Disclaimer

Acting in a rude, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate manner that isn't listed here can still get you punished. Not every way a person can offend or disturb can be listed. Being banned for an offense we didn't think to list, but was still outrageous, is not an unfair punishment. It is not overstepping, power-tripping, or proof of "unspoken" rules. No, you do not need to hear it from Fraser himself that he agrees with how we moderate, this is what we're here for. We (the mods) are only doing the job we volunteered to do. We have a thread here for voicing disagreements or sharing concerns with the actions we undertake, which we strongly suggest you utilize before acting rashly. The thread is public so the entire community can see it. Our moderating Team consists of: Acevil, Aqws3, ATrulyAmazingToaster, Aughts, Bonefoot, Chrya, Cogswell_Chris, Daverball, DKSigne (a.k.a. karamelgiraf), Fiffles, Isophist, MellisBaker, MikeyMcMuffin, Nulani, QuaziJoe, StephasaurRAWR, Syretha, and Gangstahwezel. Our Helper position is currently in stasis, but may be reinstated at a later date.

General

• No sexist, racist, or hate speech allowed. Also don't make rape jokes or use the word in an inflationary manner.
  

  This includes terms you "use all the time" with friends; referring to a woman as a bitch for no reason other than her gender; the words "fag" or "faggot", or the word "gay" when used insultingly.

• As a video gaming community we only allow certain topics, like politics or religion, to be discussed in a video gaming context.
  

  Please always keep it civil, and keep it out of the chat. We will end any discussion that we feel will get out of hand.

• Don't be a dick and don't harass others.
  

  If you’re being rude, passive aggressive, or generally unpleasant, we don’t want you around. It is not your job to antagonize the crew or other members of the chat. We do not tolerate abuse. This includes constant badgering, personal attacks, threats, sexual harassment, and so forth. If you cannot tell the difference between a friendly troll and harassment, it's best to keep quiet. If your goal is to cause anger, you will be removed. Playing devil's advocate just to start an argument or get a rise out of people is trolling.

• Don't spoil anything unless asked.
  

  Even outside of shows, spoilers are rarely an okay thing, unless invited. While this is an atypical general rule, it comes up often enough outside of chat that we want to notify everyone that it's something we do enforce in most situations in the community. Consider this a corollary to the above rules.

• Don't be obnoxious when writing. Make limited use of allcaps or excessive punctuation. Do not spam, post ASCII art or mass smileys.
  

  This can include extending words by repeating letters in a word, such as: ‘Yaaaaaaaay!’ Show reason, show restraint. There is rarely ever a need to post multiple smileys in a sentence. Saying the same thing over and over, line after line, is considered spam, as is repeating the lines above you.

• Please stick to English.
  

  You're excluding people from conversations by using a foreign language.

• Don't advertise during shows without explicit permission.
  

  There are areas within our community to show and discuss projects you're working on, such as the TURBO Toot and the forums.

• Be respectful of the crew's privacy when they are not hosting shows or community events.
  

  Remember that Fraser and Becky can't be 'on' all the time. While they offers ways of contact through email or social networking, be mindful of their needs, just like your would be of any community member.

• Don't look for loopholes in the rules.
  

  Most of our rules are intentionally vague. We do not want to hear "But I wasn't being a dick, I was just arguing!"

• You are responsible for any actions taken under your accounts.
  

  Every rule here applies to anyone making use of your account, and any related accounts (such as logging in to community game servers under your Steam or Minecraft accounts). We WILL NOT take the excuse "But I let my friend borrow my account!".

• Above all else, this is the crew's community.
  

  Be mindful of Fraser or Becky if they've given out instructions during a show or event. It's probably for and to your benefit (and they can ask directly for you to be temporarily or permanently banned).

• The crew breaking any of these rules doesn't mean you get to!
  

  These are rules for you, not them.

Show/Chat

• Do not post links during shows.
  

  We have a bot to post allowed links: use !help for a list of commands.

• Don't backseat game.
  

  Someone not being "good" at video games should not offend or anger you and if it does this is probably not the show for you. VGA is not about speedrunning, doing walkthroughs, or showing off skill. It's about fun. Do not insist that an easter egg be seen, an unnecessary item obtained, or that we give up to play another game.

• Don't frontseat game.
  

