Ryzom Code of Conduct

The following rules cover the most common situations but they are not exhaustive. The Customer Support team has the right to amend these rules if a new situation should arise which needs further clarification.

If a case is too specific to appear in the rules but nevertheless requires the intervention of the Support team, they can act and promulgate, at any time, warnings or sanctions without being required to inform the whole community.

If you witness a rule violation or infringement, please inform Customer Support by using one of the following means:
– the in-game ticket system;
– an in-game private chat to an online CSR (/tell command);
– Rocket Chat;
– an e-mail sent to support@ryzom.com.

Summary:
The Support Team
A. Disagreement with a player
B. Warnings and Sanctions
C. Code of Conduct's Rules:

• I. Courtesy Rules
• II. Naming Policy
• III. Game Integrity Infringement
• IV. Inappropriate Advertising
• V. General Fraud

The Support Team

Its members are volunteers under non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and are not allowed to reveal their identity neither to other players nor to other members of the Ryzom teams. If a player thinks he knows the identity of the player behind the CSR (or any NDA members of a Ryzom team), he is prohibited from disclosing the information to others and doing so would be cause for sanctions to be applied. (major offense, see B. Warnings and sanctions)

Members of Support are in charge of solving the various problem related to the game (technical, disciplinary, etc.). They must behave with politeness and courtesy at all times. If you have a disagreement with a member, you can address a complaint, duly documented, to support@ryzom.com which will be forwarded to the head of Support. Any unfair complaint against a member of Support may be subject to a sanction.

When a member of Support contacts you, you must follow their instructions and reply with courtesy and politeness. Any breach will be sanctioned according to our procedures for sanctions and escalation policy. (See B. Warnings and sanctions)

We remind you that members of Support dedicate their time (both game and real life time) to ensure that everyone can play in a peaceful environment: try to have this in mind when you contact a Team member. This is of course the same for all teams: CSR, dev, event, etc.

The Support Team is subject to strict rules that prohibit them from teaming, exchanging with, dueling with any player, or resurrecting them. These rules also forbid them from using their powers for any purpose other than those defined within the context of their function, under risk of removal of their CSR account, or even their player account. In addition, CSRs are not allowed to process tickets involving their own player guilds or characters.
In accordance with these rules, control tools record all critical commands used by CSRs (as well as members of other teams) and display them internally for real-time control by all. Each connection of a member of Support (and of other teams) is also visible so that everyone can verify that no one has usurped their account.

All decisions taken are collective ones and therefore you may be contacted by several members of Support about the same issue depending on its nature.

A. Disagreement with another player

In the case of a disagreement with another player, you are expected to try to find to an amicable settlement yourselves. A ticket should be a recourse of last resort; it should only be sent if you are not able to resolve the situation and a third party needs to become involved.

If you have to resort to sending the above-mentioned ticket, it is important to take screenshot(s), depending on the situation, for further reference. It is essential that the screenshot(s) show(s) the entire in-game screen and has not been changed in any way (censorship or anything else) in order to be considered acceptable. It has to show clearly the violation that you want to point out. Note that a screenshot showing the open map allows us to see the Atysian date, which is easily transposable to a real date. We also accept videos. For any other questions, you can contact us directly in game through a /tell if a CSR is online, through Rocket Chat, or through an e-mail sent to support@ryzom.com.

N.B. Any abuse of the ticket system will be documented and sanctioned.

B. Warnings and sanctions

The Customer Support Team has the right to issue warnings or sanctions depending on the seriousness of an infraction, the reaction of the implicated player towards the Support team, and their in-game history (sanctions and previous warnings). A player might thus be given a reprimand, a warning, a suspension period ranging between 24h and several days, or a permanent ban.

Penalty scales

The penalty scale for a minor offence starts with an official warning followed by a 24h suspension, then three days, then one week and up to two weeks. It can be followed or preceded by a mute of increasing duration at the place of the infraction (channels of the game, or Rocket Chat, or forum etc.).
This penalty scale is reset after one year without sanctions.

The scale of penalties for a major offence starts with a week of suspension, then one month and then permanent banning of the account. It can be followed by a kick off the server if necessary.
This penalty scale is reset after three years without sanctions (except for permanent ban).

Critical offence: Final banning of the account after warning the player by e-mail.

N.B. In the case of a heavy and immediate sanction (suspension or permanent banning of an account), as the player in question can no longer be contacted in-game, he or she will be contacted only through e-mail to the e-mail address filed in his/her personal account. This is why it is important to enter a valid e-mail address when registering. If the player in question does not receive the e-mail, or if they wish to dispute the sanction, they can contact the Customer Support team at support@ryzom.com.

