Discovery Gaming Community
Improve Presentation of Discovery's Rules - Printable Version

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+--- Forum: Rules (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=25)
+--- Thread: Improve Presentation of Discovery's Rules (/showthread.php?tid=158145)

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RE: Improve Presentation of Discovery's Rules - Karlotta - 09-28-2020

The forum posts and cargo items presenting DiscoveryGC's Rules, which every new player is required to read and understand, and which give players an important first impression of the mod and community, contain multiple problems that make Discovery look amateurishly run and raise unpleasant questions on the nature of the community. Some examples:

- rambling about fair play, "common sense", and loop holes in the beginning, laced with boasts and threats
- ordering that starts with aspects that are irrelevant for beginners / first readers, forcing them to read things that aren't actually useful for them first
- numbering and naming of subsections inconsistent with their content
- clumsy and useless repetitions of words and sentences
- long explanations about "permabans" that don't affect most players, which could go into clarifications instead of rules post
- rule clarifications are hard to find in a a convoluted thread and scattered all over the forum as "green text", poorly presented, and obsolete
- content and numbering of rules in cargo item and forum differ
- rules that make something sound like it's forbidden on first read, and then another rule 4 further down that say its allowed (related topics in separate places)

For those who aren't able to identify the problems with the cargo items and forum posts by themselves, here's a more detailed list in the spoilers below.

Starter cargo items:

All the information in the starter items is made permanently avilable in the Help System, without getting lost from cargo upon player death.

In the following post(s) rules have been re-ordered, merged, and reworded to make them shorter and easier grasp, and thereby more convenient to read, taking into account the problems listed in the spoilers above. They're now re-organized and compact enough to put identical versions on the forum and into 7 ingame infocards grouped by topic in the already existing ingame Help System either so
[Image: dXGrbZY.png]

or so
[Image: fp8edfV.png]


Overview of changes:

Format Changes

- Changed order of rules from most important for new people to know to least important, starting with 3 sections that must be known to everyone playing on the server, 3 more that need only be known for people who engage in that activity (hiring people, creating factions, building/sieging pobs), and 4 more that provide additional details and definitions
- Removed separation of "pvp rules" and "role play rules" in server rules because they are mixed and interdependent anyway
- Put all rules needed to play on the server using common sense into 10 numbered sets which fit into Help System infocards.
- Formatted the text so it can be easily copy-pasted into infocards without further editing
- Put things necessary to restrain someone who isn't using common sense (intentionally or unintentionally) into spoilers which are under each rule on the forum.
- Put rules needed to know only by people who perform forum actions into separate Forum Rules.
- Changed wording of most things so the smallest number or words necessary is used.

This condenses the current
- Community, Server, and forum rules (currently 1425 words)
- Player Owned Base rules (559)
- Bounty hunting and Freelancer Hire (266)
- Official Faction Rights and Responsibilities (617)
- Ships and Systems Classifications (703)
- Faction Creation Rules (752)
- POB attack declaration rules (285)
- Definitions (233)

posts from a total of 4840 words to a total of 3285 words, separating them into those that are needed to know to play on the server without problems or forum-surprises (2329), and those needed to know to perform forum actions (856).

Everyone is invited to suggest improvements or express concerns. Staff members are especially invited as individuals, it doesn't have to be a team statement.



Content Changes that have NO rule change consequences

- Removed rule about guard systems because they don't exist anymore (Official Faction Rights) was silently adopted by admins/gms
- Removed rule about training ships because everyone now trains in Connecticut (Official Faction Rights) was silently adopted by admins/gms
- Removed things that give a bad impression of the community (threats, boasting, loophole exploitation, permabanning), and put some of them in the spoilers
- Removed rule about anonymous bounties because no one ever uses it, and it seems useless now that everyone has alt accounts anyway was done in subsequent admin/gm bounty hunting rule revamp
- Added explanation of what Connecticut and Bastille are
- Added forum rules concerning "trial by forum", off topic, and closed communications in the forum rules, based on the way these things have been dealt with in the past.
- Wrote down rule about piracy/law enforcement demands to transports which was removed from IDs without being added to rules
- Removed remaining mentions of removed systems like Drake
- Removed redundant and contradictory lines in rules OP and system classifications



