Rolling with the Role-players

Johannes 'Waldgeist' Rebhan recently posted Funcom's rules for Role-playing in Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures. The list of rules include player name and guild name guidelines and the community code of conduct. This makes for a good read if you have been looking to learn how to Role-play or just want a primer on community etiquette.

Role-playing Rules

Introduction

The world of Age of Conan is a rich and atmospheric representation of Robert E. Howards creation. We tell the stories that players can experience and hopefully remember on their way through the game. The most memorable game play experience though comes to live when a player does not only experience a story, but is the one that creates the story, is part of the story and fills the world with more live than any quest can ever do. That is role-playing in Age of Conan.



To make that experience as fun as possible, we need a common rule base to start from. That rule-set is not supposed to support rule-griefing or nitpickiness. Role-playing cannot be created through rules; it is a creation of the community that forms a living and breathing world on the server. The guidelines presented here are just the most basic agreement anyone has to sign when they join the Role-playing Server. It’s a guideline of behavior that should help anyone on the server to take part in role-playing in a way that does not interfere with the fun of other role-players. These rules form an "outer border" that should not be crossed. Staying farther away from the outer border does not empower a player to criticize a player that pushes closer to that border, as long as the player does not cross the border.



It’s very important to realize that role-playing though is all about tolerance. Even breaking one of the rules listed here does not mean another player has the right to harass the rule-violating player. Be tolerant, everyone makes mistakes. Even if someone violates a certain rule, it does not always mean that this person is a bad role-player. A GM can help the player in a certain situation of rule violation. The player should never personally take up the task of a rule enforcer. This only creates problematic situations and it will very often end up in a bunch of people pointing fingers, which is a situation a GM cannot really solve.



Role-playing in Age of Conan can be a rough task to bear, a rough world, with rough and deadly consequences. Prepare for the most brutal role-playing experience you've ever had in an MMORPG.




Character/Guild naming rules

These guidelines define the kind of names that are forbidden on the role-playing server. All guidelines apply to exact matches and masked approaches (Gonan, Konan, Faminee). If you stumble upon a player that violated the guidelines then petition a GM to change that name.



Futuristic names (Robotkiller, Powerman, Coolboy, Synthetic etc.)
Names that have a clear reference to modern day life or culture
Advertising names (wwwmypagedotcom)
Names that advertise websites, games, company, etc.
Offensive names (Gayhater etc.)
Names that are offensive towards a person, a group of people(out-game ethnicity), other players, Funcom employee, characters
Realworld names (MrBush, LasVegas, Tolkien, etc.)
All names that have real-world resemblance and are inspired by realworld people, locations, objects
Obscene names (D.ickking, Masterbanger, etc.)
Names that are obscene and violate good taste and netiquette
Gibberish names (Asdf, qwerty)
Names that have no meaning and are a loose collection of letters
Funcom employee or volunteer names (Tarib, Famine, Gaute, etc.)
Names of Funcom employees. They are only to be used by the respective person themselves.
Trademarked names (Legolas, Harry, Elric, Superman, Conan, Illidan)
Names that are part of a trademark or licensed by a company or an individual including characters from the game lore
Modernspeak names (roxor, roflcopter, olololl, nupraptor, etc.)

Names that are formed through the use of modern-day-speak

Sentence names (iloveyou, mebighero, gimmemoney, etc.) All names that consist of two or more words that form a sentence Funny/Inappropriate names (Babekiller, Masterblaster, BloodyMary etc.)
Names that do not fit the setting


Communication rules

In this category we define the basic behavior rules in the different communication channels of the game. As with the naming rules we do not define HOW you should behave but rather what is the “no-no” behavior. As the definition of what is "good role-playing" varies greatly from community to community and even from player to player. The community is encouraged to define their own more elaborate rules, but only these rules listed here are going to be enforced by GMs. Remember: It’s easier to just actively live a rule and encourage others to join in than forcing them to do so. All standard non-harassment rules apply to all these channels listed here. These rules are an extension of the standard rules.



Area Channels (Cimmeria, Aquilonia, Stygia) & OOC - Zonechannel
Non-game related conversation is prohibited in these channels. OOC (Out-Of-Character) is allowed on discussions that are on-topic (discussion about present weather, cars, movies, etc is prohibited).
Say/Yell Channels Absolutely no OOC (Out-Of-Character) discussion is allowed on these channels. Modern day language (cool, rockin, uber, etc.) as well as shortened speech like "i lov u" is also prohibited. Guild Channels
There are no guidelines for the guild-channel currently in this policy. Players should decide for themselves on what they want to do in their own guild channel and under what rules they want to place it.
Tell Channel
There are no guidelines for the tell-channel whatsoever. The players should decide themselves what they want to do in the tell channel and under what guidelines they want to place it. Even non-game related conversations are allowed here.

Behavior rules

There are only smaller selections of behavior rules, as behavior is next to impossible to create exact rules on, that are valid across the board, without interfering with another rule or behavior which is perfectly fine (aka the special condition nr. 667).



General Rule
Do not break the RP of other players. That includes harassing them by jumping around constantly, disturbing RP events or sessions etc.

If someone harasses you, try to move away from the spot, do not get into a fight or overly heated discussion, and simply stay in-character.

Suggestions

There is a lot of room for misunderstandings on an RP server, due to the complex nature of role-playing and the many different styles connected to it. These suggestions are not rules of behavior just friendly suggestions how you can avoid certain kinds of problematic situations. Please take them into considerations.



Here are some suggestions for non-experienced RP-player:

• The world of Conan is a rough place, and swearing as well as being cursed at is a common day thing. If you swear in RP, please make absolutely sure to use non-modern day swear words that cannot be confused as harassment. Mark your words with in-game terminology (stygian w.hore!). Consider the use of old swear words to keep it in-character (b.astard instead of a.sshole). If you are in doubt if someone swearing at you is doing this in-character or OOC, simply kindly ask them by /tell to avoid confusion and problems.
• When in doubt about someone’s actions, simply kindly ask them by /tell if they are in-character, so you know how to react to certain behavior and avoid out-game troubles or misunderstandings.
• Don't project your RP-play style into another player: Always kindly ask if OOC is acceptable in the group channel.
• Mark your OOC side comments to avoid confusion.

• You can read the official thread here.
• Discuss this announcement on our forums.