Community Standards

Be Respectful

Treat other members with respect. Nexus Unbound does not tolerate:

  • Harassment
  • Bullying
  • Hate speech
  • Discrimination
  • Threats
  • Stalking
  • Sexual harassment
  • Sharing someone’s private information
  • Deliberately targeting another member

Disagreements are allowed. Being abusive is not.

Real Life Comes First

Nobody should feel guilty for having a life outside Nexus Unbound. Real life comes first.

If you are busy: Tell your GM.

  • You can request a Leave of Absence (LOA).
  • You don’t have to explain personal circumstances.
  • You don’t need to give private medical or family information.
  • Just let your game know that you won’t be around.
  • Players who make frequent or excessive LOA requests may be removed from a game at the GM’s discretion.

Problems and Arguments

If you have a problem with another player, try to resolve it calmly.

If that doesn’t work: Talk to your GM.

If the problem involves the GM: Talk to Community Leaders.

Serious complaints can be formally investigated. Nobody should be punished simply for making a genuine complaint.

Complaints

Everyone has the right to raise a concern. Complaints should be handled fairly.

The person dealing with the complaint should not investigate a situation where they are personally involved.

Both sides should have the opportunity to explain what happened.

Discipline

Most problems should be dealt with informally.

Where necessary, Nexus Unbound can use:

Informal warning → Formal warning → Restriction → Removal

Serious misconduct can result in immediate removal, or even a community ban.

The Most Important Rule

Have fun.

Nexus Unbound is a hobby. Nobody is being paid to write. Nobody should feel that they have to sacrifice their real life to meet a posting target.

The rules exist to support the community and its games, not control it.

Respect Other People’s Characters

You control your characters. Other players control theirs. There are no distinctions between primary or secondary characters in this regard.

Don’t:

  • Kill, seriously injure, maim, or otherwise harm another person’s character without permission.
  • Decide what another character thinks or feels.
  • Force another character to do something.
  • Use your character to make a negative impact on another player’s character.

Collaborative writing works best when everyone gets a say.

Follow Your Game’s Rules

Every game in Nexus Unbound can have its own rules.

For example, a game might have rules about:

  • Posting frequency
  • Character creation
  • Word counts
  • Canon
  • Mission structure
  • Ranks
  • Relationships
  • Ratings

The game’s rules apply to that game. However, Nexus Unbound rules always take priority.

A game cannot create rules that conflict with Nexus Unbound’s basic conduct or safeguarding requirements.

If Someone Stops Posting/Contributing

We don’t immediately remove people.

The normal process is:

Reminder → Contact → Warning → Removal

If someone explains that they’re busy, an LOA can be arranged. If someone simply disappears and doesn’t respond, the game can remove the player from the roster after 30 days.

AI and Writing Tools

Players may use tools to help with:

  • Spelling
  • Grammar
  • Accessibility
  • Translation
  • Brainstorming

The actual creative contribution should still come from the player.

Individual games can have stricter AI rules if they clearly publish them. The Simming League offers a simple AI Rating system should you wish to use it.

Posting or other Gameplay Contributions

Every game can decide how often its players are expected to post.

Nexus Unbound recommends: One meaningful contribution every 14–30 days. This doesn’t necessarily mean one solo post.

A contribution could be:

  • A solo post
  • A joint post
  • A personal log
  • A mission or campaign post, including contributions to unpublished/incomplete posts
  • Another agreed form of writing

Games can set different requirements if they clearly tell players what those requirements are.

Game Managers

GMs are responsible for keeping their games running.

They should:

  • Welcome new players
  • Keep the story moving
  • Communicate with players
  • Manage characters
  • Keep the roster updated
  • Deal with problems
  • Advertise their game should they wish to replenish their player base
  • Tell Community Leaders if they need help

GMs don’t have to do everything themselves. An Assistant GM or another trusted player can help.

Starting a New Game or Transferring in an Existing Game

Anyone wanting to start a game or transfer in an existing game should provide:

  • Game name
  • Setting
  • Timeline
  • Basic story
  • Rating (based on the RPG Rating system)
  • Proposed GM
  • Basic rules

The Community will help the new GM get the game ready.

