Shattered Kingdoms

The rules of Shattered Kingdoms are designed to ensure that the game remains a fun, fair, and enjoyable place in which to spend time. The Shattered Kingdoms MUD is not a public service of the Internet, and the administrators reserve the right to delete or ban sites as necessary.

1. THE GOLDEN RULE
Everyone knows this one: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This isn’t an abstract concept in Shattered Kingdoms. This rule has tangible caveats you are responsible for following:

-You need to respect the fact that other players are here to enjoy the game as well. You do not have to like anyone, but we do ask that you share with everyone. Persistent out of character harassment will not be tolerated.
-Gear your roleplay to be inclusive of other players. This means many things, but for example: you need to roleplay before killing, even if your character is diabolical and insane.
-Try to be patient and respectful when dealing with newbies. Take time to make sure they understand what is going on before treating them harshly, even if they would seem to deserve it. Without newbies, the game eventually dies.

2. NO MULTIPLAYING
You are allowed to play only one character at any given time. To protect enforcement, connecting via proxy to the game is against the rules. Any player is allowed to have multiple characters, but we must ensure fairness for those who are committed to only one. There will be zero tolerance for sharing resources between characters: this includes (but is not limited to) transferring equipment, money, or information between them. For further explanation and details on punishment, see HELP MULTIPLAYING.

3. NO SEXUAL HARASSMENT
The players here are real people. An unsolicited emote or social can be disturbing and uncomfortable. Harassment of any sort, either in-character or out of character, will not be tolerated. If there is any doubt, keep your hands (or claws) to yourself. If you are told that your sexual actions are unwelcome in-character or out-of-character, you need to stop immediately. Violations are considered extreme disregard for the community and will likely result in a siteban.

4. ROLEPLAYING
Roleplaying is absolutely mandatory for all actions taken in the in-character world. See relevant help files (HELP ROLEPLAY, HELP CONDUCT) for further details.

5. NO BOTS OR CHARACTER AUTOMATION
Shattered Kingdoms is both a roleplaying mud and a player-killing mud, and we are focused on maintaining a level playing field. This focus naturally precludes the usage of client program features for the automation of your character in any way. This can include (but is not limited to) triggering skills to fire in response to any MUD output, or triggering emotes to prevent being logged out for inactivity. Client features such as mapping, highlighting, and other things of the sort that only modify the display of information are more than welcome on the game. Punishment for violation of this will result in deletion of the character.

6. NO EXPLOITATION OF BUGS OR GAME MECHANICS
If you discover a bug, write a note or send e-mail to one of the immortals immediately. Players will be rewarded for reporting unknown bugs, while exploitation of these bugs will result in penalties, demotion, or deletion. In addition to bugs, exploitation of mechanics will not be accepted. This includes, but is not limited to: using life-giving spells to purposefully harm a character (see HELP DEATH), stacking aggressive NPCs in an area they didn’t spawn, verifying player organization membership using guardians, or using request against its rules (see HELP REQUEST). Exploitation of mechanics for experience or roleplay will result in demotion, exploitation of mechanics for player killing or item attainment will result in deletion, and exploitation of bugs will always result in deletion.

7. NO SPAMMING OR HACKING OF THE GAME
Spamming is defined as the continuous or repetitive printing of something to the screen, either in an attempt to annoy another player or to gain an advantage over him. Hacking is defined as an attempt to gain unauthorized access to resources of the game, including characters of other players. More than two attempts to access a character using an invalid password will result in an investigation regarding possible hacking. Players found guilty of spamming will be punished with demotion when used for annoyance, and deletion when used to gain advantage. Those found guilty of hacking will be punished by siteban.

8. MOTD, NEWS, AND FORUM ANNOUNCEMENTS
Scan both of these each time you log onto the game. Immortals will make announcements in all of these locations, and you are responsible for reading them. The staff will do their best to update the relevant rule locations, however ignorance of the content of these locations is no excuse for breaking any mandate made. Announcements made in both should be considered as part of this rules help file.

The above rules have resulted from prior abuses by players. Please use common sense, and the rules will not need to be expanded. For details on how punishments for violations are handled, please see HELP PUNISHMENT.

[Game help] punishment

When a violation of the rules is reported or witnessed, the administrative staff as a whole comes together to determine validity of the violation and appropriate punishment. We do our best to remain impartial and consistent in punishments, and all punishments are posted for transparency’s sake on the Afterlife forum on the website (http://www.shatteredkingdoms.org/forums/). With that in mind, different circumstances sometimes require different responses. A repeat offender will warrant firmer response than one outlined in the rules help file. Multiple rules violations in one circumstance will warrant harsher punishment than any one of the rules would individually. The goal of punishing rules violations is to protect the fairness and integrity of the game, and to prevent players from further violating the game’s rules while still being able to enjoy and play the game. We attempt to use the minimum punishment necessary to make these goals a reality. Extreme circumstances of repeat offenders (no matter the rule violated) may result in siteban.

