GENERAL

Ryzom Code of Conduct

The following rules cover the most common situations, and therefore are not exhaustive. The Customer Support team has the right to amend these rules if new situations needing further clarification should arise.

If an individual case is not covered by these regulations, but requires Customer Support to take action, the CSR's are authorized to act as they see fit and issue warnings and/or impose sanctions at any time.

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 on-line CSR (/tell command), IRC, or an e-mail sent to support@ryzom.com.

I. Disagreement with another player

In case of a disagreement with another player, you are expected to try to come to an amicable settlement yourself. A ticket should be a recourse of last resort, and happen only if you are not able to resolve the situation and a third party needs to step in.

If you end up sending the above-mentioned ticket, it is important to take a screenshot or screenshots for further reference. It is essential that the screenshot shows the entire in-game screen and has not been changed in any way (censorship or anything else) to be considered acceptable. It has to show clearly the violation that you want to point out. We also accept videos. For any other questions, you can contact us directly in game through a /tell if a CSR is online, through IRC, or through an e-mail sent to support@ryzom.com.

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

II. 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 his/her ingame history (sanctions and previous warnings). A player might thus be given a reprimand, a warning, a suspension between 24h and several days, or a permanent ban.

N.B. In the case of a heavy and immediate sanction (suspension or ban), the player in question will no longer have access to the game, and will be contacted only through e-mail to the 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.

III. Rules

1 - Exploits and use of third-party programs

The concept of "exploit" covers any use of a third-party program or a bug to gain an advantage over the other players. Exploits are forbidden and punishable by the Customer Support team, who has the right to decide the severity of the noticed exploit. On this subject, repeated offense is an aggravating factor.

If you notice a potential exploit, you should contact us using one of the means mentioned above.

Examples of exploits:

"Macroing"

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.

Multiboxing

Control of several characters by using 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.

In order to limit multiboxing abuse, a limit of 4 accounts on the same IP address has been instituted. However, Customer Suppoer may make exceptions in individual cases (such as a large family, public computer...). 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.

2 - Aggro dragging

Intentionally dragging one or several mobs towards another player or group of players in order to kill or harass them is prohibited. If a player sees or is informed that he has unintentionally committed aggro dragging, it is recommended that he apologizes and, if possible, resurrects the concerned characters.

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 Customer Support through one of ways mentioned above. We will then open a file and act accordingly. Here again, repeated offenses will be taken into consideration.

3 - Rules regarding Bosses and Named mobs

a - A Boss or Named mob "belongs to" the first player/team who has pulled it or its guard. If a second team tries to take over the Boss/Named in any way (except through PvP) while the first team has already pulled, it is considered kill stealing.

b  - A Boss is considered free if the player who pulled it is dead or, in the case of a team, if all of its members in that location are dead/have been killed by any means (by the Boss, Named, Guard/faction tag PvP, zone...)

Solo pulling of a Boss or Named, meaning without a team, is possible. Hence, the Boss/Named will belong to that player. This rule is subject to common sense: pulling a 270 Boss as a single player is useless since it's impossible to kill it alone. If a problem related to this rule occurs, a CSR will make the final decision.

4 - Kill stealing

Killing a mob which is already being attacked by another player or group of players, is considered as kill stealing and is prohibited. This also applies to whole spawns of mobs.

If, after trying to work out the situation, no solution has been found, you may contact Customer Support through the means mentioned above. However, before contacting any CSR, first interact with the players involved and try to resolve it yourself!

In the case of a Boss or a Named mob, pleaser refer to the related paragraph above.

5 - PvP

On Ryzom, PvP is at all times consentual. Activating your PvP tag, entering a PvP zone or engaging in an outpost battle implies that you accept the consequences. To put it another way, if you don't want to take part in PvP action, then do not activate your tag or go into PvP zones.

a - Faction PvP:

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

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

b - Outpost battle PvP:

The player who enters an Outpost battle area and chooses a side, accepts the consequences, whatever the circumstances. However, in this specific case, kills at respawn points or 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.

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

c - Zone PvP:

The player who enters a PvP zone accepts the consequences, whatever the circumstances. However, in this specific case, kills at respawn points near a vortex 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.

6 - General PvP Rules

a) CSRs will, as a general rule, not be present at outpost battles.

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 should contact Customer Support, mentioning your situation. A CSR will help you get unstuck.

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 should either wait in the safe zone while regenerating or choose another respawn point/Teleportation pact to rejoin the battle.
         3 - During outpost fighting, using aggro dragging and killing yelks near the fight is a valid game strategy and is allowed.

