Rules

Server Vision[]

The vision of The Easting Reach (TER) persistent world and roleplaying community is to provide a living breathing world in which players can tell great stories together, experience the thrills of adventure, exploration, and quality roleplay through their characters within the dynamic landscape of the setting.

In order to uphold TER's vision and the fairness of the experience for all parties, we put a great deal of faith in our playerbase to responsibly use the tools and powers made available to them, to bear in mind the immersion of fellow players whilst inhabiting the game world, and to respect every member of the community despite any differences that may exist. It is thus expected that all members of the community abide by basic standards of human decency and civil conduct. In order to ensure this is so, the following rules and guidelines are to be followed:

Our approach to upholding fairness, goodwill, and server vision[]

At TER we like to think that our players respect the server's vision as a hardcore roleplaying persistent world and do not act against such out of any ill will or purposeful intent to break our rules or act outside the expectations that have been set. Thus we believe in a system of three warnings - where our first efforts are to correct any problems and provide guidance as to how issues may be avoided as well as to re-state our expectations and the server vision before a ban is issued on the third warning. There may be exceptions to this where misconduct is sufficiently dire or in truly bad-faith that our goodwill would in turn not be extended. We reserve the right to execute a ban without providing warnings in such instances, but in general, our approach is to first provide assistance and guidance and to help reach alignment with server vision and rules.

The warning system applies as follows:

A breach of conduct, breakage of rule, or general disruption of the server and its community will result in a player receiving their first formal warning alongside guidance and clarification as to assist in the prevention of a repeat issue.
A second formal warning may come with additional guidance and recommendations to both prevent repeat issues and to assist in alignment with the server rules and vision. A minor penalty or actions to remedy the issue may be required and a reminder will be given that if another issue arises then the player may receive a ban for repeat offences.
A final warning is given after which full penalties will apply up to and including a ban. The severity of the ban may range from permanent to a set duration depending on the circumstances. By this stage it will have been determined that there is a gross misalignment of the player's conduct with the server vision, or the breakage of rules demands these set consequences. We hope to avoid this stage as we truly wish to make TER accessible to those who share a passion for roleplay, adventure, and storytelling, but sometimes inevitably a player is not a suitable match for the type of experience TER sets out to provide. A chance to appeal the ban is only given at the discretion of TER staff.

Rules[]

Be excellent to one another. [1]
Be in-character at all times and avoid metagaming.
- TER is a hardcore roleplaying server, as such players are expected to be in-character (IC) at all times. The sole exception to this is when players are in the out of character (OOC) starting area. While allowances are made for the occasional OOC comment for levity or to announce something like needing to go AFK/BRB etc, these must be clearly denoted by use of double parentheses '((OOC Information in here))' or double forward slashes '//This is my OOC message.'
- Avoiding metagaming means taking care with differentiating the knowledge that you as a player might have but your character does not. Always think about what sort of knowledge is IC (known by the character) as opposed to OOC (known only by the player). This also means that dungeons should be considered a new experience when repeated. Though there is a variety of dungeons spread throughout the gameworld, much of this content is static. Your character does not remember the exact location of traps, spawns, dangerous rooms, etc as this represents areas being different and changing over time and locations being presented as a different section of the same overall area since the gameworld does not reflect the entirety of the setting 1:1. There is much more to the world that is off-screen but no less present thus why repeated content is considered a new part of the same overall region rather than the exact same place being visited over and over again which is both unrealistic and a gamification of the setting that detracts from roleplay.
All instances of PvP must be consensual. See PvP guidelines for more information.
No muling/item swapping between your own characters either via use of other players, storage containers, etc.
- Whilst it may be okay to sell an item to an NPC trader and buying it back, the action of selling an item to an NPC must still be IC (i.e. not for a loss) perhaps as a result of attempting to sell it publicly first with no interest from other parties. We trust and expect players to be responsible with this allowance as it is not an excuse to simply trade items between characters, which may still be penalised with items being forfeited or greater consequences. It is still against the no muling policy, especially when abused OOCly on purpose for unfair advantage. Repeat use of this allowance qualifies as abuse. It's a case of, 'just because it can be done, doesn't mean it should be done.'
No twinking; this includes loaning out powerful items to low level characters.
Only one prestige class may be taken on a character.
Only one Divine or Nature class may be taken on a character.
Divine and Nature Classes must abide by the One Step rule; see Alignment.
A character's chosen Divine or Nature class must be the highest levelled class when Level 8 is obtained--the minimum is Level 4; see Classes for exceptions.
No exploiting or abusing mechanical/technical limitations for unfair advantage or unintended effects. Report bugs and anything that seems to good to be true or doesn't seem to be working the way you might expect when they are first experienced and if in doubt, always seek clarification.

Footnote 1:

To assist in being a decent person, we have found the following advice may be helpful:

Find alternative words in roleplay for modern day slurs to respect people OOC.
Do not assume the worst of people OOC because of what their character does IC. Consider it instead as an opportunity to learn and understand more about what led the character to behave the way they do, as an avenue of exploring backstory and expanding on shared narrative.
Feel free to discuss things openly on Discord but know that harassment is not okay in any topic or with any context.
‘Loot skimming' is the act of secretly pocketing or stealing goods during a party venture without giving any indication the character is doing so to their fellow party members. This behaviour is not acceptable and becomes a purely OOC advantage for one player with no ability for other players to react and is against the spirit of our collaborative environment. In these situations we want to see fairness for all as well as story development, and the roleplay from these selfish acts of covertly dipping into a shared party pool being noticed or even having the potential of being noticed is part of that, creating potential IC conflict and stories which result from that. To be clear, it is okay for a character to steal or try to steal (or collect without intention of sharing) goods from a party venture, but these acts must be revealed in an IC manner to fellow party members – through emotes etc. So that they may be properly responded and reacted to with any relevant consequences being played out, leading to actual character development.

