Important notice for new and veteran players.
Spoiler:
The below envelops what you must absolutely keep in mind about this project before you start playing. By creating an account and playing on the Return of Reckoning project, you agree to (1) acknowledge and respect the expectations, as well as (2) abide by the terms of use/service. By creating an account and playing on the Return of Reckoning project, the staff will assume that you've already read, acknowledged and pledged to respect all of the below.
"Us", "We", "Our", "RoR", "the Project" and "the Server" all refer to the Return of Reckoning project, enveloping its management and the rest of the team members.
"Us", "We", "Our", "RoR", "the Project" and "the Server" all refer to the Return of Reckoning project, enveloping its management and the rest of the team members.
« A » Return of Reckoning is NOT Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.
Spoiler:
We are not Mythic, nor are we EA or GOA, or any other company that ran the game during it's live period. We do not have the server resources, codebase, or databases from the live service that was previously run by them. This is a volunteer, free to all, fan-based project, to recreate a game that closed down forever in 2013. While we are incredibly huge and dedicated fans of Warhammer Online, and played throughout all of it's years, we will never be the same as what came before us.
Even if we start discussing what the server is supposed to be, none will be able to precisely say what was Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. The game during live service had multiple significant periods and patch notes, drastic changes to RvR and Keeps and Forts and City Sieges, multiple class mechanics and balance changes during its far -too short- life.
Each period of the original game had its advantages and drawbacks. Sadly it is impossible -and wildly subjective- to pick here and there which periods of the game are the correct or true implementations. Massive mechanic changes between different periods certainly are not compatible, and through all of their changes, none would agree they had it right from level 1 to RR80 at any point in history. Therefore:
« A.1 » Our purpose is to extend the spirit of WAR bringing our own vision in the limit of our abilities.
« A.2 » Consider this project as another period of the game, for better and for worse.
« A.3 » According to the above, don't feel offended if you don't recognize some part of your memories from the live game. We will try our best to make your experience as delightful as possible, provided you are willing to join us in a new period of Warhammer Online.
Even if we start discussing what the server is supposed to be, none will be able to precisely say what was Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. The game during live service had multiple significant periods and patch notes, drastic changes to RvR and Keeps and Forts and City Sieges, multiple class mechanics and balance changes during its far -too short- life.
Each period of the original game had its advantages and drawbacks. Sadly it is impossible -and wildly subjective- to pick here and there which periods of the game are the correct or true implementations. Massive mechanic changes between different periods certainly are not compatible, and through all of their changes, none would agree they had it right from level 1 to RR80 at any point in history. Therefore:
« A.1 » Our purpose is to extend the spirit of WAR bringing our own vision in the limit of our abilities.
« A.2 » Consider this project as another period of the game, for better and for worse.
« A.3 » According to the above, don't feel offended if you don't recognize some part of your memories from the live game. We will try our best to make your experience as delightful as possible, provided you are willing to join us in a new period of Warhammer Online.
« B » The public server for this project is only a sandbox and a test server.
Spoiler:
« B.1 » Rather than the sort of feature-complete pay-to-play server that we will inevitably be compared to and despite appearances of a fully functional and highly organized MMO operating worldwide with a dedicated following that rivals many professional and profitable corporation backed MMO's, we are not a company of professionals collecting your subscriptions, just a bunch of dedicated fans and volunteers pushing this game into the future. Please, allow us to make changes and mistakes, allow us to play by slightly different rules.
« B.2 » We can and will push relatively untested code to this server. Issues will arise as a result, and you must accept this as much as we do. The number of variables in a game this vast, particularly for changes intended to affect hundreds of players at a time cannot simply be tested by a lone dev and a few extra instances of the game. Frequently, YOU are the test server, and we will do our best to keep things interesting and fair.
« B.3 » Please don't complain too incessantly:
It is stressful enough for us when things don't work as intended. Whines and screams won't help us to make things better. We will quickly realize when a problem is causing the server pain through kind words as much as we will through angry voices. Be kind to the staff. Use the Bugtracker or contact the Community Management team for any assistance/guidance.
