Rules

Keep in mind that all bans are permanent until appealed.

If you believe that someone is breaking a rule, we encourage you to contact the admins.

0. No Erotic Role Play (ERP), erotic content, or 18+ sexual content in any shape or form

• Breaking this rule will result in an instant ban from our server. Additionally, we may or may not share the logs so others can laugh at you.
• This includes joking about it in-character as well OOC.

1. In-game administration rulings are final

If an admin says something was 'looked into, handled, resolved' etc, regarding an issue, it is unlikely an admin will provide any further information.

• Admins are under no obligation to reveal IC information and can take action against repeated attempts to divulge IC information in any circumstance.
• Staff will try to treat you with basic respect, please return the favor.
• Deliberately lying or misrepresenting facts to admins will result in a ban

2. Don't be a shitter and use common sense

• Don't whine on OOC.
• "Toeing the line" is not permitted. Do not try to bypass the rules by bending them or ignoring their intent.
• AFKing without contributing to the roleplay for extended periods of time to reap benefits is not allowed. If this is how you wish to roleplay, consider playing on a different server.
• Do not misuse the IC chat commands such as '/me' to goof around. See rule 11.
• Spamming, glitching, exploiting, cheating and being overall disruptive will get you banned.

3. Don't be a dick

• We're all here to have a good time. Going out of your way to seriously negatively impact or mess with someone with little IC justification is against the rules, this also includes harassing a player OOC (Out of character).

4. Follow the escalation rules

This rule addresses the in-fighting between citizens and does not apply to cross-faction conflicts (i.e. citizens vs combine).

• You may instigate conflict with another character within reason.
• If a character wrongs you (excessive verbal abuse, assault, theft etc), you may retaliate.
• Killing another character over petty reasons such as verbal abuse is a violation of this rule.
• You may kill an individual if non lethal means to subdue your opponent have failed, such as fleeing, or otherwise working things out .
• Characters with low health will be automatically knocked out. Take advantage of this mechanic to de-escalate the situation, if possible.
• If you are the instigator in a conflict and end up killing or severely impairing the life of another character with little to no IC justification or provocation, you will be banned.
• If you are the victim and choose to retaliate with violence or refuse to work things out, you in turn have opened yourself up to violence. If you go down this path, do not expect admins to help you out if you die.

5. Metagaming is not allowed

• Do not mix out-of-character (OOC) with IC (in-character) in anyway.
• Giving out any kind of in-character information over out-of-character (OOC) is bannable. Do not use any of the OOC channels to spoil IC (in character) information.
• Giving out any sort of information (fake or not) in an attempt to bait other characters in out-of-character (OOC) chat is considered metabaiting and is bannable.
• Asking others to reveal IC information through OOC is strictly forbidden.
• Characters are otherwise allowed to know everything about in-game mechanics, items and map layout as long as they can incorporate it to their roleplay in a realistic fashion.
• While you may communicate with another player outside of the game via things like Discord, all we'll ask that you do not communicate with each other about what's happening in-game. If we believe that you are metagaming over comms you will be banned.
• Even if something seems minor to you, as long as it pertains to the current state of things and characters, you should not be mentioning it in OOC.

6. Do not attempt to avoid IC consequences

• Do not disconnect, or attempt to swap characters to avoid imminent or in-progress RP.
• Logging back in the wrong place at the wrong time does not absolve you from RP conflicts (such as getting caught breaking the curfew).
• If you are involved in a conflict, you must remain on that character until the conflict has been resolved.
• In cases where you are unsure whether you are allowed to disconnect or not, ask an admin.
• Remember, all bans are permanent. Take this into to account before combat logging.

7. Powergaming is not allowed

• 'IC' weapons and equipment are not allowed. Use what you have in your arsenal.
• If you can't get somewhere through in-game means, then you can't role play it.
• Do not ask admins to provide you with aid over IC matters. This includes asking for healing, teleportation and items, but not are not limited to it.
• A general rule of thumb is that if you are unable to accomplish whatever you are trying to do through in-game mechanics and require admin intervention, don't RP it.

