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Shadows of Isildur — a roleplay-intensive Tolkien MUD.
Connect at middle-earth.us, port 4500.
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“If you’re looking for a game with good RP, great world, excellent building
and over the top coding, Shadows of Isildur could be for you.”
Evilone
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A working knowledge of these policies is your responsibility, should you
choose to join us here at Shadows of Isildur. As with the law in real life, ignorance of these policies is not a defense.
Since they are subject to change without notice, you should refresh your understanding of the rules listed here regularly; you
will be held accountable to them.
Here at Shadows of Isildur, roleplay is not an option; it is
mandatory, and an enforced requirement. Should you not enjoy
roleplaying, this is likely the wrong MUD for you -- kindly
look elsewhere, and save us all a bit of trouble. The only
OOC allowed in the MUD must take place within designated
OOC lounge areas. If any IC information is disseminated via
these means, rest assured that the staff will react quite harshly.
However, for those who enjoy consistent, rich, and well-wrought roleplay, we will
strive to provide an atmosphere as conducive to these elements as possible. In
addition, as a staff we will make a conscious effort to reward those who demonstrate
exemplary roleplay; play well enough, and you just might find bits of the
game world revolving around your character.
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II. Objectionable Content |
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Shadows of Isildur is a role-play intensive MUD, and the
successful player here will take that quite seriously. As
a result, many and sundry experiences are depicted in the
gameworld; not all of these experiences are necessarily
pleasant, nor do they agree with everyone's sense of propriety.
In order for such roleplay (e.g.
roleplayed sex or torture) to proceed, explicit out-of-character consent must
be obtained from all parties involved (Note that, by definition,
legal consent cannot be given by a minor). Role-playing
scenes which depict child abuse, rape, or sexual torture are
explicitly prohibited.
If any of the involved parties withdraws their consent at any time,
the roleplay must stop, with absolutely no exceptions. Simply
"fade to black", and then roleplay the consequences of whatever activity has
been skipped rather than focusing on the activity itself.
Finally, please remember that we strive to provide a family-friendly environment,
and an enjoyable experience for all ages. Therefore, if you choose to engage in
any arguably objectional roleplay, the onus is on you to find a relatively
private place in-game for it to take place. If someone should happen upon your
scene by chance, travelling through a public area, and they find its content
objectionable, you will be treated as if you consciously chose to involve them
in it without first obtaining their consent.
Any violations of this rule should immediately be reported to staff. Please be
aware that we keep complete logs of all player interactions on our server for just this reason.
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III. Metagaming and IC Information |
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Shadows of Isildur is a roleplaying game. It is played only
at middle-earth.us, port 23. It is not played over ICQ,
AIM, IRC, or any of the other chat/IM clients out there, nor is it
played with your roommates, circle of friends, or real-life beer buddies.
Information regarding in-character happenings in the game
needs to stay solely between the players and the administrators
involved; if we as staff learn that any information gained
OOCly has been exploited by a player to shape the outcome
of in-game events, we will take measures to rectify this,
up to and including possibly reversing said events.
Likewise, carry-over of in-character information from one character to
the next is strictly forbidden. You may not play a relative of
a previous PC, or any other accquaintance that would entail the
sharing of IC information, without prior staff clearance.
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IV. Triggers and Scripting |
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The use of ANY TRIGGER OR SCRIPT to send input to the MUD
is expressly forbidden in Shadows of Isildur. This includes, but
is not limited to, triggers that prevent your character from
being disconnected due to idleness, triggers or scripts that focus
on skill gain, and scripts to move your character from one place
to another ("speedwalks"). Conversely, however, triggers used client-side for things
like coloring certain text strings or tripping alert sounds when certain
events occur are not in breach of this policy, as they do not send any
input to the MUD and do not attempt to garner an unfair advantage.
Any infraction of this policy will be dealt with quite harshly,
particularly if the infraction involves powergaming.
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Our built-in mudmail system, Hobbit-Mail, is provided for
the convenience of our players, for things like scheduling
RPTs and other such OOC matters. Dissemination of IC information
through this system is strictly prohibited, as is harrassment
of any kind. Lastly, using this system for the advertising of
goods or services, a.k.a sending "spam" mail, is also against
policy. Infractions of any of these statutes will be dealt
with quickly and harshly.
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For the separate policies governing usage of our web forum, please click here.
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VII. Multiple Accounts or Characters |
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We require that each player stick to a single game account
in their time here, so the staff is better able to track
their past characters and roleplay. Furthermore, neither multiplaying
nor alternative characters are allowed on Shadows of Isildur. Each
player may only have one (1) character alive and in-game at
any one time. If you wish to create a new character before the death
of your present one, you must first retire your active PC from the account menu.
If, for any reason, you wish to use a second account from your
computer's IP address - such as allowing a sibling or spouse to
play, or visiting a friend's house and playing from there - you
must clear this with the staff before doing so. Our
IP-tracking system will tag you as a multiplayer, and if you
only give us your excuse after you are caught it will not sit well.
All infractions of this rule, whether the registration of multiple
accounts or multiple living characters, are punished quite
stringently - so please observe this policy carefully.
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VIII. Losses Due to Linkdeath or Lag |
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We recognize that players will lose their connections from
time to time for reasons beyond their control. We ask that
players recognize that we have no control over those kinds
of difficulties either, and that although we empathize when
it results in the loss of items or even in character death,
we regret that, absent extreme mitigating circumstances, we cannot
and will not make individual exceptions to ressurrect PCs.
