Rules

Getting Started on Vorestation
The Basics	General Help
Commands	Server Rules
A Crash Course in Roleplaying
Character Creation	Guide to Vore
Terminology	More Guides

It’s highly recommended to read this first!!

For the global rules pertaining Discord, the Forum and all external communication, refer to here.

Appeals are handled exclusively on the forums here.

The rules are always subject to change when they no longer serve the purpose of creating a pleasant environment in alignment with the server's mission statement. In this case, revisions will be announced on the in-game server and the Discord.

The rules are written so that the header gives you the general outline. If you click on the header, you will find the detailed description and intent of the rule.

In case of confusion, contacting staff is explicitly allowed!

Here is a list of non-rule admin decisions you can review: Admin Rulings

Rule 0 : You must be 18 or older to play the server

There are no exceptions. Mental maturity is not a legal defense, we MUST remove underage users by law.

• Use of real world slurs, chat speak, broken or grammatically wrong English, and other indications of immaturity may be taken as signs that you are underage.
• Knowing another user is underaged but not reporting it is considered grounds for an immediate, permanent ban.
• You also cannot play a character that is underage.
• You may not advertise, seek out or show underage content or characters on any Web page you link on the server. (This only includes the linked page. For example, character listed characters but not played on station are irrelevant for this rule.)

Rule 1 : Be respectful and kind to other players

This is often called “Don’t be a dick” on other servers and serves the same function.

• Spam, offensive commentary, rudeness, and violent or insulting OOC language are heavily discouraged.
• IC behavior in a similar vein can be permitted due to the nature of roleplay. Be sure it’s not too much for other players, however. If in doubt, use LOOC.
• Slurs and racially charged language are prohibited both OOCly and ICly. Don’t call people ‘niggers’ or similar insults. Belonging to a group that reclaimed the term does not give you permission to use it - we can’t tell and neither can other players. This includes inappropriate ckeys or discord handles.
• Parodies of political figures or other people’s characters are discouraged. In fact, any parody character should be vetted by admins first.

Rule 2 : Speak English

This means you have to have conversational levels of English. If you have troubles with the language, you will have a lot of miscommunication and frustration.

• Characters speaking with broken or heavily accented English are fine, even fragments of other languages.
• Characters that only communicate whole sentences in other languages are not allowed. They must communicate in conversational English most of the time.
• This rule applies to the language written in emotes and speech, not the actual IC reality, as we have multiple IC languages that players can pick and use.

Rule 3 : Don’t inconvenience AFK players

Under normal circumstances, do not harm, eat, or otherwise inconvenience characters whose player is idle, ghosted, or disconnected entirely. There are some exceptions to this rule, as follows:

• If they've been disconnected/idle for more than 30 minutes, you can put them in cryosleep. If you do that, take away all of their belongings except for their jumpsuit, shoes, ID, and PDA, and return everything else to its rightful department.
• Some players will say in their OOC notes that they're okay with getting devoured while AFK or offline. As long as you don't break these preferences, it's okay to do things to them.
• Emergencies bypass this rule. If it's an emergency and you need something an idle player has to fix it, you may take it.
• If you wish to leave the round for longer than 30 minutes, please use cryo, the tram or public teleporters to free up your slot.

Rule 4 : Respect ERP preferences

"ERP", or Erotic Role Play, is used in this document to refer to any type of erotic role play, including vore, sex, and kink themed roleplay. Players should have their ERP prefs listed in their “OOC Metainfo” or “OOC Notes” on their characters. You are required to respect these preferences so long as they pertain to ERP. If you are unsure about the meaning of some of their preferences, then use LOOC to discuss it with them. If you accidentally go against someone’s preferences, or someone else goes against yours, work to correct it as quickly as possible, even if that means just deciding in LOOC amongst yourselves that ‘this didn’t happen’ and going your separate ways.

This server was created by and for people who are voraphiles. Things might be happening around you that you're not into. If you can't accept that you might be exposed to things you don't enjoy, or actively seek to prevent people from engaging in said things, you will be asked to leave.