LEGAL NOTICES

The sanctions provided  in the Ryzom Code of Conduct shall be assigned as follows:

• Mutes and verbal warnings may be applied by all CSRs.
• Official warnings (by email) may be applied by all CSRs from the GM grade upwards.
• Suspensions may only be applied by CSRs at the SGM level.
• Account bans may only be decided and enforced by Winch Gate Limited.

C. Rules of the Code of Conduct

I. Courtesy Rules

I.1. Harassment of a player or of a member of a Ryzom Team (Major/Minor Offence: depending on the degree, the Support Team will decide on each case)

Provocation and harassment, whether verbal or through gameplay actions, are prohibited in-game as well as on Ryzom's chat channels: insults, threats of all kinds (under cover of roleplay or not), provocation via emotes or other, but also the chain kill of a character, its campfires or its mektoubs (except during outpost battles), repeated or regular pullovers of mobs on the same character... This list is not exhaustive.
The Support team reserves the right to prepare a file if it deems a case to be proven harassment, as well as to take the decisions that are necessary based on the seriousness of the facts.


I.2. Slander or rumour about a Ryzom Team member or Winch Gate (Major/Minor offence: depending on the degree, the Support Team will decide on each case)

Spreading rumours, false accusations or lies against a member of the Ryzom Team or against Winch Gate, in order to harm them or their reputation or honour, is strictly prohibited.
The Support team reserves the right to make appropriate decisions based on the seriousness of the facts.


I.3. Insults, rudeness, disrespect towards a player or a Ryzom Team member (Minor Offence)

It is strictly prohibited to insult, be rude to, or show lack of respect towards other players, either directly or indirectly, under cover of roleplay or not, and/or in a language that they may or may not understand. Support team has the right to define the seriousness of the exchanged insults and to punish them at its own discretion.


I.4. Disobedience of Support member's instructions (Minor Offence)

When a member of Support contacts you, you must respond as quickly as possible and follow his or her instructions carefully, otherwise you will incur a penalty.


I.5. Disturbance of an in-game event (Minor Offence)

As respect towards the players participating in an event and towards the Event Team that prepared it, players not concerned with this event are asked not to come and disturb the event by using words or actions that are inappropriate or irrelevant. Any abuse may be punished.
If you would like to interact with a scheduled event, please contact the Event Team (events@ryzom.com), which will judge the admissibility of your request.


I.6. Account sharing (No Offence)

Player account sharing is strongly discouraged. The Support Team will disengage itself completely from any problems resulting from such a sharing (theft of items, appropriation of the account by another player, etc.).


I.7. Bad behaviour on a chat channel of the game (Game server, IRC, forums and Rocket chat included) (Minor Offence)

Universe channels are primarily channels of mutual help (questions-answers about the game, request for help, rez ...). They are also open to any discussion of interest to most of the community. If not, please use the /tell or a private channel. Flooding is therefore moderated there and trolling, spamming (action of repeating or publishing several messages in a row within a few minutes) and flaming are prohibited.

1. Any harassment, threat, or other embarrassing and disquieting act towards another player or member of a Ryzom team is prohibited.
2. Rude, abusive, defamatory, obscene, xenophobic and anti-semitic language is prohibited. Similarly, any sexually explicit statement is banned.
3. You may not impersonate any employee of Winch Gate, CSR or any other member of Ryzom teams.
4. You must not violate any laws, whether local, national, European or international.
5. The illegal transfer of documents, files or the like is prohibited via Winch Gate's network of sites.
6. When, in-game or through any other Ryzom service, a CSR member contacts you, you must answer and follow their instructions.
7. You may not use Winch Gate's services for activities other than those permitted in the gaming world.
8. If the information on your profile is false, incomplete or incorrect, you will not be able, in some cases, to benefit from the support provided, because the CSRs could not identify you correctly.
9. You must not communicate any personal data of other players, whether in-game, on the forums of Winch Gate, through IRC or on Rocket Chat.

Courtesy in the game
1. You must not violate the Code of Conduct.
2. Any harassment, whatever its form, is prohibited.
3. You must not obstruct another player during their game phases.
4. You must behave respectfully towards other players and the members of Ryzom Team.
5. You must not hide behind a "role" to transgress the rules of Courtesy.

Forum Rules
1. You must not violate the Code of Conduct.
2. You must express yourself clearly, act civilly and politely.
3. You must not harass or insult other players, neither any member of a Ryzom Team.
4. Cross-posting (posting the same message several times to attract attention) is prohibited.
5. You are required to report any message that is illegal or violates these rules.
6. Advertising for websites and so forth with no link with Ryzom is prohibited.