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Provided that it is in-character, player killing is allowed
on SoI. However, we do ask that you bear in mind that people
often invest a great deal of time and effort in their characters;
this is not a HnS mud, where once you kill their character they
pop up safe and sound at a respawn point. So, please think
carefully before engaging in any such activity; often, there
are excellent and interesting RP opportunities to be had as
alternatives to killing.
Conversely, as a victim, if you feel you are being treated harshly or unfairly
by another player-character - chances are you may be right. As
long as it occurs during the course of in-character roleplay, however,
and does not violate one of the other policies listed here, such is
perfectly acceptable behavior. Remember, not all roleplay you come
across will favor your character; adversity is a fact of life in Middle-earth
just as it is in our own world.
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X. PC Death and Ressurrections |
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As mentioned elsewhere, on SoI, PC death will be permanent
99.999% of the time. In-character ressurrections are, like
in our own society, little more than the stuff of myths and
legends. If we ressurrect anyone, it will likely be in an OOC
fashion, to remedy a flaw in the code that perhaps lead to
their deaths in an equally OOC manner. So, please bear this
in mind, if you are considering petitioning the staff for
a ressurrection; if your death was the result of a code bug,
it may be a reasonable solution. If not, you are quite likely
better served by spending your time creating a new character
concept, and submitting a new application.
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XI. Code Abuse and Powergaming |
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As hard as I try, the code is obviously far from foolproof.
It is, after all, only code; it lacks the sense of judgment
that (most) human admins have, and thus will never be as good
an arbiter of situations as a sentient being. Those who seek
to take advantage of this weakness to accomplish their own
ends, whether it's powering up their characters or wreaking
havoc on others, will be dealt with quite harshly. Being
aware of a bug and not informing the staff, so that it remains
for you to exploit, is strictly against our policies.
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XII. Promoting Shadows of Isildur |
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While we very much appreciate the enthusiasm of our playerbase,
and their desire to bring friends and acquaintances from the
community in to join our world, we felt this deserved an
explicit mention. Posting an advertisement to a forum reserved
specifically for MUD promotions is okay - wonderful, even - but
promoting SoI in other places, such as within other MUDs, on
their game-related discussion forums, and on unrelated websites
and mailing lists - is most assuredly not. Infractions in this
particular area will be dealt with swiftly and harshly by our
administration, as we become aware of them.
On sites that allow you to rate Shadows of Isildur, such as MudMagic.com,
this policy applies to biased cross-voting. That is, please
do not rate us highly and then deliberately rate other MUDs poorly to
attempt to increase our ranking. Not only does this give us a bad reputation
and therefore damage us in the long run, but it is ultimately a futile endeavour
as well - we can do, and have done, quite nicely without that sort of "assistance."
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For the separate policies governing monetary donations to the MUD, please click here.
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For the most part, members of the admin staff should be
viewed in much the same way as the DMs of traditional
pen-and-paper roleplaying games. We are here to enrich
your roleplaying experience in a way that mere code could
not; we strive to ensure that IC actions will carry realistic
ramifications, and that the gameworld is balanced,
authentic, and enjoyable for our players. We are -not- here
to favor one faction over another, to give you a free
replica of Glamdring because your character was raised by
a secret, elite corps of Rangers, or to play ridiculously
overpowered PCs. There are a great many restrictions on
any PCs that a staff member may choose to play; rest
assured that no favoritism is tolerated.
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With regards to player-staff communication, we have
an open-door policy here. You are always welcome to contact
us in a variety of ways; the web forum, the in-game boards,
or writing an email
to our staff mailing list are all acceptable. Petitioning up
for assistance while in-game is also an efficient way to
reach a staff member. However, please remember that we are
all volunteers, and we do receive a great deal of such traffic;
while we will try to respond as quickly and efficiently as
possible to your concern or question, it may take some time.
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While we put a great deal of confidence in the sense of
judgment and fairness espoused by each of our staff members,
we do recognize that sometimes, two people simply do not mix.
If you believe that you have been treated unfairly due to
such personal bias, and you do not feel as if you could
communicate this clearly to the staff member in question,
you are always welcome to send an email to our staff list,
explaining your position calmly, clearly, and politely. If
this effort is made in good faith, we will review the situation
as a group, and attempt to ensure that a decision is made that
is free of any possible personal enmities. However, if you
simply write an email to our staff list that consists mainly
of a rant, a flame, or an attack on the staff member in
question, rest assured that at the very least, you will be
ignored; at the very worst, sanctions may be imposed.
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XVII. Penalties and Sanctions |
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Unfortunately, it is not always possible to resolve difficulties
through discussion, and we are required to take action to
see a matter to its close. Although each situation is unique,
the following are the general guidelines that we consider when
deciding an appropriate sanction for a policy breach, or repeated
instances of the same or similar offense:
- 1st Offense: Verbal warning.
- 2nd Offense: Minor sanctions, such as a small skill
drop/nogain, roleplay point deduction, or short-term siteban.
- 3rd Offense: Moderate sanctions, such as a more
significant skill drop/nogain, roleplay point deduction, or temporary
siteban.
- 4th Offense: Severe sanctions, up to and including either the
removal of the offending PC, or permanent siteban of the party in question.
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