• Having “No Vore” in your preferences is fine. You will just miss out on a lot of contact and interaction. If you actively seek out to interrupt scenes, it will be seen as a breach of Rule 1.
• You can stop a scene at any moment if you are uncomfortable with it. In case it wasn’t apparent to you that you become uncomfortable with the theme and it’s not in your OOC notes, amend it so it doesn’t happen in the future to you.
• Non-consensual scenes are part of the server. Taking a stance on your willingness to engage in them is recommended to avoid uncomfortable scenarios.
• Kinkshaming and disparaging other users over their preferences is covered by Rule 1. Do not do this, OOC or IC. (Unless it’s part of a scene. IC kinkshaming kinks are valid.)
• Don’t force yourself on others for scenes. This includes unsolicited jumping into food items, bodily fluids used as drinks, bothering other players while they’re scening - you will find further information in Rule 5.
• Teasing someone in OOC communication needs their active consent. If they don’t want you to tease them, please stop. This includes when they’re teased by others and they’re fine with it.

Although not really a true rules page, you should read the Guide to Vore.

Rule 5 : Bystander Consent Policy

The inherent nature of community role-playing in an open environment means Admins will have to mediate cases under this policy on a case-by-case basis.

When you begin ERP in a well traveled place, you must consider the preferences of any character who can see your posts. If you are engaged in ERP that results in someone asking in LOOC for you and your partner(s) to move the ERP to subtle or another area, it is considered respectful of other users to do so. Similarly, if you happen upon a scene you are uncomfortable with, you can remove yourself from the situation. Both parties should be considerate of others:

• When initiating a scene around other players, you should ensure that people around you have compatible preferences.
• When stumbling upon a scene that makes you uncomfortable, you should consider whether you could leave without significantly hampering your own enjoyment of the game.

If the involved parties cannot resolve the conflict, admins will mediate. Usage of this rule is protective, not prohibitive - in general admins won't use this rule to shut down scenes proactively. Sharing details of your, or someone else's ERP over broad reaching forms of communication, such as the radio, department relays, or OOC, can be a violation of these rules. Do not involve the whole server in ERP they didn't sign up for. One example of situations that are subject to this policy is engaging in sex in the bar while there are people who are uncomfortable with sex who can still see the posts coming from either partner. Another is somebody working the kitchen serving food containing parts of another person to patrons. On the other hand, players are assumed to be generally okay with vore scenes due to the nature of the server.

Do note that this applies to any public space that tends to have a lot of traffic. Maintenance and other areas with less traffic are better places to do such scenes. Dorms are ideal since they’re private spaces designed for scenes.

Any aftermath of a scene also falls under this policy. Leaving body parts or prey remains in public, or in the dorms where third parties are likely to stumble upon them will violate the policy. Please clean up after yourselves when a scene is over. This also applies if you wish to have medical personnel resleeve your scene partner.

The easiest way to comply with this policy is to be considerate of other people and their preferences. When doing scenes in public spaces, ensure that all bystanders are comfortable with what you’re doing.

Rule 6 : The dorms are protected

The dorms are to use for uninterrupted, private scenes. This means most random game events also cannot affect them.

• Don't abuse dorm protection to evade IC consequences. Criminals shouldn't hide in the dorms, and security shouldn't bust them open. In case of doubts (such as suspecting a criminal of hiding in dorms), please adminhelp for arbitration.
• As the number of dorms is limited, do not go AFK for extended periods or disconnect in a locked dorm even if you aren’t taking a limited job slot.

Rule 7 : Use global OOC sparingly

It’s not muted by default and can be used for short communications and questions, such as server lag issues or when someone walked out on you while you were typing a response.

• If someone misuses OOC, please alert staff so we can take care of it.
• Banter, memes and general discussion are to be done on the discord server or in-between rounds. You can always ask for detailed assistance in #cadet-academy on the discord or in-game via mentorhelp.

Rule 8 : Do not abuse bugs or exploits

The code isn't perfect and our dev team is small. There's bound to be bugs. Deliberate abuse of bugs or other design flaws in the game's mechanics to gain an advantage not possible under typical circumstances will result in a ban. Report bugs to the server's Github so that they might be fixed.

