Section S: Social and Community Rules

1. Try to use proper grammar. English is the official community language, but use is not required in regional or cultural groups. If you cannot write English well, we advise that you use Google Translate.
2. Do not spam. There's not a one size fits all definition here, but the idea is usually obvious. In addition, the following are seen as spam and may be hidden or deleted:
   
   1. Posting multiple threads on the same subject. Try to combine threads on game feedback or suggestions into one thread.
   2. Bumping an old thread by replying. This is what we call 'necro' or 'necroing'. The content of the thread may be stale (fixing issues, ideas, etc). We recommend posting a new thread for an updated or more current response.
   3. Posting on a thread with '+1' or other short replies. There's no need to constantly bump a thread and make finding replies difficult. Replies are great for constructive feedback, while the '+1' button is to show your support for the content.
   4. Comments that are excessively long or gibberish. Making comments such as repeating the same letter or have little to no intended purpose, fall under this rule. Comments that are in a different language are exempt.
   5. Excessive formatting. UPPERCASE, Bold, and italics can be nice with moderate use, but please do not use them throughout the entire post.
   6. Do not ask for staff to read your thread or save through the title (eg. "mods please read" or "devs add this!"). It's really annoying to other users and has zero effect on whether we actually read it. In fact, we may purposely ignore the thread.
   7. Excessive posting of comments on saves (eg. multiple comments of the same variety, commenting despite being asked to not post, etc.)
3. Keep swearing to a minimum. Comments or saves containing swearing are at risk of being deleted. This also includes swearing in other languages.
4. Refrain from uploading sexually explicit, offensive, or other inappropriate materials.
   
   1. These include, but are not limited to: sex, drugs, racism, excessive politics, or anything that offends or insults a group of people.
   2. Reference to these topics in other languages is also prohibited. Do not attempt to bypass this rule.
   3. Posting URLs or images that violate this rule is prohibited. This includes links or text in your profile information.
5. Do not advertise third-party games, sites, or other places not related to The Powder Toy.
   
   1. Mainly this rule is intended to prevent people going through and advertising their own games and products.
   2. Unauthorized or unofficial community gathering places, such as Discord, are prohibited.
6. Trolling is not allowed. As with some rules, there's no clear definition. Users who repeatedly troll are far more likely to be banned and receive longer bans than others.
7. Do not impersonate anyone. Registering accounts with names intentionally similar to other users in our community or other online communities is prohibited.
8. Do not post about moderator decisions or issues. If there is a problem regarding a ban on your account or content removal, please contact a moderator through the messages system. Otherwise, discussion about moderator actions should be avoided.
9. Avoid backseat moderating. Moderators are the ones who make the decisions. Users should refrain from threatening bans or possible results from breaking a rule. If there is a possible issue or you are unsure, we recommend reporting the issue through the 'Report' button or via the messaging system on the website.
10. Condoning of breaking common laws is prohibited. The jurisdiction of which country's laws applies is not clear, but there are some common ones to know. These include, but not limited to:
    
    1. Piracy of software, music, bagels, etc.
    2. Hacking / Stealing accounts
    3. Theft / Fraud
11. Do not stalk or harass any user. This has been a growing problem in recent years by different methods, but generally these include:
    
    1. 'Doxing' user(s) to find where they live or their real identity
    2. Constantly messaging a user when they wish to refrain from any contact
    3. Mass downvoting saves
    4. Posting rude or unnecessary comments on someone's content (saves, forum threads, etc)
    5. Coercing a group of users to 'target' a user
    6. Personal arguments or hatred. This could be arguing in the comments or making hate saves
    7. Discrimination, in general, of people. This could be religious, ethnic, etc.

Section G: In-Game Rules

1. Don't claim other people's work. This could be simply re-uploading another user's or utilizing large sections of saves. Derivative works are allowed, with proper usage. Should you utilize someone's work, by default you must credit the author. Unless the author has explicitly noted different usage terms, this is the standard policy. Derivative works are characterized by innovative usage and originality percentage (ie. how much is original versus someone's work?). Stolen saves will be unpublished or disabled.
   
