Eclipse Server Rules - Changelog

[Osborn]

ECLIPSE SERVER RULES CHANGELOG

All changes to and clarifications on our official server rules will be documented on this forum thread. 

Previous updates (not covered in the changelog):
10/JUN/2019
17/JUL/2019
17/DEC/2019

[Osborn]

25/JAN/2020

Changed under 13. Fear Roleplay (FRP):

• OLD: Driving a vehicle in an active shootout more than once without the intent of protecting a friend, fleeing with it, or using it as cover.
• NEW: Driving a vehicle into an active shootout more than once without the intent of providing cover for a friend or yourself, or fleeing with it.
   
• CLARIFICATION: Following a staff team meeting, we recognized that the wording of the old line made it seem like you could circle back into an active shootout and ram players in that shootout using "the intent of protecting a friend". This now means that you cannot drive into an active shootout more than once with the intent to ram players in that shootout, unless it's unavoidable when you are trying to flee from the active shootout. 

Added under 15. Player Theft, Prison Breakout, and Kidnapping

• Players can give consent to other players to be kidnapped outside of the stipulations above if the roleplay makes sense, but they should in such cases avoid involving law enforcement in any way due to the consented roleplay.
   
• CLARIFICATION: There has been times when two or more players have been involved in a roleplay where one party has wanted to kidnap the other party, but being unable to do so because they hadn't met the stipulations to do so. We are now allowing players to consent to being kidnapped, however, due to the consented roleplay, we ask that all players involved tries their best not to involve law enforcement. 

(No longer valid since new rules update).

[Osborn]

22/FEB/2020

Clarification on Powergaming (Carrying Players)

• Carrying bodies / injured players without writing /me's and /do's is no longer considered as powergaming due to the recent server update which imposed timers onto /carrybody, /storebody, /dropbody. The previous clarification written on the 10/JUN/2019 announcement which said that it was powergaming, has been removed. We are applying the same principle as looting injured / dead players through the server script, they are too injured to resist. 

[Osborn]

08/MAR/2020

Changed under 8. Non-Roleplay (NRP):

• OLD: Cop Baiting - Provoking a reaction from emergency services without a realistic reason.
• NEW: Baiting Government Services - Provoking a reaction from faction services without a realistic reason / or calling faction services to e.g. rob them.
   
• CLARIFICATION: Included calling mechanic / taxi / medic etc. services to bait unrealistically or for the sole purpose of robbing them. It got too excessive and ruined game-play experience for taxi drivers and mechanics alike. 
   

[Osborn]

14/MAR/2020

Changed under 8. Non-Roleplay (NRP):

• OLD: Spawning a scripted work vehicle and using it for crimes or submerging any vehicle in water.
• NEW: 
  • Spawning a scripted work vehicle and using it for anything other than its intended purpose.
  • Submerging any vehicle in water or unrealistically beaching any watercraft.
   
• CLARIFICATION: Wording change and separation of submersion rule. 

[Osborn]

2/APR/2020

Changed under 8. Non-Roleplay (NRP):

• OLD: Players who disconnect during roleplay must reconnect and inform other parties in order to resume roleplay. If you are unable to reconnect it may be excused after providing proof.
   
• NEW: 
  Players who disconnect during roleplay must reconnect and inform other parties in order to resume roleplay. If you are unable to reconnect it may be excused after providing proof that would give you a valid reason not to return.
   
• CLARIFICATION: No major change, just wording. If you cannot return to a role-play situation after crashing due to circumstances, you need to have some form of proof to provide a Moderator+ to potentially be excused. We have also added a discord channel #crash-reports where you can notify staff and players of unexpected crashes from role-play scenes, so that they know when they can expect you to return to conclude the role-play. It's still the player's responsibility to make an effort to inform staff / players involved.

Changed under 11. No Crime Zones:

• OLD: Players may not go to a NCZ after engaging in criminal activity resulting in an ongoing chase.
   
• NEW: Players may not go to a NCZ within 15 minutes after engaging in criminal activity, unless you are turning yourself into law enforcement.
   
