I would suggest coming on IRC to reach the GM's - once they know your characters name we can try moving him to see if that will let you login.  You can also create a second character real quick to file a petition in game with the same information.

The Hydlaa Builders Guild has set up some temporary booths near Harnquist for festival merchants, please thank Harnquist for his request.

Before you read this, go to Start » Program files » Planeshift » Players Guide. That guide is pretty thorough and in depth, and explains the basics of character creation, in-game menus, and various commands. The questions answered below are "unique" and pertaining to things not addressed by the player's guide, such as general tips and advice.

For any and all technical help, refer to the Technical Help forum sections! That's what they are for!

Please read other important forum stickies:

System Requirements
Server Status
Getting Started In-Game

Navigation

How do I move and look around?
The arrow keys on the keyboard control movement and the direction you are facing. Hold down the forward and backward keys to move at a walking pace. Simultaneously holding down the Shift key and the arrow key will change you to a running pace. If there is an obstacle that you cannot go around, you may try running up to it and then pressing Spacebar to jump. With practice you can vault over obstacles.

How do I change camera angles?
The "Page Up" and "Page Down" keys control the camera angle. You can also press the M key to change the camera angle until you find one you like.

Location Questions

Where are the sewers?
While facing the blacksmith from the plaza in Hydlaa turn left and follow the city walls until you find a large hole in the ground. There is also a second entrance behind the tavern.

Where is the tavern?
Starting from Hydlaa Plaza, look to the left of the large red temple for a ramp/street in the direction of the taller brown tower. Take that street and then go up the first staircase on your left. Follow its curve, and you'll see the tavern on your left eventually. Can't miss the sign of mugs above Kada-El's doors.

Where is the town of Ojaveda?
Exit Hydlaa from the east gate, in the same sector as Jayose's library, and follow the road across the Ojaroad Plains. It's a long walk, but eventually you will find the dsar of Akkaio, one of many dsars that make up Ojaveda city. You can also go down the right hand side of the Laanx (red/iron) temple and find the pterosaur handler and pay to fly there.

Where is the Magic Shop?
Exit Hydlaa from the north gate - from the center plaza with the Laanx Statue, look toward a tall brown tower and make your way towards it. After exiting through the gate, continue through the forest path and then take the right fork as soon as you see it.

Where are the Bronze Doors?
Exit Hydlaa the same way, but take the left fork instead of the right. The way can be long, but just follow the road.

Where is Gugrontid?
Gugrontid is the home city for the Kran. To find it you need to head out in the same direction as for the Bronze Doors. This time in the first map you get to head over the hills to your left and you will find a path to it in the edge of the map. You can also go down the right hand side of the Laanx (red/iron) temple and find the pterosaur handler and pay to fly there.

Where is Amdeneir?
Amdeneir is the home city for Klyros. The only way currently to get there is to head to the pterosaur trainer to the right of the laanx (red/iron) temple and fly there.

Death Realm Questions

What happens when I die?
There are two stages concerning what will happen to you when you die. First, if you are new to the game then when you die you will just find yourself moved to the main city.
Once you have been playing a while you will find when you die you are whisked away to the Death Realm, where you must escape it to return to the realm of the living. The Death Realm is currently very small compared how it would be if it was real, but it will be expanded later.

I can't find the exit from the Death Realm!
Your best bet is to ask for aid from your fellow fallen. If they know of the exit, they will help you - and there is no shame at asking for help in a social game. You can always type '/die' to be taken back to the beginning if you get thoroughly lost, or stuck.

Character Questions

What significance do the the character background options chosen during character creation have?
The background choices that you make will affect starting stats and skills of the character. Also, the text of your selections will appear in your characters description, which you can edit after character creation. The different races' abilities have not yet been implemented. One tip would be to set your background so that it reflects the character's race's background. There is no effect on anything you can or can't do based on any choices you make.

What are each of the religions choices about, and do they have any gameplay significance?
Lookouts on this front are unclear. Estimates have been told. Religion will probably have a much bigger impact on gameplay then today.