II. Naming Policy

The naming policy defines the rules that govern the choice of the name of your character when it is created. It is established by the support team under the direction of its manager.

Name choice

When creating your character, in the final phase you will have to choose a name for him/her. It is advisable to take inspiration from the the Lore to have a character that adheres better to the universe of Atys. If you have no ideas or the names you choose are already taken, you can use the random name generator available in this step. Nonetheless, a name less roleplay but in accordance with the charter below will be accepted.


Name change

At any time, a Support Team Member can contact you and ask you to choose another name if it does not comply with the rules below.

You can request a name change from a Support Member for reasons such as roleplay, wish to abandon a name that is attracting other players' mockery, anonymity... (this list is not exhaustive). Your request must be reasoned and will be validated by the Support Team.

The maximum number of pseudonym changes will depend on the type of your account:

• Free to Play account: 1 allowed name change for each character.

• Premium account: 1 change of name allowed every six months for each character.

Naming Policy and penalties for violations

N.B. If a player creates multiple characters with names that violate the naming policy in the "Very offensive names" section below, they may be subject to the sanctions provided in the Code of Conduct.


1. Very offensive names
The character is immediately renamed with a default name and an email is sent to the player to inform them of the name change.

• You may not use coarse, racist or ethnically offensive, obscene, sexual, drug or homonymous names, or names that include abusive common names, referring to a part of the anatomy and this covers any language used in the game.

• You may not use a name chosen to harm, in any way, or impersonate another player, including Winch Gate Property Limited Employees or a Ryzom Team volunteers.

 

2. Offensive names
The character is renamed with 24h of delay to allow time for the the player to propose a new name. This for characters created after the publication of the present Naming Policy.

• You may not use names that are phonetically offensive or would go against the Naming Policy.

• You may not use names of religious, occult or significant historic origin (e.g.: Jesus, Lucifer, Nosferatu)

• You may not use names containing titles such as: Master, King, Queen, Lord, Sir, Mother, God... (this list is not exhaustive).

 

3. Forbidden names:
The character is renamed with 3 days of delay to allow time for the the player to propose a new name. This for characters created after the publication of the present Naming Policy.

• You may not use names that are copyrighted, trademarks or names of materials or products (e.g.: Fujitsu, Whiskey, Tylenol, Toshiba).

• You may not use names of famous people, politicians and popular fictional characters (e.g.: Angelina Jolie, Donald Trump, James Bond.).

• You may not use proper nouns of Ryzom (e.g.: Jena, Tryton, Yrkanis, Mabreka).

• You may not use a name which is the reverse spelling of a name in contradiction with the Naming Policy (e.g.: Anej, Notyrt, Sinakry, etc.).

• You may not use easily recognized names that come from another universe such as medieval fantasy or science fiction or others, either fictional or non-fictional, even if hidden by a slightly different spelling (e.g.: Skywolker, Gondalf, Flintstains, Obywan) .

• You may not use common words or phrases not pertaining to the Ryzom universe, as names (e.g.: cell phone, microwave, truck).

 

Characteristics of Guild Names

For the most part, guild names must comply with all the rules of names and are subject to the same rules as character names in terms of renaming, depending on whether the elements that make up the name of the guild are very offensive, offensive or just forbidden.
There are, however, several exceptions:

• The name of a guild can use the proper noun of places on Atys in order to facilitate the role play (e.g.: The Protectors of Fairhaven).

• The name of a guild can have in its title, for roleplay purposes, the name of a character of the Lore if the whole does not break any point of the Naming Policy and is consistent with the Lore. So, "The children of Elias", "The disciples of Mabreka" conform to the charter of names, but "The Jar of Tryton" does not.

 

If you think that a player's name is inappropriate, disturbing, or incompatible with the game, you can report it to us by ticket or directly in game by contacting a member of the Support Team (the list of CSRs in-game at the moment is displayed under the SYSTEM INFO tab of the chat window when you type /who gm).

If you want to challenge a rename request (any abuse will be sanctioned), you can contact the head of support via e-mail to support@ryzom.com.
Any request will be studied very carefully, any abuse will be recorded on the player’s profile and, if necessary, sanctioned.

III. Game Integrity Infringement

 

III.1. Servers data hacked, decrypted or assimilated (Critical Offence)

Changing the client or its means of communicating with the server in order to obtain an advantage is strictly prohibited and is punishable by a permanent ban.


