Community Update - SERVER RULES CHANGES & CLARIFICATIONS

[Osborn]

SERVER RULES CHANGES & CLARIFICATIONS
17th of December, 2019

Eclipse Community, 

Eclipse Community, These last few months have been very successful for Eclipse Roleplay and without you this community wouldn't be where it's at today. We are very happy with the current state of the community. There is still much to be done,but we are working to the best of our abilities to accommodate everyone. We look forward to continuing these changes and new additions wherever possible, whether that be development, procedures or simply rule changes.

A few months ago, we told our community that we were going to review server rules and make amendments to them if we saw that it was necessary. Since then, we've had several meetings where we've debated and deliberated around proposed changes, tested potential development changes to accommodate certain changes around vehicles etcetera. Recently, last week, we pushed a final form out to the staff team, and I am happy to announce that today, we've finally come to a conclusion on some vital changes that we feel the community has been asking for, and with that, a few clarifications that we feel are necessary for the community to be reminded off. We can't thank our Staff Team enough for their contribution over the past few months.

Before I jump into the changes, I would like to bring up the term "ruleplaying" and address that. Ruleplaying means that you play this game entirely by following our server rules black and white, you focus entirely on the rules and change your gameplay and roleplay based on them in order to play to win. This is a roleplay server, which means that you should insert yourself into this virtual reality that we've created together and play in the shoes of a character that you've created on your own. It's your responsibility to develop this character's storyline, and progress that storyline as you play the game - each action you perform or situation you get involved in, you should focus on the immersion of it and make sure that you do your part to make it as realistic as possible. A common example I can use is sitting in your car and taunting people with guns aimed at you, just because you knew that the rules previously protected you from being attacked as long as your engine was on. This is not you focusing on immersion or good roleplay, this is you playing by the rules and acting as if your character knew the OOC rules.

We hope that moving forward into 2020, that all community members of Eclipse Roleplay, regardless of what role you play, will focus on improving the general immersion and quality of roleplay on the server. This is not a one-way street, we all have to do our part, especially players in positions of power and influence, such as faction leaders or staff members.

Now let's jump into the actual information,

Full list of our server rules: https://forum.eclipse-rp.net/forum/68-eclipse-roleplay-server-rules/

The following server rules categories remain unchanged:

• 1. Account Ownership and Responsibility
• 2. Donations and Credit Store
• 3. Character Creation & Property
• 4. Harassment and Knowledge of Rule Breaches
• 5. Hacking and Exploits
• 6. Advertising and Public Chats
• 7. IC and OOC Interactions
• 9. Metagaming
• 10. Powergaming
• 11. No Crime Zones
• 12. New Life Rule
• 13. Fear Roleplay
• 15. Player Theft, Prison Breakout, and Kidnapping
• 16. Building 

 

8. Non-Roleplay (NRP)

NEW ADDITIONS / CHANGES: • ADDED: Players should not deprive other players of roleplay, e.g. early on the interaction asking them not to speak unless it makes sense in the roleplay situation. Clarification: You should not stop a player from roleplaying even if you e.g. hold them at gunpoint. We have seen this being used as a tool to work around our server rules and find a reason to kill them. This will only be allowed if it makes sense to the roleplay context of the situation, for example, if you are robbing a player and another player is approaching from around the corner, you obviously can ask them to be quiet or they can be met with deadly repercussion should they not be quiet.  If you deprive a player's ability to roleplay by killing them, it may be deemed as an invalid demand and thus you should also be punished for deathmatching.  FURTHER CLARIFICATION(S): • Off-Road Driving: Because it's difficult for us to draw a line and determine what's acceptable or not, we are still continuing to allow off-road driving as long as you can maintain control of your vehicle and don't perform any stunt jumps. You should as always, not intentionally and deliberately damage your expensive vehicles, as that is still considered as Non-Roleplay. We are looking into potential development solutions to this instead, to have the script detect your terrain, but we cannot make any promises right now as it's very early! When we speak of off-road driving, we do not see driving vertical up mountains as acceptable. • Overusing / Misusing /B & /OOC: We ask that our players remain In Character at all times, which is already a rule under "7. IC and OOC Interactions". Misusing or overusing /b to ruin the immersion and roleplay of other players is not tolerated, and you can be punished for either not remaining In Character, or for stalling the roleplay which is considered an act of Non-Roleplay.  • Contributing to Immersion: We ask that every community member plays their part to contribute to a healthy roleplay immersion. For example, in times that we enable snow in the server, we ask that players adapt to this In Character and not run around as if it was still summer - you may be spoken to by an admin and have a note added to your admin record, and you may also suffer from random consequences for your behavior placed on you by admins. This problem also exists in how community members conduct themselves in general, there is no need to drive 200 km/h throughout the city all the time, or randomly jump between and stand on cars. Admins may speak to you, place a note on your record, and/or as mentioned previously, enforce consequences such as forced RP injuries depending on the situation.  • Wheelies/Leaning Forward on Motorcycles: Abusing game mechanics such as doing wheelies or leaning forward on a motorcycle to gain a significant speed advantage over other players will not be tolerated. That means if you are being chased by another player, you shouldn't be doing wheelies or leaning forward to gain speed. It's unrealistic and we will be cracking down on this.

