Rules

These rules are subject to change, we ask that you follow them at all times.

These rules apply to all public chats. When it comes to private chats they will not be moderated however any violation of the rules that are reported may lead to punishment.

General Rules

* English only in publics chat, if you wish to talk in another language check the custom chats to see if one has been made for your language or create a new one

* Please do not discriminate against those who do not speak your language. Allow them to find help, point them in the right direction while informing them of the rules, with respect.

* Spam in all forms is not allowed. This includes but is not limited to: - Excessive Letters, Symbols, Numbers - Sending the same message multiple times in a short time span - Cutting up sentences into multiple messages when they can be placed into one - Flooding the chat with Song lyrics. One liners with friends is fine but copy pasting lyrics just to flood chat is not ok.

* The excessive use of capital letters is not allowed

* No swearing, do not bypass filters put in place

* Trolling is generally allowed, however, certain trolls will not be tolerated and mutes will be issued. Example being telling someone to deleted certain folders from their PC etc.

* No begging, this includes asking for free stuff such as asking players to put down lures for you etc.

* Please be respectful of each other. - No arguing. No harassment. We encourage you to block other people if you can’t get on. - No insulting, flaming or any toxic-behaviour of any kind towards any players. - Do not incite drama

* Keep things appropriate, this includes: - No offensive messages, no racism, no derogatory terminology, and no hateful speech. - No politics or controversial topics. - Inappropriate content, topics and malicious links are strictly forbidden. This includes anything sexually explicit, inciting hate, drugs or anything illegal.

* Do Not slander this Game or other Pokemon MMOs.

* When making Crew names and naming Private chats make sure to abide by the rules, they must be appropriate and not break any rules.

* Please use the chat channels appropriately, trades go in the trade channel.

* You may not encourage other players to break rules.

* Do not discuss mutes or bans in any public chat, to appeal please create an appeal ticket in the discord

* Please do not mini mod, if you wish to remind someone of the rules please do so in private messages not in public chats

* You may not bribe players. This includes offering payment to; break rules, access your account to win battles, other players to lose to you, etc.

* If muted or banned from the game, do not avoid the infraction. You must make an appeal via discord and discuss options from there.

* Spoiling quests on global chat is prohibited. If you want to help others with solving a quest, please use private/crew chat. Giving solutions on global chat will result in a mute.

(Please note that guiding others in the right direction is still allowed especially if you are guiding a new player)

* Do not publicly discuss exploits. Small bugs and glitches should be reported in the appropriate discord section but any game breaking bugs should be reported directly to a member of the Dev Team

Game Rules

* Using any kind of unauthorised software is prohibited. This includes botting, macros, autoclickers etc. Rebinding keys should be done 1:1 and you must be pressing the keys yourself. If you are found to be using such software, you will be permanently banned from the game.

* Abusing glitches, and not reporting them as soon as possible, will result in sanctions

* Decompiling the client to access or trying to modify game files is prohibited and will be met with a permanent ban

* Not reporting incriminating evidence, helping a user to evade a ban, and hiding illegally gained belongings are all strictly forbidden. This includes, but is not limited to: - Not reporting a user who you know has cheated or abused bugs - Not reporting a user who is initially feeding or using feeders to gain a higher rank - Sharing accounts with a user who is permanently banned - Trading stolen, botted or illegitimately gained Pokémon, items, money, etc whilst knowing of their origin - Not reporting a Staff Member who abuses their position

Accounts

* When creating usernames please make sure they are appropriate and do not break any rules. Inappropriate usernames will be banned. You can check the Terms of Service for a full list of what we do not allow

* Using usernames to troll or harass another player is also against the rules.

* Account sharing is discouraged - The account owner will be held accountable for any rules being broken on the account - If you lose your account because you gave someone your password we are unable to help you retrieve it. It is done entirely at your own risk

* If you are on the same IP as another person eg brothers and sisters, then playing together is fine.

