Rules Of Conduct
WITHIN THE WORLD CALLED HOLLOW (HOLLOW), THE USER IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLYING TO THE FOLLOWING RULES OF CONDUCT. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION WITHOUT ANY REFUND OF ANY SORT. ADMINISTRATORS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBILE FOR DETERMINING TERMINATIONS WITH NO APPEALS ALLOWED.
General Rules
- You may not harass or threaten other players.
- You may not use any sexually explicit, abusive, defamatory, harmful, threatening, hateful, obscene, racially or ethnically offensive language.
- You may not impersonate a Hollow employee, staff member, or administrator.
- You may not violate any local, state, national or international law or regulation.
- You may not modify any part of the Hollow or WinHollow Client, Server or any part of the Web Page or attempt to interfere with, hack, or decipher transmissions to or from Hollow servers.
- You may not arrange for the exchange or transfer of any pirated or illegal software, music, or other media while on The World Called Hollow.
- You will follow the instructions of all authorized personnel.
- You may not organize nor be a member of any guilds or groups within The World Called Hollow that are based on, or espouse, any racist, sexist, anti-religious, anti-ethnic, anti-gay, or other hate-mongering philosophy.
- You may not give false information when registering for your Hollow account.
- You will not upload or transmit any copyrighted content that you do not own all rights to, unless you have the express written permission of the author or copyright holder.
- You may not have more than one account. That is, you may only have one character registered in the World Called Hollow at any one time. The only exception to this rule is if permission has been sought and given from an authorized person.
- In addition to only being allowed one account in the world called Hollow, you may not transfer items between an old and a new account, either by using a third party, by dropping the items, or any other method.
- If you become aware of anyone breaking any of the rules, you are required to report it to an admin. This is not 'snitching' or 'grassing', it is following the rules. Failure to report someone violating the rules could result in you recieving the same punishment as the person breaking the rules.
- Exploitation of bugs will not be tolerated. Bugs are the unnatural or unintended benefits of gameplay. You will not communicate the existence of any such bug except as through the in-game "bug" command.
- You will not create, use or provide any server emulator or other site where The World Called Hollow may be played, and you will not post or distribute any utilities, emulators or other software tools related to The World Called Hollow without the express written permission of The World Called Hollow.
Sportsmanship Policies
- In addition to the general guidelines listed above, players are also subject to these supplementary rules while playing Hollow. While by no means an all-inclusive list of the do's and don'ts in The World Called Hollow, it provides a suitable foundation by which the player can determine what activities are appropriate:
- You may not steal kills. Kill stealing is defined as the killing of an NPC for any reason that is already fighting or pursuing another player or group without that group's specific permission. Any member who is less than five minutes idle has the rights to that NPC for killing for a period of one-half hour maximum.
- The intent of this rule is discourage and make note of habitual Kill Stealers, not to punish those who honestly try to work together or those who make an honest mistake. Its enforcement by the The World Called Hollow Staff will reflect this philosophy.
- You may not loot steal. Loot stealing is defined as taking any item from a fallen creature without the express permission of those who killed the creature if they are in attendance.
- The purpose of this rule is to stop those who stand near creatures that carry special items and attempt loot that equipment prior to it being looted by the rightful owner.
- You must comply with arbitration for contested spawns. There are cases where two or more groups wish to kill the same thing. In these cases, the groups are required to compromise. If an equitable compromise cannot be reached between the players prior to The World Called Hollow Staff involvement, the staff member will mandate a binding compromise. Refusing to abide by a compromise mandated by a staff member will be considered disruption. It is therefore strongly suggested that the groups make every attempt to reach a compromise that they can live with prior to involving a staff member, who may mandate a compromise that does not suit you to the extent that a player-devised compromise would.
Note: A "group" in this case is defined as a party of one or more characters that are united in a common belief or goal and are capable of completing that goal.
- Again, foul language is not permitted, in any language. Excessive use of foul language in an inappropriate context, including swear words, real-world racial slurs, and other language that is not consistent with the fantasy environment and designed to hurt, will be considered a disruption. The existence of the filter is not a license to be profane.
