Courtesy Guidelines

The Black Desert Online forums are here specifically to discuss game and related topics, any topics not related to Black Desert Online should be posted within the dedicated Off Topic section. Off Topic posts outside of this area are subject to being moved or deletion at the discretion of the moderation staff. Additionally, we recommend Users abide by the guidelines below, as repeat offenses may result in the removal of threads, and if necessary action taken against a User's account:

• Excessively tagging of staff members, or doing so without a reason is counter-productive and will not result in receiving special attention to your post. Repeat offenses of this will result in action being taken against the Users account.

• Backseat moderation is at best unhelpful and holds the potential to increase our moderation staff’s workload.

• Petition posts (where users are asked to reply for up or downvotes to an idea) is not a discussion, and will be subject to deletion at the moderation staffs discretion.

• Do not create multiple threads in an attempt to gain the attention of the staff members faster. This will be considered spam and may result in the loss of your ability to post threads

Behavioral Rules and User Interaction Guidelines

The User is expected to conduct themselves in a manner that facilitates a friendly and safe environment for all Users to participate in at all times while using the services provided by Pearl Abyss. Your access to these forums is a “privilege,” and not a “right.”

■ Thread Bumping

• The User shall not bump own threads. Replies to own threads with the sole purpose of moving said thread to the top of the forum can lead to a warning with the possible consequence of losing writing permissions on the Black Desert Online forums.

• If the User wants to add more information to a post, the “EDIT” function can be used. It is permitted to reply to one’s own posts once every 48h as long as the follow up post adds new and meaningful information related to the topic.

• Replies to other users posts with the sole purpose of increasing it's visibility are also considered thread bumping as well as spam and will be actioned accordingly.

• Normal replies to other users are not affected by the above mentioned rules.

■ Spam or Trolling Posts

• The User shall not excessively post with the same or similar phrases, or pure gibberish.

• The User shall not create threads for the sole purpose of causing unrest on the forums

• The User shall not cause disturbances in forum threads, such as picking fights, making off topic posts that ruin the thread, insulting other posters.

• The User shall not make non-constructive posts.

• The User shall not abuse the report post feature by spam reports, nor attempt to cause false alarms, or reports with gibberish or nonsensical messages.

• The User shall not create threads with titles such as IBTL, TLDR, or other similar statements.

■ Duplicate Threads

• The User shall not create multiple or repeat threads about existing topics.

• The User shall not create a separate thread to discuss an existing topic in another part of the forum.

■ Cross Linking Threads

• The User shall not create threads for the sole purpose of linking to another post.

• The User shall not create threads containing only a link.

■ Discussion of Moderation or Disciplinary Actions

• The User shall not create posts or threads to discuss disciplinary actions taken against a player, including chat logs and email correspondence between a player and a Game Master (GM).

• The User shall not create posts or threads to discuss disciplinary actions taken against a character or account on the forums.

• Threads deemed inappropriate to a particular forum will be moved to a more appropriate forum or even removed completely. Threads that have been removed or closed are not to be re-posted.

• If a user has questions or concerns regarding the actions taken by our moderation staff, please contact customer support team here: [link]

■ Circumventing a Suspension / Ban

• The User shall not attempt to circumvent a Suspension or Ban by the creation of another forum account.

• The User shall not post on another account, or have another User post on your behalf.

■ Posting Etiquette

• The User shall not post in all capital letters, use excessive punctuation, flamboyant fonts etc. to draw attention to its posts.

• The use of the words Pearl Abyss or any Pearl Abyss’ member’s name in a topic title is frowned on.

• The User shall not use misspelled versions of inappropriate words to circumvent the swear word filter. Doing so shows the User was fully aware of the nature of the word and it will be reflected in any potential penalties.

■ Name & Shame

• The User shall not "name and shame" other users. If a user is suspected to have broken the Terms of Service / Terms of Use or taken part in fraudulent activities it should be reported directly to Pearl Abyss by submitting a support ticket.

■ Quoting

• The User shall not quote posts who break the forum rules. The User is instead encouraged to use the Report Function in order to bring inappropriate content to the attention of the moderator team. Reported content will then be reviewed and appropriate actions will be taken.

■ Report Function

• The User shall not abuse the report post feature, nor attempt to cause false alarms, use the report tool as a means for revenge on another user, or create reports with gibberish or nonsensical messages.

• If the User finds another user behaving inappropriate several times in a short time span, the Report Function can be used, highlighting one relevant post and indicating in the notes that other threads are affected too. If the User feels a thread is out of control, one post should be reported indicating in the notes the whole thread needs attention.

■ Role Play Forum Rules

• The Role Play Forums follow a more strict rule set. Any user wishing to participate on the Role Play Forums is advised to review the sub-forum specific rules before posting.