9. Metagaming

NEW ADDITIONS / CHANGES: • None FURTHER CLARIFICATION(S): • Discord: Only a select few business discords have been allowed to run an IC business on discord, due to the lack of script features (for now) that needs to be accessible by them. No player may create and run an IC discord, and everyone involved will be punished for metagaming. Furthermore, we have also noticed an increased amount of players using their Discord ID In Character, e.g. for "emails". This is not tolerated, and we ask that you resort to using your phone's text message feature for this. The only area where emails are authorized is on the Government forums (gov.eclipse-rp.net), which is regulated and moderated by server staff. You will be punished for metagaming should this continue. • Roleplaying brands/items that do not exist in the GTA world: We ask that you do not roleplay owning an item or brand that does not exist in the GTA world when interacting with other players. For example, stating that you're selling a Supra when you're in fact selling a Jester Classic.

10. Powergaming

NEW ADDITIONS / CHANGES: • None FURTHER CLARIFICATION(S): • Getting tazed: We are in the process of looking over how tazers work and how we could make them better, but this does not mean that you should ignore the realistic effects a tazer would have on you. If you are tazed, you should not immediately stand up and run, and especially not if a player tries to roleplay getting on top of you. Pay attention to the roleplay, read /me's and respond to them accordingly. We will be cracking down on this. • Looting Injured Players: We do not require that players roleplay before looting an injured player. The script sends out a text prompt that you are looting someone, and there's a very long timer before you are successful. When a player is brutally injured, they cannot move, which means that they also cannot resist.

11. No Crime Zones

NEW ADDITIONS / CHANGES: • None  FURTHER CLARIFICATION(S): • Escaping to No Crime Zones: Our rules currently allow players to seek shelter at No Crime Zones, however, this was intended for victims of crimes, and not criminals escaping from other criminals. Our rules currently state that "Players may not go to an NCZ after engaging in criminal activity resulting in an ongoing chase." this means for example if you're cooking drugs at a drug lab, or leaving after having cooked drugs, and a group of players tries to rob you, then you cannot seek shelter at an NCZ, that would be abusing the No Crime Zones. Play it fair. Criminals that are being chased by other criminals may escape to a No Crime Zone only if they intend to turn themselves over to the police for further roleplay, which could be i.e. detective roleplay and protective custody. They may however not use this as an excuse to hide in a No Crime Zone, if there's no police there, then you should continue finding a place safe and suitable for you. • Contribution to Immersion: Again, there's only so much we can regulate. We have placed these no crime zones down for civilians to find an environment where they can involve themselves in social roleplay. We ask that all community members do their part to respect the No Crime Zones and their purposes, remember to not focus on ruleplay and instead on roleplay. For example, is it really realistic to be wielding Assault Rifles and causing havoc on the street opposite of a NCZ because the scripted NCZ ends there? Not really. Server staff can punish case by case basis if they deem an action as a violation of this rule, should it happen near the border of an NCZ.

12. New Life Rule

NEW ADDITIONS / CHANGES: • CHANGED: "An exception is made for government faction members who may provide a faction duty service, though their memory being lost and inability to retrieve assets still apply."  To the following: "Official Faction members may return to their HQ to resume faction duties but must abide by the rule in all other ways." Clarification: It was our understanding that the previous wording made members of the community confused, and instead, we clarified it with simple but straightforward wording. This just means that faction members that die can return to their place of work, go on duty, and resume their duty. FURTHER CLARIFICATION(S): • Picking up items from dying friends: This is only acceptable if you intend to keep the items that you pick up from a friend dying. If your friend dies from a situation, it would be a violation of the New Life Rule / Metagaming to give these items back to them, as there is no connection between them and the items that you previously picked up. Do not use the OOC knowledge of you knowing that they will respawn to your IC advantage. You will end up being caught, and it's an action that ruins the general quality of roleplay. We will be cracking down on this.

13. Fear Roleplay

NEW ADDITIONS / CHANGES: • None FURTHER CLARIFICATION(S): • Examples and their purpose: We have understood that some community members have taken examples listed under our Fear Roleplay literal, and not understanding the purpose of why they are there. First of all, the list of examples is not exhaustive, they are simply provided to you as a means to understand how we want you to roleplay fear in your character. We understand that this has prompted ruleplay in some cases, with the example brought up in the very beginning of this update post. We have hopefully tackled this issue with the change that we've done under 14. Deathmatching. • Sitting in a vehicle: Being in a vehicle with its engine on does not make you invulnerable. If for example, you have a gun aimed at you while you're in your car, you have the chance to escape (if possible) or surrender. If you escape, you might get shot at. If all means of escaping have been blocked off, you should never just sit in your car and taunt other players. This is a clear issue where ruleplay is valued over roleplay, and we will be cracking down on this. • Fear Roleplay and Police: We just wanted to clarify that Fear Roleplay applies regardless of who the player is. If you are being held at gunpoint by the police, you are expected to respond the same way as if a criminal aimed their gun at you. The guns are the same, and won't hurt any less.