- To expound upon the general guidelines, you may not harass other players. Harassment is defined as specifically targeting another player or group of players to harm or inconvenience them. Harassment can take many forms, as it goes to the state-of-mind of the person or party on the receiving end of the action. However, in order to account for those who are excessively thin-skinned, the staff member involved will make a determination as to whether or not the average person would feel "harassed" and act accordingly.
- You may not disrupt the normal playability of a zone or area. Zone/Area Disruption is defined as any activity designed to harm or inconvenience a number of groups rather than a specific player or group of players. This includes things such as:
- Monopolizing most or all of the kills in an area.
- Deliberately blocking a direction so other players cannot get past.
- Refusing to cooperate with the other parties at a contested spawn site after having been instructed to do so by a staff member.
- Making excessive and inappropriate use of zone-wide communications (shout, ooc).
- You may not defraud other players. Fraud in all transactions between players will result in disciplinary action when confirmed by an internal staff member. Fraud is defined as falsely representing one's intentions to make a gain at another's expense. Examples of this activity include but are not limited to offering to guard an NPC for a player until s/he gets back, but killing the NPC themself.
- You may not operate a clan that habitually violates these rules. Disciplinary issues involving clans will also be addressed on a broader basis. Clans whose members habitually violate any of the Rules of Conduct or Sportsmanship Policies may be disbanded. In addition, monopolizing numerous spawn areas with the intent to exclude other players will not be permitted. If investigated and verified by an internal staff member, monopolizing will result in the disbanding of the guild.
- You may not intentionally cause experience loss to another player, such as by "training" them. Training is defined as pulling an NPC along behind you and attempting to get it to attack another player who does not desire that engagement.
- The intentional training of NPCs will result in immediate disciplinary action when witnessed by a staff member. We are aware that accidents often happen causing unintentional trains, and will scrutinize each report of this activity closely.
- You may not abuse other players, The World Called Hollow staff, or the game system.
- Though some of these actions are covered in part by other rules, they deserve their own note here. The following things would be considered an "abuse" in game:
- Hate Mongering - participation in or propagation of Hate literature, behavior, or propaganda related to real -world characteristics.
- Sexual Abuse or Harassment - untoward and unwelcome advances of a graphic and sexual nature. This includes virtual rape, overt sexual overtures, and stalking of a sexual nature.
- Attempting to Defraud a Hollow Staff Member - Petitioning with untrue information with the intention of receiving benefits as a result. This includes reporting bug deaths, experience or item loss, or accusing other players of wrongdoing without basis for it.
- Impersonating a Hollow Staff Member - falsely representing yourself to another player as a Staff member in any form of communication.
- Personnel Abuse -- sending excessive tells to a Hollow Staff Member, excessively using say or other channels to communicate to a Hollow Staff Member, making physical threats, or using abusive language against a Hollow Staff Member.
- Using Threats of Retribution by Staff Friends - attempting to convince another player that they have no recourse in a disagreement because favoritism is shown to one of the parties by a Hollow staff member.
- Threatening Infrastructure - Threatening the infrastructure of Hollow (programming, server, players, administrators, ANYTHING OR ANYONE relating to Hollow.)
All content should be kept to a PG13 level at all times. This is implied by other rules listed above, however, specific note should be given to the act of Virtual Sex, or 'Cybering'. 'Cybering' should not occur in hollow, either publicly, or privately. Those caught doing this act will spend time in the punishment rooms. It should be noted that what is classed as cybering is at the discretion of the admin.
- "Roleplaying" does not grant license to violate these rules. Though The World Called Hollow is a role-playing game, the claim of "role-play" will not be accepted in defense of any of the anti-social behaviors mentioned above. As an example, you are in no case (PvP or otherwise) allowed to "train" a guard onto an enemy in protection of your homeland. In another example, a rogue is not allowed to steal someone's corpse under the guise of role-playing a thief.
- By all means we want to encourage you to play your role, we just cannot allow that role-play to be done at another's out-of-game expense.
