Community Rules

ZOS_Nith · November 2019

Below is a brief explanation of our community rules and expectations for specific topics and situations. If you have any questions about our Community Code of Conduct, please email The Elder Scrolls Online Team at community@elderscrollsonline.com.

Abusive Language and Disruptive Behavior: We do not tolerate abusive language or disruptive behavior on our forums. This goes for abusive and disruptive comments and behavior that are directed at a ZeniMax Online employee and ESO community member, alike. Please remember to be respectful and constructive at all times on our forums, and help us maintain a friendly and welcoming atmosphere for all.
Advertising: We do not allow advertising on our forums. This includes, but is not limited to advertisements and promotions for the following:
- Outside businesses and services
- Other games
- Any venture that results in monetary profit
We do not consider the promotion of guilds, fan sites, and fan groups, or the activities and content thereof, to be advertising. Please feel free to let The Elder Scrolls Online community know all about your guild, fan site, or fan group! Simply keep in mind that you may not promote your guild, fan site, or fan group if you are looking to turn a monetary profit by doing so.
Bashing and Slanderous Comments: We do not permit the bashing of individuals (including ZeniMax employees), groups, or other companies on our forums. We believe that doing so is neither constructive nor in spirit of our game and community.
Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation: We do not tolerate the deliberate and malicious spreading of false info or conspiracy theories about ZeniMax Online Studios, its game(s), or its employees. This does not include honest mistakes; rather, this rule pertains to those who go out of their way to spread harmful or malicious rumors about ZeniMax Online Studios and its employees, or The Elder Scrolls Online.
Copyright Infringement: Names and Material: We do not allow copyright-protected names on our forums. Copyright-protected names are typically from well-known original characters in books, games, and movies. We also do not permit discussion about the illegal distribution or use of copyrighted material, such as private game servers or pirated movies, music, and games.
Cursing and Profanity: Purposefully circumventing our forum profanity filter or otherwise cursing or using profanity is not permitted on our forums. Our forums have a profanity filter in place for the purpose of keeping profanity off our forums — please help us keep the ESO community constructive and profanity-free by respecting that filter.
Demands and Threats: We encourage you to share feedback, suggestion, and requests with us, but we expect all of our community members to refrain from resorting to demands or threats. We believe that demands and threats are not constructive. Threats of real-life violence, in particular, are something we take very seriously and do not tolerate in the ESO community.
Deliberately Disobeying a ZeniMax Online Employee: Deliberately disobeying a request or action by a member of the ZeniMax Online Studios/ESO Team is not permitted at any time. As an example, if we close a thread you created and leave an explanation stating why it was closed, you may not re-create the thread.
Discussing Disciplinary Actions: If you ever have questions or concerns about a disciplinary action or decision we have made on the ESO forums, or wish to appeal a forum warning or infraction you’ve received, we ask that you please contact https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/ to do so (please specify that you are contacting about a forum-related inquiry or appeal). We are happy to discuss and review specific moderation-related actions with you, but we do not allow discussion of any moderation actions or decisions on our forums. If you have questions or concerns about an in-game disciplinary action, please contact https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/ to ask about a suspension or ban, and any other support-related feedback. We cannot assist with in-game violations on the forums.
Flaming: It’s okay to disagree and debate on the official ESO forums, but we do ask that you keep all disagreements civil, constructive, and on-topic. If a discussion gets heated and turns into a debate, remember that you should stick to debating the post and/or thread topic. It is never appropriate to resort to personal comments or jabs about those participating in the thread discussion.
Goodbye/Quitting Threads: We understand that sometimes people will leave the ESO community, and want to post a “goodbye” or “quitting” thread. Generally, we have found that “goodbye” and “quitting” threads have a tendency to go downhill fast. It is our policy to read the feedback in “goodbye” and “quitting” threads and close them, regardless of whether they are constructive or not.
Hate Speech: We take the use of hate speech very seriously in the official ESO community, and have a zero tolerance policy. Our definition of hate speech is prejudice or hateful comments, slurs, or statements that promote violence or intolerance toward others because of the following:
- Race
- Creed
- Color
- National Origin
- Gender
- Age
- Disability
- Sexual Orientation
- Lifestyle
- Any other personally identifying factors
Please help us ensure that everyone feels welcome and free to participate on the official ESO community forums.
- Impersonation: We do not tolerate impersonation of any kind in the official ESO community, and take impersonation attempts very seriously when they do occur. Impersonation includes using a display name, photos, posts, or any other material with the intent to fool people into believing you are a ZeniMax Online Studios employee, another community member, a celebrity, or anyone else you are not.
- Inappropriate Content and Language: Certain topics and subjects are deemed inappropriate and not permitted on the official ESO forums. Things that we consider inappropriate are usually illegal, extremely volatile or violent, obscene, vulgar, or simply inappropriate for an official game forum such as ours. Inappropriate content on the ESO forums includes, but is not limited to the following:
  - Extreme violence
  - Illegal substances and activities
  - Pirated copyright-protected material
  - Pornography and other sexually explicit topics
  - Real-world religion and politics
  - Tasteless, vulgar, or obscene material
One specific term we’d like to call out, as well, is the term “gay.” It is never appropriate to use “gay” as a derogatory term.
- Malicious Links: We do not tolerate the posting of malicious links on our forums, for any reason. This includes links to pornographic material, key-loggers, and browser hijackers, but also includes links to private game server sites, phishing scams, and sites that sell in-game currencies and power-leveling services.
  We greatly appreciate when our community members wish to report a harmful or misleading ESO-related site to us, but please do not do so on the official ESO forums. If you discover a site you want to report to us, please report them at https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/.
- Names in Thread Titles: Please refrain from placing the names of ZeniMax Online Studios employees or ESO community members in your thread titles. Directing a thread at a specific individual, or otherwise using a thread to call someone out, is not considered constructive. If you need to get a hold of a specific community member, please send them a private message.
- Naming-and-Shaming: We do not allow posts or threads that are created for the purpose of “naming-and-shaming” other community member(s). “Naming-and-shaming” is the act of creating a post to call out an individual or group by name, and making them the subject of public accusation, ridicule and/or shaming. Generally, naming-and-shaming involves an in-game situation and/or Terms of Service violation, which the ESO Community Team is unable to assist with. A certain amount of rivalry and competitive razzing is healthy for any game community, especially one with PVP elements, but naming-and-shaming goes well beyond that. It typically elevates to a point where the subject feels legitimately harassed. We believe that naming-and-shaming posts and threads can be abused and are very harmful to the community. We also don't feel that publicly calling out or accusing others by name on our forums is in spirit of the game or our community. If you genuinely believe someone has violated our Terms of Service, you should report them in-game via the support interface — do not bring the situation onto the official ESO community forums.
- Personal Information: For the sake of your own identity protection and personal privacy, we ask that you please do not share any personal information in the official The Elder Scrolls Online community. This also goes for sharing another community member’s personal information — doing so is not only considered malicious behavior, but it is a violation of our Terms of Service and something we take very seriously.
- Petitions and Protests: We do not allow petitions or protests on our forums. Due to the fact that both promote the use of demands and replies that consist of “/signed” or little else, we feel that neither encourage nor allow for meaningful and constructive discussion. Instead of using a petition or protest, we recommend presenting your thoughts as a request or suggestion so everyone in the community can discuss it.
- Role-Play/Fan Fiction God Modding: We support the fan fiction and role-playing communities on the ESO forum, and ask that you please respect your fellow writers and role-players by not “god modding.” God modding is the act of forcing another community member’s character into a situation they have not agreed to. If you wish to involve another person's character in a story or role-play scenario, please respect that individual’s wishes and get their permission first. Failure to do so is considered “god modding,” and is not allowed on the ESO forums.
- Rude and Insulting Comments: We understand that sometimes tempers rise, but it is never acceptable to resort to rude comments and insults. This goes for rude comments and insults directed at other community members, and ZeniMax Online Studios employees alike.
- Selling, Trading, and Sharing Game Accounts: The act of selling, trading, or sharing your ESO account is a violation of our Terms of Service. As such, we also do not allow discussion about selling, trading, or sharing game accounts on our forums.
- Spamming: Please do not post spam on the official The Elder Scrolls Online forums. Below are a few examples of what we define as spamming:
  - Posting the same message more than once
  - Posting messages that are nonsensical or have no real content
  - Posting messages or images large enough to disrupt the normal flow of conversation
  - Reposting material that has been removed by a member of the ESO Team
    Also, please refrain from posting the same topic in multiple areas of the forum, or cross-posting in an attempt to gain further views or replies. This is considered spamming, and the duplicate threads will be removed.
- Thread Bumping: Please refrain from replying to discussion threads for the sole purpose of “bumping” them. This is considered to be a form of spam because it does not add to the discussion in a constructive or meaningful way. We understand that everyone would like to keep their discussion active and visible, but we encourage you to strive for meaningful and constructive posts instead of posts that consist of nothing more than “Bump!”
- Trolling or Baiting: The act of trolling is defined as something that is created for the intent to provoke conflict, shock others, or to elicit a strong negative or emotional reaction. It’s okay and very normal to disagree with others, and even to debate, but provoking conflict, baiting, inciting, mocking, etc. is never acceptable in the official The Elder Scrolls Online community. If you do not have something constructive or meaningful to add to a discussion, we strongly recommend you refrain from posting in that thread, and find another discussion to participate in instead. It is also not constructive or helpful to publicly call out others and accuse them of trolling, or call them a troll—please refrain from doing so. If you genuinely believe someone is trolling, please report the post or thread to the ESO Team, and leave it at that.

