A guide to our content standards, aka "What you can and can't post"
Here we will go into specifics about a few of the content standards that generate the most questions from our community.
For a full list of content standards, please see the Rules Overview and our Terms. Please be aware that these policies cover not just the Hub, but also our Discord, Reddit, or any other social media or content hosting account run or owned by us. Not all of our content rules are listed here -- here we are focusing on the ones that get the most questions.
Note: Some of these standards can be highly subjective. When in doubt, the VaMHub staff will review the content as a team and typically vote on whether the content violates policy. Please keep in mind that we reserve the right to reject any content for any reason, and to review any content at any time. Unless stated otherwise, staff decisions are final. We hope to provide clarity through this guide to avoid unnecessary conflict and help you to be successful VaM creators.
Underage Content
To reiterate the policy that is stated several places on the Hub, we strongly prohibit any depictions of minors either on our website, or hosted off-site through a link.
Although it is not our responsibility to police what content you share outside of the Hub, please note that historically the moderation team has banned creators who are reported and confirmed to be hosting this type of content off-site on their Patreon, Pixiv, Discord servers, or other hosting platform. If a website visitor could reasonably discover policy-violating content through click-through links originating from the Hub then you may face consequences up to and including a permanent ban.
The moderation team will review any content that is flagged as "potentially underage" and will typically vote whether or not to allow the content, as well as whether or not a warning or some disciplinary action is required. In many cases, a creator will simply be asked to modify the content and be given guidelines on how to modify the content in order to meet policy requirements.
Here are some tips and guidelines to help you evaluate your content so that it does not violate this policy:
- Putting "All characters are over 18" or "She just turned 21" etc. in your post will not in any way prevent your post from being removed by the moderation staff. If the "look and feel" of the model or scene implies that the character is underage and you are wondering if you will need to put an "18+ disclaimer" on it, then it's probably going to get rejected and you should work on modifying the scene and characters, not the disclaimer.
- A character can have an "adult" body and an "underage" face, and it will be rejected based on the face. We are aware that some Asian looks tend to create a gray area here, and those will usually come down to a vote. We recommend that you do not excessively use character morphs with the word "young" in them. "Anime" style faces fall into this category -- big eyes, big head, small mouth can be ok for Anime but is not ok for realistic persons in VaM.
- Your character's body dimensions, scale, and height matter. When evaluating a character that is suspected of being underage, we will commonly load the character next to a standard person atom in VaM. If your character is much shorter and smaller in scale than the default model, we may reject it. Context is key here, so you are not helping your case if, in addition to the "smaller model", you are also putting the "over 18" disclaimer and calling the scene "First day of school" etc.
- Content that implies underage may also be rejected. There are themes that are common in porn that will cause greater scrutiny from our moderation staff because they may be seen as violating our policies, such as "school bus", "school girl", "classroom", "family/step-daughter", etc.
- Choice of skin texture can also cause content to be rejected as underage. For example, facial skin textures created from scans of a minor's face, although commercially available for artists, will make your character look even younger and are prohibited. Likewise, using skin textures created by 3D content artists who specialize in young characters may also be grounds for rejection.
To summarize -- if the moderation team feels that your content looks or implies a depiction of a minor, then it will be rejected and you may receive a warning or other consequences. If the content is egregiously in violation, in other words if there is absolutely no doubt that the intention was to create an underage character, the creator will be permanently banned. When in doubt, send us a screenshot or a copy of your var before posting.
Discriminatory ContentContent that reinforces racial stereotypes or tropes is prohibited, as is any content that could be seen as discriminating against any religious group, gender, sexual-orientation, etc.
We highly recommend you avoid such topics in your creative content. In addition to discrimination being morally reprehensible, it also violates our general policies about not posting content that is designed to offend or upset other users of the site.
Some examples of discriminatory content might include:
- Creating characters with a specific ethnicity in contextual situations that imply a derogatory racial stereotype
- Creating characters that appear to have a certain religious affiliation and placing them in humiliating or obscene situations
- Use of any slur, slogan, logo, or banner that is affiliated with real-world hate groups
The hub does not permit content that implies incest, whether it is created under the banner of "roleplay" or not.
