Star Conquest is a roleplaying game. We have done our best to design our game's atmosphere and rules to be inclusive toward anyone who wishes to pass the time roleplaying with others in an original science fiction setting.
The policies listed here are designed to give guidelines to player behavior so that they can help us maintain the above goal. Here is a brief overview of topics that new players are usually most concerned about:
THEME: We describe Star Conquest's theme as "pulp science fiction." It is extrapolated from historical 1950s/60s "Space Age" optimism and inspired by various genres of science fiction, particularly "space opera," a genre that includes sweeping science fiction/fantasy epics. The setting of Star Conquest is in many respects an alternate history of humanity extended into the future. It is not intended to be realistic nor completely serious, but our goal is to give the game an overarching plot which is both exciting and consistent with itself.
ROLEPLAYING: Star Conquest enforces roleplaying. In other games, this means only that you will receive a warning if you are blatantly out-of-character. We go a step further and ask our players to develop a coherent background for their character, and then develop him or her naturally as they play. We have many tools in place to enable this, and the more a player puts into the game, the more they will get out of it. Players will tend to enjoy the game more if they refrain from playing "themselves" and instead create a character that fits into the game's setting. As a bare minimum, we require a character profile from each player, so that everyone has the same opportunity to create their character's own original story.
PLAYER CONFLICT: Many players new to this game, particularly if they are familiar with other games of the same genre, are worried about player vs. player conflict and whether they can expect to be harassed as they go about their everyday business. Our policy is that of risk vs. reward. Players are completely free to remain in safe areas of the game where it is virtually impossible to be attacked. However, there are less safe areas of the game where the reward to your character for exploring them is great. In general, we wish for any player vs. player conflict to be justified by well-roleplayed reasons, and there are a range of in-character consequences we can apply to people who seek to cause trouble without reason. On the other hand, we certainly do encourage reasonable player vs. player conflict as a part of roleplay and as a complement, not a detriment, to the game's environment.
SCRIPTING: In some games, players are almost expected to use complex scripts and automation of their character in order to remain competitive. Star Conquest is not one of those games. Our game is designed around the idea that players will be at their computers and typing commands themselves as they play. If a player finds a command too difficult to use readily, we strongly encourage feedback on the issue and we will gladly take any appropriate action to make the game more playable. Scripts or aliases of any kind should not be needed to play the game. Many aspects of our game are based on the actual behind-the-keyboard skill of the person playing, and any automation of the character gives that player an unfair advantage over others.
METAGAMING: Some players have a common practice of conducting a great deal of their "business" in the game over IMs or over Skype, or skipping roleplaying and character development entirely through this means. When this occurs and especially when it is widespread, it has proven to be an incredibly huge detriment to the game's overall roleplaying environment. Please keep all of your character development in the game. It actually makes it more fun!
MULTIPLE CHARACTERS: Of course, many games vary on whether multiple characters are allowed or not. In Star Conquest, you are allowed one account and each account may have one character. Our game is designed and balanced for each player controlling one and only one character.
SUGGESTIONS, IDEAS, & CRITICISM: We like to maintain a close and often casual relationship with our players, and we have several means of enabling this. You can send your feedback to all staff by using the REPORT command; or you may use the message boards; or, the least formal option of all, you may turn on the MTTS (messages to the staff) channel by typing MTTS ON. We encourage our players to communicate all their feedback about the game directly to us, whether positive or negative.
This is just a brief, simple overview of our game policy. The other policies listed cover many more issues in much greater detail, and it is important to be familiar with their content.
We hope you enjoy playing Star Conquest!
As a general rule, players are expected to be in character (that is, roleplaying: performing actions and saying words consistent with their chosen character) at all times.
We use the terms in character (or IC) and out-of-character (or OOC) to describe whether roleplaying is taking place.
More specifically:
- Any gamewide communications (especially over the comm unit that every character carries) must be 100% in character.
- Any other potentially wide-range communication, such as the asteroid mining channel or on metafrequency communicators, when you cannot be sure exactly who is listening, must remain in character at all times.
- The only exception to this is the Newbie Channel. Although this channel cannot be used as a OOC chat channel, it is sometimes necessary for new players to ask questions and receive answers that can't be stated in character, and this is acceptable on this channel only.
