News:Player Policy

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Contents 1 Alts 2 Features 3 Code of Conduct 4 Consent 5 Due Process 6 Etiquette 6.1 Privacy 6.2 Public Rooms 6.3 Private Rooms 6.4 Communication 6.5 Courtesy 7 Pose Order 8 RP Style 9 On Game 'Accessories'

Alts

Here on KMUX players are allowed as many alts as they would like to play, with some limitations in place. Only one character per player can be an FC (featured on the +gov) list. Only one character per player is permitted a place of leadership in the Night Court (Dowayne or Second). The rest of our 'rules' come down to common sense. Players found using one character to gain OOC information on a rival group and then using that information in another alt will be required to give up at least one of the characters in question, if not both. Use of OOC information ICly is considered cheating and infractions of this nature will not be tolerated. Alts cannot exchange money, objects, buildings, or the like. In certain conflict or plot situations, it may be expected that players choose a primary character to be 'involved' so that the spread and use of influence and information is fair. For the most part we expect players to choose how to handle juggling alternate characters in a plot. However there may be times that staff sets in to impose limitations in order to help everyone's comfort level.

Features

A feature character is not exactly the same as on other games. Rather than being a prenamed, predescribed character, the Kushiel MUX Feature Character is one that acquires an authoritative or important IC position as soon as they are chargenned. Because of this very nature, they are fairly ordinary early on when most of the IC positions are unfilled, but become rarer as time passes.

Feature and non-feature characters have a very important difference - FCs require pre-approval from game staff before they are allowed to roleplay on the grid. This is to 1. set up the necessary code, and 2. to ensure the character is well-described, well-made, and proper according to the theme of the game and country in question. At current, only Terre D'Ange requires FCs.

In order to play a feature character, there are a number of requirements that must be met. First, you have to have played a non-feature on KushielMUX for at least 200 Real Life hours (which is roughly a few weeks of regular playing). This is a total of all your alts hours rather than just one. Second, you must have run at least one public event sometime before applying for a feature position.

If you have done these and think you have the necessary energy and ambition to play a Feature Character, then use +feature/request <text>.

To repeat: you no longer apply for a feature IN CHARGEN, but now do so OUT OF CHARGEN and only after you have acquired 200 hours online in KM and having run a public event first.

Code of Conduct

• Players found cheating by abusing their privilege to play here--using alts, abusing code, using OOC information--will be subject to due process, up to and including permanent removal from the game.

• Players found OOCly harassing other players or staffers will subject to due process up to and including permanent removal from the game.

• Players acting in a disruptive, hostile, or aggressive manner will be sent to the timeout room and removed from play. Repeated instances will subject the player to due process, up to and including permanent removal from the game.

• Disruptive, hostile, or aggressive behavior might be hard to define, particularly when you are used to staff calling a simple disagreement 'disruptive behavior.' Here is a general principle for you to follow: "If you wouldn't do it in a Tabletop game, don't do it here."

In addition to these basic rules, there are some conventions for how to behave here and some expectations that we have for those who participate in this game:

1. Be tolerant and respectful of those around you even if they disagree with you.
2. Do not post flames of other players or games on bboards or trash other players or games in public forums.
3. While staff will, to the best of their ability, keep players apprised of current events, you must take initiative and responsibility for educating yourself about this game, including whatever house rules, systems, and policies are in place. It is important that you read the required news files and that you keep current with bboard posts.

Consent

There is no objective way for staff or players to mediate or judge any sort of IC conflict, competition, or action. Player A can twinkishly assert "I did it" and it must be so. If player B consents, the matter is closed. If player B withholds consent, however, we run into a hornet's nest of problems. If player A is a twink, player B has a right to withhold consent, but if Player A is not being a twink, then player B doesn't have a legitimate right to withhold consent. So the question revolves on what counts as twinkish. And the answer to that is different for everyone.

Here at Kushiel Mux we have the following system in place:

Players must mutually consent to IC consequences of their IC actions. When RPing out consequences with someone, you should give that person a choice of two or three options for realistic consequences. If mutual consent cannot be reached, the issue will go to a hearing of 3 staffers who will vote on how to mediate the matter and then assign realistic consequences. Our expectation is that we are all adults here and we should be able to handle ICA=ICC (In Character Actions Equals In Character Consequences) in a mature fashion.

