Rules

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Read this part first!

These are the rules for the server and are subject to change without notice. If you do get banned, there's probably a good reason for it, but if you disagree with that reason, you can always appeal your ban on the forum. Although these are rules, but they are not infallible, complete, or concrete, and probably never will be despite our best efforts. If ever something feels wrong, either don't do it, or admin-help it first. Above all, use your common sense, listen to the game staff, and try to keep the game fun for everyone; not just yourself.

If you disagree with the rules as they currently stand, talk about it on the forum or with admins and maybe we can improve them through some healthy criticism and debate.

List of non-rule admin decisions you can review: Admin Rulings.

These rules are designed to be written in such a way that you can usually understand them just by reading the headers, because reading all of this would be insanity for most people. If you cannot understand a rule just by looking at it, or wish to know about possible exceptions or examples, click the rule to learn more.

If you find yourself spending too much time reading this page, or are confused about any rules, please contact an admin on Discord to make suggestions on how these rules could be better worded.

You must be 18 or older to play on this server

There are no exceptions. If the staff suspects that you are underage for any reason, you will be banned from playing on the server until you are able to prove to the satisfaction of the staff that you are at least 18 years old.

  • Use of real world slurs, ‘lolspeak’, 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.
  • The age of consent in your country is irrelevant. Your opinion about this rule is irrelevant.
  • You may also not play a character who is under 18 years of age.

Obey the community's global rules

The full global rules are covered here. These rules apply everywhere, including Discord, the server, and even private discussions with non-admins. However, not all of the global rules are even possible to break in the server, so this wiki page only covers what's relevant to the game server. The overlap from the global rules are:

  • No spam.
  • No OOCly illegal discussions or content (such as child porn, drugs, piracy, real world threats, etc).
  • Respect other users, don't use real-world slurs, and don't intentionally drag private conflicts or in-game conflicts into public OOC (such as on the Discord server, the forum, the in-game global OOC channel, or anywhere else).
  • Don't intentionally abuse server functions to upset (grief) people, or derail discussions. You know what this means, don't play stupid.
  • No complaining about bans unless it's on the ban appeal forum.
  • Type in legible English.

If you got banned for something that happened in Discord or on the forum, you're probably looking at the wrong page. You want this link.

Be respectful to other players

This is a game, we're all here to have fun, but try to make certain your type of fun fits our server and doesn't ruin things for others. Don't be overly offensive, rude, rapey, violent, or insulting OOCly. With IC there's some wiggle room, but there's still a limit to how much people will tolerate before they get sick of you, so keep it in moderation. When in doubt, use LOOC.

  • Don't go out of your way to make the game less enjoyable for other players. Remember there's another person on the other end of the screen that's just trying to have fun too.
  • Racial slurs/epithets, derogatory/defamatory language against social groups, and generally any other category of bigoted language is not allowed (as covered by the global rules). Using this language ICly is still not allowed if it pertains to any real-life social group. Saying that “all Tajara look the same” is fine. Saying that “all niggers look the same” is not. Also, being part of some real life social group doesn't grant you immunity to this rule or some special ticket to use these slurs.
  • Don't make characters with the intention of pissing off or mocking people. Examples include (but are not limited to) copies of other players' characters, parodies/copies of real life figures (especially political ones), a character who hates some specific other character for no reason aside from a backstory, etc.
  • Do not leave the server in locked dorms. They're for scenes, not so you can log out in them as your personal AFK box.

Do not inconvenience AFK or disconnected characters

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 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.
  • If they've committed a crime, jail them as you normally would and conduct their sentence even if they aren't connected. 20 minutes in the brig is still 20 minutes in the brig.
  • 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.

ERP preferences must be respected

"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.

Just remember that it's called VORE station for a reason, and not just because of the acronym. 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.