- In any public space (defined as any room where a previously uninvolved player might stumble upon you), you must be in character 100% of the time.
- In private rooms (defined to be starships, apartments, residences, and any other location owned privately by players where you control who has access) you should, regardless, strive to remain in character at all times.
- Basically, any time that people are roleplaying, or you're not sure, remain 100% in character. If you must say something out-of-character, use the OOC command to make it clear. However, this command should be used only sparingly and as necessary, and should not be used to carry out entire conversations. The intent is for this command to be used for brief clarifications that can't be made in character, or if you must leave suddenly for OOC reasons.
- If you must discuss something out-of-character, then the only acceptable method is to use the OOC command to establish out-of-game communication with the other person.
- Discussing your character's motivations, beliefs, behavior, and actions as part of an out-of-character conversation is not a substitute for actually playing your character.
Common ways in which people break character include:
- Referring to the "game," mentioning "players," or discussing game mechanics in out-of-character terms. This also includes bringing up game hosts or mentioning them by name.
- Referring to "real life," including TV shows or current events. Keep in mind that most modern references are unlikely to be remembered 300 years hence.
- Using netspeak, such as "lol" or emoticons.
- Using visual emotes over audio-only communicators. For instance, "*smiles*" is not audible and should not be transmitted, but "*chuckles*" is fine. You can use any audible builtin social commands (type HELP SOCIALS for a list) over the comms too.
- Using the "emote" command, which is intended only to show others actions your character is taking, for other purposes or to confuse/harass other players. For instance, typing ":gives you 1,000,000.00 AEU credits" when you have not actually given any money at all is out-of-character and considered to be purposeful disruption of roleplay.
- Mentioning errors that you're getting or problems with the game. We understand it is frustrating if no staff members are immediately available and the urge to seek help from other players instead, but please keep this to a minimum.
- It is also important to note the difference between IC knowledge and OOC knowledge. For instance, you know the frequency you share with your friends, both ICly and OOCly. But if you then have a falling out with those friends, and you end up rerolling and starting a new character, you might still know their frequency OOCly... but you no longer know it ICly, and therefore you cannot use it or listen in on it. This goes for any other knowledge that you have personally, but your character does not, and this rule is essential for maintaining a roleplaying environment. Use common sense.
It's also worth noting that impersonating game hosts or Squidsoft.net staff, or pretending some inner knowledge of the game or its mechanics that you don't in fact have, is not only very out of character but also detrimental to the game and a source of confusion. None of this will have a good result.
Finally, and very important, you must roleplay in a manner that's consistent with the game world and with your own character profile. You cannot have a profile approved and then go on to play a completely different character. We require approved profiles both so that you have a character concept that we can all be sure fits into the game world, and so that we can help your character grow. Characters who wish to suddenly change their entire character concept may not actually be able to do without rerolling, or if they are, at the very least it will require a new submitted and approved profile.
Star Conquest frequently involves conflict with other characters. We understand the frustration when things don't go your way, and when another character is becoming the bane of your existence. However, you must always be sure that your argument is with that other character, and not with the real person behind him or her.
- Any interaction with other characters, even (or especially) when you're angry, should be fully in character, unless you mutually agree to break character.
- It's generally a bad idea to address any comments, particularly angry ones, to the player behind a character without some kind of permission or invitation, even privately. Such things could get you in trouble if the other player feels uncomfortable as a result.
- Even if your retribution against another character is technically in character, you should take care that your punishment does not unduly affect the player's ability to play. As an example, it's technically possible and even, technically, in character to strand a person far out in uncharted space from which he or she has no hope of ever returning. For obvious reasons, however, this is illegal. At the end of any conflict, all players involved should still retain the opportunity to progress their characters.
- Squidsoft.net maintains a zero tolerance attitude towards interaction in the vein of racism, discrimination, sexual harassment, and homophobia. We seek to provide a comfortable gaming atmosphere, and having to be subjected to scrutiny because of racial, cultural, gender identity, disability or sexual orientation damages not only the integrity of the gaming environment, but also the person being discriminated against.
- It's also walking a thin line to have your character be racist, homophobic, etc. even if you aren't. We strongly recommend against it. We're especially reluctant to accept this as an excuse after the fact.
