Game Rules

LANGUAGE & CONTENT

In publicly accessible locations, significant use of any foreign language (i.e., not English) is prohibited.

TheNinja-RPG generally adheres to PEGI 12+ guidelines when it comes to in-game content (please note that no official age classification has been given).Online interactions are not rated, but are instead subject to our rules.

A detailed guide to PEGI ratings can be found here ; this guide may be helpful in understanding, but is not dispositive of, site policies on language and content. Language and content permitted under PEGI 12+ guidelines are subject to all applicable restrictions set forth by TheNinja-RPG’s Rules and Terms of Service.

Prohibited language and content include, but are not limited to: strong language, sexual references or content, inappropriate drug use references, and spamming.

These Rules apply to the anywhere on the site where the user can submit free text, e.g. taverns, news comments, private messages, private chats, forum, Clan and ANBU names, avatars, nindos, and usernames.

Profanity: Strong language prohibited on the site includes, but is not limited to: sexual expletives, unnecessary and excessive profanity, and offensive language. Censorship (e.g., replacing vowels with symbols) does not make prohibited language permissible. If you are not sure if specific words are appropriate to use, ask a moderator.

Offensiveness: Offensive language prohibited on the site includes, but is not limited to: racial slurs, discriminatory or hateful content, and malicious or intentionally harmful insults towards other users. Moderators may determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether a specific interaction between users was both intended and perceived to be offensive.

Spamming: Spam may include, but is not limited to: excessive use of capital letters; excessive use of BBCode (e.g., bold, italic, or underlined text, quoted text, or hyperlinks); excessive use of punctuation or symbols; persistently making blank, annoying or nonsensical posts; and “stretching” or “breaking” the tavern. As a matter of courtesy, we expect users to refrain from posting or messaging purely for advertising purposes. Doing so may constitute spamming.

Appropriateness: Inappropriate content includes, but is not limited to: explicit sexual content, graphic or gratuitous sexual conduct, sexual nudity, inappropriate references to substance abuse, inappropriate references to illegal drug use, gang signs or symbols, hate symbols, extremist imagery, glorification of violence, graphic depictions of gore or mutilation, self-harm content, animal cruelty, non-consensual intimate imagery, and deliberately shocking or disturbing content. Moderators may determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether specific behavior or content was both intended and perceived to be inappropriate.

CONDUCT

Users are expected to treat others with basic courtesy and respect. Harassing, trolling, or otherwise pestering another user will not be tolerated. This includes using creative or unconventional methods – including, but not limited to, abusing normal game features – to harass or troll others.

Harassment: Harassment may include, but is not limited to: serious or persistent attempts to torment others; incessantly insulting, hurtful or aggravating conduct; targeting others through repeated annoyances, threats, or personal criticisms; and unwelcome sexual advances or interactions.

Examples of harassment include, but are not limited to:

• Discrimination based on race/religion/gender orientation/sexual identity.
• Discrimination based on state/nationality/occupations.
• Obscenity and indecency.
• Using historical expressions that cause distress.
• Stalking or revealing personal information such as name, address or social media without permission of the user.
• Any action with the intention of inflicting emotional distress on another player.

Nuisance behaviour: Nuisance behaviour is behaviour that impacts or instructs other player's game play but might not be considered harassment. If multiple people are observed engaging in the behaviour, multiple punishments may be handed out.

Examples of nuisance behaviour includes:

• Using expressions to reject a person's opinions in an attempt to belittle or disrespect them.
• Using expressions to disrupt the order in a public space.
• Using or creating avatars with the intent to disrupt, offend, or annoy other players or staff members.
• Expressions that are purposely offensive towards another player.
• Purposely disrupting another player's gameplay or excluding them beyond regular gameplay features (Ie. Not everyone must be accepted into a clan or ANBU).
• Spoiling events for other players.
• Repeating behaviour that is considered annoying towards another player.
• Ignoring a moderator's instructions in reference to the rules or ToS behaviour.

Trolling: Trolling may include, but is not limited to: intentional attempts to incite negative responses from others; intentionally baiting, insulting, or provocative interactions; and intentionally inflammatory or disruptive behavior.

Staff Positions: Users are strongly discouraged from pestering game staff about staff positions. Excessive pestering can constitute harassment or spamming.