  • It's strongly suggested you do not have "no vore" in your OOC preferences, even if you're not into vore. That's kind of defeating the point of the server, and we've had a lot of people end up enjoying vore who weren't into it when they first arrived here. Go with the flow; experiment a little. We understand that some people may not like the idea of vore but we encourage people to try new things. If you don't, you'll never know what you might enjoy.
  • If you are uncomfortable with an ERP theme that you hadn't thought to add (or didn't know existed) to a list of dislikes in your OOC notes, speak up in LOOC as normal, but remember to add it immediately afterward so it doesn't happen again. Conversely, those who put 'anything goes' into your preferences, or anything else vague like this, do so at your own risk. You forfeit your right to complain about preference breaking if you do not put some indication of your dislikes into OOC preferences. Admins will only warn you about this once.
    • Since non-consensual scenes are common, you should at least state your stance on this, and whether or not you'd call for help if given the chance. Example for a prey's OOC text might be, "Prey, unwilling preferred, will try calling for help if attacked."
  • Do not kinkshame others. This includes overt comments about someone’s ERP preferences being ‘wrong’ or ‘immoral’, but also includes passive-aggressive remarks related to preferences, such as public remarks suggesting that you won’t go near someone because of their OOC ERP preferences. If you have negative feelings about someone’s ERP preferences, don’t interact with them, and keep it to your damn self.
  • Do not attempt to force yourself into ERP scenes where the other party (or parties) involved are not comfortable with it, or not even actually participating. This includes (but is not limited to) repeatedly jumping into people's food as a micro, trying to do ERP that a player has blatantly stated they are uncomfortable with, trying to guilt players into having a pity RP with you, doing hit and run ERP, filling drinks with your bodily fluids, etc. You get the idea. Don't do that.
  • Someone’s ERP prefs are not a license for you to tease them excessively or act on their prefs unless you know they’re cool with it (Aka, they must actively consent to the act)- eg, calling them a preyslut and godmoding against them in RP just because they have a prey pref.
    • Likewise, just because someone is okay with something from other people doesn’t mean you can assume it’s okay coming from you. Again, you must have the person’s active consent for YOU to do the act.
  • AFK/SSD/Disconnected players are not valid targets for any ERP unless their OOC Notes specifically permit otherwise.

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

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 after a scene also fall under this policy. Leaving body parts after a Hard Vore scene, or leaving the remains of your prey after a digestion scene in public, or in the dorms where third parties are likely to stumble upon 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.

The dorms are protected

The ‘dorms’ area on the map are reserved for ERP and are ‘protected’ from interruption. It is a violation of this rule to break into occupied dorms or harass players in dorms.

  • The only exception is for security to arrest those who have committed crimes. Security is not allowed to indiscriminately inspect dorms for crimes, but a known criminal hiding in a dorm is not protected by this rule.
  • Conversely, it is not permissible to attempt to use dorms to hide from security, or to make their job of finding you harder. The dorms are for people who want to ERP in privacy. Don’t involve them in your shenanigans.
  • Dorms are protected from all (or almost all) random events. Radiation, meteors, etc should not interfere with your scene in the dorms.

See also: Guide to Vore - Area by Area Response

Do not disrupt non-public ERP scenes

In fact you should really just read the Guide to Vore - Area by Area Response. It covers this topic thoroughly.

TL;DR is you should avoid screwing with scenes that are not in public areas. The problem is, not everyone knows what is considered public or private. This is especially important for Security players to know.

  • Dorms are considered private obviously. Don't mess with those under any circumstances unless someone inside actively invites you. (Calling for help is considered an invite.)
  • Less obviously is finding a scene in maintenance or a room that's not visible from public areas. You're not disallowed from screwing with the scene in such places, but you at least have to be flexible and let the other party progress to a satisfying point in the RP before you can interrupt. For example, discovering the party after they ate their prey, digested them, or whatever you all agree on. The other party will still get consequences, but you have to let them enjoy themselves first before you get to have your own fun.
  • Scenes happening in the bar however are not considered private and you can interrupt them if you so damn please.
  • Intentionally going out of your way to disrupt scenes is considered breaking this rule regardless of where they occur.

Again, read the guide for more details. This is just a brief summary.

Speak English

We are an English server. All OOC communications are expected to be done in English. It's alright if your English is rough and imperfect, just as long as we can reasonably understand it.

  • This also extends into IC communications, but is more flexible as some characters have heavy accents.
  • Having a character sometime speak smatterings of other languages is acceptable, but speaking exclusively in these languages for entire sentences is not.

Roleplay as long as it's feasible

This is an HRP (Heavy RolePlay) server. You are expected to roleplay your actions with other players as long as it's feasible. If it's not feasible, then you can use the in-game mechanics instead. Mechanics are preferred whenever there are already in-game mechanics for handling a given situation. You're not expected to roleplay out every action of a gun fight, for example. You're allowed to just shoot it out.

