Version 1 — 15th April 2020
Following continued issues and raised concerns around how players behave in my games, and how my rules have been inadequate to prevent this, I have taken steps to overhaul my rules for in the game, to clarify what is and isn’t acceptable, and what could lead to punishment or expulsion. I’m calling it the SUITMAN’S REALITY CODE OF CONDUCT.
To make it clear, these rules do not apply to past offences when this iteration of the Code of the Conduct was not in place, rather to offences that take place within future seasons from the Version date. It may be updated again in future if it becomes clear that they need to change again. This does not mean I will ignore past issues you have had with players you are on the season with, and I will explain later how we can address those.
Remember, these are not rules relating to gameplay, they are about acceptable social behaviour, attitudes and language whilst competing in a Suitman Reality season henceforth.
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For most behavioural offences I will now work by a standard TWO STRIKE procedure. For many people this will still be seen as too lenient, but even the first strike comes with it’s own in-game consequences. There are now however some more serious offences which will result in an immediate two-strike removal from the game.
STRIKE ONE [First Offence] — Single Round Game Ban
- The player will be unable to compete in the next ROUND of challenges (aka both HOH and POV if Big Brother, BUT excluding their own eliminations in SFN seasons).
- They will also lose their vote at the next voting opportunity (for example if they avoid Tribal Council in Survivor, they will still lose their vote for when they finally attend).
STRIKE TWO [Second Offence/Serious Offence] — Removal from the Game
- This is self-explanatory. If you get two strikes, then your behaviour has gone too far for me to keep you in the game any longer. Frankly, me needing to go this far should not ever be necessary - but dealing with threatening and offensive people is NOT why I host these games, and if you are causing problems then you have to be let go. This extends to being on the JURY after the game, or an eliminated player continuing to attack players. This can result in being removed from the Jury or being banned from returning to the series.
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Now let me get more into what I class as unacceptable language/behaviour, and what will now class as an offence which will result in punishment. If clarity this deep is needed, this applies to any interaction public or private among players in the game within text form on Tengaged or Skype, or within voice calls.
ISOLATED INCIDENTS of the following offences will result in a SINGLE STRIKE:
- Personal attacks against a player’s religion, beliefs, culture, heritage, physical looks or other examples of ‘character assassination’. Who they are as a person does not need to enter confrontations, players should be judged on their game decisions.
- This extends to attacks against players for things that are not true. For example, you can’t call out someone for being a racist to change someone’s opinion of them, when they are in fact not a racist.
- Offensive language including racial and homophobic slurs. Even just a single use of these will result in a strike. If you need to ask what is and is not acceptable for this category, then you can guess that you don’t need to say it.
- Furthermore there shall be no ‘eye for an eye’. A player being offensive towards you should not be retaliated by you being offensive to them. It’s not an acceptable excuse and you will both be dealt with in equal measure.
In isolated incidents of the above offences, a single strike will be issued. Persistent continued incidents OR a major continued single incident deemed bad enough can result in TWO STRIKES and removal from the game.
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The following SERIOUS OFFENCES will now result in TWO STRIKES and immediate removal from the game:
- ‘Doxxing’. For those who do not know that Doxxing is, it’s the exposure (or threat to) of a player’s personal information. For instance, their real names, addresses, phone numbers, family members, work, social media accounts etc. This is an unacceptable breach of their privacy and does not need to be brought into this online game. You also cannot threaten to expose such information.
- Furthermore, just because their personal information has been shared before either by the actual person or another player, does not give ANYONE the right to post it again themselves. That information may have been intended for certain people, and players who do this will be still be treated as equal.
- Using personal information against players is again completely unacceptable. You cannot threaten to or actually contact members of their family or work.
- The only rare exceptions from this rule are ones where players tell me directly they are happy that particular information is public (I’m thinking just real names on this one), or if players have publicly got their information splattered on their Skype accounts like idiots. Regardless, having anyone’s information as acceptable public knowledge does not give anyone the right to use that as attacks against them, and serious incidents of this kind can be two-strike penalties.
- Lastly, the photoshopping of players avatars and/or irl images into pictures, videos and GIFs is no longer allowed, however innocent the intention. This can cause undue offence to players that you may not be aware of, and can be saved, spread around, used against players in the future, and even sent to family members. This also applies to re-posting of photoshopped content you may have from the past of players in the game.
The clear distinction to take between single and two-strike offences, is that single ones are unacceptable but have isolated personal consequences, and can least to two-strikes if persistent. All the issues raised in the serious two-strike offences category are ones that are unconfined, and can be spread beyond the realms of the game, effect a player’s personal life and never go away.
Those are the main points to take away from the Code of Conduct. These may be added to or amended to in the future when assessed to be necessary. Now however, I have to address the issue of EVIDENCE and ABUSE of this system during implementation.
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If an offence in carried out on a PUBLIC chat which I am in, it’s very easy for me to see the problem and address it. However these issues can frequently happen PRIVATELY on chats or calls that I’m not on, making it difficult for me without sufficient evidence against the player in question. That may sound daft, but think about a court of law - a judge would never send down an accused based on testimonial alone. When I ask you to prove a player has committed an offence, via chat logs or voice recordings, it doesn’t mean I don’t believe you, it just means I can’t make an action against someone based on no substantial proof. It’s to prevent abuse of the system from players accusing others of things they have not done to try and get them removed.
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Furthermore, I am highly intolerant to the withholding of offences I’m not privy to for AMMUNITION. This is where a player sees an offence take place, does not report it to me immediately, but instead uses it at a strategically beneficial point to them against the player in question. If you see an offence occur and are deeply unhappy about it, you must report it to me IMMEDIATELY for me to take action. I will be unconvinced if you come to me about it at a later date, particularly as some form of excuse for something you’ve done yourself. Offences committed privately MUST be reported immediately, or my ability to take action will be diminished to where I may only be able to issue a simple warning.
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This brings me onto something I mentioned at the start - HISTORIC OFFENCES. These are issues between players dating back to BEFORE the season has begun. I do not want people to feel like I am ignoring your concerns about the prior conduct of players in the game, but equally I won’t be taking any action against that player in the game for something they have not done within it. However, what you can do is explain to me your historic problems with a player, and with your agreement I can have a one-on-one conversation with that player about what happened in the past and how it won’t be accepted within this game. Any further offences that happen within the game shall then be dealt with with the appropriate punishments, with historic offences taken into account. If you do not arise a direct historic issue with me at the START of the season, and again use it as ammunition for later on, I will be taking no action.
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I appreciate this is a lot of information to read and take in, and if you are struggling then read it in chunks. However, not reading this Code of Conduct is no excuse for unacceptable behaviour. The level of issues we have had in recent times have unfortunately made this necessary for the continuation of the series, and it HAS to be this detailed to cover all aspects and issues that can arise during implementation.
Thank you for reading, and let’s enjoy playing the seasons together respectfully.
With Love from Shawn <3