- Remember that conflict is an aspect of roleplaying. This goes both ways, because while a "victim" player should not complain about properly roleplayed conflict, nor should an "aggressor" player attempt to spark a conflict without it being a justifiable part of their character. What this specifically refers to is players who connect to the game just to harass other players verbally, attempt to grab and strand random players, or attempt to steal or destroy ships, but do not roleplay or even play the game much at all. Players who start a conflict should be involved in their characters and therefore have something to lose themselves. But the act of connecting to a game, not out of interest in playing it but just to cause havoc and watch the reaction, has a specific name: trolling. The staff will not tolerate this and we'll step in as necessary.
- Generally and most importantly, when engaging in player vs. player conflict, we ask that you keep your actions somewhat in proportion with the situation. For example, if your character is insulted on the comms, it is probably not a proper response to pursue that player across the galaxy, destroy all of his ships, and end up holding him hostage on an abandoned, airless station somewhere indefinitely. We recognize that different characters will have different levels of response, but at the end of every conflict, everyone involved should be able to pick up the pieces and resume progressing through the game. Make sure that your actions are merely part of a conflict between characters, and that your intention isn't to somehow punish the player behind that character.
Any online game is nothing without a solid base of players, and having a welcoming environment for newbies is key to maintaining that. We do our part by trying to make the early stages of the game as easy to move through as possible, and we urge our players, both new and old, to advise us in how best to do this.
We also rely on the players to help us in this. All players are to treat newbies with the intent of helping them get a foothold in the game, so that they return and stay with us. If a newbie needs help, we ask that you help them. If you have no help to offer, at least stay silent. They may ask questions in an out of character manner because they don't know how else to word it. As game staff, we recognize the need to allow some leeway in this for new players, and similarly, other players should not feel the need to berate them.
IMPORTANT: Newbies are known, in character, as cadets, and their [c] icon will appear in certain places to help you identify them and their ships. It is against our newbie-friendly policy to initiate conflict against players so identified. Even if alliance relations are poor, let them pass, and let them get a foothold in the game, so that they can become more interesting opponents later. You may, of course, react if acted upon, but we ask that you still show some restraint. Ask questions first, shoot later. Once the player has progressed past newbiedom, you may react however your character would be likely to react.
Some newbies are identified as rerolls, with the [r] icon. Each time you reroll, you should be starting a brand new character, and not simply continuing the same character with a different name. Players who seem to be doing this will have the reroll tag applied. Rerolls are not protected by the newbie policy.
We rarely do any offline development of the game, and changes and new features are almost always performed on the live game. We have minimal staff and time available to thoroughly test these changes before they go live. Therefore, we often rely on you, the player, to find loopholes, weak points, and potential abuses in new systems and existing ones.
- "Bug abuse" refers to any unintended consequence of an action you perform in the game which is either beneficial to your character, or a detriment to other characters or the game as a whole. You can recognize these when you are able to gain game rewards (points, money, experience, etc.) at an unlikely rate, gain normal rewards without having to put in the proper work for them, duplicate items, pick up objects which should be immovable, gain access to areas you would not normally be able to get to, do undue harm to another player which is beyond your normal capabilities, and so on. Basically, if it seems way too easy, it probably isn't intended to be possible.
- If ever in doubt about whether something is a bug, please send a quick REPORT and outline your uncertainty. There is no harm in false reports, and "I didn't know it was a bug!" tends to be a terrible excuse after one has suddenly gained a few thousand points in an hour.
- If a significant fraction of your recent gains are from a bug, expect them to be removed without other compensation, whether you intentionally abused it or not. This is often necessary to maintain the game's integrity.
- Related to game integrity, please refrain from acquiring large numbers of unneeded objects (artifacts that you have yet to turn in, outfits you like, lots of food and drinks, etc.). Use these things promptly or get rid of them. It is a strain on the server to maintain lots of unnecessary objects.
- If it seems evident that you did intentionally abuse a bug, expect the consequences to be more severe. We take it quite seriously.
- Attacks aimed at our server itself are treated even more severely, up to and including involving law enforcement and seeking legal action, depending on the level of damage done or the intent to do damage. There can be no excuse for this.
This is a complicated topic with broad implications, and often a source of confusion, particularly for newbies, who sometimes don't understand why it's wrong. Before going into a full explanation, let's start with a couple of examples.
