Welcome to TWHL!

Like many community sites, we have a set of rules that we expect TWHL members to follow when interacting with other members. These rules are to be followed when interacting with other TWHL community members on any platform - on the website, Discord, Steam, or any other channel of communication you may have with other members.

Please keep in mind that the moderators devote their time and effort to this community in order to keep it a helpful and informative place. Follow the appropriate rules, listen to the moderators, and you'll do fine. Treat the community well, and it will treat you well in return. If you have any questions regarding any of the forum rules, please contact any of the moderators or administrators and they will be glad to help you!

Site rules, in summary

• Be respectful and inclusive
• Be nice
• No piracy (and nothing else illegal either!)
• No spam

Reporting rule violations

If you believe that another member has broken the rules, contact the moderators privately. You may contact Penguinboy, the head admin, via private message or email at penguinboy77@gmail.com. You may also contact Strider, the deputy admin, via private message. On Discord, you may contact any member of the @Admins or @Moderators groups.

The admins and moderators will give careful consideration to all reports made in good faith. All reports are anonymous and the name of a reporter will never be made public, unless they first give permission.

How the rules are enforced

If an offence is considered serious or urgent by a moderator, they may take immediate action. Otherwise, at least two moderators will discuss the issue and decide on an appropriate action to take.

If you disobey the rules, depending on the nature and severity of your actions, we will do one or more of the following:

• Delete or edit the offending post
• Ask you to avoid that behaviour in the future
• Ask you to apologise to any members who were adversely affected
• Send you a formal warning that these rules must be followed
• Temporarily ban your account
• Permanently ban your account

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If you would like more information on the rules, read on...

Site rules, in detail

Be respectful and inclusive

We all come from many cultures and backgrounds. Cultural differences can encompass everything from official religious observances to personal habits to clothing. Be respectful of people with different cultural practices, attitudes and beliefs. Try to eliminate your own biases, prejudices and discriminatory practices. Think of others’ needs from their point of view. Use preferred titles (including pronouns) and the appropriate tone of speech. Respect people’s right to privacy and confidentiality. Be open to learning from and educating others as well as educating yourself. It’s unrealistic to expect members to know the cultural practices of every ethnic and cultural group, but everyone needs to recognise that acknowledging and respecting cultures outside your own is necessary for positive interactions.

We may not always agree, but disagreement is no excuse for poor manners. Be open to different possibilities and to being wrong. Be kind in all interactions and communications, especially when debating the merits of different options. Be aware of your impact and how intense interactions may be affecting people. Be direct, constructive and positive. Take responsibility for your impact and your mistakes – if someone says they have been harmed through your words or actions, listen carefully, apologise sincerely, and correct the behaviour going forward.

Be nice

No violence, threats, or intimidation

Violence and threats of violence are not acceptable. This includes incitement of violence toward any individual, including encouraging a person to commit self-harm. This also includes posting or threatening to post other people’s personally identifying information (“doxxing”) online.

No personal attacks

Conflicts will inevitably arise, but frustration should never turn into a personal attack. It is not okay to insult, demean or belittle others. Attacking someone for their opinions, beliefs and ideas is not acceptable. If you are unable to express your opinion without an attack on an individual, then you should not post that opinion at all.

No derogatory slurs or insults

Slurs and insults related to background, family status, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, native language, age, ability, race, ethnicity, national origin, socioeconomic status, religion, geographic location, or other attributes are not acceptable.

This includes deliberately referring to someone by a gender that they do not identify with, and/or questioning the legitimacy of an individual’s gender identity. If you’re unsure if a word is derogatory, don’t use it. This also includes repeated subtle and/or indirect discrimination; when asked to stop, stop the behavior in question.

We understand that accidents will happen. We will not punish you for unintentionally insulting another person (for instance by using the incorrect pronouns), so long as you politely apologise and correct your mistake. If you feel you have been incorrectly penalised for a misunderstanding, feel free to contact a moderator for discussion.

No “X-rated” (or similarly inappropriate) content

Don't post porn/gore or other potentially inappropriate content to the forums. Only post content appropriate for people of all ages. If posting a link that could potentially include content that is unsuitable, clearly label the link with a "NSFW" (not safe for work) warning. Never embed or upload images that are inappropriate.

Work with the community

When posting a question or asking for help, be sure to explain everything that you did so other members don't have to ask you for extra information. On the other hand, when answering someone else's questions, post enough information to be helpful, rather than insulting them for not knowing the answer.

Treat newbies well - remember, you were a newbie once too! New members help keep the community alive. Be patient and help them out.

When creating a post (forum, vault, etc) - pick the appropriate category related to your post. The category is often important for context of the post. Before posting a question on the forums, use the search function to see if your question has already been asked before.

No piracy (and nothing else illegal either!)

At TWHL we don't tolerate discussion or promotion of piracy. If you post a warez link or encourage other members to illegally download software, the moderator team will quickly take action and warn/ban you based on your actions. The same rule goes for any other illegal activities (in any country) that you might think to do. We don't care what you do that's illegal elsewhere, but do not mention it on TWHL!

No spam

Spam is a cancer that plagues the internet. We don't like it, you don't like it. Please don't do it on TWHL.

"Spam" covers several categories, some examples are:

• Automated bot/script spam is absolutely not allowed, you will be banned and all your posts deleted.
• Repeatedly posting the same question or bumping your question in the forums will be considered spam if you do it too many times.
• Copypasta and meme images are considered spam and will generally be deleted if they're long or annoying.
• If you've been banned and you create a second account, you'll be considered a spammer and you will be permanently banned.
• Posting lots of low-effort content and filling up the site with rubbish posts is not allowed either.