CURRENT GAME RULES

[Ben]

These are the OFFICIAL CURRENT GAME RULES. Whenever a rule is updated, the text will change here, and a post will be made at the bottom of this thread directing you to which part of the rules has been changed. Make sure to check back periodically to see if there are any new rule changes.
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Admins have the final say. Valorn and the areas around it are not part of the United States, or even Earth. Freedoms you enjoy in your real life do not apply here. If an Admin tells you to do something or not to do something, it is automatically against the rules to then go and do/not do that thing, even if it is not specifically listed in the below rules. After you have been warned, do not argue with the admin or otherwise disrupt the gameplay. We are here to make the game run smoothly for everybody involved, and do not have time to deal with people who do not want to behave correctly.

BEHAVIOR RULES

1. Profanity and Vulgarity. Do not use profanity or vulgarity in the game. This includes references to illegal drug use, sex, crime, drunkenness, or other inappropriate topics, whether the things you say are welcomed by those around you or not. Profanity restrictions are very strict: even words like damn or piss can result in warnings and mutings. There is a list of roleplaying cuss words and phrases in the roleplaying forums you may use.

2. Spamming. Typing the same phrase over and over in area chat, or sending out mass messages to people over private chat, is not permitted. Typing a string of letters or other characters that "stretches out" the chat box is also considered to be spamming and will result in a mute. This rule applies to all forms of in-game chat.

3. Sexual Behavior and In-Game "Relationships" Any and all forms of nudity and sex are against the rules, in any type of chat. This includes using DG to meet people to have sex chat with using outside message services. The Dark Grimoire is to be a safe haven for people of all allowed ages, which includes younger teens. Since there is no real way to tell what age a person actually is, adult chat is not allowed between anybody for any reason.

We do not specifically condone any in-game romantic relationships between players. However, the nature of a role-playing game is that relationships will likely develop. In-game relationships should remain G rated at all times. 'Public Displays of Affection' are against the rules if taken to a certain level, and pregnancy and sexual conduct are not allowed in any form of chat. Warnings and mutings will be given for small problems, while more extreme circumstances or repeated warnings can result in a permanent ban. Constables and Admins have full discretion to decide what is allowable and what is inappropriate in each individual circumstance.

4. Sexual and Other Harrassment. Harrassment is not tolerated in any form. Do not harrass a player through private chat or in public chat. Illegal chat includes: any message of a sexual nature or alluding to sex; any message including violence toward another character, extreme or not; any consistant insults toward any particular player. If you pass out your own out-of-game contact information, such as email, phone number, or instant messenger name, and the person you gave it to complains, OR if you request such information from another person, and the other person complains, your actions will be considered harrassment, no matter what your actual intention was.

5. Pretending to be an Admin or Non-Player-Character. Pretending to be an Admin, Constable or a NPC (example: Balthazar) is not permitted. Saying that an Admin, Constable or NPC said something he or she did not actually say is also included in this category.

6. Constables. Constables are made of a group of the most trusted people in this game. They would not be constables if they were people who would abuse their power. Constables pay close attention to the game rules here when deciding to mute or warn, and actually have a set of rules about three times longer than this one governing their activity. Do not harrass a constable if you are warned. Additionally, talking about a warning you receive in game chat or guild chat is considered against the rules.

7. Character Names. The character name rules are, for the most part, listed on the character creation screen. If you break those rules, you might be renamed without being asked, or just banned. Creating a character with a doppleganger name (like a current player's), or a name designed to be a joke about another player's name, is against the rules and could result in you being banned.

8. Helping Banned Players. It is against the rules to help a player sneak back onto The Dark Grimoire after he or she has been banned. This includes merely hearing about somebody who has snuck back on and failing to notify the admins. If you hear or know or suspect that somebody has come back to the game under a new account after being banned, you are to contact the admins via the CONTACT INFO link at the bottom of any gameplay screen immediately with the information.

It is equally against the rules for you to help a banned person by sending messages or chatting in-game to pass along information from the banned player. This includes saying "hi" or "bye" to other players for the banned player, as well as handing out contact info such as email, phone numbers, or instant messenger information of any kind.

GAMEPLAY RULES

1. Automated Programs. Using or attempting to use any kind of automated program to hunt or play the game for you is not permitted.

