policies

^WPolicies
^W------------------

^W0)^C Don't be a dick.^n

^W1)^C Multiplaying^n
 ^cA)^n You may have multiple characters online simultaneously, but only one can be active at once-- the others must be idling or engaged in build/repair tasks. Brief stints of dual activity are fine in limited cases (ex: running to buy something, helping out another player, bantering on the radio, etc).
 ^cB)^n Your characters may never benefit each other in any way. This includes, but is not limited to, transferring items or nuyen between them or having them share vehicles or apartments.
 ^cC)^n You may not have multiple characters in the same player group (pgroup). You may also not have characters split across opposing or conflicting groups.
 ^cD)^n Wherever possible, your alts should not acknowledge each other's existence. Be noncommittal when alt A is asked about alt B, don't have A and B talk to each other on the radio, etc.

^W2)^C Player Killing^n
 ^cA)^n Player killing is allowed as long as both parties are flagged PK. Deliberately attacking non-PK players is illegal.
 ^cB)^n Attacking players, casting hostile spells, and attacking player vehicles are all forms of PK.
 ^cC)^n Harassing or tricking people into turning on PK is a punishable offense.
 ^cD)^n Griefing (repeatedly killing a target that is not attacking you) is not allowed. This explicitly includes, but isn't limited to, spawncamping them at the Docwagon areas.
 ^cE)^n PKing in a way that's explicitly intended to destroy gear is not allowed (ex: ignite spam)

^W3)^C Underage Characters^n
 ^cA)^n All characters must be aged 18 or older, and must present as such (aka, no "My character is 25, but looks 16").
 ^cB)^n Players found to be engaging in adult scenes with underaged or underaged-presenting characters will be banned.

^W4)^C Cheating^n
 ^cA)^n Cheating is defined with common sense, if you don't have it, you don't belong.
 ^cB)^n Bug exploitation: Those found exploiting bugs for personal gain, or other reasons will be dealt with accordingly.
 ^cC)^n Code-base exploitation: Those found exploiting limitations or what not in the code base will be dealt with appropriately.

^W5)^C Mudbotting and Triggers^n
 ^cA)^n Botting (aka setting up your client to play the game for you) is illegal.
 ^cB)^n Setting up triggers to act while you are away from the computer (build lists for automated deck building/spell designing etc) is illegal.
 ^cC)^n Triggers that produce game results for your character are illegal, even if you're at the computer. An answering-machine trigger is fine, as there is no material benefit, but an auto-killing trigger is not. You also should not write any triggers that send output to the room or a channel (ex: emoting something every time a player walks in is illegal for spam-reduction reasons).
 ^cD)^n Auto-looting is a specific exception that you're allowed to write, but tune it so that you don't steal things from other players' kills-- if we get complaints about auto-looters, they will no longer be allowed.

^W6)^C Blacklisting^n
 ^cA)^n Blacklisting removes major forms of advancement and makes playing the MUD a lot harder. Staff will award you the blacklist flag for the following reasons:
 ^c  x)^n PK without a valid reason. "My character is a hunter/psycho" is NOT a valid reason.
 ^c  y)^n Attacking player vehicles outside of situations that require it. Eg. Being attacked by the vehicle.
 ^c  z)^n Taking up OOC grievances through IC means. Eg. Hunting down characters ICly just because you don't like the player who plays them.

^W7)^C Restrings and Painting^n
 ^cA)^n Items or vehicles must be restrung to something of similar type as the original object. Failure to do so will result in you forfeiting ownership, and the resources you spent on the restring/paint will not be refunded.

^W8)^C Permadeath^n
 ^cA)^n Permadeath decisions are always voluntary on the part of the victim of permadeath. Permadeath is purely optional.

^W9)^C Impersonation^n
 ^cA)^n Impersonating staff, NPCs, or players with the customize command is a breach of Awake policy. Staff may ask you to change your descriptions for any given reason. Descriptions should be appropriate for your character.

^W10)^C Authority^n
 ^cA)^n Staff members' word is final, no argument.

^W11)^C Limitations on Extra-MUD Authority^n
 ^cA)^n Staff are not expected to adjudicate things that happened outside of the MUD. We ^YHIGHLY^n recommend keeping all communication with other players to the MUD.
 ^cB)^n If you feel you are being targeted or otherwise harassed outside of the MUD, we recommend you cease contact with the targeting individual and report it to any necessary authorities.

^W12)^C Roleplaying^n
 ^cA)^c Roleplaying is encouraged, but not required.^n You may opt out of roleplaying if you so choose. However, even if you opt out, we ask that you refrain from discussing OOC concepts in IC mediums such as on the radio.
 ^cB)^c Roleplaying is consent-based.^n All players involved must consent to a scene. While assumed consent holds for ordinary scenes, anything with conflict, spying, adult situations, aggressive actions or speech, etc needs to be pre-approved by participants. ^WWe recommend using the TELL command to obtain consent so that it can be proven.^n
   ^ca)^n If at any time a player becomes uncomfortable and makes this known (via osays, tells, or any other in-game medium), the scene must immediately fade to black. Scenes that fade to black still happen; if you cannot reach a consensus with your roleplay partner(s) about the outcome of a scene, contact RP staff for assistance.
   ^cb)^n Certain topics are forbidden: Players may not enact scenes featuring suicide or rape. GMs MAY request staff approval for topic inclusion in tabletop runs on a case-by-case basis.
 ^cC)^c Roleplaying is supposed to be fun.^n If you're not having fun, step back and send a message (via osays or tells) to figure out what's going on and how you can steer the scene so you're all enjoying yourselves.
 ^cD)^c Fantasy racism only.^n Your character can have problems with metatypes (dwarves, elves, etc), but you may not roleplay prejudices that appear IRL. (Please note that if you play a racist character, you may be asked to follow policy 13A as well).

^W13)^C When PK is Required^n
 ^cA)^n Toggling PK on is required for any character that participates in prolonged or consistent antagonistic or socially aggressive behavior.
 ^cB)^n If you are in a roleplay situation with someone who you believe should be toggled PK but is not, pause the roleplay (ex: through Policy 12) and either ask them to enable it, or contact staff. If you reach out to them directly, be careful that you do not violate Policy 2C.

^W14)^C Limitations Related to Staff^n
 ^cA)^n Staff may not interact with their non-staff characters in any way without prior consensus approval of other staff members (ex: awarding points, fixing bugs, etc). Any such interactions must be logged in the admin audit Discord channel.
 ^cB)^n Staff must always identify themselves as staff members before engaging in competitive, adult, or other situations that could allow abuse of position. Such identification must make it clear that there is absolutely no coercion and that the other player(s) are free to bow out with no risk of repercussion.
 ^cC)^n Staff may never use their position for personal gain.
 ^cD)^n Outing Staff alts is not allowed for anyone, Staff or not. As noted above, Staff will self-disclose before participating in scenes where their position could induce a perceived power imbalance.

^WThe Final Rule)^C Policy Addendums^n
 ^cA)^n Anything written as policy in a help file or the message of the day (type ^WMOTD^n to read)^n is considered policy in addendum to this file.
 ^cB)^n All policies are subject to change without notice.