Planet of the Cyclops Con 2024 Code of Conduct

This is a living document updated as of 09/26/2024.

Our goal is to make Planet of the Cyclops Con a safe, diverse, and engaging space for online gaming and community fellowships. Everyone participating in Planet of the Cyclops Con – including, but not limited to, playing/running events, participating in any related chat or video communication, interactions with the Planet of the Cyclops Con staff —is required to agree to the following Code of Conduct. This includes all attendees, speakers, performers, patrons (sponsors), volunteers, and staff.

Planet of the Cyclops Con is dedicated to providing a friendly, safe, and inclusive gaming environment. All game sessions should be acceptable for play by children as well as adults. In movie vernacular, we strive for sessions that are rated G, PG or perhaps PG-13.

Our goal is to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neurotype, physical appearance, body, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, or religion. Planet of the Cyclops Con will not tolerate harassment of participants in any form.

Participating in the Planet of the Cyclops Con constitutes acknowledgement and acceptance to abide by this Code of Conduct both within and outside of the Planet of the Cyclops Con Gaming Community, including, but not limited to, digital and physical spaces.

Anyone who violates this Code of Conduct may be sanctioned or expelled from Planet of the Cyclops Con at the discretion of the Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin team and may not be allowed to participate in future Goodman Games Conventions.

Laws of the Cyclops

In accordance with our Code of Conduct, all members of our community shall function within the following principles:

Family Friendly Content. All games run during Planet of the Cyclops Con should be age appropriate for the age range the GM selected when registering for their event. GMs should avoid excessive gore, violence, or sexual content. Of course, these are fantasy games, so a certain amount of combat against fantasy monsters is unavoidable. Such combat should be dealt with in a family-friendly format, and never become offensive.

Safety. All GMs are encouraged to use safety tools they are comfortable and proficient with using.

GMs who intend on running games with content that could be considered lude, violent or gory outside the bounds of traditional fantasy RPGs, or “NSFW,” should choose the Adult Content descriptor and provide some context for that choice in the event’s description.

Consideration. That safety doesn't end at the gaming table but extends into our community spaces. Planet of the Cyclops Con asks that in those spaces you consider your words and their impact. It is vital that Planet of the Cyclops Con members can offer opinions and discuss issues, but that should be done in a spirit of support, kindness, and inclusivity. Think about your intent and act in those spaces with integrity and love. Be positive and supportive of others as you would hope they would be of you.

Creativity. Community members should be supportive and kind. They should think about the impact of their words, the privilege they hold, and the relative position of those they interact with. Where possible, criticisms should offer solutions and alternatives. Personal attacks, even indirect sub tweeting, should be avoided. Don't hurt one another and don't mock or erase someone's life or experience. Do think about how you can model and support ideas which create rather than destroy.

Planet of the Cyclops Con PLAY GUIDELINES

While exemplifying Planet of the Cyclops Con Principles, all members of our community shall function within the following guidelines:

Clearly declare the concept, aim, tone, & subject matter (including clear content warnings) of every game shared on Planet of the Cyclops Con.

Plan regular breaks and outline the schedule for them at the start of each session When wishing to record and/or publicly share a game session, post as such in the event description to notify potential participants before they RSVP.

In the event a player requests that a gaming session not be shared after-the-fact, honor the request not to share the recorded session.

Respect player pronouns and character pronouns; routinely reaffirm these throughout play and at the start of each session.

Respect player autonomy and practice regular check-ins to affirm enthusiastic agreement of game development.

Explain and incorporate some form of tools for safe play (e.g. X-Card, Lines & Veils, etc) into every game shared on Planet of the Cyclops Con.

