Community Code of Conduct

  • We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Welcome to Paradox Interactive official forums!

We want our players to have a welcoming and enjoyable experience while using the Official Paradox Interactive Forums. It's an online space where you and other Paradox fans can gather around and engage in discussions about your favourite Paradox games in a friendly and safe manner.

To protect our employees and communities and to ensure a fair and healthy environment we have put rules and guidelines in place. Make sure to read them carefully before you start participating in any conversations and remember to be excellent to each other.

With the help of our moderation team, we are doing our best to provide everyone with a safe and inclusive environment and will take the necessary disciplinary actions to keep it that way. The Do's and Don'ts below will help you quickly navigate the behaviour we expect from all our community members, while the rest of this Community Code of Conduct will inform you more in details of the rules to follow on our official platforms. In addition to the forums, this Code of Conduct applies to all Paradox official community platforms, and can serve as a reference for related content, mod tools, upgrades, patches, features, launcher, websites, forums, events associated with Paradox and any other service offered by Paradox. Note that some specific sub-forums may have additional rules.

Thank you for your support and collaboration in making our communities a safer and better place!

Do's and Don'ts
Inappropriate Behaviour
Inappropriate Content
Constructive posts and attitude
Forum etiquette
Signature guidelines
Strikes system and sanction policy
Paradox Staff and Moderators

TLDR: If you should remember only one thing after reading through Paradox Interactive Community Code of Conduct, it's this:

We want our forums to be safe and fun for all our players as well as for our moderators and staff, community and development teams alike. Our communities and employees are composed of thousands of persons with diverse backgrounds and experiences, yet sharing the same passion for Paradox Interactive games. When interacting with each other, consider that certain language and images might not seem offensive to you but could affect others very differently.


Do's and Don'ts

Do's

  • Have a good time on the forums and make sure others do too.
  • Be courteous and respectful of everyone, Paradox employees and moderators included.
  • Respect the forum etiquette.
  • Post in the language of the forum you are using so everyone can participate.
  • Stay on topic and keep it game-related.
  • Make sure your posts are constructively contributing to the conversation and/or topic.
  • Remember that everyone can have a different opinion. It is okay to disagree as long as it is done with mutual respect.
  • Keep it PEGI 12 / ESRB Teen - Use appropriate language and avoid vulgarities.
  • Keep your account secure and your personal information private.
  • Get familiar with additional rules on specific game forums and regularly refresh your knowledge of this Community Code of Conduct.
  • Report toxic behaviour to our Moderation team with the Report feature.

Don'ts

  • Do not harass, personally attack or threaten other users and Paradox staff.
  • Do not post inflammatory messages with the perceived intent to rile people up (no trolling).
  • Do not name and shame.
  • Do not post illegal content, hacks and malicious programs.
  • Do not post personal information, yours or others.
  • Do not bypass Forum's security measures or help others to do so.
  • Do not spam.
  • Do not necropost, bump the same threads multiple times, recreate closed threads.
  • Do not comment on moderation decisions publicly.
  • Do not create multiple accounts.
  • Do not impersonate Paradox staff members, moderators or any real people.
  • Do not make false claims to Paradox staff and moderators.
  • Do not advertise.
  • Do not call for boycotts and create petitions.
  • Do not abuse Forum's formatting options.

In order to maintain an environment where everyone feels welcome and discussions flow freely, we do not tolerate the following behaviours and content on Paradox Interactive official forums and platforms:

Inappropriate behaviours

  • Racism & Discrimination
  • Hate Speech
  • Sexism
  • Insults and negative comments based on Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity
  • Real-life threats
  • Personal Attacks
  • Harassment
  • New Player Bashing
  • Flaming
  • Ranting
  • Spamming
  • Trolling
  • Doxxing
  • Bumping
  • Off-Topic Posting
  • Pyramid Quoting
  • Rumor Mongering
  • Impersonation
  • Advertising
  • Account trading

