SRWU Rules

[srwu_mods]

NOTE
For rules on app'ing characters, see the Applications page here. For rules on running missions and events, see here.

Contents:
General behavior policy
In-character roleplaying policy
Penalties policy
Activity rules
Character limits
HMD policy

General behavior policy

These rules apply to all means of communication used by the game, both in- and out-of-character.

1. Don't be a jerk. You are allowed not to get along with other people in the game, but you must remain polite and give them basic respect. Personal attacks, name-calling and especially harassment will not be tolerated.


2. Rule #1 does not mean "no negativity allowed". You are free to disagree with other players and provide constructive criticism, as long as you remain respectful while doing so. This includes disagreement with the mods.


3. In general, when you have a question or are unsure about something, contact the mods. If there is an issue with the game or other players, contact the mods. Communication is key and the sooner we hear of a problem or a potential problem, the faster we can take steps to prevent it from turning worse.


4. You are allowed to request other players not to interact with you. This may include in-character interaction ("please don't tag me"), out-of-character ("please don't talk to me"), or both. If such a request is made, both parties must comply.
   Don't abuse this rule via malicious or frivolous requests. See rule #1


5. This is a game for adult players. We will not verify or ask for your age, but we expect you to act mature and be able to handle mature material. However following limitations are in place:


• As a general rule, before taking a thread in a direction that may have questionable content, make sure everyone participating in the thread is okay with it.


• Extreme or graphically described violence must happen only under a cut, with appropriate warnings given. This is not an issue of content, but of its presentation.


• Following content must likewise happen only under a cut, with appropriate warnings given: torture, child abuse, suicide or mentions of it (use common sense on distinguishing between suicide and a heroic sacrifice).


• Content of sexual or erotic nature is allowed, but cuts must be used for anything less innocent than a "fade to black". Do not abuse this - this is not a sex game.


• Following contents are banned and may not appear in the game at all: rape, explicitly erotic or sexual scenarios between underaged characters (usually 13 or younger, but it may very for certain characters, especially non-human ones), any kind of romantic relationship (even without erotic or sexual content) between an underaged and an older character.
  This content may occur as part of a character's backstory, but only if it's a major part that cannot be removed without changing the character's integrity. Except for backstories, this content will not happen in the game itself. If canon events require it, they will be modified so it's no longer the case.


• Aforementioned questionable content can be discussed, but the discussion must be done respectfully.


In-character roleplaying policy

These rules apply to in-character posts in the RP Community, missions, and other in-character interaction.


1. In general, before taking a thread in an unexpected direction (for example starting a fight with a character for no reason, making a silly response to a serious thread or the other way around) make sure you have the other player's permission.


2. Godmoding/poweremoting is not allowed. Godmoding is forcing the other character's action or reaction to your own action, without the player's permission or giving them a chance to react. If the other player knows about this and is okay with it, it is not godmoding.


3. Infomoding is not allowed. Infomoding is taking OOC knowledge into IC - having your character know something they had no chance of learning, because you know it as a player.


4. Characters are not allowed to act egregiously out of character, in ways contrary to their apps and in-game character development. This includes both disregarding a character's personality and displaying new, unusual abilities out of nowhere (that is without the mods' agreement).


Penalties policy

Following penalties are set in place to punish breaches of rules and policies. Severity of the penalty is proportional to severity of the rule being broken.


• Verbal warning: the player is informed that what they're doing is not cool and to cut that out immediately and improve. There are no consequences, but repeated violations or refusal to drop rules-breaking behavior when told to may result in a higher severity penalty.


• Official warning: the player is officially warned by the mods, and given a reason on why this happened. This is like a probation - an officially warned player may be removed from the game if they commit another breach that would leave them officially warned, or repeatedly breaks rules that would result in verbal warnings. This penalty is reserved for serious offenses.
  If an officially warned player's behaviour does improve, they may have this status lifted after at least several months of such improvement.
  A list of officially warned players is known to the mod team, but is not publically available to the player base.


• Ban: the player and all their characters are immediately removed from the game. Banned players are not allowed back. This penalty is reserved only for most excessive offenses, or repeated offenses performed by an officially warned player.



Activity rules


• Considering the game's small size, activity rules are not necessary. There are no required activity limits or checks.


• In case of extremely inactive characters, the mods will contact players individually and ask them if they still want to keep those characters in the game.


• Players whose real life circumstances prevent them from participating in the game are allowed to declare hiatus - there are no rules or limitations concerning a hiatus, it's only so the rest of the game knows what's going on.


Character limits


• Each player is allowed to have up to 6 characters. There was an initial limit of 4 characters per player but it has been expanded since then.


• Each player is allowed to have only up to 2 original character (OC) LCWs. For a definition of an LCW, see below. There is no limit to a number of canon character LCWs, as long as the player has 6 or less characters total.


• Each player is allowed to have only up to 2 active LCW canons, whether they are original canons or not. Only active canons get missions, while inactive ones are "put on the backburner" until they become active. An inactive canon's character is still around the game and can participate in events just like any other, they just don't get missions.

LCW: short for Lone Canon Warrior. If a canon has only a single player character in it, be it canon or an original character, then that character is an LCW. We will NOT force a player to drop characters or force one of their canons into inactive status if their number of LCWs increases due to another player dropping characters. However, such newly-made LCWs will still count for LCW limits.
A character whose canon has been completed, or who has no canon missions and events, does not count as an LCW.

The above, strikethrough rules have been suspended and are not in place. They remain on the rules list only for reference.

HMD policy


• HMD, or "How's My Driving?" posts, are used for gathering input and constructive criticism about your time in the game. There is also a HMD for the mods and their work with the game itself. The list of HMDs can be found here.


• HMDs are not mandatory, but it is highly encouraged that each player have one. The game offers to set up a HMD post for each new player as they join the game, but players are allowed to set up their own HMD posts instead as long as they allow anonymous posting.


• By setting up a HMD you agree that other people will give you criticism, and that criticism may not be always pleasant. The mods will not investigate or participate in "witch hunts" to track down who wrote a mean comment on a HMD.


• One exception to the rule above is when a HMD is repeatedly used to bully or harass a player, or for obvious trolling. This is reserved for egregious cases.


• You are allowed to respond to comments on your HMD post, including anon comments. But respond civilly and constructively - if all you can do is argue, don't tag back at all. Ignore trolling or harassing comments - inform mods of them, but do not respond to them.