RULES
1. HAVE RESPECTUnderstand that we are all here to have fun, first and foremost. Going out of your way to insult others, harass them, or otherwise dampen their playing experience is unacceptable. You always have the option of not playing with someone - keep that in mind.
We understand this is the internet, and this can only be handled so well. However, we expect our players to be willing to at least try to take the mature route - whether directly addressing their fellow players in a civil manner, or speaking with the mods about an issue if they do not feel comfortable with the former.
2. IC IS NOT OOCIC actions will lead to IC reactionsBear in mind that, when in a role-playing game, you are working with the other players as a team to make a story about everyone. There are no star players in a game, although characters may get starring roles in different scenes. As such, be aware that every action your character takes will have real, lasting effects on them: i.e. charging an army with nothing more than a rusty spoon to defend them
will lead your character to either death or capture.
This does not mean that punishments given to your character are punishments intended for you, the player. This just means we take things seriously. The game will not bend to accommodate your actions, so pay attention to each choice you make, and realize that the choices made by others around you are not personal attacks.
IC actions should not lead to OOC retaliationIf you end up surprised by an action that a character is taking, remember that this character is not taking action against you. It may very well be IC for them to be aggressive and/or annoying and/or offensive. If a scene does not go as planned, it is all right to talk to the player or mods OOC to figure out why and to come up with a solution. It is not all right to attack the player for this, or to broadcast the 'error' to a larger community (see 'No Drama' below.) Taking IC arguments OOC is a punishable offense.
3. NO DRAMAAs such, we are aware things can get heated at times. No game is ever perfect, and while we expect you to be on your best behavior, we know it's easy to slip up.
If something in game upsets you, we find it helpful to try the following:
1. Stop whatever you are doing, and go away and do something else for a while. Not just ten minutes, but a few hours at least. Sleep on it, if you can. IF you are still upset in the morning:
2. Talk to the offender privately about the issue. Find out if it really is an issue after all, and see if you can't reconcile. 99% of Drama starts from a misunderstanding, and you don't want to be the jerk who started something over what turns out to be a typo. IF this doesn't work or you are uncomfortable talking to the person in question:
3. Talk to the mods. We're here to look at things objectively and to fix problems before they blow out of proportion. Ideally, a mod will be able to figure out what went wrong, and offer suggestions to you and the person who upset you so that you can get right back to having fun, and potentially even avoid the issue in the future.
We understand venting is cathartic, but bear in mind that talking with a friend who's also involved in a bad situation can lead in to things seeming to get worse and worse. Or, worse yet - gossiping on an anon-comm. This is especially frustrating if the person doesn't even know they did something wrong - "should have known better," nothing! People aren't mind readers!
If you have issues, say something - in private. Try to make it your goal to solve the issue, rather than just talking about it. If we find out that you've been promoting drama, we're not going to be very happy, and it will result in you being pulled aside so that the situation can be avoided in the future. Not just the complaining, but what led up to it.
Outright slander and harassment can and will result in a ban. We do not want to ban people, but we will if we have to.
4. NO GODMODING/POWERPLAYING/ETCNow that we've touched on why not to Drama, we're going to touch on how to not feed the trolls in the first place.
Mostly, this involves treating other players and characters with respect, and one of the ways to best do this is to NOT GODMOD. What is godmodding? We talk about it a little bit in our
FAQ.
Basically, don't do it. Do not control another person's character, or make assumptions about another person's character without checking in with them first.
This is especially important in terms of power-playing, where one player assumes their character to be more powerful than another character and acts accordingly. Everyone in Kismet Loop is under certain power restrictions, which means nothing is quite as it seems in the canon. Before making any actions which assume a certain degree of power, please, talk with the person you are playing with and decide the outcome beforehand.
Repeated abuse of this rule will result in punishment.
5. NO PLAGIARISM For the purposes of this game, plagiarizing is defined to be the use of ANY material in your application or in-game that you do not own the intellectual property for.
There are two exceptions to this rule:
1. The use of images for the purposes of your applications, icons, posts, and memes.
2. The use of wikipedias/informative sources in the History section of your application AS LONG AS you properly cite your source. (Just tell us what you're taking and from where. Usually, the link itself is citing, but using the site's name as the hyperlink isn't a bad idea.)
We aren't going to come after you if you're quoting from your canon while in-character, but we will come after you for using someone else's 3rd-person sample in your application.
Be aware that we treat plagiarism very seriously, and consider it a bannable offense.
6. KEEP UP ACTIVITYSince Kismet Loop is a game with an ongoing meta-plot, the participation of our cast is important to the health of the game.
As such, we will be hosting "Activity Checks" every two months, which will be mandatory. During the AC, you'll be required to post two examples of your activity - be that a log, a post over the communicator, or a thread with another character - as well as an activity summary. Further details will be given in each Activity Check post, so keep an eye out for them!
Failure to respond to activity check can result in your characters being dropped.
7. OBEY CHARACTER LIMITSWe have an in-depth post about what kinds of characters are allowed and how many you can app
here, in our FAQ. We have these restrictions in the interests of being fair, and as such we do not look kindly on them being exploited. While you can technically, for instance, pick up a character, hang onto them for a month, app an OCC, and then immediately drop the first character, doing so will be frowned upon. Picking up mule journals in order to app character duplicates will also be frowned upon.
Be fair, and let other players get a chance.
8. OBEY RATING CUTSIn Kismet Loop, we have a fairly lax rating of 'R.' This means there is a lot that you can get away with in your posts!
However, we do ask that any material which is explicit (be it language or gore or violence) be put underneath a cut. Sexual scenes should only be posted in our adult community, although fading to black within a normal post is all right.
Be cognizant of what you're writing, and be aware that what might not seem offensive to you can be offensive to somebody. This is the internet. You never know when a minor might come across your stuff.
9. CHARACTER JOURNALSWe require all players to have the following posted in their character journals:
» An HMD. HMD stands for “How's My Driving?”; essentially, it is a contact post for other players should they have constructive criticism with regards to your playing or other concerns. We do not require you to allow anonymous comments on this post, turn off IP logging, or screen the comments, although some players appreciate these options.
» Your Application. You may omit the player information section and the samples, but the rest of your character's application should be publicly accessible.
10. MODS HAVE FINAL WORDAs much as possible, the Moderators are here to make certain that the game runs smoothly and that everybody has fun. Each choice the mods make will take that into consideration, and no choice will be made without looking at all sides.
If a decision leaves a player or group of players unhappy, the mods will be more than happy to talk it over or to explain their reasoning. However, if it comes to a disagreement, the mods have the final word. Arguing will not necessarily get them to change that word, and may result in an unhappy mod.
An unhappy mod is not a good thing.
Just choose your battles, and know that the mods will do their best to make sure those battles do not need to happen.
11. THREE STRIKESBecause everybody makes mistakes now and again, Kismet Loop has a 'three strikes, you're out' policy.
Except for the bannable offenses mentioned above, most slip-ups will get you a warning and a discussion from a mod. If it turns out that you're a repeat offender, and you continue to break the rules, the third warning means you are gone. We may ask you to drop the character in question, or, if the problems are severe enough, we may ask you to leave, entirely.
However, we would really prefer it doesn't come to this.
Kismet Loop is here for everyone to enjoy themselves in a fantasy environment. Play fair, and we hope to enjoy pretendy-fun-times with you.
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