What is my character's experience level?
PlaneShift does not have an overall experience level of a character, like some other games. However, you can estimate your character's strength by taking into account things like stats, armor skill, and primary weapon skill.

Training Questions

What do I train?
There are two aspects to skills which are theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. You use progression points to train and obtain theoretical knowledge from a trainer NPC. Once you have obtained the theoretical knowledge to use the skill properly, you can then train your practical knowledge by actually using the skill.

What are progression points, how do I get them and how do I use them?
Progression Points (PPs) are the points you get from using skills (such as fighting, mining, crafting etc.). They are used along with money to pay for training, the theoretical part of skills with NPC trainers or to train statistics like Strength, Agility, etc.

Yeah, but HOW do I train?
You must first find a trainer that can train you in the theoretical knowledge of the skill. Trainers may be located in different locations in different cities. A big hint that an NPC has the ability to train you is the presence of the training icon when you click on the NPC to interact with him.

After finding the trainer that can train the skill(s) you wish to gain or improve, select him or her and type "/train". Then select the skill you want to train and click on the "Buy Skill level" icon.

You have to train until the yellow bar turns green completely. This part of training uses the progression points. To finish acquiring the skill at that level, you go out and complete the practical training by using the skill. When you have gotten enough additional experience using that skill, the skill will be leveled up.

How do you increase HP or Mana?
Training the physical stats (strength, endurance, and agility) and the skill 'body development' will increase max HP. Training the mental stats (intelligence, will, and charisma) will increase mana.

Inventory Questions

What can I do with animal parts (that aren't used in a quest)?
There are many things to do with animalparts these days. Initily, animal parts can be sold for tria to specific NPCs ingame. You should ask people (best in RP-manner) where to find them. They can also be used in armour making (hides), cooking (things like meat), alchemy (things like teeth and claws). You can also sell the items to players directly who can yes then for crafting.

Where can I find weapons?
Daggers, swords, axes, hammers, maces, knives, and bows can be collected as loot off of an occasional ruffian if you kill and loot the right ones crafted. Many but not all weapons can be crafted and asking crafters about what they make is a good place to find some good weapons. Maces and hammers can be bought from some merchants but are not always easy to find. The remaining weapon types do not yet exist in the game.

How strong do I need to be to use heavier equipment?
The strength requirement depends on the specific piece of equipment. Certain armour and weapon types have a specific requirement before you can use the item. Many magical blades have stat requirements before you can hold them as well.

How do I use an item?
Either type the command, "/use nameofitem", or pickup and drop the item onto the doll of your character the inventory window.

How do I drop or destroy an item?
An item can be dropped by clicking its icon to pick it up and then moving it to outside of the inventory window and clicking in the game world to drop it. There is no built in functionality to destroy an item, right now, although it can be accomplished by placing the item in a furnace, and waiting.

Trading/Working/Crafting Questions

How can I make some money?
Trias are often given through NPC quests, and rarely from GM (Game Master) events. The usual source of income is hunting and crafting however, so find yourself some rats (Hydlaa's sewers and the warehouse of Akkaio have plenty) and hunt there for a while, selling their parts to merchants (NPC or player). Another choice is mining or harvesting, but you will need a pick or sickle or other suitible tool and some training provided by Harnquist at the blacksmith's to begin. You can also learn how to Craft, you might be lucky to sell your crafted items to other players for more then you can to npcs.

How do I mine or harvest?
Buy a pick sickle or other suitable tool, equip it in your right hand, find the right spot to mine and type "/dig" which will let you mine gold, silver, platinum, iron, coal, tin, zinc, copper, luminim, cinnabar, diamond, emerald, ruby, or sapphire. You can do the same with "/harvest", you can use this at any point in the game where to you see plants growing. Ask in-game for help in finding the right spots. If you explore and notice others successfully mining using a pick, make a note of that location for future use.

What do I need in order to train a skill?
First you need some Progression Points and Trias. Second you need to find the trainer that can help you in the skill you want - ask around in-game for further help in finding them.

