Alter Aeon Rules of Conduct

Rules Section 17 - Extra Rules For Gods, Admin, and Builders

Rule 17.1  - Informational - Builders and Gods follow rules too

There are a lot of misconceptions regarding gods and builders.  They have
to adhere to rules just like mortals - however the rules for builders are
quite a bit more strict and are more strongly enforced.

This section contains only a few of the less common rules builders may
encounter.  As a mortal, please respect the fact that builders may not
be able to do these things.

Also keep in mind that High Administrators have created these rules and
generally enforce them - however if a situation warrants, a High level
administrator may ignore, change, or simply refuse to enforce any
particular rule.

Rule 17.2  - Informational - discourage Mush-Z modification

In your position as a builder, your opinion has more weight, so be
careful what you say.  Our official policy on Mush-Z is that normal
players shouldn't be changing it.

There are a lot of reasons for this, but the biggest one is that players
often break the client in some horrible way that isn't easy to debug.
This wastes everyone's time and sometimes it requires a full reinstall
to fix.

Please also don't recommend that people install other plugins.  Plugins
have also caused issues, but plugins can also cause players who don't
know any better to get hit by the bot thwacker.

In general, if something is so important that we should change Mush-Z,
the correct thing to do is stall and talk to the Mush-Z developers.

If something is so important that players need to install a plugin for
it, the correct thing to do is talk to the Mush-Z developers.

And lastly, even though it should already be obvious from the above:
don't recommend plugins or scripts which break the rules.  Don't
recommend or talk about bot scripts, don't talk about autohealers,
and don't tell someone how to make an auto-login script.

If something is important and useful enough to talk about, talk about
it with the Mush-Z developers so we can get it added to the client for
everyone.

Rule 17.3  - Informational - Mush-Z is for Alter Aeon only

In your position as a builder, your opinion has more weight, so be
careful what you say.  Our official policy on Mush-Z is that it should
only be used for playing Alter Aeon.

If somebody wants to use Mush-Z to play another game, please tell them
to download and install regular MushClient instead.

The biggest reason for this is that nearly all of the features of Mush-Z
don't work on any other game.  There are a ton of triggers and other
things designed specifically for AA, and trying to use them on another
game doesn't make sense.  If there's sufficient trigger fouling, Mush-Z
may actually make it impossible to play the other game.

Another big reason is that players almost always need to modify Mush-Z
to play other games.  Most of the time, this results in the player
breaking their install, which wastes everybody's time.  If they install
a fresh copy of MushClient instead, at least they won't break Mush-Z
by changing it.

Rule 17.4  - Builders shall not be logged in at the same time as their mortals

This rule applies to all gods and builders below level 107.

Level 107 worldbuilders and admin staff are exempt from this rule, as
they are sometimes needed to handle administrative problems.

Rule 17.5  - The mortals of a Pantheon god must not worship that god

[This rule is currently suspended and being considered for removal.
Recent changes to the game have made pantheon operations increasingly
automated, avoiding most conflicts of interest with builders and admin.]

Original text follows:
This rule applies to all gods of all levels, including administrators.

For example, no multi of Dentin may ever worship Dentin.

Rule 17.6  - Builders and Gods shall not distribute game information to mortals

This is a general rule that is sometimes lifted for in-game scenarios such
as quests or special events.  Builders are not allowed to give out any
in-game information, such as exact location of monsters, stats on equipment,
or where to get fame.

For lower level things, builders can sometimes give you general information:

"Yeah, mud school equipment isn't great, check the donation rooms for
other stuff"

"I think spiked collars come from Wyvren's Hell area, check the area list
for directions"

Please be polite to builders and don't ask them game details.

Rule 17.7  - Gods and Builders shall not distribute game information about mortals

Gods can often see where players are, or what players might be doing.  Often,
players don't want others to know where they are or what they are doing, so
builders aren't allowed to tell what they know.

This is especially important for PPK characters.  If you know where a PPK
char is currently running experience, they become MUCH easier to hunt and
kill.

Rule 17.8  - Low level builders shall not transfer mortals or playtest areas

Builders below WORLDBUILDER status should never transfer or bring players
into their zone.  If you need to have something playtested, either go through
your mentor or ask a worldbuilder.

The reason builders have to get permission for playtesting is that in
general, playtesting is not required.  Simply set up the mob to be in the
appropriate level range with the appropriate experience estimates, and
move on.

If a mob is so complicated that you really can't tell how it's going to
work, odds are good you've built it wrong.

This rule is primarily to prevent minor abuses of power and information
leakage, but in reality there isn't much need for in-person playtesting.
Mob difficulty can generally be gauged by checking the Dancer estimate
as well as the 'rack mcheck' numbers.