• CLARIFICATION: No Crime Zones weren't meant for an OOC safe haven against retaliation and so forth. If you've done any form of criminal activity within the last 15 minutes, whether it results in a chase or not, you should not take advantage of the OOC protection that No Crime Zones gives. They were not intended for this purpose. The only reason why you'd do this is if you are turning yourself into law enforcement present at the area. 
   

  Quote

  Moderators+ still reserve the right to exercise discretion under "Non-Roleplay" on whether someone's actions are unrealistic or promotes poor quality roleplay. They can ask players to leave No Crime Zones.

   

[Osborn]

24/APR/2020

Changed under 8. Non-Roleplay (NRP)

• OLD: Players may not go to a NCZ within 15 minutes after engaging in criminal activity, unless you are turning yourself into law enforcement.
   
• NEW: Players may not go to a NCZ within 15 minutes after engaging in criminal activity or using it as protection from a resulting chase, unless you are turning yourself in to law enforcement.
   
• CLARIFICATION: Simple re-wording. Rule remains the same.
   

  Quote

  Moderators+ still reserve the right to exercise discretion under "Non-Roleplay" on whether someone's actions are unrealistic or promotes poor quality roleplay. They can ask players to leave No Crime Zones.

Clarification around Pets and Player Interactions

• Staff will treat pets the same that we do with rules around players attacking empty cars. It should make roleplay sense to attack an animal, and players going around randomly attacking animals (pets) will be held under 8. Non-Roleplay as it promotes poor quality roleplay. Owners of pets will need to properly escalate the level of verbal / physical interaction against someone attacking their pet to a level where it makes roleplay sense. We will not tolerate players being KILLED over their pets as pets are invincible and run no risk of being harmed from another player.

 

Clarification around Clothes and Robberies

• Players may not go around randomly robbing players and taking their clothes. Taking a player's clothes should make roleplay sense. Staff will enforce this under 8. Non-Roleplay as it promotes poor quality roleplay.

[Osborn]

27/APR/2020

Clarification around Kidnapping and Player Robberies

• If a player wants to conduct a robbery on another player, they can move them out of sight e.g. into an alleyway or behind a building as long as it's not to an entire new location.  This is not considered kidnapping, however, all other rules applies. 

[Osborn]

27/APR/2020
 

Added under 14. Deathmatch (DM)

• Vehicles cannot be used as a weapon in an active shootout unless it's unavoidable when fleeing an active shootout.
   
• CLARIFICATION: This was added after deliberation among staff and reading community input from the forums, it's clear that players in cars are more invincible than they realistically would be, thus making vehicles a stronger weapon than actual guns in most scenarios. You will no longer be able to use your vehicle as a weapon against other players if it's in an active shootout. Adhering to the Fear RP rule, you can only enter that shootout if you intend to use your car as cover, or to help a friend escape. If you are fleeing from a shootout with your car, and ramming someone is unavoidable, that's fine. 

Added under 15. Player Theft, Prison Breakout, and Kidnapping

• Robberies are to be conducted in a realistic manner and require the robber to have a reasonable in character motive. High risk, but little reward robberies are deemed unrealistic and should not be performed. Robberies should be performed in secluded areas where there is a low chance to be seen by witnesses.

Read for clarification:

 

[Osborn]

17/MAY/2020

Changed under 1. Account Ownership and Responsibility

• OLD: Account ownership is non-transferable and is the property of the creator.
   
• NEW: Account ownership is non-transferable and is the property of the creator, and accounts can not be shared.
   
• CLARIFICATION: Re-wording. Sharing accounts is not allowed.

[Osborn]

07/JUN/2020

Changed under 15. Player Theft, Prison Breakout, and Kidnapping

• OLD: Robberies are to be conducted in a realistic manner and require the robber to have a reasonable in character motive. High risk, but little reward robberies are deemed unrealistic and should not be performed. Robberies should be performed in secluded areas where there is a low chance to be seen by witnesses. Desert and forest areas could be considered secluded but potential witnesses should be taken into account.
   