How many progression points do I need to train 1 point in a certain skill or stat?
Open your "Skills and stats" window and look at the desired skill you want to train. You'll notice there are 3 coloured bars on the right of the skill name. If the blue bar above is longer than the yellow bar, you have enough progression points to train a level. The amount of progression points and Trias required for this action will increase though as you progress, so for a higher level in a certain skill, you will require more progression points and money.

Quest Questions

Why will nobody tell me quest solutions?
The quests are far more rewarding to complete yourself, rather than have people telling you the answers. This applies even more so during the early stages of CB, where there is little content to keep you occupied. The developers wish people to not post quest answers in the forums or on web sites - telling friends or guild-members privately, however, is generally okay. But think again before asking the solution to a quest. The greatest reward you can get from completing the quest is the satisfaction of solving it all by yourself.

There is also one other important benefit for most people - when you learn how to solve quests on your own, you will get better at it. Of course, this is true for many things in real life as well. Do not feel discouraged at having challenges.

Talking to NPCs is confusing. How do I get a quest?
Previous version of PlaneShift had free text triggers to starts quests where you were required to ask them something along the lines of 'give me a quest'. Nowadays all you need to do is approach an NPC, right click them and select the 'talk' button. When you do this if the NPC has any active quest options then things you can say to an NPC with appear on screen. There might be cases when a quest can be triggered but there are no menus available, in those cases you should read the 'NPC tab' in the chat window. When you see an NPC say something new it might well be because he/she/kra is trying to get your help for a quest.

How do I find out if an NPC is a questgiver?
Most NPCs in PlaneShift have quests. As we add new NPCs those will have fewer if any options but given enough time quests will be added. The best way to find out if an NPC has a quest for you is to trigger the 'talk' button and see if any options appear on screen. If they do, there is a quest you can start with that NPC.

How do I complete a quest once I've brought an item to the questgiver?
Giving items to NPCs is usually very easy. If you are asked to get "3 apples", or "two steel stocks and two sabres" then all you need to do is find the items some how, make them, buy them, get given them from other players. Once you have the items you are asked to get you return to the NPC and click on the talk button again and quest options will appear on scree. There should be an option that says something like 'Here are your items' or '[You give X the items]', in either case you click that option and the items will be given to that NPC and the quest will continue.
As you continue to play PlaneShift you will collect items and may end up where you get a message 'you do not have the right ammount of X' but you have the items in your inventory. When this happens it is because you either have to few in which case you need to get some more, or you have too many. When you have more of a specific type of item than the NPC wanted you have to right click them and select the 'give' option. Once you have opened that you can move the items from your inventory to the window and give them manually to the NPC.
There is one other case when you might get stuck. If an NPC wants two apples, and you have two apples but they are not 'stacked' which means you have one apple in one inventory slot and one apple in another slot. When this is the case the server is currently unable to take one apple and one apple, it can only take a stack of two apples. In this case you can either stack the apples and use the quest menu or you can give the apples to the NPC manually.

What are quest notes?
A recent addition to the PlaneShift quest system is the addition of 'automatic quest notes'. When you are in game select the quest window from the main tool bar and then select a quest you have open or closed. When you do this a list of notes will appear in the right hand window with information for most of the steps you have completed and should give you information on what you are suppose to do next. If you have been away from PlaneShift and don't remember what you have to do this is a great place to look for tips or reminders on where to go next.

I know there is a quest, but I can't get it!
This question often comes up. A player knows there is a quest given by a specific NPC but they can't get it. There are a few things to think about when answering this question. Many PlaneShift quests are in 'chains' so you have to do a series of quests in order. So this means that if there is a quest you can't get then then it is likely that there are quests before it in the chain you need to do. There are two other conditions, one, that you don't have a skill requirement needed. Many crafting quests be it for cooking or armor making require you to have a minimum skill level before starting the quest. This is generally because the crafting book you get in that quest has a minimum requirement to use, so the quest matches it. The second possibility is that you need to have a specific item in your inventory, there are very very few quests that use this, but its something to be aware of.

