Announcement: New Rules are here

[DiscoveryGC Admins]

Good day everyone -

Many of you thought this wouldn't happen, many have been begging for it for some time. Well, we're happy to announce that we've finally finished our discussion about the rules rework, and we're happy to share the result.

There are 3 new changes:

1. We've condensed the rules down to the very basics and are now straight forward. We're also moving the official rules into it's own subforum and will have a new sticky thread titled Rules Clarification. This new thread will allow the community to have one place to post about a rule and if something is acceptable or not, and allows for Admins/Mods to provide a clear answer. It'll work similar in the Bug Reporting thread, where you use a template to post, and an Admin/Mod will edit the post and provide clarification in Green/Orange. That way, if someone has a question pertaining to that rule, they can look through one thread, instead of all over the forum. If there isn't a post with green text about it, perfect opportunity to post and ask.
   
   
2. Next on the list, the punishments. We're now making them visible, so you know exactly what to expect if you get sanctioned. We're removing the punishments of "loss of guns and/or credits". We're going to be a lot less lenient when we catch rule-breakers. As such, and I'm sure many will be happy about this and many will cry about it, the punishments are a lot more straightforward and a lot more severe. We're working with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd offense system, for both forum and sever. You can find them in the rules thread dropdown. This means we will be using your forum name in sanctions, instead of ship names. That way we can track how many offenses you have against you. We'll make sure the ship name is included in the sanction description though. You'll also notice words like "Appeal" and such. What that means is we're also opening up the ability for you to appeal publicly, where you as the community will be able to see the discussion surrounding the sanction. Which ties into the next point.
   
   
3. Lastly, and something that was brought to our attention that another gaming community uses, is an appeal system. We've had one before, but this is going to work differently. In it's own sub-forum, this Appeal Thread is going to work as a replacement for player requests for unbanning and for sanction discussions. Instead of replying to the sanction post, sanctions will now be closed. If you want evidence, you may PM a staff member to provide it for you, but everything will be dealt with in the Appeal thread. Appeals now work like this:
   
   
   - If you are sanctioned, you will follow the template provided and post in the appeal thread. THIS WILL BE PUBLIC FOR ALL TO VIEW. This will allow the admins, mods and those involved with the sanction to discuss publicly (Thus providing the transparency many have been crying for) the reasons for the sanction on both sides, as well as come to a decision if it should be reversed. You'll find the details below.

Now, I'm sure people will wonder how this will come into effect. These new rules are effective immediately moving forward. That means if you've been sanctioned prior to this, you won't be eligible for the new appeal system. Regarding banned players, this will not apply to you either, and you must wait the full 6 months from your initial ban date to post again.

What that means though, is everyone is given a clean slate from here on out. Your actions will prove how clean that slate will remain, as well as how long you remain part of this community.

One last thing, any previous green text or precedents may no longer be applicable to this rule set. The green text here still applies.

Now, onto how it will look:

RULES THREAD

RULES CLARIFICATION THREAD

APPEAL THREAD

Thank you all for your attention.

[Xoria]

The word role play is actually nowhere in the rules. Replace "RP" with role play throughout.

3.9 should not use a comma.

And reword 4.1 to : If a ship is destroyed, that character/ship must not log onto the server for 2 hours, and the player cannot use any of their other ships to reengage those who destroyed him/her for the next 2 hours

[Connor]

These new rules seem seriously vague. These punishments also seem far far to harsh and ridiculous.

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[Cælumaresh]

4.1 If you die, that character/ship does not re-log for 2 hours and the player on any of their ships cannot reengage for 2 hours

If anything this one would possible just keep the server emptier then it is rather then promoting activity

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This Galaxy is vast; its wonders and beauty are almost unfathomable. But the galaxy also hides dark secrets, some of which have lain dormant since the beginning of time itself. There is a danger in secrets, both in seeking and in knowing. Some things are meant to be hidden from view. Some mysteries defy understanding, and sometimes even the things we think we know are untrue. Some secrets should remain untouched.

Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum

[Jeremy Hunter]

Why can you not log the character at all now? Not everyone has multiple ships, plus if if my trader dies...I can't trade even on a different route? Not everyone has multiple traders with multiple routes, so this one seems...way to severe for dying.

I'm curious to the reasoning behind this one.

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May you ever walk in the Light, Shizune.

[Karst]

So instead of giving desperately-needed clarification in the actual rules thread, it's distributed over a billion comments on what's likely to become a thread with dozens with pages?

And an extra begging appeal subforum instead of linking the appeal to the sanction directly?

Fixed punishments for infractions, regardless of context?

Who thought this was a good idea, seriously? The idiom is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", not "if it ain't broke, break it".

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[Exploration]

Why can you not log the character at all now? Not everyone has multiple ships, plus if if my trader dies...I can't trade even on a different route? Not everyone has multiple traders with multiple routes, so this one seems...way to severe for dying.

I'm curious to the reasoning behind this one.

I am too. Especially in the instance say some important RP interaction is going on, this makes it quite easy for someone to gate-crash it. Thus unable to log the character, chances are i have nothing better to do at the time and log off completely. Doesn't really seem to be a way of keeping my interest in playing the game if suddenly i can't continue the RP i was involved with for a whole two hours.

- Leave 4.1 alone and i'd probably be fine with the new get-up regarding rules.

[Shizune]

Vendetta talked me out, were good

[Clavius]

Since a lot of people here dislike the new rules, IMO there should be a thread where people can propose how to make the existing rules better, so we can avoid the unecessary drama.

[Vendetta]

Why can you not log the character at all now? Not everyone has multiple ships, plus if if my trader dies...I can't trade even on a different route? Not everyone has multiple traders with multiple routes, so this one seems...way to severe for dying.

I'm curious to the reasoning behind this one.

Prepare for abuse as soon as this actually gets put and say good bye to all interactions known to date as players are hunted down while RPing. Way to go.

Also, those punishments...god, and I though this was a sensible community, not a daycare

The punishments are honestly necessary to prevent people from constantly tracking down and abusing loopholes. This is essentially a daycare, because there's people screaming and whining and fighting over every little thing, and kicking their feet in the ground and refusing to budge like a stubborn toddler. It's time to count to three. Can't say I'm in favor of it, but it isn't unwarranted.

As for the new rules, they're waaaay to vague and honestly should've increased in size instead of become overly simplified. Bring back the specifics, and add to them, don't just clear it out and make more work for yourselves to individually specify things that could've just been one or two lines added to the existing format/rules.

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Currently unable to consistently be present in the Community due to life constraints.

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