Rules

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The final decision on rule-breaking always depends on circumstance and context. But few rules of thumb can be used to better understand Verdict's laws:

  • Staff are held to a much higher standard than players, especially in areas relating to abuse of power and cheating.
  • The goal of Verdict is to create an enjoyable and entertaining story collaboratively between a community of players. This story should be, while realistic, fair and reasonable to all individuals involved.
  • Do not go out of your way to harass, abuse, or discomfort other players. Staff regulate toxicity to prevent these all-around negative experiences.

General Policy

0.) Even if you haven't committed a single bannable rulebreak, you may still be punished for the sum of prior actions. A history of bad behavior, smaller infractions, toxicity and otherwise may result in staff action despite said prior actions not individually mandating a ban/mute/etc.

1.) Don't be a dick. We're here to have fun. Try to treat other players with the same level of respect you’d want yourself.

2.) Staff rulings should be abided by in the moment. If you have an issue with a certain staff decision, please use the Appeals forum rather than arguing in-game.

Gameplay Rules

Traveling Rules

  • [Travel Size] - You may not travel into neutral or hostile territories in a group of 5 or more players.
  • [Travel Time] - The IC size of the island isn't fully represented mechanically. Meaning it'd take IC time to get from one place to another. For example, if you run from the scene of a fight to a town and back, you'd more than likely not be allowed to rejoin the scene.
  • [Everything is IC] - You cannot be in a location OOCLY. You are icly wherever your character is, unless deemed otherwise by a moderator.
  • [On Hiding Behind Trees] - You may not hide behind trees with the intent of starting a hostile scene, with anyone. This includes but is not limited to, finding a fugitive, ganking, tax collecting, and a whole lot more. A good rule of thumb is, only hide behind a tree if you're going afk.

Scene Locks

  • [Scene Locking] - A scene lock occurs when Hostile Intent is declared in a scene. At that moment, the only people who are allowed to continue participation in the scene are those who roleplayed in it before the scene lock was declared.
    • The Scene Lock resolves when all eligible combats have resolved. Everyone who fought is allowed a free flee (the ability to run without rolling /flee).

Combat Rules

  • [Potions] - In PVP Scenarios, most potions are allowed to be used prior to a fight. Nothing may be used in the middle of a fight unless agreed to by your opponent.
    • The exception are potions that refund spells or stat points, these cannot be used prior to, or in the middle of, a fight.

Prisoner Rules

  • [Prisoner RP] - You are expected to roleplay with your prisoners. If the prisoner of an individual, group, or faction, goes without RP for a long enough period of time, they may be given a free escape. This will come with a warning beforehand.

Punishable Offenses

Inappropriate Roleplay

Content that detracts from the overall quality of the game and the enjoyment of other players. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • [ERP/Sexual RP] This includes (but is not limited to), most notably, ERP. Romantic RP (hand-holding, kissing, cuddling, etc.) is perfectly acceptable, but if things are getting raunchy (NSFW), keep it in private. If you think you're going too far, you probably are. Public cases of ERP are handled much more severely than private cases. Also, note, your character needs to be of age (18/Young Adult age tag).
  • [Gross/Disturbing RP] RPing gross, shocking, or morally reprehensible topics. This includes (but is not limited to) fetish RP, extreme gore, sexual RP toward minors and similar. If you think the people you're RPing with wouldn't appreciate it, you probably shouldn't do it. If someone asks you OOC to stop RPing something that’s making them uncomfortable, please be considerate and do so.
  • [Lore Breaking] Making up your own setting without approval and ignoring established story isn't allowed, though small, character-related details may be constructed without approval (family backgrounds, minor factions, etc.). This rule also prohibits over the top joke characters and characters from other mediums.
  • [God Modding] Deciding your character may act outside of their physical boundaries or deciding other characters' actions for them is strictly prohibited in Verdict. This rule also prohibits deciding the time, location, NPCs present, and other essential details of a scene without approval from other involved parties.
  • [NSFW References] Player profiles should be safe for work. In other words, character profiles shouldn't contain explicit artwork, and especially not of real people. This extends to excessive gore (doubly so in the latter case).
  • [Important Note] You can always consult with admins before posting if you're curious as to whether something would be considered inappropriate or not.