Inappropriate content

  • Pornography, paedophilia, extreme sexuality and/or violence or otherwise unsuitable for family or office environment (NSFW)
  • Nazi symbols or Nazi propaganda
  • Profanity
  • Real Money Trading (RMT)
  • Illegal drugs or activities
  • Discussion of Warnings & Bans
  • Discussion of Moderation
  • Cheats, Hacks, Trojan Horse or malicious programs
  • Unreleased content / hacked data files
  • Unauthorized copyrighted or trademarked material
  • Real-world religion when not in the context of the game
  • Real-world Politics or events when not present in the game
  • Personal information, including your or any other member's email, real name, address, phone number, IP address.

Constructive posts and attitude

Feedback

We welcome and encourage feedback on all our platforms, regardless of sentiment. It is always good to know when our players are happy with our games, but constructive feedback can also be very useful for us to further improve your gaming experience... if it is presented in a civil and constructive manner. Posts that are non-constructive, insulting or in breach of the rules will be deleted regardless of how valid the ideas behind them may be. Users are also reminded that posting with a lack of content also constitutes non-constructive posting. It is also possible to report bugs and issues encountered in-game. Depending on the platform and game, users should share their bug reports in the dedicated section or using the appropriate form.

Respectfully disagreeing

Our forums and social platforms welcome players, Paradox employees and moderators from diverse backgrounds and opinions. It is impossible to agree with everyone, but it is possible to disagree constructively to allow real discussions. There is no need to turn disagreements into heated arguments. Rather than letting these threads become flame wars please agree to disagree. Unconstructive reactions and disagreements will be deleted and subject to sanction.

Respect of differences

We all come with different life experiences, beliefs and cultures. To allow everyone to interact in a safe space, users are expected to be respectful of each other's differences and not attack, hurt or discriminate against others based on their identity and/or personal characteristics. We will not tolerate any abuse, attacks, harassment, threats or other harmful behaviour directed to other users, our staff and our moderation team.

Forum Etiquette

Paradox staff and the Moderation team are doing their best to keep the forums civil and orderly. The forums are a place for everyone to share their passion for Paradox games, ask questions, share feedback and suggestions.

In order to keep order and allow everyone to have their say without infringing on others' space, we expect all users to follow the forum etiquette:

Formatting

Do not abuse Forum's formatting options such as using mostly capslock, spamming emojis, etc.

Spamming

Repeatedly posting the same post or topic in a forum, or across multiple forums, is considered spamming. Such posts will be locked, edited or removed. Intentional off-topic or nonsense posting is also likely to be considered spam and will receive the same treatment. This applies to both written text and image posting which also includes memes.

If you think of something else you want to add to the thread, please use the Edit button rather than making multiple posts in a row as this may also be seen as spamming, whether intentional or not.

Tip:
You can search the topic you want to discuss in the “search in forums” bar (top of the forum) to make sure it wasn't already addressed recently.

Trolling

This includes:

  • Creating threads for the sole purpose of causing unrest on the forums
  • Causing disturbances in forum threads such as picking fights, making off-topic posts that ruin the thread, insulting other posters
  • Making posts designed to or likely to get inappropriate responses.

Final decisions on what is trolling will be at the discretion of the forum staff.

Stay on topic

When posting in a thread, please make sure that the thread is relevant to your query/issue, and that you would not be derailing the existing topic by replying. When creating a thread of your own, be sure to post in the right forum for the game in question, and take the time to search for an existing/appropriate thread before doing so. Threads that are off-topic, or become so, may be moved or locked.

We have “Fun Forums”, including an Off-Topic, if you would like to discuss something outside of the box.

Bumping and necroposting

Making short posts made with the sole intention of keeping a topic near the top of the board is called “bumping”. This clutters unnecessarily the forums and means that other active threads are moved down the page. As such, bumping is not allowed, and posts in this vein will be removed.

Where possible, please avoid posting in threads that are reasonably old (6+ months) as they are likely to be outdated and/or irrelevant, especially when reporting a bug.

