General Policy
 Please excuse the mess! This page may be incomplete.
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Security & Disciplinary Action
Privacy
The staff of this game reserve the right to log commands executed. This is for the purpose of dealing with players who abuse the code for sinister purposes. Therefore if you wouldn't want what you're doing on the game to be seen by others, it's probably a good idea not to do it here. Additionally, please be aware that if you log onto the game either as a guest or a player, admin will see your IP address unless you are using a VPN service. Also be aware that we will see your IP address on the wiki as well, even if you are not logged into the site.
Providing RL contact or other private information to other players without permission of the owner may result in disciplinary action taken by staff.
Sexual Content
Tinysex/Cybersex or any sexual content beyond what would be considered "R" rated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) will not be tolerated in any public channel (on or off-game) or grid room, and must not be posted anywhere public including into SceneSys. Any player(s) caught in violation of this may be dismissed from the game.
Posting pornographic links or links containing content that is beyond MPAA's "R" rating is also not allowed and is grounds for disciplinary action.
False Evidence
Doctored logs presented to staff in an attempt to falsely accuse others of policy breaches are grounds for disciplinary measures at the discretion of staff.
Cheating/Code Exploits
Any code exploit created and/or used for the following purposes will be considered policy violations and will warrant disciplinary action against the offending player:
- gaining sensitive information
- cheating combat systems
- modifying, destroying, or otherwise vandalizing objects that do not belong to the player
- harassment
- any other abusive action to the detriment of the game and/or other players
Transparency
The playerbase will be notified of any disciplinary measure involving an access restriction to the game, in order to avoid confusion or unpleasant rumors forming regarding the reason for the ban.
However, be assured that no sensitive information will be divulged to the public.
Theme Violation
Roleplay content that, according to our Theme, is not appropriate to the setting and is not contained within the Testing Room. Warnings will be issued first; however, if the unthemely content continues, disciplinary action may be taken against the offending player.
Harassment
If another player or staff member requests you to do any of the following, do as asked immediately:
- stop paging them
- drop a particular topic of conversation
- move to a different channel
- if the individual has in any way clearly communicated that your actions are causing them to become uncomfortable or upset, and they have asked you to stop
Illegal Activity
The passage of illegal information through the game or any of its associated channels is prohibited. This includes sharing information about websites that illegally distribute copyrighted material (e.g. comics, movies, TV series, or music) or encouraging their use. Before sharing about a site that distributes such material, please ensure that it does so in a fully legal fashion. If the content is free to view or download when it likely should be paid, this is a good indicator that it is not a legal or legitimate distributor. Furthermore, as we are a US-based community, all members are expected to adhere to US law regarding intellectual property and digital rights.
Players are warned that a SUSPECT flag may be placed on a player if staff has reason to believe the individual in question is engaged in such activity. Repeated offenses may result in disciplinary actions such as temporary or permanent dismissal from our Discord server/wiki, temporary or permanent character confiscation, or temporary or permanent dismissal from the game. Player discipline will be determined by staff based upon the nature and severity of the violation.
Identity Falsification
Lying about your own identity, or hacking someone's password to gain access to their account and characters, warrants disciplinary action. That however does not mean that any player is obligated to give staff or other players their real name. Nicknames and online handles are perfectly acceptable; this simply means that players should not be charading as something or someone they are not.
A minor lying about his or her age and pretending to be an adult is considered identity falsification.
Consent
Pax Republica is a consent-based game, and players are required to respect the consent of other players.
What is consent? Consent means that a player has the right to refuse certain actions and activities based on their wishes and comfort level in the context of a given situation. No player is required to play out scenes which they are not comfortable with, or simply do not wish to play. Consent also means that players must be able to make informed decisions about their character's actions and consequences, though it does not mean that they are able to outright refuse the consequences of their actions.
For example, if a wanted criminal PC approaches a Republic officer, the GM will inform the player that this may result in their character either coming to harm, being taken prisoner, or possibly even death. The player can then make an informed decision about whether or not to follow through with that action. If they choose to do so, they accept the consequences of that action, and cannot avoid being shot at, taken prisoner, or even killed depending on how the scene unfolds, though they may choose not to play out the specifics of those consequences on-screen. Nevertheless, the character will still suffer whatever consequences the GM decides are appropriate. Consent cannot be used to save your character from the consequences of situations you knowingly and willfully entered into.
If a scene is not being actively GM'd by a staffer or a staff-designated GM, it is up to the players to determine when consent is needed, and what consequences are appropriate for a given action. Staff will not enforce consequences for non-GM'd scenes, however be aware that consistently flouting the spirit of ICA = ICC (in-character actions equal in-character consequences) will likely result in other players not including you in scenes, and potentially, you being asked to find another game to join.
The takeaway here is that no one can coerce you, the player, through rolls or otherwise, to force your character to behave in any way that is either against your OOC consent, or against your character's IC nature. See Combat & IC Conflict Resolution for details on how consent may apply to combat and other IC conflict resolution.
Player Behavior
Disputes
In the majority of disputes, players are expected to attempt to resolve issues with others among themselves first before seeking staff's help. Therefore, if you complain to staff about another player(s), we will ask you if you have at least attempted to address the problem with the person(s) in question directly, and if you have not, we will request that you do so before we step in.
If for any reason you cannot work out the issue yourselves, you may ask for staff to mediate; but understand that if staff becomes involved, we expect you to accept our decision on the matter. If you feel you are being treated unreasonably or unjustly by a staff member, you may appeal to a different staff member.
