more than twice, you will be banned from the channel for 24 hours.
3. If we have to ban you again, it will be for a week.
4. If you repeatedly break the rules, you will be permanently banned from the channel.

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