The Haven Constitution

Rights and Responsibilities of All Users

1. Haven is a text-based roleplaying community based around the concept of a “freeform universe,” predominantly composed of “high fantasy” or “general fantasy” settings, environments, ages, and times.

1. Users have the right to participate in any way they deem fit, to include all forms of text-based roleplaying, character creation, plot and meta-plot creation, setting creation, and all possible permutations of in a collaborative and roleplay-conducive environment.
2. Users have the responsibility to maintain a method of conduct that permits user collaboration and creation, while promoting a roleplay-conducive environment without disruption or unnecessary acts of reproach.

2. The Haven Constitution exists to define the rights and responsibilities and a general manner of conduct while participating in the community and roleplaying on the applicable website and chat application.

1. Users have the right to file grievances, request information on actions directly related to them, and to request clarification on a clause that has not been violated.
2. Users have the responsibility to abide by all clauses. Refusal to abide and maintain a user's responsibilities will denote a forfeiture of rights. One must commit to one's responsibilities in order to have one's rights be enforced and protected.

3. Haven functions as a participatory, collaborative, freeform “world” - this is to include all possible “locations” created and utilized within Haven.

1. Users have the right to roleplay and participate in the collaboration and creation of the “Haven world,” insofar as participation is necessary in order for collaboration to occur.
2. Users have the responsibility to participate and, in doing such, maintain their right for opinionated suggestions, commentary, and input to Staff members.

4. “Staff” is defined as System Operators, Administrators, and Global Moderators. The Staff function as a democratically central triumvirate of power composed of three Administrators/System Operators, with a single Global Moderator serving as mediator between users and “Junior Staff” members (see below) and the greater hierarchy.

1. Staff members have the right to enforce the Haven Constitution, debate issues of importance, discuss possible actions in a democratic fashion, and to executively interpret possible actions of violation according to the First Clause with the understanding that debate over the action will occur.
2. Staff have the responsibility to place the growth and benefit of the Haven community above their own personal conflicts or perturbations; to discuss all actions in a democratic debate with consensus being reached amongst the triumvirate of Administrators/System Operators by no less than a two-thirds majority; to remain united in action once a decision has been reached, even if such Staff member disagreed in discussion with the chosen action; and to maintain the privacy of Staff discussion, debates, and procedures without revealing such details to the user-base at large.

5. “Junior Staff” is defined as Room Moderators that have authority to execute the Haven Constitution in a single room or channel, with no further powers defined or granted beyond such an initial scope.

1. Junior Staff have the right to enforce the Haven Constitution within the limited jurisdiction of their assigned room or channel. They do not maintain any greater right than nominal users insofar as any importance of their opinion is still defined by the Third Clause.
2. Junior Staff have the responsibility to report all room kicks and banishments to Staff members – Global Moderator or higher – and must take logs of the incident that has occurred in order for it to be reviewed and for the Staff to determine if the action was warranted. Junior Staff may be removed from their post after two incidents where unwarranted banishments occur.

6. The “Three Strike Policy” is defined as the mandated policy that all appointed or elected staff – whether consisting of the upper hierarchy or “Junior Staff” and excluding the moderators of user-made rooms who have “blank check” authority – must conform to. It is defined as “warning, kick, ban.” A user must be warned for an offense, then may be kicked for an unrelated offense, then may be banned for a third, unrelated offense. The “Three Strike Policy” cycles on a weekly basis, with each user's “strikes” being negated after seven days.

1. Staff have the right to executively reprimand users who are perceived to grievously violate a clause with the intent of violating such clause, under the understanding that such reprimand and its evidence must be presented for review to the upper staff hierarchy.
2. Staff have the responsibility to conform to the “Three Strike Policy” in all instances unless stated in the Haven Constitution as unnecessary or deemed such by the upper staff hierarchy.

7. Haven is defined as a MATURE roleplaying community, insofar that discussions over politics, religion, satire, philosophy, and other controversial topics may arise in roleplaying or discussion; that users are permitted to present “artistic nudity” in their profiles; and that mature subject matter may be expressed within a channel without Staff approval. Furthermore, the Staff maintains no liability in such instances, with the individual user being wholly responsible for what content they post or submit.

1. Users have the right to use profanity not explicitly directed at another user and post “artistic nudity” within their profile pictures. Such “artistic nudity” is nominally defined as: pictures – whether portraits, photographs, drawings, paintings, or any form of digital art – that contain the male pectorals, torso, abdomen, and buttocks; or contain the presence of the female chest, torso, abdomen, and buttocks. “Artistic nudity” does not include pictures that contain reproductive fluids, organs, or genitalia.
2. Users have the responsibility to not direct profanity toward other users directly in the form of insults or ad hominem attacks; not to post obscene or pornographic links, pictures, etc. in their profiles or present such in a public manner; not include content in their profiles or user-made room names of solicitous nature; to not roleplay sexual interactions (“cyber”) in a public room – default or user-made; and to not present overly graphic pictures in their profiles, links, or presented publicly in any manner.
3. The Staff, as per the First Clause, maintain the right to remove any picture that is deemed “obscene” without warning; repeated infractions may result in removal from Haven.