7 - Rules regarding ouptposts (OP)

Generally speaking, no CSR will be present during outpost battles. Nonetheless, if you witness an infringement against the politeness and behavior rules, you can contact Customer Support.

a) "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 prohibited.

Transfering 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 blocking the OP.

b) Repeated fake declarations
When declaring war on one or several OP at a time, if you don't attend at least one of these attacks with a number of players reasonably sufficient to pass the threshold against the NPC defense squadrons alone, it is considered harassment.

N.B. The points above aim 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 a players present with you during the attack in case you need to show it to Customer Support.

8 -  Language/Courtesy rules

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

Provocation and harassment (i.e., insults, threats of all types, harassment on chat channels, etc.) are forbidden. Customer Support has the right to put together a record of actions if they consider harassment behavior proven, and to make decisions on sanctions based on the seriousness of the case.

9 - Chat channels

The Universal channels are open to all discussions as long as the  courtesy rules are respected. Spamming and flooding of the channels with comments are moderated, trolling and flaming are prohibited and subject to CSR action.

10 - Miscellaneous

Mobs spawn camping being too often impossible to prove, therefore the rule that forbade it has been removed. Camping is no longer regulated.

The following rules govern the Code of Conduct of Ryzom Services (including the "Ryzom" game, IRC and the forums).

Any transgression of these rules may lead to suspension of access to Ryzom Services without prior warning. No refund may be claimed after an exclusion due to rules infrigement.

1. Any harassment, threat or other offending act causing uneasiness to/against another player is forbidden.
2. Foul langage, insulting, defamatory, obscene, xenophobic or anti-semitic talk is prohibited. Also all explicit sexual content is prohibited.
3. You may not impersonate any WinchGate employee, GM or other Customer Service Representative.
4. You may not violate any law, be them local, national, European or international.
5. Illegal transfer of document or files is forbidden across the network or websites of WinchGate.
6. When contacted by a CSR while in-game, on the forums or any other Ryzom service, you must respond and follow their instructions.
7. You cannot use WinchGate services for any other activity than the ones allowed by the game world.
8. You may not provide any falsified information while registering (or updating your profile) on WinchGate forums or on your Ryzom account.
9. You may not disclose personnal information about other players, be it in game, on WinchGate forums or on CeB.
10. Any hacking or decrypting attempt or related activity on Ryzom servers data is prohibited.
11. Any guild or group of players built upon a homophobic, xenophobic, sexist, anti-religious, premise is prohibited.
12 . You may not exploit or disclose bugs encountered in game and should report them immediately to WinchGate.


In-game courtesy

1. Harassment of any kind is forbidden.
2. You may not hinder another player during his play.
3. You must maintain respectful behavior toward other players and Customer Service Representative.
4. You may not be part of a group or guild going against Courtesy rules.
5. You may not violate the Code of Conduct.
6. You may not hide behind roleplay to justify courtesy rule transgession.


Forum Rules

1. You must express yourself in a clear way and act as a polite and civilized individual.
2. Cross-posting is forbidden (defined as posting duplicates of message in order to improve visibility).
3. You are required to notifiy Customer Service of any illegal content or violation of the rules.
4. Advertisement is forbidden.
5. You may not attack or insult other players.

Naming Policy

1. You may not use names that are copyrighted or trademark characters, materials or products (e.g.: Fujistsu, Whiskey, Tylenol).

2. You may not use names of famous people, politicians and popular fictional characters (e.g.: Sharon Stone, Tony Blair, James Bond).

3. You may not use names of any employee of Winch Gate Property Limited nor of members of the Customer Support Team.

4. You may not use proper names of Ryzom (eg: Tryton, Yrkanis, Yubo). Guild names may use the proper names of places on Atys in order to facilitate roleplay (eg: Miani Protectors).

5. You may not use names that are: rude, racist or ethnically offensive, defamatory or hateful, obscene, profane, sexually explicit, drug references and homonyms of these words, nor names that include common swear words, refer to a part of anatomy.

6. You may not combine words that would result in a phonetically offensive name or that would go against the Naming Policy.

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

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

9. You may not use a reverse spelling name that would be in contradiction with the Naming Policy (e.g.: Susej, Hsub, Syta).

10. You may not use names that come from another genre such as medieval fantasy or science fiction or from other media either fictional or non-fictional that makes them easily recognized (e.g.: Skywalker, Gandalf, Flintstones).

11. You may not use common words and phrases unpertaining to Ryzom universe as names (e.g.: cell phone, VCR, truck).

12. You may not use names containing titles such as: Master, King, Queen, Lord, Sir, Mother, The. This list is not restrictive.

13.You may not use a name chosen to harm, in any way, or impersonate another Player or a Winch Gate Property Limited Employee or a member of the Customer Support Team.