If someone engages you with no reasonable provocation, please use the admin-help feature to alert an admin, because they are possibly breaking a different rule. There still has to be a believable reason as to why you were attacked, such as you threatening someone, waving around a weapon, fleeing from Security, etc.

Do not join with an inappropriate ckey

Ckeys, better known as BYOND user names, must be appropriate. If any are deemed inappropriate, the ckey will be banned and you will be unable to play on our server until you make an account with an appropriate name.

  • Ckeys that mock certain players or groups are an example of inappropriate.
  • Ckeys that violate BYOND's terms of service may also be reported.

Do not misuse Global OOC

Many servers simply mute global OOC. We do not, because the OOC command is useful to have on in an RP heavy server.

  • Global OOC is used, for instance, to contact someone you were typing a reply to had walked out of the room before you were done, and you're trying to ask them to come back. It's also useful if you're a new player, or an old player exploring new mechanics, who asks something like, "How do I make Tricord again?" or something short and similar. Short, sweet, and relevant OOC messages are generally okay. Welcoming old players returning, or new players joining, is also generally okay.
  • Global OOC is not for idle banter, ranting, things pertaining to incidents in the current round (see previous rule), in-depth explanations (an explanation that takes more than a few lines), shitposting memes, or discussing topics not relating directly to the game. If you want to chatter OOCly, go to our Discord channel, which is linked from the home page at https://vore-station.net/ or use LOOC so as to not disturb the rest of the server.
  • Also, if someone does misuse OOC, do not complain in global OOC about their misusing of global OOC. Not only are you just making the problem worse, that is considered being a backseat admin, which is prohibited by other rules.

Do not abuse bugs and 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.

  • For example, let's say you found a way to load an infinite number of items in your inventory somehow. You are to stop using the bug immediately, and if possible, report it to the Github with a step-by-step explanation of how you managed to cause the bug to occur.
  • If you are not a staff member, deliberately trying to trigger bugs in-game is not allowed, even if you are only trying to trigger the bug in hopes of learning how to fix it. If you want to troubleshoot and/or bug test, do it in your own server. (Or get permission from an admin beforehand.)

Do not promote a culture of Gatekeeping

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. You can teach them how to play the game without being an irredeemable jackass about it.

  • Not allowing someone to play certain job departments because they aren't "good enough" is a common form of gatekeeping.
  • Just because a person does something differently doesn't mean they are doing it wrong.
  • Players can still attempt to give helpful advice to each other on how to do something better, but they aren't allowed to be an asshole about it, and they especially aren't allowed to tell anyone to stop trying completely.
  • Admins can still kick you out of a job, usually command staff, if you are exceptionally bad at it to a point where you're causing problems for other players' enjoyment of the game. This isn't gatekeeping; it's quality control. For example, a brand new medical player who doesn't even know how to do surgery should probably not be playing the Chief Medical Officer, but if you're just playing a regular Medical Doctor, you gotta start somewhere after all.

Keep IC and OOC separate

  • IC (In-character) and OOC (Out-of-Character) actions and knowledge should be separated as much as possible. Don't use OOC channels to discuss what's going on IC until after the round is finished, don't use OOC knowledge to do things your character wouldn't know, such as operate medical machines when a cargo technician. You are not playing yourself in the game, you are controlling a character with their own wants and knowledge and the IC/OOC boundary is to help reflect that.
    • Note that these same rules apply to LOOC as well.
  • Don't complain in OOC when your actions IC get you in trouble. This is self explanatory.
  • Disconnecting or using other OOC means to avoid IC consequences is against the rules. If you do urgently need to leave the server even though you're being punished, your options are either to surrender and get it over with, or use admin help to inform the admins, "I know Security is after me, but I have to go because (some emergency)." Failure to take ten seconds to tell an admin before disconnecting may result in harsher punishment.

Metacomms, metagaming, multi-keying, (etc) are not allowed

  • 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.
    • Metagaming sometimes happens by accident due to game mechanics behaving undesirably due to intentional features or unintentional bugs and oversights. If it happens, ask an admin to help straighten things out if you can't do so among yourselves. (For example; accidentally doing a 'me' command when you meant to do a 'subtle' command and now the whole bar knows you're doing weird shit in public.)
    • There is one exception to this. Asking in LOOC to be cloned after a vore scene is fine.
  • 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 is not allowed.

