What follows are the *basic* rules for *ANYONE* who connects to Watership Down MUCK, whether Player, HelpStaffer, or Wizard, regardless of their reasons for connecting. There are always going to be things we haven't covered here, but remember the Golden Rule of MUCKING:

If in doubt, don't do it until you check with a Wizard.

Also, if you check with a Wizard, please remember that Wizards have the final say, they are the highest authority you can go to here on WDMuck and what they say can't be disputed. If you disagree with a Wizard's decision, contact another Wizard and ask them to 'appeal' that decision for you.

For the purposes of these rules, 'everyone' is defined as:

Any living person who connects to, or otherwise uses the electronic resources of Watership Down Muck. The term 'everyone' is all-inclusive and does NOT exclude Wizards, HelpStaffers, or anyone else from any of these rules. The 'electronic resources' of WSDuck are defined as the muck itself, the server it runs on, the www server run by WSDMuck, the email system used by the Wizards, and any other electronic resources that use the Watership Down MUCK" logo and/or name.

These rules are upheld by the Wizards of Watership Down MUCK. By connecting to the Muck, you accept these rules and agree to abide by them and report all infractions.

1. Main Rule: Everyone is expected to treat everyone else with respect. In other words, don't be a jerk. Along these lines, you're also expected to follow these simple guidelines (Taken from FidoNet's Policy4):

1. Thou shalt not excessively annoy others.
2. Thou shalt not be too easily annoyed.

In other words, there are no hard and fast rules of conduct, but reasonably polite behavior is expected. Also, in any dispute both sides are examined, and action could be taken against either or both parties.

2. Absolutely *ZERO* harassment will be tolerated.
Harassment is defined as:
Any activity that irritates or annoys another player that is not stopped after being asked to stop. This includes, but is not limited to:
Taking OOC conflicts to an IC situation, and vice versa.
Logging into another players character(s) - regardless of whether or not you have their permission to do so.
Paging/whispering/mailing/etc another player repeatedly after being asked to stop.
'Trapping' another player by telling them you wish to RP one situation with them, then changing the situation after they arrive, without telling them.
Attempting to discover the RL information of another player, unless they specifically offer to tell you such information.
(Exception to the above: Wizards may use theirabilities to access such information at their discretion, but are not to give such information out to other players without the player's permission unless they feel it is in the interest of muck security (be it WDM or another muck.)

3. Each individual player owns his or her character(s) property.
Nobody is permitted to take, modify, or delete your property without your permission, unless it is a Wizard, and they may only do so in an effort to enforce the rules and/or spirit of Watership Down and Watership Down MUCK.
Toaded characters' property will, unless publicly accessible, be @purged along with the character. If, however, the character owns property (ie: lands) that is publicly accessible, the property may not be deleted from the database, at the Wizards' discretion. If, at a future point after the toading, the Wizards determine that it is in the Muck population's best interests that someone other than a Wizard maintain (or "own") the property, it will be @chowned over to the person in question. By toading a character, unless YOU YOURSELF physically @purge your character, you grant the Wizards permission to use the property of the character in question as they see fit. Characters will be deleted from the database (Commonly known as 'toading') after 12 weeks (3 months) of inactivity.

4. Nobody can force anyone else to do anything.
Anyone included or involved in RP must be willing. If you are RPing something that can change the 'balance of power' and the other party refuses to participate in an effort to retain whatever 'power' they may have, you may NOT just ignore them and act as if the RP turned out the way you wished. If a situation like this arises, contact a wizard, who will attempt to resolve the problem OOCly. If it cannot be resolved OOCly, action will be taken against either one or both parties.

5. Anyone not following these rules risks losing access to Watership Down, either through suspension or revocation of access.
First Offense: The player in question will receive a warning from one or more Wizards, either through a chat or through muckmail.
Second Offense: Depending on the severity of the offense, the player in question could receive EITHER a second (and final) warning, or they might be banned from the muck (in severe instances).
Third Offense: Wizard(s) can suspend or ban the player in question, after consulting with the other Wizards.
NOTE: These actions are only guidelines. Wizards may at times take immediate action, up to and including @toading, if the severity of the offense warrants it. WE ARE NOT ABOVE USING @BOOT TO SOLVE A PROBLEM!

9. TS (TinySex) and Children:
TinySex is a reality on any muck. On Watership Down Muck, we consider ourselves to be family oriented, but we do recognize the existance of TS, though we would rather not have it around. If you wish to TS, it MUST occur in a private place, and MUST occur between consenting, legally adult, players.
Watership Down MUCK is family oriented and should be considered 'rated' anywhere from G to PG-13 in public places, depending on the nature of the RP in question. If anything more 'graphic' is seen to occur in a public place, the participants will be asked to take their RP elsewhere.
NOTICE: Pedophilia related roleplaying (EX: Father and 'underage' [ie: kitten] offspring having TS) is strictly forbidden. It does not matter if it's consentual or not, DO NOT DO IT.
***** ANY VIOLATION OF THIS POLICY WILL RESULT IN THE *****
***** IMMEDIATE @PURGING AND @TOADING OF YOUR CHARACTER *****
***** AND YOU WILL BE BANNED FROM WATERSHIP DOWN MUCK. *****

10. Cross-Species Mating:
Anyone may take any mate they wish, provided it stays within the boundaries of Rule #9 above. However, you may NOT RP having offspring in a cross-species relationship. A badger and a dog, (for example) can NOT produce pups.

11. Fighting:
Fighting is a way of life in the around anyplace, including the Down. Part of a way of life is being 'out muscled'. Please do NOT act in a way that your character can't possibly act. For example, nobody can use weapons, unless a human(should that species be allowed). Another example would be a kitten killing an adult rabbit - it just can't happen. Anyone who acts in a manner such as this will most likely end up being faced with a meeting with one or more of the Wizards.

14.NPC's (Non-Playing Characters)
These objects are only created by wizards. If you wish to have one or more NPC's, you must demonstrate a need to have an NPC (as opposed to having a zombie). Also, NPC's may not be used for offensive actions (primarily because you must have the other character's permission before such RP can occur and NPC's can not ask someone for their permission.)

15. Conflicts with other Players
If you have a conflict with another player, please report it to the Wizards. We will deal with it as we see fit. DO NOT take matters into your own hands and do things that could very well get you into trouble, such as trying to bring other players into the situation or distributing logs or anything else like that. If you are caught doing so, action that is seen as fit will be done. Refer to #5 to see the penalties. The wizzes of WSDMuck reserve the right to take any action they see fit for the situation, however.

There are many many many more rules that can't possibly be listed here. As before, if in doubt, don't do it - OR - if in doubt, page/mail a Wizard.

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