Infraction Policy

This team is composed of the following staff: Program Manager, Head of Rules and Head of Logistics. If a team member is the accused player or in a domestic or romantic relationship with the accused player, they will recuse themselves from all activities involving the investigation and a replacement from Darkwood Nights staff will be assigned. 

Before or after an Event

• Any member of the community may report a suspected violation by sending an email with the details to report@darkwoodnights.org. The investigative team will review to determine if the alleged behavior is a violation of a Darkwood Nights rule and/or policy and if it happened in a space the game has authority over.

During an Event

• Before Reporting: Before you report a suspected violation during game, we ask that you talk to the other player of the rule or policy you believe they may be breaking. Quite often, especially with perceived rule violations, issues can be quickly resolved with a simple conversation. 

  • • If the behavior persists and you feel they are still acting inappropriately, proceed with a report. 

    • Important: If you are uncomfortable speaking with the other player about the issue or believe doing so would endanger your safety or well-being, you may report directly to staff and bypass the discussion.

• How to Report: Seek out a member of the Investigative Team who will assist you in the process. If you do not know who they are, ask any Darkwood Nights staff member and they will direct you to the appropriate person.

• Suspected Criminal Behavior or Emergency: Do not wait for staff and contact 9-1-1

When a complaint is received, a member of the investigative team will perform an Initial Investigation to determine if the complaint requires a Formal Investigation. They will interview all parties involved to determine what has happened and if the issue may be resolved through mediation. If both players agree to a resolution and / or mediation during this phase, the issue will be documented in the permanent record but no further actions will be taken.

If the Initial Investigation fails to resolve the complaint or if it is likely consequences should be levied it moves to a Formal Investigation. The Investigator will create a report on all evidence around the complaint, and may interview / re-interview the reporting player, the accused, any witnesses as well as any evidence presented. Once this is complete a report will be presented to the Investigation Team who will vote on the outcome based on the evidence gathered. The results of all Formal Investigations will be posted on the Darkwood Nights Discord. 

A complaint levied against a player who has had similar accusations within the last 24 months proceeds directly to phase II and is not eligible for phase I. Members of the investigative team reserve the right at any time to bypass conflict resolution and proceed directly to phase II.

Dropping the Complaint: At any time the reporting player may drop the complaint. Doing so ends any investigation immediately. If the Investigation Team believes the complaint is serious enough that could warrant consequences they may continue the investigation. In this case the reporting player is removed from public records.

Phase I : Initial Investigation

As quickly as possible a member of the investigative team will be assigned; they will:

• Interview Parties: Gather any additional information needed from the reporting player and then discuss the complaint with the accused player one on one. 

  • • The reporting player will be notified of the outcome of the interview and any surrounding factors brought to light. If the investigation revealed this was largely an interpersonal conflict or a misunderstanding, mediation is an option. 

      1. • If they are satisfied, the Reporting Player may drop the complaint.

         • If the Reporting Player wants to continue with the process the Investigative Team Member will invite both parties to mediate. If both parties agree, they move to mediation below. If they do not agree, the complaint proceeds to Phase II: Formal Investigation.

    • If the investigation revealed a likely policy or rules violation that could merit consequences the investigation bypasses mediation and progresses immediately to Phase II.

• Mediation: Conflict resolution is a way for the parties to find a peaceful solution to a disagreement. When a dispute arises, often the best course of action is a negotiation to resolve the disagreement. The goal of this phase is to produce a solution that all parties can agree to, to work as quickly as possible to find this solution and to improve, not hurt, the relationship between the parties in conflict. A member of the Investigative Team will conduct a mediation with both parties present to discuss and work out the issues at hand. 

  • • If a resolution is reached and both parties agree, the matter will be closed.

    • If both parties cannot agree, or the  Mediator determines the action may warrant consequences, the complaint moves to Phase II.

Phase II: Formal Investigation

If the complaint moves to Formal Investigation the team member who performed the initial investigation will be assigned as the Lead Investigator. They will review all evidence available and reserve the right to re-interview the accused player, the reporting player, collect new evidence and interview new witnesses. If the initial investigator is unable to serve in this capacity the Program Manager will appoint a new investigator.

The investigation must be completed within four (4) weeks of the complaint submission. If the investigator requires more time to complete the investigation, they will present what they have by the four (4) week mark to the investigative team and explain the need for more time. When the investigator has completed their report they will submit the findings and the consequence recommendation (if any) to the Investigative Team for a vote. The vote will have one of two outcomes.

• Unanimous: proceeds to notification.

• Not Unanimous: If consensus is not unanimous a different member of the team will have two (2) weeks to investigate the areas found lacking. They will then add their notes to the report and the Investigative Team will discuss and vote. A majority is required after the supplemental investigation to reach a decision. 

Once a decision is reached the accused player will be notified of the findings via email and given two (2) weeks to appeal the decision (if necessary) with any additional information.

If the accused player appeals, the Program Manager will review the appeal and within one (1) week of submission present it to the Investigative Team for a vote to determine whether the new information changes the prior vote on the infraction.

If it is determined the accused violated our rules or policies the Investigative Team will determine the consequences. The list below is in order of severity although at the Investigative Team’s discretion, consequences may be levied outside of this order.

Probation: 

• Probation is the lowest level consequence and states that the violation took place but no further loss of privileges is needed. It is appropriate when the infraction was deemed unintentional or minor but had a negative impact on other players or the game as a whole. A player on Probation will have it considered as evidence that future violations were deliberate.

Minor Loss of Privileges:

• Appropriate for violations that impact a single scene at a game or a small number of players. Such violations are things like continuing to misuse a power after being corrected, instigating an OOG altercation between players, or similar behaviors. A minor loss of privilege is one of the following:

• 1-2 games without earning or spending XP

• 1 game suspension from attending game

• 1 month suspension from posting on Darkwood Nights Facebook and Discord accounts

• Being told to leave site immediately without receiving a refund

Major Loss of Privileges:

• Appropriate for violations that impact most of the game or have an ongoing impact for several games. Examples include not taking damage correctly, cheating to avoid character death, cheating to cause character death, or other similar behaviors. A major loss of privileges is one of the following:

• 3-5 games without earning or spending XP

• 2-5 game suspension from attending game

• Character Retirement

Player Ban:

• This is the most severe of consequences and only appropriate for situations where the player has had multiple violations in the past for similar behavior or if the behavior is egregious. Examples that could lead to a Player Ban would be committing a crime on site, threatening to harm a player OOG, or violations of our anti-harassment policy. 

• A player who has been banned may appeal the ban. If the player appeals they will have two (2) weeks to submit the appeal to the Investigative Team. The information will be reviewed and the team will vote to uphold or reduce the consequence. A unanimous vote is required to overturn the ban.

• The banned player may appeal their ban once per year if they choose.

All complaints that went through Formal Investigation will have the results posted. After the investigation has been completed, including resolving any appeals, the Program Manager will make a public post on Discord that briefly explains the following:

• Filed Complaint

• The accused player

• The reporting player

  • • At the Investigative Team’s discretion the name of the reporting player may be withheld.

• Investigation findings

• Consequences levied (if any)

• Any other pertinent information. 

The public post will be made after the appeal period has elapsed, but may be earlier if the player declines to appeal. The post will remain public and the Investigative Team will respond to questions from the community for a reasonable period of time before locking the thread. 

Darkwood Nights will maintain a log of all complaints, infractions and consequences to track player behavior over the lifetime of the game.