« B.4 » The project does not use any original game server code:
Unlike some other private servers whose code was leaked entirely, Warhammer Online was not at all. Thus our server is feature incomplete, and is a project that requires significant time and reverse-engineer to re-create. The server code here is being rewritten from scratch, with no knowledge or documentation of the original Warhammer Online server protocols besides some packet logs taken by volunteers once the announcement was received that the live servers were shutting down. It will have bugs. The end goal of course is to have less bugs and issues than live, perhaps one day!
« B.5 » Some of the bugs are crippling in complexity and very difficult to fix:
This is a problem with lack of understanding of the intended server protocols, and it takes significant time and an element of luck to figure out the actual method for accomplishing a given task. For those who are uninitiated - we need to figure out the right information to send to the client, in the right order, at the right times, based on analysis of the original live servers communication, which just looks like a string of hexadecimal bytes, and that's if we even have the packet logs that tell us what the client is expecting from the server at all. This is not a simple task with proper data, less so with nothing at all.
« B.2 » We can and will push relatively untested code to this server. Issues will arise as a result, and you must accept this as much as we do. The number of variables in a game this vast, particularly for changes intended to affect hundreds of players at a time cannot simply be tested by a lone dev and a few extra instances of the game. Frequently, YOU are the test server, and we will do our best to keep things interesting and fair.
« B.3 » Please don't complain too incessantly:
It is stressful enough for us when things don't work as intended. Whines and screams won't help us to make things better. We will quickly realize when a problem is causing the server pain through kind words as much as we will through angry voices. Be kind to the staff. Use the Bugtracker or contact the Community Management team for any assistance/guidance.
« B.4 » The project does not use any original game server code:
Unlike some other private servers whose code was leaked entirely, Warhammer Online was not at all. Thus our server is feature incomplete, and is a project that requires significant time and reverse-engineer to re-create. The server code here is being rewritten from scratch, with no knowledge or documentation of the original Warhammer Online server protocols besides some packet logs taken by volunteers once the announcement was received that the live servers were shutting down. It will have bugs. The end goal of course is to have less bugs and issues than live, perhaps one day!
« B.5 » Some of the bugs are crippling in complexity and very difficult to fix:
This is a problem with lack of understanding of the intended server protocols, and it takes significant time and an element of luck to figure out the actual method for accomplishing a given task. For those who are uninitiated - we need to figure out the right information to send to the client, in the right order, at the right times, based on analysis of the original live servers communication, which just looks like a string of hexadecimal bytes, and that's if we even have the packet logs that tell us what the client is expecting from the server at all. This is not a simple task with proper data, less so with nothing at all.
« C » This project is in its Alpha Phase.
Spoiler:
« C.1 » All of this project is a vast WORK IN PROGRESS:
This is not an excuse - it means that the server is not feature complete, that bugs exist and that major changes to aspects of the game may occur, including (but historically unlikely) resets and rollbacks as and when necessary if we have no better solutions. We will do our very best to avoid these at all costs.
« C.2 » All of the contributors in this project are volunteers and are providing their time, knowledge, and expertise, for free and for the benefit of the server.
They do what they can, where they can, when they can. They have a limited comprehension of things and they are trying their best to make things better step by step. Often 3 steps forward, 2 steps back.
This is not an excuse - it means that the server is not feature complete, that bugs exist and that major changes to aspects of the game may occur, including (but historically unlikely) resets and rollbacks as and when necessary if we have no better solutions. We will do our very best to avoid these at all costs.
« C.2 » All of the contributors in this project are volunteers and are providing their time, knowledge, and expertise, for free and for the benefit of the server.
They do what they can, where they can, when they can. They have a limited comprehension of things and they are trying their best to make things better step by step. Often 3 steps forward, 2 steps back.
« D » The staff work to their own priority lists.