Reports: Users may be penalized for persistent and intentional abuse of the report system. Reports are not frivolous toys or tools of personal revenge. It is the reporting user’s responsibility to show both rule-breaking and supporting evidence when filing reports. All reports should contain some form of relevant evidence. Blank reports that include no information whatsoever are essentially unsubstantiated claims, and cannot justify moderating actions. If you are not sure how to report a particular situation, message a moderator for instructions. Encouraging others to file reports is not allowed, e.g. encouraging mass reports of a given user.

Punishments: bans and punishments of specific users are to be kept out of public chat. While discussion amongst users in private is fine, it is to be kept out of the public taverns.

Staff information: Staff has access to various user information unavailable to the public (including by not limited to IP address, usage information etc.). Sharing of this information outside of staff circles is strictly prohibited, and will result in severe consequences.

ACCOUNTS

Users are responsible at all times for anything that occurs on their account(s). Accidents (e.g., siblings, pets, mysterious hackers and unverifiable glitches) will not excuse users from the Rules or entitle them to compensation.

Account Limit: Users are permitted to maintain a maximum of two accounts at any given time. Exceeding this limit may result in the banning of all associated accounts. Users with more than two accounts should promptly designate the excess accounts for deletion to avoid penalties. The reason for this rule is to avoid ryo farming, spamming bloodline rolls, etc.

Account deletions: Accounts that are inactive for over 90 days are automatically flagged for deletion and deleted in the next sweep. Users who anticipate extended periods of inactivity but wish to protect their accounts are advised to contact our support staff before they leave. Accounts are protected from automatic deletion regardless of activity if they have bought 20 or more reputation points, have active federal support, or are banned from the game.

Account Changes: The administration will not manipulate user data except under special and extraordinarily compelling circumstances. Users that request unethical or prohibited alterations may be subject to nominal penalties. Such alterations may include, but are not limited to: usernames, statistics, jutsu, ryo, reputation points, achievements, bloodlines, and ranks (up or down).

FAIR GAMING

All users are expected to play the game fairly and in the spirit of good sportsmanship. Cheating and other unfair gaming practices may include, but are not limited to: hacking, scamming, account sharing, account farming, statistic or kill farming, and Kage-holding.

Players participate in unfair shortcuts and practices at their own risk. Relevant rules and policies will be interpreted by their intended purpose, not by textual limitations. Loopholes and technicalities (e.g., getting real-life siblings to claim to “own” illegal ryo farms) will not excuse users who act contrary to the spirit of these Rules.

Hacking: Searching for and discovering exploits in the game is highly encouraged, and any reported findings richly rewarded by in-game rewards. Threatening or attempting to use, distributing the means for, inquiring about, or withholding information relevant to any founds exploits is however strictly prohibited. In addition to incurring penalties within the game, perpetrators may also be subject to legal action, e.g., for programs deemed illegal by the NITEC.

Scamming: Informal transactions and agreements with other users are not condoned, encouraged, or insured by the Rules or staff. Users participate in such unofficial deals at their own risk; any and all resulting damages are the user’s sole responsibility and will not be recovered or compensated for by the administration. You may ask moderators to facilitate these transactions, but moderators are not encouraged or obligated to accommodate such requests in the course of their staff duties. If a moderator decides to help facilitate player-to-player agreements, they do so only in their capacity as a trustworthy third party, not in their position as staff. However, users that are caught scamming or otherwise cheating others may still be subject to penalties pursuant to fair gaming rules. Moderators may also place a visible warning sign on such users’ public profiles as a measure against future scams.

Kage-Holding: As a general rule, moderators will not intervene in Kage matters as long as the Kage is reasonably active, fulfilling appropriate Kage functions in a timely manner, and engaging in ordinary gaming/training such that normal challenges from users in general are possible. No Kage is obligated under the Rules to be popular or likeable, act in their village’s best interest (as villagers see it), or accept specific challenges from individual players. If a Kage must be removed for appropriate reasons but is not in violation of any other rules (e.g., trolling), a perfunctory ban may be issued to remove the player from the position, but no other penalties will be imposed.

MODERATION

Case-by-case applications of the Rules are within the jurisdiction of moderators. Scenarios and consequences include, but are not limited to, those described within the text of the Rules. Nothing in the text of the Rules should be construed as a technical limitation to moderators’ ability to accomplish the intended objectives of the Rules.