Example #1: You are a newbie. You've just taken out a loan and bought a whole lot of shiny new equipment. You then decide that you have nothing much to lose, and why pay for equipment that you don't have to? You drop all your stuff in a place that is likely to be safe for a few moments, delete your character, and promptly create a new one. This new character goes and picks up all the items that were just dropped. Free stuff!
Example #2: Your friend is in the AEU and he isn't able to buy your fancy Fringe exclusive specialty ship. You both consider this to be quite a shame. Your friend offers to pay you for one of the ships. You agree, take his money, buy the ship, and hand him your key. He flies the ship around for a while, until he can claim it as his own under the rules that allow players to steal a ship. However, this was not a theft, but rather a voluntary transaction. (Or, perhaps, he never claims the ship and simply effectively owns a Fringe ship, which may be even worse.)
The key to understanding why this is wrong is to compare it to the intent of the game. In the first example, the intent of the game is clearly to allow new players to take out a loan to buy a ship and the equipment they will initially need, and then to gradually pay off that loan as they make money. It is NOT the intent of the game for new players to get equipment and ships for free, else we would provide these for free ourselves. In the second example, the intent is to restrict Fringe ships to Fringe players, unless another player should succeed in forcefully wresting that ship away and stealing it. From an in character standpoint, alliances and pilots wish to keep their own ships within their own alliance. The intent of the game is NOT to allow players to buy exclusive ships from alliances besides their own, else they would simply be able to do so and the workaround using the command to claim stolen vessels would not come into play.
We also restrict the operation of warships to members of their controlling alliance who have the correct amount of points. Currently this is a hardcoded restriction, as well as an in-character verification when you seek launch clearance. Attempting to circumvent this would fall under this policy.
Another consequence of this policy that we must enforce for balance purposes is that, unfortunately, you cannot accept windfalls (as in, ships or massive amounts of money) from a player who is retiring their character. For one thing, this doesn't make sense in character, as someone retiring from being a pilot would probably still want to keep all their money. But the main reason is that the efforts of two people are suddenly concentrated into one character, which isn't fair for anyone else.
Also note that you should never transfer the title of ownership for your ship to someone else unless you intend to in fact transfer ownership of it for the forseeable future. Titles are not intended to be handed back and forth on a whim, and if you feel the need to do so, you're probably working around some game mechanic or limitation.
So in summary, if there is a restriction or limitation built into the game, it is illegal to employ some convoluted method to get around it. If it is evident that a particular reward or outcome is intended to be the result of some work or player vs. player conflict, then it is illegal to achieve the same end without doing the required work or by mutual agreement with the one who should be your enemy.
Again, this is a broad topic and applies to many things besides the above examples. If you're ever not quite sure about what you're doing, it is always better to ask the staff using a quick REPORT command, and we will give you a yes or no as soon as we see it.
We close these loopholes as we're able, but by their nature they are tricky things to detect and enforce. This is why we rely on the common sense and understanding of our players in such cases.
Macros are commands that let you perform complex actions instantly with a couple keystrokes. For instance, a command that allows you to immediately stun another character and flee into your ship without delay. If engaging in conflict with another player, you must do so on level ground, allowing your enemy a fair chance to retaliate.
Scripting is perhaps even worse, and involves complex programs that completely automate some process in the game, usually something that generates money or other rewards from game activities. This is, obviously, unfair to other players that put real work into their characters.
Two things are specifically disallowed, though this is not a complete list:
1) Any alias, trigger, or script that sends input to the game (that is, enters commands for you automatically, or shortens multi-line commands into one command).
2) Any command bound to a single key.
Other information:
- We're fully aware that the capability for macros and scripts is built right into several MOO/MUD clients. This doesn't mean that you should be using it. It's acceptable in some games, but not this one.
- We have systems in place that automatically analyze player actions and alert us to potential scripting, and we also have over ten years of experience in directly observing and detecting scripters. Yes, we can tell when you're doing it. And while you may believe you're getting away with it, we will often bide our time and attempt to see if any other player is using the same script, since they tend to spread. But in the end, we will catch up to you.
- Command stacking (that is, copying and pasting in order to send multiple commands to the game in one line of input, or all at once) cannot be differentiated from use of a macro or alias, and will be treated the same.