Create and play server-appropriate characters

Although this is a roleplaying server based around the completely fantasy fetish of vore, that doesn't mean anything goes because that is possible. Suspension of disbelief is still important to a good experience, and breaking that suspension of disbelief is bad for roleplaying. Characters who break that suspension of disbelief are not allowed.

  • Real life professionalism is not required, and you are encouraged to be a little silly within the context of the game world. (Clowning around, people getting eaten and creating ridiculously elaborate machinery are all non-serious things but yet a vital part of the game world.)
  • There's a good chance your character still wants to have a job at the end of the day, so you should probably not act like a genocidal maniac. Silliness is okay. Stealing the entire armoury is not.
  • Give them a non-immersion breaking first and last name, do not play obvious reference characters, or characters from published works without a special character application approved for that character.
  • Keep in mind that people do not like pain or dying and usually try to avoid it without good reason. Give your character a reasonable set of strengths, fears, and weaknesses. When writing things for IC, write things out that sound like speech, not emoticons or lolspeak.
  • The setting contains no magic. Your character cannot have any superpowers, magical abilities, or anything that does not exist in the setting or cannot be reasonably replicated with game mechanics. If they are not someone who has a good reason to work on the station, they should not be here.
    • The exception to this is purely private roleplay. For example: If your character and another character are in a dorm by themselves, and the other is OOCly fine with it, your character can display potentially supernatural abilities. This is limited to that roleplay, though. You should not discuss anything about that in public. Use magic at your own risk however, because technically the moment your RP is discovered by someone else, it stops being private, putting you in potential violation of this rule.
  • Obscenely oversized or undersized characters are forbidden. Minimum height is at least a few inches. Maximum height is about 20 feet. Anything more or less really pushes the already shaky believably of micros or macros existing on the station—and that's coming from a server whose theme is eating people.
  • If you are playing a whitelisted species such as Diona, Vox, Xenochimera, or whatever else we add in the future, you are expected to play the race as they are canonically meant to be played.
  • OOC Notes and Flavor Text is required. Your OOC notes must detail your ERP preferences, and your flavor text should not include non-physical attributes (do not include feelings your character has, or how they act).
  • 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.
  • If you cannot comply with the server rules without breaking character, then the character is inappropriate and should be modified. Saying "it's what my character would do" isn't an automatic protection against this rule.

Do not start conflicts or attack things (including yourself) for no good reason

Do not be hostile to other crew for no legitimate reason. Don’t break things, steal things, or do other antagonistic stuff just because you’re bored, it's the end of the round, you “want to give Security something to do”, etc. If you're going to be an asshole, have a believable reason why you're being an asshole. Think about how a normal person would behave under similar circumstances.

  • This also includes NPCs, particularly those that don't pose a threat to you or you have no good reason to be engaging.
  • Suicide or self-mutilation is almost NEVER allowed. Contact an admin if you want to have a character commit suicide. Typically the manner in which suicide is carried out is played as an in-game attention grab and without actual compelling reasons. This can upset those that find this subject OOCly uncomfortable. The punishment for suicide is nearly always a permanent ban, so think about that before you kill yourself.
  • 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 are also covered by this. Caving in someone's skull for cutting in line, stabbing yourself in the eye with a screwdriver because you are bored, trying to get someone fired/arrested for refusing you all-access, or jumping out an airlock because you're sad, are all examples of being excessive.
    • Even in self-defense, killing in a fight should only be done as a last-ditch effort when it's clear it's a you or them situation.
    • IC reactions to extreme provocation are permitted. For instance, if you put someone in the medbay, and they come back with their friends to put the boots to you, that's just life on a frontier station. Try not provoking people next time.

Do not ‘Self-Antag’

We play on ‘Extended’ round type at all times, and this means that there are no automatically chosen antagonist roles. Most other SS13 servers have antags, but we do not. Any antagonists are staff-selected players, picked to play a specific role.

  • You cannot have a character with an “antagonist” background without having an approved special character application for that character. Your ex-mercenary ex-ninja ex-cultist is not allowed, but certain criminal backstories might be okay. If in doubt, submit a Special Character Application.
  • Remember that if you are selected to be an antagonist-type role, it does give you some wiggle room than usual as far as the server rules go, but it does not give you permission to break any rules. Stick to your objectives, don't be over-the-top and ruining everyone else's fun if you can avoid it. Ask for admin help if you're not sure.

