Updated Fan Site Guidelines

[Zann]

Hey everyone,
Here are the new Fan Site guidelines. Moving forward, this is what we will be requiring for new fan sites that wish to be added. These are the same standards we will expect from sites that have already been listed, and wish to remain on the list.

For some of the big changes, we will give everyone already listed a grace period to make any necessary changes to their sites, and will evaluate those on a case-by-case basis.

Let us know if you have any questions.

RIFT Fan Site Guidelines

Trion Worlds is committed to supporting our global fansite communities. We sincerely appreciate all of the efforts and enthusiasm that our fans and their readers provide. Trion Worlds believes that our official fan site community is critical for a healthy and successful long-term global community.


The benefits of being an Official Fan Site include:

• RIFT Website Links - Your fan site will receive official recognition and a link on the “Fan Sites” page of our website. We will also link to your original or exclusive fansite content, contests, or promotions from the RIFT social networks when we have the opportunity to do so.

• Content Exclusives - Your site will be considered to receive content from Trion Worlds and RIFT. Official Fan Sites will periodically receive content as we have it available.

• Direct Contact - You will have contact with the RIFT Community Team who will work directly with you on questions and information.

• Forums Access - Official Fan Sites will have special permissions to post in our dedicated Fan Site forums – one public forum for you to post your news and announcements (content related), and another private forum for Official Fan Site operators to network with us and each other.

To be become an Official RIFT fan site, submit your site name, URL, administrator name and contact email via fansites@riftgame.com. Your site will be reviewed and added if you are following the guidelines listed below:

• RIFT Only - Websites must be solely created and provide exclusive coverage for RIFT. Sites that are part of a larger gaming network (i.e. portal sites) are acceptable as long as the specific portal is devoted to RIFT and is proactively maintained.

• Domain Name Only - Official Fan Sites must have a proper domain name and web hosting to be considered Official Fan Sites.

• Established Record - A newly submitted site should be up and running at least 60 days before becoming an official site.

• Frequently Updated Content - Official sites must be maintained and updated with quality, original content regularly. Sites that lapse will be removed from the list.

• Administrator Contact Information - There should be one person from the site that is the primary point of contact for Trion Worlds. This person needs to have consistently updated contact info. Not providing us with updated contact information for your site’s admin will be considered grounds for removing your site.

• Signed NDA - At our request, Official Fan Site operators may be required to sign and submit a non-disclosure agreement. We will provide it to you, should we require one.

• Acceptable Content/Advertising - Official sites must not contain any material that is not compatible with the spirit of our game or the standards by which we run our own site. RIFT is rated “T” by the ESRB and we require fan site content to reflect that. Additionally, an official Fan Site may not have gold selling, power-leveling, botting, or any other form of exploitation advertised on their sites.

• Coherent Design – An Official Fan Site does not need to be professionally designed, but we do ask that the style and look of the page reflects the thorough work that you have invested.

• General Professionalism - We will not support a site that does not implement best practices in web security, or engages in improper behavior like spamming, selling user information etc.

Official RIFT fan sites must adhere to all of these guidelines to remain in good standing with Trion Worlds and the RIFT Community Team. As always, please email any questions or concerns to us at fansites@riftgame.com.

[CastigarFalknor]

Very good guidelines! I am glad the community team is keeping up with all of the different sites and providing assistance as well as holding them accountable for content and security.

Onward My Friends,
~Cast

[jpoplive]

Thanks for keeping the order. I hope to see more great Rift fansites to come.

[Kerin]

• Frequently Updated Content - Official sites must be maintained and updated with quality, original content regularly. Sites that lapse will be removed from the list.

• Signed NDA - At our request, Official Fan Site operators may be required to sign and submit a non-disclosure agreement. We will provide it to you, should we require one.

Please define regularly and quality, the former is meaningless when it comes to understanding one's obligations under an agreement and the latter is entirely subjective.

One wonders why a 'fan site' would be required to sign an NDA. Seems a little dubious to me. I can certainly understand that Trion may wish to OFFER fan sites 'inside information' on an NDA basis that sites may CHOOSE to sign in order to obtain that information, but this clause allows you to demand the signing of an NDA in order to continue publishing information already publicly known.