- Triggers which are purely for accessibility (i.e., adding sounds or colored highlights to the game) are allowed. However, we frown upon excessive parsing of output.
First of all, hosts are real humans too. We have, over the years, put thousands of hours and hundreds of dollars into persisting with our game-making hobby. We create these games because we enjoy seeing others enjoy our creations. We don't ask you to kiss our feet, but we do ask that you show some basic respect to us as people, and recognize the fact that you're enjoying a free, quality text-based game made by people who are under no obligation to allow you to do so.
- Perhaps most basic and most important, hosts are out-of-character entities. We shouldn't be referred to if you're in character, nor are we to be considered part of the game world.
- Please don't call for an assist from a host unless you really need one of us to personally attend to you. Don't call us to make conversation, and please don't call us when just a REPORT command might suffice. If you're unhappy with a host's decision, please do not promptly call for an assist again, but rather send your appeal ONCE using the REPORT command (which all hosts are able to see) and leave it at that. Please do not call for an assist and then ask for a specific host, as we are all equally empowered in most things, and will ourselves defer to the proper staff member if necessary. Finally, refrain from harassing us either during assists or in reports, as it is unlikely to go well for you.
- We do not divulge information about other players. Not their email address, not their IP address, not out-of-character actions between them and us. For example, a player will sometimes ask us, "Why didn't he get punished for doing the same thing I did?" The answer is, he very probably did. But if he doesn't want to tell you, it's not our place to tell you either.
- As hosts, we will sometimes play our own game, using separate characters which are no different in nature from yours. Be aware and assured that it is against our own staff rules to cheat in the game or to use any host knowledge to get ahead, and we have taken action against staff members over this in the past when necessary. We take the issue of fairness very seriously. Because there is an inherent advantage in our thorough knowledge of the game, we do tend to consider it unfair to initiate conflicts with other players; however, we also consider it fair to react if acted upon. Our characters will also always be in character, and we universally find it irritating to be addressed as a host while playing our character.
- Finally, on a more general note, we aren't here to screw you over or mess with you. We are here not just to help you out, but also to maintain the game's integrity and balance. If this involves stepping in, then we must step in. If this involves occasionally doling out punishments, then we must do that too. We are here to keep things fair. We have had hosts in the past that could not be fair to players and, always painfully, they were removed from our staff. Those of us that remain have been doing this for years, and we all embrace the philosophy of maintaining an inclusive, enjoyable gaming experience for as many players as possible. We ask that you allow us the benefit of the doubt, allow us the simple respect of not assuming that we are out to get you. Unless you can come to the hosts as a whole with serious evidence, never accuse us of being unfair. If you don't understand why we did something or why something happened, we urge you to simply come to us with your concerns and we will gladly explain to the best of our ability. We do not create games and open them to players just to drive those players off. We ask you to accept this as simple truth, and if you ever cease to believe this, you will be doing both us and yourself a favor if you choose to simply find another game to play.
The basic idea of metagaming is using out-of-game communication to gain an advantage over other players. This can take a lot of forms. The effect of metagaming can be very, very harmful, so although this policy is very long, it's important to understand what metagaming is and the harm it can do to roleplaying.
Example: You have been stunned and are within the grasp of your enemies. You cannot talk or transmit, and no one else knows where you are or even that you're in trouble. Out of desperation, you IM a friend of yours who also plays and let him know where you are. He promptly logs on, swoops in, and rescues your character.
The key point is not really whether information was in fact communicated in game, since we can't police your every conversation and it's perfectly reasonable to talk about things that happen with your character. The point is whether you gain an advantage over other characters by acting on OOC knowledge and interactions. In the above example, your friend's character is not psychic, and regardless of the temptation, he was breaking character by knowing where you were and coming to rescue you. Such things are both out of character and unfair to other players who choose to play without such advantages.
Example: You very much want to attack Alliance A with Alliance B as allies. It's been difficult to make this happen. But, fortunately, you've suddenly met a person from Alliance B in a social MOO. After some discussion in the social MOO, you have an attack all planned out. Suddenly, your characters launch their ships and attack Alliance A together.
