Server Standards

The BNS LARP is operated as an 18+ mature game of personal horror. Content on the site is arranged in four categories: Allowed, Redacted, Restricted, and Banned. Each category is detailed below.

Allowed: Cussing, “action movie” violence, sensual/sexual content that does not include detailed depictions of interaction with areas required to be covered in public. Yes, that is a super awkward way to phrase things because movie and tv rating systems suck. Basically, guys, you can make out and even push what you’d do if everyone was watching in the really real world a little bit, but if you’re getting into writing smut or porn, take it to the Explicit Content server.

Redacted: These are things that you can write into a scene but need to be covered by the filter (words) formatting with a [Subject Matter] tag before the redacted words.
 * Intentional triggering of phobias:
 * Common phobias might be claustrophobia, insects, heights, etc.
 * This doesn’t mean that you have avoid all subjects that cause phobias, but if a bit of writing is intensely focused on a phobia or is discussing in depth the more common phobias (insects, arachnids, snakes, claustrophobia, or needles) the words need to be tagged and redacted. A scene that is primarily around malicious triggering a phobia would fall under the Restricted Malevolence tag.
 * If you as the player are having issues with the presence of something you have a phobia to, please either stop reading the scene (if your character isn’t involved) or if your character is present either remove your character or ask for a pause and contact the STs for assistance.
 * Malicious harm to vulnerable groups (ie animals, children, the elderly). If the scene is entirely around this theme, it would fall under the Intense Violence tag and be Restricted.
 * Brief mentions of starvation (actual, not just really hungry) or serious threats/descriptions/actual damage to vulnerable appendages like eyes and fingers should be redacted.
 * Depictions of mental abuse via gaslighting, disciplines, or other tactics. Kindred are jerks to each other, but the depiction of creating those abusive relationships or reinforcing them through this sort of manipulation needs to be redacted - if that’s the entirety of a scene, then it is Restricted.

The following Redacted themes are for ST use only:
 * Natural Disasters
 * Police Aggression as a horror element
 * Terrorism

Restricted: You can’t do this on the main server, but we have an Explicit Content server where you can. Banned: Just don’t. Not in character, not out of character. These are subjects that will result in disciplinary action from the staff ranging from mediation to suspension to a permanent ban from the game.
 * Explicit Sexual Content - Full-on sexual content. Moist bits and all.
 * Intense Violence - Intense scenes of violence, usually involving detailed descriptions of gore, mutilation, torture, and/or murder. This would also include such things as starvation or harm to appendages like eyes or fingers.
 * Malevolence - Scenes entirely predicated around mental or emotional abuse.
 * Physical abuse is covered under Intense Violence and sexual abuse is not a theme we wish to explore in this server’s gameplay.
 * Hate speech. Even if it’s “in character”, it just ruins enjoyment. Don’t.
 * Gaslighting OOCly players or staff. ICly only on the EC server.
 * Harassment OOCly. If you’re having a problem, contact staff.
 * Sexual abuse. Not a theme we’re allowing in the game.
 * Genocide. Not a theme we need in the game.
 * Suicide/Depressive Self-Harm. Like hate speech, this subject simply ruins gameplay for many, many people.

A note on Gaslighting - this is more than just lying and certainly different from engaging in consensual play scenes in a BDSM context. Gaslighting is engaging in manipulative communication to truly convince another person that what the perpetrator is telling them is reality and that the victim’s own experiences or thoughts are invalid or false. There is nothing consensual involved in gaslighting; it is an attempt to sever another person from reality in order to impose control over them.

A perfectly comprehensive list of what goes where is impossible to generate. If you are uncomfortable with a scene you are reading, simply stop reading it and if you think it violates the standards set above contact the staff via your ST Log. If you are uncomfortable with a scene you have a character in, remove your character from the scene, or if that’s not possible within the context of the scene, ask that the scene be paused until staff can adjudicate the issue. In either circumstance, do not make comments in OOC channels or with the other players in private messages as this can lead to feelings of being shamed or censured in either direction. Simply disengage and seek assistance from the staff.

Excluded Content
These subjects have been identified by players or staff as problematic to their mental health and/or enjoyment of the server. In the General OOC Channels category they are to be redacted with [Subject] redacted text formatting or preferably avoided altogether. The Free For All OOC Channels do not have the same regulation for those that wish to socialize without the restrictions or protections. As players and staff can fluctuate over time, the intent is to send out a Google Forms server roughly every three months to redo the Excluded Content list. Please respond as we will rebuild the list from the ground up each time!
 * Pregnancy
 * Babies
 * Infants
 * Spiders
 * BDSM
 * Infectious Parasites and the effects of them.