RP Covenant.

[Timmothy Perriwinkle]

I read that all, and at first I thought you had some good points, though presented mildly obnoxiously. Then you became really, really obnoxious and sarcastic and I stopped caring about your thoughts and opinions 

[Sangwa]

Really? I gave up on him pretty easy:

I have had it with "roleplayers" (and even GMs), bullying me into "correct" (from their point of view) gameplay.

GM's actually set the standard of what is correct. They are Game Moderators and their work is exactly to do that: moderate you. Either you agree, or pay the consequences. That's plain obvious. Still, that makes you sound like someone who doesn't want to give a crap about anyone else's opinion of what having fun is (which is pretty anti-social) and that's hardly a trait one should possess when playing a role play game.

Good one. Print that out, nail it to Kada-Els door and preferably to the forehead of it's regular patrons. Either they violate this rule or they lack any social life.

That's simply a childish personal attack.

You seem to resemble the type of person I'd like to see away from PS. If the covenant would guarantee that, I'd be pretty glad already.

[zanzibar]

The community sets the standard, the GMs enforce it.

[Sangwa]

EDIT: To make it more understandable, I meant to say the Game Moderators are the ones who say what is right and what is wrong, therefore deciding what the standard behaviour should be.

"The Community" can't be impersonated by three, four or twenty people. It usually is better represented through repetitive critique towards decisions already made. My thought process erases the community as an entity capable of setting standards because they must be guided by GM's ir order to do so and that is why we need a covenant.

[zanzibar]

That's not entirely true either.  The GMs do not set policy.  They're given a set of rules by the higher ups in the development team, and they're told to "Go forth and make sure people abide by this standard."

The GMs have flexibility when it comes to interpreting and applying the rules, but they don't get to write the rules.

Anyone is free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I'm wrong.

[Caarrie]

That's not entirely true either.  The GMs do not set policy.  They're given a set of rules by the higher ups in the development team, and they're told to "Go forth and make sure people abide by this standard."

The GMs have flexibility when it comes to interpreting and applying the rules, but they don't get to write the rules.

Anyone is free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I'm wrong.

the gm team IS allowed to set some rules but then the dev team has a right to overrule the new rules and they also need to be approved by atleast kerol if not talad as well.

[Sangwa]

Sorry. It was a slight detail then, the "higher ups" set the standards then. PS Team, to me is one lump of mass, be they GM's, developers, or whatever.

[zanzibar]

Sorry. It was a slight detail then, the "higher ups" set the standards then. PS Team, to me is one lump of mass, be they GM's, developers, or whatever.

Ah, you have to distinguish.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

please post the final version you want to vote on here and send me a pm alerting me that it is time to make the poll.

[Sangwa]

Marqsaynt's Version (Short)

In order to completely experience PlaneShift, the player should agree with the following covenant:

1. This is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Play Game (MMORPG).
You and your character are not the same person. Live as the character you create, enjoy as the civilized person you are.

Example: In Character (IC) you may want to overthrow Yliakum's government, but out of character (OOC) you should just want to have fun, like the rest of us.

2. Respect PlaneShift's unique game world.
Always keep your character’s chat, action, and history consistent with the PS universe.

Note: Make sure you know what exists in PlaneShift before making anything up. Self phones, vampires, hobbits, etc. do not belong in this game.

3. Respect other Players.
The fun of an MMORPG is interacting with other people. Be sure to treat other players with respect.

Note: Remember that a player should always have a chance to react to another player’s action, so everyone has a role in this play. Ideally, all players involved should agree with the outcome or on a fair method of deciding the result, using the game mechanics everytime possible.

4. Be consistent.
Stay true to your character, that is the only way he or she will become what you desire.

Note: This is a game where players often challenge each other and your character will end up being a result of other people's actions. If you want to follow a specific path with your hero, you are the one that has to focus on it. You can't become a hero here just because you wish, first you must earn it.

5. When in doubt ask a Game Master (GM).
They volunteer for the love of the game and are there to help.

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Marqsaynt's Version (Long)

In order to completely experience PlaneShift, the player should agree with the following covenant:

Role-Play Basics

1. This is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Play Game (MMORPG).
You and your character are not the same person. Live as the character you create, enjoy as the civilized person you are.