14. Deathmatching

NEW ADDITIONS / CHANGES: • REMOVED: "Attacking another player with no engagement in roleplay is not allowed." • CHANGED: "Deathmatching is the act of attacking a player or their property without a proper roleplay reason." To the following: "Deathmatching is the act of attacking a player without proper roleplay reason and interaction." • CHANGED: "If they are not in compliance with demands, attempt to escape, or call other players for help in a situation where they are required to display fear under fear roleplay rules." To the following: "If they are not in compliance with plausible demands, attempt to escape, or call backup." • CHANGED: "Vehicles cannot be used to attack another player more than once, including a failed attempt." To the following: "Vehicles cannot be used to attack a player on foot more than once, including a failed attempt." Clarification: The first line was removed and included in the DM definition by itself, interaction = engagement. There's no change to the actual rule with that line. We removed property from being included under the DM rule, but that means property that isn't occupied. Vehicles that are driven by players is an attack on that player, and the DM rule should be followed. Attacking abandoned property will still require a roleplay reason. This will be handled by a case by case basis, as for example, kicking a car because you've had an altercation with its driver does not compare to driving after and shooting at the car. The Fear RP rule has been separated from the DM rule. You can now engage in players for not following plausible demands, attempt to escape or that call for backup. You still have to give players a reasonable time to follow your demands. This means that you can also engage in players that have been given demands and try to escape by vehicle. Remember that you should always have a proper roleplay reason to engage on a player. We still see it as Non-Roleplay and a non-plausible demand to give a moving car demands through VOIP. Stopping a moving car as a criminal roleplayer is never going to be as easy as it is for the police, it's just simply how it is - it's a bad comparison, as for the latter, it's their duty to do just that, and they have the tools to be able to give demands whilst driving (sirens & megaphone). You have to find a way to give a realistic demand whilst also not acting as if the highway is the wild west, perhaps stake the person out and wait until they're stopped? Ramming with vehicles has been clarified, that rule was intended for players on foot since it was first introduced in late 2017. This is because of how game mechanics work and how easily it is to force players into a ragdoll state. As long as you have a reason to attack another player in a vehicle with your own vehicle, and you're in a vehicle that can be realistically used for ramming, then you may perform any realistic maneuvers to try and stop them.  FURTHER CLARIFICATION(S): • Plausible Demands: We ask that the community contributes to a positive roleplay environment and that they are realistic with demands that they give other players. We have left this rule very much to interpretation by staff members and players alike, giving room to handle situations around circumstances and case by case basis.  • Action Roleplay: We ask that community members not solely focus on action roleplay, we do not want to be stuck in a bubble of constant shootouts and robberies. Develop your characters realistically, take breaks between action roleplay and do some social roleplay with your friends or strangers. Should we see a sudden increase in focus on action roleplay, we may make necessary changes as that would go against our vision for an immersive environment.

16. Building

NEW ADDITIONS / CHANGES: • None FURTHER CLARIFICATION(S): • Realistic Building: Player builds should be realistic, fit in with the environment and house/property that it's built at. We will not tolerate fortresses built around trailer parks, or multiple garage spots built onto a trailer. That's not a realistic environment and we will keep deleting builds such as these when we come across them. If you are unsure about something, report and consult a staff member!  • Blocking entrances/exits: Player builds are not allowed to block entrances or exits from houses/properties. Your entrance should be accessible and so should your stash and safes. This is already against the rules. • Guidelines: Senior Administrator Bakmeel has confirmed that he's working on creating guidelines around player builds with another staff member. Hopefully, we will see that being released within the next few days, and that should hopefully clarify what bad and good player builds look like.

Endnote

We hope that these rule changes will benefit the general quality of roleplay and that our community will accept them. Eclipse Staff is here to help you should you have any questions about the changes or suggestions for future changes.

We would like to end this announcement by yet again thank you all for being apart of our wonderful community. We hope that the holidays will bring you joy and excitement and that the remainder of December will be safe and enjoyable. 2019 has far been one of the more progressive years for Eclipse Roleplay, not only in establishing a stable and dedicated player base but also with the implementation and changes of many new features. But it does not end here! Our development is kicking in again and thanks to Osvaldon and Nobody, 2020 will be even better! There's a lot planned, and in due time, it will all eventually come.

We are grateful for your patience and dedication towards Eclipse Roleplay.