• NEW: Robberies are to be conducted in a realistic manner and require the robber to have a reasonable in character motive. High risk, but little reward robberies are deemed unrealistic and should not be performed. Robberies should be performed in secluded areas where there is a low chance to be seen by witnesses. Desert and forest areas could be considered secluded but potential witnesses should be taken into account. Desert and forest areas could be considered secluded but potential witnesses should be taken into account.
   
• CLARIFICATION: Desert and forest areas could be considered secluded for player robberies to take place, e.g. Gas Stations on route 68, woods outside of Paleto Bay etc. Does not apply to job areas, and other factors should be taken into account with potential witnesses, reward vs risk factor, and motivation.

Clarification around Player Robberies

• If there is a strong personal reason against the victim the risk/reward & location factor can be eased.  Strong personal reason being e.g. someone has done something to wrong you severely and you want to retaliate. This does not mean that you should not take location into account, we want to see robberies be as realistic as possible, but we also understand that e.g. gang rivalry should allow you to be more reckless, but not to a point where you hold someone up in the middle of the road by Legion Square with 10 cars.
  
  Further clarification might be made at a later date. 

Changed under 11. No Crime Zones.

• OLD: • All government offices, law enforcement offices, hospitals, banks, and the blocks around them.
   
• NEW: • All government offices, law enforcement offices, hospitals, LS & Paleto Main Bank, and the blocks around them.
   
• CLARIFICATION: Fleeca Banks are not considered No Crime Zones.

[Osborn]

30/JUN/2020

Changed under 6. Advertising and Public Chat

• OLD: Players may use offensive language in IC chat for roleplay but not excessively.
   
• NEW: Players may use offensive language in IC chat for roleplay but not excessively, and must stop if asked by another player OOCly. 
   
• CLARIFICATION: While we respect the fact that we're a roleplay server and we expect community members to create their fictional characters and RP around them, we also want our community to be welcoming for everyone. It's important that you understand that it should make RP sense for your character to behave in a way it does, whether that's being racist, homophobic etc - At some point, it becomes someone pushing their OOC ideology onto their IC character, thinking it's acceptable. 
  
  This minor change does not pertain to the usage of offensive language OOCly. We will not tolerate e.g. racial slurs OOCly, whether it's to a friend or someone else, it does not have any place on our platform. This change only strengthens the ability for players to be more comfortable playing on our server, and feel more welcoming. 

[BallinByNature]

01/JUL/2020

Changed 

• Removed unnecessary extra wording of some rules which did not effect the meaning / minor formatting differences to keep rules in-page.
• Moved Metagaming to 8 and Non-RP to 9 for formatting purposes

Added under 7. IC and OOC Interactions

• Players may not use real world images depicted as their character or post in-game images not possible to be taken from Eclipse RP.

[BallinByNature]

Added under 8. Metagaming

• Players may not have any interaction or knowledge of their alternate characters.

 

(Clarification for LifeInvader only, was always considered a rule)

[BallinByNature]

Eclipse Roleplay Server & Roleplay Rules 2020 Edition was released.

[BallinByNature]

05/AUG/2020

Changed 12. No Crime Zones (NCZ)

• OLD: Inside or very near to a No Crime Zone, indicated by the HUD or /NCZ command, players may not commit any crime or disobey law enforcement orders but are allowed to flee.
   
• NEW: Inside or very near to a No Crime Zone, indicated by the HUD or /NCZ command, players may not commit any crime or disobey law enforcement orders but are allowed to flee, lie, or scam IC.
  
  CLARIFICATION: This has always been the case but is now clear for new players who have just read the rules that lying and scamming is not protected under NCZ's.

[Osborn]

05/DEC/2020

The State of Eclipse Roleplay

Changes to how we view and react to a player's general roleplay quality and contribution to the general community environment

We've reached a point where the general environment on the server is often unhealthy. Certain groups of players focus on low quality 'shooter' gameplay - where their "roleplay" primarily consists of engaging in shootouts with other players or other miscellaneous action roleplay. We've also noticed an increase in "win" mentality - using the fastest cars/bikes, using cars that are affected by broken game mechanics (FPS dependent cars) in order to win situations. We've also noticed an increased in "ruleplay" a term which is not properly defined, but one that describes a player that deters from immersion and realism to play by the border of the rules. 