■ Posting Unreleased Content / Unpacking Data Files

• The User shall not create posts showing unreleased in-game items, equipment, or areas that have been unlocked by hacking into client data files

• The User shall not create posts discussing the results of unpacking, hacking, or tampering with the games files.

• The User shall not create posts discussing or displaying data that is not available through normal gameplay.

• Any data claiming to have been unpacked or otherwise mined from the game files, released to a source outside our official services, is subject to change and cannot guarantee the veracity of this information in any official capacity.

※ Violation of any of the above guidelines, rules, or policies may result in action being taken against the Users account.

Naming Policy

The User must use a name that is easily readable, writable, and does not contain hidden characters. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure they abide by the naming policy, failure to do so will result in a name being chosen for you by the Pearl Abyss staff.

• The user shall not use a name that refers to: Inappropriate parts of the human body, bodily functions, illegal activities, drugs, Nazi regime, religious or political figures.

• The user shall not use a name that is vulgar, abusive, hateful, racist, defamatory, threatening, pornographic, or sexually oriented.

• The user shall not use a name that promotes violence, ethnically or national hatred.

• The user shall not use a name that violates intellectual or industrial rights of third parties, including trademarks.

• The user shall not impersonate an existing person, including Pearl Abyss or Black Desert Online officials.

• The use of alternate spellings, for instance by replacing a letter with a number, in order to violate the above policies is not permitted.

Threats to the provision of the Services

The User shall not make threats or attempt to disturb the provision of the Services in any way including spamming, denial of service attacks, performing actions whether alone or as a group, on the Service(s), that would affect the performances of the Service(s) or the experience of other end-users of the Services.

※ Pearl Abyss reserves the right to take any actions deemed necessary to maintain the integrity of the Service(s). Users found in violation of this policy will have action taken against their account, and may result in a permanent ban of the users account from the forums.

Account sharing or Trading

The User is not permitted to share the credentials of the User’s Account with anyone. It is the responsibility of the User to ensure all reasonable due diligence for the security of their account has been taken.

• The advertisement of the sale or purchase of accounts, characters, items, or third party services is not permitted.

• Notwithstanding the above, Pearl Abyss may request from you the name of your Account for events or in order to provide you customer support. However, Pearl Abyss will never ask you for your Account password.

Inappropriate or Infringing Content

The User is not permitted to post any inappropriate or Infringing content within the Black Desert Online forums. It is the responsibility of the User to ensure the content of their posts do not violate the copyright laws of any country.

• Pearl Abyss does not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, article, link or comment posted by other users in the Services, and shall not be responsible for the contents of any such message, article or comment.

• The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of Pearl Abyss. The User can report any violation of the services policies by clicking on the report icon on the Forums.

• The User shall not use the Service(s) to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually offensive, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violating of any applicable law.

• The User shall not post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned or licensed by the User.

• The user shall not promote illegal or illicit activities including cheating and the use of exploits.

• Posts that infringe on the rights (copyright, patent, etc.) of the Company or third parties

• Posts that harm the reputation of the Company or third parties

• Posts that contain personal information (personal identification information, location, contact, email, etc.)

• Posts that cause sexual degradation, disgust, discomfort or similar to others

• Posts that are intended to defame or harass others (including personal attack and rumors)

• Post with the intent of commercialization/profit (prize giveaway, product advertisement, website/game promotion)

• Posts that contain malicious code or induce system failure

• Posts that have a strong ideological/religious tone

• Posts that announce or promote unauthorized programs, private servers, and similar

• Posts that maliciously disseminate false information regarding a particular individual and/or company

• Posts that cause confusion or direct/indirect harm to the Company or others by disseminating unconfirmed information

• Posts that degrade or discriminate against a race, gender, or a particular region.

• Post that promotes or slanders a particular religion or ideology

• Posts that are related to real money trading or item trading

• Posts that are related to the act of sharing, renting, or trading account information with others

• Posts that impersonate others, including GMs, bulletin board/forum operators/admins, or Company employees

• Posts that incite violence, wrongdoing and/or gambling

• Posts that are related to acts violating the Terms

• Posts that are unrelated to the nature of the bulletin board/forum or detrimental to the community

• Posts that are prohibited by other Terms, the policy of each bulletin board/forum, and any relevant laws/regulations

• If an inappropriate post is identified, the Company shall restrict the post registrant in accordance with this provision, and the post will be deleted/moved, or made unviewable by the person who wrote the post as well as any commentators.

※ Violation of any of the above policies will result in action being taken against the Users account.

※ In the event there is significant enough cause, such as but not limited to causing severe damages to the Company/other Members, or violation to the relevant laws/regulations, the Company reserves the right to dispense with the scale of penalty on posting restrictions and permanently restrict the erring member on the website service and/or on Black Desert game service immediately.

Violation of law

The User undertakes to respect the legislation of the country from which the User launches the Game and accesses the Services of Pearl Abyss.

※ Violation of any of the above policy will result in action being taken against the Users account.