Spoiler:
It would be incredibly unfair to expect that your immediate desire should align itself with the priority of a volunteer developer with limited time and resources to dedicate to the project. They cannot, and should not be expected to intervene on short notice for any aspects of the game you may personally consider as vital at any particular moment. Provide feedback through measured and reasonable methods, and development may end up shifting in your direction.
« D.1 » Contributors know what is possible and not, they are limited in their action field. Sometimes by internal discussions that average players are not privy to, sometimes to technical details that simply cannot be implemented as suggested, and frequently by their own design principles they will not violate despite suggestions to the contrary.
« D.2 » Contributors are not professionals working for a paycheck, they are not commutable assets to be discarded for failure to achieve specific targets, they are actually not paid at all nor are they scheduled to work any particular hours. Their volunteered time and expertise is one of the greatest values to the server, and should not expect to be squandered recklessly.
« D.3 » Contributors are working for the good of the project first and foremost. Your personal enjoyment of the project is a byproduct of their great efforts, it is not necessarily a goalpost to be reached. Some things that seem FUN at first glance can be detrimental to the enjoyment of others. Some things that seem like a boring grind are what provide a sweet payoff when you finally achieve your tireless goals. If at any time you do not enjoy content that is being provided, the forums are available to provide constructive feedback.
« D.4 » According to « B » and « C », it is just common sense again.
« E » Your viewpoint on the game and that of the staff may differ.
Spoiler:
« E.1 » According to « A », our purpose is to extend the spirit of Warhammer Online.
The general outlook of the team on the game leans progressive towards a changing future, not conservatively rebuilding a past glory that perhaps never was. Our intent has always been to bring fresh changes to the game in pursuit of glorious battle.
« E.2 » According to « A » again, we apologize if some of our choices are hurting your Nostalgia/Traditionalism or Conservatism.
« E.3 » We are not claiming we have perfect solutions for a perfect game, but we are acting with sincerity and passion to spawn a version of the game, within the limit of our abilities and understanding, that we think/hope is as good as possible.
« E.4 » According to « A » again, we are those who spend time and energy to make this project alive.
It seems quite legitimate for us to be free to bring changes and take liberties we think important to enhance this project. There is enough constraint within the team to provide a fair amount of consideration to prevent most changes from going wild. Being further constrained by community demands would be untenable.
« E.5 » According to « B » and « C », nothing is engraved in the stone.
What is deployed today, may be modified completely in the future. We are working in the limit of our present abilities and this forces us to make hard choices at any given moment in time. This doesn’t mean we will not come back to some aspect of the game when we will be able to deploy better solutions. This frequently happens as we discover new protocols and need to better refactor old code.
« E.6 » You can disagree with our choices, but we are asking you to respect them, without anger or hate.
Our purpose isn't to make you miserable. On the contrary. We can make mistakes and decisions that seem counter-intuitive to intended goals, but be assured we are trying iteratively at times to break through hard problems. Some changes will be less apparent than others, but any controversial choice to be made starts with significant internal debate among the leads, devs, and other contributing team members.
« E.7 » Your feedback and suggestions are more than welcome, however - and according to « D » - we may not always follow your advice or suggestions.
We are trying to keep a global view of the project with our limited abilities. If some feedback and suggestions are agreeable with this general pattern we will be glad to please you. Note it may take time if this happens.
« E.8 » Your opinion about our choices and work should be reasonable, presented with facts, and without hostility. Otherwise - according to « A » and « D » - it won’t be relevant for the project. You can disagree or dislike, we are very sorry, but we can’t do much for you.
« F » We do NOT and CANNOT take donations.
Spoiler:
Warhammer Online is not our intellectual property. Because of this, we will not allow any assistance to come in from the community, whether direct or through any kind of attempted loophole (we've heard them all before). Any donation would be a risk to the existence of the project. We do not want your money. Keep it to yourself. Do not ask how, there is no way.
« G » This project and its sources are private.
