Every game has its own style and way of doing things, as does every player.
Differences in code base notwithstanding, every roleplaying game, even those
with the same themes, have a different way of doing things. If you're ever unsure,
page and ask someone. These rules, while not set in stone, are guidelines, and
help us to play in this cooperative environment.
We all make good friends on these games, and it's only natural to want to tell your friends about your day, your upcoming vacation, or the strange things your cat is currently doing in your computer room. However, we do ask that you keep these conversations either on channel or via page. If you've had a bad day, don't bring it online. Leave it offline. Everyone will appreciate this. Furthermore, do not take IC actions, i.e. some Weyr resident fluttering their eyelashes at you, OOC. IC does not equal OOC.
We ask that you do not use OOC commands in public rooms. It's disconcerting to be in the middle of a really good scene and have someone start an OOC conversation. Please use the knot, or mp/room or other mechanisms for letting people know there is something about to interrupt the roleplay.
Every now and then this is tough, especially in a large gathering of players. We do ask that you don't just pose and pose and pose. Give the other people in the room time to respond to your pose. Most of the time players will start posing in cycles, which just means you wait for your turn in the cycle to come around again. However, this doesn't mean you have to slot in that turn if you've something important or relevant to pose/say, but be considerate that not everyone types 100 words/min.
Every now and then, some of us like to throw in bits of 'internal monologue' into our poses. Generally this is to help you, especially if you're new, understand what the character is roleplaying about, giving extra hints to emotion, enhancing the RP. However, you can't hear this. Unless your character can read minds (and please, please, PLEASE don't create a character that can read minds: it's not canon), whatever internal monologue gets included in poses is invisible and inaudible to your character. A good rule of thumb is that you hear anything that's in quotation marks and see anything that is an action. For example:
Character smiles sweetly. "Oh, of course you can have the last bubbly pie!" Oh, good grief.
The character is outwardly accommodating, and inwardly annoyed. No other character would notice that she's annoyed, though, unless they knew her well, and then they might pick up that she hates giving away the last bubbly! Don't overdo this, and don't do whole thought poses: you leave nothing for anyone to react to!
It is never, ever polite to pose something that forces another player, whether it be a confrontational scene or any other type of interaction, into an action they do not want. It is far better to give them an opportunity to avoid whatever your character is trying to do to them. For instance, this would be considered very rude:
Character smashes Friend's hand.
A far better tactic would be something along these lines:
Character brings her fist down hard, aiming for Friend's hand.
Friend pulls his hand out of the way at the last minute.
The reason this is better is because the Character gave the Friend a chance to avoid getting his hand smashed. It is also acceptable to page a person and ask for their permission to do something to their character. This extends to physical only, and not verbal, though it is considered polite to page them if you're verbally doing something offensive and warn them.
There really aren't any prohibitions on what your character can say to any other. In fact, sometimes it's great fun to be offended - if everyone's nice and sweet and well behaved all the time, the game gets boring awfully quickly. But be considerate in your offenses, and remember - it's okay to be snotty to another character, but there is zero tolerance when it comes to harassing other players. You are expected to respect your fellow gamers. (A side note: IC harassment does *not* equal OOC harassment. There is a distinct difference. Getting upset OOCly over an IC scene isn't worth the effort. Reacting badly OOCly to something that's strictly IC is a *terrible* thing to do. This is not real life! React accordingly.) Soucon MUSH maintains a family atmosphere, with players of all ages and walks of life - some of these people don't mind profanity or sexual overtones, but some do, and it's our policy to respect their wishes. It's best to keep scenes of questionable moral content strictly private. Don't swear a blue streak in a public room, and don't ever pressure another player into scenarios he or she may not be comfortable with. If you are not comfortable with an idea, you don't have to supplicate to his or her will. Avoid the confrontation, ask (politely) not to be confronted any further, or bring the problem to the attention of Soucon's Staff. However, do remember IC actions=IC consequences. If you get angry at the Lord Holder, you can expect them to kick you out of the area, which may also extend OOC.
