Briarmont Community Standards

Community Standards Guide

This guide covers the practical standards that support day-to-day life in Briarmont. The Community Covenant defines behavior and moderation; the Roleplay Guidelines describe roleplay conventions. This document focuses on how the community actually runs.

1. Purpose of This Guide

Scope

Briarmont is a community shaped by many kinds of people, stories, and lived experiences. Some narratives are warm, joyful, and restorative. Others are dark, difficult, cathartic, or unsettling. Both have a place here.

This covenant exists to establish the shared expectations that allow those narratives to coexist. It is not intended to flatten storytelling into one acceptable tone, but to create a framework where a broad range of roleplay can thrive while preserving emotional safety, operational clarity, and compliance with Linden Lab’s Terms of Service. These standards are meant to protect the community as a whole, and the space needed for many different kinds of stories to be told within it.

Some expectations are practical rather than behavioral. This guide lays those out clearly.

How We Approach Operations

A few principles guide how Briarmont handles things on the practical side:

  • Grounded realism: the setting should feel like a believable, contemporary Northern California coastal town.
  • Shared atmosphere: what people see, rez, and do in public spaces should support the town’s feel, not work against it.
  • Accessible participation: community systems should stay lightweight and minimally intrusive while still doing their job.
  • Consistency over complexity: when edge cases come up, we’ll generally favor clear, consistent standards over heavily technical or exception-laden rules.

Briarmont also operates under a grounded, real-world inspired framework. In-character actions are expected to carry reasonable, consistent consequences within the setting.

2. Avatar and Presentation Standards

Briarmont is built around human-presenting characters.

Avatars should visually read as human and fit within the setting. Avatars, bodies, attachments, or presentation choices that are overtly non-human, fantastical, or disruptive to the environment are not permitted in shared community spaces.

Stylization is fine, but your character should still read as a plausible person in the world of Briarmont. Examples of presentation that won’t work here include:

  • non-human or feral avatars
  • anthro avatars that don’t read as human-presenting
  • overt fantasy creatures or monster forms
  • tails, ears, appendages, or effects that read as non-human rather than cosmetic or part of the character’s grounded presentation
  • exaggerated novelty attachments or visual effects that break the environment

Minor cosmetic alterations may be considered case-by-case if they remain grounded, restrained, and clearly integrated into the character as a human-presenting individual within the setting.

Temporary exceptions to normal presentation standards may be permitted for Briarmont staff-approved events, scenes, or scenarios.

Briarmont staff have final say on whether an avatar, attachment, or overall presentation is appropriate for Briarmont.

Character Age Requirement

All player-operated characters in Briarmont must be 18 years of age or older.

Family-oriented storytelling is welcome and encouraged. Pregnancy storylines, prim babies, Zooby children, and other non-player-operated or non-avatar representations of children are permitted and supported in benign, non-exploitative contexts. This restriction applies specifically to player-operated avatars portraying characters under 18.

Linden Lab maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding the sexualization or exploitation of minors and minor-coded content. Briarmont upholds this standard and likewise enforces a zero-tolerance policy on any content that depicts, promotes, references, implies, romanticizes, or otherwise involves the sexualization, exploitation, or abuse of minors or minor-coded representations in any form, including references, implications, or backstory.

This prohibition applies to all forms of content, including but not limited to avatars, prim babies, Zooby children, scripted or non-scripted objects, textures, gestures, sounds, written or emoted depictions, and any other materials or conduct that fall within the scope of Linden Lab’s Ageplay policy. Violations will result in immediate and permanent removal from the community without warning.

For more information, refer to Linden Lab’s official clarification on Ageplay: Linden Lab’s official clarification on Ageplay

Linden Lab Enforcement

Briarmont upholds enforcement actions issued by Linden Lab. Community members found to be operating accounts in violation of a Linden Lab suspension or termination regardless of which account is being used are not eligible to participate in Briarmont.

Players with questions about whether a specific character concept or storyline is appropriate are encouraged to check with Briarmont staff before proceeding.

3. Region Ratings and Public vs Private Standards

All shared and public-facing spaces in Briarmont operate under a Moderate-compatible community standard.

Public-Facing and Private Spaces

For moderation and roleplay standards, Briarmont distinguishes between public-facing spaces and private spaces. Some private spaces may also be shared by multiple residents or authorized users.

A space is public-facing if it is openly accessible, commonly shared, part of a public roleplay area, or likely to be encountered by others during normal use. This should be judged by ordinary access and ordinary visibility, not by deliberate camming, viewer overrides, or intentional voyeurism.

A space is private when it is not openly accessible to the general community and is not part of ordinary public roleplay flow. Private spaces include private property, rental units, and access-restricted shared spaces such as student dormitories, club or Greek houses, or other resident-controlled interiors.

Private property is not treated the same as a public-facing space. However, all private spaces remain subject to Briarmont’s zero-tolerance policies and any sitewide content restrictions.

In public-facing spaces, mature themes and realistic adult storytelling may occur, including crime, intoxication, conflict, police response, romantic tension, and non-graphic depictions of vice. Explicit sexual conduct, overtly erotic public performance, and similarly graphic or exploitative content are not allowed in public-facing or openly accessible spaces.

