In this edition of the dAmn Newsletter I'll be looking at clarifying a few areas in relation to policy on dAmn as well as generally updating you all on some upcoming events which you'd be nuts to miss.

Roleplay Channels

FAQ #287: What rules apply to dAmn?


dAmn is for everyone, and we welcome you to create a room for almost any reason you like; whether it be for music discussion, to find people in your area, or to trade art and photography. However, there are a few types of rooms that we do not allow. In particular, I'd like to clarify some points regarding roleplay channels.

Sexual Themes: We do not allow deviations of an explicit sexual nature on deviantART, and so we do not allow rooms that are for the discussion of explicit sexual topics. The use of rooms for "cybersex", or the acting out of sexual situations, is also not allowed.

Whilst we appreciate that the majority of our users on dAmn do take heed of the very simplistic guidelines, it would appear that some users are confused as to whether or not their channel fits with the above.

If you create a channel on dAmn, which is called #FOXYSEXYFUNTIME or #YAOIROLEPLAY, for example - this would be inappropriate. Yaoi, by it's very definition focuses on homosexual relationships between male characters and is generally sexually explicit.

We have noticed a large increase in the number of such channels which are opening on dAmn and whilst we are aware that not every channel does encourage the actual roleplaying of such situations, unfortunately the majority do.

I should also point out that describing your roleplay as a romance will not mean that you are exempt from the dAmn rules. Trust me, MN@ have been called to deal with a lot of these romances and there is nothing romantic about 13 yr olds pretending to be foxes, giving graphic descriptions of their yiffing prowess.

Now before I get bashed with the OMG UR HOMOPHOBIC line, let me just reinforce that sexaulised roleplay is not allowed on the network, regardless of gender or species.

If your channel is found to be in breach of the above guidelines then it will be closed immediately. If you create further channels, or have a history in the participation of such channels, then you may very well find that your account will be suspended for a period of time. You can of course use this time to make sure that you fully understand the guidelines to prevent any future misunderstandings.

Further recommended reading:

FAQ #573: What rules apply to Unofficial Chatrooms on dAmn?
FAQ #515: What kinds of channels are allowed on dAmn?
FAQ #287: What rules apply to dAmn?

Ban Evasion on dAmn

We would like to point out to all users of dAmn, that just like all other departments of dA, we take ban evasion very seriously. Users who create an alternative account to evade their ban will have their original ban increased, and the evasion account permanantly banned from dAmn.

If you have been banned from an Official Channel ( FAQ #288: What does the Fella icon by a chatroom name mean? ) , and have any disputes or enquiries relating to your ban, we would encourage you to come to #MNAdmin to discuss this in a calm manner. However, we will not discuss bans with anyone other than the individual concerned. This includes issues relating to channel closure, which will only be discussed with Channel Founders. If you have received a network ban which you dispute, you should contact the Help Desk in order to discuss this further.

Forum Reviews

$lolly, $realitysquared and I will be taking some time over the next couple of weeks to review all the feedback which you guys gave regarding the guidelines which you'd like to see in place in the forums.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your participation in the review. There has been a lot of positive response to the call for feedback and we're looking forward to updating the guidelines, as well as providing updated descriptions for the forum headings.

If you haven't done so already, then you really should check out the Forum Newsletters which are written by =conorschild. You can be sure to find what's hot ( and what's not!) in the forum postings in each edition, as well as find out all the latest gossip involving the forumites.

Birthday Bash!

Yup, it's almost that time of year again! With dA's 7th Birthday just a over a week away, we're already putting in place plans to make sure that you have a ball on dAmn.

Those of you who've been on dAmn on previous birthdays should know by now that it's definately THE place to be on August 7th, and this year will be no disappointment. So make sure that you are ready to take part in art challenges, crazy contests and general mayhem on the day - I hear there may even be another talent contest on skype, so get prepared!

I hope that you've found this update to be useful. Please let me know if there is anything specific that you'd like to see in future editions.

I'd like to leave you all with this final thought, taken from our dAmn Quotes thread for July.

03:43:50 am ** etemi has joined
03:44:05 am <etemi> hello internet
03:44:12 am <mykel> the internet is clsoed sorry.
03:44:21 am ** etemi has left [connection closed]