RolePlay General Rules

We – at Kingdom of Sand, Venexia, and Golgothica – welcome all kind of players. We keep roleplay rules as simple as possible for everybody, so it is not required to be an experienced roleplayer to join the game here. If you play in one of our SIMs, we expect you to read the our rules and comply. Thank you.

DEFINITION

A role-playing game is a game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories.
Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.
Within the rules, they may improvise  freely; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games.
Role playing games are fundamentally different from most other types of games in that they stress social interaction and collaboration, rather than individual competition. Misunderstanding this often
leads to bad role play.

COMMON ABBREVIATIONS USED IN SECOND LIFE™

A few Role Play terms you should be familiar with.

  • Role-Play – Creating a character or two in which you write ‘storylines’ with other players who have created their own characters. In a sense, it is acting….only written.
  • Character – The made-up personality played by the player
  • Player – The person doing the typing
  • Storylines – Stories that are written by the players using their characters. Sometimes, the player who started the storyline has a specific plot in mind, sometimes not.
  • IC- short for ‘In Character’
  • OOC- Short for ‘Out Of Character’. Used when talking player to player behind the scenes.
  • BRB – Short for ‘Be Right Back’
  • GTG – Short for ‘Got To Go’
  • LOL – Short for ‘Laughing Out Loud’
  • RL – Real Life
  • RP – Role-Play
  • AFK- Short for ‘Away from keyboard’
  • BIC – Short for ‘Back In Character’. Used when players are finished talking to each other behind the scenes and talking as their characters again.

TOLERANCE

In our Sims we try to create an environment that is open to both new and experienced role players.
We expect all players to be tolerant of each other.
We do not agree with the criticising of others word craft.
All Role Play is valid as long as it is delivered with sincerity.
No one enjoys being talked down to.
If you have advice to offer another  player on how they might improve their RP then try to do so without taking a superior attitude.
We have people from many countries playing in our SIMs to whom English is not their first Language.
We see this as no hindrance to their ability to play in the Sim, as long as they have at least some fundamental English to enable them to participate in the role play.

CONSENSUAL

All RP is consensual, this means that you should always be aware of another players likes and dislikes and RP limits.
If you are asked by another Player to Stop a conversation or an action OOC then you must stop.
RP is not an excuse to use rules to dominate other players.
Ask yourself what is the point of inflicting your RP upon another player who does not wish it or who does not intend to respond to your words or actions.
RP is not self Masturbation, e.g. it is Consensual sex, even when it is portraying Rape.
Understand this or expect to be ejected and Banned.

HARSH LANGUAGE

We are fans of reality and are keen that the roleplay is realistic to the ears as would be any similar RL City.
Therefore we are not against swearing and so called bad language being used in RP within the sim.
Even so, continually swearing in another players face with little or no RP backing it up can become intensely offensive.
Remember this, and use cursing and swearing only to punctuate your sentences, if this is how you perceive your Character to communicate.
But do not use it ignorantly or we may be forced to uphold complaints against you.
Strive to be creatively offensive in your language, not just ignorant and blunt.

ROLE PLAY CHAT PUNCTUATION

In order to avoid In Character, IC, and Out of Character, OOC, confusion about what your character is saying, please use appropriate punctuation by putting quotes “ “ around what your character is saying, and no quotes around your actions.
Example –

“Who are you?” she asked, walking over to them.
or
Baal walks directly over to the red nosed guy who just questioned his actions, grabs his coat lapels lifting him slightly off the ground. Then he speaks in a low guttural voice “ You got a problem with that Rudolph”

The SGS system also has a built in OOC text converter activated by typing /22 in chat before the OOC sentence you wish to post.
Example –
/22 my dog just ate my Hamster in RL. I have to go clean up the mess BRB
This turns your text green so that others know it is OOC and not part of your Role Play.

POWERGAMING

A player is powergaming when they make their character stronger than is deemed necessary.
People quickly tire of characters that always win.
Remember that this is a shared experience, be aware of the feedback your character takes and adjust it accordingly.

