Code of conduct
How we treat each other in the north woods, and what happens when someone doesn't.
Thole works because people help each other. It isn't your everyday online community, and the game is built to reward lending a hand more than grabbing what you can. This page is about keeping it that way. It isn't a long list of rules, because most of it comes down to treating people the way you'd want a neighbour to treat you.
Be a good neighbour#
- Help people out. If someone's new, show them where the water is and how to get a fire going. If someone's cart is stuck in the ditch, give them a pull. You'll need the same yourself before long.
- Trade fairly. Price things honestly at your stall, and when you make a deal face to face, keep your word on it.
- Leave what isn't yours. Things get left out in the woods all the time, like a pile of logs by a cabin or a cart by the road. If it isn't yours, leave it be, even where the game would let you take it.
- Give people room. Don't build on top of someone, block their road or their door, or crowd in on a spot they've clearly started on.
- Keep chat fit for a mixed crowd. People of all ages and from all over play Thole, and everyone out in the woods can read what you say.
Not in Thole#
These aren't okay anywhere in the game, in chat, on voice, in letters, in names, or in what you build.
- Harassment: picking on someone, following them around to bother them, or keeping on at someone who's asked you to stop.
- Hate: going after people for their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, where they're from, or anything like it.
- Threats, and sexual talk aimed at other players. Anything sexual involving a child gets reported to the police.
- Sharing someone's personal information, like their real name, where they live or their photos, when they haven't shared it themselves.
- Pretending to be someone else, including me or anyone who helps run the game.
- Cheating: bots, scripts, or using a bug to get ahead or to wreck things for other people. If you find a bug like that, report it instead.
- Spam and advertising.
If someone's bothering you#
You don't have to put up with it while you wait for me. If it's their voice, hold on them (or right-click them on a computer) and choose Mute their voice, and you won't hear them again. See Voice chat for more on that.
Then tell me. Open the menu beside the clock and choose Report a problem, or type /bug in the chat. Say who it was and what happened. Everything said in chat is kept in the game's log, so I can see what was actually said without you having to screenshot it. Try not to argue back in chat, since it usually makes things worse and it can muddy what happened.
What happens if you don't#
Most of the time it starts with a word. People have off days, and plenty of trouble is a misunderstanding. If it carries on, it goes up from there.
| Step | What it means |
|---|---|
| A word | I'll get in touch, in the game or by email, say what the problem is and ask you to stop. |
| A mute | You can still play, but nothing you say in chat or on voice reaches anyone, and you can't send letters to friends. |
| A kick | You're taken out of the game for now. You can come back in, but it's a warning. |
| A ban | Your account is signed out everywhere and can't sign back in. |
Serious things, like hate, threats, or anything to do with harming a child, can go straight to a ban without the steps before it. If you think I've got it wrong, write to me at contact email and I'll look at it again.
These also apply to the terms of play, which you agree to when you sign up.