Do not powergame

  • Better known as 'playing to win'. As a security person this can be seen as going out of your way and needlessly endangering others to ‘win’ against criminals. As the station AI exploiting loopholes in your laws to get yourself out of them or getting the person who subverted you into trouble is another way. There is an implicit allowance for lawed characters to ERP. You may create loopholes for this reason only.
  • While this shares several things in common with other rules, it still is it's own entity. Play to have fun, allow yourself to lose now and again and roll with the blows as it can make things potentially even more interesting.
  • Abusing game mechanics such as the tram or access changes to work multiple departments is also not allowed. Job changes are permitted, but repeatedly changing on the same character within the same round may be seen as abuse.
  • Having way too many skills for one character is dangerous territory - just because your character has done surgery before doesn't make it okay to do it as an engineer, and if you can't come up with a plausible excuse why your character had to stop in order to comply with the rules about hijacking jobs then their skillset might be a little too broad. (See Character Creation regarding skills for more information.)

Do not godmode

  • Often confused with powergaming, godmoding is to create abilities out of nowhere, or do impossible things. If the action cannot be reasonably emulated in the confines of the game's mechanics, and it gives you some kind of advantage or is exceptionally weird, it's probably not allowed. For example, if you don't have access to a mechanic for turning invisible, you can't turn invisible. Saying you're invisible doesn't mean squat.
  • Creating a character who is immune to injuries or pain also falls under this. The game won't let you ignore getting shot, why would any player allow it either?
    • If your character is literally coded to ignore pain, you can ignore pain. Synthetics are a notable example. They do not feel pain. They are not immune to injury, however.
  • 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 godmod will be immediately removed from staff if caught, then promptly banned.
    • Obviously we're not going to punish things we'd do for normal players. Like, nobody is going to care if you spawn a pair of handcuffs for kinky times. We get admin-helps requesting such things all the time. When in doubt, ahelp. Yes, you, the admin, should ahelp another admin to ask permission.

You are expected to perform the job you signed up for

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 provide treatment to injuries and also cloning/resleeving services, 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.
  • A player must take into account the qualifications (both physical and mental) of their character’s role before placing them into it. If staff find your character to be unsatisfactory in fulfilling the requirements of the role, we may instruct you to revise your character.
    • This includes majorly disabled characters — quadruple amputees, deaf, or blind characters, and so on — which are only permitted on the station in the Assistant (and associated alt-titles) job slot.
  • We reserve the right to ban players from jobs who repeatedly fail to perform to an acceptable standard until we're confident that they will be able to perform the job in question. For instance, joining as Site Manager but never doing anything related to that job over multiple shifts.
  • If you are going AFK for an extended period of time (more than 30 minutes), and are occupying a limited-number job slot (any slot other than assistant or off-duty), you should remove your character from the round using a cryopod (or other similar means) to free the slot. Otherwise, other players (and admins) are free to dunk you into cryo themselves.
  • Stick to your own department in a given shift, or get a job change if you want to do something else. Doing other people's jobs is usually frowned upon outside of an emergency, even if that job isn't currently on station. If you are a head position, allow your staff to do work before you do the work yourself; you are a supervisor and manager first and foremost as a head position. At least try faxing CentCom and waiting a few minutes before fixing it yourself. Inane stuff like mopping up the floors probably won't make the Janitor upset, nor will an Atmospheric Technician who decides to set up the engine, but doing surgery when you're a Scientist for example will probably be seen as bullshit.
  • Do not hijack other people's jobs within your department. For example, if you're a chemist but someone needs surgery, and there's already a surgeon who isn't currently busy, then don't perform the surgery instead of letting them do it. Similar examples exist with every department, so use your judgement. Basically, if you're actively getting in the way of someone else trying to play the game, you're probably breaking this rule. Likewise, just because you have access to do a job doesn't make it your job.
  • If something happens when you're unable to respond, in the middle of something (or someone) else or otherwise indisposed, then no biggie. Your boss might not be happy if you went off to a dorm right as an emergency is kicking off, mind. If it's reasonable for you to drop what you're doing to deal with the emergency, then you probably should - otherwise, you should be ready for any IC consequences.