ZOS_Nith · November 2019

The ESO Community Code of Conduct includes almost all situations that we all may encounter while on the ESO forums, but there will always be some things that are not covered. Those will be handled at the ESO Team’s discretion, and if something becomes a common issue or concern, we will update the ESO Code of Conduct to include it. If we see something that we feel is inappropriate or harmful to the ESO community, we do reserve the right to take appropriate actions for the overall health and quality of the ESO community. This includes things that are not specifically mentioned in the ESO Code of Conduct. If ever in doubt, please remember to be civil, constructive, and respectful at all times while on the official The Elder Scrolls Online forums.

We monitor the ESO forums on a daily basis, not only to read your feedback, ideas, and suggestions, and interact with you, but also to ensure that our forum community is a civil, constructive, and safe place for everyone.

The ESO Community Code of Conduct is intended to be your guide for all activity and interactions within the ESO community — we ask that you please try your best to abide by it. In the event that you violate our Community Code of Conduct, or if we simply have questions about something you have posted, we will always try contact you.

Enforcement and application of the ESO Community Code of Conduct will be at the sole discretion of ZeniMax Online Studios, and authorized members of the ESO Team. Material that is deemed offensive, illegal, or inappropriate in any way will be removed at the sole discretion of ZeniMax Online Studios. Please be aware that violating the ESO Community Code of Conduct can lead to disciplinary action, including — but not limited to — temporary suspension, banning, and the permanent closure of your ESO forum account and ESO game account, if the circumstances warrant it.