[jpoplive]

Please define regularly and quality, the former is meaningless when it comes to understanding one's obligations under an agreement and the latter is entirely subjective.

One wonders why a 'fan site' would be required to sign an NDA. Seems a little dubious to me. I can certainly understand that Trion may wish to OFFER fan sites 'inside information' on an NDA basis that sites may CHOOSE to sign in order to obtain that information, but this clause allows you to demand the signing of an NDA in order to continue publishing information already publicly known.

To comment on your "NDA" comment, fansites are not required to sign a NDA to be a "Fan Site". As a fansite owner I have never signed one to day. Now that is not to say in the future I may be asked to sign one to get "insider" info. This would be understandable as Trion does want to control when facts get released to the public. At that point I can see signing a NDA.

[Stabbit]

I appreciate the commitment by Trion to ensure not only their own security, but their customers as well. Thank you.

[Arithion]

Please define regularly and quality, the former is meaningless when it comes to understanding one's obligations under an agreement and the latter is entirely subjective.

One wonders why a 'fan site' would be required to sign an NDA. Seems a little dubious to me. I can certainly understand that Trion may wish to OFFER fan sites 'inside information' on an NDA basis that sites may CHOOSE to sign in order to obtain that information, but this clause allows you to demand the signing of an NDA in order to continue publishing information already publicly known.

1. No where in this statement:

Signed NDA - At our request, Official Fan Site operators may be required to sign and submit a non-disclosure agreement. We will provide it to you, should we require one.

Does it say you HAVE to sign an NDA in order to be a fansite. It says you may be required to

2. I've been around for a while, and at certain points in time have been privy to information not yet released and subject to a press release on an upcoming date. For this I've been asked, and been completely willing to sign an NDA which means I am also bound by that information and its release date.

Personally - I'd take updating regularly to mean - content at least once a week or once a week on average over a longer period of time. If it takes 60 days of being active to become a fansite - then logically if it's inactive for 60 days... it's not updating regularly.

And Quality might be subjective - but I'm pretty sure most Fansites who want to be official, will be putting in the effort needed to make a well designed and represented site.

[Pleonast]

• Coherent Design – An Official Fan Site must not be professionally designed, but we do ask that the style and look of the page reflects the thorough work that you have invested.

Do you really mean this? If so, you prevent anyone who does websites professionally from working on a fan site. Or do you mean "An Official Fan Site does not need to be professionally designed"?

[Calthine]

For the record, I've got a small pile of NDA's under my belt, mostly with SOE. What it means, mostly, is folks can talk to me and know I'm not going to spill the beans.

[Zann]

Do you really mean this? If so, you prevent anyone who does websites professionally from working on a fan site. Or do you mean "An Official Fan Site does not need to be professionally designed"?

Fixed!

Your site isn't required to be professionally designed, but we do want it to visually reflect the time and energy you spent building it.

[Zann]

Please define regularly and quality, the former is meaningless when it comes to understanding one's obligations under an agreement and the latter is entirely subjective.

In short, regularly means that we don't want you to go dark. This ties in closely with "up-and-running" for 60 days requirement. We want to make sure that the sites we are promoting aren't going to disappear or stop updating. As for quality, we want our official sites to be posting content that they are proud of, and that is good enough for us to re-share with our Community.

One wonders why a 'fan site' would be required to sign an NDA. Seems a little dubious to me. I can certainly understand that Trion may wish to OFFER fan sites 'inside information' on an NDA basis that sites may CHOOSE to sign in order to obtain that information, but this clause allows you to demand the signing of an NDA in order to continue publishing information already publicly known.

If it's already public knowledge, there won't be an NDA required. There have been times in the past where we've had Fan Site operators do things like come to the studio, or get content/assets that weren't ready for public dissemination, etc. In situations like that, we may ask for an NDA...of course, anyone is welcome to opt-out, but that limits your access to material that would be covered by the NDA.