You were just in chat and suddenly the screen 503's on you and you find yourself unable to get back into chat.
You were just kicked.
What happened and why?
The Multiverse, which happens to be the most common location for roleplayers interested in fast-paced chat realtime roleplay to go, is in fact a roleplay of its own, created and GM'd by our creator, Eric Martindale (Rem, for the uninitiated). Thus, it has its own set of rules, which specify:
Avoid using public OOC wherever possible. Any metagaming that is necessary should be directed to the specific player using /msg <username> (a chat-only command), the Multiverse's OOC forum, or via Private Message. Metagaming destroys immersion and is often considered cheating!
Unfortunately for many of us, this is quite vague, and kicks may seem arbitrary without specific guidelines. Here is a rundown on what is and is not allowed:
When do these rules apply?
These rules apply if:
- You are in the Multiverse roleplay. (i.e. If it's Gambit's Bar, the Lake, Wing City, etc., you are probably in the Multiverse.)
- You are in the IC part of the chat. (i.e. Not the public OOC room.)
and - You wish to post a public OOC message.
What IS allowed?
- One "BRB", "Back', "Bye", "I'm leaving", "I'm here", "Hello everyone", or similar entrances or exits.
- A brief question about the IC action that is relevant to everyone or multiple people present.
- A brief explanation about the IC action that is relevant to everyone or multiple people present.
- A brief correction of a misspelling, omission, or such. (i.e. You accidentally forgot a character's name, or spelled something wrong, or used the wrong verb/pronoun/etc.) Acceptable format is *correction or correction*. When you have multiple corrections to make, make them in a single OOC post instead of in multiple ones (i.e. " *shirt, *Meghan's, *trajectory). Also, it may not be necessary to write OOC posts correcting simple misspellings that are easy to deciper (i.e. "teh", "wat", "grl", "Mghan", etc.). If it was the wrong character's name, a foreign or complicated or world-specific word, an indecipherable misspelling, or similar things, corrections are good; however, if it's a simple misspelling, there is no real need to make the correction.
What is NOT allowed?
- Public responses to "BRB", "Back', "Bye", "I'm leaving", "I'm here", "Hello everyone", or similar entrances or exits. Whisper the person who posted it.
- A question about the IC action that is relevant to only one person, or excessively lengthy. Whisper the relevant person instead.
- An explanation about the IC action that is relevant to only one person, or excessively lengthy. Whisper the relevant people instead. (Copy and paste works when you have two or three people a lengthy explanation needs to go to).
- Entering the IC with an OOC question such as "How is everyone?"
- Asking "Is anyone open?", "Is anyone free?", "Does anyone want to RP with me?", "Which character should I come in as?" or similar questions. If you are in the Multiverse, you are already in a roleplay. Jump right into the action, or whisper another player to collaborate beforehand.
- Posting "test", "lag", "stupid lag", etc. Whisper yourself or someone else or use a /whereis or /who command to test the chat.
- Intentionally spamming !grammar or !newuser or 'bored' triggers.
- Rolling dice for no reason, or more than once.
- Writing "oops", "disregard that", "fail", "dammit", "sh*t", "f*ck", "stupid keyboard", "hit enter", etc. after an unintended or incomplete post.
- Comments such as "lol", random emoticons such as :) ^^ >_< and the like, or unnecessary remarks (i.e. "I knew that was going to happen." or "What the hell?" or "WTF?!") Whisper the person to whom you are commenting.
- Reminding everyone that you forgot to bold another character's name, publicly, IF you only need to tell one or two people about it, i.e. the people whose characters' names you forgot to bold. Whisper them that you posted at them.
- Anything that is only directed towards one person, including comments directly relevant to the ongoing roleplay. Use whispers instead.
- Anything not directly relevant to ongoing IC action (that is not specifically permitted in the above section). This includes discussions on things like movies, what everyone is doing, video games, other roleplays, discussions about one or two specific characters (take it to whispers), or anything which is generally discussed in the public OOC channel.
What happens if you break these rules?
- You will be warned or asked to stop by a moderator.
- If you persist, you will be kicked.
- If upon your return you persist, you will be kicked for longer.
- If you are disrespectful to the mod who kicked you, or to other staff or other members, you will be kicked for even longer, and possibly receive an account warning.
This is a roleplaying site, and the Multiverse is a roleplay. Each roleplay has its own rules. If you have ever run a roleplay, either via forums, chat, tabletop, or LARP, you had rules and you expected the players to abide by them. The same thing applies here. Abide by the rules and nothing bad will happen! They are in place to make the Multiverse a more enjoyable place to roleplay, not socialize.
If you ever have any questions about these rules, send a Private Message to a Moderator, either via whisper in chat or via PMs on the forums.
If you ever feel you have been wrongly kicked from chat, please send a PM to one of the Global Moderator Team Leads: Pseudosyne, Parabola or Mid. Please note: Some moderators, such as Tsukihana, are also members of other staff teams, and their color in chat may be deceiving. Not being green is no excuse for disrespect to any staff member, whether they are a moderator, mentor, or designer. Thank you!
Happy Roleplaying!
Blessings and peace,
Ylanne