To clarify what is considered incestuous content on the Hub, please consider these guidelines:
- Any content where the characters are contextually given family roles may be rejected. For example: "Father / Daughter" , "Family", "Brother and Sister", "Cousins", etc. While "Step-parent" and "Step-sibling" are a somewhat grey area, know that if your scene includes "Step-family" members then the moderation staff will closely consider the context and appearance of your scene. If it looks like incest to us, then the "Step" label won't be enough.
- Any content implying family relation where the characters have an obviously large age gap may be rejected. "Step-father and teen step-daughter" may be rejected by our team. When in doubt, make sure all of your characters are clearly adults.
- Obviously -- any content where any character appears underage will be rejected, which would also violate our policies on depiction of minors.
- Any content that appears to be incest given context, but is given a title of "roleplay" will still be rejected.
Scenes both on the Hub and hosted via link-through from the Hub cannot contain content that implies a violation of consent whether through forced sexual acts, violence, humiliation, imprisonment, unconsciousness, etc. We want to cover some frequently asked questions about this topic and provide clarification for those creators who want to create BDSM content but do not want to violate our policies.
]What is "non-consensual" content and why does it matter since the characters are all virtual?
Non-consensual means that the scene implies the character did not want or was not given a choice about what is happening to them. Some examples are: being unconscious, being drugged, being captured and imprisoned, being tied up against their will, being forcefully held against their will, a vulnerable character being tricked or manipulated in the story, time-stop situations where the character is unable to prevent what is happening, etc.
It matters for a few reasons:
- We don't want that kind of content here
- We don't want VaM associated with certain types of content, just like any adult entertainment company or any company in general
- Despite being virtual, some types of content are legitimately illegal in some countries and can come with harsh penalties. As we are an international website, we endeavor to protect our visitors from potential harm
- This type of content can cause actual psychological harm
Why is one scene considered "non-consensual" but some other scene is considered "BDSM"?
We hear this often: "Why did my scene get rejected but X scene by X creator is still on the Hub??"
There are two possibilities for this:
1. Your scene is obviously not intended to be playful "BDSM" or...
2. The other content is in violation but it hasn't been reported yet and we are a small but dedicated staff, so thank you for reporting it
Here are some common mistakes that turn a reasonable "BDSM" scene into something that violates our policies (these are things to avoid):
- Dialogue or audio clips that imply a lack of consent, for example phrases like "No, please don't" or "Why are you doing this?" or "Let me go!"
- Imprisonment or binding with no context, for example scene that simply begins with a character bound and in a cage with no explanation
- Crying, tears, or screaming, or characters obviously in extreme pain or anguish
- Contextual situations which would not be reasonable in any legal "BDSM" porn, for example if the scene is a filthy basement and the character is strapped to a chair with various implements on a table. This does not imply "BDSM play room", this is more like "psychotic kidnapper".
- BDSM happens between two consenting adults in an agreed-upon "safe" environment. A group of criminals in a back alley is not a "BDSM" scene, nor is it "consensual".
- Obviously - any depiction of violence that could reasonably imply harm (also against our Terms)
- Obviously - any depiction of torture (also against our Terms)
- Humiliation to the extent that it could not be reasonably assumed that the character would consent, for example a character covered in graffiti, or a scene which takes place in a dirty bathroom stall
- UI buttons that change the context, for example buttons that say "She hates it", "Make it too rough", or "Force her"
How do I show consent so that my scene will be approved?
It is simpler to go over what not to do. The following will still result in a rejected scene (these are things to avoid):
- Giving a character a smiling face while they are obviously experiencing a violation of consent
- Giving a character a "slave" dialogue, such as "yes master" when the scene context clearly implies consent has been violated
- Taking away the character's consent by way of design, such as making the character an "android servant", "doll" or "putting them under a spell"
- Labeling or describing the scene as "roleplay" when it is clearly intended to be realistic
- Introducing a line of dialogue that implies consent without changing the rest the scene, for example after being asked to modify a scene that looks like rape, one creator added dialogue at the beginning implying that the character asked for it
In conclusion -- to put it simply, the moderation team (like any moderation staff or volunteers for any content website on the internet) has been exposed to some unpleasant crap over the years. Creators of prohibited content are not fooling anyone by trying to pass off rape-fantasy with a label of BDSM. In our experience, those creators who stay within the lines almost never need intervention by our team, while those creators who are intent on crossing the line will continue to push the limits and cross the line over and over, leading to a ban.