How do I get steel stock?
This question comes up because it is possible to get a quest requiring steel stock as a new player, but a new player is nowhere near ready to make steel stock. The short answer is that you either get steel stock from another player, or you craft it yourself. In order to craft steel stock, you must be able to dig ore (mining skill), and make steel stock from it.

Colors and GUI Questions

What do the label colors mean?

The colors separate different type of characters like NPCs, GMs, Players, ..

What do the yellow, green, red, and blue bars near the skills mean?

Yellow
Amount of theoretical knowledge (training) needed before you start the practical part (working with that skill).
Green
Amount of theoretical knowledge achieved (when training) or amount of practical experience (when practicing)
Red
Amount of practical experience required up to next level
Blue
Your current progression points. (If the blue bar is longer than the yellow bar, you can complete the theoretical training for the skill in question.)

What do the coloured bars in my status window represent?
Status Window

HP (red)
Health Points are associated with blood
This is an indicater of your Health and is a combination of Strength + Agility + Endurance
Phys. Stamina (green)
Physical Stamina is associated with walking on earth
This is an indicator of your Endurance walking long distances
Mana (violet)
Mana (from hawaian word for might) is associated with mysticism
This is the spellpower or amount of magical energy used to cast spells
Ment. Stamina (grey)
Mental Stamina is associated with brain
This is an indicator of your Fittness of digging ore or fighting

Targeting/Fighting Questions

There are too few monsters, and other people always kill them too fast!
You'll have to be patient on this one. The developers will add more spawns soon, but for now, please try to not cause tension by stealing other people's kills if they got to it first, unless necessary by RP. If a monster is "camped" by somebody and you can't find any other free monster to kill, you can always approach the person and ask him/her politely to group with you so you can share the loot and progression points. Please use /tell to clear up any misunderstandings.

In which hand should I put my weapon?
It doesn't matter in which hand you are holding the weapons. You will hit with both hands as long as you have fighting items equipped (that includes fists). If you equip a non fighting/defensive item (mug/shield) you will only hit with one hand. The only thing you MUST equip in the proper (Right) hand is the rock pick. Equip it on the Left and you can't mine.

Does having two weapons help?
Yes, you hit with both hands so it helps. But, you can not use a shield so you will do more damage but you will have less defence.

Why am I getting the message "<<NPC name>> is impervious to attack" when I try to attack a monster?
If you are getting this message that means that the program controlling the NPC's behaviour (npcclient) has either crashed or it has been shut down by a developer in order to improve/fix something. Nobody knows when the program will be restarted, so don't ask.

Why isn't my NPC opponent attacking back?
The program controlling NPC behaviour (npcclient) on the server isn't always functioning (see the question above about "impervious to attack"). Without it, NPCs will not fight back. Consider this a freebie, until it comes back on, again.

How do I loot a defeated foe? I can't find the place to click anywhere on the body.
For some of the NPC models, the place to click is a very small spot, usually located around the crotch. In such cases, it is more effective to loot by using the "/loot" command.

Miscellaneous

How do I recognize a GM?
GMs and developers are in the Game Masters Guild. You can use the command "/who game" to list the ones online for you. See also What do the label colors mean?

How can I avoid fall damage?
As a young character, it is all too easy to die through fall damage. The general advice is this: don't jump from objects, don't run down staircases, and take care when traveling across dangerous paths where it may be easy to slip. Sometimes bugs do occur and your character will plummet to his or her doom from a height that looks no more than four feet - unfortunate, but try to be as safe as you can. Also, because of certain graphics bugs, your character can fall through the floor to the end of the world. Try to avoid the spots that can trigger this event and find some alternative routes.
If your camera angle doesn't let you see something clearly such as the edge of a pit or where steps going down or up are, press "Page Up" or "Page Down" keys to adjust the camera angle to your liking.

Y DOES EVRY1 H8TE ME!??
Stop shouting at them! Using capslock and chatspeak all the time makes you sound loud, rude, and immature. It's also an eyesore, and not roleplay-compliant, so please type normally.

How do I open doors?
Most doors that appear shut, cannot be opened or passed though.
There are a growing number of exceptions and these can only be opened when your character has completed a quest or group of quests like for the winch or the special enchanting locations. You can attempt to open a door by right clicking on it. If you are able to open it, you will see a door handle in the context menu. Click on that and you will be taken to the far side of the door.

