Rules of the Abandoned Realms Forums

[Davairus]

Today marks a new chapter in Abandoned Realms forum. We have updated the rules for the first time since 2004. This ruleset is designed to protect this forum and MUD. If you feel you can easily follow the below rules, then I expect you will be able to read them once and move on. If you do not feel that way, you will not like the AR forum, and you may want to ask yourself if your time may be spent more productively and better enjoyed elsewhere.

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Abandoned Realms Forum

We don’t wish to restrict people from our forums, but some things we are all better off without. We have these rules in place so that the forum is a useful resource, for both you and the Immortals (ultimately, this also benefits you). Note that the moderators can use their discretion to decide whether to enforce their powers. We don’t have graded punishments. We will ultimately just close your account and add your known IP addresses to our web server’s spam blacklist. Though, this does not affect your actual game access.

The escalation method for a forum issue is via in-game:

ISSUE TO IMP – this will include all game senior leadership

Forum Guidelines

Do not discuss IC matters that may impact gameplay. For example, “Steve plays that paladin” or “That thief is online” and other OOC information that ruins immersion
If you post about problem regarding gameplay, please offer a good explanation of the problem, and a possible solution regardless of how far-fetched
Refrain from posting about quests, rare items and unobvious skills (e.g. cabal skills) that cannot be found in helpfiles. Please respect other people’s dedication.
Forum RULES

RULE #1 https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hate-speech?s=t

Zero tolerance for intolerance. Any hate speech (e.g. racism, homophobia, inciting hatred, etc.) or harassment will be removed. (please see hyperlink for more details)

Abandoned Realms is an inclusive community – treat others with respect. Repeat offenders will be site banned from the forum.

THE REST

Do not:

Advertise or mention other games here
Advertise or mention Abandoned Realms on other games where it is not welcomed
Troll (trolling is posting material that is deliberately annoying.)
Attack (ad hominem) other users of the forum – Address the subject or point of view, not the person
Call people out on the forum
Make extra accounts to agree with yourself
Repeat post about the same topic
Bump old topics
Thread hijack – stick to the topic at hand
Post unreadable material that is a waste of everyone’s time
Report posts that have been deleted by the moderators – write them correctly in the first place
Wasteland RULES

The Wasteland is intended to be as unmoderated as possible, however, that is entirely up to the Wasteland user. This is not lawless. While you may swear and carry on at each other in the Wasteland, Rule #1 applies:

Zero tolerance for intolerance. Any hate speech (e.g. racism, homophobia, inciting hatred, etc.) or harassment – this content will be removed. (please see hyperlink for more details)

Abandoned Realms is an inclusive community. Repeat offenders will be site banned from the forum.

If Rule #1 is not broken, expect very little moderation in the Wasteland.

The point of the Wasteland is to allow the poster to express themselves as raw as they need to. Our hope is that this will be cathartic and that the catharsis ultimately results in understanding.


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Some extra time will be spent on the forum coding instead of the MUD coding. The goal is to properly implement accountability for everyone.

What does that mean, accountability?

- It means you are held accountable. If you accidentally break the rules of the forum, you can expect a warning and that's strike 1. But if you repeat the mistake, you will be treated as if you just did that on purpose, strike 2. Three strikes within a reasonable period of time and you are out. A system will be provided for players to mark posts themselves for rule violations. Violations will be reviewed and users will be sent messages to tell them what they did wrong.

- The same applies to the moderators as well. The moderators must not break the rules themselves. If they break the rules at all, they will canned as moderators. A special emphasis here is that moderators job is on making sure that users feel able to safely voice their opinions. If the moderators obstruct that, they will be canned as moderators and Immortals. Moderators MUST NOT go unpunished.

Why do we care about accountability? Solidarity, safety, and support.

- Solidarity. Every user that addherence to the rules gives us all greater confidence that this structure and its boundaries are correct, because it is what we all agreed to.

- Safety. In the USA, freedom of speech is backed up by the threat of violence. So it is the case in the MUD - if a guy is trolling you, simply bash his face in with your club. Or get dunked. We welcome insults, especially on the Immortals, but what we do not welcome is harm. Until the end of the covid-19 pandemic, a "skull" icon is provided for reputable forum users to close threads that demonstrate intolerance. Note that misusing that skull may result in loss of reputable status on that user account.

- Support. Again, this forums is a village. IF a user is trolling, the tools will be provided to the moderators to deal with them. The onus is on everybody to pull around a person who is harmed, let them vent, give them some reassurance.


These are the rules of the forum, not the MUD. Hatred is allowed in MUD. In the MUD, you are actually not hating anything, because the entire realm is imaginary. Please make sure that you *clearly* understand the distinction.


If you agree to the rules, please sign the thread below to show solidarity.

[Resatimm]

Resatimm

[Groq]

Groq.

[jaran]

Jaran

[Vevier]

Vevier

[Lorne]

Lorne

[Olyn]

Olyn

[Vhrael]

Vhrael

[Vanisse]

Vanisse

[Kedaleam]

Kedaleam

[Esivole]

Esivole

[Phostan]

Phostan

[Taleroth]

Taleroth

[Thorgoth]

Thorgoth

[Ceridwel]

Ceridwel

[Niusan]

Niusan

[Baer]

baer

[Kornhole]

Kornhole

[Grayden]

Grayden the Grim

[BlackWidow]

BlackWidow