Basic Site Rules

SITE RULES
Welcome to Boundless Universe!  This is a FREE site, meaning bot-free, creeper-free, and not something you have to pay to enjoy.  We all work hard to keep it that way.  Therefore in order to use any BU Staff-created site, all players must obey the following rules:

1. You must be 18. Although smut and cybering are not allowed, this site may contain adult language, violence, and adult situations.

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2. Do not display personal information anywhere on this site, including in profiles. Staff does our best to protect your privacy and screen out harassment, but we cannot be held responsible for the behaviour of all users.  You may display messenger or email addresses/usernames (to get ahold of you for the sake of RP connections). DO NOT leave phone numbers, addresses, or any other personally-identifying information. For your safety, Staff will delete any posted personal information that we find and will, if necessary, remove you from the site.

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3. Characters must be original -- MUST.  This site is not a fanbase for anything.  We may make a fandom world if enough people request it but right now, no.

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4. All rooms are open to all (unless marked "Private").  Private rooms must obey the same rules as public rooms: no smut or cybering.  In Realtime, user-created rooms set to "Private" will not show up on the room list.

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5. All adult situations must be taken offsite. No exceptions.  Use your discretion and ask Staff if you don't know if a situation is too heavy.  Examples of adult situations include:

Pedophilia - Automatic Ban.  This includes pedophilia of any kind.  We do not care if you play a 12000-year-old demon in a nine-year-old's body, you both will be banned without a second thought.

Rape and explicit mentions of rape - Automatic Ban.  Any discussions about rape will not be tolerated.  Staff may choose to deliver a single warning to members who mention rape as part of a backstory or other plot-related incident, but we are not required to warn before banning.  Please choose your words with care.

Heavily-violent acts and very descriptive gore -- Not allowed in basic (new-member-focused) forums or chat rooms.  Minor violence is allowed.  For example, getting stabbed or stabbing someone might be shown in basic rooms, but discussions of torture would need to be taken out of main rooms and into private, and anything worse than that would need to be taken offsite.  Staff reserves the right to deem any type or amount of violence unacceptable.

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6. Out-of-character (OOC) discussions should be sent via private messages.  OOC discussion disrupts the flow of RP, so please don't chatter OOC unless absolutely necessary.  If you have an OOC question in Realtime, click another user's name and send them a private message or whisper.  Extensive OOC discussion will be considered spamming, even in private rooms.  If you want to make an OOC chat room, you must use "Private" settings: no OOC chat rooms may be created in the main list.

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7. You must ASK if it is all right to use OOC information in character (IC). This applies to everyone, including telepathic and god-like characters.

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8. Reports must be made using the "Report" box (Realtime) or the "Flag" icon (forum). Any other complaints will be considered "blowing off steam" (Staff may not act on them).

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9. No OOC fights.  Please take OOC fights out of chat completely. If the situation gets out of hand, contact Staff to help sort it out.

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10. Images must obey image rules.  Images should be no more than 200kb.  Avatar max: 300 pixels square.  Banner max: 300w x 100h.  Face claims for characters must obey the Image Claims rules.  See "Image Rules" for more information.

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11. Multiple OOC accounts are not allowed anywhere on BU. You are allowed one OOC account for Realtime and one for the forum.  This helps us keep track of players and reduces conflict.  On the forum, you may create one account per character (in order to use the "Character Sheet" function), but you may only have one account for yourself as a player.

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12. Respect Staff and the other players within the site.  We take players' comments very seriously.  "Verbal slashing" or "giving flak" will not be tolerated, even if one party considers it a joke.  Do not harass others or you will be banned.

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13. Policies on medical procedures, cybering and violence: Cybering must be taken completely offsite.  It is not allowed in BU.  If your characters start heading this direction, take it offsite.  You are allowed to "fade to black" (lapse forward in time without mentioning the act).  Medical operations and procedures need to be done in a private room.  Remember, not everyone has as strong a stomach as you.  Violence is not allowed in basic rooms (those designed to orient new players). Basics are safe areas for new players and those who do not want to play in violent areas. If you want to write about gore, you must use a private room.

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14. IC fights must follow the BU Fight Guidelines, except by mutual agreement.  The Fight Guidelines help prevent OOC disputes.  Often when two people battle, one player's actions will annoy the other player.  Here is an example of how that should be handled:

  (Fight poster number 1): Kick punch kick kick stab dodge dodge kick.