Punishments for disregarding or breaking the rules may result in warnings, silences (for chat behaviour) or bans (for gameplay or more serious chat behaviour) and are given at the discretion of a moderator.

For communication based conflicts, punishments will be given out based on how the receiving party perceives it as different people will perceive different styles of communication as uncomfortable. Therefore specific words and phrases are not prohibited and instead the greater context will be looked at.

However it is noted that being mindful is still encouraged as there are many people in public spaces who may be made uncomfortable, even if they aren't involved in the conversation. Action can still be taken against the offending user if the offensive communications continue.

As a general policy, ambiguities in the Rules or evidence are presumed in favor of the user. By default, moderators have the burden of proof and must appropriately document and justify all moderating actions.

User Responsibility: TheNinja-RPG may change these Rules at any time. Any significant changes will be publicly announced to all users, but will not limit or negate the responsibility of all users to be aware of, understand, and comply with the Rules at all times. Moderators can only regulate what they see, either in publicly accessible areas or in reports. Users are strongly encouraged to use the report system. Reports are reliable evidence, and allow moderators to respond to problems that may occur when no moderators are online. If you are provoked by another user’s inappropriate behavior, report the offensive behavior to a moderator. No other user’s behavior (i.e., “they started it”) will ever be an excuse for breaking rules in retaliation.

User Records: Infractions are issued against users, not accounts. A user’s record consists of infractions from all their accounts, including from deleted accounts. User can at any time see and review all record entries relating to their account. As a courtesy, moderators will avoid sharing information about a user’s record and infractions, past or ongoing, with anyone other than that user. This includes family, friends, and even those attempting to speak with moderators on your behalf. If you need to talk to a moderator about your record or infractions, send them a PM, forum PM, or support ticket.

Warnings: Warnings, official or unofficial, may be issued by moderators as a courtesy. In general, moderators are advised to allow each user no more than two official warnings.

Bans: Using a different account to bypass an active ban is strictly prohibited, and may result in an extension of the original ban. Generally, the duration of bans will depend on the severity of the offence, the user’s prior record, and other circumstantial factors which moderators may deem appropriate to consider. Repeat offenders may also be subject to appropriate penalties against profits from illicit activities (e.g., ryo drains for scamming, statistics cuts for account sharing). Repeat offenders who continue to break rules may have their tavern privileges permanently removed, and/or be permanently banned from the game.

Staff and the Rules:All staff, like users, are also required to follow all site rules. Ordinary misconduct from content staff and event designers can be reported to any moderator. Other staff misconduct can be reported to a head moderator or to the staff administrator. All staff also have the same protections under the Rules that users have. They are not required to tolerate any special abuses by virtue of their position. Staff impersonation is strictly forbidden, and includes, but is not limited to: falsely claiming to be staff, implicitly pretending to be staff, and falsely asserting staff privileges or authority.

Appeals: If you believe you were issued an infraction in error, intentionally or otherwise, you can challenge it by complaining to the issuing moderator or a head moderator. If you want to appeal a properly-issued ban, you can appeal to the issuing moderator, a head moderator or to the staff administrator if there are no head moderators available/the head moderator(s) were the ones to issue the infraction. Permanent tavern or game ban appeals are usually evaluated by head moderators and the staff administrator. Generally, moderators can overturn their own decisions, but should not overturn other moderators’ decisions unless absolutely necessary. Head moderators can overturn the decisions of any moderator, but should not overturn other head moderators’ decisions unless absolutely necessary. The staff administrator can overturn the decisions of any other staff members if necessary. You can use private messages to discuss staff-related issues. If you cannot resolve your issue with a moderator or head moderator, contact the staff administrator.

EVENTS

TNR staff are not officially involved in player-made events and TNR is not liable for any issues resulting from fairness or prizes. Any TNR official events will be posted about in news.

Players may create and run their own events such as, but not limited to: raiding events, avatar contests, creative writing events etc.

Player events should follow the rules outlined on this page, however TNR staff will not be responsible for or punish players based on complaints due to fairness or how prizes are distributed.

Moderators may be requested to retain applicable prizes, such as ryo, for distribution. However, staff members are not required to participate, and their involvement in any capacity does not transform a player event into an official event.