Policies and Procedures

## Conglomera Policies and Procedures

### Moderators

1. Moderator powers and permissions - Moderators have been granted the permissions to post and configure the subreddit, as well as monitor the content of subreddit threads, wikia entries, and IRC chat to ensure they follow the Subreddit Rules (as listed on the sidebar).  All moderators have full subreddit permissions.
2. Appointing and removing mods - The appointment of moderators is a decision made by the existing mods to fill in positions and/or responsibilities as needed.  The moderators have the ability to remove inactive moderators, but will only do so on a case to case basis.
3. Any member of the Conglomera project can and should report the abuse of moderator powers to the other members of the moderation team via PM.

### Community guidelines

#### The community guidelines, as noted on the sidebar of the Conglomera subreddit, are as follows:

1. Everything posted and contributed to this project becomes public domain.
2. This project is not necessarily limited to reddit.
3. Don't be a 'No, but'-person, be a 'Yes, and'-person.
4. Criticism should be both given and received respectfully and politely.
5. Collaborative universe does not necessarily mean collaborative stories.

#### Censorship and Bans

1. Conglomera is a place of creative contribution and collaboration.  As such, there will be no form of censorship by the moderators, i.e. moderators will not delete or alter any posts that follow the community guidelines without the content creator’s express permission.  All ideas are seen as valid until canonized via public poll.
2. However, in extreme circumstances, members who consistently disregard the subreddit’s rules, give primarily negative/non-constructive criticism towards others, misbehave in the IRC chat, and/or have had multiple complaints against them will be banned from all areas of the Conglomera project: subreddit, wikia, and IRC.

#### Rules for User-Submitted Posting

1. All threads must be tagged with the appropriate flair
	* [Stories] - for complete story submissions
	* [Offtopic] - for non-Conglomera discussion/community building
	* [Art] - for artwork submissions - e.g. sketches, visual art, music, videos, etc.
	* [Prompt] - For posts like Tropey Tuesday and the monthly user-submitted prompt thread.
	* [Meta] - For any subreddit related discussion, i.e. rules changes, info about the wikia, asking for co-authors, etc.
	* [Poll] - For weekly polls
	* [Canon] - For poll results
	* [Lore] - For non-Canon content in need of editing and feedback before posting to the Canon Submission Thread
2. Rules for Story Submissions
	1. All story elements must fit within canon to the best of the author's ability. All non-canonical story elements should be submitted to the canonization procedure via poll.
	2. Along with each story, the author should include a section (either within the original post or in the comments section) with the following information, if able:
		* **Timeline**: Approximate age/place in history on which this story occurs (can use defined ages or describe in relation to other stories)
		* **Location**:  Approximate location/setting of this story (with link to maps, if relevant)
		* **Credits**: Username mentions of any community members who had a significant hand in the story process or whose canon content is being used in the story
	3. Community members should use the comment section below the original story post for constructive criticism/editing suggestions and for meta discussions about canon and possible spin-off stories.
	4. If stories are approved by the public and fit within the established canon, they are automatically accepted as part of the Conglomera canon.
	5. Authors should update the wikia as needed.
	6. All story prompts/ideas for stories should be made in the monthly prompt thread; all collaboration solicitations should be made in the weekly forum thread.

### Canon

#### Wikia usage

1. The wikia is reserved for canon entries only.  All non-canon proposals can be made on the appropriate subreddit thread.  If a user has a proposal that doesn’t seem to fit in a particular thread, he/she can submit it to the weekly open forum thread and/or contact the mods about creating a new thread.
2. All wikia entries should be made by the content creator.  If he/she cannot post the information, he/she should contact the appropriate moderator, in which case the moderator will take care of it personally and/or appoint someone to complete the task.
3. Editing the wikia is open to all users as long as actual content is not deleted or altered without the express permission of the content creator and/or moderators.