   1. If you use someone’s work in your own saves, please attribute/credit the original work by mentioning the source in the description. Additionally, if possible, you should add a link sign within your save to the original work. This can be done by creating a sign with the text {c:saveID|signtext}, where saveID is the ID of the save you are copying.
2. Self-voting or vote fraud is not allowed. This is defined as making multiple accounts to vote on your own saves or the saves of others. We enforce this rule strictly, therefore, you must understand that there are very few successful ban appeals. Please ensure you and other accounts are not voting from the same household. All alternate accounts will be permanently banned, the main account will be temporarily banned and any affected saves will be disabled.
3. Asking for votes of any kind is frowned upon. Saves which do this will be unpublished until the issue is fixed. Examples of such that are under this rules are:
   
   1. Signs that may hint at voting up or down. The signature green arrow or asking for votes goes under this rule.
   2. Gimmicks that ask for votes. These might be a total number of votes in exchange for something, like '100 votes and I'll make a better version'. This is what we define as vote farming. Any type of vote farming is not allowed.
   3. Asking for votes in return for usage of a save or for any other reason is prohibited.
4. Do not spam. As mentioned earlier, there are no standards for what counts as spam. Here are some examples that may qualify as spamming:
   
   1. Uploading or re-uploading saves within a short amount of time. Don't try to circumvent the system to have your saves seen/voted by people. This includes uploading 'junk' or 'blank' saves with little to no purpose. These saves will be unpublished.
   2. Uploading text-only saves. These may be announcements or looking for help of sorts. We have the forums and comments area available for many purposes these text-only saves would serve. These saves will be removed from front page.
   3. Uploading art saves is not strictly prohibited, but may result in a front-page demotion. We like to see usage of the variety of elements in a creative manner. Lack of these factors (such as in deco-only saves) will typically result in a front-page demotion
5. Refrain from uploading sexually explicit or other inappropriate materials. These saves will be deleted and will lead to a ban.
   
   1. These include, but are not limited to: sex, drugs, racism, excessive politics, or anything that offends or insults a group of people.
   2. Don't try to circumvent this rule. Anything that intentionally refers to these concepts/ideas by direct or indirect means falls under this rule.
   3. Reference to these topics in other languages is also prohibited. Do not attempt to bypass this rule.
   4. Posting URLs or images that violate this rule is prohibited. This includes links or text in your profile information.
6. Image plotting is strictly prohibited. This includes usage of scripting or any third-party tools to plot or create a save for you. Saves using CGI will be deleted and you may receive a ban. However, there is an exception which has strict guidelines:
   
   1. The save demonstrates the game's physics or demonstrates functionality of a save. The focus of the save should not be the result of the script. Decoration creation or modification by a script is not allowed, as this tends to be a focal point of saves for users
7. Keep logos and signs to a minimum. These saves may be removed from front page. Items that this rule restricts are:
   
   1. Excessive logos placed
   2. Signs without intended purpose
   3. Fake update or notifications signs
   4. Linking other saves that have no related purposes
8. Do not place offtopic or inappropriate tags. Tags are only there to improve search results. They should generally only be one word descriptions of the save. Sentences or subjective tags may be deleted. Inappropriate or offensive tags will likely get you banned.
9. Intentional lag inducing or crashing saves are prohibited. If the majority of users are writing about the save causing crashes or lag, then the save will fall under this rule. These saves will be removed from front page or disabled.
10. Do not misuse the reporting system. Sending in report reasons such as 'bad save' or gibberish wastes our time. Unless the issue pertains to a possible rule violation or community issue, please refrain from sending a report. If you think the save violates or poses a community issue, send a report anyway! Bans will never happen if you are reporting a save in good faith.
11. Do not ask for saves to be demoted or removed from the front-page. Unless the save violates any rules, it will stay on the front-page. There is no exception to this rule for art saves, please do not report art either.

Section R: Other

1. Moderators may interpret these rules as they see fit. Not all rules are equal, some are enforced less than others. Moderators make the final decision on what is and isn't against the rules, but we have made our best effort here to cover all unwanted behavior here. Notice will be posted in this thread whenever the rules are updated.

Do not ask for staff to read your thread or save through the title (eg. "mods please read" or "devs add this!"). It's really annoying to other users and has zero effect on whether we actually read it. In fact, we may purposely ignore the thread.