Example: In Character (IC) you may want to overthrow Yliakum's government, but out of character (OOC) you should just want to have fun, like the rest of us.

2. Respect PlaneShift's unique game world.
Always keep your character’s chat, action, and history consistent with the PS universe.

Note: Make sure you know what exists in PlaneShift before making anything up. Self phones, vampires, hobbits, etc. do not belong in this game.

3. Respect other Players.
The fun of an MMORPG is interacting with other people. Be sure to treat other players with respect.

Note: Remember that a player should always have a chance to react to another player’s action, so everyone has a role in this play. Ideally, all players involved should agree with the outcome or on a fair method of deciding the result, using the game mechanics everytime possible.

4. Be consistent.
Stay true to your character, that is the only way he or she will become what you desire.

Note: This is a game where players often challenge each other and your character will end up being a result of other people's actions. If you want to follow a specific path with your hero, you are the one that has to focus on it. You can't become a hero here just because you wish, first you must earn it.

5. When in doubt ask a Game Master (GM).
They volunteer for the love of the game and are there to help.

Role-Play Principles

6. All out of character (OOC) chat must be enclosed within a type of brackets.
This reduces confusion and shows respect for the other players role-playing (RPing) around you.

Examples: [OOC comment], (OOC comment), {OOC comment}

7. No 1337 speak, IM abbreviations, or languages other than English in the main chat tab.
However, feel free to create a dialect or interesting speech pattern for your character.

8. Leave the official guarding to the government (and GMs).
GMs, Developers, etc. are the only people officially allowed to role-play legitimate government officials. If your character strives to protect/serve the citizens of Yliakum, do it under your own banner not the government’s.

9. Role-plays should be “PG” rated.
PlaneShift is intended for a broad age range of players. Keep this in mind when creating RPs.

10. A character’s name is not known until it is heard IC.
Just as there are no floating nametags over our heads in real life, there are no floating tags in PlaneShift from an in-character perspective. In game nametags exist only for player convenience.

Role-Play Ideals

11. Give your character a description.
Character descriptions are only for what another person's character would see. Books are for autobiographies, character descriptions are not.

12. Stick with what is known about the PS world. (AKA: Know the settings)
A person must know the rules before they bend/break/add to them. All back-stories and character abilities should still be firmly aligned with what is known about the settings.

Note: PS is still a game heavily in development and therefore apt to change/grow/add to the in-game universe and lore.

13. Using /me or /my to indicate what your character is thinking is poor form.
Your thoughts are your own in RL. Your character’s thoughts are their own in PS.

14. In general, do not exceed your character’s race traits.
This includes extremes like attempting to RP a 7-foot tall dwarf or a Kran made entirely of vanilla ice cream, to less obvious faux pas like playing a character much older than any other of his species to ever walk the realm.

15. Don’t try to grab the spotlight; you’ll burn yourself.
An excellent way to turn-off fellow players to your role-play is to constantly insist on being the most tragic, loud, dramatic character in the room. Not only is it obnoxious, it leaves zero room for anyone else to talk to you about their own character’s events or story.

16. Every great role-played strength should have an equally great weakness.
No weakness means zero conflict. It also ensures more thoughtful RPers will largely avoid you since it is no fun playing a game with someone that can never lose.

17. Ideally, role-play and in-game stats should coincide.
While not always possible, if you are role-playing a person that knows magic or is quick with a sword, it is probably a good idea to invest a little time training these skills using the game mechanics. Likewise, if you were RPing a farmer it would make little sense to train stats that make him the equivalent of a warrior.

18a. Do not take things said in character personally.
Unless someone is specifically harassing you (which should be reported to a GM) assume there is a nice person behind the character simply trying to liven up the PS universe. Just because their character is a thief, gruff, conceited, etc. does not mean the person playing them is the same way or intended any insult against you (the player).

18b. Do not use “being in character” as an excuse to be rude.
Remember, there are real people with real feelings behind every character. While a myriad of IC personalities makes role-playing interesting, using your character as a convenient excuse to treat people poorly is not acceptable. Always be aware of the line between being IC and being just plain rude.

19. In general, role-play should be done in the Main tab.
Using Tells, Group, and Guild tabs to role-play means other players have no idea what your character is doing. Don’t deprive others of witnessing and perhaps participating in your role-play.