Spoiler:
Consider the absolutely mad amount of work over many years that has gone into coding thousands of lines from scratch, rebuilding thousands of database tables, touching endless amounts of items, and quests, and PQs, and dungeons, etc.. Each aspect of the RoR sources are the property of those who have devoted their time working on it and ultimately to the RoR project. Our implemented server code, databases, assets, research, and processes are the property of RoR project itself and this team. It is not open-source, it is not shared freely.
Reasons are pretty simple to understand:
« G.1 » Sources are private to protect each contributors work:
The 'owner' of the project, must protect the project integrity and respect all the work, time, and energy spent to make this project real by a team of passionate contributors, gathered around a common purpose.
« G.2 » Sources are private to protect the overall Warhammer community:
Considering the community size and interest compared to some other MMORPGs, splitting the community among several private servers will put in danger the survival of the project itself and existence of the community if it were to fracture. Warhammer Online is a game of numbers. As many of you experienced on live, a dying server tends to bleed and rarely recovers.
« G.3 » Sources are private to protect the Intellectual Property rights of the original owners:
We can’t have guarantee that any other private server won’t use these sources for profit, or violate the spirit/design/vision of the game with changes that would clearly go against the intent of the original owners. Either of which would put this project in danger as well (see « F »). The ROR team is well aware that Games Workshop needs to be protective of their intended vision of the game, even post-mortem, and we will respectfully protect that vision where others might not.
« G.4 » If some day the RoR project is fully abandoned; with agreement of each team members, full sources will be released.
« H » Warnings, bans and Terms of Service.
Spoiler:
If you suffer from any of the following issues:
• Inability to reconcile the difference between the viewpoint of the team and your own viewpoint in a mature manner
• Inability to respect the team enough to accept their right to make changes
• Inability to criticize changes directly, instead complaining about changes having been made per se because you didn't want the original game to change at all, no matter how (appealing to tradition)
Then, we apologize and invite you:
- To take some distance with the project. Maybe future updates will please you more.
- Try to create your own project using WarEmu's free source. You will quickly discover the vast depth of the WarEmu codebase from where we started, and how wildly far off the mark you will be from ROR currently. Good luck.
Take into consideration, and quite seriously, the Terms of Use
« H.1 » On the forums, you will receive warnings. Warnings will lead to suspensions. Continuing to violate these terms will lead to forum bans. Creating new accounts to avoid suspensions or bans can result in your game account being sanctioned. The Community Management team and the GM team are here to preserve a state of general peace for all those who would visit. Disrupting this peace means facing sanctions.
« H.2 » In game, there are many infractions outlined that will immediately impact your ability to play on the server, now and in the future. All bans handed out are accompanied by reports, with evidence, and are reviewed by the Head Game Master. Very rarely are these overturned. If you value your time on our server, play with respect to our home, and follow our rules.
• Inability to reconcile the difference between the viewpoint of the team and your own viewpoint in a mature manner
• Inability to respect the team enough to accept their right to make changes
• Inability to criticize changes directly, instead complaining about changes having been made per se because you didn't want the original game to change at all, no matter how (appealing to tradition)
Then, we apologize and invite you:
- To take some distance with the project. Maybe future updates will please you more.
- Try to create your own project using WarEmu's free source. You will quickly discover the vast depth of the WarEmu codebase from where we started, and how wildly far off the mark you will be from ROR currently. Good luck.
Take into consideration, and quite seriously, the Terms of Use
« H.1 » On the forums, you will receive warnings. Warnings will lead to suspensions. Continuing to violate these terms will lead to forum bans. Creating new accounts to avoid suspensions or bans can result in your game account being sanctioned. The Community Management team and the GM team are here to preserve a state of general peace for all those who would visit. Disrupting this peace means facing sanctions.
« H.2 » In game, there are many infractions outlined that will immediately impact your ability to play on the server, now and in the future. All bans handed out are accompanied by reports, with evidence, and are reviewed by the Head Game Master. Very rarely are these overturned. If you value your time on our server, play with respect to our home, and follow our rules.
