Rules

The current set of rules is enumerated in "help rules."

Current Rules on Nodeka:

The following is a list of the current rules we ask that you follow while
playing Nodeka. Should you have any questions, or disputes regarding these
rules, feel free to email a Nodeka staff member, whose e-mail addresses can be 
found in 'help email'.

  Mortal Rules:

   0. Always be respectful of Nodeka and the Nodeka staff. This is not simply a
      guideline; it is a strict rule. Any disrespect towards any Nodeka staff
      member will merit an instant freeze of your character, and is sufficient
      grounds for character deletion.
      
      We understand that you will not always agree with the decisions made by
      the Nodeka staff. Mature discourse is allowed and encouraged, but 
      disrespect will not be tolerated, be it within or outside of the game.
      
      Any issues or complaints may be filed via e-mail with a staff member who
      is involved with mortal affairs, such as the Chief Guard (see 'display
      staff'). Do not direct such correspondence to Nijlo, as he will no
      longer be involved with mortal affairs.
      
      We do respect and appreciate our players, and we work hard to create a
      positive environment in which you can play and be heard. However, we will
      not tolerate defamatory activity. Cyber defamation, cyber libel and cyber 
      slander are illegal, and we will take all necessary steps to prevent it,
      up to and including legal action.

   1. Character selling and trading is illegal on Nodeka. Any characters caught
      attempting to sell or trade their character will be zapped. Any 
      characters found later to have purchased a character from another player 
      will be zapped. As passwords can never be changed, character buying is a
      serious risk to the buyer as the seller will always know the original 
      password. Short answer: don't do it.
      
      Exchanging in-game platinum for an in-game donation is perfectly legal.
      If you are buying a donation from another character, ensure you donate to 
      Nodeka under the character's name to steer clear of any potential 
      punishment. If a player is caught buying a donation from another player 
      and paying that player to his or her personal account, both players will 
      be punished.

      Buying a donation from another player is fair game. However, donations 
      are the life-blood of Nodeka and circumventing donations entirely from 
      Nodeka is hurtful to all of Nodeka and cannot be allowed if Nodeka is to 
      stay afloat.

      As such, any trading of in-game Nodeka goods (platinum, equipment, 
      etc.) for non-game goods (US dollars, computer equipment, plane tickets, 
      etc.) is illegal. Both the buyer and seller of these situations will be 
      punished accordingly.

      Trying to work around this rule by both parties agreeing the transfers are
      "gifts" is simply a way to cheat the system and is flagged as selling
      in-game goods for non-game goods.

   2. No spam: meaning, repeating the same message over and over again through
      public (or private) channels, putting away equipment, multiple
      player killing, etc. For the most part, spam is incredibly annoying and 
      distracting. If you persist in spamming Nodeka, consider yourself lucky 
      if you only get a warning.

   3. No advertising for other MUDs on Nodeka. In addition, we ask that you 
      respect other MUDs and not globally advertise for Nodeka on them. If you
      wish to tell your friends about Nodeka on other MUDs, please do it 
      through private channels (like tells).

   4. No multi-playing. You are responsible for understanding the definition
      and the severity of this offense - see 'help multi-play'.
   
      Nodeka prevents many forms of multi-play internally. However, if you 
      and another person play from a network with only one IP address and can 
      validate this, you MAY be allowed to have multiple characters log in 
      from that address. This privilege is given in a per basis fashion.

   5. No botting. See help bot for more information on this topic. Botting 
      characters are dealt with automatically by Nodeka.

      Addendum: The Nodekian staff has the ability to take action on any player
      they personally catch botting. Punishment is at the staff's discretion.

   6. Bug Abuse: if you discover a bug, it is very important that you report it
      immediately. If you do not, and are caught abusing the bug, you will be
      punished most severely, ranging anywhere from freezing to deletion of 
      your character.

   7. Nodeka aids: the Nodeka aids (immortals, guards, mentors) work very hard 
      keeping Nodeka together and growing for you. As such, they are to be 
      treated with courtesy and respect. If you treat a Nodeka aid poorly, you 
      can expect the same treatment to be returned to you.

   8. Players which have not been logged in for more than six months may be
      deleted. Although we generally try to give at least 12 months inactive 
      time before deleting old characters, our minimum time for deleting unused
      characters is six months. It is your responsibility to keep your 
      characters active. There will be no reimbursements for characters lost 
      due to inactivity.

   9. No misleading players over the newbie channel who ask questions over the 
      newbie channel. This rule applies specifically to the newbie channel, and 
      no other channels. 
      
      If you reply to a newbie channel question over the newbie channel in a 
      misleading manner, you can be punished. The severity of punishment is in 
      direct relation to the level of misdirection which the player who 
      responded to the newbie channel question offers.

