Remember, if for any reason you encounter a PMA or PMA community related issue (even if not listed below, or if it feels trivial), feel free to report it to the group via note.
Group Activity
First off, we’d like to make it clear that we do not expect nor require Pokemon-Amie to be your first priority. While activity within the group is encouraged, you are free to do it in your time at your own pace. If real life occurs, or if you've lost your muse, do not feel bad or guilty about being unable to give PMA your 100%. We will have occasional (bi-annual at most) activity checks in the future, however these only require members to say "I am present" and we do not expect our members to be active all of the time, every week of the month. Still, if you feel you need a break, please be sure to notify us of your hiatus with a note to the group! Hiatus status will prevent you from being purged in activity checks. An ‘I’m back’ announcement or submission to the group will break your hiatus.Harassment
It has come to our attention that some users are engaging in behavior that can be, and is construed as harassment. We would like to remind all members to please respect one another and the moderating staff. The environment that we maintain should feel safe for everyone within the group.Please note: when contacting the mod team about issues, please send a note to the group! Issues are solved much faster this way, and while we understand that contacting mods privately may feel safer, having a single mod working on the issue gives said mod much less power to do anything about it.
If you are being harassed:
- Tell the harasser that their behavior is unwelcome and ask them to stop, if possible. If you feel uncomfortable doing this (this is entirely reasonable), move on to the following.
- Keep a record of incidents (date, times, chat logs, possible witnesses, screenshots, the works). You do not have to have a record of events in order to make a complaint, but a record can strengthen your case and help you remember details over time, and it helps us help you
- Make a complaint to the group via note. As mods, it is our duty to do our best to make you feel comfortable in PMA!
Along with the general definition of harassment, there are several other forms of harassment that are not allowed in Pokemon-Amie.
- Unwarranted NSFW - among appropriate audiences and in private, NSFW is perfectly acceptable. In public chats, one should be careful about too much NSFW content, as there is always the possibility that someone underaged or uncomfortable with the topics discussed may be present. If you ask someone to stop talking about NSFW and they persist, this is harassment. If someone asks you to stop talking about a NSFW topic, please stop. This includes NSFW RP subject material. Public chats should be accessible to all users, so please use discretion! Please keep the content of all public venues PG-13 unless stated otherwise (such as the Skype NSFW chat)
- Art/RP Harassment - we have witnessed a few cases of people guilt tripping and otherwise harassing other members for art and roleplays. This creates undue amounts of stress in other members, and can make others feel uncomfortable. Please do not do this, as we will have to take action. This is different, of course, from asking for roleplays and prompting RP partners! While those situations may be reminders or invitations, guilt tripping incites negative emotions (ex. “I’m so bored, nobody’s responding to my roleplays!” “I think nobody likes my character, nobody draws or roleplays with them.” “You roleplay so much more with ___ than you do with me!”)
- Ship Harassment - it is alright for people to not want to ship their characters with others! Please respect this. Pursuing and encouraging to make ships canon where the other mun is uncomfortable or disapproving is unhealthy and frowned upon. On the other hand, it is also alright to ship characters period, and to state or draw your ships! Just remember not to harass others concerning your ships, and to be sure that in drawing NSFW art, you have all involved character’s artist’s permission.
Again; if you are experiencing any negative interactions with your fellow members, please report the events! Every little thing helps us, as well as your fellow PMA’ers.
Negative Behaviours
Along with harassment, there are some other activities that are unacceptable in PMA. Because we do not use a strike system, it is possible for members to be ejected from the group if they cause trouble and if we feel that the behavior cannot be remedied. Some lesser instances will result in warnings instead of a ban, but try not to accumulate too many warnings as this increases the chance of being banned in the future.- Mini Modding - If there is an issue that needs to be sorted out between two other members and you are an unrelated party, please contact the mod team rather than trying to intervene yourself. Answering questions on the front page or the journals, or also critiquing applications that are not expressly asking for critiques also is considered mini modding. Mini modding can be extremely harmful in the event that the mod team does not agree with the actions of the mini mod, and this activity can get you banned from the group.
- Guilt Tripping - is not an acceptable behavior. Guilt tripping is inducing feelings of guilt in an individual in order to get them to do something; it’s manipulative and stews negative behaviors. As a person, guilt tripping does not help your own reputation or credibility. People who guilt trip will be given a warning, though if it is known that guilt tripping is used maliciously and purposefully as a tool or weapon, the user will be banned.
- Encouraging Drama - In vast communities, it is easy for drama to become the main source of attention. Drama isn’t fun for those indirectly involved, exasperates onlookers, and can scar the reputation of many users. Some members during enrollments were declined on histories of participating in large drama fests. Remember, the peers in your community are likely to be members of communities in future roleplay groups, so keep in mind that you will be remembered. Of course, nobody is perfect, and disputes occur; do not try to bring these issues out to discuss in public (on Tumblr, deviantArt, in public chats, on Twitter), as it is detrimental to both you and your antagonist’s reputation and brings down the mood of the RP community in general. If you are unable to resolve the problem with the others directly involved in private, please contact a mod about the issue.
Twitter Behaviour and Guidelines
There are a lot of RP twitters for PMA characters that have popped up over the past few weeks. Even though we cannot 100% moderate the activities of the twitter, please keep in mind that activities in the twitters reflect your reputation here on dA.In understanding that, in a twitter environment with IC tweets and limited character posts, some degree of powerplay is required to keep the proverbial ball rolling in terms of RP, we are a bit more lenient in terms of twitter rp shenanigans. Still, please do keep in mind that seeing as a good chunk of the twitter RP accounts are non-canon or WIP characters, the events on twitter are liable to being considered crack unless otherwise accepted as canon by consenting artists. If others are making you feel uncomfortable in the twitters, please do contact us or them so that the issue may be resolved.
Remember that you are NOT expected or required to be forced to follow back all of your fellow members; do not feel pressured into getting involved with masses of people if that’s not your thing. Your fellow members should respect that as well!
RP Etiquette
Remember that while your characters may fight or use vulgar language, this is not an excuse for you as an artist to be disrespectful to other members in the group. Also, in most cases, please try to keep muses and their muns separate! Often, antagonistic characters do not share the same views or opinions as their artists.Still, a reminder that refraining from being offensive to your fellow artists can go a long way!
If you decide that you want to stop an rp for any reason (RL circumstances, loss of motivation, deadlines, etc) please let the other mun know. It’s nice to not keep them hanging, and helps to keep them from feeling left out or forgotten. Communication is a good thing, guys! We’re a community!
DO NOT ever force someone/someone’s character to do something that makes the mun uncomfortable-- This includes mature actions, physical action, NSFW, etc. Just remember guys, there’s a difference between pranks/playing around and forcing actions.
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Thank you very much for bearing through with us in this announcement!
