Overview

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It is Archetype’s view that LARP is an extremely powerful form of interactive media. Because our games frequently deal with intense subject matter, safety is our top priority. In order to run safe, immersive, and enjoyable experiences, we intentionally designed a code of conduct tailored to help us safely, respectfully, and mindfully navigate the realities of such content.

 

In this document, we use the term community member to refer to anyone participating in one of our games or interacting with others within any one of our Archetype-moderated spaces, online or offline.

 

We expect that all community members are adults who know themselves best. These games are not a good fit for everybody. Misunderstandings happen. People change their minds. We trust that if at any point a community member does not feel comfortable, they will act as their own first line of defense in communicating that discomfort and removing themselves from situations that cross their individual level of comfort. While the staff of Archetype can and will check in, step in, and provide mediation and advocation, we seek to foster a community where collaborative storytelling is enabled by mature individual decision-making and emotional intelligence.

 

These games deal with many socially and personally uncomfortable themes. Trust is paramount in exploring these themes in a respectful, safe, and responsible manner. Trust in the design, trust in the staff, trust of the players, and trust between the players are the building blocks of our game design, and enable us to run games that live up to this code of conduct.

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Content and Inclusivity

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Many of our games deal with mature, intense, and potentially triggering subject matter. While the content of our games may reflect situations one might encounter in reality, and may deal directly with upsetting themes, we do not ever condone these things in real life.

 

We do not tolerate any malice, bigotry, hatred, or exclusion on the basis of any identity. We do not condone any “isms.” We do not support violence in any form, either interpersonal or originating from a larger system.

 

Off-game racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and any other forms of intolerance not listed here will never be welcome at Archetype. We reserve the right to remove anyone we consider to be engaging in such beliefs or behaviors from our spaces.

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Global Design Techniques for Safety

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Most Archetype games are application-only. We avoid open ticket sales in order to have an additional level of control over who attends our events. We use thorough review of applications and flagging systems in order to prioritize the safety, comfort, and fit for each run of each game. We also share content warnings and disclosure of “ingredients” for each game to help players identify which games will or will not suit them.

 

In games, we use a variety of safety mechanics to enable better player-to-player communication. The most important of these will always be off-game communication (which includes both workshopping and OOC check ins) where we avoid ambiguity by enabling community members to clearly state what they do and do not want from an experience. Off-game communication is treated as sacrosanct, and is prioritized above all other meta-communication techniques.

 

Our games frequently have a lot of pre-game reading or “homework” and will often begin with workshops. This preparation for the game is a part of the communication between participants and is an element of telling these stories safely. Archetype has an expectation that participants will prepare thoroughly and as asked for each game. Games are conducted under the assumption that all participants have undergone all mandatory preparations.

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Conflict Resolution

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Conflict is inherent to every one of our games. Conflict is story. We take steps to prevent conflict from bleeding into the real world. However, sometimes this is inevitable. We always initially presume that everyone involved in a conflict is sincere, and assume all conduct is in good faith unless shown otherwise.

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When community members find themselves in conflict within the confines of an Archetype space, staff will step in as needed or when requested. We expect that community members will attempt to amicably resolve any minor disputes like reasonable adults.

 

In any conflict between staff and players, there is an inherent power disbalance. As such, staff members will recuse themselves from the mediation of any conflict that is about them, and other staff will treat them as a general community member for the purposes of mediation. Game staff are members of the Archetype community just as much as players. Abusive behavior towards staff will not be tolerated any more than abusive behavior between players.

 

Responsible resolution takes time. We promise to research incidents and help with community repairs to the best of our ability. We ask that the time it takes to do so be respected, and ask for trust from our community that we will do as much as we can, as best as we can, in any given situation, so that we can be properly informed and implement changes that stick.

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Finally, we support restorative justice whenever feasible. To us, this means that we will prioritize the requests and needs of wronged parties in the course of seeking resolution. We understand that this will not always be achievable, but we intend to strive for that goal when possible.

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Who We Don’t Welcome

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We are firm believers in the paradox of tolerance: the idea that, if you tolerate all beliefs, intolerant beliefs will be protected. We are not and never will be a safe space for intolerance. If we have reason to believe any community member is creating an unsafe environment for others, we reserve the right to act to remove them from our spaces in the interest of protecting our community. This may include an immediate ejection from a live event, with no expectation of refund.

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Conclusion: We Will Mess Up

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Codes of conduct are only as good as they’re upheld. They do not prevent mistakes, only offer guidelines for how we aim to treat one another.

 

Inevitably, people in our community will mess up. Our games will miss the mark. Communication will fall short. People will speak from uninformed places. We will misunderstand one another. This is unavoidable. What we prioritize is communication, empathy, and openness in order to identify ruptures, take ownership and accountability, and move forward with intention to do better next time.

 

Archetype thanks its community deeply for their efforts in upholding this code of conduct.