My map is too dark! I can't see where I'm going.
If adjusting the brightness/gamma settings of your monitor doesn't work, try running the game with the -fullbright command. It will eliminate lighting completely (and thus be warned: the game won't appear as pretty and you won't be able to tell night from day). Right-click on your PlaneShift shortcut, hit Properties, find the Target line and add a space and -fullbright at the very end.

How do I create a macro?
Right-click on one of the free slots in the macro list (which is found down the left side of your screen by default - it already has buttons like Attack, Sell, Tell, Say, etc) and click the button. You can then set the name for the macro, and then the chat command you wish it to type when the button is pressed. You can also queue 2 or more commands (i.e for creating an attack shortcut you can use the following combo: /target clear, /target next npc, /attack <<1-5>> placing each command on a new row and without the <<>> signs).

I'm stuck in a place I can't get out from and I can't move!
Type "/unstick" - that will move you to a safe spot. If that fails you will need to find a GM to move you, asking in the help channel or filing a petition should normally find one.

How do I get magic?
You will need to buy a glyph from the magic shop or get one from a quest, purify it, and learn the spell. You will also need to find a trainer that teaches the magic Way (or school) your spell is in.

Why is it that some characters get spawned in Hydlaa (main city) and others in Ojaveda (Enkidukai city)?
At the moment all players 'spawn' in Hydlaa, this is so that all players start in the main city where the majority of other players can be found.

How can I buy a house?
Player-owned buildings are very rare at the moment.
So far only a few houses have been sold as "Guild houses". These sales were by auction and were advertised, in advance, on the main PS web site.
There is no feature that allows a player to simply buy a house from an NPC or a shop yet.

What does "roleplay" mean?
PlaneShift is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (M.M.O.R.P.G). That means that your character lives in a virtual world, has a background story and interacts with other characters. Role playing means that you adjust your chat in concordance with the setting of the game, with your character's background and with the other characters you meet ingame. Talking out of character (ooc) is prohibited in the normal chat but you can act ooc when whispering to another player using the command "/tell". The background story of your character is decided by you and, as long as it fits in the setting of the game, there is no limit to it but your imagination.

I can't see certain players or NPCs
That is caused by the fact that you lagged when entering a sector of the map. Changing sector and returning or reloading the client will help you.

Is there a way to make the client load the new regions faster?
Yes, checking the 'Keep maps loaded' option in pssetup will help because if you already loaded a certain map you won't have to load it again when you return there. However, this will take a good amount of memory.

I read the Player Guide and the Gameplay FAQ, but I still need help in-game
Use the help channel (the tab on the right in your communications window). An advisor will answer your question.

I don't like my character creation choices, will you change my gender/race/etc?
The choices you have made for your character during the creation process are final; you can change them only by remaking your entire character. No developer or Game Master will make such changes for you.

How do you play Groffeltoe?
TODO

What are those things that people can summon as pets?
There are two kinds of pets, right now. The one with the tiny wings is called a groffel. The other one, that looks somewhat like a brownish lizard, is called a yulbar.

- Original Author and Editors: Venalan, Karyuu, Mordraugion

If you have registered for a forum account but then for some reason want to change your displayed name, I'm afraid the only option available to you is to just make a new account. Forum name changes can only be done by those who should not be bugged about them by every person who wants the alterations - those devs have a ton of other things to do :}

Keep in mind that forum names and in-game names do not have to be the same, and a vast number of people have this difference - in which case they mention their character names in their signature. If you have also made a substantial amount of posts with one account, you can always mention in your signature of another, "Formerly known as _____".

But no name-change-request-threads please.

- Original Author: Karyuu

Several times over the past couple of months (and moreso recently), the PlaneShift moderation team has received Abuse Reports that were not forum abuse at all, but instead was someone trying to get our attention for some other reason. If the "Report to Moderator" link at the bottom of each post could be triggered by accident, we could write it off as such. However, after clicking the link there are then instructions to read (see below) and you have to consciously enter a message and click another button.

