demon's gate

rules

You are expected to follow a limited set of rules while playing here on Demon's gate. These rules are here to give everyone a reasonable chance to have fun and enjoy this game which it's all about. For most people these rules are just common sense, but they should still be stated here as general information of what's allowed or not. These are the rules wizards will enforce, and breaking them can in some cases lead to destruction of your character.

The five basic rules are:

1. You are not allowed to have more than one character logged on at the same time. This includes linkdead characters as well. You are allowed to have as many characters you want though, as long as the characters have no contact whatsoever.
2. Harassing other players and preventing them from having fun and enjoying the game is not allowed. This includes sexual harassment, serial killings of other players and other things as well. Use your common sense and think how you would like to be treated by other mortals, and this rule will be very easy to follow.
3. Your player has to be interactive. Using clients or other means to create a robot playing the game without someone behind the keyboard controlling is forbidden. Using a MUD-client to make it easier to play is allowed as long you are still in control of your character.
4. Using or exploiting bugs is forbidden. Report the bug instead and leave it as is.
5. It is not allowed to run people through quests. This means leading people around telling them exactly what to do. Giving someone a quest solution is also considered cheating. However, giving another mortal a clue when they are stuck on a quest and ask for help is allowed, but try to avoid direct answers like go 3w and search the barrel to still give the one asking for help a chance to enjoy figuring out the quest on his own.

Additional notes & clarifications

The above 5 rules were deliberately left vague to cover almost any situation, and are always open to interpretation by the Arch of Players and Keeper. Rules infractions are always judged on a case by case basis. However the following points are very important:

• Naming your character
  When you create your character you have the opportunity to name him or her anything you wish with these exceptions:
  • No obscene or otherwise offensive names are allowed.
  • No character may be named after famous characters from the literature of the mud.
  The rational for the second restriction is that the wizards who are building worlds based on fantasy literature (such as J.R.R. Tolkien's works, Jordan's "Wheel of Time", or the Forgotten Realms) need the famous names available for their own storylines and npcs. I'm sure you will agree that it is much nicer not to have to watch an insane Gandalf the Svirfneblin Mercenary slaughter hobbits and elves in the Shire, or Egwene the Orc teaming with Loial the Dwarf and Lanfear the Hobbit as they run hunting to kill Frodo the Drow. Many of the important names are already banished (the game will not let you chose them). However if you manage to get a name that we find inappropriate you can expect to be forced to change it. In the case of obscene names, you will simply be deleted. In other cases, and arch wizard will allow you the chance to change your name. In general this applies to newly created characters. If there are old characters out there with famous names, they will usually be allowed to stay.
• Obscene or offensive language
  Simply put, it is forbidden. Use common sense and keep in mind that what is not offensive to one person, may be highly offensive to others. You should be very careful about this, because if you harass other players with obscene language you will be quickly destroyed.
• Communing the wizards
  You have a commune command that can be used to talk to wizards, but you must be very careful not to abuse this privelege. All communes are logged, so misuse of the commune will always be detected, and usually punished. NEVER harass the wizards by communing them. Remember the famous saying: "Meddle not in the affairs of wizards for they are subtle and quick to anger." Commune should be used when you are bugged and need immediate help. It should not be used to ask for hints about the game, nor just to chat with wizards. NEVER commune ALL unless you see no wizards in your 'who' list. It is extremely annoying and will probably get you zapped.
• Talking OOC
  Roleplaying is not required, but is encouraged. You can certainly talk 'Out Of Character' but you should be respectful of others who are trying to roleplay when doing so. The worst form of harassment is OOC harassment.
• Multiple characters
  As stated in Rule 1, you are allowed multiple characters. However each character must make his own way in the world. It is not acceptable, for example, to have one of your characters drop huge amounts of cash or gear for your other character to get. Try to keep the personalities of your characters seperate. It is recommended that if you make a second, you not reveal who your other character is to other players when playing him.
• Playerkilling
  You may notice that there is nothing about Pkilling explicitly mentioned in the 5 rules. However common sense should tell you that it is covered by Rule 2. You should be very careful about this. The decision to get involved in a player fight should be a mutual one. Killing another character who didn't want to fight is almost always bad. Killing players who are much smaller than you will usually lead to your deletion. Repeatedly killing the same character (serial killing) is also forbidden. You have a right to enjoy the game (provided you are following all the rules), so if you have a problem with another player killing you, please contact the Arch of Players! The AoP is there primarily to help players.
• Privacy
  Demons Gate is a public forum and you are never guaranteed a right to privacy while logged into the mud. Many things that you do are logged, and wizards are capable of 'snooping' you .. they can listen to your conversations. In general wizards will not snoop you without good reason (never just for entertainment), but do not get upset if one does. Also, it is quite possible that another mortal is hidden in the room to overhear your conversation. Keep your conversations in control and don't discuss things online that you don't want others to know about. This is not a rule, just a word of friendly advice.
• The Arch of Players
  Although the AoP has the unpleasant duty of punishing players who break the rules, his real job is to help players get the most of the game. Any time you have a problem you should feel free to talk to the AoP .. mail him and he will try to help you. You can suggest improvements to the game, discuss problems with other players, or whatever. Do keep in mind though, that the AoP must use his own judgement in each case. You can ask, but you won't always get what you ask for.