8. Follow the combat rules and role play accordingly

 We employ the Shoot to Kill system for combat. 
 Combat is defined as any action that harms or hinders the ability of a character.

• Prior to engaging in combat, you must perform an action that clearly describes your characters intentions (using /me,/ml,/mc). This action must consists of a minimum of 6 words.
• You are not required to wait for the other person to react, as long as the action has been performed on your end.
• Once the initial RP has been done, the combat may begin.
• In scenarios where both parties have their firearms on hand, combat may begin immediately.
• If your target flees as you are performing, you may shoot to kill without having to perform.
• There must be a minimum of 5 Civil Protection units online before you can attempt to mug/attack a CP.

9. Play as a coherent, believable character that you enjoy portraying

Play as a coherent, believable character that you enjoy portraying. But understand that their personality and backstory must fit the game universe.
At the end of the day, it is very likely your character wants to continue living. As such, they should act like it.

• Your character must be serious and not be derived from historical or political figures, pop culture, memes and so forth.
• Throw away characters are not allowed. Do not create disposable, low quality characters with little to no personality.
• Naming your new character like your old one is not allowed. Additionally, the same character biography and description are not allowed.

9.1

• Your characters biography and description must be written in third person.
• Your characters description must be properly punctuated and must describe your characters physical description. This means do not use symbols, such as | or = to separate parts of your description. Write a full sentence with proper grammar
• Your characters physical description should only include what is visible to the eye, such as build, sex, facial hair, facial features, excluding things already described in character creation such as clothing, eye color and hair color.
• Your character must have a reasonable biography.
• Your characters full name cannot contain any nicknames, and must only contain their first and last name. While you cannot have nicknames or titles on your characters official name, you are more than welcome to roleplay as having one.

10. This is an English server.

• You must be able to read and write in English.
• Netspeak (lol, wtf, brb, gg, etc.) is not permitted in character (IC).
• Everything said in character (IC) must be properly capitalized, punctuated and spelled.
• While in character, you should strive to be as grammatically correct as possible. We don't want to lecture you on basic grade 10 English.

11. This is a roleplay server

• Breaking character to goof around has been done a thousand times before you got there, and chances are, your fantastic funny joke will be the worst of those thousand times. Violating this rule will get you banned.

12. Losing is part of the game

• Your character may eventually be permanently killed sometimes without even a possibility of avoiding it. You may simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time. These events will often be out of your control. No matter how good or prepared you are, sometimes you just lose.

13. Report all and any bugs and exploits

• Any and all bugs found must be immediately reported to the admins.
• Failure to do so will result in a ban, regardless of intent or guilt. If you see something, say something.

Things to keep in mind

Although we all follow the same general rules, some admins are more or less forgiving on certain issues than others.

We have multiple ways of telling if you are lying about stuff, and if we can't trust what you're saying, we will simply ban you.

Half-Life Specific Rules

1. Escalate through roleplay

This rule addresses the in-fighting between citizens and does not apply to cross-faction conflicts (i.e. citizens vs combine).

• You may instigate conflict with another character within reason.
• If a character wrongs you (excessive verbal abuse, assault, theft etc), you may retaliate.
• Killing another character over petty reasons such as verbal abuse is a violation of this rule.
• You may kill an individual if non lethal means to subdue your opponent have failed, such as fleeing, or otherwise working things out .
• Characters with low health will be automatically knocked out. Take advantage of this mechanic to de-escalate the situation, if possible.
• If you are the instigator in a conflict and end up killing or severely impairing the life of another character with little to no IC justification or provocation, you will be banned.
• If you are the victim and choose to retaliate with violence or refuse to work things out, you in turn have opened yourself up to violence. If you go down this path, do not expect admins to help you out if you die.

2. Balance of power

• To maintain a good balance of action and roleplay while staying true to the narrative, there must be at least 5 Civil Protection units before your character can make a planned attack to mug or attack a Civil Protection character.