Rules
Rules of the Game
We at Chronicles of Ivalice want to make it clear to our players that there are certain Codes of Conduct we expect everyone to follow when they log into the game. By logging into our game, you are explicitly agreeing to abide by the following rules:
Player Code of Conduct
All players are held responsible for understanding and following the rules set forth below. If you have any questions about, or need clarification regarding, any of the rules below, feel free to contact a member of Staff, and they will be happy to assist you to the best of their ability.
1. Alt Interaction: Using one of your characters to benefit another of your characters in any way is prohibited. Using your alts to harass another character is prohibited. Giving away characters is not allowed. Having your alts in the same room outside of the OOC Nexus is prohibited.
2. Harassing other players is prohibited. (Definition of harassment: If you are badgering, being rude, explicit, etc, and you are asked to stop, and do not stop as requested, that is harassment.)
3. Sexually explicit language, cursing, and slurs are not permitted over public channels or in public forums.
4. Asking or getting staffers to reveal or change your stats without due cause is not permitted, nor is getting or asking them to load items for you, or to confer any other unfair advantage.
5. If you find a bug in any coded program, you must report it by contacting a member of Staff. Taking advantage of a bug or using it to crash or damage the game is not permitted.
6. Spreading information about characters that are not your own (such as character stats, character plot/history, etc.) without the permission of the owner of the character in question is not permitted over public channels or in public forums. These are to be found out ICly, through RP, as appropriate. Likewise, revealing the identity of the Player of any character(s) without that Player's permission is also prohibited. Naturally, if the information is of your own personal character(s), you are free to disclose, or not, any information about your character(s) that you see fit, in public or private.
7. Making false accusations under these rules is a punishable offense.
8. Never lie to a staffer; always be fully co-operative with them. Do not assume they have all the information they need, and be as helpful as possible to them so that they can respond appropriately to whatever the issue happens to be.
9. If a staffer makes a reasonable request of you (such as moving a particular topic of conversation from public channels to a different channel or to private pages), you should follow their instructions. If you have an issue with what you have been asked to do, or have questions about the request, take it up with that staffer in private, or with the Head Wiz at a later time.
10. "Staff fishing", defined as contacting a second staffer with the intent to overturn a legitimate ruling or decision given by a previous staffer, is not allowed. If a staffer has made a ruling you disagree with or feel was unfair, biased, or otherwise inappropriate, you should take the matter up with that staffer for an explanation of the reasoning behind their ruling/decision, not contact a different staffer in an effort to get a different ruling or decision. If you do so, and still feel unsatisfied with the explanation given, or feel that you were treated unfairly, present a log of the event (both of the original ruling and of the follow-up discussion) to the Head Wiz at a later time, and the situation will be reviewed for possible misconduct.
11. 'Spamming' is not allowed. This includes both forums and on public channels.
12. If you can't be decent, you may not be welcome.
13. The primary focus of this game is to have fun. If you are not having fun, you will *not* be removed from the game (that would be rather excessive); though, you may be asked to not impede the fun of others, if your lack of enjoyment is bringing down others unnecessarily.
14. The minimum age of any character is defined by that character's race (18 for most, be sure to check with staff for a particular race if the matter of age interests you). You are not allowed to play any character of an age that is younger than this age for a given race, for any reason. This is to avoid any potential legal situations due to the possibility of adult themes (such as, but not limited to, violence, language, and sexual themes) that may arise in RP.
15. Restricted Races (defined as races which have a restriction on the number of such that can be In Play at any given time; check with Staff for details) are not available to new Players as that person's first character. New Players must first spend time playing a character which is a member of an unrestricted race, both to allow them to become accustomed to the theme and setting of the game, and to allow Staff to observe the Player and become familiar with that Player's style and capabilities. The length of time required before a Player is eligible to apply for a Restricted Race character is variable, depending on circumstances, but is no less than one month. Further, there is no guarantee of approval when applying for a Restricted Race.
If, for any reason, you are unable to abide by these rules of Conduct, you may, if circumstances warrant it, be asked to cease connecting; or, it may be done for you if you have violated any of these rules multiple times or with flagrant excess. We make every attempt to be understanding and, to an extent, forgiving, but even we have limits to our patience and good nature.
We also have a Staff Code of Conduct in which our Staff must abide by as well, and we have listed it here:
Staff Code of Conduct
Staffer Code of Conduct General Principles:
- You are expected to adhere to the Player Code of Conduct at all times. You are to be an ideal model of player behavior.
- The staffers are here to improve the muck.
- The staffers are here to make the experience of being here enjoyable for everyone, not just your friends.
- Use your head! If you have to stop to think whether an action is in violation of the rules, it's better not to do it and ask another staffer or the Head Wiz for clarification, rather than to chance it.
- Respect the players. They are why we are here!
- Do nothing to intentionally harm the growth of the muck.
Punishment Structure:
- First offense: warning
- Second offense: demotion (stripping of wizbits/Admin privileges)
- Third offense: deletion of Admin/Staff character.
This means that if you are given a warning for command abuse and are then caught harassing a player or another staffer you will be demoted. This is a very strict punishment system, but should be easy enough to live with if we all behave like adults.
Command Abuse:
Using your staffer powers to give benefit to ANY PC (yours or others') beyond the scope of your normal staffer duties, is considered abuse of staff powers. Examples of some things not to do:
- transfer a player from anywhere but OOC areas, unless within the scope of your job
- snoop or otherwise spy upon a player or other staffer
- heal a player outside normal duties
- use staffer knowledge or commands for in-game benefits
- reveal anyone's personal information, or their other characters/alts, to anyone
- load or otherwise obtain objects for players outside the scope of normal duties
- alter or affect a character's attributes or equipment outside the scope of normal duties
This is a pretty small list of possible offenses. It represents the SPIRIT of the rules. If you violate the spirit of the rules, you will be held accountable as if you violated the letter of the rule.
Harassment:
A staffer harassing a PC in any way has NO place on this game, and may result in summary demotion or deletion.
Staffers harassing other staffers will be considered on par with any other offense.
Disclosure of Information:
A staffer may not give out any specific information about the details of matters that are considered confidential (such as disciplinary action involving another player) to uninvolved parties. Also, if it is someone with a right to know, if you do not know why something happened, SAY SO. Do not simply tell them "You/they must have done something wrong." At all times, be as helpful as possible within the rules.
Finally: The PCs of staffers are held to the same standards as regular Player Characters in all things.
Summary:
All of the above are intended to do the following:
- encourage trust in the staff
- encourage the staff to take a more creative and helpful role in the development of the muck
- encourage a more mature and polite atmosphere
If you do not feel comfortable with the principles embodied in the above, it is suggested you reconsider proposing to become a member of the staff.