Roleplaying
-If you set a RP duel for items, gold or death, make sure that you set the terms clearly before the duel begins and you have witnesses to the stakes. The admin will only enforce stakes if witnesses can be provided.
-Gods, goddesses, and other all powerful beings may not be played. We have no objection to your character having power, thinking it is all powerful, or saying it is a god, however, thinking, and saying you are a god is decidedly different from being a god. Remember that!
-Again, 'RP' does not grant a player the right to violate any rules.
Special Rules Regarding PvP
- PvP is a special case for many of the policies listed here.
- Though the PvP environment does eliminate a few of the problems experienced on the normal servers, there are a few more PvP-specific problems that are created.
- The PvP environment is on at all times unless the player is in a "safe zone". A safe zone is defined as a room that refuses to allow any PvP battles in the room.
Causing Experience Loss
- Intentionally causing experience-loss to other players in the PvP environment is illegal in all cases and will result in a warning when witnessed by a staff member. This includes things such as intentionally training NPCs, and purposefully allowing an NPC to get the final blow in combat. We do understand that there are cases where the experience-loss is unintentional, and will take no action unless a person earns a reputation of causing unintentional experience-loss.
- Much like how the Kill Stealing rule applies to those on the servers, this rule is designed to discourage and make note of those who do it habitually, thus betraying the spirit of PvP. As a note, the Staff Member will not in any case provide a resurrection for someone who was caused experience loss in PvP, intentionally or otherwise.
- Regeneration Point/Corpse Camping
- Killing someone over and over again while at his or her regeneration point or while they are in the process of retrieving their corpse is illegal and will result in a warning when witnessed by a staff member. You are expected in all cases to give someone a reasonable amount of time to recover their corpse an leave the area prior to attacking again.
- Conversely, the person recovering their corpse is expected to do so and retreat to safety promptly. In other words, sitting next to your corpse and taunting someone while daring them to attack you so that you can PvP them is bad form, and would result in a warning if witnessed by a staff member.
- The staff member in attendance will decide what is reasonable in these cases. It is highly recommended that the people involved make equitable arrangements prior to involving The World Called Hollow Staff.
Message Board Conduct
- In addition to these terms of service, we have a few supplemental rules that apply to the bulletin boards/message boards.
- In general, you may post any material, written in a courteous and mature manner, providing that it is on-topic for the forum to which you are posting. This includes material that disagrees with the way that we, the developers, operate the game. We will not interfere with the communication of thoughts and ideas as long as the presentation is appropriate for all those capable of reading the forum.
You may not, however, post any material that:
- Attacks or insults others on the board. Feel free to debate the idea, but do not turn your disagreement into an attack upon the poster. Engages in name-calling, harassment, or threats. See above.
- Contains obscenity, vulgarity, or profanity. Though we do have a filter in place to catch the unintentional obscenity from time to time, this is not a license to abuse it.
- Disparages any religion, race, nation, gender, or sexual orientation.
- Is considered inappropriate for children 13 or over as governed by general standards of decency in the United States.
- Infringes on anyone's privacy rights.
- Engages in defamation of The World Called Hollow or The World Called Hollow Staff.
- Advertises other websites without the express written permission of the owner of Hollow.
Furthermore, you may not:
- Make multiple posts on the same subject for the purpose of getting attention paid to your issue.
- Post off-topic comments for the purpose of drawing attention to another idea on a different subject.
- Monopolize the bulletin board by "bumping" threads of the same or similar content to the front. We may intervene by deleting posts any time that this occurs.
- Use the bulletin boards as a staging-ground for creating general unrest within the game (e.g. Sit-ins).
- Use the bulletin boards as a place to advertise the sale of The World Called Hollow characters or items in exchange for real-world money.
- Advertise web-sites with content that violates these rules, The World Called Hollow Terms of Service, or The World Called Hollow agreement.
- Advertise products or websites that are not related to The World Called Hollow or other The World Called Hollow product.