  Fraser and Becky are playing the game, not you. Don't offer commentary on what may be coming up (i.e. spoilers), and even saying things like "this upcoming scene is amazing!" and "Prepare for greatness!" are totally frontseat gaming. Further, just as with normal spoilers as covered in the general rules, don't offer joke spoilers. If it looks like a spoiler, it's very likely we're going to time it (and thus you) out, regardless of whether you're joking or not. We may not know what's coming up in the game, either.

  Do not enter chat during a show and ask if Fraser/the Gang is at a specific point. If you aren’t caught up on what’s going on, don’t make presumptions regarding progress. Very often, people asking questions like this are spoiling what’s coming up.

• Developers and specials guests in the chat deserve the same respect as you or the crew.
  

  Treat them like a fellow TURBO. Show chat is not the place to offer critiques on them or their work.

• Try to keep what you're saying related to the show, the stream, or gaming in general.
  

  If the crew has moved on from a topic, so should you. Questions about upcoming shows are best left to end of show, or better, post-show.

TURBO Toot!

• When posting video or images, use the content warning function whenever you think necessary.
  

  Sometimes Fraser or Becky may end up asking for more racy kinds of fan art. Be respectful of of your fellow community members and mark your posts as NSFW if you feel it is needed.

Minecraft

• These rules apply to both permanent and challenge Minecraft servers.
  

  In most cases, a temporary ban or full ban from one type of server, be it permanent OR challenge, will not mean a ban from both types. In some cases, such as the use of certain disallowed mods or any client hacks, you will be banned from Minecraft in full.

• Do not pester the crew when they are online.
  

  If they pop on to play with us while a show isn’t on, please treat them like you would any other player. Chat with them, don’t stalk them. Additionally, special guests may join us on the servers, even if a show isn't on. Treat them similarly.

• Respect the space of established builds.
  

  Communities need space to grow and you have no way of knowing whether a solo build is going to change from one castle to an exact replica of an entire province in Japan. So keep your distance or check with ALL neighboring residents before setting up shop. This includes any roadways/railways/transport systems you may be inclined to build. There is no set block range you must respect, but we do expect you to be reasonable when deciding to build near others, and if a player logs in surprised to find your house built next to their airship, we will require you to take your build down. Always find the owner and ask permission. Be friendly, build together, have fun.

  On challenge servers, this rule still applies, though you can expect that people will more naturally be open to building near each other. Still, it’s always better to ask about other players’ plans and get permission to build near them.

• Respect the property of other players.
  

  We use a plugin that allows you to lock chests you place, preventing other players from being able to look in. However, this doesn’t mean that, should you find an unlocked chest, you can assume the contents are free to take. This rule also applies to other players’ crops or livestock. Always find the owner and ask permission. We also use a plugin that allows us to see who has opened a chest, killed a cow, or harvested a crop, so we will know who to talk to should something go missing.

• Repair the holes caused by creepers pursuing you.
  

  No one wants to fall down craters every time they walk around. You made the creeper mad and decided to give him a hug to make him feel better. He’s your responsibility, and just like your first pet, it’s your job to clean up his mess.

• No game-changing mods allowed on the servers.
  

  No flying, no x-ray, no nonsense. Play vanilla. Map mods are okay as long as they do not help you find ores and mats anymore than our server map can. Mods like convenient inventory and Improved Chat are also fine. If you have a questions about whether a mod is okay, please do ask as we have very little tolerance for mods and it's better to ask than to find yourself banned.

• Grinders are not allowed. Do not build structures that can:

  • Force a spawner to create more mobs than it normally would
  • Funnel friendly mobs to a space where they will start glitching into the walls and ceiling
  • Funnel hostile mobs AT ALL

  Those can cause client and server side lag by, for example, making entities glitch out or creating a lot of items on the floor. Normal traps and defenses are not affected by this, nor are "danger rooms".

• Don't confine mobs to a space where they're glitching into each other or through blocks.
  

  Make sure mobs aren't so packed in that they are glitching through walls, this can cause massive lag.

• Anti-Lag Guidelines
  

  These aren't actual rules for the servers, per se, but you're asked to please consider the following guidelines to help cut down on server lag.

  • Please limit your farmable mob count to a decent amount, over 100 farm animals is probably a bit more than you personally need.
  • Larger redstone machines are allowed, but remember that the larger the amount of redstone, the more likely it is to contribute to server lag.
  • Please don’t build fully automated redstone machines (i.e. machines that you would leave running continuously) that include manipulating flowing water.
  • Remember that lighting updates are the worst contributor to lag in redstone machines, so make sure all redstone is lit up with torches or other lighting.

Quick reference: General Show/Chats TURBO Toot Minecraft