Posts: 6,308
Threads: 329
Joined: Aug 2007
Staff roles: Story Dev Economy Dev
Hi all. Staff have collectively been looking at the server rules with an eye to simplifying them - the current set have broadly been considered unfit for purpose for a while. The rules being confusing and intimidating is one of the most common bits of new player feedback we receive.
We've now produced a revised ruleset that has been considerably streamlined, and that we hope will make for an easier acclimatisation for new community members. We're putting this ruleset out for community consultation, to get as wide a range of feedback as possible.
This is probably the largest proposed revision in years, so we want to make sure we get it right. Please feel free to provide commentary and suggestions in this thread, but keep things constructive and on-topic.
1.0 - Don't be a dick. It's a game, try to keep it fun for everyone playing it. Behavior that falls within the technical letter of the rules but not the spirit won't be tolerated.
1.1 - Discovery is an English-language roleplaying server. Communication in-game and in the roleplaying areas of the forums must be in-character and appropriate for Discovery Freelancer's setting.
1.2 - Cheating or exploiting game mechanics is not allowed. This can include 'multiboxing' (logging in with multiple characters at the same time), disconnecting during player encounters (post here if you disconnect by accident), abusing bugs, etc.
ID and Combat Rules:
2.0 - Every ship must have one ID equipped, and play in a way that represents the role of that ID. Your ID explains what you can do and where. Some IDs have a 'Zone of Influence' (ZOI) where extra actions are permitted. All IDs have a ZOI in systems containing an NPC station of the same affiliation.
2.1 - You must provide sufficient roleplay before attacking another player, and give them enough time to react. This means at least two messages and 10 seconds delay before attacking.
2.2 - If you are killed or dock during a hostile player encounter, you must not re-enter the system or attack anyone involved in the encounter for 1 hour. Trade Ships docking during a hostile player encounter are not considered to have been "killed".
2.3- All IDs can:
Attack Alien IDs.
Attack any ship to defend Allies, except while flying Cruisers, Battlecruisers, or Battleships.
Act as if the system were in their Zone of Influence.
Demand Cerulite Crystals, Chirodebris, Cryo-Organisms, and Organic Capacitors from non-Allies.
2.4 - Terms used in IDs:
"Allies" - Ships of the same non-Generic affiliation or ID, Ships defined as your ID's allies on the in-game faction rep sheet, or Ships you are currently flying in group with.
"Combat Ship" - Fighters, Bombers, Bustards, Capital Ships; Freighters or Transports if being used in an offensive combat role.
"Contract" - An agreement for a service, such as combat or escort, in exchange for some form of payment.
"Piracy" - a reasonable demand issued to a ship which can be attacked if it fails to comply. Piracy can include requests for credits and cargo or a roleplay requirement, such as following a instruction or answering a question.
"Trade Ship" - Freighters and transports except as described under Combat Ships.
Base construction must be in accord with the roleplay of the builder's ID. Siege Declarations must be in accord with the roleplay of the attacker's ID.
Siege Declarations last for two weeks. Once a Siege Declaration expires, the base may not be subject to another Siege Declaration for four weeks.
POBs built in House Space are subject to House laws and fees.
POB location and affiliation are permanent and alterations will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
3.1 - You may only attack a Core 1 base (or higher) if your ID has a ZOI covering it. You may only attack a Core 2 base (or higher) with additional roleplay documented on the forum.
3.2 - You can apply for your base to be upgraded to Core 4 after 2 months at Core 3 and demonstrating productive base roleplay. Once approved the base will receive the blueprints required to upgrade the base.
3.3 - Official Factions can apply for their base to be upgraded to Core 5 after 3 months at Core 4 and demonstrating productive base roleplay. Once approved the base will receive the blueprints required to upgrade the base.
With the upgrade to Core 5, wear and tear damage on the base will be disabled.
Only one Core 5 base per Official Faction is permitted. If this status is lost, the Core 5 upgrade will be downgraded to Core 4.
Uncharted Space Earhart, Uncharted I, Uncharted II, Uncharted III, Uncharted IV, Uncharted V, Uncharted VI, Uncharted VII, Uncharted VIII, Uncharted IX, Uncharted X
4.2 - House Military, Police, and Intelligence factions may only enforce roleplay consequences upon players, factions, and POBs found breaking House Laws within House Space.
Depending on the rule(s) violated or circumstances of the violation, examples of sanctions may range from a warning, a fine, loss of equipment, probationary periods, and/or bans of varying duration.
1.0 - Bounty board operators may only issue blanket bounties against targets they are hostile with. Characters claiming bounties must be neutral to the board operator and hostile to the faction or individual that is bountied.
1.1 - Players must submit their bounty claims within 7 days. Board owners must pay outstanding claims within 14 days of submission.
1.2 - All bounties must specify which characters, tags, or IDs may claim the bounty. Bounty Hunters Guild ID may claim on bounty boards operated by Police, Military, and Corporate factions without registration unless stated otherwise.
1.3 - IDs that can attack any ship in pursuit of a contract may be hired in-game by players with non-generic IDs to engage in combat. Parties involved in combat must be made aware of such hiring.
1.4 - Server staff retain the right to close bounty boards at their discretion, if it appears that the board is having a detrimental impact on server gameplay.