[Game help] multiplaying

Playing multiple characters is a very fine line to walk. Having alts is not illegal, but we have to keep in mind the main concept of having our rules: to ensure that the game remains a fun, fair, and enjoyable place in which to spend time. Using two characters to give you an advantage over someone who only has one is unfair and thus expressly forbidden. We want you to be free to express yourself, offer up varying flavor and atmosphere to the game, and take any role you might wish. With that in mind, it's not necessarily fair or fun for the people being 'teamed up' on (directly or indirectly) if you use two characters for a similar purpose or use them interchangeably in a competitive fashion.

There is no excuse for violation of these rules, either intentional or unintentional. Ignorance is not and will not be an excuse when caught. The varying facets of multiplaying, and the punishments for them, are outlined below. Examples include
(but are not limited to):

1. OPERATING MORE THAN ONE CHARACTER AT THE SAME TIME. Two characters
on at the same time, whether they interact or not, is multiplaying. This
includes having two characters on, even if another player initially created
one of the characters. If two characters are being controlled simultaneously by
one human, it's multiplaying. Violating this rule will result in immediate deletion
of both characters involved.

2. ANY FORM OF TRANSFERRING EQUIPMENT OR ITEMS between two characters
controlled by the same person is multiplaying. This includes having one
character hide equipment, items, or money somewhere, then quitting off and
bringing another character on and getting the items. Storage characters
(created to hold items for other characters) or giving equipment to another
player's character while you bring on a different character of your own to
take them back, is also considered multiplaying. Any form of item transfer
will result in a choice of punishment by the rule breaker: the violator can have
both characters involved deleted, or have all characters but one under a player’s
control deleted and the remaining character de-looted.

3. USING INFO GAINED BY ONE CHARACTER WHEN PLAYING ANOTHER CHARACTER is
multiplaying. You are NOT allowed to transfer information between characters
any more than you may transfer physical things, and this includes motivations. This also
prohibits the recreation of a character with the same name and/or memories as a prior char.
Violation of this rule will result in a choice of punishment by the rule breaker: the violator
can have both characters involved deleted, or have all characters but one under the violator’s
control deleted and the remaining character demoted.

4. HAVING ONE CHARACTER ON, LINKDEAD, WHILE YOU PLAY ANOTHER CHARACTER is
multiplaying. Accidents will happen in this regard, and we as a staff understand that.
However, anything but an immediate correction of this circumstance will result in deletion
of one character involved.

5. TRANSFERRING OR SHARING OF CHARACTERS is multiplaying. Your character cannot
be transferred to another player, nor can access to a character be shared between
multiple players. Violation of this rule will result in all characters controlled by all
players involved being deleted.

6. USING A PROXY TO CONNECT TO THE GAME is considered a facet of multiplaying,
and is against the rules. The primary reason for this is that it prevents appropriate
protection of the player base at large from being treated unfairly and being multiplayed
against. This is a self-limiting rule: recognized proxy addresses are not allowed to log
into the game, and as proxy addresses are discovered and recognized, the issue is
resolved. We understand sometimes proxies are necessary for people seeking to play
from work or other sites, but the risks outweigh the rewards of allowing proxies.
This is the one facet of multiplaying that has the immediate punishment of
siteban of the proxy site, but not of the player.

Violation of any individual facets of multiplaying, as noted above will be punished with
the noted punishments. If more than one of these rules regarding multiplaying is violated,
both characters involved will be deleted and a siteban of the violator will be under consideration.

This power is granted to those few good people who are deemed
worthy. You are allowed to request items be given to you from
NPCs. They do this so that good people can be equipped to fight
evil without resorting to killing others. This is an ability that
is watched very closely.

You may only request items that you yourself plan
to use. No giving the items to another player either directly or
indirectly. No giving the item back to another NPC so that players
can request it from the new NPC and save themselves a trip to a
dangerous area. No dropping the item so that another player can
"find" it. No selling the item for money. If you no longer have a
use for an item, you must destroy it. Please
follow these guidelines lest you find yourself being punished.

This power is granted to those few good people who are deemed
worthy. You are allowed to request items be given to you from
NPCs. They do this so that good people can be equipped to fight
evil without resorting to killing others. This is an ability that
is watched very closely.

You may only request items that you yourself plan
to use. No giving the items to another player either directly or
indirectly. No giving the item back to another NPC so that players
can request it from the new NPC and save themselves a trip to a
dangerous area. No dropping the item so that another player can
"find" it. No selling the item for money. If you no longer have a
use for an item, you must destroy it. Please
follow these guidelines lest you find yourself being punished.