To begin with, be our guest. We are happy that you're here!
Spoiler:
- We will try our best to offer you a pleasant experience.
- We will consider any constructive and appropriately constructed feedback.
- We will maintain a neutral position when it comes to realm bias.
- We will provide a high level of communication when game services are impacted, intentional or otherwise.
As a guest, and for the enjoyment of all, we are just asking you to follow some common sense rules listed below. The purpose of these rules is to protect you, the other players, and the project in general.
- We will consider any constructive and appropriately constructed feedback.
- We will maintain a neutral position when it comes to realm bias.
- We will provide a high level of communication when game services are impacted, intentional or otherwise.
As a guest, and for the enjoyment of all, we are just asking you to follow some common sense rules listed below. The purpose of these rules is to protect you, the other players, and the project in general.
1. Respect/Protect others and yourself.
Spoiler:
1.1 Don't Be A Jerk
We are all here to play and enjoy the game. Attacking other players in chat, trolling players in general with toxic attitudes, or finding other creative ways to disrupt other players from enjoying their time here. None of this is appreciated. Consider this a very broad and generalized rule that we will apply liberally when players are in fact being jerks to each other. If only we lived in a world where this was the only rule needed.
Respect is the word, whether you hate someone or simply think they're a bad player, you can be respectful. Keep in mind this is just a game, and there is no reason and no place for real grieves/grudges.
1.2 You are responsible for your account, your characters, and your household.
Your account is yours and only yours. Don’t share it with anyone, unless you can accept the consequences of the other person potentially breaking the rules and having action taken against it (letting your kids/brother/mate play for example). If something bad happens in the hands of someone you trusted, it will be your problem, not ours, and sadly, you will be responsible for it. It will also be assumed that if something happens under your roof, you are aware and complicit to some degree. Depending on the severity of the offense, you may be involved. To be clear, when you make an account it is NOT to be traded, shared, sold, or even given away. It is yours alone.
1.3 Do not share personal information.
Whether yours or anyone else. This is imaginary videogame land. Your real name, the city you live in, your phone number, even your personal email, all of that stuff is off-limits. No one needs to know, and it will be removed.
1.4 No cheating.
This is one of our strongest rules and will certainly result in a swift and permanent ban.
- Don't use hacks, cheats and other illegitimate game modifications.
- Don't automate your gameplay by any means (macros, bots, gaming mice, etc.) If your character is acting in the game, you MUST be able to respond to a GM if prompted.
- Don't use any addon which creates issues or allows access to exploits. Report these to a staff member.
- If you KNOW of a serious exploit or way to cheat our systems, report it to a GM or Lead (MaxHayman, Wargrimnir)
1.5 No offensive, political, religious, vulgar, sexual, or racially charged nicknames.
This also includes using the names of real people (political figures, porn stars, criminals, etc). This is applies to both your forum account and any character names. « Offensive » may be subjective, but as owners of this project, it will be –in the end- our definition. Rather than define a vast list of potentially offensive names, please have some common sense and avoid anything that would cause others to take issue with your name. One inappropriate name will result in a one-time warning, multiple names will result in a ban. Blatantly offensive names may result in an immediate permanent ban.
1.6 Keep your use of language clean and family-friendly. Avoid contentious and inflammatory topics like the examples given.
Take the rule above, and apply it to anything you might type into a public channel. No offensive, political, religious, vulgar, sexual, or racially charged discussions in public chat. Additionally, apply that rule to private messages that you might send to someone who might report you for violation of this rule. Abuse and harassment of players is a fast way to draw GM attention, and it takes two clicks to report chat with enough evidence that they will take action on it. If you find that you end up muted, it's time to self-review your behavior and change it. All GM actions are logged, and all sanctions escalate over time. They never fall off.
