Consent Rules: In Roleplay, In Events, In Regions

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HollowWorld's Announcer
| C O N S E N T |

King's Law C5:
"Players may refuse to consent to character death if they believe that the roleplay basis for it is illegitimate. This includes, but is not strictly limited to: metagaming involved with the circumstance of the violence, egregious powergaming in the violent circumstance itself, and OOC motivation leading to the altercation (spontaneous murder sprees, revenge for an alt's friend, etc)."

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HollowWorld's Announcer
General Consent Rules

What it means:
The intent of consent is to be a means for players to protect themselves from undue or unfair consequences in RP, namely those that seriously affect the ability to play a character (death, maiming, etc). It should be treated as a last resort, but robust enough to function when necessary. It should not be a substitute for actual moderation, but augment it if staff are unavailable.

The main clarification I'd like to make by codifying it is that consent is not applicable to violence in general, only for death or other permanent consequence (maiming, etc). I know that there are peaceful folk that don't enjoy fighting in the first place, but a line needs to be drawn at some point and consent should not be a blanket protection from conflict. That said, the shift in interpretation should not be taken as an invitation to go around mugging people. Respect is still imperative in dealing with other players, and willingness to compromise differing intentions goes a long way for smoothing RP. The modus operandi should still be to respect folk's boundaries, but for the rule to serve its intended purpose it needs restriction.

In the vein of treating consent as a moderation tool, any use of it should involve an informal report to the moderation team. Furthermore, the definition of consent rules should not discourage folk from expressing other concerns about RP that aren't mentioned here. If you think there was metagaming or powergaming involved in an RP, even if it does not lead to invoking consent, please report it to staff. The general idea is to shift conflict moderation back into the hands of staff rather than leaving a catchall rule for it, and there are plenty of options for repairing situations after the fact if need be.

When to Use Consent:
Metagaming: If the circumstances leading to a conflict are suspect (improbable appearance, immediate identification of a disguised character, etc), it may be appropriate to invoke consent to prevent escalation. If the accusation of metagaming is unclear/arguable, it's likely a good idea to get a staff opinion on it.

Powergaming: Blatant powergaming in a fight may be grounds to invoke consent. However, this is one that should have staff input in its classification unless egregiously blatant. As such, it's better to file a report and bank on a retcon if a staff member isn't available to oversee.

OOC Motivation: The catchall for several factors that may influence RP, including being targeted by several characters of the same player, characters with spontaneous murderous urges, or any IC motivation that stems from the player rather than the character.

Terms and Conditions:
-"Don't be an asshole" clause: IC motivation should be objectively reasonable if killing a character is on the table. "My character is a dangerous sociopath" is not particularly good reasoning in and of itself, and having death as a consequence should be based on appropriate action-response. Likewise, if there's reasonable motivation to kill a character, the player should recognize this and and give it a fair chance. "Don't be an asshole."

-Maiming or other permanent character debilitation always requires consent, unless the player in question was explicitly informed beforehand that it is a (reasonable, see above) consequence for an action that they proceed to do anyway.

-'Informed consequence' can also be used to clearly establish reasoning for death as well, but is not necessary for it. Rather, if you tell someone that your character would respond violently to a particular action, it may lead to less confusion if violent action is taken.

-Escalation of violence may lead to a situation where attempting to kill the other party out of self defense is reasonable. To avoid confusion of who consents and who doesn't, it's always a good idea to discuss intended outcomes before a fight starts, which are considered binding (to original participants and any that join) unless re-negotiated by the original parties.

Consent is there to protect you from unfair RP before staff can get to it. It only applies to death/permanent consequences so that the rule doesn't get bloated, and if there are concerns/abuse of it please contact staff. Please treat it as a 'last resort' if no reasonable conclusion can be made through discussion.

(Credit Lannis )
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HollowWorld's Announcer
Consent Ratings For Regions

When players purchase a region, they have the ability to set a 'rating' for their region. This rating implies the amount of consent that is necessary when entering its borders. Players must abide by these ratings, but if staff notice that a region consistently breaks its own consent rules then Region Owners will be made to change their rating to something more appropriate.

{ Peaceful Region Rating }

No violence or killing permitted, even if the players consent.

Peaceful regions are primarily for Region Owners to create a safe space where they need not worry about violence, death, and aggressive roleplay being forced upon them, or their characters. Peaceful regions bar any sort of Roleplay that escalates to violence, intentional physical harm, and/or death. Even if players consent or the consent rules would otherwise allow it, such roleplay is disallowed within that region.

Violators may be warned by the Region Owner, and if violators do not comply Staff may become involved. However, it is primarily up to the Region Owner to moderate these offensive. If you choose this restrictive rating, then it is up to you to uphold it.