Content Changes that HAVE rule change consequences (suggested)

- Pirate and Miner IDs can be hired in 3.1, because forbidding it has no RP justification and was introduced to spread players out among IDs, which has lost its usefulness now. (Also Freelancer should get the mining bonus of Miner ID, and Miner ID should be removed.)Miner-Freelancer merge was done in subsequent ID revamp


- 4. Characters registered on a bounty board must be, at a minimum, neutral to their employer and hostile to the faction that is bountied. This requirement does not apply to individual bounties. Board owners are required to verify that hired characters have suitable reputations.
seems to suggest that individual bounties could have an Outcast have an LPI killed by a Bounty Hunter because it's an "individual bounty", which doesnt seem to be the way its really meant to be played. So that "indivial bounty" exemption was removed.



RE: Improve Presentation of Discovery's Rules - Karlotta - 09-28-2020

Click the Info bar for explanations and examples.

1. COMMUNITY RULES

1.1 In order to enjoy basic gameplay on the server, you must know and follow the Community, Server Gamplay, and Cheating rules in sections 1-3. If you intend to hire other players ingame, create your own faction, or build or attack a player owned base, read the corresponding sections of 4-6. Sections 7-10 provide details on how rules are to be understood and enforced. In case of remaining questions, additional clarifications can be found by clicking on the Info-bar in the rules post of discoverygc.com, or ask us directly in the "help-and-support" channel on discord.

1.2 Discovery is a Freelancer-based role-playing community. Character, ship, and station names and behavior must be realistic in the Discovery Freelancer universe (no player nationality tags, memes, pop-culture references, or direct imports from other universes like Star Wars). Realistic role-play also means that meta-gaming (characters using information they wouldn't receive in the game universe) is forbidden.
1.3 Don’t insult, harass, or threaten players outside of role-play. Don’t use racist, (real life) political or commercial advertizing, graphic, pornographic, obscene, or law-violating materials in or out of role-play. Don’t repeatedly target specific players or groups with the intention of ruining their game experience. Don’t mislead players about rules or pose as a Game Master or “friend of a Game Master” to gain an advantage.
1.4 Everything must be in understandable English. Some non-English words can enhance role-play, but the meanings should be kept understandable to English-only speakers.


2. SERVER GAMEPLAY

2.1 Out-Of-Character (OOC) chat should be avoided in local and system chat. Typing // in front of OOC messages is recommended.
2.2 A player character must follow the permissions and restrictions of a single used ID, as well as of ship and equipment infocards.

Humans characters may:
- attack Nomads and Wild, claim bounties (if made eligible by the employer, see section 4.), and defend allied ships within their own Zone of Influence (ZoI)
- attack Nomads and Wild to defend allied or neutral ships, or to defend ships of same affiliation (including oneself), in and outside their ZoI.

See rule 6.1 before attacking a Player Owned Base (bases with health bar).
2.3 Players below level 30 may not be attacked unless they: attack first, fire cruise-disruptors, refuse to stop stalking, carry a codename weapon, or take active part in role-play.
2.4 All attacks must be a result of role play. Players must say more than one line and give reasonable time for the opponent to react before initiating an attack.
2.5 If you die in any way during a PvP (Player versus Player) fight, you must leave the system(s) the fight took place in and not re-enter it on any characters for one hour. You may not carry cargo, engage in player interactions, or be attacked while leaving. You also can’t attack the player(s) you died to on any character for one hour.
2.6 You are also "PvP dead", and same as 2.5 applies, if you dock within 15K of your enemy while in PvP. If you are flying a transport, you may keep your cargo while leaving the system, the enemy may still attack you, and you may re-enter the system for the sole purpose of trading.
2.7 Piracy and Law Enforcement against transports require reasonable demands (which for example, don't exceed the maximum value of the cargo, and are not impossible due to game mechanics). Only one monetary and/or cargo demand can be issued during each interaction. Players who complied to it may not be attacked in the same encounter, unless they provoke further. Quasi-lawful and unlawful transports that have equipment mounted in the CD slot are considered combat ships, and do not require reasonable demands prior to engaging them.
2.8 Don’t disconnect in space to escape interaction. If you get disconnected, log back on immediately and apologize to the players you were interacting with. If you can’t apologize ingame, do so in the forum thread titled "DISCONNECTED". Don’t rejoin a fight without permission from your adversary after getting disconnected.
2.9 Connecticut is a system where players aren’t required to role-play and may only attack with the adversary’s consent. Bastille is a system that imprisons rule breakers until they agree to obey server rules.