III.2. Account Piracy (Critical Offence)

Taking control over an account that does not belong to you, by any computer means, is strictly prohibited and is subject to a permanent ban.


III.3. Utilization of a bot (Major Offence)

Using a third-party program to play through scripted actions.

Using macros which are not part of Ryzom's integrated macro system in order to make your character partly or completely independent of your direct control is strictly prohibited.
This rule also applies to the Wheels of Fortune of the capital cities.

Control of several characters by the use of a third-party program is strictly prohibited. If, during a check, the Support Team is not able to discern whether a player is abusing this rule, the player will have to provide the proof that he's not using any third-party software to control several characters at the same time.


III.4. Multi-boxing (for more than 4 characters) (Major Offence)

The number of accounts connected at the same time for one IP address is limited to four. However, Customer Support may make exceptions in individual cases (such as a large family, public computer etc). If you believe you should be exempted, please contact Support at support@ryzom.com, mentioning the reason for your request along with the names of all the accounts concerned.


III.5. Exploit (Critical, Major or Minor Offence, depending upon the case)

The concept of exploit covers any use of a third-party program, a client modification or recompilation or a bug to gain an advantage over the other players.

Exploits are forbidden and punishable by the Customer Support Team, which has the right to decide the severity of the noticed exploit. On this subject, repeated offences are an aggravating factor.
If you suspect the use of an exploit, you must contact us using one of the means mentioned above.


III.6. Aggro dragging outside of outpost battles (Minor Offence)

Intentionally dragging one or several mobs towards another player in order to kill or harass them is prohibited. If a player sees or is informed that he has unintentionally committed aggro dragging, he must apologize and do his best to resurrect the concerned characters, if required.

If you are victim of intentional aggro dragging and can prove it (for instance a screenshot of a tell showing that, when being contacted by you, the person dragging didn't show any sign of remorse and didn't want to come back and revive you), you can contact Support Team through one of ways mentioned above. We will then open a file and act accordingly. Here again, repeated offences will be taken into consideration.
Only aggro dragging during an outpost battle is tolerated (see III.9. Disrespect of the PvP rules).


III.7. Kill stealing (Minor Offence)

Killing a mob which is already being attacked by another player or group of players, is considered as kill stealing and is prohibited.

If, after trying to resolve the situation between the parties involved, no solution is found, you may contact Support Team through the means mentioned above. However, before contacting any CSR, first try to communicate with the player(s) involved and resolve it yourself!

In the case of a Boss or a Named mob, please refer to the following paragraph.


III.8. Rules regarding Bosses and Named mobs (Minor Offence)

a) Theft of Bosses or Named

A Boss or Named belongs to the first team that has locked it, as long as the lock is active. (See https://app.ryzom.com/app_forum/index.php?page=topic/view/27212 for more information.)
A second team may assume the Boss or Named only if it is not yet locked or it is unlocked. To do this, it can exclusively:

• Fight the first team in PvP;

• Take advantage of the departure of the first team, which automatically unlocks the Boss or Named. Note that if there is only one player is left alive or present from the team that has locked the Boss or Named, it will be unlocked.

Aggro dragging aimed at weakening the other team is prohibited and is therefore punishable (see III.6).

A Boss or Named is considered free as long as it is not locked by any team.
The pull of Boss or of Named by a single person, that is to say without team, is possible but insufficient to cause the locking. To re-acquire the Boss or Named in this case is not considered to be kill stealing.

b) Camping of Boss or Named spots

Camping of Boss or Named mobs’ spots is not regulated because it is often impossible to prove.


III.9. Disrespect of the PvP rules (Minor Offence)

In Ryzom, PvP is at all times consensual. Activating your PvP tag, entering a PvP zone or engaging in an outpost battle implies that you accept the consequences. To put it simply, if you do not want to take part in PvP action, then it is your responsibility to not activate your tag or not go into PvP zones.

a) Faction PvP

A player who activates his PvP tag accepts the consequences, whatever the circumstances.
E.g.: being killed while foraging, at the stables, while afk, at a respawn point near a vortex.

