Latest Changes are in RED
This is a family oriented shard. Kids are welcome if properly supervised. We have an optional consensual PvP system (see PvP section below). If it is your goal to upset people, leave now. We expect players to use a load of common sense. If it seems dumb or stupid then don't do it. We also expect players to have consideration and respect for ALL PLAY STYLES.
Accounts:
Accounts are limited to 1 character per account, and 1 account per IP. You can, however, apply for an additional account(s) for the same IP address [for an alt character or for a family member(s)].
In-game, go to the Britain Staff Office, located just behind and to the North of Britain Bank. There you will find Additional Account Request Books. Take one, fill it out with the requested information, then place it in the appropriate chest in the office. Then you must PAGE for staff to let them know that the book is there and ready for pickup. Remember that pages clear themselves each morning at 3:30am when the shard restarts.
Staff will let you know via PM when the account(s) has/have been created.
Your account is your responsibility. If you let someone else use your account and they lose your stuff, get you jailed, or do something to get the account banned, that is your fault and responsibility. We strongly advise against letting others use your account.
Accounts are considered inactive after 60 days, unless you have made other arrangements with the shard owner. After 60 days of inactivity, the account is subject to termination and house(s), if any, will be deleted. If you made prior arrangements, a Hold will be placed on your account to prevent its deletion. This hold will last for 1 year from the date of last activity. After that time, the hold will be released, and the account deleted. Contact staff if you need an extension before the year is up.
Character:
When first creating a character, you will be presented with the default UO selections. Pick whichever you like. Then you will name and color your character. After that you will be placed in the Whispering Pines starter area where you will have a chance to read our Agreement Board and Agree or Disagree. If you agree, you will be moved to the Class Gate area where you will choose one of four "Quick Start" classes [Mage, Warrior, Ranger/Tamer or Crafter]. All your skills will be set to 70, and 6 skills key to your class will be set to 100. Your stats will also be adjusted for your class. Read the light blue books in this area for more details on what gets changed.
Choose carefully, once you go through a Class Gate, you will be placed at Britain Bank. DO NOT go through a gate until you are ready! You may only go through one gate. We will no longer honor "Do Over" requests because you chose the wrong class or went through the wrong gate. If you are looking for more of a challenge, choose a Class, then page for staff to reset your skills back to their default values.
General Behavior:
If the character name you choose conflicts with the name of a staff member or existing player, we will ask you to change it.
No inappropriate, racist, offensive, political, religious or sexually oriented character names will be allowed.
No inappropriate, racist, offensive, political, religious or sexually oriented chats or chat topics will be allowed.
Whispering Pines is an English-speaking shard. All public and local chat is to be conducted in English. We welcome citizens of all countries here, but languages other than English may only be used in guild chat, party chat or pm's (personal messages).
If you encounter a donation chest provided by other players, please only take what you need and can use. Taking any more than that is just greedy and will be frowned upon. In addition, these items are not to be sold on a vendor. They have been provided by the good graces of generous players on our shard. Do not take unfair advantage of their generosity.
When out hunting/mining/lumbering and you encounter another player(s) working a spawn, be polite and do not intrude on that player(s). If you wish to stay, ask the player(s) if you may, and if they say yes, wait your turn. Otherwise, seek activity elsewhere and return later.
Exploiting bugs or exploits, or doing things that are not intended (such as casting mark, then moving into an unmarkable area, creating items that should not be created, etc. ) are strictly forbidden. If it is not meant to be done, do not do it. It will be staff's discretion as to what is or is not intended. If you are caught, action will be taken by staff, up to and including shard ban.
Creating items (especially via macros) for the sole purpose of trashing them for tokens is considered an exploit and is not allowed. Creating items for skill gain and then trashing them is still allowed and encouraged to keep the shard clean.
The following are not permitted;
- Swearing, cussing, foul language or blasphemy
- Stealing from other players (grounds for immediate ban) [You may train stealing at the training area]
- No unauthorized snooping into other players backpacks [only ok if they specifically ask you to snoop]
- General bratty or childish behavior
- Littering (use the trash cans or your Trash 4 Tokens bag)
- Releasing pets in town or in the Training Area
- Please do not mass release pets. They do not decay and create lag and unsuspecting death for players who might stumble into them
- Advertising or recruiting for another shard (grounds for immediate ban)
- Being in possession of more than 1 Token Ledger or 1 Trash for Tokens bag
- Mass casting in public areas
- Asking Staff for favors, items or spawn locations
- Vandalizing the shard or website in any way, shape or form
Abuse or harassment by players towards staff or other players will not be tolerated.
What staff says is final, do not argue with them.
Players will be jailed and/or banned, depending on the severity of the infraction, at the Admins' discretion.
PVP:
We now have a fully consensual PvP system. You can choose to participate or not, and you can switch between the two systems as you wish. Actual combat is limited to the custom land of Felucca, and PvM players will be perfectly safe there as well (PvP players cannot harm those who have not opted into the PvP system).
Macroing & AFK (Away From Keyboard) activity:
At this time, AFK macroing is allowed in the wilderness, training area, or at your house only with the following exceptions:
- Do not AFK train your pets or leave them unattended anywhere on the shard. If found unattended, they will be deleted. This includes having your pet fight while you are AFK (thus the pet is unattended).