Explicit sexual content and other highly graphic adult scenes must remain contained within private or access-restricted spaces and may not form part of ordinary public roleplay flow.

When in doubt, if a scene would normally be encountered by others, treat it as public-facing.

Use of Public and Private Spaces

Public spaces are part of Briarmont’s shared atmosphere. Use them in ways that support immersion and fit the setting.

Scenes, props, and temporary setups in shared areas should add to the environment, not work against it. Rezzed items in any space, whether used by renters or non-renters, should remain consistent with Briarmont’s aesthetic and grounded community setting.

Respect private spaces. Do not enter, use, or disrupt someone else’s home or personal area without permission. Permission may be implied through active roleplay when clearly indicated.

Even in private or residential spaces, anything that visibly or functionally spills into the broader community environment may still be reviewed by Briarmont staff if it disrupts immersion, setting consistency, or community standards.

4. Character Creation and Onboarding

Roleplaying in Briarmont requires a defined character.

To participate in roleplay, community members need to complete the onboarding process and any character registration procedures established by Briarmont staff.

Accounts must be at least 30 days old to enter or participate in Briarmont in any capacity.

The onboarding process includes:

  • reading the Community Covenant
  • reading the Roleplay Guidelines
  • completing any required onboarding acknowledgments
  • creating or registering a character through Briarmont’s approved systems
  • using any required community tools for roleplay participation

Briarmont also requires use of its approved Experience where needed for scripted interactions, access control, and community systems.

Some limited non-roleplay presence may still be allowed: like attending major public events or living in the town as a non-roleplay tenant. These exceptions don’t remove the requirement to follow Briarmont’s standards or use required systems where they’re needed for access and function.

Additional onboarding, titling, HUD, registration, or access requirements may be introduced as Briarmont’s tools and systems develop.

5. Community HUD and Required Tools

The Briarmont HUD and titler are required for normal roleplay participation.

These tools support character identification, access control, and other core community systems. If you’re roleplaying, you’re expected to wear and use them as instructed. They’re designed to stay lightweight and out of the way.

Briarmont may also require additional approved tools where needed to support:

  • character registration or verification
  • access control and age-based restrictions
  • event support or Briarmont staff operations
  • roleplay functionality tied to the Briarmont Experience

These tools aren’t optional for roleplay. Not using them may limit where you can go or what you can participate in.

The main exception is within a renter’s own private residential space. A non-roleplay tenant may not need to wear the HUD or titler in their own home, as long as they’re not roleplaying or entering broader community spaces where those systems are required.

6. Vehicles, Props, and Rez Expectations

You can rez items, vehicles, props, and temporary objects that your character would reasonably have access to when they’re part of an active scene or practical in-character activity. What you rez should fit a contemporary Northern California coastal town, especially given the situation any given item is rezzed, unless a Briarmont staff-approved exception applies.

Keep it clean, keep it grounded, and don’t tank performance. Violations will result in disciplinary action being taken.

  • Rez vehicles and props when they’re actively part of a scene or needed for practical use.
  • Pick up your stuff when you’re done.
  • Don’t leave vehicles, furniture, or scene setups abandoned in public areas after roleplay is concluded without explicit permission of Briarmont Staff.
  • Don’t use props in ways that block access, break immersion, or cause performance issues.

Cleaning up after yourself is a responsibility, not optional. Briarmont staff may return, remove, or restrict objects that are abandoned, disruptive, inappropriate to the setting, or hurting sim performance. Briarmont is not responsible for the loss of rezzed items, including no-copy objects, that are returned or removed during enforcement.

Briarmont Staff have final discretion on whether rezzed items are appropriate and safe for the community.

7. Groups, Tags, and Official Channels

Briarmont maintains official groups, tags, channels, and communication spaces for operations, moderation, and community purposes.

You may be expected to:

  • Use designated community groups or tags in certain contexts
  • Keep character and OOC communication in the right channels
  • Follow any published expectations around official groups, tags, or communication structure

Discord is not required, but it’s strongly recommended. Most of Briarmont’s out-of-character planning, announcements, discussion, and connected-system support happens there. Some features and announcements may only be available through Discord.

Additional rules around official groups, faction and group approval, or communication structure may be published as needed.

8. Parcels and Local Rules

Some areas of Briarmont may have additional expectations depending on how they’re used.

If a specific parcel, venue, or community-managed space has local rules, you’re expected to follow them.

Residential rentals and tenant obligations are covered separately in the Briarmont Rental Covenant and any parcel-specific terms provided at the point of lease.

Local parcel rules work alongside the Community Covenant, Roleplay Guidelines, and this Community Standards Guide.

9. Staff Discretion and Operational Contact

Not every situation can be anticipated in advance.

Briarmont staff may interpret and apply this guide as needed to keep the setting consistent, support performance, protect the community experience, and provide direction when situations come up. This can include clarifications, temporary restrictions, cleanup instructions, access decisions, or other guidance needed to keep things running.

Where something isn’t explicitly covered here, Briarmont staff may issue direction as needed, and community members are expected to follow it.

Briarmont provides designated ways to reach staff. Including in-world contact points, website forms, and official channels. Use those when you need help, clarification, or review of an operational issue.