If you wish to play in madness,
You must first learn the rules of the sane.
At Light Side of Darkness, we pride ourselves on playing a game that manages to maintain fairness along with entertainment.
Learning our rules is not a difficult task, and the Administration Team is more than willing to help guide you through your beginning stages within our world.
Below, you will find the basic rules that will aide you to begin understanding the way we play:
- Be respectful
- To most this is the most important rule. Do not ignore parts of posts because they do not suit you. Do not destroy someone else's character simply because you can. Be respectful of players and characters alike. We're all here to have fun, after all.
- Be creative
- We at Light Side of Darkness appreciate lengthy posts. No one liners. A paragraph, at least would be wonderful. There's a lot to say if you know your character well. You also should use this rule when making your application. Go into as much detail as possible. We want to know the character as well as you do!
- Be there
- Abandoning threads is something intensely frowned upon. Do not up and leave a plot on a whim. This goes back to the first rule of respect. Other characters might be depending on you to finish that thread so that they can continue. Please try to finish all threads you are in and not leave them to the wayside.
- Be informed
- This is more of a suggestion than a rule. There is a lot that goes on between all of the vastly different characters on this board. We would suggest that you find a way to keep yourself informed and up to date on current story lines. It is not required, but you'll find more to do if you can pop in to read a thread or two you might now be involved in.
Out of Character (OOC) Information used In Character (IC) -- What is it?
OOC information is any knowledge about a plot or character that you have learned by reading a biography or speaking to a player on a personal level, rather than learning the information through actual threads in which your character comes across the information in game. OOC information is fine to learn, but is never to be used while in character during a thread.
For example:
- Player A reads a thread in which Player B's character is planning a prank on Player C's character. How should Player A's character react?
- Incorrect - Player A's character starts a thread with Player C's character, warning them to keep an eye out on Player B's character
- Incorrect - Player A's character starts a thread with Player B's character, telling them to stay away from Player C's character
- Correct! - Player A's character does nothing that they would not normally do, since they have no way of knowing what Player B's character is planning. If they later learn of Player B's character's plans, then they can proceed as they would according to their character development.
When in doubt, ask! Administration members are usually available for questions and always open to Private Messages (PMs).
Never be afraid to ask if something you have learned on the board would be considered OOC information or not.
Procedures for Instances of OOC Information Used IC
Nobody's perfect. We know that! But there have to be consequences for using knowledge that your character has no way of knowing. The system is set up to work with players, to make sure that they understand just what they are doing wrong, and to hopefully help them learn how to avoid using OOC information IC in the future.
- First offense
- Warning - You will be sent a Private Message (PM) explaining where the offense has occurred and just why it would be OOC information. Do not be afraid to reply back to the Administration member if you are unclear as to why you are being warned.
- Second offense
- Temporary Ban - Depending upon the time lapsed between your first and second offense, the Administration Team will set the time for you ban in order to show the severity of the situation.
- Third offense
- Permanent ban - Three strikes and you're out. We hate to say it, but if you haven't learned by now, we're not really sure how else to teach you.
Thread Disputes -- The He Said/She Said
Every once in a while there will be a point in a thread where one or more of the players is either wondering what in the world is going on or feels uncomfortable with some part of the thread. This is a short list of the hoops to jump through to resolve those conflicts.
- The first thing that should be tried is a conversation between the players in that thread. If you have a problem with something that has been said, contact the player directly and see if things can't be worked out.
- If no conclusion can be come to bring in an Administrator or two to monitor the conversation and act as mediator.
- If the problem continues and a conclusion or compromise doesn't seem to be coming, the issue can then be turned over to the Admin in order to resolve the situation in the best interest of BOTH players.
Character Death -- Important
If you put your character in a situation where they might obviously be killed, (e.g. - taking a witch/wizard into a vampire territory or attacking a DE) and they are killed it is considered fair play. You do get one chance to appeal to the Admin staff, but the decision that the collective Admin come to is final.