2. Stature. Do not use automated methods of increasing stature. You cannot use a proxy or program to click on your link. Only a willing human can click your link. Do not spam other sites or message boards with your link. You also may not vote for yourself multiple times. This would include voting for yourself from one computer, or going to several different computers to give yourself votes from each computer. Other rules about stature can be found here: http://www.darkgrimoire.com/forum/ftopic1979.html

2-A. Click Exchanges While placing your link in a forum is ok, placing it on a link exchange whose sole purpose is to trade clicks in games is not allowed. Guilds clicking each others links regularly is differant and allowed. This rule is to prevent people from using methods to get votes that neither bring in new users or reflect the votes of the playerbase. Anyone taking part in one of these exchanges will take a forced vow of humility.

3. Camping Boss Monsters. Do not sit in a dungeon to wait for a boss monster to spawn. The boss monsters in most dungeons will spawn automatically every few hours. The program that spawns the monsters checks to see if adventurers are in the area, and then delays for an extra hour if it detects anybody.

4. Multiple Accounts and Account Sharing. Multiple accounts are now allowed in The Dark Grimoire. You are also allowed to have multiple premium accounts, but you should note that you would have to pay a subscription fee for every account you wish to make premium. You may also have multiple forum accounts for your multiple characters... HOWEVER, we strongly suggest you keep only one or two forum accounts at most to avoid confusion.

Each individual person who plays The Dark Grimoire should have their own account(s) and may not share their account with others. If you have a friend who you wish to introduce to The Dark Grimoire, please have that person start his or her own free account. Do not let friends or family play on your account, and do not loan out your account to others (for instance while you are on vacation.) Each account is to be played by only one person.

NOTE ON ENFORCEMENT: Because multiple accounts are allowed, if any one account on a particular computer or in a particular location breaks the game rules and has to be banned, ALL accounts at that location will be banned. So if a family of three with a father, mother, and daughter has a total of 8 accounts, and the daughter breaks the rules and has to be banned, ALL 8 ACCOUNTS FROM THAT HOUSEHOLD will be banned permanently. This is because in allowing multiple accounts, we will not be able to tell which account belongs to each person. Every person in a household or a location is, therefor, responsible for assuring that the others play within the rules. If you think a friend or family member might be irresponsible, do not introduce them to The Dark Grimoire.

5. Character Profile Use. Your character profile is to be used to describe your character and for no other use. Advertising items and services for sale in-game, stature votes, links to other websites or using the profile to communicate with other players is not permitted. The only exceptions to this is having a link to a website / forum on the Dark Grimoire Players Network (DGPlayers) or an in character journal on DGPlayers. Profiles that are found to be in breach of this may be deleted without warning.

Special note about weapons artists: These people are allowed to state in their profile that they are weapons artists, but not to advertise their services or their fees. This is to be negotiated when the need arises with their potential customers.

6. Staying In-Character. Players are to chat as their character at all times. This game is very heavy on promoting roleplaying, so references to happenings or things or people from Earth are not permitted. Please stay in character, and you will be rewarded by an enriched gameplay experience. Out of character talk is allowed: 1) in personal messages, 2) in guild chat (guilds should regulate their own guild chat), 3) in the OOC chat room, just north of the main room in the Dundee Inn. Out of character roleplaying can include, but is not limited to: pretending to have a pet that is not there, pretending to have a child that is not there, pretending to have special items that you have not earned through the in-game system, any behavior or character descriptions not consistent with the gameplay and story of The Dark Grimoire.

7. Trading. Players are allowed to sell items for whatever they think they are worth on the Trade market. However, players are not to place items onto the Trade market and then buy these items back using an alternative character. This is an exploit of the system and players are using this to make a lot of quick money for alternative characters. Any player caught exploiting this will lose all their money on all their characters and may find they lose the ability to have more than one character.

SPECIFIC ROLEPLAYING RULES

1. Child Characters. Characters under the age of 17 are not allowed. They have proven to just be too much of a liability to others' enjoyment of the game, and a target for predators. A character of age of 17 or more are considered "ready for adventure" in Valorn and may thus make a life for themself as would any adult. Valornians under the age of 17 are inappropriate subjects to play as. [NOTE: All "allowed" child characters that were exceptions to this rule must "grow up" and be 17 by May 20, 2006. From that day on, no child characters under 17 will be allowed.]