GODMODING

Godmoding is essentially the same as powergaming, only it focuses more on defense.
A player is Godmoding when they play that their character never gets hurt…or heals too quickly.
The SGS system is based upon a game Meter which takes care of some fundamental statistics like Physical Health and Mental state, lessening the chances to Godmod.
These “scores” reflect your actions in the sim i.e. you have not been eating or you have been fighting, so your health score drops.
You should always be aware of your Meter scores and behave accordingly.
If your Physical score says critical then drag yourself to hospital, don’t stand in the street chatting.
The Meter is there to aid role play and encourage interaction with other players not as an inconvenience to be dealt with as quickly as possible then ignored.

BALANCE

Just a note here on the balance of powers and strength.
Strong or weak, good or evil, there must be a balance.
What is the point of having heroes when there is no one around for them to be heroes for?
A world cannot be made up entirely of heroes.
There must also be a balance between good and evil.
Evil characters cannot always escape, heroes cannot always win. That’s what makes life, and storylines, more interesting.
Understand that loosing can be just as great a Role Play experience as winning if you aim to expand your Character.

LOCATION

Be aware at all times of where you are in the sim when you RP.
The whole sim does not have the same atmosphere and feel to it.
Chatting on Main street is not the same as chatting on the roof tops or in an alley.
Build the feel of your surroundings into your conversations.
When you RP with other players, be aware of where they are.
If you are talking to someone who is in one place, and some other characters walks over to a place farther off, it is not possible to have conversations with both groups, unless it is “role-played” that one of the groups walks over to the other.

ALWAYS IN CHARACTER

Venexia, KOS and Golgothica are not an amusement park where you RP for a short while then run around the place OOC.
Once you enter the Sim you are expected to be in Character all the time, and only to go OOC if a situation calls for it.
Even if you are alone in the Sim you should keep in character and imagine the sim to be populated.
Look up at the buildings and see the lights on in the Metro Blocks and Know that they are teaming with life.
The Real Players in the Sim are only a tiny fraction of the population of the City.
Buildings Such as Metropol, the home of the Nomos Police department, are always to be considered guarded and protected, unless major RP to the contrary has been discussed and arrange before hand.

KNOWLEDGE

Be aware that you, as a player, may have some knowledge of things that the character you play does not. Don’t let your character have that knowledge until s/he has earned it (or Role-played it out).
This is possibly one of the main faults of Meter based Role Play, that other characters simply read your character stats and use them in conversation. PLEASE DO NOT DO IT!
When You Meet a new Character in a sim assume you know nothing at all about them.
Forget their Meter, act totally ignorant of any knowledge about them except that which you see or that which they inform you of in conversation.
Role Play with others is about the slow discovery and revealing of another characters personality, exactly like in RL.
This applies to places as well. You cannot know the history of a place you have only just arrived in.
If you want to know more then ask around.

KILLING

In the SGS system all combat ends in the unconsciousness of the loosing player, never death, unless Character death has been agreed between players at the outset of combat.
RP death is in fact impractical and nonsensical in a sim such as Nomos or KOS unless each player intends creating a new character after each fight lost, or some miraculous Re incarnation plan is also part of the story line
Do not attempt to kill another character unless it is your own, or you get permission from that character’s player first.
Death in Role Play is as serious as death in real life to many players.
If you have spent many months creating a character then you do not want it killed casually by someone with no respect for the rules of role play.

RESPECT ONE ANOTHER!

Since our SIMs are rated mature, we require everyone to be 18 years old and older in RL, and all players should act it! Immaturity will not be tolerated. If you have a problem with someone OOC, take it to private instant messages or mute the person bothering you! OOC arguments disrupt role-play and BOTH parties will be warned, ejected or even banned.

If you are warned by an admin for violation of a rule or improper conduct, you are NOT to discuss or debate it. Rules are clearly stated and everyone is supposed to read them – ignorance is not an excuse.

Regardless of RP role, everyone is to be treated and respected equally when out-of-character. Remember, treat others as you would want to be treated.

Read more here: Admin Information.

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Last modified: November 6, 2011