If you are not a staff member, deliberately trying to trigger bugs in-game is not allowed. If you want to attempt to gather information of the specific bug to fix it, ask staff for permission via adminhelp.

Rule 9 : Do not Gatekeep

Gatekeeping is when someone takes it upon themselves to decide who does or does not have access or rights to a community or identity. Everyone was a new player once. Showing kindness and patience will always be better than forceful correction.

• Disparaging someone for doing a job because they aren’t as efficient as you is a prime example of this.
• Giving tips is helpful - being inflammatory or pushy, saying your way is the only correct one is not.
• Admins policing who perform command functions is not gatekeeping - newer players should learn the fundamentals first, as command positions also act as mentors and teachers for others.

Rule 10 : Do not Metacommunicate, Metagame, or Multikey

• Metacomms: Using third-party programs such as Discord, IRC, Skype, or even the BYOND pager, to discuss and share information of the ongoing round. This excludes other players, can contribute to toxicity among the playerbase, and is often a tactic used by griefers and thus is a no-go.
• Metagaming: Using information obtained from elsewhere to influence IC decisions and actions. Your opinions or knowledge of other players or characters obtained via OOC methods should not direct your IC actions. If you have an OOC grudge against someone, you may not try to antagonize them IC, for example.
  • Similarly, you should not use alt characters like a network for yourself - in general your characters should not know what the others know or try to share resources across multiple jobs.
  • Asking Medical to resleeve you in LOOC is okay. They might be too busy to do it right now, however, so don’t be pushy. (See Rule 9 and Rule 1)
• Multi-keying: Logging in with multiple BYOND accounts on our game server. There is never any legitimate reason for you to do this and thus it is not allowed.

Rule 11 : Roleplay in an immersive and server-appropriate manner

As a heavy roleplaying server, we attempt to stay in character as our characters and interact with each other on the basis of our lore. Breaking immersion is very jarring and should be avoided.

• If you cannot comply with the server rules without breaking character, then the character is inappropriate and should be modified. “It's what my character would do" is no excuse.
• It’s a good idea to have a basic understanding of our Lore. Flagrant breaks from it are discouraged. OCs you wish to adapt should be believable within the universe.
• Your character is an employee or contractor and probably does not want to land in jail or a loony bin. Avoid excessive violence and criminal behaviour.
• Thorough professionalism is not required, however. You can be silly, goofy and do laser tag tournaments. Virgo is conceived as a sleepy frontier station - a place where hiring standards are rather lax due to a sparsity of people willing to work in the literal boonies.
• Characters are expected to try and avoid pain and death. While death is not permanent due to resleeving, the process is disorienting and makes one terribly ill. This expectation is relaxed around vore, naturally.
• If your character is suspended, permanently killed off, or otherwise removed from the station as a consequence for something horrible they did in-character, you are expected to not play that character anymore. See the guide about Permanent Death for details.
• There is no magic in the setting. If something isn’t replicable with mechanics or in-game conceits, it should not be done in public. In private ERP, this is relaxed, but you have to explain it away reasonably when it goes public.

Rule 12 : Create server-appropriate characters

As extension of Rule 11, try to create or adapt a character that fits within the lore and the rules of the server. This facilitates roleplay and doesn’t ruin the suspension of disbelief.

• OOC Notes and Flavor Text are required. Your OOC notes must detail your ERP preferences, and your flavor text should not include non-physical attributes and use neutral language.
• Give them a non-immersion breaking first name (and often, a last name too), do not play obvious reference characters, or characters from published works without a special character application approved for that character.
• Maximum height for characters is 20 feet. Minimum height is 3 inches. Anything above and below is only allowed during strictly private scenes.
• Whitelisted species are required to follow their lore more stridently than other, non-whitelisted species.
• Criminal, military and other “high action” backgrounds need to be vetted by admins with a special character application. In general, antagonists like on other SS13 servers are rare in the Virgo universe.