3. CHEATING

In addition to players reporting cheaters, the Discovery 24/7 RP Server automatically detects most of them. Cheating will result in automated or admin-administered bans. The following cheats and exploits are forbidden:

3.1 Modifying your Discovery Freelancer installation, using third-party tools, or abusing glitches/bugs in order to gain advantages over other players.

3.2 Running the game with framerates above 155fps. Computers running uncapped framerate must use a third party program to limit the FPS to below 155.

3.3 Using cruise disruptors or missiles in order to track a ship that has successfully cloaked.

3.4 Intentionally ramming a capital ship in order to ''flip'' it or ''catapult'' your ship away from it.

3.5 Suicide trading and intentionally self/team-killing during Combat-Event-Plugin battles in order to prevent the opponent from scoring points.

3.6 Connecting to the server with more than one character at a time (Multiboxing). Players sharing a network connection may not engage in trading/mining at the same time.

3.7 Storing POB crew on a ship in order to reduce consumption.


4. HIRED GUNS & BOUNTIES

4.1 All contracts and bounties must be justified within roleplay and have a minimum value of 1 million credits. The reputations of employer and employee must be neutral or friendly to each other, and they must both be neutral or hostile to the target. Targets must be informed of the contract/bounty before an attack, and must be able to verify the existence on the server or forums.
4.2 Players using Freelancer or Bounty Hunter Guild IDs may be hired ingame by non-Freelancer and non-Pirate characters. Bounties that are open to other IDs and/or active while the employer is offline must be posted in the "Bounty Offices" sub-forum. Bounty threads must specify the employer's name and affiliation, as well as specify and verify the affiliation of those who may claim the bounty. A limited payout number, expiry date, or exclusivity to pre-registered bounty board members may be specified beforehand.
4.3 Forum-Bounties on factions instead of named individuals may only be issued by official factions. All non-generic IDed factions may sponsor internal blanket bounties that are only open to members of their player or NPC faction.
4.4 Attacking someone for non-existing contracts or non-claimable bounties, as well as not visibly claiming payment within 7 days of an alleged forum-bounty kill, will result in sanction. Employer payments must be made within two weeks of a legitimate claim.


5. FACTIONS

5.1 Players may create a faction for any publicly available ID they want, if the faction uses a single ID, IFF, and tag. Every faction must have one leader and at least one second-in-command who speak for it. It’s recommended but optional for unofficial factions to post descriptions in the Unofficial Factions and Groups sub-forum, explaining their background, diplomacy, goals, and to ask for community feedback. It’s also recommended to create roleplay message logs on the forum.
5.2 Official status is awarded following the "Achieving Official Faction Status" post on the forum. Official Factions (OFs) must have a public feedback thread they answer to on the forum. They have the following Official Faction Rights (OFRs). All instances of OFR use must be documented by forum roleplay.

- OFR 1: OF leaders ranked first or second in command have in-roleplay authority over characters of the same NPC affiliation, regarding diplomacy and strategic/tactical direction. They may not require anyone to follow non-canon or unreasonable roleplay. Disobeying legitimate orders may result in roleplay consequences such as ingame arrest, court-martial, and in extreme cases ingame force.

- OFR 2: OFs who planned an event with at least 24 hours notice on the forum can restrict the participation of others in that event. It shouldn't severely limit another faction’s activities in their own ZoI or provide unfair protection from logical roleplay consequences.

- OFR 3: OFs may request that the reputation of a player's ship be set hostile towards their NPC faction, by posting in the appropriate Violation Reports sub-forum. They must provide evidence of forum roleplay and interaction between the OF and the character. Ships subjected to OFR3 may treat ships of the issuing faction (except transports) as hostile targets.

