Create a CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md using GitHub's default template (unmodified)

[MasterOfGrey]

Summary

This adds the default code of conduct file recommended by GitHub.
The ES Community Discord is linked as the contact point.

References:
https://docs.github.com/en/communities/setting-up-your-project-for-healthy-contributions/adding-a-code-of-conduct-to-your-project
https://docs.github.com/en/communities/setting-up-your-project-for-healthy-contributions/creating-a-default-community-health-file

[ziproot]

Who would the community leaders be? That should be made clear in the code of conduct.

[Zitchas]

Definitely, we should have a code of community conduct. There are a pair of changes I would like to suggest, but they aren't a requirement.

Good idea!

[Zitchas]

Suggested change

	reported to the community leaders responsible for enforcement at
	https://discord.gg/ZeuASSx.
	reported to the community leaders responsible for enforcement via
	their emails as accessed via their github profile or as listed in the
	Endless Sky repository, such as the copyright and commit logs.

This is a GitHub community code of conduct. It should not require people to join another 3rd party platform just to file a report. Specific emails could be listed here, or directions to specifically where to find them. Either would be considerably more useful than linking to a discord server.

[warp-core]

Email is also a third party platform; as far as I know, GitHub does not provide an email service. GitHub does provide email addresses in the @users.noreply.github.com domain, as far as I can tell, it's not possible to actually send or receive emails with these addresses.

Your other comment mentions privacy. Given that, in sending an email, you reveal your own email address to the recipient. I don't think this is particularly private given that a GiThub user can keep their email entirely hidden from other GitHub users. A person can even view pretty much anything on GitHub without even having an account. In that context, sending an email would not only require you to give out previously hidden information to the recipient, but also may require you create an email account in case you don't already have one (or, don't want to use an existing one specifically to keep that address private.)

My immediate thought is that some sort of Google form would be a good option. As far as I know, you don't even need a Google account to submit a response to a Google form (unless you wish to include uploaded files).

That's not to say that email addresses or even the Discord link shouldn't be present, but if:

• not requiring respondents to use other platforms, and
• the respondents' privacy,

are priorities, I don't think email is particularly far ahead of Discord. They can be listed options, but in these criteria, I don't think either come out ahead of a Google form (or similar). The biggest advantage I can think of is that people might be more likely to know what to do with an email address than they are with a Discord link.
While, yes, a Google form would also be another platform, GitHub doesn't really provide a good way to give any sort of feedback privately. You could just have a discussion or something and let people submit reports there, but that's just a terrible idea. I think a link to a page with a textbox where you write your message and a "submit" button is far better than an email address.

[Hecter94]

My immediate thought is that some sort of Google form would be a good option. As far as I know, you don't even need a Google account to submit a response to a Google form (unless you wish to include uploaded files).

This is correct; yes, assuming you don't need to upload files, (or do a handful of other things, like limiting responses to one per person) a Google form can be submitted anonymously.

Another advantage to a Google form is that the form submissions can be shared among a group of people, so anyone whose been added to the form can see responses to it, whereas with email or Discord (if they choose to DM), whichever individual receives the email/DM could ignore it if they don't feel it's worth acting upon. In contrast, with a Google form, at the very least, a team of people could be made aware of it, making things much less likely to get ignored.

[Zitchas]

I rank email considerably above Discord because Discord is a singular entity (as is google); whereas there are millions of email providers (or even self-hosted) to suit every whim.

A google form would definitely be much better than the discord link. That being said, just straight up listing everyone who can take appropriate action here with their particular preferred method of contact would be reasonable, too.

The downside with the google form is "what if the person is reporting a problem with someone who has access to the place where that google form goes?"

[Hecter94]

The downside with the google form is "what if the person is reporting a problem with someone who has access to the place where that google form goes?"

Form responses are saved in a sheet that multiple people can have access to, and the sheet also has version tracking similar to GitHub.

If someone chooses to go in and delete a response they are opposed to, that will be saved in version history, who deleted it, what they deleted, and when it was deleted.
This also applies if something was modified; version history will save what the modification was, what the original was, and who did it.

And, of course, anyone with access to view the responses can also see version history.