  (Fight poster number 2): Dodge doge doge dodge dodge kick.

  (Fight poster number 1): Whoa, that was a bit too much dodging, something should have hit you.

  (Fight poster number 2): Oh? Well, let me get the mods real quick to settle this.

  (Fight poster number 1): Ok, I'll wait.

This is much less detailed than a normal fight on BU, but it gets the point across.  If there is an OOC dispute, contact Staff.  If players make harsh or disrespectful remarks during a dispute, Staff may impose a three-day "cooldown" (temporary ban).

NPC guards exist in this game to keep characters from entering restricted areas and to protect delicate or necessary areas from destruction. Guard actions are considered mandatory. This means if a guard restrains your character, your character is restrained. Do not be the annoying newbie who fights the guards until other players call a mod. Guards may only be NPCed by room/kingdom owners, by Staff, or by players who have the direct permission of room/kingdom owners or Staff.

You may only destroy cities, kingdoms, or rooms under the following conditions:
1) you have permission from the kingdom/room owner and from Staff, and
2) you only attack when PC characters are present to defend the site.

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15. Do not disrespect BU's artists!  As a group we love our artists.  From hand-drawn to digital to 8-bit, BU fan art is something we take great pride in.  Don't insult any images that others make.  You can close images you do not like.

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16. BANNABLE OFFENCES:
Disrespecting Staff or other players.  Discussions are fine, disrespect is not. If you disrespect others you will be given one warning. We may ask you to leave the site for a while to cool down (informal temporary ban).  If you continue to disrespect, you will be banned.

Habitual misbehaviour.   If Staff warns you to change your behaviour and you do not, or if you continue a behaviour we've asked you to stop, you will be banned.  Examples include making inappropriate images, stalking or 'picking on' certain players, showing disrespect to others, using excessive foul language, etc.

Gathering personal information on a player. THIS IS STALKING. If you research someone's address or other personal information, if you look up their images or whereabouts using names and email, or if you perform any other personal information gathering, you will be banned. You will not be allowed back.

Advertising of sites without permission, and linking to/advertising/posting porn.  Unapproved advertisements will be removed and their posters will be banned. Linking to or advertising porn sites will get you banned.  Staff NEVER grants permission to post porn, including links to external sites.

Pedophilia of any kind, including lollies.  Banned without question.

Denigrating the site, spreading rumours, trolling, flaming, or otherwise disrupting the peace.  We encourage a happy, integrated community and we all volunteer our time to keep the site running.  Rumour-mongering and backtalk are regarded very seriously.  Players who cause issues will be banned.  

Impersonating Staff.  Being helpful is one thing, claiming to be Staff is another.  Do not attempt to handle situations that Staff should handle, or to answer questions you don't know the answers to: wrong information may be given.  It is also not considered funny to confuse new players this way -- it's disrespectful to the hard-working Staff.   Players who impersonate Staff members will be banned.

Habitual quitting and returning.  Leaving and returning are very disruptive and should only be done when absolutely necessary.  If you consistently talk about quitting, or if you quit and return several times without a compelling reason, we will be happy to make the permanent choice for you.

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17. NON-BANNABLE OFFENCES:
All players must read and abide by all of BU's posted rules.  If a player breaks a rule and Staff decides not to ban them, that player is subject to the following punishments (at Staff's discretion):

Rule violations:
First offence: a warning issued anywhere, including in public chat.
Second offence: temporary ban.  Player cannot access BU for three days.
Third offence: temporary ban.  Player cannot access BU for seven days.
Fourth offence: temporary ban.  Player cannot access BU for one month.
Fifth offence: player can never access BU again.

Image violations:
First offence: a warning issued anywhere, including public chat.  Player is required to remove the offending image.
Second offence: temporary ban.  Player cannot access BU for three days.
Third offence: all images under the player's account are deleted.

In rare cases Staff may choose to issue punishments out of sequence (for example, they may temp-ban a second-offence user for a month).  All punishments are at the sole discretion of Staff.  Disputing punishments will cause a permanent ban.  BU also retains the right to remove players from the site at their (Staff's) sole discretion.  BU Staff may remove anything, contributed by any player, from the site.

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These rules may be modified at any time, with or without warning or notification to users of this site, by any member of Staff.  By participating on the Boundless Universe forum or Realtime chat you agree to abide by any and all rules posted by BU Staff.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this entire page!  See you in the 'verse!