- OFR 4: OFs may bounty or attack a player who uses their affiliation's technology without the faction ID nor official permission, regardless of their diplomacy with the user's faction. Permissions may only be given by an OF affiliated with the manufacturer of the technology, and must be documented in roleplay on the forum.


6. PLAYER OWNED BASES

6.1 Dealing more damage to a Player Owned Base (POB) than is needed to prevent a ship from taking refuge inside or behind the base must be preceded by forum roleplay and a post in the Attack Declaration Thread at least 8 hours (core 1 bases) or 24 hours (core 2 and higher) prior to the attack. Attack declarations are valid for 2 weeks.

6.2 No roleplay is required prior to building a Core 1 base, but it must make sense in roleplay. Name, location and IFF of bases are permanent and can’t be changed after construction. Bases within 15k distance of mining fields may not advance beyond Core 2. Core upgrades have requirements listed in the "Player Owned Base Upgrades" forum thread.

6.3 POBs are destructible when unprotected, so it's recommended you inform yourself about House laws and fees and local diplomacy in order to build in a well protected location. POBs in systems bordering House space may not be engaged by House forces for lack of payment of fees, but can still fall prey to other factions.


7. SANCTIONS

7.1 Game Masters will impose sanctions on players who violate rules or harm server gameplay. Game Masters are obliged to:
- Safeguard the community, server, and forums
- Be fair and treat all players equally
- Not mix server roleplaying with server administration in any way
- Not ignore reported rule violations
7.2 Depending on severity and amount of rule violations, sanctions can range from a warning, credit fine, loss of equipment, probation periods with removal of certain privileges, and bans of varying duration. Sanctions will appear in forum threads detailing the offenses and punishments.
7.3 If someone shows disregard for the rules even after being informed of rules and violations, players can file a rule violation report in the appropriate sub-forum. Playing Discovery Freelancer as a community is less anonymous than other games, and therefore things are often taken more personal. Don’t attempt to use violation reports for personal revenge. If you’re angry, take time to gather and present the evidence properly and make sure you’re not mistaken when you’re calm.



8. SYSTEM AND ZOI CLASSES

8.1 HOUSE SPACE

"House Space" in ID lines refers to the class of "Sovereign House space". House Military, Police, and Intelligence Factions (MPIFs) may do the following in the ZoI classes mentioned below:

- Sovereign Space: House Military, Police, and Intelligence Factions (MPIFs) may enforce roleplay consequences on players, factions and POBs found breaking House Laws here.

- Controlled Space: MPIFs may enforce roleplay consequences on players, factions, and POBs found breaking House Laws, only if they personally witnessed the legal infraction while uncloaked.

- Outer Region: Like Controlled Space, except that MPIFs may not enforce roleplay consequences on non-hostile POBs, whether they break House Laws or not.

- Hard Border: Systems only adjacent to hard borders are not included when determining their inclusion in "Systems directly bordering..." ZOI clauses.

*House Capital

Liberty
- Sovereign Space: New York*, Alaska, California, Colorado, Ontario, Texas, Virginia.
- Controlled Space: Pennsylvania
- Outer Region: Kansas

Bretonia
- Sovereign Space: New London*, Cambridge, Manchester, Newcastle
- Controlled Space: Dublin, Leeds, Omega-3, Omega-49, Poole
- Outer Region: -
- Hard Border: Omega-3

Rheinland
- Sovereign Space: New Berlin*, Hamburg, Stuttgart
- Controlled Space: Frankfurt, Munich, Omega-7, Sigma-15
- Outer Region: Cologne, Dresden, Thuringia
- Hard Border: Omega-7, Sigma-15

Kusari
- Sovereign Space: New Tokyo*, Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku
- Controlled Space: Nagano, Tau-29, Tau-53, Tohoku
- Outer Region: Chugoku, Tottori
- Hard Border: Tau-29, Tau-53

Gallia
- Sovereign Space: Ile-de-France*, Burgundy, Champagne, Dauphine, Languedoc, Loraine, Orleanais, Picardy
- Controlled Space: Provence, Tau-23, Tau-53, Zurich
- Outer Region: -
- Hard Border: Tau-29, Tau-53

8.2 INDEPENDENT SYSTEMS

Some Independent Systems are also controlled by House forces (see above).