Characters fall in love. Characters also fall in pure, simple lust. This doesn't mean ANY of it needs to be Rped. However, acting on these desires is okay, provided it's private, it's consensual, and both consenting people have attained legal majority. There is no rule that says you have to do TS (also known as TinySex). If you're not comfortable with it, don't do it. Nobody will hold it against you. Note: Soucon's Wizards will not tolerate sexual harassment of any kind, or for any reason, and reserve the right to remove players who exhibit this sort of behavior.
Spoofing other players' characters is not welcome on Soucon MUSH. It may be funny to some players, but it's a form of powerplaying. To spoof is to @emit a character performing some sort of action of which that character's player is not aware; it forces the other player's hand, if it doesn't simply irritate him or her outright. No matter how great the temptation, please don't go around @emitting other characters. NPCs are exempt from this ruling, but if the NPC belongs to someone then ask first!.
Most of the players on the game appreciate good grammar and spelling. Our reason for this is pretty simple: it's a whole lot easier to understand poses that are grammatically correct, as well as spelled properly. I'm not talking about typos here: typos happen to everyone. It's a fact of life in a text-based RP game. Total disregard for the English language is another. Ignoring things like capitalization and punctuation is fine in a chat room where you're going for speed. It's not fine in here. Imagine what your reaction would be if you picked up a book and none of the grammar or spelling was correct. We ask that you try to hold to this in your pages and channel chat too, though, for the same reason. Be considerate of your fellow gamers, some of who might not speak English as their first language. It's easier for them to understand things if the grammar is more or less correct.
On a similar vein, keep any accent you type to a minimum. It is rude not to. Again, many players do not have English as a first language, some are dyslexic and some just can't read what you're typing. It is much better to pose:
Character says in her deep Istan drawl a whole sentence which you can barely understand, then "Yes, that's where I'm from".
Canon, simply put, is trying to stay as true to Anne's books as we can. Obviously on Soucon there is some departure from this. We don't have AIVAS, we allow females on brown and blue dragons, and on the whole people in leadership positions have more time to be friendly to the new person. Don't take this to mean we don't adhere to canon where we can. Read the news files on Canon. Don't go walking around with a sword and threaten to kill a dragon: they may just stamp on you. Try to keep to the rules where you can, if you're uncertain than ask a guide or a Wizard. The Wizards have the final say in what's canon on the game.
We on the line between a big and small game, and we like it that way. Having a reasonably small player base lets us have a sense of intimacy and companionship that you might not see on a larger game. However, that can cause problems sometimes if you're in an RP mood. We admire people who stay true to their characters, but if the RP is in Cove, and you're at Honshu, invent some excuse to get there and have fun! It doesn't matter what the excuse is, as long as you have one. A good way to find RP is the +where command, which lists where everyone is. Large concentrations of people generally mean lots of RP. If the RP isn't in a public room, though, you'll want to page the people involved to ask whether or not you can join. You wouldn't want to walk into a weyr with ten people in it only to find that there's a mating flight in progress. :) Large groups of people in public rooms, like Living Caverns or Great Halls, are open opportunities.
Logging is how we record sessions of roleplay for future reference, whether that reference is for some purpose or just plain fun. Be informed that your roleplay may be logged. Some players log their RP sessions as a matter of course. There isn't a rule against this, but most players practice a courtesy of asking the players involved before logging anything. If you don't want something logged, page the people you're involved in and ask that they don't, or that they don't post it to a webpage. Be ware that in chat sessions area leaders, guides and Wizards may log your talk, just to cover them if there is any future action to be taken.
Do not believe you can maintain any degree of privacy on the internet. The Wizards take whatever steps they can to ensure player privacy, but if you go ahead and tell someone where you live, what you do, your phone number, there is nothing any of us can do. Be aware that your IP is logged each time you log in, and these records are kept. If you are abusive, we will sitelock all your IP addresses! No email addresses, real-life identities, or alternate characters will be disclosed unless the staff is given permission.
