Code Of Conduct

[mattesque]

Welcome! This forum was created to have another place to share game audio information and a general hang out for game audio people. Please read through this for the rules to get the most out of the place. The formal Code Of Conduct is at the end.



This forum is for audio people who work in games to share information in a more searchable place than Twitter, Slack or Discord. It’s made for sound designers, composers, audio programmers and audio implementers. It’s open to all skill levels but a high level of interest and passion should be shown if you haven’t shipped any games yet. It’s open and welcome to all in audio regardless of any status, race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military/veteran status or any other way someone might discriminate. We will not tolerate it at all and you will be banned if need be. This is a safe place for anyone and we will make sure to keep it that way. What it's not: it's not a place for advertisements, spam or marketing.


Community Guidelines and Code of Conduct

The standard: The Game Audio forum is a professional group for everyone participating in game audio. The industry has a problem with a lack of diversity in many places and we strive to better that both internally and externally. This means we encourage all people to join and contribute to a safe and friendly environment to connect and collaborate with each other as well as have constructive conversations in a space that is conducive to professionalism and the sharing of different perspectives in an inclusive manner, especially for under-represented groups in audio and games.

Things to keep in mind.


1. Debate is great and encouraged on topics that make sense for friendly debate (like if Pineapple should be on pizza) but anything antagonistic, insulting, racist, sexist, or other inappropriate comments will not be tolerated. Be aware that your tone may come off differently to someone else as well and keep in mind that intent does not matter. If asked to stop please do so immediately. Arguments can make many people on the team feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, and ultimately leave. Bad Conversation: Discussing if the lack of women in audio and games is because of a ‘lack of interest’ or some other sexist commentary and antagonizing, or talking over others in the forum to ‘see your side’. (This type of behavior will get you banned). Good Conversation: Discussing the impacts of FMOD and Wwise on your next unity project and which you chose to go with etc.

2. Please do your research before posting questions. We're here to help but please show the community the courtesy putting in some effort. This is not a private google search. Bad Question: “What’s a good mic?” Good Question: “I’m looking for a mic for VO and noticed that the SM7b and U87 are both listed as good but I have no experience using them, does one work best for male voices? Budget is no concern.”


3. If you feel someone has violated any of these terms and needs to be spoken to or removed please message the admins immediately. We will deal with them accordingly. We will also listen to any other concerns you may have in general.

4. Comments and posts that violate any of the rules, guidelines, or code will be deleted without warning. The admins aim to keep this a clean place for all.

5. Mocking others due to their opinion, lack of understanding, experience level, fluency in your language etc. will not be permitted, even from outside the channel. This includes sharing posts from outside the forum like from Twitter and Reddit for the sole purpose of poking fun. It is casual here but we are a professional group and expect a level of respect for our fellow audio people. Everyone started somewhere. Our aim is to build up, not tear down an inclusive community.

6. Proper names are encouraged but not required. Your screen name can be you what you like (as long as it doesn’t break anyone of the other rules) but this team is not meant to be anonymous but understood that proper names for some members might be unsafe to have in an open forum. This is a professional space and aiming to have trust in the advice being offered. This can be included in the signature of your profile.

7. Forum signatures are required to include what you do. This can be your job title or just a simple "sound designer". This is to provide info to readers on where you are coming from when giving advice.

8. This forum is a public forum but there is an expectation that what is said here in the forum stays within the forum. If you would like to quote anything here please get permission from the person who you'd like to quote.

9. This space will not tolerate any harassment or abuse, here or elsewhere. Any news from a credible source of a member engaging in harassment or abuse of people in our (or any) community will result in a banning from the forum. While we respect that people can grow and change, for the safety of the group, bans will be administered regardless of any admission or apologies. How long a ban lasts for will depend on the situation.

If the Rules are broken:

If a person is found in violation of the Code the following will happen: 1st offence if it’s something minor, the person in question will be privately messaged about the offence, an explanation of the offence will be given and an apology will be asked to be posted. Offending comments will be deleted. 2nd offence the person in question will be messaged publicly so the group knows the offence has happened. Again comments will be deleted and an apology required. 3rd offence and that person will be banned. If any of the admins feel an offence is bad enough, an immediate ban may occur. Unfortunately the rules can't cover every situation that comes up and immediate bans are at the judgement of the admins regarding any situation that may occur.

This Code Of Conduct will be a work in progress. Forum users are expected to keep up to date and admin will try to keep users aware of any major changes.