Outer Regions: Bering, Coronado, Galileo, Kepler, Laptev, Magellan, Inverness, Puerto Rico, Unknown, Vespucci
Taus: Baffin, Edinburgh, Leeds, Orkney, Roussillion, Tau-23, Tau-29, Tau-31, Tau-37, Tau-44, Tau-53
Omegas: Omega-2, Omega-3, Omega-5, Omega-7, Omega-41, Omega-47, Omega-49, Omega-52, Omega-54, Omega-55, Omega-58
Sigmas: Okinawa, Sigma-13, Sigma-15, Sigma-17, Sigma-19, Sigma-21, Sigma-59, Tohoku
Omicrons: Omicron Alpha, Omicron Beta, Omicron Gamma, Omicron Delta, Omicron Epsilon, Omicron Theta, Omicron Iota, Omicron Kappa, Omicron Mu, Omicron Nu, Omicron Xi, Omicron Rho, Omicron Chi, Omicron Psi
Uncharted Space: Uncharted I, Uncharted II, Uncharted Liberty, Uncharted Bretonia, Uncharted Rheinland, Uncharted Kusari, Uncharted Gallia, Uncharted Tau, Uncharted Omega, Uncharted Sigma, Uncharted Omicron

Factions with zone of influence in systems bordering an uncharted system have their zone of influence extended for the duration of the connection


9. SHIP CLASSES

- Fighters/Snubs: Light Fighters, Heavy Fighters, Very Heavy Fighters, Super Heavy Fighters and Bombers

- Freighters: Trader ships with cargo holds smaller than 650 units

- Transports: Trader ships with cargo holds larger than 650 units, including Liners

- Cruisers: Destroyers, Cruisers and Battlecruisers

- Battleships: Battleships, Dreadnoughts, Juggernauts and Carriers

- Capital Ships: Gunboats, all Cruisers and all Battleships


10. DEFINITIONS

"Alien(s)" - AI, Nomad, Vagrant, or Wild

"Allies" - Ships of the same non-Generic affiliation or ID; Ships defined as your ID's allies on the in-game faction rep sheet; Ships working under a valid escort contract; or Ships you are currently flying in group with.

"Combat Ship" - Fighters, Bustards, Capital Ships; Freighters or Transports carrying equipment in a Cruise Disruptor slot and using an ID or affiliation that is considered hostile by your ID. danger); or Bounty Services (being paid to attack a target or assist in a fight).

"Contract" - Agreements for services with payment of credits or cargo.

"Generic ID" - Freelancer and Pirate IDs, used by characters who are otherwise not affiliated with each other.

"Hostile" - Ships defined as your ID's enemies on the in-game faction rep sheet or Ships or factions that have been subject to Faction Right 5 and set hostile to your faction.

"Nomad" - Nomad, Vagrant, or Wild

"Nomad Equipment" - Nomad faction guns, equipment, or consumable items (ammunition); Wild faction guns or equipment.

"Nomad Materials" - Artifacts, Sorted Artifacts, Xeno Artifacts, Liquid Cardamine, Nomad Power Cells, Nomad Remains, and Azurite Gas.

"Piracy" - A demand issued to another ship, which can be attacked if it fails to comply. Piracy can include requests for credits and cargo or a roleplay requirement, such as following a reasonable instruction or answering a question.

"Trade Ship" - Freighters and transports except as described under Combat Ships.


RE: Improve Presentation of Discovery's Rules - Karlotta - 09-28-2020

Forum Rules

1. The Community Rules apply to server, forum, and Skype/Discord/Teamspeak channels required for official community activities. Posting things on the forum that have the intent of swinging community opinion against named community members (a.k.a "Trial by Forum") is considered harassing, and is therefore forbidden. If you feel the need to criticize the behavior of certain people, try to do it constructively and not in a personal way. If they violated rules, report them to the admins and not to the community.

