Game Guidelines - Rules to know

Offensive Behaviour Which May Earn You a Ban

• Attacking PC's without their consent to PvP (unless DM sanctioned)
• Attacking civilian NPC's without DM consent (excluding guards)
• Pick pocketing PC's (unless DM sanctioned)
• Inappropriate use of the DM channel
• Excessive bad language
• Excessive OOC
• Character Hacking
• Exploiting or Posting Exploits
• XP Farming
• Disruptive Play

Process for Handling DM action Disputes

For the most part DM's are happy to play both Admin AND Dungeon Master, but occasionally players strongly object to a DM's decision. The following procedure is the official framework to keep order on the servers, and will hopefully eliminate any need for PUBLICLY posting rants about DM/Player interaction. ALL disputes regarding perceived harsh actions will follow this order:

1. ANY player involved will direct ALL correspondence to the DM concerned first (via private message, NOT the public forum).
2. Disputed actions passed on to NWN Admin will first check that #1 has been acted on.
3. If the issue persists, The Head NWN Admin and Assistant will make a final decision based on a Vote by NWN Admin. ( NWN Admin not NWN DM's)
4. ALL banning will have at least 2 DM's (any two) agreeing to it (agreeing doesn't necessarily mean witnessing).

Disciplinary Actions

Once it has been established that a player has performed an action that is not sanctioned on the server, they will generally go through the following process:

1. Official Warning
2. Temporary Ban
3. Permanent Ban

If a ban is deemed required, then this ban will apply against the CDKEY of the installation and the account used. If a different account is used for the temporary and Permanent ban, they both are banned.

While in the majority of cases, an admin will, or attempt to warn you that your actions are unacceptable, in some cases a ban will be issued instantly. This is in the case of such rules as, but not limited to, cheating, racism, and admin impersonation.

The Importance of Screenshots

If you have any problem or enquiry, the DM's are powerless to act upon hear say or word of mouth ONLY. A screen shot MUST be provided in order to resolve the issue or problem. Please keep this in mind at all times. As a result of this, delays in conflict resolution may be encountered. However, as a result a fairer outcome is anticipated.

PvP (Player vs Player) Combat

PvP between players is allowed, as long as all participants involved consent to such. Note that PvP challenges must be in character (IC) and that players hiding behind the PvP rules (refusing PvP) while continuing to RP aggression, will not be tolerated! This is considered griefing and will be dealt with harshly.

The Arena Maps have special conditions applied to these areas, - see below for more details.

The following rules apply to PVP:

1. Unsanctioned PvP attacks (ones without DM sanction or opposing PC's consent) are NOT permitted (see below). 2. Victims of unsanctioned attacks are requested to forward a screenshot to a DM ASAP. The guilty will receive punishment (possibly a temp ban). confirmation, usually done via a "tell" or an OOC "// comment". 3. The parties involved in PvP must set their opponents to "hostile" (dislike) in the Player List screen - this is very important ! You may NOT attack a player that is still set to friendly.

Consent

Before any PvP can take place Consent must be given by All people involved. If people are in parties and are confronted by an opposing group Consent must be given by all its members.

Consent is always given via dialogue e.g Consent is not buffing.

Consent can be given by an OOC tell.

Consent is given when you enter the Arena Maps.

Consent is not given by any form of RP Dialogue. Consent is not buffing prior to a tell to give you permission

Consent Via OOC tell Example 1:

Surfacer: "Foul Drow, you infringe upon out lands - leave at once !" Drow: "I think not, you are no match for us..." Surfacer (tell): "// agree to PvP ?" Drow: "Think you can take us ? Bring it on ! // yes" (all parties set the others to hostile/dislike, and battle commences)

Actions considered to be PvP

Note that the definition of PvP is not restricted to attacks; the following actions are also considered PvP and are NOT allowed without consent:

1. Pickpocketing
2. Disarming.
3. Casting a damaging spell (even 1hp).
4. Casting a spell that leaves the PC in a negative state (this encompasses a wide range of actions, including casting True Sight on guards).
5. Casting a spell that leaves the PC immobilised.
6. Attacking a players Summons or Familiar

If in doubt - don't do it !

Enemy Factions

Surfacers and Underdarkers are currently adhering to a Cease Fire' arrangement. This means that is a surfacer or underdarker is seen attacking guards of the opposing faction, they may well find themselves outcasted.

Outcasts are to be considered enemies of both the Surfacer and Underdark factions.

NOTE: that the use of the jailing wand by those characters in possession of such (as nominated and sanctioned by DMs) is NOT considered consent to PvP. Do not assume you may seek revenge without consent after your release from gaol...

If you are an outcast While attacking NPCs without DM consent is a bannable offence, Faction guards are not included in this ruling. You may attack opposing faction guards if you so choose - however...

IF a PC of the Guards' faction 'catches' you and wishes to assist the Guards, they must RP challenge the aggressor, set person to Dislike before they attack, so if you do not wish to engage in PvP, once an RP challenge has been issued by a member of the guards faction you must flee the scene immediately. Not fleeing the scene is considered consent to pvp.

Guards are the ONLY allowable NPC victims as they are not of the merchant faction. Do NOT kill merchants and other NPCs - please PM an admin if it was an accident, and we will look at how to prevent further merchant deaths.