[Hecter94]

Checking a few other project's Code of Conduct:

https://github.com/OpenRA/OpenRA/blob/bleed/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

https://github.com/spring-projects/.github/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

https://github.com/apollographql/.github/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

https://github.com/bevyengine/bevy/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

https://github.com/ravynsoft/ravynos/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

It's not an exhaustive list, but some that I pulled up more or less at random.
A few seem to have a dedicated "code of conduct" email, which generally seems to be the preferred option, just based on this relatively low sample size. A few mention directly contacting specific people, and one mentions an IRC server, one mentions their Discord server.

However, the concerns about needing to share your email address to email a complaint and the concerns with whatever individual manages the email having full control over what they choose to respond to and share are valid.
The ideal option might be some shared email inbox, which appears to be what a few of these use, alongside perhaps a Discord link or a form link.

If someone wants to email, they can, with it going to a shared inbox to not be reliant on a single person; if they want to join Discord and DM people about it, they can do so, and if they want to submit a completely anonymous form not to give away their email, they can also do so.

With that said, I'm not sure how difficult/expensive setting up a shared email inbox might be. If it turns out to be a difficult endeavor; perhaps just a Form + Discord to give multiple options without running the risk of complaints being emailed and ignored.

[ziproot]

Naev gives the option of reporting violations via Discord and email.

I don't see why we can't have both an email and a google form. That seems like those two combined would cover most people. There should be a warning if using a spam filter that email addresses from less common providers may be sent to spam by the server, because that does happen, but other than that I don't see the issue of giving multiple options.

[MasterOfGrey]

Setting up a collaborative inbox with Google Groups isn't too hard, though there's a bit of structural overhead.
If people find that desirable I can set one up.

[Hecter94]

Setting up a collaborative inbox with Google Groups isn't too hard, though there's a bit of structural overhead. If people find that desirable I can set one up.

A shared email inbox, alongside a Google form shared with the same group of individuals, would be the ideal solution, assuming that the shared inbox works how I envision it would.
That solution would allow an individual to use email to avoid using a third-party service or submit an anonymous form response if they aren't comfortable sharing their email address.
It also avoids the drawbacks of relying on a single point of contact as the only person responsible for receiving, communicating, and acting upon complaints.

Do you happen to know if a shared inbox would allow individuals with access to that shared inbox to modify/delete incoming complaints in such a way that it wouldn't be traceable by the other individuals with access to that inbox?

[ziproot]

Depends on the shared inbox I think. For Microsoft Outlook, it seems like only those who could delete incoming emails would be admins of Microsoft's server. However, for Gmail, "delegates" would be able to delete incoming emails, so mods would have to have something like POP3 set up to download emails as they arrive, so that they would have a local copy in case that happens.

EDIT: POP3 looks like it defaults to deleting emails as they arrive. Mods would have to set it up so it keeps a copy on the local server.

EDIT 2: Fixed dead link

[mOctave]

I've found a few loopholes that probably won't ever be exploited but could be used by those at fault in a circumstance as justification, or contribute to a lack of faith in the moderation team in general.

[mOctave]

This doesn't really feel clear to me.

Temporary ban says:

• if you ignore the ban and try to interact with members of the community, especially in a negative way, you might receive a permanent ban.

If they've managed to break free from their temporary ban, though, how are you going to enforce a permanent ban? Obviously, this probably involves the offender getting banned from the Discord, blocked from interacting with the GitHub page or the dev team, etc. But if they've already circumvented the temporary ban (which appears to be exactly the same as the permanent ban, just temporary), what's going to stop them from doing the same here? Is there going to be some action taken with outside support from GitHub or Discord?

I've got even more questions, actually:

• What even constitutes "public interaction?"
• Who among the moderators has the authority to turn a temporary ban into a permanent one? If moderator X is being "harassed" by temp-banned user Y when really Y just has poor communication skills/didn't properly read the code of conduct and is trying to get their ban appealed, should moderator X be able to execute this somewhat drastic step? Is a team of two or three moderators needed?
• The criteria for a permanent ban seem to be broader and no more serious than those for a temporary ban. The only difference is the "serious violation" vs "pattern of violation." What makes the permanent ban more severe beyond it being applied more sparingly and at the moderators' discretion?

[MasterOfGrey]

Public interaction would in this case mean posting or commenting on things in the repo.

I would say that whichever moderator applies the temporary ban is not allowed to be the same moderator who applies the permanent on. That's probably as much insurance as we can reasonably build into that though.