For example, it's not fair for player A -- who is a feature character, who has been here for a long time, and RPed an amassing of great power -- to be killed by someone slipping them some poison. Slipping poison would be a twinkish thing to do. BUT, it is also equally twinkish if player A is completely untouchable. If player B can manage an IC way to poison player A, it should be so. Remember, though, that murder is extreme to the d'Angelines, and such a scenario is icly unlikely.

If you intend to engage in political warfare with another player and you suspect they will not consent to consequences, please keep RP staff apprised of what you are doing.

Also, please remember to keep IC and OOC information separate. If your character doesn't know something ICLY, then you cannot act on it. Metagaming is using out of character knowledge to influence the course of roleplay. Metagaming will not be tolerated.

In short, we expect players to act with courtesy and to facilitate their own roleplay to their mutual satisfaction. It is in your best interest to work out a consensus for the situation. A character's actions and fate are solely at the discretion of the character's controller, except where theme concerns dictate otherwise.

Due Process

Players who violate game policies will be subject to disciplinary proceedings.

1. At any point in which a staffer feels that a player is acting in a destructive or disruptive manner, the staffer may remove the player from the grid for a time out period not to exceed one day.
2. If a player is found guilty of cheating or violating the game's basic policies, the player will receive a strike against him or her. After three strikes, the player will be suspended from the game for a time period to be determined by staff including up to being sitebanned.
3. Players who OOCly harass staffers or other players in an abusive fashion will be sitebanned immediately.
4. Players found hacking into the game or the site will be permanently suspended, their ISPs notified, and legal action will be taken.

Etiquette

Online communication is a little different from our normal real life communication because we only have text to express ourselves, not the wide range of facial expressions and body language we normally rely on to get our points across. That is why there are some interpretations and common courtesies unique to mush environments.

Privacy

Violations of OOC privacy will not be tolerated. These violations include revealing information about other players (either real life information such as login sites or game information such alts) without their consent.

Many people here are very careful with their private information and choose with care who they tell about their personal issues or their character. If someone tells you such information, remember that is was meant for you and you alone. Do not share this information with others on behalf of the person who told you. It should be the choice of that person themselves to pass on such information or not. This goes for things like real life names, real life gender, the place where someone lives, but also information of their character that is not common knowledge. Aside from that, it is good practice to accept people's choice to represent themselves online (male or female and such things) without questioning or ridiculing them. The beauty of the medium of text-based internet is that there are no pictures and everyone can be who they really feel they are instead of the form that real life has locked them into. For your interaction it does not matter if someone really is a woman or a man or not, the chances of meeting someone in RL are minimal anyways. Interaction between people will go much smoother if the way someone chooses to represent themselves on the mush is not questioned or judged.

Public Rooms

On a mush there are many rooms, some rooms are private, and some are public. You can assume that all the street rooms on a grid are public. But buildings can be private or public. Often the mush will have a way of showing which is which. Public buildings are accessible to all, and it is generally not considered necessary to ask permission to join a group or rp in a public area. That area is open to all. This also goes for ooc public areas like the OOC Tavern. People roleplaying in a public area should have the courtesy to react to someone new coming in. If they are discussing private matters in table talk or whispers they should at least make an effort to show in a pose what they are doing and if at all possible react to the newcomer, and not completely ignore them after a first pose. It is important that everyone makes poses that others can actually react to, that give a handhold for someone to act with or say something about. That is why one-liners are usually frowned upon, unless they have a strong function in the ongoing situation. As someone entering a scene it is generally considered a good idea to wait for a pose from the people already there and see what kind of situation they are involved in, instead of posing in without knowing what is going on. This can prevent confusion and irritation.

Private Rooms

If the place you want to enter is a private room, it is important to ask permission first, either by page or on channel. This goes for people's private on grid houses or rooms, but also for things like staff rooms. So be sure before teleporting or entering a private room, on grid or staffroom, to make sure people know you are coming in and that you have permission. Delicate discussions happen in such places, and people like having the freedom to talk about things they'd like to keep private without having others walk into their conversation. That is why spying is definitely frowned upon. It is something that everyone with knowledge of code could set up, and it is a very discourteous thing to do if done in secret. People have a right to their privacy. There are times and places where it is conceivably necessary for for example staffers to need to be able to see what is going on, but in such cases the room where such a spying devise is used should show to others that they are being listened to. The same goes if you have a building you own as a player, like a tavern, and you'd like a way to be kept updated on what takes place in the main room. It is fine, as long as it is something that players are warned about as soon as they enter, and as long as the room is yours.