Game Websites

Every game should have basic information available to its players. This should include:

  • What the game is about
  • Current mission/campaign
  • Crew/character list
  • Available positions
  • Game rules
  • Rating
  • How to join
  • How to contact the management team

The website doesn’t have to be fancy. It just needs to be useful. Game Managers needing assistance in setting up a website should reach out to Community Leaders

New Players

New players should be made to feel welcome.

Games should explain:

  • How the game works
  • What they need to do
  • How posting works or how contributions should be made
  • Who they should contact
  • Where they can ask questions

Nobody should be expected to know everything when they join.

Game Hiatus

Sometimes a game needs a break. That’s okay.

A game can request Hiatus. While on hiatus:

  • Players remain members.
  • The game isn’t expected to meet activity requirements.
  • The GM remains in contact with Community Leaders.
  • The game can return when ready.

A hiatus is not a failure. Games on hiatus will be labeled and organized as such on the Community’s website.

Closing a Game

Sometimes a game has to close. Before closing it, Nexus Unbound should try to:

  • Find a new GM
  • Find someone willing to restart it or resume where it left off
  • Give players notice
  • Preserve the game’s history
  • Archive its stories

A game shouldn’t simply disappear because one person has stopped playing.

What Counts as Activity?

Activity isn’t just about the number of words someone writes. A game is active when people are:

  • Writing
  • Responding to each other
  • Moving the story forward
  • Talking to each other
  • Taking part in missions/campaigns
  • Developing their characters

A game with ten players and one person writing everything isn’t necessarily healthy. A game with four players who regularly write together can be perfectly healthy.

When Is a Game “Active”?

A game is considered Active when:

  • At least two players have written something within the last 30 days.
  • The story is still moving.
  • The GM or another member of the command team is active.
  • Players are communicating with each other.

That’s it. We don’t want to make this complicated.

Game Activity Status

Nexus Unbound will use five simple statuses.

🟢 ACTIVE

  • The game is working normally.
  • People are writing and the management team is present.

🟡 WATCH

  • Activity has dropped (compared to previous months).
  • The Community Leaders will contact the GM and ask: “Is everything okay, and is there anything we can help with?”
  • This is not a punishment.

🔴 REBUILDING

  • The game has been struggling for a while.
  • Community leaders and the GM work together to decide what the game needs.

This might mean:

  • Recruiting new players
  • Finding an assistant GM
  • Starting a new mission/campaign
  • Changing the format
  • Taking a short break
  • Finding a new GM

The aim is to save the game, not punish it.

⚪️ HIATUS

  • The GM has taken an LOA
  • Gameplay might have paused

⚫ INACTIVE

  • The game has stopped functioning.
  • Normally this means No meaningful writing for 60 days without an LOA or agreed hiatus. Before a game is closed, Community leaders will attempt to contact the GM.
  • If Community leaders are left unsatisfied, or the GM wishes so, the Community leaders may declare the game closed and subsequently remove it from the website.

The Simple Activity Test

Rather than complicated calculations, Community Leaders can ask four questions:

QuestionYes/No
Has someone written within the last 30 days?
Is the story moving?
Is the management team active?
Are players interacting?

3–4 Yes: 🟢 Active

2 Yes: 🟡 Watch

0–1 Yes: 🔴 Rebuilding

If nothing happens for 60 days, the game may be considered Inactive.

If a GM Needs a Break

GMs are allowed to take breaks too. If a GM needs time away, they should tell:

  • Their players and assistant GMs.
  • Community leaders

An AGM or another player can temporarily look after the game. A GM taking a break does not automatically mean the game has to close, nor force a status change (i.e. Active to Rebuilding).

If a GM disappears

If a GM stops responding:

  1. First: Community leaders try to contact them.
  2. Then: The Assistant GM or other players are contacted.
  3. Finally: If the GM cannot be reached, Community leaders can look at finding someone else to run the game.

The aim is to keep the game going where possible.