So, the point of this post is to remind you all to not use the Report feature for anything except to report an abusive or offensive (or out-of-place!) post to the moderators.




Ah... so that's what happens..



Edited to clarify:
The reports I meant contained 'reasons' such as "My game isn't working!!" or "I need help plz" and similar. As this is not the purpose of the Report function, these reports are simly spam in a moderator's email inbox and should be avoided.

- Original Author: Karyuu

Jump in and Post!

If you’re new to our community, it may seem intimidating to jump in and start posting publicly. Don’t be afraid to join, or start, a discussion. New people are always welcome here. We have a very supportive community that serves up heavy doses of encouragement and enthusiasm, while taking pride in its inclusiveness. While we hope that you will become an active participant and join in discussions, you’re welcome, of course, to simply hang out and observe threads until you feel more comfortable making a post.


Keep feedback constructive.
All feedback on the game is appreciated as long as it is constructive. Keep it straightforward and include examples and facts when applicable. For example, “This game is ****!” or “This game is dying!” is not constructive feedback. “I am way annoyed with the following things about the game and here’s why…” is constructive and useful to us. The best way to get your opinions recognized is not to be abusive or offensive, but to be constructive and communicate in a mature fashion.

Keep feedback high-quality.
Please avoid frivolous and duplicate postings. Threads to announce that the servers are up (after a downtime), for example, or threads made just because you want to be the “first post” in a newly created section of the board, are not quality postings and cause us extra work to remove.

Respect the opinions of others.
Often arguments can’t be won, so if you have a contrasting opinion, please state it simply and clearly. If necessary, agree to disagree with others who may have differing opinions. When discussions turn to long, hostile arguments, the thread will be closed or removed. Sometimes people can write something that you may find offensive, but before launching into a public condemnation, please consider that the person may not have intended to cause offense. It is very easy to misinterpret a post on forums. There is absolutely no need to resort to insults. Respect others' views even if you disagree with them.

Also, do not dismiss other players by calling them “whiners”, “fanbois”, or other derogatory terms, or suggesting that they “just quit”. This is not constructive.

“Write conservatively, read forgivingly.” Text messages can be prone to misunderstanding because it can be difficult to guess the writer’s intent. It’s best to be conservative with sarcasm when writing, and assume good intent when reading.

Remember the Human.
The other people on this forum are real people, and PlaneShift developers, moderators, and Game Masters are people too. They have feelings. Please respect those people - they are here to help you.

Personal Disputes.
Please do not use these forums for personal disputes, heated debates, flame wars, etc. You are expected to treat each other with respect in the forums and take any personal disputes to a private mode of discussion off the forums. If you should find that your discussion is becoming too heated or someone is becoming far too passionate about their argument, please take the discussion to private message or email.

If you're having a problem keeping your temper under control, get it under control, or post somewhere else. It's supposed to be fun. It's not combat. It's not necessary for it to become personal. If you want to point out an error, that's fine, but please find a way to do it that isn't the written equivalent of an eye-roll.

Have Patience.
All the participants of this forum are using the forum and participating in discussions on their own time. If you post a question and no one responds, you shouldn't take it personally. If someone knows, they'll contribute. If they don't, they won't.

Be gentle with the Wayfarers.
Remember, everyone was a beginner at one time! We don't want people to feel intimidated. Some may appear on the forum before having read these guidelines, so give people a break if they don't yet know the intricacies of forum etiquette.  Even if a poster repeatedly misses etiquette tips, give him or her the benefit of doubt and don't let your irritation own you.

If you don't have the patience to point them politely toward the posting guidelines, please ignore them and let somebody who does have patience answer them.

Smile Sparingly.
One of the first common sense lessons is that text communication lacks the intonations that express emotions in voice communication. This can cause problems and confusion for many people, until they discover good use of emoticons, or smileys. While it can add color and express conversation more poignantly, they aren't absolutely necessary and can be used to excess, annoying those that have mastered them (as well as slowing page load times). Simple rule here: If adding an emoticon doesn't improve the clarity of what you are trying to communicate, then it doesn’t. If what you have written can be taken more than one way by the reader, by all means, clarify with an appropriate emoticon. ‘Tis better to give a real smile by your wise posting than any .gif image.