In the past, players have committed acts of violence in other regions and then fled into peaceful regions to avoid apprehension. This is largely seen as avoiding RP consequences and Peaceful regions should not be exploited in such a way. Captors should inform the Region Owner and Staff of the situation beforehand when pursuing into a Peaceful Region. They will either give you a go ahead to enter, or will make the fugitive leave the bounds of the region. If things become complicated, feel free to report the offender to Staff.

As for the layout of the region itself, since it is classified as peaceful, no attacks should be mounted against the region. Therefore there is no reason to have a standing army or defense type walls around the region. If your region looks like it is defending an impending attack, then the peaceful classification would not suit its style.

{ Moderate Region Rating }
Moderate Regions follow the general consent rules listed above.

In a moderate region, everything follows the general consent rules. Consent is always required for character maiming and permanent debilitation, unless your character has entered a situation in which maiming is the likely outcome, such as breaking laws where the punishment is loss of a hand as an example. Consent is not required if the other party has reasonable cause to attempt to kill your character, but open OOC discussion beforehand is encouraged and preferred so that all parties are aware of the direction. Players within moderate regions have the right to contest and discuss "reasonable cause" for deadly RP if they feel it is unwarranted, rulebreaking, or stemming from some OOC motivation.

{ Violent Region Rating }
The most dangerous regions where anything goes, so long as it does not break server rules

In a violent region, there does not need to be "reasonable cause". Often found in bandit-heavy areas, or cities with shady and violent characters. Maiming and death is on the table and is part of the danger of entering these regions. Players have the right to contest the maiming or death only in the vent of rule-breaking, such as metagaming or powergaming, in which case it should be reported to staff regardless. By entering into a violent region, whether knowingly or unknowingly, you forgo the right to contest "reasonable cause," as well you do not have to have "reasonable cause" to inflict death or permanent injury.

mairinbaihn for the original iteration of this post
Lannis for consent
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HollowWorld's Announcer
Consent Ratings for Events

Players can host events and set an Event Rating that may differ from the base Region Rating. These event ratings will supersede region ratings for the course of the event, and then the region will return to normal once the event runner deems their event to be over. Additionally, Players that host events in a region owned by someone else must have permission from the region owner to do so.

The ratings are:
{ Peaceful Event }

{ Moderate Event }
{ Violent Event }

Each Event Rating carries the same meaning and connotation of those listed in the above post.

Because Event Ratings supersede Region Ratings during the course of the event, a violent region may have a peaceful event. A peaceful region can have a violent event. However in these cases of rating conflict, the event runner should OOCly announce when the event is coming to a close with a 10 minute warning so that players can choose to stay or leave when the usual region rating returns.

If you attend a peaceful event with the intention of enacting violence immediately after, it is polite and preferred if you discuss this with the event runner AND the region owner, if both are available. Many people stay for the follow-up roleplay that comes immediately after the events, and at times the line of the event's end can be blurry. All we are asking is that you try not to game this system by waiting to ambush when people are gathered and still under the assumption of it being peaceful, and this is why we say to speak with the region owner and event runner. (You can see this expanded in the following section about Region Owners and Consent in regards to their entire region).

If you find that you constantly make events that contradict your region rating, it may be a good time to talk with your citizens about what type of region rating would be more appropriate.

(Credit to mairinbaihn for the original iteration of this post)
(Credit to Immerael for content regarding region/event conflict)
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HollowWorld's Announcer
Consent In Regards to Regions and Region Owners

As a region owner, we understand how much your regions mean to you. They are your builds. They are your ideas made real. Regions reflect OOC time and a lot of IC history for you and your characters. As such, you have certain rights over what happens within your region and we want to respect that. There are certain things that can and will require your consent as a region owners. However, there are also things that you cannot do in regard to your position as region owner.

As a region owner, you may:
-- consent to or deny players using your region to host an event
-- choose the level of consent for your region rating
-- set the in-character laws and punishments of your region
-- sell and/or transfer ownership of the region to whomever you choose
-- choose the players that get added as members to your region
-- consent to or forbid destruction/changes to builds IC or OOC

(Setting your town on fire, using any IC means to destroy the town features and/or buildings, burning crop fields, etc.)
-- consent to or forbid an arc and/or chain of events that has an affect on your citizens and region itself
(Invasions, pillaging, hostile takeover, poisoned waterholes, etc.)

As a region owner, you may not:
-- OOCly blacklist/prevent specific players from entering or roleplaying in your region { See here }
-- deny a war if there is reasonable cassus belli { See here }

(Credit NIAH )

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