If, despite your tag, you wish to avoid the fight, you can wait for detagging to occur, hide, use a TP, change place or region, etc.

b) Zone PvP

The player who enters a PvP zone accepts the consequences, whatever the circumstances. However, as a specific exception, killings at respawn points near vortices are prohibited and punishable if proven. If you are tagged for Zone PvP and you are the victim of a kill at a vortex respawn, you can contact us through one of the ways described above. In this case, it is strongly recommended that you add a screenshot to support your claim (please ensure that the SYSTEM INFO window is visible in the shot).

c) Outpost battle PvP

The player who enters an Outpost battle area and chooses a side, accepts the consequences, whatever the circumstances.
However, as a specific exception, kills at respawn points near a vortex are prohibited and punished if proven. If you are under OP battle tag and you are the victim of a kill at a vortex or respawn, you can contact us through one of the ways described above. In this case, it is strongly recommended that you include a screenshot to support your claim.
Untagged characters in the OP must be removed during the battle as they distort the targeting of the protagonists. CSRs can move them if required.
If, despite your tag, you wish to avoid the fight, you can wait for detagging to occur, hide, use a TP, change place or region, etc.

Rules regarding outposts (OP)

a) CSRs will, as a general rule, not be present at outpost battles. However, if you notice a violation of the rules of decency and behaviour, you can immediately contact the Support team.

b) If you have become stuck in the landscape in a region where an outpost battle is taking place, first try to teleport. If you don't succeed, you must contact Customer Support, describing your situation. A CSR will then help to free you.

c) Everything that falls under the normal mechanics of the game is allowed in combat zones, provided that all those involved are tagged for PvP.
1 - A Mektoub packer might die. By bringing it into a combat zone, you are exposing it to risks.
2 - Spawn camping is almost impossible because of the security zone around the respawn points, and is thus allowed. If you die and your enemies are near your respawn point, you will have either to wait for regeneration in the safe zone or to choose another respawn point/Teleportation pact to rejoin the battle.
3 - During outpost battles, using aggro dragging and killing Yelks near the fight is valid and allowed game strategy.

d) Outpost Blocking

Declaring war on your own OP or that of one of your allies, or having your allies declare war on your OP(s) in order to prevent someone else declaring war on it, is considered an exploit and is prohibited.
The transferring of ownership of an OP from one guild to another is allowed. Raising the threshold is then forbidden, as is the handing over of the OP multiple times in a row, this being considered as blocking the OP.

e) Repeated fake declarations

When declaring war in several positions at once, the failure to participate in any of these announced attacks with a sufficient number of players to reach the threshold against squads alone is considered harassment. The same applies to repeated false declarations of war on a single outpost.

N.B. Every point above aims at giving a certain amount of flexibility to tactical choices during attacks while maintaining a balance with the right of OP owners to be free of harassment. If you think that your guild might be charged with one of these forbidden actions, take a screenshot showing the number of players present with you during the attack in case you need to show it to Support Team.

IV. Inappropriate Advertising

IV.1. Gold selling (Critical Offence)

Gold sellers have nothing to do with the game and its environment. Thus, they are strictly forbidden. The guilty player will immediately be kicked and banned.


IV.2. Advertising of a product or a website unrelated to Ryzom (Major/Minor Offence: depending on the type of advertising, the Support team will examine all cases individually.)

Advertising for websites not related to Ryzom and its environment is prohibited. The guilty player will immediately be made mute and sanctioned as appropriate.
The support team will review each violation and decide on the sanction depending on the nature of the advertisement published.

V. General Fraud

V.1. Impersonating a member of a Ryzom Team or Winch Gate (Major Offence)

It is strictly forbidden to pretend to be a member of the game teams or Winch Gate, whether in-game, on the forum of Ryzom, on IRC, Rocket Chat or elsewhere on the web.


V.2. Attempting to deceive a Ryzom Team member (Major Offence if the player gets a benefit)

Attempting to deceive a member of the Ryzom Team, either in order to retrieve items already won (e. g.: event reward, mission item, Boss' loot, Marauder Boss’ piece or plan...), or for any other purpose is strictly forbidden. Any player convicted of this transgression will be punished in accordance with paragraph B. Warnings and sanctions.


V.3. Impersonating another player (Minor Offence)

It is forbidden to impersonate another player in any way (including pretending to be his reroll or alt and speaking on his behalf).


V.3. Claiming a special relationship with a member of a Ryzom Team (Minor Offence)

It is strictly forbidden to pretend to have a privileged relationship with a member of the Ryzom team (including a member of Support), whether to harm him, to make oneself look good to other players, to try to influence them, or for some other reason.
The members of the Ryzom teams are subject to a non-disclosure clause and therefore their identities (personal and player) are preserved. In addition, each member follows an internal code of conduct that prohibits them from favouring one player over another.

NB: If such a relationship proves to be true, the player and the CSR (or member of another Ryzom team) would be subject to the sanctions provided by their respective codes of conduct.

The new Code of Conduct is published, you can consult it here.