Rules

Terminology

IC = In Character, means actions and events which happen ingame. Your character only has knowledge of IC actions and nothing from OOC. Using OOC knowledge is therefore metagaming. Things people say in-game are IC (e.g. say "Hello!"). Use of internet slang or smileys (E.g. Lol, rofl, :D, ^.^, etc.) is prohibited.

OOC = Out of Character, means the goings on outside the game. The things that you, the player, know, see, etc. The two should never be mixed or knowledge from one being used to influence the actions in the other. If you're angry at someone IC, don't bring it to OOC. OOC can be used to ask questions about game mechanics, but should not contain in-game knowledge. For example "How do I build a wall?" is fine. "halp, urist mcguy is beating me" is not okay.

Griefing = To cause grief to another player for no reason. Examples of this are beating random players senselessly for no reason, setting the singularity free for no reason, destroying the station for no reason, etc.

Metagaming = Using information acquired out of character to influence the actions in character. An example is learning who the traitor is from IRC, a friend on another computer, through voip or through ingame OOC chat and than acting on this information. This also means using knowledge that your character, as an employee of NanoTrasen, could not have. As an example, a call to check the shuttle modes of play, or knowledge of the Syndicate or Syndicate items workings. Using knowledge that your profession would not have is also metagaming. This also includes some specifics mentioned below.

Powergaming = Also know as 'playing to win'. If you're trying to complete your objectives, kill the antagonists, or 'win', at all costs and ignore RP, you may be better off somewhere else. This includes having your character unafraid of death or pain, resistant to any torture, ready to battle alone against a crowd of opponents, or, being unarmed, senselessly attacking a gun wielder or hostage taker. This also includes loading up your character with items 'just in case', for example wearing internals 'just in case' there's a hull breach or plasma leak. Or wearing a space suit indoors for no reason.

IC in OOC = Saying IC things (like the gamemode) in OOC (e.g. "why the heck is it cult again" in secret). Generally, if someone not playing can tell what's going on using OOC, it's IC in OOC. This is generally not a good thing.

OOC in IC = Talking OOC in IC. Most of the time this is just bad (e.g "why is some of the game text red"). If you really, REALLY, have to only say something to those around you, you can use ((brackets)) to signify OOC. This is not standard practice however, so don't use it if you don't have to.

Multikeying = Using multiple BYOND keys/usernames. This is generally not needed ever for legitimate uses and so is a bannable offence.

Roleplay

The main focus of our community in contrast to other servers is Roleplay (abbreviated as RP). This means that we expect of you to be able to assume the role of a character and stay in that role. To put it simply, your character can (and should really) be different from your real life personality, and when you make decisions, you should pretend that the world of the game is real, rather than just a game. Roleplay is mandatory, and poor or terrible roleplay can and will be punished.

Here's a list of examples of what you can do to roleplay a character. Note that they're just examples, and to contribute in any way to a round, you have to create your own ideas for your character.

It is HIGHLY recommended you read A Crash Course In Roleplaying to understand what is expected in terms of roleplay.

• Restrict yourself to the knowledge of your character. This is an important one. When you're the Medical Doctor, even if you, as a player, know how to hack an airlock, you should not do it unless your character has somehow gathered that knowledge. In this regard, it is also important to mention that things are not as easy as they seem. The fact that you only have to push two buttons to clone someone doesn't mean that your character can learn to perform the task by someone saying "push two buttons to clone someone".

• • Related to the previous point, when something needs to be done that is not in the field of your character, ask someone else to do it. An example would be that you shouldn't treat yourself or give yourself implants when you don't have medical expertise. The Skill System is a useful tool in this situation, where you can clarify your characters skill for both yourself and admins. However, anything above an average character will come under heavy scrutiny. For example when there is a vital task, such as running the engine, and no one of that field is currently playing, you can try to do the task, but you must make it seem like your character only understands it to their skill level. AI's are generally expected to know most of the station's system and therefore can be consulted.

• Pick a normal name. You must have a first name and a last name (e.g John Smith). You must not use honorifics or nick names (E.g. Dr Greg House or Jack "Johnny" Johnson), and must be spelt fully with capitals and no shortenings (e.g. NOT J Hoffman or jaiden mallow). Try to avoid references if possible (e.g. HAL 9000, Gordon Freeman), they're generally unoriginal, a hallmark of a bad roleplayer, and break the atmosphere of the game.

• Try to avoid pain. When you know that a process is painful, try to avoid it. You'll want to avoid surgery without anaesthetics, and torture will be a good way to force you to do something. Not considering pain at all in your decisions is a failure in assuming the role of your character, and can get you banned in the long run.