8. “Harassment” is defined as the continuation of communication with a user that has requested the cessation of said communication and has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid such communication (through the use of the “/ignore” command).

1.  Users have the right to access Haven, the Haven chat application, and all direct websites related to Haven and be free from unwarranted attention, contact, and communication.
2. Users have the responsibility to announce an individual has been placed on /ignore publicly and retain evidence in the form of logs or screenshots (preferable) in order to present as evidence in the event of possible harassment. Users also must understand that without said evidence, making a case for harassment is exceedingly difficult; users must also remember that each case of harassment will be handled on a case-by-case basis and that the Staff have ultimate say in such matters.

9. “Real-life campaigns” are defined as attempts to gain “real-life information” about users to include, but not be limited to: addresses, country of origin, country of location, e-mail addresses, instant messaging addresses, gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, and social networking addresses under duress, coercion, or other means after a user has expressed an unwillingness to state such; “real-life campaigns” also include the conduction of a “campaign of harassment or hate” through the use of, but not to be limited by: racial slurs, epithets, religious intolerance, etc. with the intent to cause prejudicial hatred or ostracization due to “real-life” characteristics or qualities of a user.

1. Users have the right to access Haven, the Haven chat application, and all direct websites related to Haven and be free from unwarranted attention or communication concerning real-life qualities of a person; this is not to include the right to be protected from opinions over character styles, roleplaying mannerisms, or choices over associates.
2. Users have the responsibility to document all instances of possible “real-life campaigns” in the form of logs or screenshots (preferable) for evidence in a possible case of a “real-life campaign.” Such evidence is to be presented to a Staff member and not a Junior Staff member.
3. In instances where threats against personal life and health have been made, screenshots must be presented. If such instances prove true, depending on the severity of the violation, local, state, provincial, or any applicable enforcement agencies may be contacted.

10. “Spamming” is defined the repetitious posting of any text, to include but not be limited to: random letters, random numbers, “rolling” (/roll) or excessive echoed commands, URL's, advertising, “scam or tick” websites, or other websites not connected to the NexxusHost hosting service; spamming also includes the utilization of obnoxiously bright colors (such as “neon green” or “white”) for the purpose of disrupting discussion or roleplaying.

1. Users have the right to access Haven, the Haven chat application, and all direct websites related to Haven without being subjected to spamming, malicious advertising, or URL's connected to inappropriate or malicious content.
2. Users have the responsibility to use “normal” and non-obnoxious font colors, not to advertise roleplaying websites not connected to the NexxusHost hosting service, and to not repeatedly post text, URL's, or numbers with the intent to disrupt.

11. “Exploitation” is defined as the utilization of “scripts,” “programs,” “bots,” or any other means to commit port scans, reverse look-ups, or exploit administrative or programming loopholes in Haven's chat application; this includes exploiting administrative powers vested to Junior Staff or user-made room creators – commonly defined as “banishment evading.”

1. Users have the right to access Haven, the Haven chat application, and all direct websites related to Haven without fear of foreseen technical difficulties caused by malicious users.
2. Users have the responsibility to report any bug, accidental loophole, or other technical issue to the Staff – not the Junior Staff – and must maintain the responsibility not to share said exploit or bug with non-Staff members or exploit such an occurrence. If such a report is lodged, the reporting user will not face repercussions.
3. Users who have willingly and knowingly exploited a bug, loophole, or technical fault without the intent to cause the website harm are subject to an immediate one day banishment. Users who have willingly and knowingly exploited a bug, loophole, or technical fault with the intent to cause the website harm are subject to an immediate permanent banishment. Such an occurrence excludes the use of the “Three Strike Policy.” Depending on the severity of such an issue, local, state, provincial, or any applicable law enforcement agencies may be contacted.

12. On Haven, there are to be three distinct types of rooms or channels: default rooms, user-made rooms, and permanent rooms. Default rooms include: one Out-of-Character room, “Arena,” “Forest,” “Town Center,” “Theater,” and “Desert.” User-made rooms are all rooms created by a single user where the creator of such a room has the authority to create moderators in that room. Permanent rooms are user-made rooms that have received no less than ten individual petitions to create the room “permanent” (appearing on the list, regardless of occupation) and where roleplay occurs at no less than twice per seven day period for more than an hour at a time in each period.

1. Users have the right to create a petition to make any user-made room a “permanent room” given a petition of no less than ten, separate users confirm such a request and that roleplaying occurs at no less than two, separate, single hour or more sessions per seven days in said channel. Furthermore, as granted, user’s have the right to only have one “permanent room” per attached address.
2. Users have the responsibility to maintain the environment of their rooms in accordance to the Haven Constitution – excluding where other rights are afforded, such as “blank check” right for user-made room creators to warn, kick, or ban any user for any reason that does not violate the Haven Constitution. Furthermore, users have the responsibility to not create any public, purely Out-of-Character room on Haven, and to keep non-relevant and/or excessive Out-of-Character discussions in the one, default channel provided. Rooms created purely for Out-of-Character discussions will be dumped and will result in the creator of the room being treated in accordance with the “Three Strike Policy.”
3. In the event a “canon map” of Haven (the In-Character realm) is created, the means to create a “permanent room” will largely co-exist with the means to make “canon claims” on such a map.