* Having 2 accounts to play the game but no trades in between, this is only allowed providing you do not trade nor exploit any game mechanic. This means you may only play on one account at a time, if you are found to be using multiple accounts to exploit any game mechanic you will be banned. Examples of this include, but are not limited to, using multiple accounts to encounter Pokémon, PVP, take part in bug catching competitions, fishing competitions or Dynamax battles.

* Multi account trading and same device trading is prohibited, doing so will result in a ban

* Gaining unauthorised access to another user’s account is strictly prohibited and will be met with severe consequences

Trading

* The staff will not handle any complaints on trade made outside the official platform of PBO

* Real Money Trading is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: - Buying or selling anything in PBO for money or goods in real life - Exchanging anything in PBO for items, money, etc on another game - Buying or selling an account on PBO for money or goods in-game - Buying or selling an account on PBO for money or goods in real life

* Scamming another player is prohibited. The scammer will be banned but items or Pokémon will not be returned, you will need to provide proof that a scam has happened. Scamming includes, but is not limited to: - Not staying true to your word - Not returning loans - Intentionally misleading or deceiving others

* A player can sell their Pokémon for whatever price they'd like, within reason, Do not harass users over their sales

* Lotteries, raffles, giveaways, etc. which are not free to enter are against the rules.

Staff

* You may not disrespect staff members. Disrespect towards any member of staff will be treated more harshly than other players.

* You may not impersonate a member of staff nor any players. This includes claiming to be an alt account of any staff member.

* If you do not agree with a staff members decision you may appeal via the discord

Mutes, Bans and Reports

* Do not publicly discuss mutes or bans. You can appeal via the discord ONLY

* Do not discuss report related topics in chat. If you see someone violating the rules, make sure to report that player to a member of staff.

Links and Advertisements

* Live streaming links are only to be posted once every 30 minutes. Only the streamer can advertise their channel.

* Do not advertise your personal channels, other Pokemon Games and services not related to PBO. - Custom Chats should not be advertised in chat, with exception of language channels.

* Crew recruitment messages may be advertised once per hour by crew leaders and commanders.

Forum Rules

* Spam is not allowed. This includes pointless or meaningless posts which do not contribute to the thread.

* Do not repost threads that have previously been moved or deleted

* No swearing

* Please be respectful of each other. - No arguing. No harassment. We encourage you to block other people if you can’t get on. - No insulting, flaming or any toxic-behaviour of any kind towards any players.

* Keep things appropriate, this includes: - No offensive messages, no racism, no derogatory terminology, and no hateful speech. - No politics or controversial topics. - Inappropriate content, topics and malicious links are strictly forbidden. This includes anything sexually explicit, inciting hate, drugs or anything illegal.

* Please use the forum sections appropriately, trades go in the marketplace section etc

* You may not encourage other players to break rules.

* You may not disrespect staff members. Disrespect towards any member of staff will be treated more harshly than other players.

* You may not impersonate a member of staff nor any players. This includes claiming to be an alt account of any staff member.

PVP

* You may not enter Crew Wars or Ranked Ladder with more than one account.

* You may not offer any sort of incentive in exchange for battling you; this includes offering money or items for losing to you.

* You may not purposely lose to another player also known as feeding. You must put forth a serious effort to win. Intentionally feeding will result in a PVP ban

* Boosting in any form in Ranked PvP is forbidden, this means you may not enter a battle and disconnect repeatedly against the same players either with payment or without, nor giving someone a free win to boost their rank. Any player found boosting another or being boosted will be Ladder Banned.

* You may not abuse any exploits/bugs to gain an unfair advantage during battles. Some exploits may be subjective, but it should be clear if it gives you an unfair advantage or not. If you are unsure you can always ask a member of the Dev Team.

These rules can't include every specific offence, so use your best judgement when doing something you think may be against the rules. If you have any questions, feel free to PM a member of staff and ask them.