• Try not to talk like you do in real life. For example, you can use short sentences and ...'s to indicate a shy character. Try to examine different personalities and imitating them. You can even play a female when you're a male and vice verca, it's a great way to explore your own personality!

• Try to adapt to the goals of your character. For example, in a traitor round, do not make it your goal as a Captain to catch the Traitor (that's Security's job), but instead try to keep the ship intact by keeping an eye on the Engine, doing checks on your employees, and so on.

• Be creative! Invent missions that the station could be on right now, historical events, or even a full backstory for your character. There's even a section of the wiki dedicated to it. There are no limits, as long as you avoid clashing with others!

• Take into account your character's comfort. For example, constantly wearing internals, or a bio suit, or a space suit would likely be very tiring or extremely uncomfortable for prolonged periods of time. Don't wear these items without good reason. From a gameplay perspective, you're giving yourself an advantage without cost, so admins will most likely try to stop it.

• Don't play Mary Sues. Unless you are an EXTREMELY good roleplayer, you should balance out your character with flaws and skills. Mary Sues are usually characters that have no or insignificant drawbacks too them, and massive advantages. For example, war veterans are usually done very badly, as well as any type of military characters. This also ties in to having far too many skills than your character should have. Note that most people think they are 'very good roleplayers' but actually are not.

But as this is a game, roleplay is not all.

In fact, there are cases when you could perform perfect roleplay and still be banned. In order to avoid that, do not take on a role because you think it'd be fun for yourself. Take on a role because it'd be fun for EVERYONE.

A lot of players like to kill, so if it'd be allowed, they'd all roleplay insane sociopathic mass-murderers. But a ship full of sociopathic murderers wouldn't be fun for anyone. This is why you have to roleplay boring stereotypically dull characters more often than not (although if you're a good roleplayer, you won't need exciting characters to create exciting stories!)

Guidelines

Since the above points are often up to interpretation, to make perfectly sure not to get banned, you can play safe and follow the below points.

• Don't be a dick. This is a simple rule and really needs very little explanation. Don't ruin the game for everyone else and use your common sense.

• Read the rules. Yes, thank you for reading this, many people don't. Not reading the rules will get you banned to give you some time to go over them.

• Read the round specific guidelines. The general rules still apply, but there are additional guidelines depending on the gamemode. Reading these are considered part of the rules. View them here: http://baystation12.net/wiki/index.php/Mode_Specific_Rules

• Read the antagonist guidelines. If you're an antagonist, or planning to be, make sure to read the guidelines here: http://baystation12.net/wiki/index.php/Mode_Specific_Rules#For_All_Modes

• Knowledge of the antagonists and Syndicate Items is restricted. We expect players to allow traitors some leeway and as such have a list here (http://baystation12.net/wiki/index.php/Identifying_Antagonists) of who and what can be recognised and by who. We expect players to not powergame and give the antagonists a little leeway to get away with things.

• Listen to what the admins say. Admins will sometimes message you or give you directions through direct PM's or a subtle message of "You think...". It is highly recommended you do what they say (this is different to the Genetics superpower message, if it is not "You think..." it is not an admin message, and should be reported if abused). Arguing about it, unless there is a very good reason, will just frustrate both sides (and no, there are often not very good reasons). If you receive a PM or a "You think..." message, and do not follow it, expect repercussions. If you have a problem with an admin, save it for the admin complaints forum here: http://baystation12.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=29

• Make every effort to not kill anyone. Unless you're a traitor.

• Killing in self-defence is not preferred. In all situations you should make to disable or flee your attacker, rather than kill. If that's not possible, delaying before help can arrive is preferable. Only when the attacker will not back down, there is NO chance of help, and the intent to kill is highly likely, is murder in self-defence acceptable.

• Do not break the atmosphere of the game. Also know as 'breaking immersion'. For example, using slang terms for antagonists IC "traitor", "rev", "cultist", "syndie", "wizard","changeling", etc. Use of OOC game slang IC, "robust", "shitcurity", "emag", "esword". Or use of chatspeak or smilies IC, "lol", "srs", ":D", etc. These are often signs of bad roleplayers, so do not use them unless you have an extremely justifiable reason.

• Stick to sane and mature characters. Immature characters can be fun, but can also ruin the game for everyone. Insane characters are not allowed. If your character has induced insanity (Clone Memory Disorder, drugs, etc.) this is not an excuse to kill people.

• Stick to the in-game Chain of Command. If you don't listen to your direct superiors, expect to be reprimanded both IC and OOC.

