Alter Aeon Rules of Conduct

Rules Section 12 - In-Game Resource Conflicts

Rule 12.1  - Introduction

Because the world of Alter Aeon is a shared environment in which many
people play simultaneously, there often arise situations where more than
one person is going after a single or limited resource.  There may be
an item which only loads once every few days, or treasure which only
one person may get at a time.  This is called a resource conflict.

Resource conflicts can cover any number of things:

- experience mobs
- equipment
- fame
- quests
- gold and treasure
- miscellaneous items, such as herbs and potions

Resource conflicts are often difficult to resolve, or may be involve
grey areas that can only be handled via judicial process or case law.
However, there are many cases which are simple, obvious, and have
clear rules.  Those rules are listed in this section.

Rule 12.2  - Informational - just because you can, doesn't mean you should

The game server has a number of safeties to help ensure that the wrong
people don't loot corpses or kill steal, but these don't catch every
case or may be buggy.

The fact that it's possible to do something does NOT mean that it's ok to
do.  You can still be frozen for doing things that are against the rules,
even if you use a code bug to do it.

In short, saying "but it's a code bug" will not save you. Think for yourself.

Rule 12.3  - On the newbie islands, high levels shall yield to newbies

If you're on a newbie island and you're substantially out of that
island's recommended level range, you must always yield when there
is a resource conflict.

You are out of the level range for an area when your primary level is
8 or more levels higher than the area level.  For example, if you are
level 25 and in a level 17 area, you are too high level for the area.

If a high level and a low level player can share an area without
conflict, the high level does not need to leave.

However, if there is a conflict over ANY resource, the high level player
must yield the resource to the low level player.

This rule only applies to the newbie islands of Sloe, Kordan, and
Archais.

Keep in mind that the newbie islands are heavily protected and very
important to new players and the future of the game.  Do not mess
around with them.

Rule 12.4  - Thou shalt not kill steal

Kill stealing happens when one player is fighting some monster, and
another player shows up unannounced, joins the battle, and lands the
killing blow.  When this happens, the experience, quests, and fame
from the monster goes to the wrong player.  You should attempt to
avoid kill stealing if at all possible, if only because it's the
polite thing to do.

Kill stealing is considered a minor offense, and there are cases where
it needs to be done and other cases where it simply can't be avoided.
There's also a lot of grey area with kill stealing, especially when a
mob may take an extended period of time or number of runs to kill.

On the one hand, you should avoid camping, whether to hog resources
or to interfere with other players.  On the other hand, you should
give others a reasonable time to complete tasks or make their kill.
If a god makes a decision, they will have to look at the times and
intents of the various players.  If both parties are deemed to be
jerks, both parties may be penalized.

The best advice for players is to be reasonably respectful of other
players in an area, and to make your kills fast and clean such that
there is less chance of kill stealing.

Note that you can use the 'nokillsteal' command to prevent others from
stealing your kills.

Rule 12.5  - Thou shalt not loot equipment

Equipment in corpses killed by other players generally cannot be
looted until a timer expires.  However, other items may be subject
to looting without protection.

For example, if a mob is guarding treasure, it is possible for an
uninvolved player to immediately pass or get the treasure upon the
death of the guard.  This is considered looting and should be avoided.

A mob may also be guarding a passageway with treasure at the end of
it, or with some other reward.  If an uninvolved player waits until a
guard is killed and immediately obtains the reward, this is also
considered looting.

There may be other situations similar to this that are not yet listed
here.  Please use good judgement in those situations or ask that the
specific situation be either clarified here or explained.

Rule 12.6  - Bots must always yield in a resource conflict

See the rules section on Bots for a definition of what a bot is.

If there is a resource conflict between a live player and a bot, the
bot must always yield.