Poor Conduct

Toxic and uncooperative interactions with other players. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • [RP Evasion] Logging off or walking away from scenes to avoid conflict or unfavorable circumstances for your character is harshly punished, usually with a permanent ban.
  • [Powergaming] Setting out with the singular intent of boosting your character's stats or build, playing only to win battles against other players, or otherwise betraying RP and story in favor of elevating your mechanics is extraordinarily disrespectful to other players and harms their experience distinctly. This rule includes targeting players of a significantly lower level.
  • [OOC Harassment] Stalking, verbally assaulting, intentionally lying about, or otherwise abusing a player for any reason is abhorrent. While not inherently connected to Verdict, attempting to learn who someone is in real life (doxxing), pressuring someone into a sexual situation, or spreading false rumors about an individual within its community will be treated as a rulebreak of high severity. This rule also includes sharing logs of private scenes without a participating player's consent.
  • [Disruptive Behavior] Attempting to derail or undermine a scene or event is obnoxious and will see you removed from the premises. Questions are welcome, random OOC arguing is not. If there's a problem, as always, contact an admin before attempting to resolve it with insults.

Cheating & Exploitation

Breaking game mechanics for the sake of unfair advantage. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • [Exploiting Bugs] or other unintended gameplay. Reporting these immediately is your best course of action. If you want to test a bug, you must talk to Roomy or staff first. DO NOT TEST BUGS WITHOUT FIRST TELLING STAFF. Doing so will almost certainly get you banned- and no, "I forgot to say something" is not an excuse.
  • [RP Spamming] Posting the same RP over and over again for EXP. Even if you were to add on more to it, every RP you post should be mostly, if not totally, unique.
  • The use of outside programs to affect the game.
  • [Alt Interaction] Making multiple characters with the intention to meet up, exchange items, roleplay together, share information, and so on is explicitly bannable. Having multiple characters is fine, but making them interact with eachother is not.
  • [Account Sharing] Sharing your account with another player, for any reason, is not allowed.
  • [Metagaming] Using OOC information ICly is one of the most common cases of cheating, and is thusly one of the most harshly punished. Just because you know something doesn't mean your character does/would. This includes, especially so, using information from one alt character on another.
  • [Important Note] Cheating is one of the most harshly punished offenses in Verdict. I have gone to extreme lengths to document numerous possible avenues for cheating via an anticheat system. The triggers for said system are not and will not be mentioned, so consider this bullet-point fair warning: if you're caught cheating or bug-abusing without making it very clear you're just trying to bug-test, you're liable to be automatically, permanently, and irreversibly banned. I will personally overrule approved ban appeals if they involve a dangerous cheater.

Staff-Specific

  • [Power Abuse] Using staff privileges to gain an advantage over players. While some indirect influence is unfortunately impossible to avoid, explicit and direct influence for aforementioned reasons will be harshly punished. This typically results in a stripping of all privileges.
  • [Cheating] Attempting to break the game or exploit bugs for an advantage over players. Given admins have access to freeform item and stat manipulating tools, they're under even higher scrutiny for cheating. The severity of the case usually doesn't make a difference. The staff member is permanently blacklisted from roles and permanently banned.
  • [Status Abuse] Using reputation to influence players. This obviously depends quite a bit on context (as well as how intentionally it was done), but the more severe cases, such as leveraging staff reputation for favors or to change opinions, will result in the staff member being blacklisted from roles and stripped of all privileges.
  • [Private Info] Sharing private IC or OOC player information will result in a variety of punishments for the staff member in question depending on the severity of the context.
  • [Important Note 1] If a staff member is caught abusing their privileges or cheating in any way, I reserve the right to inform the community as to why the staff member has been let go. Step-downs and misunderstandings will not be reported on, but I will not forcefully remove a staff member without explaining why after.
  • [Important note 2] Being staff doesn't make you better than the players, and being staff isn't something that comes and goes because of "veteran status" or because of personal opinion about the staff member in question. Being staff should also not be looked at as a reward for good conduct. Staff roles are, simply put, volunteer positions that may sometimes require more participants- and sometimes less, too. Staff are not always let go because of bad favor or rulebreaks.