Policy

Privacy
Privacy CANNOT be guaranteed on a MUSH. This is plain and simple. If you have a deep, dark secret, don't talk about it here. It is possible, although strongly discouraged and prohibited in many situations, for someone else to observe you without your knowledge.

That does NOT make it okay to invade privacy. You should be able to feel comfortable here. While there's no way to guarantee privacy, either from other players or from the Admin, we make every attempt to ensure privacy. If you feel that your privacy has been violated, PLEASE speak to a staff member, and we will address the situation.

Player/Player Disagreements
In a perfect world, there wouldn't be any, but this being a non-perfect world, we have to deal with them. For player-to-player disagreements, the staff is ready to help with mediation and resolution. If it's a disagreement over an IC/RP situation, staff also can help you resolve it. If it's a personal one that's spilling over into your MUSH situation, talk to a staffer and we will do what we can to solve the problem.

Player/Staff Disagreements
If you disagree with a decision made by a staff member, you have the following recourses:


 * talk to that person
 * talk to the head of that staff
 * talk to another staffer

If you still disagree after that point, you always have the option of leaving the MUSH. We will do our best to keep this a fun environment for all, but we can't please everyone in everything. :(

Personal Attacks
One thing that isn't tolerated here is open personal attacks. We are all human, and we will all end up disagreeing or quarreling with each other once in a while. Those disagreements will not be allowed to escalate into flamewars, no matter who they involve. Posting personal attacks on bulletin boards or making personal attacks on channels is totally unacceptable.

Dark
Don't wander around DARK. If you just don't want to be bothered for a while, stay in a private room. Whenever you go anyplace DARK or meet other players, the first thing you should type upon entering the room is some announcement of your presence.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to obey the protocols for using the DARK flag. This is one of the greatest sources of player distrust in wizards, because it is so easy to abuse. Players should be able to have private conversations without doing a @sweep all the time. While privacy on a MU* is never, ever, guaranteed, you should do your best to contribute towards it.

Teleportation
There are two main rules that should be observed when @teleporting. First of all, never teleport a player without warning him/her first and, unless part of a specific staff-related action, teleporting should usually be done because the player requested such.

Never teleport to a player's private room with players without asking the permission of the players there first.

Examining
Examining of another player should only be done for staff-related causes; for example, checking to make sure a player hasn't exceeded Courage/End in a fight. With examining another player, you should never share or show any object or part of an object that is not yours to a non-Staff player without getting the permission of the owner. Also, don't steal code. This includes @decompiling/logging/cloning without permission, even if you're just using the code for your own personal edification or enjoyment. If it's that important to you, ask permission.

Sitenames, Altnames, and OC Player Stats/Filled FC's stats should never be given out to non-staff members. Mistakes do happen, as we are human, but generally assume that if a player doesn't have their Alts listed in their OOCfinger Altlist, then they may not want people knowing who their alts are.

MUI
Never perform staff functions while intoxicated or otherwise not fully in control of your actions. If you observe another Admin who is performing staff functions while drunk, @boot them. The other Admin will probably be annoyed, but this is better than having damage inadvertently caused by someone who isn't thinking clearly.

Player Warnings and Firings
The following section describes Transformers 2005 MUSH’s policy on player firings. The purpose of this information isn’t to scare monger any players with the concept that the Admin can fire players for certain actions. Rather, it is provided to help explain how rule breaking is dealt with and to inform players of how the Admin at Transformers 2005 will warn a player about inappropriate actions they may be performing, long before the thought of firing will ever be raised.

This information is meant to reassure all players of where they stand in relation to rule breaking.

Transformers 2005 MUSH works on a Strike system when dealing with problems that disturb the MUSH or the players on it.

If a player’s actions are causing enough problems amongst the other players of Transformers 2005 MUSH to warrant Staff attention, such as the breaching of Transformers 2005 MUSH’s rules, the player may receive an Official Warning, or "Strike".

Not all Staff attention warrants a strike. In fact, the Administration at 2k5 want to help resolve differences between players to help foster a fun gaming experience at 2k5. We have +gripe command and the Gripestaffer for a reason. Ideally things are worked out before strikes even need to be thought about, but if a player’s actions are deemed problematic enough by the Staffers handling the issue, an official strike will be given to the player.

Receiving a strike is our way of warning the player that continued actions of this kind are not advisable.

It is Transformers 2005 MUSH’s policy that a player may receive three strikes before the option of removing the player from the MUSH becomes accessible. We believe this is a fair way to give everyone a chance.

The only time a player will be removed from the MUSH without receiving three strikes/warnings is if:


 * the player is attempting to crash the MUSH or hack the MUSH Database/server.
 * the player is attempting to run malicious code that would serve the same purpose as the previous point.
 * the player is making disturbing levels of unwanted harassment on another player.
 * the player is disrupting the MUSH to a serious degree.

A strike is not to be confused with having a character removed due to inactivity (Timing Out). Removal of one’s character due to not making enough IC time is not a firing. When a player is fired, they are asked to leave the MUSH. Removal of a character due to inactivity is only that, removal of a character. The player may still play on 2k5, only with a less time-necessary character.

A player will always know when they have received an official strike. During discussion with the Staff Member as they detail the serious rule breech that the player has performed, the Staff Member will let the player know that the rule breech is going to count as an official strike.

A log of the discussion with Staff will also be e-mailed to the player’s registered e-mail address so that the player will always have for their record what actions they performed that warranted the strike and how many strikes they have received thus far.

Hopefully, most players will never have to worry about strikes, but the above information is provided so that all players both know how things work on 2k5, and where they always stand in regards to firings.

When a player is fired, it is against the policy of Transformers 2005 Admin to make a public post or announcement that the player has been fired or why. The reason for this is that it is felt such actions might be seen as 'public shaming'. There is no need to publicly let other players know what the fired player did, because as stated in 'news policy5' Transformers 2005 works on a 3-Strike system. If another player is heading down the same path that the fired player did, they will receive warnings from 2k5 Admin before it reaches a stage where they are asked to leave due to repeated inappropriate actions.

Also, players should already be aware of Transformers 2005's rules. If not, please type 'rules' and read through our rules.

The only time that Transformers 2005 Admin will publicly discuss the details of a player's firing is if it is publicly brought up by another player, and corrections of the details need to be pointed out (in other words incorrect information is being spread). The only time that Transformers 2005 Admin will discuss the details of a player's firing with another player is if that player was involved in the situations that lead to the firing, or present at the time.

As stated, this stance is because we do not believe in public shaming. Also, we believe in the confidentiality between Admin and Players, even those that have been fired. As Admin at times we must take a professional approach to MUSH matters, and just the same as you would never find a RL business discussing the private details of one customer to another, you will not find Transformers 2005 Staff doing this either.

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