Rules and Regulations « Thread Started on Jun 30, 2006, 11:40am »
Rules modified 4/11/2007
If you have any questions/comments/suggestions, please feel free to PM/email/"/tell" any Staff Member or SackHolder. We are here to make sure your experience with CoVD is enjoyable.
Courtesy and respect. In general, everyone on the shell has the right to be treated with courtesy and respect by everyone else on the shell. In addition to the basics of civil society, the rights below are some that are peculiar to linkshells, RP, or MMOs.
1. The linkshell is a “public” place. You should feel comfortable participating in any conversation you hear on the shell.
2. The linkshell is for everyone. You should be able to hold a conversation on the shell without being talked down.
3. Everyone’s character is their own. You should be able to play your character in the way you wish without someone criticizing your RP decisions.
Caveat 1: being true to your character is not an excuse for violating another’s rights.
Caveat 2: Some RP guidelines may place limits to on-shell RP, but these exceptions must be agreed on by the community and clearly outlined.
Clarification: Criticism of the player's rp decisions is not necessarily the same as criticism of the character's actions. The former is not allowed; the later can be good RP but should be approached with right 4 in mind.
4. Everyone’s story is their own. Before anyone involves you in a major RP conflict, they need to consult you and get your permission.
Clarification: This is not intended to stifle RP conflict. Conflict is an important part of story-telling. This is intended to keep that conflict fun for all participants, and avoid RP conflict being mistaken or turning into Real Life conflict.
5. Everyone’s time is their own. You don’t have to justify how much time you spend on the shell or what you do with your game time.
6. Everyone’s life is their own. You have no obligation to reveal any more than you wish about your real-life self.
Role-playing rules and issues RP means different things to different people, and a set of RP rules that exactly matches everyone's preferences may be impossible for a shell with more than one member. With that in mind, policies are needed so that everyone knows where they stand.
RP rules The following are practices all LS members are expected to abide by while on the shell.
1. Mark OOC chat clearly as such. Our common convention has been to place OOC remarks in (()). While there may be need to have periods of prolonged OOC chat on-shell, typically OOC chat should be kept to a minimum.
2. Don’t use game terms IC. Either come up with an IC circumlocution, or convey the information OOC.
3. Don't use blatantly anachronistic speech IC (e.g. lol, l337)
RP Issues The following are not covered by any official rule. They are, however, practices that some find detrimental to good RP. They are provided here for guidance. Approach these areas thoughtfully, and if there is a practice you don't like, lead by example.
Periodically we will place rules up for review. If you feel that an RP issue needs to be covered by a formal rule, contact one of the officers with your concern. Discussion of the potential rule will be raised at the next LS meeting. New rules must be approved by a consensus of the current active shell members.
1. Visual emotes in LS chat: Often characters talking on the LS will be in different areas of the game. Some people feel that the use of anything other than speech and audio-emotes breaks the illusion. Others feel comfortable using simple visual emotes that convey mood. And some like to describe actual physical interaction between characters.
I am aware of an LS on a different server that justified the middle ground by having a contest for explanations of how linkpearls could convey visual information and making the winning suggestion their official explanation. Physical interaction between physically separated characters is more difficult to explain, but sometimes people who don't have time to bring their characters together wish to play an interaction as if they were face-to-face. There area advantages and disadvantages of all approaches.
2. Use of level numbers: This covers a gray area in the “No game terms in IC chat” rule. For some any reference to level number is a violation of this rule, just as referring to the numerical value of a character strength stat would be. For others it is all right to mention level numbers if they are couched in non-game terms (e.g. “I have reached the 50th degree in my training as a monk.”)
If you choose to use numbers, do your best to make your non-game term logical for your character's job and personality. If you prefer to not use numbers, advancement can be indicated by mentioning milestones like new spells, abilities, equipment, or training grounds.
3. Passage of time: FFXI has many game days pass in a single real world day. Some people feel that all mention of the passage of time should be done in terms of game time, while others feel that all reference should be made in terms of real time. Of course some show no consistency in their approach (guilty as charged, yer honor).
If you are in doubt consider the context of your interaction. Game time may be more reasonable when interacting face to face, or when you are talking about game events that depend on the day or time. Real time may be better for long interactions where in game time you would need to break for meals and sleep. These considerations will of course collide sometimes. If you are scheduling an event, consider announcing up front whether it will be played real time or game time.
4. Metagaming: Metagaming is having your character know things that you the player know, but that the character shouldn’t. I have never seen a justification of metagaming as a practice, but I have seen a great deal of variety in where people draw the line.