When in doubt, discuss your plans with the team before you begin crafting your scene so that you don't waste your own time and ours, and be ready for us to say "no" depending on how the end-result plays out.
Violent, Disturbing or Obscene Content
Violent, disturbing or obscene content is prohibited on the Hub or hosted by link-through from the Hub. Some examples of these type of content violations are:
- Torture
- Choking
- Mutilation, Deformation
- Gore
- Necrophilia
- Bleeding from wounds or from genitalia
- Assault (punching, kicking, slapping)
- Rape
- Urination & Defecation
- Bestiality
- Vomiting
- Enema play
What about two superheroes fighting? Is that violent content?
For now, the answer is "yes, this is violent content". The reason is simple: VaM is a virtual sex simulator and sandbox. The VaMHub staff have discussed and would like to eventually create a space on the Hub for creators to release SFW / Artistic / Non-sexual content. This is the place that "two superheroes fighting" would belong. Until we work out those details, all violence is unfortunately prohibited.
What about X scene by X creator that is still on the Hub. Doesn't that mean it's ok?
We are a small group of staff and volunteers. There are over 40,000 resources on the Hub. We can't possibly check them all, especially if we have new staff on board or there's been a policy update. Like any moderation team, we do our best. We rely on community reporting for the rest. If you see a scene that you think shouldn't be there, please click "report" and give us a brief explanation of why you feel the content violates our policies. Do not make the mistake of thinking "Because this other creator does it, I can do it too".
What about blood like on a vampire's fangs, or bloody smears or bruises on skin?
It's easier to give some examples of content we have rejected or approved in the past:
- We approved blood on a vampire's lips and fangs
- We rejected blood coming out of holes from where someone was bitten
- We approved blood stains on a wall in a Halloween scene
- We rejected a bloody stained mattress asset
- We rejected a skin texture that added scrapes, cuts, and open wounds
- We rejected a skin texture that gave a character bruising and a black eye
- We rejected a skin texture that gave a character lash marks
- We approved a skin texture that gave a character dirt and simple scrapes in the context of having survived fighting zombies
Does a minotaur, werewolf or "furry" count as bestiality?
Here are some basic guidelines regarding this topic:
- Having an animal's face is ok. Having an animal's body is not. If it walks on 4 legs and has genitalia, it will probably be rejected.
- We've rejected "robot" dogs before. "Robot" or "Cyber" animals are still animals, just like "androids" are still people in VaM.
- If you are including a beast's genitalia, you may be crossing the line. Your "man with a horse's head" should not have a horse dong.
- Animals as background assets are ok as long as they don't have genitalia.
- Depending on how "realistic" your "furry costume" is, it may be rejected if a reasonable person could look at your scene and think they are seeing bestiality
- Your "werewolf" should be a "wolf-man" not a "wolf who used to be a man"
Are there any circumstances where toilet play is ok in a VaM scene?
Urination and defecation scenes in porn are generally not a legal issue in the United States among consenting adults, but this type of pornography or depictions of it can have serious repercussions in some countries.
In order to protect our visitors to the Hub, we ask that you do not post any screenshots or videos on the Hub containing urination or defecation. If your scene contains urination or defecation (and does not violate our non-consensual content policies) then what you choose to do in the toilet in your scene is your business, as long as these depictions are not visible on the Hub, posted on our Discord, or easily viewed in a click-through link.
In Conclusion...One again please keep in mind that we reserve the right to reject any content for any reason -- though that reason is usually because "we've seen it before and we already discussed it at length". We will of course attempt to give our creators plenty of explanation, and when possible, we will attempt to provide the opportunity to modify or correct the content.
If there are any questions or content topics you would like explained in more detail on this page, please reach out to our team through a Support Ticket and let us know your thoughts. Thanks!