For Effective Communication, Try English.
This includes proper grammar, spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, and word usage. Not everyone enjoys writing as if in an English class all the time, but it's true. English is such a complex and colorful language that it is entirely too easy to be misunderstood even when spoken, and more so when written without inflection. This is also a matter of respecting your intended audience, and garnering respect for yourself and your own intelligence. If your post reads like a phone text message, you may want to go over it again or risk coming off as lazy and uncaring. If your difficulties are due to English not being your native language, state it openly. You will find that most folks will be glad to help out anyone willing to learn… and slam anyone that should know better but is too lazy to even try.

Give A Notice.
If you name someone in a post, if they are prompted for a certain action, if you need their attention, extend some extra effort into notifying that individual of the post. Failure to do so might result in the addressed person never knowing about that post or thread. This doesn't have to apply to cases where the named person was the one that started the thread you are posting in (for he/she would likely expect a reply) or when the named person has replied to that thread (in that case chances are he/she will check the thread again) or any other situation where chances are said person won't miss the message. But otherwise, it would be considerate of you to let that person know that they are being referred to.

Ignore Spammers.
Spam is a blight upon the face of the net. Nobody likes it. However, it is hard to avoid. Despite our best efforts, you will occasionally see spam within the PlaneShift forum. If you feel the need to flame the spammer, don't do it publically. Complaining about spam in public increases noise, but not signal. It may make you feel better, but it doesn't help. So report the spam to make sure it finds the exit quietly, and with whatever remains of grace it can salvage.

Do not flame the staff.
They have the final say. This forum isn't a democracy. Your vote doesn't always count. They try to please everyone they can, but in the end, they're charged with making this community as enjoyable for as many people as they possibly can. They can not always be right, nor can they please everyone with the decisions made, but they're doing their "jobs" and hopefully we can all agree that they're doing their bests to ensure a good community here. Even if you despise authority and curse down the highest ranking official in your national government, let it be known that senseless acts of lack of respect will not be tolerated.

If you feel that an egregious oversight has been made, then please PM any of the forum administrators: Acraig, Vengeance, or Talad. Do not post complaints on the forum.

This last one is strictly personal. You are posting problems and asking complete strangers to solve them with no expectation of reward other than the satisfaction of knowing we helped. Hey - that's what we're here for and we're happy to do it. Still, as is the case with pretty much everything we do in life, an occasional "please" and "thank you" won't hurt and are really nice to hear.

- Original Author: Karyuu

Use common sense when posting. We are a public, global forum. We are frequented by people of all ages and nationalities. What you find humorous others may very well find crude or offensive. Keep in mind we are a forum about the PlaneShift MMORPG. People don't come here expecting to be be confronted with offensive material or language of any sort.

Forum Members should not make any post that:

• Attacks or insults others.

Feel free to debate, but do not turn your disagreements into attacks upon other posters or any person or group. This includes engaging in name-calling, harassment, or threats. Do not try to be clever and hide snide remarks behind white veils. The moderators are not babysitters, and we do not appreciate needing to take on that role.

Threads that single out a player for ridicule or to accuse someone of actions in-game will be removed without notice. Repeatedly targeting another person is considered ongoing harassment and is a severe violation of the forum rules.

• Contains obscenity, vulgarity, profanity or is sexually explicit.

Bypassing obscenity or filtering it by using letter, number, or character combinations is unacceptable as well. If you feel you absolutely need to vent, do it privately, do it elsewhere, or just learn some self-control.

• Contains game spoilers.

This includes but is not limited to quest solutions, maps with the intention of showing “hidden” content (exits, entrances, mining locations), etc.

• Infringes upon anyone's privacy rights.