An official faction requires at least 3 active players and 3 days of activity per quarter. Factions that do not meet these requirements are considered suspended.
If a suspended faction fails to meet the requirements in the subsequent quarter, it loses its official status. If the requirements are met, the faction will be considered on probation for the subsequent two quarters, during which failure will also result in the loss of its official status.
AFKing on ships with tracked official tags is not allowed. The activity contribution by such ships may be zeroed and the faction may lose officialdom for repeated violations.
Official factions are required to have an open feedback thread on the forums and are expected to respond to sincere feedback from the community.
All rules and regulations concerning faction creation procedure and home system claiming are listed in Faction Creation Rules thread. Server Administrators also reserve the right to limit recruiting for certain official player factions for a certain period of time to keep server factions balanced.
Faction Right 1. Official player factions have authority over players of the same NPC affiliation, as long as RP justification is provided. This authority applies in forums and in-game, and applies to player faction diplomacy, and strategic and tactical direction, however, exercise of that authority, on the forums and in game, is restricted to official faction members with the rank of the official faction leader and second in command(s) of the faction. The authority may be exercised through the use of in-game in-RP orders, which, if not obeyed, can result in in-game in-RP consequences (arrest, court martial, and even "lethal" force in extreme circumstances). Official player factions cannot, under any cicrumstances, require another player to follow non-canon RP if that player doesn't want to. In case of IDs with multiple official factions, this right can only be used if the faction leader of each make a unified decision to exercise it.
Faction Right 2. Once a faction achieves official status, they will receive their downpayment back.
Faction Right 3. Official player factions who have planned an event (with at least 24 hours notice on forum, here) can restrict participation of others in that event as they see fit as long as it does not severely limit any other factions' activities in their own ZoI beyond any sense and/or provide utterly unfair protection to the faction from otherwise logical roleplay consequences.
Faction Right 4. Official player factions have the right to bounty or attack any player who is using their technology without the faction ID or permission from the official faction, regardless of their diplomacy toward the faction of the ship in question. In case of IDs with multiple official factions, gaining permission from one of the official factions would suffice, and once a technology is granted by one official faction, the other official factions should treat it as approved technology as well. In this case, factions are advised to keep a public record of their approved technologies for the purpose of better coordination with other official groups of their ID.
Faction Right 5. Official player factions may request that the reputation of a player's ship be changed to hostile with respect to their NPC faction. These requests must be posted within the Violation Reports subforum, and include link(s) to valid forum roleplay, as well as actual interaction between the character and the official faction. In case of IDs with multiple official factions, this right can only be used if it has support of every official faction of the ID, but in case of disagreement between the factions involved, they can post an appeal to the Server Administrators to review the situation and come to a decision.
Groups that have been subject to the use of FR5 by another faction, may treat this faction as hostile targets, except for transports, within their Zone of Influence.
The House Governments of Bretonia, Gallia, Kusari, Liberty, and Rheinland, will be made up of the faction leaders of every Official Police, Military, Intelligence, and Corporate faction with an ID classification belonging to that house. All of these leaders will have equal votes in their respective governments, and their proceedings will be supervised by staff in DiscoveryGC Official Discord government channels.
Appeals can first be submitted 6 months after ban date.
Appeal must be posted in the Player Requests subforum using the form below.
Appeal must contain a clear understanding of why the ban was handed down in the first place.
Appeal must contain an explanation for the behavior that lead to the ban.
Appeal must contain why that behavior will no longer happen again
If an appeal fails, 6 months must pass before another appeal can be initiated, unless stated otherwise.
If an appeal passes, the member is assigned the Probation Usergroup for 6 months, during which their forum and server behavior is evaluated. This includes Alt accounts used for RP.
If during this period the player has broken forum or server rules, their participation as a community member is re-evaluated and may result in a warning and reset of the probation timer, or, the reinstatement of the ban depending on the context and severity of their transgression.
------------------------------------------------
Forum Name of Banned Individual: <forum name>
Link to profile: <link>
Date of original ban: <Month, DD, YYYY>
Context of behavior leading up to ban:
<paragraph>
Why is this behavior wrong?
<paragraph>
Why will this behavior never happen again?
<paragraph>
If form is not completed properly you forfeit your appeal and have to wait six months.
I understand
------------------------------------------------
Code:
[list][*] [color=#FFFFFF]Forum Name of Banned Individual:[/color] <forum name>
[*] [color=#FFFFFF]Link to profile:[/color] <link>
[*] [color=#FFFFFF]Date of original ban:[/color] <Month, DD, YYYY>
[*] [color=#FFFFFF]Context of behavior leading up to ban:[/color]
<paragraph>
[*] [color=#FFFFFF]Why is this behavior wrong?[/color]
<paragraph>
[*] [color=#FFFFFF]Why will this behavior never happen again?[/color]
<paragraph>
[*] [color=#FFFFFF]If form is not completed properly you forfeit your appeal and have to wait six months.[/color]
I understand
[/list]
Changelog based on feedback:
Changed 'Can attack Alien ships' to 'Can attack Alien IDs'.
Corrected various commodity names on Alien Materials list.
Added Uncharted materials to Alien Materials list.
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