2. Roleplaying Other Races and Roleplaying "Evil" ALL characters in The Dark Grimoire are either a Human Male or a Human Female. Other races or sub-species are not currently allowed and are considered to be out-of-character and against the rules. This includes elves, vampires, and anything else that is not a Trinaldian Human. Part of skilled roleplaying is being able to make an engaging character within the confines of a world's rules. Additionally, ALL characters are "good" in that they are not allowed to be allied with or on the side of the demons and the Demon Lord. It is acceptable to play an anti-hero, jerk, standoffish, selfish, or indifferent character, but those characters must still be roleplayed on the side of human kind. In-character demons DO NOT want or accept human allies or human assistance.

[Ben]

This section is for guidelines... aka good advice from us to you for in game conduct. As I have been known to be rather bipolar, on my bad days I may enforce some of these as I would rules.

1) Be careful flirting in the game, even in character. I know people want to roleplay... which is FANTASTIC by the way... but we also want to keep this game safe for all sexes and ages. I really don't feel comfortable runnign a game where 30 year old guys are hitting on 8 year old girls, even if they are both playing 25 year old enchanters. Not that this has happened... I just want to avoid it. SO, be cautious with sexual or flirtatious comments of any kind.

2) If you see somebody attacking a creature, it might be nice to not attack that creature and "steal their kill." While we will probably never make kill stealing against the rules, and I really don't have any problem with kill stealing as a moral issue personally, it does upset a lot of other people in the game... and I assume you wish to get along with your fellow players. =)

*edited addition by Cory* Kill stealing is something that will NEVER be against the rules due to the fact that no one owns a kill. If you can't kill it in one shot, don't fight it. This guideline applies to those who ACCIDENTLY die agaist a monster and want revenge, not someone who uses one life to soften it for the second life or another character. If anyone bring up the issue of someone stealing their kill you should thank them for helping you kill it, since you couldn't. Following characters and killing things right after someone dies will definately get you a negative reputation amongst the players in the gaming community though. Due to how much interaction we are building in to this game, this should be incentive to do good.

[Ben]

As a general note: please keep avatar sizes to 200 width, 300 height maximum. This should be plenty to properly display your artistic skillz

[Ben]

Game and Board Etiquette: These are not rules, and you will never be banned for breaking things in this category.... but you should keep them in mind none-the-less. I will put things here as they occur to me... hopefully this will make it so less people push my buttons, which will make the game a more enjoyable experience for me AND you! Woo!


1) After a quest or invasion, do not stand around and ruin the roleplaying atmosphere and mood by saying it was unrealistic, or you used two dozen lives to help knock down whatever the big creature of the week was and you didnt end up being the one to finish the big boy off. Either enjoy the invasion and stay in-character afterward and CONTRIBUTE to the atmosphere and story of the game, OR choose not to take part in the events and just stay away.

IN ADDITION: If you "win" an invasion or quest, and get a prize for your efforts, DO NOT immediately turn around and start whining about your new prize item or title... that it is not good enough, or powerful enough. Chances are, somebody put a lot of thought and effort into designing the raid or event... and chances are that same person will teleport you to Zanarkand the next time they run a quest if you are an *** and complain that your l3wt is not ph8t enough.

I can't speak for all admins, but anybody who ruins the atmosphere or roleplaying environment by breaking character or by complaining/whining while I am running a quest or invasion will be sent to a one-area safehouse for the remainder of that quest or invasion, or at least muted, so that the quest or invasion is not lessened for those who want to enjoy it.

2) Phrase suggestions in a courteous manner. You make suggestions because you want to see that thing put into the game. Well, we are more likely to respect your opinion and like your ideas if the suggestion is put forth in a nice way. REALIZE that the creators of this game are very busy people, and that this is just a hobby for them... and keep that in mind when suggesting. DO suggest things by saying "It would be cool if..." or "You know what is an interesting idea?" DO NOT suggest things by saying "You NEED X in your game..." or "Boy does this class suck right now... it would be good if you added X." Even comments like "if I were making this game, it would have X" can be annoying. =) Annoyed admins are unproductive admins.

3) Post about your exploits on the board! Invasions and special events usually take about a half hour or less to run their course... which means the majority of players will not get to take part in any given scenario. After an adventure, POST about it on the board, so your fellow adventurers can keep up-to-date on all the interesting things going on around Valorn.

4) Stay in character when dealing with NPCs. NPCs have been known to ignore anybody speaking jive-talk or any other none-Valornian dialect.

