Online User Agreements
Online Gaming Rules
These Online Gaming Rules Apply to All, so All Have Fun
Welcome to the world of PlayStation® online gaming. The goal is to
create an environment where gamers from all over and from different walks
of life come together to share the experience of interacting with one another
in this fun, competitive environment. While the majority of gamers are here
to have fun, we�d like to clarify a few things for the gamers who may log on
with different ideas.
For those of you who are new to online gaming (newbies), here are some
helpful tips that will make interacting with others and gaming more fun.
Parents! We want to encourage you to play online games with your kids in
addition to supervising their behavior with other players. Here are some things
to for you to keep in mind while your child plays online games:
- Never allow your child to post, chat, or instant message any kind of personal information.
- Children should never provide real names or email addresses.
- Parents should always instruct a child to ask for permission before giving anyone any kind of personably identifying information.
Be a Good Sport
Winning is the goal of every online gamer. You spend hours practicing to
prepare for the moment you get to take on someone else to test your skills.
Well, plans and practice don't always work to your advantage. Sometimes, someone
else may 'take you to school'. Don't get discouraged or mad, take advantage of
the moment to learn more about player's styles and practice harder! Nobody
likes a sore loser.
Mistakes
Nobody's perfect, everyone makes mistakes. People talk about subjects that
may be inaccurate, or say something in the heat of the moment. Be forgiving
when it comes to these mistakes. Flaming a person or laughing at them doesn't
do anything except cause anger. This isn't productive or acceptable behavior.
The day will come when you make the same mistake. It will pay off in the
long haul to be polite and go easy on the mistakes others make.
Opinion
Everyone has his or her own opinion. The people you interact with in a
community come from all walks of life, many different religions and beliefs,
different family income levels, different points of view on many of
today's hot topics of discussion. In a nutshell, each person is entitled to
his or her own opinion. Discussion about it is the best thing to do, after all
that's what communities are for. If it turns into some kind of sparring match,
agree to disagree and move on.
Privacy
Everyone has the right to privacy. Posting personal information about another
member in a public forum is completely inappropriate, violates the games user
agreement and may lead to the suspension or termination of your user account.
Private issues between two people should be left as that, private.
The Rules Everyone Must Live and Play by
So there are a few more rules we need to educate you about that you will
need to be follow. Unfortunately, anyone who can't follow these rules may
have their user account suspended.
- The first time you login to an online game, you�ll have to select a user
name. Make sure you select a name that's appropriate, meaning do not use
profanity, religious or racist references in your choice. Of course, we
reserve the right to ban any name we think is offensive or
inappropriate.
- Cheating in any way or form is not tolerated. Using any external device
or cheat in conjunction with a game with the intent to cause an unfair
advantage or disrupt game play is absolutely prohibited under the game's
user agreement.
- Don't discuss cheating or any illegal activities. This includes, but not
limited to piracy and other forms of intellectual property infringement!
The guys who work here and spend most of their waking hours trying to
make great games for the PlayStation game console get really bummed out
when they have to engineer something to thwart unruly players.
- You must play the game the way it was intended by its publisher. Refer
to the game manual for specific game play information.
- Never impersonate another player, developer, publisher, or
representative from Sony Computer Entertainment America.
- We've promised to respect you and we need you to respect others. That
means it's totally inappropriate to publish or distribute any phone
number, address or other personally identifying information. Also, any
distribution of your own phone number, address or any other personally
identifying information is prohibited.
- Offensive material is also prohibited. Offensive is a pretty broad term,
but we think you know what we mean. (You're going to have to trust our
judgment, if you don't.) This includes any messages or material that
are ethnically, racially, religiously or sexually offensive, insulting
or demeaning. It also includes messages that are harassing or
threatening to others. In other words, if you wouldn't like it said
about you, don't say it about others. We don't want to be censors, but
offensive language may result in suspension or ban.
- Online gaming is for playing games and engaging in community. It is not
intended to help anyone start up a new business. Any advertisements,
solicitations or promotional materials of a commercial nature are
prohibited.
- We reserve the right to monitor the game servers and deal with any
gamers that don't adhere to these rules, the game's user agreement.
This also includes disruptive play that interferes with our
technical operations.
- Finally, because we can't think of everything, we reserve the right to
immediately suspend or ban any user at our sole discretion. (Sorry, but
it might be necessary.)
How do you report an infraction?
If you feel anyone has violated these rules, harassed you, or is using the
game software inappropriately, you may report the infraction by
contacting Consumer Services.
Please be sure to include clear and detailed information about what
happened including, your explanation of the violation, when the violation
occurred, other players in the game, and what game you were playing.
Please submit your report only once. Also, be aware that fraudulent reports
will not be tolerated and your user account may be subject to permanent ban.