Action that we might take in regards to a post in violation of these rules on the bulletin boards will vary depending upon the transgression. It could include any number of the following:
- Editing of the post.
- Deletion of the post.
- Suspension (results in user being unable to play The World Called Hollow for the duration of the suspension).
- Banishment (results in the user's account being canceled. User will no longer be able to access The World Called Hollow).
- Legal Action (I.e. Contacting law enforcement personnel in regard to a threat.)
People who violate the rules of the boards may or may not receive any warning before any action is taken. In the event that a warning is given, the warning will be recorded upon the game account and may result in further action should the player show a pattern of engaging in prohibited conduct. Philosophically and administratively, there is no difference between conduct in game, and conduct in the bulletin boards.
Character Naming Policy
Character names in The World Called Hollow should reflect the genre of the game. Original, high-fantasy names are desired.
The following types of names are unacceptable and are listed in order from the worst to the least offensive:
- Vile, profane, rude, or racist names including common swear words, anatomical references, racial slurs, and homonyms of these words. Combinations of words that produce an offensive result (e.g. SluttyMcHoBag, Domenow).
- Names of religious, occult, or significant historic origin (e.g. Churchill, Satan, Muhammad).
- Copyrighted or trademarked names of products, characters, services, or concepts (e.g. Toshiba, Dell, Reebok).
- Non-fantasy oriented names from popular media. These names can be either fictional (e.g. Homer Simpson, Mr. Burns) or non-fictional (e.g. Oprah, Geraldo, Bill Clinton).
- Common words and phrases that would not be found in the place and time setting of the game (e.g. Electric, Internet, Netjunkie, Tvrulez).
- Proper names from The World Called Hollow (e.g. Sven, Xalious, Milous). This also includes the first or last name of any significant Hollow NPC (e.g. Mesthak, Edward).
- The names of senior The World Called Hollow staff members or employees (e.g. Michaels, Steven)
- Names chosen with the intent or possessed with the effect of harming the reputation of a player or The World Called Hollow Staff Member.
- Names containing titles within them, such as, but not limited to: The, An, God, Gawd, Lord, Lady.
- Names that contain sentences (Ikillorcs), phrases (Ontop), or two or more words that do not form descriptive compound words (Petcarbob, Diediedie and Tablechair). Descriptive compound words are allowed (e.g. Treehugger, Giantslayer). Descriptive compound words (each separate part of the word and the entire word) must otherwise adhere to all other naming rules.
- Fantasy-oriented names that are easily recognized from popular existing media (e.g. Merlin, Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, Kingarthur).
- Nonsense names (e.g. Aaaa, Bbbblkjasd, Bjsldk)
- For all of the above, misspellings and alternative spellings of the word or words are also unacceptable.
- Character names may not contain spaces or special characters of any kind.
- Note: Non-words like-- D, Da, De, Di, El, Z, Za, Ze, Zi, L, Le, La, Li are unacceptable in cases where the name contains a normal word, as they are references to "The" and implicate a title, in both cases (e.g. D`Kval is acceptable and D`Basher is not).
- If a name is found to be in violation of any of the above polices, a member of The World Called Hollow Staff will then use the following process:
For high-level offenses, a Staff Member will delete the character as soon as it is discovered. You will not be notified of this deletion. All items, experience, statistics, and money stored in the account, whether real-life or game currency, will be forfeited without any reimbursement.
For low-level offenses, the Staff Member will contact you either in game or via email to notify you of the character?s name change. Teleportation to "The Stupid Name Room" will occur, and your name should be changed to reflect the policies in the above section.
In addition to the rules listed here, there are several unwritten rules not listed here, be it because we forgot about them at the time of writing, or be it that they are a relatively new rules and just not added yet. These 'unwritten' rules are just as valid as the rules listed here. If you are violating one of these unwritten rules, you will be warned, either directly, or indirectly, before punishment, to give you a chance to stop what you are doing. The admin do try to keep this list of rules as up to date as possible, but we are but human, so slip ups do occur.
General Notice: All website content is copyright of The World Called Hollow, regardless of authorship unless otherwise noted.