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 to regulate language and content (please note that no official age classification has been given). 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 site's 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, and inappropriate references to illegal drug use. Moderators may determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether specific behavior or content was both intended and perceived to be inappropriate.

Avatars/Nindos/Usernames:

Avatars, nindos and usernames may not contain, with or without text, anything which may be prohibited under the Rules. In addition to normal penalties, users in violation of this rule will be asked to change their avatar/nindo/username. Failure to comply may result in deletion of the avatar/nindo/account.

Deleted avatars, nindos, and accounts cannot be recovered. Accounts with inappropriate usernames may be locked or deleted regardless of rank, statistics, etc.

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.

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.

Each sector of the game staff has its own hiring and training policies, the details of which can be found in the forum. As a broad overview: content staff is hired at the content team’s discretion; event designers are hired by application, and applications are always open; and the moderating team is always hiring, but does not accept applications.

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.

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 Sharing:

Account sharing of any kind is strictly forbidden, including, but not limited to: accessing another user’s account; allowing another user to access your account; and allowing another person, who does not use this site, to access your account.

Selling/Trading Accounts:

Giving accounts away for any reason is strictly forbidden. Any accounts that change ownership will be locked. All claims to an account or its assets are forfeited immediately upon voluntary parting with ownership. If the original owner was even partially at fault in an account transaction, he or she may not be able to recover the account or any assets associated with it.

Account deletions & recovery:
Accounts that are inactive for over 42 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.

To recover access to an account, change the registration email attached to an account, or otherwise gain privileged access to an account, users must contact our support staff and verify that they are the original owner. The main form of verification of ownership that we accept are Paypal receipts for the account in question.

Users are strongly advised to protect their registration emails and Paypal receipts. If neither method of verification is possible (e.g., if a user loses access to the registration email and has never made Paypal transactions on that account), we will attempt to recover the account in some other way, but successful recovery is far less likely.

Account Limit:

By default, each player is allowed to have up to three accounts at any given time. This includes accounts that are flagged for deletion, or pending deletion. Users who create a second or third account are advised to inform a moderator. The change to allow for a third account took place 8/31/19. This timestamp allows for moderators to take action against any User found with an account made unfairly and illegally.

In addition to normal penalties, moderators may ask users in violation of this rule to delete account(s) until they are in compliance with the limit. Alternatively, moderators may request for the newest account(s) to be locked or deleted until the user is in compliance with the limit.

In addition to normal penalties, moderators may decide to adjust the account limit to one account at a time for individual players who exceed the default account limit. Like warnings or bans, such restraints may be temporary or permanent, and may be appealed to a head moderator or the to the staff administrator.

Locked accounts and lost accounts (i.e., accounts that you can no longer access) will not count against your account limit.

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(including selling or buying kills), 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:

Hacking is strictly forbidden, as is using bots, scripts, exploits, glitches, or faults in the site’s code. Threatening or attempting to use, distributing the means for, inquiring about, or withholding information relevant to any of the aforementioned abuses is similarly 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. Users who have lost in-game currency may be reimbursed if the scammer is still in possession of their ryo; users who have lost real money will not be reimbursed by the administration. If what was scammed cannot be returned, the administration will not compensate users for their losses in any way.

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.

Clan/Kage Leadership:

Users may hold one (1) clan leadership role per village at any given time. This total does not apply to non-core clans. In addition, any clan leader found to be inactive for more than thirty (30) days will be removed from their position.

Users may hold one (1) Kage position at any given time.

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.

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.

Users can contact any moderator at any time to request information about their own records. As a courtesy, moderators will avoid sharing information about a user's record and infractions, past or ongoing, with anyone other than that user unless there is good reason to make an exception.

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 offense, 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 PMs, forum PMs, or support tickets to discuss staff-related issues.

If you cannot resolve your issue with a moderator or head moderator, contact the staff administrator.