Rule 13 : Do not create IC conflict without good reason

In our setting, major violence and crime is not commonplace.. Have a believable reason for any conflict and antagonistic behavior you may exhibit and moderate yourself to keep it not at a level where admins need to intervene.

• End of the Round Deathmatches don’t exist. Even when the round ends, we expect you to fully stay in character.
• If you wish to perform a crime to entertain Security or get eaten, it’s wise to check first if they’re even up for it. LOOC, PDA messages and the character-directory can guide you.
• Boredom is not a good reason. It’s entirely fine to leave the round and do something else if the station is too slow for you right now.
• NPCs are included in this. Don’t randomly kill wildlife or other people. Just because they’re not fellow players doesn’t mean they’re not ICly people.
• Suicide or self-mutilation is not allowed. Contact an admin if you want to have a character commit suicide. Themes of suicide and self-harm are very serious and shouldn’t be used as an attention grab. Not getting permission beforehand usually leads to a permanent ban.
• This rule is not limited to physical altercations, if you're being unnecessarily hostile in a way that makes the game unenjoyable for others, you may be reprimanded. For instance, accusing another character of being a rapist so nobody else is willing to associate with them is definitely a hostile act that ruins their game, without being a violent one.
• Excessive responses in self-defense are also not allowed - killing someone should be a last resort. However, if you put someone in Medbay and they come back with friends to beat you up… Try not provoking people next time.

Rule 14 : Do not powergame

Also known as “Playing to Win”. This includes things such as a doctor stealing supplies from engineering 'just in case' or a security officer fanatically pursuing an arrest at all costs.

• Loophole abuse for Vore scenes is allowed.
• Identifying lore-uncommon objects or creatures because you are mechanically aware of how they operate also is not allowed. Your character should not be implicitly familiar with the horrors of the Universe unless they actually encountered them in-game in a consistent manner.
• Abusing game mechanics such as the tram or access changes to work multiple departments is also not allowed. If you joined as a job by mistake, you can of course fix it.
• Having a wide skillset is getting close to this rule. You should keep your knowledge of other department skills at a minimum. Engineers shouldn’t do surgery and officers shouldn’t wire the engine. It’s suggested to make a character per department.

Rule 15 : Do not Godmode

Creating abilities out of nowhere, RPing how other characters react, think, feel or act or doing impossible things is not allowed. If you cannot replicate it with mechanics, it’s not allowed in public.

• This includes being immune to pain or death. Pain is mechanically enforced and should be played out. Even pain-immune species are still suffering from negative effects of their injuries.
• Accidental injuries are still in-character injuries unless an admin heals you. Admin heals are generally out of character to void the injury.
• Admins who are caught abusing admin powers to godmode will be severely punished.
  • Spawning things for scenes is fine. In doubt, adminhelp to ask.

Rule 16 : Perform the duties of your chosen job

When your character joins the round, you are accepting the responsibilities that the job you have chosen brings with it. Remember: if you are playing in a slot, you are likely preventing other players from performing that role. It is important that you fulfill the tasks that you have signed up for!

• Security should protect the station from danger, Engineering should ensure that power is up and that people can breathe, Medical should treat injuries, Supply should bring in needed cargo on request, Science should do... science stuff, and Service should provide food. Command's job is to make sure at least these basics are being fulfilled, and to react accordingly in an emergency.
• Characters should be capable of performing their duties mentally and physically. Blind surgeons are an impossibility and so are hardcore anarchist security officers.
• If you are repeatedly unable to perform the minimal duties of your chosen job, you may restricted from playing said job or asked to revise the character.
• Do not hijack other people's jobs. For example, if you're a chemist but someone needs surgery, and there's already a surgeon who isn't currently busy, give them an opportunity to perform the surgery before doing it yourself. Similar examples exist in every department, so use your judgment. If you are getting in the way of someone’s chosen job, you should not do it. Similarly, just because you have access doesn’t mean you have to do the job. You should not do jobs outside of your department except in an emergency where you have already faxed for relevant personnel, waited, and received no response.
• If something happens when you're unable to respond, in the middle of something (or someone) else or otherwise indisposed, then that is alright. You shouldn’t ignore an emergency for your department if you are free, however. You can always go off-duty.

