Our Forum Is a Place for Civilized Discussion

This forum is owned and operated by Choice of Games. We invite you to participate in our forum, and we ask that you please treat the forum with the same respect you would any other place of business.

These are not hard and fast rules, merely aids to the human judgment of our community. Use these guidelines to keep this a clean, well-lighted place for civilized public discourse.

Choice of Games Is a Feminist, Egalitarian, Sex-Positive Company

Choice of Games strives to create and promote inclusive games, in which anyone can play and find themselves, including representation of all genders and sexual orientations. We strive to be sensitive to every community, and wish to keep our forum to the same standard.

We feel that we can meaningfully contribute to the improvement of our culture by giving players equal opportunity to tell their own stories in our games. We also want to lower the bar for entry for the writing and game-design professions though our Hosted Games program, to create a better world for everyone.

We do not allow homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, or any other kind of intolerance on the forum. If you do see any such posts, please just flag them.

We Respect Each Other’s Stories

We are a community of content creators here, and we know that writing and coding games, while rewarding, is also a very demanding task. We all strive to create good, enjoyable, inclusive content, and hope that all of our community members have the same goals. To that end, we encourage and expect a certain amount of respect from everyone, especially when discussing someone else’s stories.

  • If you don’t like a game, don’t just say you don’t enjoy it. Offer constructive ways to improve the game.
  • If the author chooses not to incorporate your feedback, don’t argue about it, especially if the author asks you to stop.
  • Don’t ask the author to incorporate adult content into their game unless the game already appears in the “Adult Content” category.
  • Don’t ask when a game will be updated or released. Usually the author doesn’t know.

Be Kind to Each Other

This is a place for people to come together and talk about our stories and games. The topics discussed here matter to us, and we want you to act as if they to matter to you, too. Be respectful of not only the topics, but also the people discussing them.

You may wish to respond to something by disagreeing with it. That’s fine. But, remember to criticize ideas, not people. Please avoid:

  • Rudeness
  • Ad hominem attacks, especially name calling
  • Extreme expressions of anger
  • Responding to a post’s tone instead of its actual content

Finally, harassment of any kind, including impersonating people, spreading rumors, exposing private information, contacting someone after they have asked you to stop, or any other kind of personal attack will not be tolerated. If you see someone doing any of these things, make sure to flag the post.

If You See a Problem, Don’t Reply, Just Flag It

Moderators have special authority; they are responsible for this forum. But so are you. With your help, moderators can be community facilitators, not just janitors or police.

When you see bad behavior, don’t reply. It encourages the bad behavior by drawing attention to it, and consumes energy that could instead have been spent making the community a better, more enjoyable place for everyone. Just flag it. If enough flags accrue, action will be taken automatically to hide the post, until a moderator can review it.

If a thread turns to discussing someone’s bad behavior on the forum, that’s not as serious as bad behavior, but flag that, too. If you wish to discuss a flag or removed content on the forums, contact the moderators. Don’t defend yourself, don’t defend others, and don’t pile on to someone who made a mistake.

In order to keep the community safe and pleasant, we reserve the right to remove any content or user at any time. Moderators do not preview new posts in any way; the moderators and CoG staff take no responsibility for any content posted by the community.

Adult Content and Choice

We are a sex-positive company and believe that, sometimes, a good game includes mature themes and content. However, we also know that some people do not wish to, or are unable to, read or view such content. As such, to view discussion about adult content you must make an account and opt in by joining the “Adult Readers” Group.

Please read the rules on that group before posting in it. Posting anything obscene or sexually explicit outside discussions in Adult Content categories is strictly forbidden. Don’t ask an author to incorporate adult content into their game unless the game already appears in the “Adult Content” category.

Keep It Tidy

Make the effort to put things in the right place, so that we can spend more time discussing and less cleaning up. So:

  • Don’t start a topic in the wrong category.
  • Don’t cross-post the same thing in multiple topics.
  • Don’t post no-content replies. (This includes “BUMP”ing dead threads.)
  • Don’t create “I’m new to the forum!” threads or posts. Just jump in!
  • Don’t divert a topic by changing it midstream.
  • Don’t sign your posts — every post has your profile information attached to it.
  • Don’t post a WIP thread without a playable demo. If you just want to discuss an idea, post it in the “Interest Check” thread.

Rather than posting “+1" or “Agreed”, use the Like button. Rather than taking an existing topic in a radically different direction, use Reply as a New Topic. Rather than posting a question which has probably been answered, use the search box.

Don’t post screenshots or quotations from our forum to continue the conversation elsewhere. If you have commentary or criticism to make about a post, post it on our forum. This allows our moderators to ensure that the conversation stays civil. You may have the legal right to post screenshots, but we have the right to forbid you from posting here, especially if you violate our forum rules while commenting on screenshots.

There are a few topics that come up way too often, so they are also forbidden:

  • If you’re a writer, don’t advertise for coders. Most people here fancy themselves writers, not programmers.
  • Don’t ask questions about JavaScript. ChoiceScript questions are appropriate, but general JavaScript questions are not for this forum. This includes the *script command in ChoiceScript, which we don’t support.
  • We don’t allow roleplaying or game threads. They can become so noisy that they clutter all other discussion.
  • Don’t ask when a game will be updated or released. Usually the author doesn’t know.
  • Alternate accounts (sometimes referred to as “sockpuppets”) are categorically forbidden. If you want to change the name on your account, contact an admin.

Post Only Your Own Stuff

You may not post anything digital that belongs to someone else without permission. You may not post descriptions of, links to, or methods for stealing someone’s intellectual property (software, video, audio, images, writing), or for breaking any other law. (This includes discussion of piracy and pirating forums.)

We can’t publish AI-generated content, but you can use it in works in progress

We can’t publish art, code, or prose that was generated via AI, due to ongoing legal uncertainty around the copyright of AI-generated content. Your submission, including all artwork, must be created by a person or group of people who have the legal rights to publish it, and we have to provide them credit in the Credits.

It’s OK to use AI-generated images in in work-in-progress projects, as long as you replace the AI images with human-generated ones before submitting for publication.

The Moderators

The Choice of Games LLC staff can all be found here. If you need to reach the staff about something critical, it is best to contact us via email at support@choiceofgames.com.

There are also a number of forum moderators. You can type “@moderators” to ask for attention from the moderators. You can also send private messages to the moderators using the link above. The moderators are not employees of Choice of Games LLC or Hosted Games LLC. They are volunteers, contributors, and community members. Their statements should not be taken as coming from the companies. We are not looking to add additional moderators at this time.

If you feel that the moderators have made an incorrect decision, you can email CoG staff at support@choiceofgames.com. Note that when we suspend users for long periods, we typically discuss it in a private discussion with the other moderators and CoG staff. (We generally don’t do “short” suspensions of less than one month; a year suspension is more typical.)

Note that CoG staff have the power to read direct messages (also know as private messages). By sending a direct message on this forum, you allow any present or future staff member to read the message. If you don’t want your message read by the staff, take your conversation elsewhere.

Moderators and staff can also view the email address that you used to register on the forum.

Terms of Service

Yes, legalese is boring, but we must protect ourselves – and by extension, you and your data – against unfriendly folks. We have a Terms of Service describing your (and our) behavior and rights related to content, privacy, and laws. To use this service, you must agree to abide by our TOS.