Code of Conduct

1. Purpose and Scope

Oceanink Squids aims to be an inclusive space that celebrates Splatoon and the varied and diverse people that make up the playerbase. As such, we are committed to providing a friendly, safe, and welcoming environment for all; regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, ability, or other personal characteristics.

This Code of Conduct applies to: Oceanink Squids admins, moderators, event organisers, tournament organisers, and community members who participate in Oceanink Squids affiliated events (including, but not limited to, spectators, competitors, commentators and guardians).

Adherence to this Code of Conduct applies in all Oceanink Squids community spaces including Discord servers, Oceanink Squids streams (e.g. twitch.tv/OceaninkSquids), LAN events and other gatherings organised within Oceanink Squids servers. Oceanink Squids events may take place at venues which are shared with members of the public; the Code of Conduct also applies to interactions with venue staff and other patrons. Interactions on social media, public or private chat rooms and other online spaces may also be taken into account if their usage is deemed impactful to the Oceanink Squids community.

This Code of Conduct will be enforced by Oceanink staff, including:

  • Admins and moderators of the Oceanink Squids and Oceanink Series Discord servers
  • Tournament or event organisers of any Oceanink tournaments or events
  • Organisers and staff of partnered communities

2. Unacceptable Behaviour

Unacceptable behaviours include, but are not limited to:

  • Physical harassment or engaging in physical contact with another person without their consent.
  • Threatening or intentionally causing fear or distress in another person.
  • Abusing power over another person, using one’s status or position of authority or trust to pressure another person into doing something that they are not comfortable with.
  • Grooming a minor (person under the age of 18) by an adult; engaging romantically or sexually with a minor; establishing an emotional connection that progresses to a romantic or sexual relationship, or the intent to do so, when the younger person reaches the age of 18 or at any earlier point in time. This rule may not apply when the older person’s age is within two years of the younger person’s.
  • Sexual harassment and sexual abuse, making unwanted sexual or objectifying remarks to another person, sending or soliciting unwanted pictures or messages of a sexual nature; any type of engagement of a sexual nature by an adult to or with a minor.
  • Verbal or written harassment, bullying, baiting, trolling, provocation or other abuse that escalates to the point of making another person or people uncomfortable, whether in-person or online.
  • Disruptive behaviour, yelling at opponents, throwing controllers or other objects, hitting furniture, poor sportsmanship that escalates to the point of making another person or people uncomfortable.
  • Displaying vulgar, offensive, or defamatory depictions that harm social inclusivity and safety. This includes, but is not limited to: articles of clothing and gamer tags.
  • Inappropriate discussion of sensitive topics, such as suicide or self harm, in public or private spaces, in a way that makes another person uncomfortable.
  • Carrying a weapon such as a gun or knife, using, or threatening to use a weapon, or threatening any other person with a weapon except in reasonable defensive situations.
  • Stalking any other person, engaging in inappropriate or unwanted flirting, non-consensually contacting, approaching, following or watching another person or group, or not respecting another person’s reasonable desire to be left alone.
  • Taking photographs of or recording any other person without either their consent or permission from event organisers.
  • Engaging in discriminatory behaviour or hate speech, using slurs, or making discriminatory statements in person or online, including any such based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, ability, or other personal characteristics.
  • Intentionally outing any other person’s sexual orientation, gender, or other identity without their consent.
  • Engaging in defamation, impersonation, fraud, blackmail or manipulation of another person or group in person or online.
  • Violating another person’s privacy, doxxing, sharing or disclosing information, images or other media without consent.
  • Invading online space belonging to another person or organisation, including hacking, denial-of-service attacks, spreading malware, phishing and any other non-permitted entry or usage.
  • Intentionally entering off-limit areas in a community space. This includes gaining access to private Discord channels or servers as well as entering staff-only areas at a LAN.
  • Stealing or damaging property through malice, recklessness or negligence; tampering with, or interfering with any community space or venue property or platform, tournament equipment, network connectivity, or any other person’s equipment or possessions.
  • Tampering with tournament processes, cheating, collusion, match or bracket fixing, entering a single tournament more than once, entering as another player, entering under a different name with the intent to disrupt seeding, substituting or being substituted for any other player mid-tournament or without good faith permission from the organiser, or any other violations of commonly accepted tournament etiquette. The severity of this violation may relate to the scale and importance of the tournament affected.
  • Gambling or betting on the results of matches being played, whether one’s own or otherwise. Gambling is defined as the activity or practice of playing at a game of chance for money.
  • Stealing money, misappropriating, mishandling, or misrepresenting the amounts or uses of entry fees, prize pots, hotel or other lodging fees, viewer or other donations, or any other person’s money.
  • Neglecting personal hygiene to the point of creating a nuisance.
  • Engaging in any illegal activity in a community space.
  • Providing alcohol to minors (people under 18) at any time.
  • Engaging in any violations while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
  • Advocating for, encouraging, being an accomplice to, or threatening to engage in any potential violations.
  • Wilful negligence on the part of Oceanink staff or other people in positions of responsibility to handle violations properly, failure to record or forward reports or misconduct, or failure to enforce disciplinary action eg. allowing a banned individual to enter a community space.
  • Ban evasion, signing up for tournaments or entering community spaces or venues from which one has been restricted or banned, or any other failure to respect Oceanink staff enforced action taken against oneself or someone else.
  • Behaviour that would directly violate the event premise or other third party’s rules (e.g. at an event hosted by another community).
  • Egregious unsportsmanlike acts that do not fall under this code will be dealt with at the discretion of the Oceanink Squids staff.