20. Bald exposition is lazy role-play.
Don’t cheat yourself with exposition you don’t need. It is unrealistic and removes a lot of the mystery from your character.

21. Your character only has as much power as the PS community accepts.
Just because you say you are a “powerful” mage/warrior/etc. does not mean others will treat you like one. A reputation is something that must be earned.

22. Have fun.
Never forget it’s just a game.

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Sangwa's Version

In order to completely experience PlaneShift, the player should read the following lines and agree with them:

• First, The Reality Check - This is a Role Play Game. In this game you (the civilized person behind the screen) are supposed to live as the Character you create (the 3D model you drive around) in a Fantasy Setting. You and the character are not the same person and might have different goals; In Character (IC) you might want to overthrow Yliakum's government, but Out Of your Character (OOC) you should just want to have fun, like the rest of us.
  
  
• Respect The Setting - The Setting is the Fantasy environment that the PlaneShift Team so kindly created for you; it has its unique History, Geology and its own form of Magic. In order for players to have equal chances at being entertained, every player must respect how this environment works. Players are therefore required to keep consistent with the Setting, which means that their character's chat, actions and history must not stray away from what is possible in PlaneShift (which you'll learn by reading the guide, web site information and through game experience. When in doubt you should ask a Game Master.)
  Examples: You're respecting the settings if your character is a ynnwn who came from a Kran village in the north to pursue the path of the merchant. You'd be disrespecting the setting, however, if you stated that your ynnwn also had wings (in this setting Ynnwns don't have wings) or the power to read minds (without actually possessing any Glyph or special training.)
  
  
• Respect The Player - Other Players are your major source of entertainment, so be sure to respect them. During the game there will be situations where interaction can not be controlled by the Game Mechanics and that is when players are required to use their imagination and social skills. At all times all players concerned should agree with either the outcome or with a fair way to decide the outcome of a role played action that can not take place through the game's mechanics.
  Examples: "Zalzor kills Dracor"; by typing "/me kills Dracor" I'm telling the other players I've killed that character, but the target player might not agree to it and since there are several ways to kill a character using game mechanics, one of those should be picked (we could either duel if it was a fight, or decide the outcome through a dice roll [with conditions agreed by both] if it was just a killing stab.)
  "Zalzor throws a dagger at Cyl": by typing "/me throws a dagger at Cyl" I'm telling the other players I'm doing an action not currently covered by the game's mechanics. In case we disagree with the outcome, we could settle it by a dice throw with agreed conditions.
  
  
• Avoid Chat Issues - You'll notice there are different tabs at PlaneShift's chat box. At the Main Tab you're always supposed to act as your character (IC), while the other tabs have uses explained in the PlaneShift Guide. We ask you to be careful with what you type at the Main Tab, as it will affect everyone's game experience. Be sure to use [], (), or other types of text tagging when you want to tell the other players (OOC) something, but don't abuse it. Try and keep your text as clean and correct as possible, so people can understand each other. Be on the lookout for details such as the fact that other characters can't read your thoughts.
  Examples: "Joseph says: say, u hav a q300 sword to sell?" This player is not typing good english and uses terms that an inhabitant of Yliakum wouldn't comprehend ("q300"). "Robert says: Say, do you have a finest quality sword to sell?" This player wanted to know the same thing the previous did, but he asked in a different, cool way.
  A character description that reads "Josh was once a proud boy..." makes no sense since other characters can't tell your character's life story just by looking.
  Typing "/me thinks he's hot." is a useless Main Chat entry since no character can make use of it (characters can't read thoughts.)
  Saying "Hello miss Chelza" when your character never heard the name "Chelza" before makes no sense either.
  
  
• Remember, Consistency Is The Word - If you're true to your character you'll be sure to get a good adventurer in your hands which will show you plenty of good times. What your character becomes depends on what you make of it, so if you sacrifice your own character's personality for your short term enjoyment (for example by blindly seeking rewards), you might come to miss on a whole lot.

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Those are the ones I have. I've changed Marqsaynt's versions slightly (changed the basics yet again a bit), added some introduction lines or whatever and also changed my first one a bit, to make it sound more like a covenant. Well, just changed the titles, actually. These are the ones I think we should vote on.

And by the way, thanks for turning the thread towards the right way once again.

Also, Marqsaynt, do you agree with the versions I've posted for you?

