Recently, there has been some commotion on the site relating to content that references hacking, and whether it is allowed. With this thread, I want to make really clear that mentioning and asking questions about hacking, implicitly or explicitly, is allowed on this website. There is nothing in the rules list that disallows discussion about hacking.
What is present on the rules list, however, are two guidelines that ban ‘unofficial games and websites’ and ‘ROM questions’. I have generalised this to mean that posts about third-party software or media are not allowed on this site. This means you cannot makes posts specifically addressing fan games, mods, emulators and the like in the Q&A. However, this is not an inherent ban on hacking questions.
Incidentally, many of the unofficial applications we disallow are used to hack the game. But discussion of those apps isn’t banned because it relates to hacking; it’s banned because it doesn’t keep to our policy of official games and media only. If someone simply wanted to ask about how the game processes hacked Pokémon or any other similar topic, they would be allowed to, even if you disagreed with their intentions for the information.
I understand hacking is perceived as unethical by some people—but just as many people see it as part in parcel with playing Pokémon and want to learn things about it. So long as those people are not also asking how to use unofficial software in the process, they are allowed to ask about hacking, and request information that could help them hack the game in their own time.
So, to be perfectly clear: you are allowed to make posts that relate to hacks, and you are allowed to make mention of third-party software. However, you can't ask questions particular to third-party software, and you cannot make posts that recommend or that are only relevant to third-party software or media. Fan games, emulated games, modding software and the like are all examples of third-party software.
I also want to take this opportunity to remind everyone not to ‘backseat mod’. We absolutely encourage you to flag anything you think requires our attention, but in that process, please do not also leave a comment that pre-empts the decision of a staff member. It’s our job to enforce the rules—we don’t want others doing it for us. Please don't tell other people that their post breaks the rules, or what they can and cannot post. Leave that to us, please.
Thanks for reading! Let me know if there is anything else I should clarify, or if you think this should be moderated differently.