You are expected to obey the chain of command (within reason)

  • The Site Manager is the station's boss, so listen to them. Likewise, you should obey your department's Head of Staff unless directly overridden by the Site Manager. If you consistently do not follow reasonable orders, you will be job banned.
  • If you're playing a role that has AI laws, you must obey these rules first and foremost to the best of your ability. This includes even disobeying Central Command staff if your AI laws are in conflict with the orders given. (Note you can disregard AI laws when vore is the goal of disobeying them, but it's usually more immersive to play this off as glitches or by finding loopholes that allow you to eat people.)
  • As any role without AI laws, you can disobey orders you think are traitorous, harmful, immoral, or violating Corporate Regulation. Use your judgement 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.

Mind you, this is not a rule that lets people be fun police. If you feel that someone is ordering you do things that basically require you not to do your job, or to do your job in ways that aren't fun, or are otherwise generally obnoxious, then contact an admin for a second opinion.

  • This applies to crewmembers ordering silicons around just as much as it applies to heads of staff ordering their subordinates.
    • Ordering a silicon to play a different module is an example of an obnoxious and unreasonable order to stop doing their current job.
  • If you consistently give out unreasonable orders, you may be banned from positions with the authority to issue such orders.

You are expected to forget events leading up to an unwilling death

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.

  • This is to keep things a little more sane in-round, and to allow for players with preferences in non-consensual activities to have their fun with people who share those prefs as victims. It is therefore against this rule to remember and abuse the knowledge of who killed/raped/ate you after dying and then being cloned/resleeved/revived. If you died, you should not have the memory to antagonize or persecute your attacker without the prior OOC agreement of the other parties in the roleplay. They can include this consent in their OOC Metainfo/Notes or discuss it with you in LOOC before or after the roleplay.
  • In the event that someone else breaks this rule, your character should assume their word is not credible, and disregard their advice.

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.

  • 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. This is simply the job of the staff to interpret the rules. You can appeal decisions to other admins if you believe one has a bias against you, but doing so to more than three staff members will be considered harassment.
  • 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 assume most of you have enough common sense to recognize what a sane and stable individual would and wouldn't do within this fictional setting.

Listen to admin staff

  • 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 this causes a contradiction, you can (and should) inform the new admin of what you were told previously. For example, a Head Admin says you can do something, but that admin has left the server. A lower ranked admin shows up and asks you to stop doing that thing. You can explain that the Head Admin previously said you could do this, but if the lower ranked admin still wants you to stop, then you should stop. (This obviously works vise-versa as well.)
    • Intentionally not telling a new admin about a contradiction is considered lying. It's like asking your mom for ice cream, but she says no, so you go ask dad because you think he'll be less strict.
  • Vorestation is not a democracy; our rules and guidelines exist for a reason and we have staff dedicated to enforcing them and help set further guidelines if necessary. However, these rules are always going to be incomplete, and as such, just because something isn't written doesn't mean it's allowed. If a staff member tells you to do something, do it. They tell you to stop, then stop. If you disagree with a ruling, don't try to argue it then and there, especially if things are hectic. Once things have calmed down, or preferably after the round has ended, you can try to contact the staff member privately to discuss the ruling, or talk to another admin if you cannot talk to or cannot convince the offending admin.
    • You can talk to up to three other admins. If all of them are unanimous in their decision, you are probably in the wrong and should give up. If you do not, it will be considered harassment.
  • 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, from there on if the ruling is in bad judgement, it's on the admin who cleared it, not you. The staff should also NEVER ban you purely for a complaint against them. Even if you're a complete asshole about it, as long as the argument stays private, you cannot be banned just for arguing. Although being an asshole usually won't win an argument, so you probably shouldn't do that anyway.
    • Don't confuse this for "complaining grants you immunity to bans", because that's not how it works. If you are told to not break windows and you complain how that isn't fair, you're still getting banned for breaking windows if we disagree with your complaint. What this means is we won't ban you or make an existing ban worse just because you tell us we're being excessively mean, confusing, or unfair to you or someone else.

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 an admin for yourself, or mind your own business unless you have a valid IC response to their actions such as throwing them in the brig.
    • Telling somebody that something is against the rules is one thing. Nagging them in OOC or actively trying to enforce that rule is not allowed.
  • 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 just end up with you banned instead, usually permanently.