This includes but is not limited to logs or screenshots that you know someone may object to due to their involvement, revealing of “alts” without private and agreed upon discussions first, etc. Private Messages received on these forums are to be considered private and are not to be posted publicly unless the sender of the private message agrees. Reports of harassment that may need to include logs or screenshots should not be posted publically, but discussed either with Game Masters or forum moderators.

• Is in a language other than English.

We are a very diverse, international community, and it is therefore vitally important that all content be made in English only – posting in other languages alienates people who do not speak that language, and makes forum moderation difficult. If you need to make a post in another language, please provide a translation.

• Debates bans, warnings, Game Master or moderator actions.

Any inquiries or comments are to be sent in private messages or via email. A moderator may choose to publicly inform the participants of the forum about bans and warnings if this is in the interest of the forum. For further information on GM issues, check the "Reporting In-Game Abuse" thread.  Addendum from Oomi: Topics and posts that discuss PlaneShift policies in a general way without referencing specific incidents are allowed; however they must adhere to all of the posting guidelines just like any other topic or post. For example, making a post that says "I think that posting pictures of Albert Einstein should be disallowed on the forums" is OK, but one that says "I posted a picture of Albert Einstein on the forums and my post got removed - why did you do that?" is not OK.

IN ADDITION, forum users may not:

• Make multiple posts on the same subject for the purpose of getting attention paid to your issue. No need to cross-post to multiple forums – we’ll see the post no matter where you place it. If you cross post or spam the forum, your posts will be removed.
• Make a reply after your own reply.

The forums are enabled with a Modify button - if you forget to add something to your post, simply use the edit feature. Comments such as "Sorry for the double post ...." will be deleted. If you make an accidental double-post, notify a moderator or hit the “Report to moderator” link and it will be taken care of for you.

Double-posts are allowed in the Roleplay (Communitive Storywriting) section, as people may often need to post chapters of a story without a break for comments.

• Make posts which lack any substance, such as "nice" or "awesome".

These will be promptly deleted, as well as any one-word posts or posts consisting of smilies only. Posting for the sole reason of increasing your rank is not allowed.

• Post comments in threads for the purpose of drawing attention to another thread on a different subject.
• “Bump” threads with no useful information or to keep them at the top of the list.
• Make replies to posts that do not pertain to or are irrelevant to the original topic – for example, posting messages to reserve a reply spot with the intention of posting to it later.
• Make redundant threads.

As a courtesy to others before beginning a new thread, please look to see if an active thread on that topic has already been established. If so, place your comments there instead. Multiple threads on the same subject clutter up the forum needlessly and many good ideas may be lost. Duplicate threads will either be closed or deleted.

• Make threads that are off-topic for the forum section.

These forums are provided to enable members to help each other in sharing their passion for the game. There is a section called Hydlaa Plaza for topics that don't relate directly to PlaneShift. However, be aware that the Rules of Conduct will still be enforced. Do not assume it is a section that welcomes every discussion - debates about religion, politics, looking for romance, etc. should be avoided. Excessive Off Topic posts will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

• Re-post the same topic or material of a thread that has been closed by a moderator, or continue the closed discussion through a new thread.

If you have any questions as to why a thread was closed or removed please contact the moderator via private message.

• Troll the forum.

“Trolling” is defined as: Clearly, deliberately posting in a manner for the purpose of angering and/or insulting the other participants of the forum. Trolling does not encourage further discussion in the long run, and only encourages personal attacks if left unchecked.

• No ranting. Ranting is posting irate, unconstructive (usually vague) comments to "blow off steam." This is considered a form of trolling since ranting does little but end up in flame wars.
• Post topics addressed directly to another player.

The PlaneShift forums have a private messaging system for conversations between two players. If you want to contact someone directly, use the private messaging system.

• Impersonate other members from the forum, including PlaneShift Staff and Team members.

Firstly you'll be bad at it, and secondly you'll be punished.

• Create another forum account to bypass a ban.
• Make posts with the sole purpose of advertising other websites or forums if they are commercial.

PlaneShift is a completely free open-source game, and advertisements to elsewhere must be similar. Posts discussing or linking to online game auction sites or the sale of in-game goods or services for real money are strictly prohibited.

- Original Author: Karyuu

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