• Let your character only know what is in their job description. Again emphasized for importance. Some variance is allowed here, ala the Skill System, but any more than that is considered very bad form.

• Do not spam other players. Anything that causes unnecessary chat spam or other types of spam (e.g. spamming show ID, spamming OOC or IC chat, spamming shuttle calls, etc.) is not cool. Don't do it.

• Calling random restart votes is not allowed. Restart votes should only be done when the round is physically unplayable due to lag/glitches, or with admin consent. Calling an random restart vote is a bannable offence. The crew transfer shuttle can be called otherwise.

• End of round shuttle grief is not allowed. This rules is different to most other servers, but the reveal message is not IC knowledge, and RP continues until the round reboots. That means no random killing or attacking each other at round end. Generally, any attacking whatsoever after round end will earn a ban. This is an automatic ban without warning.

• No metagaming or multikeying. This is pretty self-explanatory, but either of these will get your banned very quickly. This includes using knowledge from previous rounds without admin/player consent. Metagrudging (attacking/greifing someone because of something they did in previous rounds) is also an offence.

• Being a round antagonist does not exempt you from the rules. All the rules still apply regardless of whether or not you're the traitor/wizard/syndicate agent/etc.

• Erotic roleplay is not recommended. Also known as ERP, unless you have the OOC consent of EVERYONE present (not including ghosts), it is not allowed. Basically, without OOC consent, don't do it.

• As a free willed AI/Cyborg you should make every effort to not kill. Mass murder will very likely get you banned. The same goes for not following your laws. If you receive a law which tells you to kill everyone, adminhelp it. Otherwise damage done by the AI/cyborgs is on whoever uploaded the law.

• Leave AFK players alone. Killing/stealing from/doing anything to AFK players is just bad. Unless they're your traitor target or have a steal objective on them, the most you should do is take them to the dorms. AFK players can be identified by examining then and seeing "He/She has a vacant stare..."

• Suiciding to leave a round is not okay. Killing yourself because you're bored and want to observe/switch characters is not good. If you have a very good reason, adminhelp it first. Otherwise you are expected to log out in the dormitories, or if not possible, your own department.

• Do not abuse bugs or exploits. If you find a bug or exploit, you are expected to post it on the tracker here: https://github.com/Baystation12/Baystation12/issues Using a bug or exploit will net you a ban.

• Use English. Occasionally using a different language in-game is all right, but english should be your main language. OOC is pretty much english only. This is to prevent miscommunication in investigations and such.

• Do not be offensive. This includes things such as racism OOC, or using offensive stereotypes. This is an idiot filter, if you break it, expect to be banned.

• Do not lie. Lying to admins will almost always earn you a permaban. This applies for IC and OOC activities, especially in ban appeals.

• Intent of the rules is more important than the letter. Line-toeing or generally trying to rules lawyer your way out of a situation will usually net you a ban anyway. It is the spirit and intent behind the rules that is followed, not necessarily their exact wording. This also includes situations not explicitly mentioned in the rules.

• Promotion of other servers is not allowed.

The way we play the game isn't everyone's cup of tea. We understand that and we don't fault you if you enjoy more a competitive style of play, but we do expect you to go elsewhere for that.

If you get banned for one of them and think it's not justified, put the exact case on the forums and make a ban appeal (you'll need to make an account).

We admins are no gods, and we make mistakes and also sometimes interpret things differently. If one admin banned you, that doesn't mean all admins agree on that. If you want to not stick to one of these and there's an admin on, you can also use the adminhelp verb to ask if it's okay with them. For example, if you want to kill someone because you think it's what your character would do, while it's not necessary for your objectives, you should ask for permission in most cases.

Measures the Admins Take

You may or may not receive a warning for what you did, and this entirely depends on the leniency of the individual admin.

Currently there are two methods admins use to encourage players to stick to the rules. The first, lighter one, is the jobban. It will make it impossible for you to select a specific job on the pregame screen. Note that if you're jobbanned from a job, you should not ask to be assigned to that job in game, as this might be seen as evasion and get you a ban.

When the jobban is not sufficient, we sometimes throw out temporary bans, which will make it impossible for you to play the game for a while. And when this one fails, there's the permaban, which should make it impossible for you to join our servers ever again. So yeah, try not to go there. Also note that evading a temporary ban by using a different key will almost certainly get you a permaban if caught.

Furthermore, do note that measures taken by us admins are not absolute. In fact, we do make mistakes, and we also tend to handle situations differently. If you think that a measure taken against you is unfair, go to this forum and make an appeal.

tl;dr? READ IT