#### Types of Edits to Canon

##### Creation

1. Any content that is new, doesn’t build off of any other current canon, and stands by itself.
2. Examples: A new culture, a new species, a new planet, etc.
3. All submissions must be approved by community poll.
4. If approved, the creator then becomes responsible for any alteration of the content as well as maintaining its wiki entry.

##### Addition

1. Any broad additions to existing content that fits within the established canon.
2. Examples: A new city, religion, myth, usage for magic, etc. that pertains to an already existing culture.
3. Automatically made canon unless vetoed by the content creator, with the exception of Magic Usage, which must be approved by community poll
4. A veto means that the suggestion will then go to community poll.

##### Expansion

1. Any details, depth, or explanations of already existing content.
2. Examples include: Buildings within cities, historic events, character descriptions, etc.
3. Automatically made canon unless vetoed by the content creator.
4. A veto means that the suggestion will then go to community poll.

##### Modification

1. Any destructive change or removal of canon status.
2. Examples: Species’ biology or environment changes, different side effects for magic, removal of a culture or religion, etc.
3. All modifications must be approved by community poll.
4. The modification is subject to content creator absolute veto. If it is not vetoed within a week, and it passes the community poll, the modification is made canon.

##### Note:

1. AMAs will be utilized to further develop a newly canonized idea.  The moderators will post and sticky a discussion thread wherein the content creator must answer any questions and/or approve any suggestions about his/her idea that the other users may have.  The content creator will have the last word on any suggestions made in the AMA thread, with the moderators reserving the right to veto anything that does not meet the community guidelines and/or is potentially worldbreaking (e.g., ridiculously overpowered characters, things that do not follow the rules of the world, etc.)
2. Any suggestions made within the AMA that are approved by the content creator (and to a lesser extent, the mods) will be canon.
3. AMAs will be held at the discretion of the mod team.
4. Poll approval will be a 50% threshold (66% for sapient species).
5. Content creators will have one week from the posted submission thread to submit their veto.

#### Process of Canonization

##### Threads: Two canon threads will be posted each week.

1. A submission thread calling for all creations, additions, expansions, modifications, and vetoes.
2. A polling thread with a link to the week’s poll. Note: polls will only contain Creations, Modifications, Additions of Magic Use, and Vetoes.

##### Template: The submission thread template should contain the following.

1. What kind of edit to canon is it?
2. Who is the content creator? (must be tagged with the /u/)
3. Link to any relevant content
4. A brief description of the submission
5. Any comments or defense of your submission

#### Map Submission Policy

Maps will generally be considered "approved artwork" and should be submitted directly to the subreddit using the [Art] flair. These are maps created to depict different visualizations of the world & its locations.  Although, artists/map makers should try to refer to a canon reference map if possible, there is a bit more artistic license allowed here.  Most maps created for the subreddit will fall under this category.

Reference maps, on the other hand, are those designed to be a resource for the practical, technical side of worldbuilding within Conglomera.  These maps should be less detailed & allow freedom for other content creators to build upon them.  They must be internally consistent with prior canon and follow proper rules of geography & cartography.  These maps are subject to the standard canonization procedures, and must be voted on via poll as the Creation of a technical/reference map.

## Policy on Handwavium:

Definition: Handwavium is a term used to refer to when one “waves their hands” at reality and hard scientific fact. Generally this is for the sake of some kind of otherwise inaccessible creative device. Handwavium is all unrealistic or impossible science, such as faster-than-light travel, teleportation, artificial gravity, etc.

Handwavium policy: Because not all of us are biochemists and physicists, we submit that entries with handwavium are fine, so long as they are reasonably cohesive with and respectful of the established reality the Conglomera community has voted on. This means it is fine to have giant insects in an atmosphere that isn’t hyper-saturated with oxygen, because that is an arbitrary feature and is not gamebreaking. Any submission that enriches Conglomera creatively will be welcome with open arms, pending it’s successful completion of the community polling process.