Communication

Remember that on a mush, because you can't see people's expressions, it is hard to know if someone is joking or serious, and what they exactly mean if something could be explained in different ways. That is why it is a good idea to be as clear in your communication as possible, and it is better sometimes to explain too much than to explain too little. If you make a joke it can really help to add smileys so it is not misunderstood. Using capital letters is often used to show yelling, so you want to be sure to only use those on occasions where this is fitting, where for example your character is yelling. Furthermore, telling anyone what they would be doing in a pose or in your desc is considered powerposing. It's better not to tell someone they would be afraid of you or something. It can help to write 'this person might make you uncomfortable' instead of 'this person makes you uncomfortable', so you give other players a choice even while showing what the general reaction of most people to your character would be. On the other hand it is also not polite to ignore someone's special characteristics completely just because you don't feel like being intimidated by a big muscleman or something like that. If you decide to step away from a reaction that most people would have to a situation, and decide not to be afraid or do something that might be a negative experience for your character, you want to be sure you have a good solid ic or ooc reason for doing so.

Courtesy

The main thing about mush etiquette is courtesy. It is good to treat others like you'd like to be treated. And sometimes something that is not an issue for you is an issue for someone else, and then it is a good idea to try and find a compromise or if it's just a differing opinion, agree to disagree. Treating people that way can make the online text medium a lot more fun for everyone involved.

Pose Order

When roleplaying on a MUSH, pose order is one of the structures that helps keep things going smoothly, and prevent irritation with other players. There are several styles of using pose order, but generally in roleplay it is best if you make sure not to pose too little and not too much either. If you need to idle long periods and you have the chance to do so, please tell people that you will be afk for a while and try to tell them how long,so they can adapt their roleplay to it. Try not to pose twice or three times for one time of most other people.

If someone in the room is idle it is fine to pose more often than them, but if people are involved and active, do them the courtesy of allowing them to keep up with you, even if you are a much faster typist than they are. Sometimes it can help to be very strict about pose order and make sure everyone goes only on their turn, but this can be difficult except in the most ideal of circumstances. A very good rule of thumb is not to pose unless three other people have posed if in a group scene with a larger group, or if the group is three or less, then it is a good idea to give everyone else a chance to pose before you do again. This prevents irritation and allows everyone to react to what is going on.

RP Style

Players often have different rp styles. Some prefer very elaborate poetic poses, while others prefer to keep it more practical and simple. As long as you are careful not to do some of the things that are difficult to react to (like consistently posing oneliners, but make sure that you give other people something to react to in your pose, and do not give them information they would not have or force pose them (see other mush etiquette news files)) then any rp style you prefer is fine. Please give other players who have a style different from yours the respect you would like them to give to your style as well.

If someone uses a writing style or playing style or brings up a subject you are not comfortable with, it can often help if you can bring it up in a friendly, non confrontational manner. Often people are very willing to adapt to what you need to have a good time in your roleplay. If they are not able to do so, they can tell you so politely, and if that happens you can always leave the scene. If this is necessary, please respect the other's choice as they should be respectful of yours. Roleplay is a give and take, and it is good to make sure that you communicate clearly but with respect to the other, and to make sure that you compromise in a balanced way.

On Game 'Accessories'

Over time, players of KushielMUX have become increasingly involved in creating and expanding various 'accessories' to the MUX itself, such as livejournal and the wiki. While we the staff of KMUX think this is a wonderful thing that adds depth and dimension to the game, it does come with some responsibilities.

Just as our news files on privacy state, it is very important that players are respectful to the privacy of other players and characters. This means revealing information about other characters (such as the contents of a log they are involved in) without their permission is not acceptable. While many players do like to include logs in their journals or on their wikis, it is crucial that all other players involved in the scene being logged consent to having it posted. Some of our players are more private than others, and it is expected that their comfort levels are treated with respect and courtesy.

Large public scenes may be logged without getting the consent of all parties. (Fetes, open court sessions, planned recommended playing times, etc.)

This subject area becomes greyer and more difficult when it comes to personal journal entries, which as a rule contain a characters own reaction to the events around him/her, some of which may be private or secret in nature. It is impossible to make a hard and fast rule about what to include in a personal journal entry, players are simply expected to treat each other with courtesy and respect, and to use their common sense.

As usual, the easiest default in these situations is "When in doubt, ask."