Rule 17 : Follow reasonable orders

Your department head is your boss. You should listen to them when they give orders that are expected and reasonable. Similarly, the Site Manager/Captain is your bosses’ boss. Not following reasonable orders consistently will lead to an admin investigation.

• You can disobey orders you think are harmful, immoral, or violating Corporate Regulations. Use your judgment and consider whether or not disobeying the order could get you in trouble or get someone else horribly killed.
• If you are given an order or AI law that may break another server rule, please alert the admins for a second opinion before continuing.
• Obnoxious, unreasonable and plain unfun commands can be adminhelped for a second opinion. This includes abusing the AI to open doors unreasonably or telling a silicon to switch modules.
• If you consistently give out unreasonable orders, you may be banned from positions with the authority to issue such orders.

Rule 18 : Don't cause problems for scenes you agreed to

You are always allowed to decide what content you participate in as per Rule 4. You do not have to do non-con scenes. However, if you do, it’s to be expected you don’t cause trouble for your partners for giving you what you wanted. Try to forget things ICly and if you want to act out calling for help, do so in a way it doesn’t involve bystanders, as per Rule 5.

• Non-Contiguous Memory Disorder (or Non-Con Disorder for short) is the in-character explanation for your character losing memories of recent events leading up to their death. You should not remember how you died, or who killed you if it was unwilling.
• Similarly, bringing up previous non-con encounters from rounds before is a faux pas and usually leads to admins intervening IC and OOC.
• If someone breaks this rule, adminhelp for a second opinion of an admin. Usually, you can just disregard it, though.

Rule 19 : The intent of the rules is more important than the letter

The purpose of the rules is to preserve a fun and enjoyable environment for all players. If everyone is enjoying themselves even while the ‘letter’ of a rule is not being followed, it’s likely that no staff intervention will be required. On the other hand, just because something isn't in the rules doesn't mean it's okay or allowed if it's upsetting a large number of players.

• Plenty of rules are left vague enough to cover as much as possible without being too oppressing. Attempting to rules-lawyer saying that "this rule doesn't specifically say I can't do X", even if what you are doing is disrupting the server, will generally be ignored. We generally expect our players to be able to recognize what a server-appropriate character would and wouldn't do within this fictional setting.

Rule 20 : The staff is here to arbitrate, enforce and interpret the Rules

The staff is here to maintain the community using the rules.

• It is within admin staff's discretion to decide that certain actions violate one or more rules, even if the specific action is not listed as part of the rule. You can appeal decisions to other admins if you believe one has a bias against you.
• One admin's word is usually as good as any other. For example, just because the Server Host says it's okay to do something one moment doesn't mean you can still do it when a Trial Admin later tells you to stop.
• If you have received previous instructions of an admin over a thing you are being admin-pmd for, please inform them of such. No admin supersedes another in authority, however, so if they insist you stop what you’re doing, then stop.
• If you have a question over something unclear or questionable, never be afraid to adminhelp. The staff on hand should discuss it among themselves and give you a ruling.
• Modmails on Discord can also be used if you wish to broach a topic and another admin ruling with the whole team.
• Head Admins are to arbitrate conflict between admins or if you think an admin has a severe bias or is negatively contributing to the community.
• The staff should also NEVER ban you purely for a complaint against them. If you receive punitive actions or negative bias from a staff member over a complaint or worry, please inform head staff immediately. Even if said staff is a head admin themselves.
• Do not try to weaponize the admins. Trying to encourage others to break the rules by deliberately antagonizing them and then calling an admin will lead to you getting into trouble.

Rule 21 : Do not backseat admin

If you are not an admin, it's not up to you to enforce the rules. Do not threaten users with calling an admin, and do not try to punish players for breaking these server rules. If you think somebody is breaking the rules, call a staff member. Telling somebody that something is against the rules is fine. Harassing them in OOC or actively trying to enforce that rule is not allowed.