1.7 No advertising, soliciting, or spamming.
The exception to this rule is that Forum threads may be created for Twitch streams and similar platforms that promote our project. For anything else, check with a member of staff for an agreement. If not, it can be deleted on sight. Bot spam is deleted/banned as soon as someone notices, use the report button! Please do not use in-game public chat channels for links of any kind, specifically including Twitch channels. If people want to watch your stream, they will be able to find it in other ways.
1.8 No ban evasion.
Evading a ban (which means you have been sanctioned for not respecting the server rules) by playing on another account will result in the evasion account being permanently banned. The same applies for allowing a banned player to use your account. Helping a banned player in any way will result in a sanction. If you are aware of a player evading a ban, report it to a GM for review of their new account.
2.Respect/Protect the project and our work.
Spoiler:
2.1 Do not use the forum or in-game chat to break the laws or promote breaking the laws of either your country of residence, the host country of the server (France), the United Kingdom, or the United States.
2.2 Don't intentionally profit from an exploit carried out by another player.
Exploiting or encouraging other people to exploit bugs and glitches that give you advantages in-game is prohibited. The staff has the right to neutralize any advantage gained by an exploit without reparation, even if an affected player was unaware –and we will be sorry for that- of said advantage.
2.3 No multi-boxing. No automated gameplay.
You are only allowed to control one character in the game at a time. You must be present while controlling a single character.
- If you are approached by a GM for this offense, they have observed you for some time. This is very much not allowed.
If you do not respond to a GM who has been attempting to contact you while your character is actively in-game, after some time this will be considered botting. Even if you do respond, they may ask you to perform certain actions to ensure you are not automated. Anti-afk measures are also considered botting. Don't do it. Play fair.
2.4 No colluding with the opposite faction to farm XP, Renown, Influence or any other benefits.
- Also known as Killtrading. Dueling is generally allowed. Letting someone kill you, and then killing them back is not. Generally this will result in both accounts (and any connected accounts (don't share accounts!)) to be wiped back to 1/1 with no gear or money.
2.5 Please notify staff of any bugs and exploits you discover or are made aware of.
Be sure to check if they are already mentioned on the bugtracker. We like the bugtracker, it's great for tracking bugs. You should post any bugs you find on the bugtracker as well! You can find it at the top of these forums. Do not abuse or take advantage of any bugs, even if you report them. We need enough information to fix them, this does not give you free reign to excessively "test" them. There is a difference.
2.6 No Denial of Service attacks (DDOS).
Interference with the ability of other Return of Reckoning users to enjoy playing the game in accordance with its rules, through any means, is forbidden. Plus, it is illegal, like actually illegal in most parts of the world and we will use whatever resources we have to assist authorities in taking very legal action against this very illegal act. It doesn't matter that we're a fan-run private server, it's still very illegal. Obviously if you're doing this you don't care about the rules, but we may as well list it anyway. Try not to end up in prison!
2.7 Intentionally damaging the reputation of the project is unfair.
Engaging in slander/libel against the project on public third-party sites/ video channels (Twitch, Youtube…) by spreading rumors, lies, and pretty obvious deception is unacceptable and petty. We will take responsibility for decisions we've made, but spreading blatant lies to damage our reputation is unacceptable. While we prefer to have open communication about honest grievances, credible evidence of vile harassment and blatant misrepresentation of the server or the team working behind it will be met with closed doors and banned accounts.
2.8 NSFW content is NOT welcome here. Do not use the forum or in-game chat to spread explicit content like pornography (including implied or direct sexual context), gore, or illegal content.
Despite the violent and adult nature of this PvP game, there are still a few younglings that play, and we're just not interested in that sort of stuff on the forums or Discord anyway. Keep it classy! If you wouldn't say it to a teenager/child, don't say it in public channels! Don't post it on the forums or Discord! We do NOT have an NSFW content section because we DO NOT want that content associated with or present at Return of Reckoning.
