Basic Guidelines

• No excessive or sexually explicit swearing. No using swear words to attack or harm other people (which you shouldn't be doing anyway, HP rule or not!).


• No filter-dodging. The filters are there for a reason.


• Please keep topics in chat and on the forums appropriate for all ages of players that play HP.


• There are five basic accounts allowed per person. You can have an unlimited number of upgraded accounts.


• Trial upgrades and starter packs are for new players to the game only!


• Existing players cannot take advantage of these new-player perks, with the exception of when starter packs are explicitely advertised as being available for everyone during a site-wide sale.


• Use common sense.


• Don't "toe the line" to see what you can get away with. You know what you're doing, we know what you're doing. So just don't.

Interaction Between Players

• Be respectful of everyone.


• No slanderous or libelous discussion, and no "blacklists" of players (public or privately stated).


• Do not flood the chat rooms (keep it to two posts or less of the same post or advertisement).


• Make sure to scroll down all the way to make sure previous posts are gone before posting more!


• No double posting in the forums (posting twice in a row) unless it has been at minimum 24 hours between your posts. If you have something additional to add, please use the edit post feature.


• The exception to this rule is bumping up a new thread you just created, as the first person to reply to the thread.


• No trolling. Seriously.


• No spamming other players with unwanted advertisements and/or solicitations. This includes advertising your own business off of HP or soliciting for referrals for other sites if you're not actually playing HP - we're not a free-for-all advertising board.

The Serious Stuff

• Do not scam other players, or link people to scamming websites. If you agree to pay for a service, and recieve the service, then you need to pay for the service as agreed within a timely manner.


• Do not steal from other players. If you have access to their account and move their money or animals without permission, that's stealing, even if it is done without malicioius intent.


• This also includes using images and resources that are not yours to use. Please do not sell images that you did not make without the permission of the original artist.


• Do not harass, threaten or use extortion/blackmail in order to get something out of another player.


• Do not post inappropriate images or links to inappropriate websites, pornography, 18+ role-play websites, or otherwise "adult-only" content.


• If they are designed for those over the age of 18, it's probably not HP appropriate.


• Racist, homophobic, or otherwise intolerant and/or derogatory remarks are never allowed and have a zero tolerance policy.

Trading Rules

• Nothing is to be sold or traded on HP for real money, with exception to upgrades from the upgrade auction system and Horse Phenomena Bucks (HPB/cash shop credits) traded through the proper HP trading pages.


• Accounts cannot be sold between players. You may share accounts or give accounts away.


• Do not trade any HP currency for currency from other games.

Graphics and Layouts

In order to maintain a good relationship with artists so that our players can continue to use their images/photos, and to keep you and us out of any legal trouble due to copyright laws, we have a few rules regarding images, graphics, etc. that you choose to displayed on HP. Having these rules allows all of our players to continue to make their own art to use on the site.

If you have any questions about these rules, please message a Staff Member, and we will be happy to answer your questions! You may also want to check out our Crediting Guide.

• All images used on animals and in layouts on HP must be stock that are for free use, or that you have the right or permission from the original creator to use.



• You must follow the stock provider's rules for using their images, as well as ours. For example, if the stock provider says their photo is not to be used on SIM games, that means you can't use it on HP.


• The exception to this is if the stock provider doesn't require that you credit them. We require credits, so their rule on that does not override ours. It needs to have credits.


• Every resource used in making a photo manipulation must be credited with the full URL of the artist.


• Every photo, drawing, lyric, poem, quote, or text taken from somewhere must have full and accurate credits ON the image itself. This does not include fonts and brushes where the creator does not require credit, and does not include crediting the program that was used to make the art. It cannot be in the code of the layout instead of on the image, with the exception of any background image that is tiling (eg. backgrounds from Colourlovers.com).


• Examples of full URL formatting for a variety of sites can be found on the Crediting Help page. Remember, if more than one person contributed to a stock image, like they often do on Colourlovers, both artists must be credited. Colourlovers credits can also be in the form of an actual clickable link to the pattern.


• If you're using your own photos, you still need to credit them. You can link your portfolio if you have one, or you can say something like "Horse Photo by [Your Name]", but you still need to credit yourself as the creator because we still need to know where it came from.


• All credits must be clear and legible. Some images degrade over time, so in these cases you will be asked to fix it.


• All hand drawn pieces of art must credit any references you used and say "Drawn by [Your Name]" on them.


• Graphics and Layouts posted in the graphic auctions must have full credits on the image preview, in the HP auction description, or link to a full image with credits on the image.


• You may manipulate the HTML and CSS on your homepage, so long as all parts of the navigation are viable and functioning, and none of your animals, events, or player information is covered up.


• Any HTML or CSS taken from another website should also be credited. Not basic HTML or CSS, but if you find a fancy way to add animation to your layout through a code you found on another website, for example, you should be crediting that site and creator.


• Any graphic with gore that shows any human or animal suffering is not permitted on HP.


• Custom animal stylesheets must have URL-format credits in the credits box for any images or patterns you use in them (or fonts requiring credit), crediting the creator(s) and site. All images/patterns/fonts used animal stylesheets must also be stock or open source and allowed to be used on a sim game. This does not include the credits for your animal's image, as those must remain on the animal's image as outlined above.


• AI-generated images are not permitted on HP, as part of an graphic, or on its own.

Clubs

• All donation money must be used to benefit the club. It may not be used to pay the president.


• Keep your club active. Each new president has 7 days from when they are declared president to get their club active. If after the 7 days the club isn't active, it will be re-assigned and you will be banned from running for president of a club for 3 months.


• Being an active president includes but is not limited to having a club layout, registry requirements, club activities, and keeping on top of the pending registry.