Alter Aeon Rules of Conduct

Rules Section 14 - Miscellaneous Major Rules

Rule 14.1  - Introduction

This section deals with various miscellaneous rules which don't really
fit into other sections.  Each of these is considered catastrophic -
intentionally violating these may be subject to immediate and extremely
harsh penalties.

Rule 14.2  - Thou shalt report Eloquence crash bugs immediately

The Jaws screen reader, when using the Eloquence synthesizer, is buggy.
When reading out certain nonsense words, the synthesizer will crash, and
blind players using the software will have to restart the synthesizer
manually to recover from it.

These words are extremely rare, and anyone using them is probably doing
it on purpose.  Because of the obvious potential for abuse, the server
does its best to filter out and remove these words.  However, there may
be combinations which have not yet been discovered.

If you find an Eloquence crash word that is NOT filtered by the Alter
Aeon server, please report it to Dentin IMMEDIATELY.  Do not tell other
players, and do not use the word on public channels.

These words are an extremely powerful griefing tool, and if you are
caught using an unfiltered word with malicious intent and knowledge of
these rules, the punishment will be extremely severe.  If you report
them quickly and effectively, a reward is quite likely.

Dentin does not mess around on this topic.  You should not either.

Rule 14.3  - Thou shalt not DoS (Denial of Service) other players

This is a catch-all rule, intended to cover other client-side crash
or failure issues not covered by the Jaws/Eloquence rule above.

Rule 14.4  - Thou shalt not fake logs or system messages

Faking system messages and recorded logfiles can be considered a major
offense, depending on the circumstance.  We often use user-submitted
logfiles as evidence or for informational purposes, and the correctness
of those logs is very important to us.

Note that this only applies to fake server output, created with intent
to pass it off as real and mislead others.  Parody and humor is not a
problem, though it should be fairly clearly marked if it's not obviously
fake.

The most common scenarios involve slander and character assassination,
where tempers run high and fake mudmails, board postings, and other
communications are used to discredit another player.  This is a major
offense, and Dentin takes it personally when people do this.  Thou
shalt not fake system messages.

Examples of situations where this would be considered a major offense:

- sending fake mudmails to other players to slander someone

- submitting fake harassment logs with intent to punish someone

- distributing fake conversation logs with intent to discredit someone

Rule 14.5  - Informational - fake logs and slander

Faking logs and/or spreading misinformation in general will put you very
high on Dentin's shit list.  Our player community, and the very structure
of society in general, relies on parties being truthful, even if they
hate each other.

Intentionally spreading misinformation isn't just an attack on the
target, it's an attack on the entire community.  This can very quickly
put it in the 'major offense' category.

Rule 14.6  - Informational - duplicating equipment

Using bugs to duplicate items, gold, credits, or other resources is
considered a major offense, and the penalties can be extremely severe if 
these bugs are not immediately reported and use of them stopped.

By reporting immediately and working with us, you'll gain a lot of trust
and probably a big fat reward.

If you try to hide what you're doing and use this type of bug anyway, the
consistency checker will eventually send hate mail to Dentin, and you'll
be screwed.

Note that the standard punishment as a first offense when duplicating a
large amount of equipment is to destroy both the duplicates AND the
originals, as well as anything other items that may happen to be nearby.

For a second offense, the characters owned by the person are typically
destroyed, starting with the most powerful character, even if they were
not directly involved in the illegal action.

Seriously.  Report duplication bugs.  Your character will thank you.

Rule 14.7  - Thou shalt not multiplay.  Ever.

[Note - this rule also has its own section, but is repeated here
 because it is important, and the penalties can be extremely severe.]

Multiplaying in any form is not allowed.  Due to the way the game is set
up, multiplaying is a far more severe balance problem than on most other
muds.  The only situation where you may have more than one character logged
on is when swapping equipment.

Idling multis are still considered multis.
Even if your other character is idle, you may still not have it logged in.

Linkdead multis are still considered multis.
It is not acceptable to leave linkdead characters hanging around to regen
mana to help your other characters.  Helping includes summoning and healing.

You may not summon a multi to allow it to get a waypoint.

To repeat: THE ONLY CASE WHERE YOU MAY HAVE A MULTI LOGGED IN IS TO SWAP
EQUIPMENT.  When swapping equipment, log in your multi, make your trades,
and log your multi off.  Do not drop link, do not leave it idle, and don't
use it to cast spells on your other characters.

If you are multiplaying to gain exp, all of your multiplayed characters will
be stripped of experience and possibly any stats you may have gained.  You
may also have characters deleted, starting with the most powerful.

Rule 14.8  - Thou shalt not explore unopened zones

Sometimes, partially constructed or unopened areas have a glitch or problem
that allows access.  If you find yourself in an unopened zone, log a typo
and recall, then notify the builders.

If a builder asks you to recall from an unopened zone, recall immediately
and don't be a jerk.  If you don't respond the builder is allowed to boot
you or find other ways to kick you out of the area.