Standards and Expectations

Dungeons and Dragons is a great big game, full of zaniness and acts of heroism that should inspire us all.

Why do we say “should”?

Quite honestly, it’s because of how our modern culture is married to our hobby. The game has grown beyond the boundaries of the table and now encompasses digital play, tabletop play, theater of the mind play, social media discussion and commentary, and so much more. Gaming now has many faces, and the Adventurers League is no exception!

As we proceed into 2018 and beyond, we are going to be adjusting our community standards and expectations. We want to see people continue to put forth awesome ideas and ask great questions, but we’re saddened that some folks have taken it upon themselves – by choice or by chance – to respond to those opportunities with curt answers, rude snaps, or derogatory statements. Effective immediately, Lysa and Amy (your friendly Community Management team) will be taking a firmer stance on what is and is not allowed in our community groups. We are also changing our focus a bit so that we can more effectively engage with our community.

So, let’s get down to it!

Platforms that we will be managing (“the core”):

Platforms that we will not be managing:

Facebook (any groups/pages aside from those mentioned above)

Any gaming-related website (including all subreddits)

NOTE: some Adventurers League admins may have administrative roles on one or more of the non-core groups or platforms; their actions in those environments are performed outside of AL expectations and are not considered to be part of our organized play program or administration.

Standards and expectations for those platforms:

Be helpful.

If you feel like being unhelpful (including but not limited to: trolling, being a jerk, posting memes without appropriate content & context), refer to the previous point.

Provide complete answers whenever possible. A simple “this is in the FAQ” is not sufficient; provide a description or the heading under which the answer may be found for the question that was asked. There are some situations where a simple “No” works, but giving context goes a LOOOONG way towards… being helpful.

Feel free to skip past a post if you don’t like what you see there.

Feel free to hide posts that you don’t want to see.

Feel free to block community members that you don’t get along with. EXCEPTION: blocking any one of the six admins is grounds for immediate removal from the Facebook groups, as you are preventing us from doing our jobs.

Violating any of the above may result in a reprimand; this reprimand can include anything the Facebook and Twitter tools allow us (as admins) up to and including permanent removal from a group (“removed & banned”). Please note that such actions are not enacted upon your personal accounts or spaces, but only on AL-managed areas.

If you disagree with the above, that’s your prerogative. You are welcome to leave the groups at any time, or simply stop checking it. Please know, however, that we disperse many announcements in these areas and you may miss important information.

The above rules impact the admins just as much as they impact the players. If you feel that someone – ANYONE – is not being a supportive community member, please contact Lysa or Amy directly, or send an email to [email protected] at your earliest convenience.

So why are we doing this? Why announce this now?

To be honest, we’ve been pretty permissive. We LIKE being permissive. Unfortunately, a small handful of folks have pretty much forced our hand on this – so in order to promote a friendlier, more inclusive environment we felt that it was time to take a firmer stand and display these expectations in addition to showing them in demonstration through our own posts.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact the Community team. We’re here for you!