Roleplaying Guidelines
Do...
In general, all staff and players are expected to be polite, courteous, and considerate toward everyone in the community. During active play, always be mindful of others' best interests above your own. Be intentional about giving others' characters a chance to shine instead of always focusing on getting that for your own character. However, don't be too shy, either. If someone has given you the spotlight and is waiting for your character to show off his skills, take it. Trust us, more people will naturally want to play with you if you conduct yourself in this way, and you will be far less likely to inadvertently offend or step on someone else's toes. If you see evidence in someone's behavior either ICly or OOCly that they aren't satisfied or comfortable with the situation, ask if everything is okay before proceeding. On the flip side of that, if you aren't happy or become uncomfortable with an IC situation or the direction it's taking, speak up immediately. Don't expect others to read your mind. It's your responsibility to communicate if you take issue with something in a scene.
Remember that with great power comes great responsibility. Yes we know this has been over and over again, but it's true. The more powerful, influential, and/or wealthy your character is, the more the community will expect from you as a player when it comes to contributing to the game, adhering to all policies and putting others' interests above your own. Players with characters of high rank and power should be the ones going above and beyond. Keep in mind as well, that staff will be taking this into account when considering upgrade applications.
All that being said, below are some specific behaviors that will absolutely not be tolerated.
Don't...
No Power-Gaming
This refers to players who play in a way that forces the actions and reactions of others in any IC communication. Poses should give others a way to choose how their character reacts or responds. Additionally, power-gaming is a policy violation due to consent rules. Please see the section regarding consent for more information.
However, if all parties involved have already OOCly agreed to the results of the RP or the content of a pose, this is not considered power-gaming, since consent has already been given. By using dice rolls or combat systems, players automatically consent to the outcome of the system.
Conversely, simply because you haven't clearly posed someone else's character for them doesn't mean it's not powergaming. Any situation wherein you have forced someone else's character into a circumstance that gives them little to no chance of winning in any way is powergaming. For example, entering a physical fight that has already been underway for several turns, so that the opposing team is already exhausted/injured while you are fresh, giving your side an unfair advantage. This is not to say that any such situation is illegal, if all parties involved have consented to the scene beforehand or formerly agreed upon the results, it is absolutely okay. So with regard to the example given, if you have obtained OOC permission from everyone already in the scene, it would be perfectly fine for you to enter the battle.
This applies in a similar way to an environment or NPC controlled by a GM. Anyone GMing a scene has graciously taken the time and effort to come up with a scene plan that is themely and will be fun for everyone involved—please respect that by refraining from power-gaming NPCs, inserting objects or events not created by your character, or otherwise controlling the environment established by the GM without first obtaining OOC permission from the GM. The GM is generally defined as whoever has posed first or set the scene at the beginning. If you are planning something that requires you to power-game an environment or NPC you are not GMing, then PLEASE ASK. It cannot be overstated that it never hurts to ask. Asking can prevent retcons, and retcons are not pleasant. So when in doubt, ask questions.
Re-statement or paraphrase of what the GM or other players have already written may be useful for providing context in your pose and is certainly not against the rules, however doing this excessively or making that the only content of your poses gets boring rather quickly. Try to focus on your own character’s interactions.
If the GM has suddenly disconnected and has not returned for more than 30min or has been idle for 30min or more, those who remain may decide an outcome amongst themselves if leaving the scene hanging is not possible or appropriate. If a staff member is present, he/she has a higher level of responsibility and therefore authority in deciding how to proceed in that situation.
Multiple instances of twinking or power-gaming the environment, NPCs, and/or other players’ characters without heed to warnings or requests for the behavior to cease will lead to disciplinary measures taken by staff.
No Invincibility
No one is invincible, and no character should be either. A character that is perfectly and completely invulnerable to anything and everything is an extremely boring character with no opportunities for development or improvement. Additionally, no one likes to play with a character that is untouchable, particularly in combat situations---just like no one would want to fight a boss in a video game that cannot at all be harmed by the player in any way.
No Meta-Gaming
Don't break the fourth wall. OOC information is not necessarily IC information. Use only what your character would ICly be aware of in your IC communications.
Additionally, keep a distance between you and your character. Realize that others' IC actions toward your character are not directed at you personally, and conversely, do not take IC action toward someone else's character purely for the sake of targeting them OOCly. In other words, don't try to make an OOC statement using IC action, hoping or assuming that they'll "take the hint". If you have an issue with someone else, please speak with them OOCly.
No Alt-Cheating
Do not use alternate characters as a means of gaining advantages your character would not otherwise have access to. Alt-interaction is not completely banned, however do not use it in any way that hampers actual RP with others. See the Characters & Alternates page for more details.
No Unexpected Traps
Do not spring anything on anyone. If you see that someone's character is starting to enter a situation that is not easily escaped and may result in permanent negative consequences, please warn them OOCly before proceeding. Additionally, if someone has requested to play out a particular scenario with you that you predict could be difficult for them to get out of without drastic repercussions, be sure that you make them fully aware of that fact beforehand.
Spelling & Grammar
We expect at least a high school level of spelling and grammar skills, not because we are grammar nazis but because this is a text-based game and all we have are words; thus if your grammar is consistently so poor that what your writing is difficult or impossible to comprehend, you will likely find it very difficult to get others to play with you.