2. When replying to a roleplay post or using the contained information in roleplay, be sure your character has access to it (check for receivers/participants and message encryption). Don't mix roleplay and non-roleplay when posting.

3. When participating in an out-of-roleplay discussion, please read the original post carefully and make sure you understand it properly and are on topic when you answer. Stay polite and try to avoid logical fallacies (straw-man, ad-hominems, appeals to authority, false equivalences), as well as non constructive spam posts.

4. Embedded pictures can't be wider than 700px. Signatures can't be larger than 700*250px and 1mb.


Achieving Official Faction Status

1. After a player faction has three or more active members and posted a faction description, ID status, RP story, member list, and diplomatic relations with relevant factions, it can request to become official in the Faction Creation Requests sub-forum. The request may be discussed by other players and administrators, but only administrators can approve or reject official status.

2. To start the approval process, the faction has to provide the admin team with 500 million credits. The amount will only be refunded if the faction gains official status. Once the process starts, the faction tag will be added to the faction activity tracker. Tag-less ships and ships in Connecticut don’t contribute tracker time.

3. The request will remain open for discussion for two months, during which faction performance on both server and forums will be reviewed. The status request will then undergo an admin vote and the result will be posted in the request thread. If rejected, the reasons will be explained and you may still be given a chance to improve and get approved.

4. Upon approval, the faction will receive its own sub-forum in the official factions section, and a free CAU 8 upgrade. Moderation requests for faction sub-forums should be posted here, by the faction leader or a second in command, preferably using the faction forum account. At this point you must also create a faction feedback thread.

5. Once the faction has gained officialdom, it’s required to fill out a Faction Status Report once a month in the Faction Activity sub-forum. It must shed light on the faction's goals, roleplay efforts, and in-game activity.

6. Official factions may request their own ID based on the one of their NPC faction, to allow for specialized roleplay or remove certain restrictions. The faction ID can be requested from the admins if the faction's roleplay, or that of a sub-group in the faction, can't be fulfilled within the original ID. If restrictions are lifted for only a sub-group, it will be specified in the ID.

7. If an official player faction’s activity sinks below the required threshold, its status is changed to “suspended”. It will have 4 weeks to either rebuild activity or lose officialdom and associated rights.


Player Owned Base Core Upgrades

POBs built in House space are subject to House laws and fees.

Core upgrades can only be done after fulfilling requirements depending on core level and by then requesting the necessary blueprints. Requests must be posted in the appropriate subforum, and are invisible to non-admins. The blueprints given upon successful request are non-transferable. Abuse will result in loss of the base.

Ugrade requirements:

Core 2: Post the name, IFF, system, and purpose of the base.

Core 3: Provide more detailed roleplay and demonstrate responsible behavior for at least one month as Core 2. Base may not be within 15k of a mining field.

Core 4: Provide proof of responsible and productive roleplay for at least two months as Core 3.

Core 5: The base must be owned by an official faction for at least three months as Core 4. Only one Core 5 base per official faction is permitted. Wear & tear damage is disabled at Core 5, and food/water/oxygen consumption can be disabled through a special roleplay request.


Player Owned Base Attack Declarations

This is a dedicated thread for players/factions to state their intent to attack POBs.

The attacking Player/Faction must provide role play on the forums stating in some fashion their intent to attack POBs above Core 1. This can be in any RP section of the forum, Message Dump, Communications Channel, etc.

When posting here they must follow the template below and post at least 8 hours (Core 1 bases) or 24 hours (Core 2 or higher) prior to attacking the base.

Code:
Name of player(s)/faction(s): [color=#32CD32][b]Name[/b][/color]
Name of Player Owned Base: [color=#32CD32][b]Name[/b][/color]
Link to RP showing intent to attack: <Link>

An Attack Declaration is valid for 2 weeks after posting, and will be removed from this thread 2 weeks after posting.


RE: Improve Presentation of Discovery's Rules - Karlotta - 09-28-2020

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RE: Improve Presentation of Discovery's Rules - Karlotta - 09-28-2020

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