In order to improve things, community management has decided that we're going to fix the general quality of roleplay by; 

• Removing players that have no focus on providing quality roleplay to all of the community, or players that have a toxic overall attitude that diminishes a healthy environment.
• We believe in leading by example - we've previously been very lenient against factions and their behavior, however - moving forward, we're going to be more strict with removing official statuses and if needed, force groups to disband. 

We encourage players to break free from unhealthy cliques and other groups and to lead by example among friend groups.

If you are among those players whose only gameplay is e.g. to login, grab your gun and vehicle, and move between drug labs to look for players to rob or create a conflict with, then this is aimed at you. You need to mix your gameplay up - you need to add creativity to your gameplay and create roleplay. Not everything can or will be scripted.

We want to reach a point where our server rules can be loosened up with less "limitations", however, at this current state - we're not anywhere close to that. 

The State of Player Reports

Changes to how we will approach player reports and appeals

Staff will now record denied reports as a note on a player's record, and include whether the report is petty or not. Players creating petty reports against players is often a result of spite. We've noticed a common pattern especially during gang conflicts that opposing gangs create petty reports against rivals for the smallest things in order to get them punished by server staff. 

If a player post frequent reports that are denied, it could also be a sign that the player are not familiar with our server rules - and thus due to their lack of understanding or reading ability, they waste a lot of server staff's time and create this unhealthy environment of throwing reports at one another. 

Senior Staff will review players with a large numbers of petty reports, or a large ratio between denied and accepted reports. This could result in punishments anywhere from being unable to post player reports for X period (which means no one can do it for you either), or being removed from the community for a certain period.

The State of Behavior during snow

Clarification to Non-Roleplay behavior during snow weather

The snow weather is not purely aesthetic. We want players to behave and act as they would around snow in real life. Players are expected to dress up properly for the cold weather. (Faction uniforms are exempt as they cannot be changed In-game).

Players are also expected to leave their non-off road bikes in the garage and apply appropriate tires to non-off road vehicles for the weather if they are to be used. (Tires is exempt for faction spawned vehicles as they cannot be changed In-game).

The State of Mountain Driving

Added under Non-Roleplay:

• Non-off road vehicles may not drive up mountains or steep hills. LSEMS, Mechanics and PD are exempt.
   
• CLARIFICATION: After deliberating among the staff team on the topic of unrealistic driving, we have decided to adopt a version of a rule from Lithuanian Eclipse Roleplay that covers this topic. When we rule on these types of topics surrounding game mechanics we try to focus on the things that affects players and the general flow of roleplay the most, and this has been one of those topics.
  
  It will now be considered as poor roleplay to operate your non-off road capable vehicles up mountains or steep hills. (off-road tires does not make your sports or supercar an off-road vehicle). 
  
  This will simply be ruled as Non-Roleplay by our staff, and like all of our rules, it will apply to everyone on the server equally, except for in certain circumstances. LSEMS and Mechanics will be exempt from the rule, and PD (temporarily) until they get a addon vehicle added for off-road purposes. This only exempts regular patrol cars for PD.
  
  We understand that it will take some time to adapt to this new stance of ours, and our staff team stands ready to educate players should there be any confusion. Please remember to always focus on roleplay over "ruleplay", don't drop your character's (and faction's) lore in order to go out of your way to drive vehicles that can off-road simply to win situations

[Osborn]

Added 6. Ruleplaying
 

Quote

6. Ruleplaying

• Purposefully using, manipulating or interpreting rules or rulings falsely or outside of its intention, in an unrealistic or unintended way that does not constitute quality or realistic RP standards.
   