It's very difficult to respond to things that are planned outside of the game. This is true for staff AND other players. In the past, when attacks have been planned entirely in the game, parts of the plan have often been leaked. This might be a bad thing for the CHARACTERS but it isn't a bad thing for the PLAYERS, because it always makes for some incredibly interesting roleplaying. If none of this planning occurs in the game, then the attack comes as a total surprise and almost appears to happen for no reason. The opportunity for roleplaying surrounding the event has been lost. In addition, we as staff have been taken by surprise and we are unable to make the attack fit into any larger context of the game world.
Example: Something important to you is up for a vote! You fear the outcome may not go the way you want, so naturally enough you try to convince others to vote your way. But you feel it'll be more effective if you appeal not to the characters, but to the people playing them. You IM these other players and ask them to help out your character.
Again, every development in the game should have a beginning, middle, and end that STAY in the game. Appealing to people you know OOC and asking them, "as a friend," to act a certain way toward your character, is taking advantage of their friendship and harming the roleplaying that occurs in the game. If you are successful, all that will happen is these characters change their mind for no apparent reason. There is no opportunity for roleplaying there, and you force other players to try to roleplay their way around a situation that no longer makes sense.
Example: Someone you know is loyal to a different alliance. You contact this person over Skype and, over some time, convince them to be a traitor to their alliance. One day, after being a perfectly productive alliance member for so long, your new friend logs in and sabotages a beacon drop, getting a large ship belonging to his alliance destroyed.
Metagaming can take a more insidious form. Here's a basic rule of thumb that sums up several of the above examples: real character development occurs only in the game. If you respond to out-of-game convincing or change your mind purely because of an OOC conversation, then your character has not developed, but instead just changed for no reason. Of course, in many respects, your out-of-game relationships should take precedence over your in-game ones. Your friends are your friends and you shouldn't lose them over a game. But if you intend to play this game, your friends should also not take precedence over the quality of your roleplaying and the game's overall integrity. Think about your character in a purely in-game sense: do his or her actions make sense? Is he or she making decisions for good, roleplayed reasons? In addition, in the above example, the situation is not fair to your friend's original alliance. When he joins your crew, the original alliance might grasp the obvious and protest that you convinced him to betray them. But since this convincing occurred out of the game, you can say ICly that you never spoke with your friend. The original alliance is left with no way to properly respond and faced with trying to make sense of actions that occurred for no reason.
The basic rule again: metagaming is using out-of-game communication to gain an advantage over other players. This can take a lot of forms.
This is a roleplaying game. For the above reasons and more, character development should take place out in the open within the game. If you are plotting something with your friends, do it in the game, not over instant message or Skype. If your character develops solely within the game, we as well as other characters can help you tell your character's story. If you plot in secret and blindside the game world with some new development, it will be very difficult to fit your actions into the game's wider context. Deciding game actions in Skype with your friends doesn't just mean that you and your friends agree to skip roleplaying. It has a wider effect, forcing other players to try to find reasons for developments that don't appear to make sense, and soon enough, no one is able to roleplay about what's happening at all.
As for multiple characters, the basic rule, unless we decide otherwise, is: one person, one account, one character. Playing more than one character at the same time is definitively not allowed.
For this reason, it's important to let us know beforehand if a friend, significant other, sibling, roommate, etc. is also going to be playing the game and may be connecting from the same location. It will look suspicious if we notice multiple characters connecting from the same place and we haven't been warned.
Once a game has gone live, downtime is rare, and we do our best to keep lag to a minimum. This game being entirely free, we are under no obligation to compensate players in the event of downtime.
However, sometimes downtime is sudden and unexpected, and players can experience losses of ships or equipment when the game suddenly restarts and players are not in their ships. We will do our best to compensate affected players in these circumstances for any losses that can be proved. We can't promise, however, that we can replace everything, and though we are sympathetic, we are in the end under no obligation to replace anything.
Sudden disconnections which are on your end and not gamewide are a much trickier area and are much harder to prove. We will in many cases not be able to do anything for you here. However, you have nothing to lose by using the REPORT command to make your case. We will look through our logs and, if they are consistent with what you tell us, we may be able to help. We are, however, unlikely to do this repeatedly.
Sometimes players complain that they lost items, points, or credits because they mistyped a command, or "didn't mean to" do something. Unfortunately, this is impossible to prove and there is likely nothing we can do for you here. We ask simply that you double check your typed commands and think about the potential consequences of your actions before going ahead with them.
