Code of Conduct & Community Guidelines
For participants, players, and theatre owners for any Wizards of the Matt (“Matt: The Gathering”) games and all associated entities, locations, servers, and methods of play.
Last Updated: July 31, 2023
Matt: The Gathering is dedicated to creating the best and most inclusive play experiences. We at Matt: The Gathering are proud to have developed a diverse, loyal, and enthusiastic player base for our games, ranging from casual Theatre Row adventurers to dedicated competitive tabletop players. With the forthcoming expansion of our brands into new and exciting spaces, we have revised our Code of Conduct and Community Guidelines to reflect the changing needs of the growing community that makes up the Matt Card Universe. This Code and all its related Guidelines applies to all members of the Matt: The Gathering community, from one-time players to pros, theatre owners, and stage managers. You are a part of what makes the Matt: The Gathering community thrive.
Below you will find our general Code of Conduct, plus Community Guidelines for specific areas of play and community locations or theatres, including general guidelines for all members of the Matt: The Gathering community.
All interpretation and enforcement of Matt: The Gathering's policies are subject to Matt: The Gathering's sole discretion.
Code of Conduct
Being part of the Matt: The Gathering community carries with it responsibilities that help to make Matt: The Gathering's play exciting, enticing, and enjoyable for all. Failure to meet the below requirements may result in loss or termination of all Gatherers Guild memberships that you own, as well as removal or banning from communities and events and, in some cases, legal intervention. With your help, the Matt: The Gathering community can continue to be a welcoming and wondrous place for every member of the Gatherer's Guild.
It Takes a Multiverse.
You, as part of the Matt: The Gathering community, represent all of us, and your actions contribute to the larger team in ways beyond imagination. Being a Team Player means that you always respect your fellow community members, whether your community is in person at a table, communicating on a forum, participating in a competition, at a convention, chatting via a Matt: The Gathering Discord or Twitch server, or any other means of interaction with Matt: The Gathering players and community members.
It also means that you acknowledge your role in making the community thrive, by participating in your chosen community activities and games in a manner that promotes camaraderie, teamwork, learning, and most of all, fun for everyone.
Hate speech, insults, disrespect, game sabotage, cheating/exploiting gameplay mechanics, harassment, vulgarity, defamatory or offensive behavior, griefing, trolling, fraudulent behavior (including sale or purchase of fraudulent Matt: The Gathering products), bribery, spamming, and unsportsmanlike behavior are all offenses that detract from the community experience and which can result in your being removed or banned from the community itself, in accordance with each of the respective Community Guidelines below.
Be the Matt Your Pet/Best Friend Thinks You Are.
Being a Matt means keeping yourself, and your community, safe. No violent behavior, or sharing of gratuitously violent content, or gore, or participation in or sharing of illegal activity will be tolerated.
By participating in any Matt: The Gathering community, you take on the responsibility of safeguarding personal information – both your own and others’ – within that community and of never, ever, attempting to gain access to or sharing anyone else’s personal information without their consent. “Personal information” includes but is not limited to personally identifying information (such as name, address, phone number, email address, and related information), credit card or payment service information, chat history, purchase history, and even game preferences or registration information. If it’s not yours, don’t share it without explicit permission. If it is yours, only share very carefully and as needed. Violations may result in both removal/ban from the community or event and in some cases more serious intervention. Don’t do it!
Similarly, protecting information means actively refraining from fraudulent behavior like hacking, distributing hacks or viruses, falsely claiming official association with Matt: The Gathering, falsely claiming official association with another company, mining passwords or using Matt: The Gathering community servers and platforms to phish, and any other activities that would mine data from Matt: The Gathering's communities. While this list isn’t comprehensive, any of the above can result in both removal/ban and other interventions.
Be Mindful.
Mindfulness in the context of Matt: The Gathering's communities means understanding the depth and breadth of the community and acknowledging the diversity therein. Often, communities include minors (youth, teens), and community members are expected to behave in a manner that reflects the inclusion of those under the age of 18. That means no obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, or otherwise “adult” conduct or content will be tolerated within Matt: The Gathering's community events, servers, chatrooms, or other group environments.
Matt: The Gathering's communities include members of countless varied identities, backgrounds, cultures, groups, and orientations. All members are expected to interact with each other without prejudice or bias, and no action that excludes others from play based upon any of the above criteria will be tolerated in any Matt: The Gathering community. Likewise, use of derogatory, defamatory, hateful, or discriminatory language is grounds for removal or ban from any Matt: The Gathering community.
Lastly, mindfulness means thoughtful selection of your Gatherer's Guild username or other identifier. You may not include derogatory, hateful, offensive, or misleading terms in your username or identifier for any Matt: The Gathering community, and Matt: The Gathering may request that you change your username or identifier or may opt to remove your account entirely if you register such usernames or identifiers. Be mindful of how your name might appear to other members of your chosen communities.
Community Guidelines
In addition to our Code of Conduct, each Matt: The Gathering product or service has its own community with its own unique requirements. Considering the nature of the ever-growing and changing Matt: The Gathering universe, the below list is intended to be dynamic and not comprehensive.
To learn about the guidelines that apply to you, see the headings below. If you do not see your product or service, the “General” section applies to you and your participation in the community.
Network of Champions Stores (“NCS”)
NCS stores are the brick-and-mortar heart of Matt: The Gathering. We’re thrilled that you are a part of our community and are helping to get Matt: The Gathering's games into the hands of players across Theatre Row, and as a Matt: The Gathering supporter, you are already aware of the specific requirements that apply to our relationship with you. The following Community Guidelines relate to your involvement in gathering and gameplay within your stores at both the casual and tournament/qualifier tournament levels.