Wherever you personally draw the line, consider coming up with a story explaining how your character learned something if you think someone else might have an objection. If you can think of no logical reason why your character would know something, it is probably best to convey the information OOC only.
5. God-moding: God-moding in RP is claiming that your character has power or abilities that they do not have in the game. Again, I have never seen a defense of god-moding, but people don’t have a clear agreement of what constitutes it.
Whatever the policy (if any) on god-moding, some types of behavior are disallowed as violations of the rules of respect, i.e. claiming that your character succeeds in doing something to another character without the other player’s permission. If you want to RP physical conflict with another player, consider asking a third party to "GM" the conflict. For other aspects of god-moding, consider applying the golden rule to your storytelling; if you would find an analogous claim in someone else's story unbelievable or annoying, you should consider leaving it out of your story.
Re: Rules and Regulations « Reply #1 on Apr 11, 2007, 10:53am »
Enforcement and conflict resolution
RP rule enforcement Everyone is going to slip up sometimes. The occasional mistake does not require any corrective action. If someone seems to be making the same mistake repeatedly and not catching themselves, a polite reminder might be in order. This should be done in "tell" mode, not over the LS.
If someone seems to be consistently ignoring rules, action may be necessary. The situation should be brought to the attention of the shell officers. The officers will investigate the RP conduct of the member. If the officers agree a problem exists, the member will be contacted, to make sure they understand the rules and to inform them that they need to comply with the rules. If the member refuses or fails to show improvement, they may be asked to leave the shell.
Respect rule enforcement Violation of the rules of respect is more serious, but also harder to prove. While in an ideal world everyone on the shell would always get along, sometimes we might have conflicts. The rules of respect are intended in part to ensure that even when LS members have a conflict, all LS members can expect the shell to be free of hostility.
Violations of the rules of respect may have different levels of severity, from simple misunderstanding, through general discourtesy, to deliberate harassment. The appropriate course of action depends on this severity.
If you feel a conflict can be resolved by privately contacting the other party (i.e. via "tell" in game or using private message on the forum) to discuss the issue, you should do so if you are comfortable and confident that you can keep the conversation polite. If you don't feel comfortable, there are various levels of appeal to the shell officers. These appeals should also be made in private.
If you feel there is a problem that needs mention, but that you feel was due to a misunderstanding, you should request a public clarification of the rules. This request should be made privately to an officer. It should include a description of the problem, but should not mention any names. If deemed appropriate, a clarification of the rule will be posted on the forums. Your name will not be mentioned, and if the clarification requires any examples, the details will be changed from any you reported.
If instead you feel that there is a problem involving a consistent pattern of behavior, you should request a disciplinary investigation. In this event, your report of the problem should include the names of all involved, full details of the problem with an explanation of how the situation constitutes a violation. If possible include the name of at least one witness who has agreed to be interviewed concerning the incident. The officers will perform an investigation. The other party will have an oppurtunity to defend their conduct, and will be presumed innocent until a violation is proven. If the officers are convinced that a violation has occurred, action will be taken against the perpetrator, ranging from being placed on probabtion to dismissal from the shell.
Re: Rules and Regulations « Reply #2 on Apr 24, 2007, 1:45pm »
Joining the shell
If you are interested in joining the shell, and haven't already done so, please see the application guidlines
Alternate characters
All LS members may receive pearls for any alternate characters they have. Alternate characters must also be played IC of course. The fact that the character is alternate should be acknowledged at least to the recruiter issuing the pearl, even if you don't want it to be common knowledge on the shell.
"Temporary" pearls
If you are organizing an RP event for the LS, and you have a friend who is not an LS member that you would like to be able to participate, you may request at "temporary" pearl for the friend. LS members who are participating in but not organizing the event may also make such a request, but must receive permission from the organizer first.
This is as much a courtesy to LS-mates as to the friends from outside the LS. It allows the organizer to not have to choose between holding the event in LS mode and excluding non-members or holding it in /say or /party and excluding LS mates who are logged on but unable to be "physically present." NB: An event organizer can always choose to hold an event in /say or /party if they prefer all participants to be physically present, in which case there is no need for temporary pearls.
Temporary pearls need to be handed out by permanent sackholders, rather than making other members temporary sackholders. Any permanent sackholder can approve a request and give out a pearl. Pearls should be handed out near the event time.
The temporary nature of the pearls will be kept on the honor system as long as no one is abusing it. If you're requesting a pearl for a friend, it is your responsibility to make it clear to them that (a) it is for event and (b) that they will be expected to refrain from OOC chat. People who get a temporary pearl can request to join permanently; they will simply need to talk to a recruiter and have the conversation outlined in the application guidlines before they start participating generally in the LS.
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