If you are not an outcast please note that attacking guards of your own faction will likely lead to your character becoming Outcast !

Player Use of Traps

Please be aware that placing traps in high-traffic areas (be it on the surface, or in the underdark) falls under the banner of disruptive play, and may result in those responsible being banned.

Note that the "I'm playing an evil character" excuse is not acceptable !

Note: Damaging other players with traps is also considered 'unsanctioned PvP', another bannable offense - see above.

If you do use traps as a weapon in encounters, please collect any untriggered traps afterwards. Please do not leave them lying around or you could run the risk of violating the above rulings.

Pick-pocketing

Pick pocketing characters is to be a role played event only unless DM sanctioned. In the case of NPCs, it is considered a hostile action and should only be performed on select NPC's where it is clearly indicated in quests that pick pocketing of that particular NPC is acceptable. (Ask a DM if you are unsure)

XP Farming

1). PC's are permitted to hunt with whoever they wish provided ALL members of the party are contributing equally to the fight and taking equal risk. There is an XP penalty for those characters who are out of 'leve range' of their comrades to counter power leveling. Be aware higher level characters have higher level monster spawns and do not take your lower level characters to places in a higher level party that you know yur character could not handle alone or in a close level range party.

- All members of a party MUST participate in the fight.

2). Camping known high XP spawns that have yet to be tweaked. If you know its giving too much XP then don't camp it (and please let the dev team know).

Note that this is not a complete list - if in doubt, ask (or just don't do it).

Excessive OOC (Out of Character) Discussion

Edon is primarily a RP (Role Playing) server and excessive OOC is discouraged.

1. Brief OOC in 'Party' mode by group consent
2. OOC in 'Tell' as much you like.

Quick, vital OOC like '//brb phone' is acceptable. Be aware that 'Party' mode chat is visible to DM's and excessive OOC spam floods the DM channel.

DM's will give a server shout when they feel that the OOC becomes excessive, please take the hint and revert to In Character (IC) immediately. We ask that you follow the spirit of the server.

Role-play

We consider role-play to be one of the most important & most enjoyable aspects of the game. We wish to encourage EVERYONE to role-play as much as possible. In order to encourage continuing role-play on the server, please note that the DM's WILL award xp for good RP.

One of the major reasons for the existence of DrowWars is to allow better roleplay between Drow & Common Folk. We have outlined PvP guidelines & provided an arena for 1 V 1 (along with the Chaos Field for Party v Party), but we expect that heated roleplaying sessions between factions CAN & WILL occur. When roleplaying in regular areas, please abide by these guidelines.

Character Naming

Acceptable character names:

• Aren't offensive
  
• Contain only alphabetic characters
  
• Are not an abbreviation
  
• Do not infringe on copyright / doesn't exist in the real world
  
• Do not contain a title (unless given permission from the DM Team)

Character names will be subject to renaming if:

a) They do not comply with the naming rules

and/or

b) A majority vote of DMs find it to be inappropriate for a medieval fantasy game

All experience, gold, items and crafting levels will be reimbursed however this can be a time consuming exercise for both DMs and the player, so please choose your names carefully. If you are in doubt about the suitability of a name please ask a DM before investing significant time in that character.

A good character name is important - not only does it effect how you perceive your character it shapes how others perceive you. When coming up with a name spend some time thinking about your origin and how that affects your choice of name. Where do you come from? Who were your parents? Do you have siblings? How does your name reflect your background?

Disruptive Play

Disruptive play by a person may be deemed if their actions are negatively impacting other people either directly or indirectly.

Examples of disruptive play may be but not limited to:-

• Leaving excessive quantities of items in placeables for extended periods or intentionally leaving excessive amount of items left lying around.- These acts have a negative impact on the server and those playing at the time.
  
• Bypassing content to complete quests. Left over excessive spawns create unnecessary server load.
  
• Leaving & Bypassing content to get to selected spawns, e.g Demon Spawns, Queen rage Spiders.
  
• High level characters running through low level area’s and intentionally leaving dangerous spawns that may impact other players specially those with low level characters.
  
• Posting exploits or spoilers either on in-game noticeboards or the forums themselves.

Passing items to other characters

• Forge Items
  

Forge Items will now have the name text of the item appear in blue. Unbound items will now be named as Unbound Forged <item> of <pcname>". Once an item is attuned to a character it will forever remain that character's item. Players may hand over crafted Superior or Peerless Equipment to another player if the intent is to immediately upgrade it.

• Quest Equipment
  

Most quest equipment is NON DROP and can only be passed over to another character via EXPLOITS. People found with this type of item (beyond the capabilities of their character or level) may be banned.

Playing Ettiquette

Some tips on making your play time in Edon easier.

• Always log out with the emote wand
• If having to step away from your PC's for a excessive period of time, DO NOT leave your PC's parked in the middle of major towns, please log and relog when you are free. DM's will 'boot' your character from the server if they feel you ahve been AFK for an excessive period of time, particularly during peak playing times on the server.
• Please dont overtake people on a hunt and steal spawns
• Sharing loot - It is considered general courtesy to share loot equally between party members. In regards to valuable loot finds, please reveal you have picked up the item and roll a dice for ultra rare, very sort after items or runes.