- There is no macroing allowed anywhere in the city of Britain, period.
- There is no AFK allowed at any champ.
- AFK Macroing is no longer allowed in any dungeon or in the Doom Guantlet. You must be present if hunting in those areas.
Camping a Spawn:
Currently we do not have any rules against "camping" a spawn. Over the years, staff have had numerous discussions regarding camping and have come to the conclusion that crafting such rules are difficult indeed. There is a fine line between investigating a spawn area, trying to be there when the monster spawns, and "camping" it. Staff would prefer that players did not monopolize a spawn location to the exclusion of other players. Be nice and take turns. Some things spawn slowly and we understand that players will check those location frequently, and possibly hang out there for a bit to see if it will spawn. As long as they are not monopolizing the spawn and keeping other players from doing it, we don't see an issue and will allow it to happen. If we determine that spawns are being monopolized, then we will look at amending the policy regarding them.
It is not any player's responsibility to "police" spawns. To determine who is or is not camping is a job for staff only. It is not up to a player to determine who they think may or may not be camping an area. Perhaps that person is merely afk, getting a sandwich or taking a bio break. Perhaps they have come and have hidden for a bit to see if the spawn will appear. As there is no rule against that, it is perfectly acceptable. Revealing players who are hiding at a spawn location we consider mean-spirited and runs counter to the sense of community we have tried to foster in the Pines. Doing this will only create hate and discontent, and staff will take appropriate measures if it is reported to us.
Champs:
There are some etiquette rules for champ spawns that staff would like to see players adhere too.
If a player or players(s) are already engaged in a champ and you wish to join, please ask the participants first.
If you take a champ to completion, we would appreciate it if you could clean up all the champ spawn monsters so that the champ is clean for the next player(s) when it restarts.
When the champ is complete, it is customary to grab all the gold and PS, then meet at a designated location (a bank provides a good location, we suggest Moonglow as it has a banker and a large table to sit at) and equally divide the loot among the champ participants. One person should collect all the gold, then divide it by the number of participants, make bank checks in that amount and give to each participant. Powerscrolls and other loot are usually placed on the table or ground so each player can see whats available, then each states what he/she would like. When dividing powerscrolls, take care of the undisputed powerscrolls first. If there is a dispute for any item, a dice roll determines the winner.
It is customary to divide the stat scrolls from the Harrower in the same equal manner.
Doom Gauntlet:
If you travel to the Doom Gauntlet and encounter player(s) already there, you may ask if you may fight with them. If they decline, you must wait for them to finish their round. We consider a round to be each of the sub-monsters and then the boss Dark Father. Once Dark Father has been defeated, the first player(s) group must step aside and let the new group of players do a round. After group 2 has completed their round, group 1 may then do a round (or group 3 if there happened to be 3 groups there). Each group taking turns at a round of the gauntlet. When group 2 starts their round, group 1 would not have to leave the gauntlet, merely move to a safe area near the beach or into the secret room so as to be out of the way of group 2.
Houses:
Players are free to place their first house by themselves wherever the house placement tool will let them, given the rules below. Staff will not place your first house for you, but staff does need to help if you have donated for a 2nd house deed. Staff will then be glad to assist you in placing your new second house. You may choose to join your second and first houses together (but the existing house needs to be a foundation only), or have them in separate locations. Be advised that joined houses may only be joined in an East-West orientation, not North-South (We realize there may be some already done like this. They are grandfathered in before this rule took effect).
Houses may not be placed in a manner which blocks roads or paths, nor obstructs movement along mountains or water bodies. Please do not place any house between the Training Area and the continuous treeline to the west of the Training Area. This area is set aside for the exclusive use of the Training Area.
If you have more than one house and wish to move one of them, you must page for staff before you demolish the house. We must see and acknowledge that you do indeed have more than one house, and you will need staff's help to erect the 2nd house in its new location (without destroying your other house).
Guild Hues:
You must have at least 3 individual players (not alternate characters, but other family members are okay) in your guild to be eligible to purchase a Guild Hue tub.
Miscellaneous:
If, for any reason, the shard suffers a glitch, bug, crash and/or rollback (i.e. an old save file has to be used) and characters lose skills or items, the items or skills will not be replaced. There is no way for the staff to determine what a player had acquired since the last save.
Never ask to be on staff. We hire our staff from our player base, and accept applications from time to time as the need presents itself. We will announce that we are accepting applications via the in-game MOTD. If you do wish to be on staff, follow the guidelines given at that time. You must have played on Whispering Pines for a minimum of 60 calendar days to be considered for a staff position.
Please monitor the forums. Any ideas players have for the shard can be placed there in the appropriate section.
We reserve the right to change/modify/amend these rules at any time. Notice of changes will be given in-game in the MOTD [message of the day].
Where applicable, these rules also apply to the forums here on the Whispering Pines website.
These rules serve as your only warning so adhere to them closely. You have no excuses. They are not difficult to follow.
Remember: Be Nice, Play Nice, Have Fun!!
Amended 09 May 2016
