Breaking these will get you a repremand and possibly a deleted character. | ||
| 1. | Dragonfly is
the boss. My word is law on any problems that come my way. These rules are provisional, whereas my word is final. | |
| 2. | No minors.
I'm serious. They can get people into lots of trouble just for being young. | |
| 3. | All
activities must be consentual. No one shall do anything to anyone without their out-of-character consent. A person may give or refuse consent in-character, and all others must respect it because it is assumed to correspond to the person's out-of-character wishes. However, it is preferable always to get and give explicit out-of-character consent or refusal. Anything said out-of-character is presumed to be the person's real wishes, regardless of anything done in-character. Talking out-of-character can be done with pages, whispers, or thought bubbles. | |
| 4. | Do not do
anything which could get you in real life legal trouble.
I like being able to have a place with few rules and much fun. If people cause real problems on it that affect real life, I will have to multiply the rules, which will be more of a hassle for everyone, especially me. | |
| 5. | Other than
that, you are free to enjoy yourself. That is your right. You may complain to a wizard about anyone who violates it. | |
Following these will make people like you. | ||
| 1. | Do not be
presumptuous. Be polite. Just because you exist does not mean that anyone you meet will want to play with you. Always ask before doing anything more than, say, patting someone or bowing to them. Introducing yourself and chatting a little first is often a good way to warm someone up to you. Never try to dominate or submit to anyone without being certian of their consent first. This is very impolite without an explicit indication that the other person is willing. Often, it will be clear from the person's reaction whether you may continue, but even so it is best to get out-of-character consent. Just because a person doesn't protest, that doesn't mean they consent. It is always alright to page people to if you want to chat with them, but if you don't know them well yet it is best to ask if they are busy after saying 'hello.' If they do not want to talk, you must respect that. Never send an MSUMMON or MJOIN request without specifically asking if it's alright, first. Even if people are playing in a public area, it is rude to try to enter the scene without asking permission. Watching and smiling to the participants is fine, and chatting with them usually is too. But if you want to participate in some way, you absolutely must ask first. An out-of-character 'no' is final; an in-character 'no' is the same as an out-of-character 'no' unless the person has given an explicit out-of-character 'yes'. | |
| 2. | Playing is a
process of give and take. The best way to get people to play with you is to be fun to play with. Regardless of whether you are dominant or submissive, you should make an effort to be fun for the person you're playing with. Make good poses with specific details. Be attuned to what things they especially enjoy. | |
| 3. | Do not sap on
people's emotional strength. Between friends, it is a common and excellent practice for one to give emotional support and kindness when the other is feeling bad. However, a person's natural sympathy is easy to take advantage of by parasites. Between friends, the one who recieves support is able to use this to return himself upright and recover, and thus the one who gives feels himself rewarded for help he has given. A parasite, however, will lure sympathy with pityfullness and absorb an unlimited ammount of emotional support without recovering in the least. This is stressful and very draining on the sympathetic one, and of no use to the parasite because he does not make an effort to get better. Such parasites should be avoided because they are harmful and it is very painful to detach oneself from them. If you are such a parasite, please learn to treat people better and to stand on your own; you need to learn to like yourself better but I'm afraid I don't know what to suggest for that. | |
| 4. | If you are
unsure, ask. If you are unsure of your situation, or want to be sure that other people are happy with what is happening, it never hurts to ask out of character with a whisper to make sure. Whenever I enslave someone new, I always whisper to them a lot to make sure they are having fun and to tell them that I am as well. | |
| 5. | Do not
powergame. If your character has magical powers of some kind, do not be a show-off with them. Anyone can create characters with amazing powers, so big displays of power are not at all impressive. Even if you are Gaia, goddess of the Earth, no one will be impressed with you if you annoy people to get attention. People are much more likely to be impressed by a curtious and creative character who is fun to be with. | |
| 6. |
Write concise descriptions. The purpose of your description is to give people who see you a picture in their minds as quickly as possible. Thus, a short desc that is packed with precise, vivid words is the best. Sentences like, "You see a terrible sight before you.", or "You see an unusual and exotic creature." are useless because they do not help put a picture in the reader's mind; a better thing to say might be, "You see a 6'7'' male demon with deep red skin, 9-inch black horns, large black cloven hooves, leather clothing, and cruel, haughty air." or "Before you is a 5 1/2 foot white latex bunny girl, with four shiny breasts, a black leather collar and 3 piece bikini." Sentences like, "As you look upon her, you gape at her stunning beauty." or "When she sees you looking her over, she winks and blows you a kiss." should be struck out because they are lame. A person doesn't make the same motions every time you look at them, and it's an imposition on the person reading it to say what he or she would do to look at you. Write no more details than are necessary. Excessively long descs are tiresome. If you wish to go into detail about your clothes or other accessories, it is a good idea to describe them briefly in your description and put extra objects in your inventory ('insignia' or 'collar', for example) which people may look it if they want to know more. | |
| 7. | Do not be
careless with your English. A person who uses incomprehensible English is incredibly irritating. It's alright and often amusing to be creative with your language but I've seen such bad English on my muck it was like nothing I had ever seen before! Say things clearly. Use understandable grammar. Use punctuation to make you easy to read. For more on writing, go to George Orwell's Politics and the English Language. This is my favorite bit of writing by Orwell and it's something I really think everyone ought to read. | |