Soft Rules[]

These are more of guidelines/best practices due to technical limitations, roleplay opportunities, or fairness.

Party sizes are advised to be less than 6. This is to help avoid unintended consequences in the difficulty experienced as a result of scaling in dungeons – as such, it’s fine to have a party size larger than 6 but doing so may come with the increased chance of encountering insurmountable foes. We don't want this to be a limiting factor in roleplay, but it is something to be aware of and to thus prepare accordingly (for a hard fight or be ready to flee!)
Do your best to keep the amount of items on your character below 75 items to help ensure server stability. This is less of a technical limitation than it once was, but it's still good to maintain a clean and efficient inventory.

PvP[]

TER is not a PvP arena. Classes are not balanced around it and PvP is not encouraged as a solution to IC problems. It is not forbidden either but we do ask you observe some rules. For the sake of convenience, we assume PvP occurs between two player characters here. In reality situations may be more complex, but the same principles apply.

PvP should be avoidable, have a clear goal, and clear rules. What these are, is up to you, as appropriate to the circumstances. However, please note that consent does not mean that one party can just say 'no,' and leave it that - that is not the idea at all. We are looking to ensure that even the very threat of PvP has a meaningful impact on the narrative rather than giving any one party the ability to avoid all consequences. This means if you are on the receiving end of a PvP initiation you must properly acknowledge it and meet your opposition half-way in determining agreed upon outcomes.

Please see PvP for rules.

Rule Clarification[]

In-Game RP Tools and Meta[]

25th of April, 2022

Dear TER community, it's come to our attention that the item renaming tools on the server have been very recently misused. Case in point, a standard weapon item had been renamed by a player, and its description changed to include item properties that did not match its default assignment. Afterwards the item was used as an RP prop to perpetuate an IC act of fraud. The team has decided to retcon the RP surrounding this item as this is considered meta-gaming. While we are all for story continuity and player creativity, we cannot support or condone such misuse - adding misleading descriptions or specifically item properties to the description of items is not acceptable use of the @description and @name commands. These RP tools are provided for players to enable them to create their own stories on TER. However, as with other things in life - please use responsibly.

-Kilaana

Regarding OOC conduct, consensual RP between parties, and ERP[]

26th of June, 2024

TER is a hardcore roleplaying server where storytelling takes precedence as part of your character's growth. Stories often contain a theme, or several of them. While darker RP themes are not forbidden on TER, they can be very sensitive or even triggering to other players.

Themes that are explicitly sexual in nature, or centred around exploring one's sexuality, regardless of whether any sexual RP act is performed, almost always fall under the ERP category. ERP itself is not against the rules (which is to say if a player conducts ERP in private Tells this does not mean they have broken any rules) but it foremostly requires (A) consensual parties; (B) to be done in a manner that is not OOCly imposed upon by one player to another, this includes persistent harassment to gain their attention/consent, and (C) strictly contained in tells and not in public places.

To that end, although we recognise that such themes may be useful vehicles to tell a story, we are not interested in providing a roleplay experience for our players where very risque & potentially distressing topics are the major theme. While such topics may be mentioned in passing, it should not be the main focus of a story OR a character's development, for the safety of our players. In no way should it be imposed upon another player - either by a player themselves or by a DM. Otherwise, we urge players who want to explore such topics to go elsewhere more suitable.

Please seek consent before you decide to deep-dive into these types of RP themes. If your fellow player says "No", it means no. If your DM is hosting a session with potentially distressing topics for you, take responsibility as a player and clarify your doubts with them before the event.

Harassment & misconduct of the above (A), (B) & (C) will result in an immediate ban with no option for discourse.

In case the above was not clear: We don't have an issue with characters who want to explore the darker sides of human nature within an IC-RP scope. But if you want to explore these things with other players because their reactions/responses are important to your character's story, we're asking that you make it abundantly clear to the other party first by seeking permission to either:

OOCly talk about it
ICly enact it

Before you do any IC-RP as well as to discuss it OOCly. Be mindful that what appears comfortable to you may be overstepping another player's boundaries. As always, per our TER motto - Be excellent to one another.

-Kilaana

A statement about DM & player communication[]

TER has always endeavored to promote a fair, mature and reasonable perspective when handling matters related to in-character (IC) or out-of-character (OOC) situations.

Because the medium we use primarily is text-based communication, we prefer a formal approach. It allows both parties to be given a chance to speak and be heard in turn in a calm manner, and for matters to be clarified without the need for a heated and oftentimes non-constructive argument. Misunderstandings can also be kept to a minimum this way. DMs are also people and we know how to have fun - but we also believe there is a time and place for casual talk.

Over the years, we have been accused of a number of things: Being "too formal", too frigid and non-transparent with our rules, and that the staff does not at all care for their players. We'd like to assure you that this is not true.

We believe it is both the DM's and the player's responsibility to open communications with each other. Where there is one side lacking, the other should take the initiative to ask, before creating assumptions of them - in this case, specifically, the staff. Do not assume that something is not allowed, or discouraged, or prohibited, or XYZ opinion of you, even before you have approached the staff to find out otherwise. We may not always have the time to reach out to every player, and this does not mean we won't make time for you, but neither should there be a need for DMs to be sheperding players. You can help by contacting us with your concerns first.

There have been countless occasions where our staff have bent over backwards in efforts to maintain communication, spent hours ironing out issues with players, and lovingly crafted personal quests for players' characters. We do a lot of these behind the scenes, and often there is little reason or occasion to announce it to anyone. It may appear that the team at TER does not care, but in reality, we do... a whole lot.