• Examples of ruleplaying for clarification (not an exhaustive list):
  - In a criminal chase, driving at slow speeds knowing that your pursuers are unable to attack you because they can't deliver demands.
  - Walking into a hostile situation with your hands up, knowing your backup is hiding, in order to bait deathmatching rights.
  - Taunting e.g. an enemy at a public place (e.g. fishing pier) knowing that they can't retaliate at said public location, effectively showing no fear for your safety.
  
  Each situation will be reviewed and dealt with as case by case basis by staff, the examples above is not precise and there could be realistic context to someone's actions.

Changed under Non-Roleplay:

• Non-off road vehicles may not drive up mountains or steep hills. LSEMS & Mechanics and PD are exempt.
  
  PD now has access to off-road police scouts. 

[Osborn]

Added under 7. IC and OOC Interactions

Preface
This is not a change but rather further clarification. Where the roleplay makes sense, and where OOC consent from all parties involved exist, we do not want to limit potential roleplay. Thus we have again, but in our rules this time, clarified that racial slurs falls under digusting roleplay.  We've also further clarified that we do not tolerate any form of racism Out of Character, and depending on the context and severity of the situation, can result in a permament ban. 

Added:

• - Usage of racial slurs is considered disgusting roleplay and all parties involved must give prior OOC consent before it can be done.
  - Usage of ethnic and/or LGBT+ related slurs is considered disgusting roleplay and all parties involved must give prior OOC consent before it can be done.
  - In addition, it must make roleplay sense for your character to want to use any racial slurs In Character.
  - Racism Out of Character is strictly forbidden and can result in a permanent ban.

 

[Kris]

Changed 12. No Crime Zones (NCZ)

• OLD: No Crime Zones: Legal gambling establishments, government and law enforcement offices, hospitals, LS & Paleto main banks, LS Airport, DMV, and a block surrounding.
   
• NEW: No Crime Zones are listed below. The block surrounding each zone is also considered.
  • Legal gambling establishments
  • Government and law enforcement offices
  • Hospitals and fire stations
  • Pacific Standard Public Deposit Bank
  • Blaine County Savings Bank
     
• CLARIFICATION: DMV and LS Airport is no longer considered a No Crime Zone. Banks have been clarified to only be the two main banks, to avoid including the fleeca banks.

[Osborn]

For clarifications, reference to: 

Added under 8. Metagaming

• Players should not intentionally base their actions and/or words based on how another player sounds, as their voice may not reflect their character. For example, a male character with a female voice does not automatically mean they are a trans man or vice versa.

Removed under 14. Deathmatching

• Players may not kill victims who have complied with a plausible demand in reasonable time unless involved in severe hostile activity against them or an ally within 3 hours.

Changed under 15. Player Theft, Prison Breakout, and Kidnapping

• OLD: Robberies should be conducted in a realistic manner with reasonable in-character motive using secluded areas. Players should not conduct minor robberies in situations with high risk. Desert or forest areas are considered secluded but witnesses should still be considered.
   
• NEW: Robberies should be conducted in a realistic manner with a reasonable in-character motive. Location, time of day, and realistic population should all be considered prior to a robbery. Players should not conduct minor robberies in situations with high risk. Players should consider the risk vs reward of the robbery and utilize secluded areas where necessary to avoid witnesses. 
   
• OLD: 

  Quote

  • Players are allowed to kidnap or to take other players hostage for only these specific reasons:
  • You have to have a roleplay reason to attack the victim in accordance with the DM rules.
  • If you attempt to commit robbery of a property, you are allowed to hold the players within that property until you have finished the robbery. An NPC is not a valid hostage.
  • All included players may not take another hostage for 1 OOC week if police are involved.

• NEW:

  Quote

  • Players are allowed to kidnap or to take other players hostage within the context of reasonable escalation. Your escalation and reason behind the kidnapping should be able to be easily documented and explained if required by server staff. If your intention is to harm another player (e.g. injuring or killing them), then you need to refer to our DM rules. The situation can of course naturally develop into one where the player gets harmed. 
  • If you attempt to commit robbery of a property, you are allowed to hold the players within that property until you have finished the robbery. An NPC is not a valid hostage.
  • All included players may not take another hostage for 1 OOC week if police are involved.