[Irgendwer]

I feel an obligation, to post my final version as well:

Rule #1:
This is an MMORPG. It is meant to entertain you. So please, have fun.



Anything else will lead to nothing more, then the boyscouts of Hydlaa policing other people around, spoiling their game play as well as their own. I can think of nothing more disruptive, then when one self proclaimed "roleplayer" drops out of character to explain me, that he thinks, I am not in character and should therefore put everything in bracket, hence forcing me out of character, explaining to him, that he is as annyoing as wrong.

Unfortunately, that kind of behaviour is the common one. You can vote on your covenant here. Your pact will be with a crowd, that is not representative for the games populance (currently, there are 150 people online, lets see, if we get more then 75 votes) and hence will be largely ignored, until enforced. In which case, we will see, that "covenant" is just a new and friendly label for an unfriendly idea and get a further drop in online population.

To make this perfectly clear for the roleplayers:
You can not force anyone to do anything. You just can get rid of people by either getting them banned or annoy them to a point, where they leave themselves. Either way, you loose. If I was a dev, I'd really think twice, if I'd want to invest my time in a project, that just doesn't "take off", because my current community does it's best to bully fresh blood around.

[zanzibar]

I can think of nothing more disruptive, then when one self proclaimed "roleplayer" drops out of character to explain me, that he thinks, I am not in character and should therefore put everything in bracket, hence forcing me out of character, explaining to him, that he is as annyoing as wrong.

If that's the most disruptive thing you can think of, then maybe you need to think a little longer.  If someone drops out of character to correct someone else's bad behaviour, the disruption has already happened by way of the bad behaviour.

Unfortunately, that kind of behaviour is the common one. You can vote on your covenant here. Your pact will be with a crowd, that is not representative for the games populance (currently, there are 150 people online, lets see, if we get more then 75 votes) and hence will be largely ignored, until enforced. In which case, we will see, that "covenant" is just a new and friendly label for an unfriendly idea and get a further drop in online population.

If people who don't roleplay leave, then our numbers will actually go up.  The people who don't roleplay don't really add much to the game IMO.  And we'll attract more people, since PlaneShift will become more attractive to people looking for a roleplay game.

To make this perfectly clear for the roleplayers:

Everyone who plays PlaneShift should be a roleplayer.

You can not force anyone to do anything. You just can get rid of people by either getting them banned or annoy them to a point, where they leave themselves. Either way, you loose. If I was a dev, I'd really think twice, if I'd want to invest my time in a project, that just doesn't "take off", because my current community does it's best to bully fresh blood around.

When bullying happens, is it the roleplayers who are doing it?  Or is it the power levellers?  I agree that fresh blood is important, but if you want to have a strong roleplay community, you want newcomers to add to the community, not hurt it.

[Raekh]

Irgendwer,
I am not sure you really got the idea. This Covenant was for providing a guideline, some agreement on the outlines of roleplaying.
PlaneShift still is some game to be welcoming roleplayers the same way as any other type of players, be it mute levellers or ooc-talking testers. Nothing is strictly enforced or mandatory.
However, if you are as itched by the presence of roleplayers as you appear to me, reconsider your tolerance, and maybe switch to another game, in case you cant stand them. After all I wouldnt join a pure FPS and then whine about people disliking any strategy element.

[Under the moon]

* Under the moon adds one item.

Use Common Sense.

Definition: Common sense (or, when used attributively as an adjective, commonsense, common-sense, or commonsensical), based on a strict construction of the term, consists of what people in common would agree on: that which they "sense" (in common) as their common natural understanding.

In essence, if those around you are going by strict RP rules, try to do the same. If it is more casual RP with some [ooc talk], accept it. If people are just playing the game and leveling up in a group, do not try to come in and force some roleplaying. Ask, suggest, and be polite. Do not rant and rave because people are not playing how YOU think they should. Do not try to interrupt rudely into any type of gameplay with another type of gameplay, be it textplayers to powerlevelers, even if you have to ignore most of the RP Covenant guidelines.

If you can't handle that, just walk away and find another group to play with. Do not say anything rude on parting, and be polite if you are asked the reasons why you parted the group. If you do wish people to play more like you, rudeness and hostility will NEVER get your way.

[zanzibar]

I'm not sure.  When you go OOC, you can never really know who you might be affecting negatively.