If you've just returned from a long absence and your previous character is no longer available, let one of us know and we may be able to restore your last character. You will not necessarily retain your ships and all your equipment, but your points and credits should be intact. Other than that, restoration is what it is, and we can offer no compensation for things that may be missing after the process has completed.
First of all, let it be made clear that this game, and others like it, are not a secure form of communication. Although we're not likely to spy on players for no good reason, it would be dishonest to say that it isn't possible. We tend to leave players alone when they are paired in ships, apartments, or other private areas, unless we find them suspicious in some way (i.e., we suspect scripting). However, there are no guarantees.
Things we do tend to check in on include: pre-announced roleplay events, impromptu larger gatherings of players in public areas, player vs. player battles, and other things which seem like they may be some kind of event. This is a roleplaying game and we enjoy being able to respond dynamically to actions that players take. This means we need to know what's happening.
We monitor most communications that potentially reach a large number of players: all communicator channels, all transmitter frequencies, the mining channel, every mentor channel, and so on.
We do our best to respect the privacy of other players, but in the end, an online game is not a private place. All we can do is recommend that, if you want to communicate sensitive information, or say something that you want to be sure no one else can hear, do it outside the game.
As the game is in constant development even when live, changes occur frequently and often without notice. Though we'll notify players of important changes, balance tweaks or smaller additions may go unremarked upon.
We don't make any changes specifically to benefit particular players, though it is a slightly different matter to address player complaints about the game with new changes. If there is an ongoing conflict and one side seems likely to benefit suddenly from a new change, or if a balance issue is suddenly noticed in the midst of a battle, we usually consider it most fair to let the conflict play out under the circumstances in which it began before going ahead with any changes.
Similarly, changes and additions can be made to the game's set of policies without notice.
"Intellectual property (IP) are legal property rights over creations of the mind, both artistic and commercial, and the corresponding fields of law. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; ideas, discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs." (from Wikipedia)
In Star Conquest, our intellectual property includes all original characters and storylines, as well as all aspects of our game design, either individually or in whole. It is against policy to replicate or make use any of our intellectual property without permission from us, the creators. It is also against the law.
What this means for our players is this: Anyone who is making use of their playtime on our game to attempt to replicate any aspect of the design will be banned. This is not punishment so much as protection of our property. The staff of Star Conquest have put up to a decade and more into designing and developing Star Conquest, and to replicate this effort and put your own name on it does real harm to us. It is also, in fact, illegal.
Note that if you merely run your own game unrelated to Star Conquest, regardless of genre, this policy does not apply to you. This policy only affects those who would take our intellectual property and use it for their own gain or put their own name on it.
Banning will be our response to all situations that are covered by this policy. We will reserve the right to pursue further legal action.
This policy is to clarify something that's becoming increasingly important as the game becomes more roleplay-focused.
Basically, even in between the major plot points and events that we put together, we don't want a player's daily experience to be nothing but gaining points. We're happy to host small interactive events or conversations with non-player characters that are relevant to your character. These events can include:
* Doing investigative work related to recent events or to some ongoing plot with your own character.
* Discussing an issue with an alliance leader or, more likely, one of their staff.
* Doing or planning something that might influence an ongoing plot, if it makes sense for your character.
If you wish to set up anything like this, please ASSIST and state what you'd like. Note that we don't have constant staff coverage, and that sometimes only one or two hosts are involved in particular plots, so if you don't get a response after a while, cancel the assist and try again later.
You can also initiate some interactions by mailing a letter to a non-player character, such as an alliance leader, station owner, or their staff.
Do note that we can't fulfill every request, as they all take time and creative effort. Your request for a special roleplaying event is more likely to be accepted if:
* You have an account in good standing.
* Your character is roleplayed well and with consistency.
* Your special event is likely to be shared with the players as a whole at some point, thus adding to the overall game experience for everyone. This means that we would like you to eventually tell others or write about special experiences you have, even if the event doesn't otherwise affect the game world.
There are many different types of events we can work with you on. Just ASSIST and ask.
All original work located on this site and within Star Conquest is copyright Squidsoft.net 1998-2012, unauthorised reproduction prohibited.