Community Philosophy

Rainbow Coalition is built as a community first. This means that the emphasis is on the connections that people are able to make between each other, and not on any particular game.

It has an inclusive model. There are, for example, minority exclusive spaces, and there are some good reasons for those to exist. However, we do not select for any particular identity, background, or set of beliefs.

Instead, we operate by encouraging pro-social behavior, work to provide a space of understanding without hostility, and curtail and set hard boundaries around any anti-social behaviour, including pettiness, rudeness, or lack of empathy.

This has been successful: those latter behaviors are not seen within the community. A great deal can be accomplished simply by setting the tone and communicating what is and is not acceptable.

Our priority is establishing a space of people invested in one another. Since we are an internet based community, we cannot substitute for a physical "third place", we hope to fulfil a set of the same needs.

Enforcement

An inclusive space is a space inclusive of all creeds of people. But it is not, as per above, a space inclusive of all behaviors.

Our first tool in dealing with negative behavior is a simple conversation. At the end of the day, though, a community has to be willing and able to identify malice or dishonesty and remove such people from it.

A community or organisation that is not willing to exclude anyone, no matter their behavior, will inevitably become nasty and corrosive, with those tendencies having driven away everyone else.

Independence

Rainbow Coalition is an independent community, placing importance on our ability to make our own policies and decisions.

We do not use online software platforms that are controlled by corporations, or organise our community using social media whose moderation policies may conflict with our own.

The headliner games we play tend to be those that are extensively customizable, and can be hosted separately using dedicated servers.

Transparency

If you are or become a member of Rainbow Coalition, you will get the full lay of the land. We do not have secret discussions about the community, or a hidden list of policies. Both our infrastructure and long term direction are discussed openly with the entire community and taking input from it.

Anything developed as part of the community is made available to the rest of community, or to the public, such as this website you're reading. Contributions are welcome from anyone, and we will all work together to create something great.

The community is all of its members, and will be shaped by them, too.

Accessibility

Accessibility is not a discrete set of named disabilities, or their associated settings in various options menus. It is an ongoing effort to ensure that as many people as possible are able to engage with the community and its activities, even through their differences. It can come in the form of specialised or customized software modifications, it can come in the form of a specific role within a game, it can come in the form of a different set of expectations or understandings of how an individual communicates.

It is whatever it needs to be to meet people where they are at.

Since we as a community have a finite bandwidth to make changes, we prioritise those changes that would make a positive difference to members in our community, and are happy to accept feedback from anyone.