The Vault Code of Conduct

With such a large and diverse community, with such a long a rich history, it is imperative that we preserve the things that got us here; namely, keeping the Vault a fun, welcoming, safe, and fair place to play. The Vault Code of Conduct (VCoC) states our shared ideals with respect to conduct. Think of this as a way to communicate our existing values to the entire community.

Our friends at Ubuntu and Drupal have blazed a brilliant trail in this area. We have embraced their Code of Conduct.

This code of conduct is essentially identical to that used by Ubuntu, except that the name of the project has been changed, and the conflict resolution process has been removed since we don't have one.

Be considerate.

Our work will be used by other people, and we in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision we take will affect users and colleagues, and we should take those consequences into account when making decisions. We have thousands of contributors and hundreds of users. Even if it's not obvious at the time, our contributions will impact the work of others. For example, changes to code, infrastructure, policy, documentation, and translations during a release may negatively impact others' work.

Be respectful.

The Vault community and its members treat one another with respect. Everyone can make a valuable contribution to the Vault. We may not always agree, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behavior and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It's important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one. We expect members of the Vault community to be respectful when dealing with other contributors as well as with people outside the Vault and with users of Neverwinter Nights.

Be collaborative.

Collaboration is a key tenet of an open-source community. This collaboration may involve individuals working with others in teams, teams working with each other, or individuals and teams building on existing works. This collaboration reduces redundancy, and improves the quality of our work. Internally and externally, we should always be open to collaboration. Wherever possible, we should work closely with upstream projects and others in the custom content community to coordinate our technical, advocacy, documentation, and other work. Our work should be done transparently and we should involve as many interested parties as early as possible. If we decide to take a different approach than others, we will let them know early, document our work and inform others regularly of our progress.

When we disagree, we consult others.

If and when we choose to adopt a more extensive or formal conflict resolution process, we will add to this section. But for now, the title says it all.

When we are unsure, we ask for help.

Nobody knows everything, and nobody is expected to be perfect in the Vault community. Asking questions avoids many problems down the road, and so questions are encouraged. Those who are asked questions should be responsive and helpful. However, when asking a question, care must be taken to do so in an appropriate place.

Step down considerately.

Members of every project come and go and the Vault is no different. When somebody leaves or disengages from the project, in whole or in part, we ask that they do so in a way that minimizes disruption to the project. This means they should tell people they are leaving and take the proper steps to ensure that others can pick up where they left off.