Language

Our staff is international and Paradox's internal language is English. To allow all users to participate in the conversation, and our staff and moderation team to interact with the community, please post in English in the main forums.

You can also find dedicated Non-English forums covering some other languages.

Polls

Do not post polls without a moderator's permission. If you want to start a poll in one of our sub-forums, please reach out to the Forum Manager or a Community staff to present your request.

Paradox reserves the right to decline any request.

Boycotts

Paradox's forums are the property of Paradox Interactive. We do not allow calls for boycotts and petitions to be shared on our platform.

Advertising

Any post with the intention to sell, buy, or trade products or services, links to auctions, affiliate links, links to promote personal or commercial websites, blogs, personal social media channels and other forums is not allowed without the express permission of Paradox.

Moderation Actions

These are not a topic for public discussion, and should not be contested in a public thread. If you have a serious issue to raise with moderation actions taken against you or in general, please contact the Forum Managers.

Flaming moderators or their actions (this includes telling them how to moderate) is no more acceptable than insulting a regular user.

If you were banned from the forums and are not able to contact the moderation team, you can appeal the sanction by reaching out to this email: admin@paradoxinteractive.com

Any comment resembling discussing a moderation action will be deleted and sanctions can apply.

Signature Guidelines

Your signature should be composed of the default font size, default colour and should be ten (10) lines maximum (including lines of spaces).

  • Your signature should conform to the normal Forum Rules regarding content
  • Your signature should not include ASCII made images

Strikes system and sanction policy

Below is a summary of the Banning Matrix in place on the forums. To have a detailed overview of the sanction system, please read HERE.

Minor infractions result in removal of the post and/or a warning PM'd to you, but breaking the same minor infraction twice will upgrade it to a major infraction and result in a temporary or permanent ban. If you break a Major Infraction the post will be removed and there is now a Three Strikes System of Moderation in place (with exceptions for severe cases). There is no expiration date on infractions.

  • First Major infraction will result in a temporary 3 day suspension
  • Second Major infraction will result in a temporary 1 month suspension
  • Third Major infraction will result in a permanent ban from the forum

The lists above are non-exhaustive and Paradox Interactive staff reserves the right to change the list without notice and/or sanction behaviours deemed inappropriate as they see fit.

Paradox Staff and Moderators

Paradox official forums and social platforms are a workspace for Paradox Employees. It is Paradox responsibility and priority to ensure all their employees are working in a safe and welcoming environment.

Paradox employees are passionate people committed to offering all players the best possible experience, in-game and on our social platforms.

Community Developers and Managers

Are Paradox Interactive employees who work hand in hand with game production teams to form a bridge between the community and developers. They are there to inform you about updates and happenings with their respective games, as well as to take your feedback to the developers to help improve current and future titles where possible.

Community Ambassadors and Forum Manager

Assist the Community Developers and Managers in making players' voices heard and share information from their respective games. They help report back community feedback, suggestions, issues and concerns on all our titles.

QA (Quality Assurance) and Developers

Are all the Paradox Interactive employees that work in one way or another on your favourite games. They take on their work time to be present in the forums, listen to the community and answer questions when they can. QA staff are particularly active in the dedicated “Open Beta” and “Bug Report” sub-forums/servers where they collect players' issues to inform the development teams.

Moderators

Are volunteer helpers from the community. They give their time and passion to ensure the day to day running of the game forum/server, making sure the rules and this Community Code of Conduct are respected and helping the community where possible.


Legal information:

Using the forums requires you to create a Paradox Account, which in turn requires you to accept Paradox's User Agreement. This Community Code of Conduct is an integral part of the User Agreement, which for example means that a breach of this Code is the same as a breach of the User Agreement, with the same possible consequences.

We further recommend you to read Paradox's Privacy Policy which contains important information on Paradox's practices in relation to the collection, use, storage and other processing of your Personal Information.

This Community Code of Conduct is subject to change without notice. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are aware of the current rules and guidelines for posting.