Every player, by creating and playing a character on this MUSH, implicitly agrees to abide by rules, policies, and systems of this MUSH. No one can harm your character or force your character to do anything without your cooperation.
That cooperation, however, should be given at all times, so long as all parties involved are within the rules, policies, and systems of this MUSH and are acting within the restrictions set forth in Theme and Policies. The rules are here to help facilitate roleplay, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the players to ensure the smooth functioning of this MUSH. Remember: there weren't any rules for Cops and Robbers and we didn't have any problems with that. We have tried to make the Cooperative RP rules extremely simple.
There are only four real rules to Cooperative RP:
(1) You have an unqualified right not to roleplay out the rest of a scene that has become personally disturbing to you for any reason; you may always "fade to black" and resolve the balance of the scene by mail or through a Staffer.
(2) By appearing in a public room, you are agreeing to roleplay with any other player on the MUSH who comes by. Conversely, you have a right to privacy in a private room unless there is an IC justification for an interruption (i.e. one of the occupants was followed, there has been a search for you that was successful, etc.).
(3) You have a right not to have your character killed or destroyed without some IC justification, but you do not have a right not to be killed. The world of the vampire is a world of conflict, and you do not have a right to be completely free of that conflict: other characters may attack you first. The character application process is designed to remove "I like killing people" as an IC justification, and a character who kills another character wantonly is assuming a tremendous IC risk. If you believe that a character is not acting for an IC reason, and you are unable to work it out with that character's player, place the scene on hold and contact a Staffer. That Staffer's first question will always be, "Why are you attacking/drowning/torporing/dominating so-and-so," so please be sure to ask that question before contacting Staff.
(4) You have an unqualified duty to communicate with other players and maintain an environment of respect and maturity. Staff can help smooth out the bumps (See: Arbitration) but we will not be pleased if we find out that we are having to arbitrate disputes that have resulted because the players refused to speak to each other. Occasionally, maintaining an environment of respect and maturity will call for you to keep quiet or to recognize that further argument will only harm matters: please use your judgment.
By following these rules, and by remembering that ultimately it's all a game and in the name of fun, we can have an enjoyable, realistic, and mature roleplaying environment.
Related Files: Arbitration, Formal Complaints