As for what makes it more severe?
It really just comes down to whether a person is actually capable of taking on board feedback and trying to do something about their behaviour. The temporary ban serves as a warning, the permanent ban is the decision for when the warning has no effect.

[ziproot]

Those explanations should probably be added to the code of conduct in some way.

[mOctave]

What guarantee is there that the investigation will be fair? Does someone being investigated have the right to express a lack of confidence in the moderation team? How will we go about preventing that lack of confidence in the first place?

[MasterOfGrey]

Refer to the multiple contact options conversation.

[mOctave]

I think the contact options conversation has sort of touched on it, but addressing lack of confidence in one specific moderator. While that is certainly an issue, I think we also have to have some sort of way to assuage a lack of confidence in the entire team. It is pretty much impossible that we will ever have an entire mod team that is biased and corrupt, but that won't stop people who have been accused or are being investigated from making those allegations or just having a bad feeling toward all our mods.

[xX-Dillinger-Xx]

I know what you're thinking, "WOW, does this guy have an opinion on everything?" the answer is yes. LOL
I hold the belief that any teams greatest asset in the development of ideas is the opinion of others.

Has the idea of a community forum ever been discussed? I feel that perhaps ES has grown enough in popularity, that it may be time to consider one.
It would get people like me out of github. Github is supposed to be a community for the developers, not average players. Because people don't have any where better to go, they end up here. Many people end up on discord, but lets be honest chat rooms are a nightmare for anybody that wants to have a serious conversation about the game. It's hard to focus when you have half a dozen people all talking at the same time and usually about different topics.

A forum would help solve a lot of the challenges you're facing trying to implement this PR.

As for moderation issues, I would recommend that no one person has the raw power to act alone. This helps prevent an abuse of power situation and helps prevent infighting. I could be completely wrong but I get the impression (after reading hours of conversations) that there are 2 distinct "camps" with in the team. If that is the case, I would recommend at least 1 person from each side.

[Zitchas]

Has the idea of a community forum ever been discussed?

Actually, the original place to discuss ES was a forum, specifically a Google groups one, which had is pros and cons, but it was one. When Google lost interest in it things started to fade a bit, and it became hard to access. It still exists, but I think it is only accessible to those already in it.

That being said, we do have the discussion areas in GitHub now. That is really purpose built for general conversations.

That being said, the more actual players are involved to temper the sometimes overly theoretical perspectives of devs who haven't truly just played in months or years is extremely valuable, and not something I want to see leave GitHub.

[Hecter94]

Has the idea of a community forum ever been discussed? I feel that perhaps ES has grown enough in popularity, that it may be time to consider one.

While they aren't quite as "official" as our GitHub or Discord, we do actually have a Steam, and a Reddit forum. (and more recently, a GOG forum as well, though it's basically unused)

Steam and Reddit are both monitored by individuals on the dev team and other content creators. I myself make a point to look at every new post on Steam to see what people are saying, and I see a few other prominent individuals monitoring it as well.

Between Steam, Reddit, and GitHub, I feel we have forums relatively well covered. Though Discord does also have the capability of utilizing forum channels for a more traditional forum experience if we ever felt it was necessary to provide options beyond Steam, Reddit, and GitHub, that would require being a community server, which there is some apprehension towards.

It would get people like me out of github. Github is supposed to be a community for the developers, not average players.

Although GitHub is primarily focused on development, players are more than welcome to join in as well, assuming that they are interested in development and not simply using it for general chatting. The main purpose of issues and PRs is to open up potential changes to feedback and playtesting, and hearing feedback from the general playerbase is certainly valuable. We don't want to discourage average players from commenting, sharing feedback, and providing their input on GitHub.

As for moderation issues, I would recommend that no one person has the raw power to act alone.

Yes, definitely. Hence, the conversation above about ensuring that whatever method we use as a point of contact isn't reliant on a single point of contact but rather a team of individuals.

[xX-Dillinger-Xx]

@Zitchas

That being said, the more actual players are involved to temper the sometimes overly theoretical perspectives of devs who haven't truly just played in months or years is extremely valuable, and not something I want to see leave GitHub.

Unfortunately, not to many players stick around past 1 or 2 posts. Honestly, this isn't the most friendly place to be from a player perspective.