Path of the Vampire forum

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Game Rules

These rules are for anything grid related.

[1] No using multiple owned characters for the same purpose, or to aid your own characters

• Basically, if you own two or more characters, these characters should never help one another, or help the same person within a short space of time.*
  
  This includes -- but is not limited to -- giving all your in-game money (from two of your characters) to one character; coin washing; healing or tactically aiding one target with two characters; scouting with one character to find an enemy of your other character; driving up an alt's bounty purely for the purpose of giving money; using two or more characters to attack the same person**; using an alt to attack the enemy of another of your character's allies; using your own lair to protect two or more of your own characters. Alternate characters that exist purely for one purpose (such as gaining money for a friend, or tracking for a friend) are also frowned upon.
  
  Having said all of that, there is no way you could know for sure who owns which character, so while it might be illegal for you to heal the same target with two of your characters, healing two characters who happen to be owned by the same person will not be considered cheating.
  
  Note: If it even looks as though two of your characters are acting in unison, one or both of your characters will be punished. I cannot accept any excuses such as "my house mate / daughter has a character and they give eachother money", simply put, two characters who share the same IP address (internet connection) or live in the same house will be considered alternate characters. No excuses. This also means you can't use an alt (or your husband's character) to give coins to one of your allies, for example. This will also be penalised, and excuses will be ignored.
  
  Using proxies or other IPs to get around this will be frowned upon if you start to help out other characters who are considered your own alts, according to the above definition.

[2] Report bugs, and do not take advantage of cheating or exploits.

• As a player of Path of the Vampire, you have a responsibility not to take advantage of bugs you find, such as using them to gain money or get ahead in experience. If you are found to be doing so, you will be suspended from Path.
  
  Among other things, this rule prohibits you from 'hitter blocking', which is using 4 allies, thralls or alts to hit your own character (usually softly) in order to make yourself invulnerable from further attacks.

[3] No pornographic or excessively adult in-game communication

• Even if you are roleplaying, please remember that there are teenagers playing this game, so please keep in the mind the site's terms of service in regard to pornographic or overly lewd chatter. This means:
  * No posting pornographic images, videos or erotica (even for roleplay).
  * Keep sexual jokes to around the PG-13 equivalent level.
  * Violence is generally fine, though we might ask that excessively sadistic torture scenes be edited sometimes.
  * Curse words are fine.

[4] No killing somebody over and over without provocation

• Grief killing (killing somebody multiple times for no new real reason) is frowned upon. You can kill anyone you like in game, for any reason you want (characters are allowed to be douches), but doing it multiple times without a new reason each additional time is against the rules. This means that you cannot kill a character 3 times in a row because they attacked you once. Each kill requires a new provocation for it to be legal.
  
  Decent reasons for killing a character would include retaliation for being attacked, in defense of an ally, in response to a serious roleplay insult, bounties, etc. You may kill a character for any other reason (or no reason at all), but doing it more than once in a row without provocation is considered bad form, and only serves to drive people out of the game.
  
  The one exception to this rule is in the case of faction VS faction warfare. Where peace isn't made, the enemy doesn't have to wait to be hit before hitting back.

[5] (RPers only) No crossing or mixing between IC and OOC.

• If you are a roleplayer, you are strongly advised NOT to attack people in game who you have a problem with OOC. If the moderators become aware that there may be OOC issues between you two, you will be notified. No action will be taken at that time, unless the attack continue after that point, and evidence is found to suggest that the OOC issues between both roleplayers outweighs the IC reasoning.

Please Note:

• The game administrators reserve the right to punish anyone in any way they sees fit, for anything they deems against the rules, to any extent they feel is necessary. Complete game bannings are forthcoming at the admin's discretion.
• Also, it should be noted that the exploiting bugs and cheats section has been left purposely vague so we can deal with matters on a case-by-case basis. If it seems like it might be cheating, exploiting a bug, or taking advantage of something that seems a little bit too good to be true, then you probably shouldn't be doing it. If in doubt, clear it with a developer first.

Additional Clarification

If a sufficient duration has passed between the actions of your alts, it is considered okay. For example, you will not be punished for attacking the same target that your alt already did, if you wait 1 month before attacking with the second alt. This duration varies from action to action, as follows:

Passing coins to the same target = 3 months (alts used purely for this purpose are not allowed)
Using alts to strategically aid the same target = 1 month
Attacking the same target with alts = 1 month
Tracking / checking stats of the same target with alts = 1 week
All other actions using your characters for the same purpose = 1 month


You are allowed to retaliate with both of your characters if both are directly attacked by the same character. For example, if Bob attacked both of your characters (we'll call them Mary and Sue), then and only then would Mary and Sue be allowed to attack Bob. If Bob did not physically and directly attack both Mary and Sue first, then you can't hit Bob with both of your characters.

Reporting Game Rule Infractions

Making a report

• • If you suspect someone is breaking the game rules, you should PM the Developers (Mooncalf and Azraeth) and let them know.
    
    Please make sure to include all relevant information, such as the full account names of those involved, what happened (include the where and when if necessary), etc.

What happens after you make a report?

• • We do not generally inform people of the outcome of their reports. (If the report being filed does not infringe upon the rules, you may receive a short reply explaining that their actions are acceptable).
  • All reports are addressed! You may not see what happens behind the scenes but any reports brought to the Developers will be discussed and action will be taken if necessary.

Selling and Purchasing

Selling In Game Content

• • Selling property, characters, or anything involved in game for real life cash is no longer permitted. Any selling of property, etc, has to be done with karma or IGC (and both parties will have to reach out to a member of the developer team with the information and agreement) before such transfers will be allowed. This is to ensure transparency and traceability of such sales, to protect the members of our community from fraud.
    
    This does not include lair designs or graphics, as those are your personal skills as a player.