DEFINITIONS

Harassment includes:

Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neurotype, physical appearance, body, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, or religion

Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment

Deliberate use of incorrect name or pronouns, including misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names

Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behavior in spaces where they’re not appropriate

Physical contact and simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “kiss” or “massaging”) without consent or after a request to stop

Derogatory comments that refer to a particular person without directly mentioning them, especially for, but not limited to, means of mockery or criticism (eg, “sub tweeting” or “vaguebooking”)

Making intentionally false communications, either written, spoken, or posted on any social media, that harms a member’s or Planet of the Cyclops Con’s reputation

Stealing or misappropriation of any property (including digital) belonging to another member or Planet of the Cyclops Con, including all materials developed for or on behalf of Planet of the Cyclops Con without the express permission of the member and/or Planet of the Cyclops Con

Acting in a manner that endangers the health or safety of another person

Exhibiting disorderly conduct, including but not limited to, abuse of controlled substances or overt drunkenness

Any social media posting reflecting any of the above behavior occurring at a Goodman Games/ Planet of the Cyclops Con-sponsored/affiliated event or activity

Threats of violence

Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm

Deliberate intimidation

Stalking or following, including both physical and digital spaces

Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes Sustained disruption of discussion

Unwelcome sexual attention

Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others

Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease

Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect other Planet of the Cyclops Con community members or other vulnerable people from intentional abuse

Publication of non-harassing private communication via any platform within or without Planet of the Cyclops Con network without consent by the involved parties

Planet of the Cyclops Con prioritizes marginalized people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort.

Planet of the Cyclops Con reserves the right not to act on complaints of ‘reverse’ -isms, including ‘reverse racism,’ ‘reverse sexism,’ and ‘cisphobia’.

Planet of the Cyclops Con reserves the right not to act on complaints against the reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone,” “go away,” or “I’m not discussing this with you.”

Planet of the Cyclops Con reserves the right not to act on complaints of someone communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial.

Planet of the Cyclops Con reserves the right not to act on complaints against criticisms of racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions.

REPORTING

If you experience disrespectful or harassing behavior by a member of Planet of the Cyclops Con community, notice that someone else is being disrespected or harassed, or have any other concerns, please immediately contact Matt at mattrobertson@goodman-games.com

ENFORCEMENT & CONSEQUENCES Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin team may take any action deemed appropriate by the current Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin team, up to and including expulsion from all Planet of the Cyclops Con spaces and identification of the participant as a harasser to other Planet of the Cyclops Con community members or the general public.

Any and all complaints received by the Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin Team are investigated to the fullest extent possible. Anonymous complaints are investigated to the extent that information provided allows. In the case of a formally lodged complaint, the Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin team will endeavor to protect the confidentiality of a complainant to the fullest extent possible.

If the person who is harassing you is a member of staff, either officially or in an ancillary capacity, they will recuse themselves from the handling of your incident.

The Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin team must investigate allegations of prohibited behavior and must document the issue in a formal written complaint, either as written by the complainant or as compiled by a representative of the Cyclops Admin Team and approved by the complainant.

The process by which the Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin team investigates allegations of prohibited behavior is as follows:

A representative of the Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin team will establish contact with the complainant and communicate to understand the nature of the complaint.

The representative works with the complainant to draft a statement outlining the allegations of prohibited behavior, either as a written statement by the complainant or as a summary report written by the representative and approved by the complainant.

The representative submits the report to the Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin team liaison to review and either request additional clarifying information or propose a recommendation for sanctions based on the report.

The representative and the liaison will come to consensus on the recommendation for appropriate sanctions commensurate to the allegation.

The representative and the liaison will submit the report and recommendation to the Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin Team review committee, and the review committee will either request additional clarifying information or vote to impose the sanctions.

Once approved, sanctions will be imposed and enforced by the Planet of the Cyclops Con Admin Team and the Planet of the Cyclops Con community as a whole. If the sanction includes revocation of the accused’s membership in Planet of the Cyclops Con, the Community Care Team will be asked to affect the revocation by a two-thirds vote.

If you are uncomfortable putting your complaint in writing, the person to whom you brought the allegations will create a written complaint and ask you to review and correct it and to then approve the final version. Complaints will be maintained in a confidential file in the office of the Admin Team.

You should be assured that there will be no retaliation against you for making good faith claims.

THANKS This policy was based on the existing XOXO Community Code of Conduct, which is itself based on resources provided by Geek Feminism, and borrows heavily from similar open source policies authored by JSConf AU and Django.

This policy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. We encourage other events to adopt (and enforce) similar policies by using and remixing ours.