   

[MrSilky]

Adjusted Faction Rules

• Removed  
  • The use of joint-frequencies and providing backup to other factions is forbidden outside of an Official War approved by Faction Management. Any backup or joint attacks must be within an approved war or happen naturally. Texting, using one person to relay information, and any other such attempts to circumvent this rule will result in permanent bans.

• Added standalone backup rule as follows:

  • Factions may not seek assistance/backup from other factions outside of a pre-established and organized activity.

  • With proper IC reasoning, individual(s) who naturally stumble upon a situation may interject but cannot call their own faction for additional backup. Players are expected to consider the risk vs reward in relation to their interjection.

  • The use of joint frequencies is prohibited outside of a coordinated activity taking place.

  • Activities are intended to be majority stationary and do not include travel from location to location. They must have a specific accomplishable purpose and may not include hunting other factions  (ie: ‘rolling labs’ is not an activity). In the event of chain activities (ie: robbing stores) the activity is considered a specific robbery.

  • All parties on a joint frequency must be in the same location (surrounding areas apply should the activity require it ie: scouting). Engagements that take place while enroute to an activity location are permitted to be responded to only by the singular associated faction.

  • Calling and texting others with information about an active situation needing backup will be considered an attempt to bypass the rule. Having members of different factions in a vehicle for the purpose of being able to utilize both factions during a need for backup is prohibited.

• CLARIFICATION: Many players and staff have frequently been confused by the backup rules in the past. The administration team has now broken down the rule into specific elements to help with understanding and enforcement.

[Osborn]

 

[Osborn]

Added under 4. Hacking and Exploits
 

Quote

Modifying Game Files to Gain Unfair Advantages

Players are not allowed to modify their game files to gain unfair advantages over other players. Such as (but not limited to):

• removing graphical aspects of the game which you otherwise can't remove through the game settings, which allows you to e.g. see players better. You can't for example remove vegetation/other objects outside of what the in-game settings allow, or remove shadows completely. In other terms, we do not allow PVP graphic settings, it is an RP server. GTA 5 has a vast selection of graphic settings for players to optimize their game to ensure a smooth gameplay experience. Visual Enhancement Mods such as QuantV and NVE are not disallowed if you want to increase your graphics beyond what the game allows, as this does not provide any unfair advantages. 
• modifying handling files of cars to make them handle different than intended, whether it's speed, acceleration, turning, etc.
• replacing e.g. vehicles and weapons with mods that directly give you an unfair advantage, e.g. enlarged weapons, vehicles, etc. 
• replacing gun sound mods with more distinct sounds that could grant circumstantial advantages e.g. reaction time, being able to hear clearer over certain weather conditions, etc. 
   

Punishment: Anything from a verbal warning, to an indefinite/permanent ban depending on the severity of the modifications, and the context of it.

Modifying game files were previously a single line under hacking/cheating, however, the staff team felt as if this was not clear enough, and instead, we've now expanded the rule with more in-depth bullet points. While some may see this as arbitrary, it's our official stance to modding your game on a client-sided level. Modifications are allowed as they can help players feel more immersive, but they should not grant you any form of advantage despite any potential positives, because at the end of the day, it's client sided modding, which makes it unfair if you experience something different than other players which can grant you advantages in roleplay situations. 

This was intended to be released two weeks prior, however, the staff team has during these two weeks performed extensive testing of gun sounds live on the server and then had internal discussions about them. The consensus was to disallow them. I personally know that a lot of community members use gun sounds as it makes gunfights more immersive, however, it was decided that these sounds make gun sounds too distinct in comparison to default, which has situational advantages such as reaction, being able to hear over certain conditions, etc. If the community wishes for server-sided gun sounds, they can make their opinion heard on a suggestion and there may or may not be a community vote on the matter in the future. 

EDIT:

Updated the last bullet point to clarify that it's specifically gun sounds mods that are disallowed.