Please be careful...

[Magi_Siani]

Hiya gang;

A complaint was received about IC rape....further investigation has revealed that the actual playing out of this event occured off site. We cannot do anything about activities performed off site. However, it has been said that the aftermath of this rape scene has been played out on our site. We are looking into the logs to ascertain exactly what happened.

However, I thought a reminder in order. Rape is an extremely vicious criminal offense and cannot be played out on our site at all. Nor can the subject be discussed on site beyond an allusion to one's parent having been raped (obviously character related background), or the character or their friend having been so attacked at some point. No more may be discussed or played out. Not the reactions of the victim, not stalking by the perpetrators, none of it.

I want to ask you all to please be careful with your play. Evil characters are attractive to play, yes, but some things just shouldn't be played out in our opinion so we prohibit them from our site. Please be aware that others may take extreme offense to such things and there may be victims of said activity playing here. Please think before you decide to bring this subject up in any format.

That being said, if we do find that the topic has been played or discussed beyond the very limited bit allowed, it will be warned for.

So please, be careful while having fun. Below is the entry from the General Code of Conduct.

Prohibited chat room, board, and e-mail list, behaviors include (but are not limited to):
· profanity, vulgarity, or explicit content For example:

Discussion of or in-character enactments of graphic violence, bloodletting, rape, torture, slavery, etc. This means no descriptions of entrails all over, no lurid descriptions of blood spattering and fountaining all around, no depictions of rape, or detailed accounts of rape, no torture or cruelty such as found in slavery situations, no enactments of slavery or the process of enslaving someone.

and

In Character play never justifies breaking the Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct always takes precedence over a character’s nature, concept, alignment, what have you. Ignorance is never an excuse.

Additionally, please remember that no one can force your character to do anything...basically, you control your character so it is up to you to decide if an attack happens, a spell works, or whatnot. Nor can you do this to anyone else. We call it Freedom of Destiny. So if you don't like a storyline, don't play in it. If you don't like being attacked, don't acknowledge it. Ask the person to stop and tell them you aren't interested.

Thanks guys.

Siani

[Magi_Trelian]

As an additional note to FoD (Freedom of Destiny): The way this plays best is to clear anything that might be viewed as an attack with your "victim" ahead of time using a PM.

"((Is it okay if my thief tries to cut the coin pouch off your belt?))"
"((Yeah, but then he'll get fried with a contingency lightning bolt))"
"((Um, nevermind))"

or, if you prefer surprises...

"((Is it okay if my char targets your char? non-violent theft))"
"((Yeah, but there are protections and my char might get violent in return))"
"((Ok, I'll take the chance))"

Either way, it keeps people from posting openly that:
XYZ: slips past ABC with utter master ninja sneakiness and takes his coinpurse
ABC: doesn't have a coinpurse
XYZ: takes something then
ABC: has wards on all his goods
XYZ: defeats all the wards first
ABC: drinks his ale with all his goods still on him
etc.

This looks pretty silly. But remember you are always perfectly free to treat an unannounced and unapproved attack as an illusion, or as something your char automatically avoids, or as something that just didn't happen in the first place.

As a final plea, PMs also avoid the "but I'm TRYING to get this to the clearing, it's the other player's fault because he won't MOVE" explanations to Magi about fighting in the non-combat rooms when the other person is telling us, "He's harassing me because I don't WANT to fight him and now he's getting ME in trouble."