  10. Offensive language of any kind is NOT allowed on any channel on Nodeka,
      except the flame channel. This includes vulgarity, racial slurs, sexual 
      slurs or harassment, and any other type of intentionally offensive 
      language. Certain ubiquitious [sic] internet abbreviations, such as "omfg" 
      or "wtf", are allowed and will not be considered offensive.

      This rule covers all channels of communication, public or private. The
      ONLY exception is between consenting individuals via the private "tell"
      command. Keep in mind that "consenting" is a non-disputable requirement;
      if there is any argument as to whether consent was present, then consent 
      was NOT present. Also keep in mind that this exception only covers 
      offensive language under rule #10. Disrespect to any staff member
      (see rule #0) is illegal regardless of the channel of communication.
      
      As of 5/20/09, clan chat and group chat are exempt from rule #10 for a
      trial period. Thus, language on clan and group chat will not be enforced
      under rule #10. However, keep in mind that rule #0 still applies in every
      situation, regardless of the avenue of communication.
    
      Update: 12/21/2011: The flame channel is now open to any and all types of
      language, except the following:

       - there shall be no racial slurs
       - there shall be no sexist comments
       - there shall be no sexual orientation harassment
  
  11. < guards > and < mentors > have deemed themselves as third party arbiters.

      These characters can be trusted sources of handling item sales and 
      anything related to Nodeka where an unbiased third party is needed. An 
      example of an arbitrator's name is as follows:
   
      < mentor > Eru

      If an arbiter does not follow through on any arbitration, a complete log
      should be sent to one of the Nodeka staff members and that arbiter will 
      be permanently deleted and site-banned from Nodeka. Both parties involved 
      in the failed arbitration will be reverted back to their original status 
      before the arbitration.

      Only guards and mentors whose names show up in the "who" list in colored
      brackets should be used as third party arbiters. Examples of such players
      are seen below:

      < mentor > Eru
      < guard > Klosus

      Any players caught impersonating a guard or mentor will be punished, up
      to character deletion.

  12. Do not give out answers to quest riddles over global channels. If you 
      wish to give someone a hint to a riddle or an answer to a riddle, please 
      do so via a private message (tell). However, it is strongly suggested you
      do not give out answers to quest riddles in any form (via public or 
      private communication).

  13. Do not intentionally try to abuse player's clients. While we do not 
      protect players who may be abused by their client due to their own lack 
      of knowledge on how to use their client, we will punish players who are 
      actively trying to abuse players' clients in very obvious and/or 
      malicious ways.

      Examples are:   using any form of communication to trigger client 
                      responses (e.g. rem all, drop all, quit).

                      using player set strings (such as clan hall room names 
                      or descriptions, player names or descriptions, etc.) to 
                      trigger client responses.

      The punishment for intentional and malicious client abuse will be 
      determined by the severity of action. Furthermore, the player(s) who are
      abused may or may not be reimbursed for their loss. Each case will be
      handled individually. Note: if the players who are abusing clients are
      doing so in an intentional and extremely malicious way, the punishment
      will be extremely severe (e.g. character zap and permanent site-ban).

      Please keep in mind that you are responsible for your client's behavior
      at all times. However, certain abuses such as clan hall room names and
      descriptions cannot be overcome by clients and would require special 
      Nodeka code which would break the consistent theme of the game. Therefore
      these client abuses must be corrected by the clan hall creators. 
      
      Players failing to correct client abuse after being notified of the 
      behavior (malicious or not) will also be punished. If a client abuse 
      occurs which is accidental and benign, the player will be requested to 
      correct the behavior and may be released without punishment. However, if 
      the players refuses to correct the client abuse, he or she will be dealt 
      with as if the client abuse was malicious.

  14. Nodeka provides automatic player advancement through player vs. player
      (pvp) combat. (See 'help player combat' for more details.) This automatic
      advancement system is designed to limit the potential for abuse while
      rewarding varied and exciting player combat.
      
      Nodeka is an open PvP environment, meaning that any mortal player may 
      attack any other for any reason (as long as other rules, such as the
      spam rule, are observed). However, the staff reserves the ability and the
      right to deny pvp rewards to any player who is obviously attempting to 
      "game" the player combat advancement system. Repeated abuse will result 
      in more severe action.
      
      For example, a player who makes an arrangement to kill another player 
      repeatedly in an attempt to increase his or her pvp advancement is 
      obviously attempting to "game" the system; action would be warranted in
      this case. (Note that the pvp advancement would detect this behavior and
      restrict that player's rewards, but the fact that the system is protected 
      against such behavior is immaterial - it is the player's intent that
      matters.)