Frequently Asked Questions

### Is Outside™ free to play? 🆓❓

You can play Outside completely free with your friends using the rulebook and homemade equipment.  By purchasing a subscription for $9.99/month (probably like… idk half? the cost of joining a gym, and at least twice as fun) you can be an Official player (Limited alpha pricing: only $5/month!).  Official players can use all services on our website, participate in competitions, and exist as an official character within the world of Outside—only Official players can be written into the history of the game.  Your subscriptions help us maintain the website, create new content, prevent cheating, host nation-wide events, and make the game come alive.

### Is Outside™ ok for my kids? **👶**❓

Yes, with supervision.  Players under the age of 18 who wish to be Official players must be partnered with a parent/guardian Official player who is 18+. The guardian player is responsible for being present at any official matches or events that the underage player(s) will be officially participating in and is responsible for their safety and ensuring that younger players abides by our conduct expectations.

Our conduct guidelines for official play aim for a PG-13 environment, but Outside™ can be played as a G-rated family-friendly game or an R-rated raucous adults-only game within your group.  With any game, monitor your child’s web access and familiarize yourself with the individuals that they regularly play with. We encourage parents to spectate at events (or, subscribe and play!) if your child will be participating. Someday we’ll have a **Guardian Handbook** with more information.

### How dangerous is playing Outside™? **💀**❓

Outside is a contact-optional sport that gives players a high degree of flexibility in determining how the right level of physical contact for them.  We value creating a fun experience that is inclusive to all players, so that everyone can enjoy playing together.  We want everyone to safely enjoy the physical benefits of participating in the sport, so players may choose to support their teams without contact from the base or sidelines (be a Support player), without contact in the field of battle (wear a Sentinel), with regular/light contact, or with rowdy and heavy contact (become a Ruffian).

### What’s the community like? 🤼❓

The best!  One of our top priorities is fostering a respectful and inclusive community – playing Outside is for Everyone.  All players are expected to abide by our Conduct Standards, which are designed to promote a fun time for all.

### How do you prevent cheating and misconduct? 😈❓

We use a longitudinal discipline system (a permanent record) that collects reports and evidence of cheating and misconduct over a long period of time.  Unlike in most “professional” sports, punishments for cheating and misconduct in Outside include longer-term suspensions and bans, including permanent bans. In short, rather than giving out small punishments over small mistakes, we take the time to confirm if a player is a problem… and *THEN we* ***destroy them*** ***completely***  • ᴗ •

### Is this a LARP? 🧙‍♂️❓

About as much as Pokemon Go, Humans vs. Zombies or Quidditch, I guess. You can pretend as much or as little as you like - be a totally madeup character, or just yourself. We want everyone to have fun and be comfortable without feeling like a massive dork. We like massive dorks, but think it should be purely optional.