CCP is firmly committed to maintaining a community where real-life harassment and threats are not tolerated and treated with the utmost seriousness and severity.
As the custodians and caretakers of the virtual worlds we maintain, we believe that both our players and developers should be free to experience them without the worry of facing real-life harassment, toxicity, or threats while they play.
This policy outlines the types of conduct that we consider detrimental to the health of the community, as well as how CCP will respond to to these situations.
This policy also contains resources and advice for those who feel that they are being threatened or attacked.
Harassment:
Harassment has no place in our community and is not tolerated. CCP works closely with the EVE Community and various third parties to ensure an appropriate approach to these cases.
The types of behaviour that we consider to be harassment include but are not limited to:
- Verbal abuse
- Abusive messaging
- Real world stalking
- Online stalking
- Social Media stalking
- Encouraging or enabling self-harm
- Doxing
- Racism
- Sexism
- Hate speech
Other unacceptable behavior is highlighted in both the Terms of Service and the CCP Event Code of Conduct, which covers acceptable conduct at real world events.
Players engaging in harassment are subject to repercussions - including warnings and temporary suspension. Repeated offenses may result in permanent suspension of a user’s EVE account(s).
Some particularly serious offenses may lead to immediate & permanent suspension of a player’s EVE account(s) without warning. Examples of such offenses include but are not limited to:
- Doxing
- Extreme racism & hate speech
- Serious targeted credible personal harassment
- In-game activities prohibited by real-life law
- Revenge porn
Instances of harassment, real-life harassment or other offenses against another player, a volunteer or a developer will be handled at the sole discretion of CCP.
Real-life threats:
While we understand that the virtual worlds we maintain can cause tensions and emotions to run high at times, real life threats are not tolerated. Let your in-game lasers and artillery do the talking!
Regardless of whether they are made in jest or in the heat of the moment, any threat of real-world violence against another player, a volunteer or a developer is taken seriously. Repercussions range from temporary to permanent suspension depending on the context of the case and the user’s prior track record.
At the discretion of CCP, threats considered to be particularly credible will be reported to the relevant authorities, which may include but not be limited to::
- National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police.
- Interpol.
- Municipal, State, Federal and/or National Law Enforcement Agencies.
In addition to this, section 3 of the CCP Event Code of Conduct also covers threats made against individuals attending real world events, or threats of violence against events themselves.
Individuals who make credible real-life threats of this kind are not welcome in our community and will be removed without recourse under section 5. B. (1) of our End User License Agreement.
Clarification on reprimand:
When individuals are removed from the community for breach of this policy, they are removed on a user, not an account basis. This means that any game accounts created by or associated with the individual will be permanently banned and if any new accounts are created, these will treat the same.
An individual removed from the community for breach of this policy will be considered persona non-grata and is no longer welcome to engage with our products and services or attend CCP hosted events.
In addition to this, should a case be severe enough or the evidence sufficient enough to accurately identify a player, CCP reserves the right to take action against these kinds of behaviours when they occur in relation to EVE Online via third party services.
Third party services include but are not limited to:
- VOIP services.
- Live streaming services.
- Video hosting services.
- Text based communication services.
- Social media platforms.
- Third party blog publishing sites.
Action of this nature will be considered on a case by case basis.
Support for those targeted by harassments or threats:
If you find yourself a victim of harassment or threatening behavior, the most important thing to remember is that you are not alone and that there are policies and controls in place to assist in such situations.
You should always remember that in most instances, harassment is used to troll and usually to elicit some form of emotional response.
The most important thing to remember is that if you are being threatened and feel you are in any immediate physical danger, you should contact your local authorities without delay.
While it’s easy to put this in a set of guidelines and being in a situation where you are being threatened or harassed is incredibly stressful and upsetting, the best response is typically not to offer a reaction or retaliate.
The first port of call should be to assess which platforms the harassment is taking place on, as this will affect how you report it and how it’s dealt with.
Reporting harassment on third party platforms:
Depending on where you are being harassed, most service providers have their own guidelines and resources detailing how to report behavior that breaches their rules.
Here are some of the most common platforms and how to report harassment there:
- Twitter Harassment Reporting
- Facebook Harassment Reporting
- Twitch Harassment Reporting
- Discord Community Guidelines
- Discord Reporting – How To Gather Details
- Instagram Harassment Reporting
When reporting this type of behavior, be sure to include as much detail as possible so that those working on your case can see the full extent of the issue.
Reporting harassment to CCP:
If harassment is taking place via a third-party service, it is vital that you report the behavior to the operator of that platform through the appropriate channels first.
If harassment is occurring via any of CCP’s services (through in game chat channels, mail, forums or any of our other services), then you should immediately report this to us.
We take every instance of harassment and threatening behavior one hundred percent seriously and are committed to swiftly addressing this type of behavior, including removing those who engage in it from our community.
To report instances of harassment to us, please file a support ticket under the relevant category.
You can do this by heading to the Support Website and opening a ticket using the “Submit Support Ticket” button.
You’ll need to select the “Game Play Support” ticket type. From there, select the “Rules & Policies” category, then the “Offensive Behavior & Harassment” subcategory.
Please include as much detail as you can about the situation, and include any chatlogs, screenshots, links or other information that details the nature of the harassment or threats.
Initially, you’ll receive an automated response from our ticket service informing you that your ticket was successfully created. From there, a member of our GM Team will be in touch as soon as possible from there to assist.
Again, it must be stressed that the most important thing to remember is that if you are being threatened and feel you are in any immediate physical danger, you should contact your local authorities without delay.
CCP is committed to maintaining an environment where our community can flourish, and where our players can experience the virtual worlds we create together without worry of facing real-life harassment, toxicity, or threats while they play.