[Ben]

Just a reminder for people:

Possibly the most important rule listed above is the first one. You have a lot of freedoms and power to choose your destiny in this world... but if an Admin tells you to do something or to not do something, then please acknowledge the request and comply. Cory and I are very busy, and do not have time to deal with people who want to argue or make a fuss or cause trouble.

You will not be kicked out of Valorn ever for annoying an admin, or for being a pest to other in character, or even possibly for breaking other rules for the first time (although I don't recommend you go out now and try it )... but if you do something once, and are then told or asked to stop doing it, and then continue, you are looking for trouble.

Someday we may come and tell you to do something that you do not want to do, or to not do something that you do want to do. It is important that you acknowledge the request and do as we ask, and do not cause additional difficulties for an already overworked crew of volunteer admins.

We really don't have time to argue with you. Every player who causes trouble or tries to "get away" with things or argue with admins takes up valuable time when that admin could be making improvements to the game for everybody to enjoy. I, as one of those admins, want to spend my time building and programming to improve Valorn.

Thank you for helping us run this world smoothly.

[Ben]

New rule on VOTE SWAPPING can be found in Game Updates, or by clicking this link: http://www.darkgrimoire.com/forum/ftopic1979.html

[Ben]

This thread was updated on 11/28. The initial list of rules is now more organized and succinct.

[Ben]

added a rule about constables

[Ben]

clarified multiple account rule so its clear you cannot have multiple forum accounts, either

[Ben]

Added behavior rule 6, just to clarify that there are name rules and they are on the character creation screen.

[Ben]

BEHAVIOR RULES modified

Rule regarding in-game relationships added.

Rule about Constables and Vulgar Language changed slightly.

[Ben]

gameplay rule 6 added to

[Darren of Admin]

Altered the rule on Character Profiles to make it clearer what is and isn't allowed.

[Darren of Admin]

Added Game Play rule 7 about trading.

This has been added as it has come to light that certain players are selling items from on character on the bazaar and buying them with an "alt", thus making money. This is now against the rules, as it is exploiting the system and not to be done.

[Ben]

another rule and a new section re: child characters. see the thread in the other admin forum for details.

[Ben]

exceptions to the child rule will be listed in the text of that rule as they come up

[Ben]

As per my in game messages:


Lord Worldbuilder Ben of Admin [Broadcast] Hey, everybody. Blessing your own alternates, talking to your own alternates, giving things to your own alternates are ALL AGAINST THE RULES.

Lord Worldbuilder Ben of Admin [Broadcast] If anybody is caught doing anything like this, they will lose several levels. No further warnings will be given.

Lord Worldbuilder Ben of Admin [Broadcast] If you find a bug, you REPORT it, you don't EXPLOIT it. The rules make this very clear.


There has been a LONG standing rule against interacting with your own characters in roleplaying or in anything else. Unfortunately, this wasn't made clear in the rules. This is a MMORPG, which means you are supposed to be interacting with OTHER PEOPLE, not playing with yourself. There are plenty of games out there for you to play with yourself. Further, having your characters work as one means that you have an uber character with more than one profession. This should be clear to your common sense that you are cheating, since no character is supposed to have the abilities of more than one profession.


For now, this post serves as notice, and an actual rule will be drafted this week to be added to the first post in this thread.

[Ben]

Added the rules for no interactivity between your players. See the first post in this thread for the actual rule.

Also would like to mention that if you leave your account logged on somewhere and a little kid or a classmate or anybody gets on your account as your character and acts in a way that earns a BAN, that ban is permanent. Part of the responsibility of having an account is logging off when you are on a public or shared computer. Your responsibility for the actions of your characters does not end when you get up from the keyboard. Furthermore, even if you claim that somebody else used your account to cause mischief, you have no way to prove this, and we do not have time to try to investigate every claim, whether it is the truth or a lie, that some kid or some schoolmate got on your account. Just remember to log out and never save your password or login info on a computer that you share with others.

[Ben]

Specific Roleplaying Rule #1 was changed. All player characters must now be 17+. After May 20th, the only sub-17 year old character seen walking around the game will be Empress Arelia Muriel.

[Ben]

Added drunkenness to vulgarity/profanity. It has always been against the rules, covered by the catch-all "other inappropriate topics," as most people know, and as warnings have been given out for years... but I decided specifically mentioning it was necessary.

Folks, not everything is going to be mentioned specifically in the rules, which is why things like "other inappropriate topics" are put in the rules to catch the things not specifically listed. We just expect people to use a bit of common sense when behaving certain ways in the game.