Post by Da Boss on Jun 28, 2020 22:18:50 GMT -5
THE COVENANT
This Covenant is agreed to by all participants on this site. These are not the exhaustive list of rules for the site, they are not the only rules for the site. The Covenant is an agreement between everyone, staff and player alike, which states what is expected of them in order to participate in any and all activities on this site. By creating an account on this site you are agreeing to abide by the terms listed within The Covenant.
We are ALL Human
In agreeing to play on this site you understand that everyone else here is human, including the staff. You will treat everyone with civility and respect. This rule extends beyond a simple “Don’t pick on people” rule. This extends to how you treat people across the site, how you file various complaints, to how you play on this site, to how you act towards the players and staff on this site. If it is discovered that anyone on this site is not treating others with respect or is being uncivil, the punishment will be harsh and swift.
To Err is Human
Everybody makes mistakes and nobody is perfect. Outside of the rules for civility and respect, it is a fact of life that mistakes will happen. When that happens, or you believe that it has happened, you will be expected to finish out the current scene and then use the complaint system to bring the mistake to the attention of the admins. The claim will be investigated and corrected. This rule is not a blanket excuse to metagame, powergame, cheat, bend or break the rules. Individuals who are found to be repeat offenders will be removed from the site, permenantly. Nobody will be banned for simple mistakes when they happen, but a failure to abide by the rules of the game or the site can and will eventually lead to a removal from our game.
We are all adults here
Building upon the respect and civility rules, this rule is a rather simple one. World of Darkness is a very grim setting in general, and the version in play on this site is a particularly adult version of those themes. While we do not wish to make some form of age identification a part of playing on this site, individuals who demonstrate that they are not mature enough to handle our content will be removed. Additionally, childish behaviors such as whinning to the staff, attempting to play the staff off each other (But, the other admin said I could! Or That’s not how the other ST ran this merit!), or bringing “childish” character concepts or themes to the game will not be tolerated. (As your Admin, I find that I can tolerate a great many things, but there comes a point in time when even I am going to have to step in and can character concepts that are disruptive to the game as a whole.)
There are no secrets
Nothing destroys a game faster than the perception of partiality, favortism, or staff secrets. Any Out of Character ruling by the staff will be made public along with a brief reasoning for that ruling. This means that you will not find posts stating that someone is banned “for failing to follow the site rules.” We will let you know exactly which aspect of The Covenant was broken and how it was broken when the admins make a punishment ruling. Additionally, there are no secrets that are to be kept from the staff. If you, the player, have a problem with someone on our site the staff must be made aware of the issue; even if it is a member of the staff. The only way problems can be solved is if we all, players and staff, take ownership of the site and we all strive together to make it a safe and healthy place to game together. This cannot be done if there is not free communication between the staff and the players of the site.
Participating is a privilege, not a right
The staff of the site are putting in their time, money, blood, sweat, and tears to make and run this game for our players. We take this burden freely, and are happy to do so. However, at the end of the day, we are giving up our free time and time with our families to run a game for the players, we are paying the fees associated with hosting and maintaining this site (albeit donations are greatly appreciated). More importantly, we own the site and the intellectual property that went into writing this setting, the characters, and the stories which are being told. This is the game that we are going to run. We will always be honest about what is happening within the setting as a whole. However, the players do not have a right to play in this game. If the staff makes a determination, it may be appealed to the admins, but the rulings of the admins is final. If you don’t like it, you can go and play somewhere else.
People have biases
This is merely a fact of life. There are people we like, people we don’t like, foods we like and don’t like, music we like and don’t like, etc. The staff and players will make a concerted effort to make sure that our internal biases do not impact the game as a whole. If you believe that you are being unfairly targeted or punished, you will follow the complaint procedures of this site. Once a final determination has been made by a combined ruling of the admins, it is final. Continued complaints, posts, messages, etc. to the staff concerning a final ruling will not be tolerated. If you have an issue at that point, keep it to yourself.
We are here to Play
There is nothing that drags a game down quicker than players who don’t show up. Especially players who earn rank/status/positions that then nobody can find when they need to find them. There is nothing that stops a game quicker than a staff that doesn’t get anything done. Especially games where it takes almost a year to finish a single scene and storylines stretch for years on end. We will not tolerate this kind of behavior. If you do not play in a single scene with another player for two months, your character will be deleted. You must actually play the characters that you make. If the staff goes longer than 2 weeks without running a scene, they will be removed from the staff. The staff must actually help run the game.