Notes:

  • Physical event attendees under the age of 16 must be given a form with relevant Organiser contact details and information about the event or event series they are attending, and asked to deliver it to a parent or guardian. Alternatively, under-16 participants may be accompanied by an adult guardian when attending an in-person community space. Under-18 participants will be required to supply an emergency contact number of a guardian.
  • In line with Discord’s Terms of Service, participants in Oceanink Squids Discord community spaces must be above the minimum age of digital consent for their country. For Australian and New Zealand users, this is 13 years and above.
  • COVID-19 response: Oceanink Squids organisers and event participants are expected to adhere to local COVID-safe guidelines.

Be careful in the words that you choose. Harassment committed in a joking manner still constitutes unacceptable behaviour. Remember that sexist, racist, and other exclusionary jokes can be offensive to those around you. Excessive swearing and offensive jokes are not

appropriate in the Oceanink Squids community.

Retaliating to someone that has made a report against you is a violation of the Code of Conduct.

Falsely reporting unacceptable behaviour is a violation of the Code of Conduct.

3. Consequences of Unacceptable Behaviour

Oceanink staff reserve the right to take any action they deem appropriate. This may include issuing warnings, removing an individual from a venue or community space, disqualification from an event, a temporary or permanent ban from one or more Oceanink community spaces and/or events, and to notify other community organisations at our discretion.

Oceanink Squids is a signatory to the Splatoon Safety Code of Conduct. Bans and suspensions delivered by Splatoon Safety will be upheld by Oceanink staff.

4. If You Are Subject to or Witness Unacceptable Behaviour

If you experience or witness any form of violation of the Oceanink Squids Code of Conduct in an online community space, please contact a moderator or admin of the space.

If a violation occurs at a physical event, please notify the nearest organiser.

To report a violation that has taken place outside of a community space, use the Oceanink Squids Conduct Report Form

For general inquiries, email coc@oceaninksquids.com.au. Emails to this address are visible to Alecat and CalamarCat.

All reports are kept confidential to the extent possible.

If possible, provide the following information:

  • Identifying information (e.g. Discord ID, aliases, appearance) of the person who violated the Code of Conduct
  • The behaviour that was in violation
  • The location and approximate time of the behaviour
  • The circumstances surrounding the incident
  • Other people involved in or witnessing the incident

Based on the information provided, your report may be filed for future reference, immediate disciplinary action may be enacted or an investigation may be opened.

Please understand that if an investigation is required that it may take some time to work through your report.

If you are subject to unacceptable behaviour taking place in the broader Splatoon community, or if you do not feel comfortable reporting to the Oceanink Squids Conduct Committee, please report to Splatoon Safety.

5. Conduct Committee

If an investigation into a breach of the Code of Conduct is required, a Panel will be assembled to oversee the investigation and to deliberate on disciplinary actions. Panellists are selected from the Conduct Committee based on availability and must be free from conflicts of interest with the involved parties.

Partnered Communities

  • Oceanink Squids
  • Oceanink Series
  • Sunshine State Squids (QLD Community)
  • Vic Urchins (VIC Community)

Change Log

Introduced 2021-06-11

Based on the Smarts Consulting Model Code of Conduct v5, the Australian Smash Ultimate Code of Conduct and the AESA Community Code of Conduct with considerations to the Splatoon Code of Conduct and the resources shared by the Super Smash Bros Code of Conduct Panel.