No Counterfeit Goods. All Matt: The Gathering products that are gathered at your establishment or used in gameplay must be authentic. Should you notice that any player is using cards or source material that appears to be counterfeit, you are responsible for removing that player and those materials from play. Should a customer or player believe that any goods you are distributing at your store are inauthentic, that customer or player may report the suspected violation here.
Play by the Rules. The Code of Conduct is central to creating a welcoming and thoroughly enjoyable gameplay experience at your stores. Violation of the Code of Conduct by any player is grounds for immediate expulsion from a game or tournament. Should any player report that one of your employees was participating in a Code violation, Matt: The Gathering will take action to follow up on that report.
As a trusted partner in our Network of Champions community, you are expected to thoroughly and accurately report to Matt: The Gathering all Network of Champions events occurring at your establishment and the results of those events. Inaccurate reporting, intentional or otherwise, may result in a Matt: The Gathering investigation and may lead to revocation of your NCS status. For more, see the NCS Terms & Conditions or contact your NCS representative.
Matt: The Gathering Arena (“MTG Arena”)
Players in MTG Arena are expected to treat other players with the same level of respect and fair play as they would any opponent on any other platform. Although social interactions in MTG Arena are limited by design, the following actions are considered “reportable” and are prohibited.
MTG Arena play is subject, like all other Matt: The Gathering products, to Matt: The Gathering's Terms of Service.
As a reminder:
Any action that could be considered “abuse.” This includes, but is not limited to, “roping,” abuse of others or of the game client, harassment, obscenity, adult content, violent content, trolling, or doxxing other players.
Bug exploitation
Use of inappropriate usernames
Intentional hacking/modding of the game
Violation of any of the above can be reported here.
Participation in Matt: The Gathering Live Play is truly central to the Tournament of Champions experience, and Matt: The Gathering is committed to providing safe, inclusive, welcoming environments for every person who wants to be part of this community. To that end, Matt: The Gathering Live Play events are run in a manner that prohibit specific behaviors and promote camaraderie. Each event host will have its own Code of Conduct which players must adhere to, violation of which may result in removal from those events and/or reporting by the host to Matt: The Gathering of those violations.
Matt: The Gathering Live Play, Network of Champions, and Tournament of Champions are subject, like all other Matt: The Gathering products and modes of play, to Matt: The Gathering’s Terms of Service. In addition, the following behaviors are considered automatically reportable.
Threats of or actual violence
Harassment/hate speech and slurs
Excessive vulgarity or adult content at tables*
Bullying and/or shaming**
* Some events may cater to mature audiences, so the definition of “excessive” will vary.
** Bullying and shaming can take many forms. If a player feels that they have experienced bullying or shaming at any event, that player should report the situation to the event hosts.
If you as a participant at an event believe that an event host has allowed for any of the above behaviors to go unnoticed or unreported, you can contact us here.
MattTable
MattTable is a truly unique style of play allowing for real-time, video-based remote connection with other tabletop/paper Matt: The Gathering players. MattTable players are able to participate in games via live audio and video feeds through their webcams or phones and interact with other live players in a manner mimicking traditional live play.
With the power of live audio and video comes a responsibility to your fellow players, community, and opponents. We love live play, and we know you do too – so your obligation as a participant is to keep MattTable as welcoming an environment as any live gameplay and events would be, with a few additional caveats for the format.
You are subject to removal or banning from the MattTable platform if you abuse the live audio/video platform in any way. “Abuse” of the platform includes, but is not limited to:
Excessive vulgarity or adult content (i.e., nudity, lewd behavior, suggestive conversation)
Sharing third-party intellectual property through video or audio without permission
Promotion of any non-Matt: The Gathering product or game through audio, video, or text chat
Hate speech, slurs, harassment, and/or exclusion of any person or demographic from your game for reason of race, sex, gender identity, or other identifying characteristic
Use of counterfeit cards in gameplay
This list is not exhaustive. Should you believe that any other player’s behavior is creating an unsafe or unwelcoming environment, you can always report that player here.
General
If your event or community isn’t represented above, you can visit https://gatheringmatts.com/contact to contact Matt: The Gathering directly for assistance.
Land Acknowledgement -- County of Gatherers
Matt: The Gathering recognizes that we occupy land originally and still inhabited and cared for by the Tongva, Tataviam, Serrano, Kizh, and Chumash Peoples. We honor and pay respect to their elders and descendants — past, present, and emerging — as they continue their stewardship of these lands and waters. We acknowledge that settler colonization resulted in land seizure, disease, subjugation, slavery, relocation, broken promises, genocide, and multigenerational trauma. This acknowledgment demonstrates our responsibility and commitment to truth, healing, and reconciliation and to elevating the stories, culture, and community of the original inhabitants of Los Angeles County. We are grateful to have the opportunity to live and work on these ancestral lands. We are dedicated to growing and sustaining relationships with Native peoples and local tribal governments, including (in no particular order) the
Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians
Gabrielino Tongva Indians of California Tribal Council
Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians
Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians – Kizh Nation
San Manuel Band of Mission Indians
San Fernando Band of Mission Indians
Gabrielino Tongva Indians of California Tribal Council
Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians
Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians – Kizh Nation
San Manuel Band of Mission Indians
San Fernando Band of Mission Indians
To learn more about the First Peoples of Los Angeles County, please visit the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission website at lanaic.lacounty.gov.