2.9 Making any kind of profit from this project is strictly forbidden.
- Running a Twitch or Youtube channel is obviously not considered for this rule. Content creators are a form of entertainment on their own, and we are merely a platform they use to entertain with.
This rule is more aimed at the following:
- Don't attempt to sell accounts or items for real life currency
- Don't attempt to purchase accounts or items for real life currency
- Don't impersonate our services in an attempt to sell access to the server
- Anyone engaging in sales or connected to them will be dealt with severely. It will be assumed that if you are connected to another person breaking these rules (don't share accounts!), you are also benefiting from their terrible lack of common sense and will be dealt with all the same. Being unaware of someone using your account and breaking the rules does not alleviate that account from being sanctioned either.
3. RoR team and YOU
Spoiler:
GENERAL RULES section 1 & 2 fully apply in your communications with the RoR Team. No matter the place, in-game / discord / social networks / RoR forum.
Always keep in mind members of staff are all unpaid volunteers that do their best and invest a lot of time to bring you this project, at no cost, for your enjoyment.
Keep in mind they are all passionate, and not necessarily professionals. There are many different types of people on this project.
- Some will enjoy explaining and exploring complex systems in depth.
- Some are only interested in extremely useful dialogue and find banter a waste of valuable time.
- Some are naturally friendly and always seek to help others.
- Some exist to serve as a hand of justice and enforcement.
The ones that do frequently post on the forums or on Discord you will get to know over time. There are many ways to get our attention and open up dialogue. However...
It doesn’t mean they are at your service at any moment.
It doesn't mean they are to blame for code that doesn't work right the first time.
It doesn't mean they can immediately fix what you find wrong with the game.
They have a life, a family, a real job, and they deserve –like anyone- to take a break. To relax. To enjoy RoR.
In a word, they are human, like you
3.1 Their purpose in life isn’t to make you miserable or abuse their status.
3.2 Their purpose is to make this project grow and evolve, to make it warm and welcoming for your own enjoyment and the pleasure of others.
- In the process of development, they may contact you or involve you for any number of reasons. We need your help to fix things, please do your best to assist them in this rare event.
3.3 Developers (Core / R&D / DB) are the reason we are able to play this game again.
Please follow their instruction carefully when it is given. It is for the general interest of all other players, and yours of course.
3.4 The GM Team acts solely to enforce the Terms of Service across several platforms.
As such they are granted the right to take action against those who are not respecting the server rules. If you are contacted by a GM, pay very close attention.
- This may be a simple message from a GM.
- This may be applied as an official warning that is noted on your account.
- This may result in you being muted from chat for some time.
- This may end up with your access to the game being restricted, for some hours or days.
- Provided you are a nice person, none of this will ever happen to you.
- If you DO get caught up in a heated moment and a GM or any other staff member begins this process, it is for a reason.
- If you can resolve the issue immediately, sanctions may be avoided. We don't go out of our way to ban people who choose peace over conflict.
3.5 The CM Team on the other hand, acts in various ways to preserve the greater good of the community.
They are also granted the right to take action against those who are not respecting the Terms of Service, however their scope of work is limited to Discord, the Forums and other communication channels. The Community Managers are often here to:
- Guide you through tough situations.
- Preserve and raise your voice inside the RoR Team.
- Voice the community's concerns to the RoR Team.
- Preserve the goodwill of the community (avoid unwanted drama).
All-in-all CMs keep one eye on the team and the other on the community in order to make sure everything’s fair and square.
3.6 Do not start a fight with a staff member.
They are highly leveled, overpowered, and have the tools and ability to severely damage your account and community standing. Staff are here to develop the game that we all love and enjoy, not argue with you or get berated by your unhinged opinions. Be nice to staff.
3.7 If you disagree with any disciplinary action taken by a member of staff
You should first contact the person in question by PMing them on the forum, and try to resolve the issue directly. Misunderstandings can happen. Passion can get the better of us. Apologies go a long way. In the end, be nice to staff.
If you find a matter that you feel strongly needs absolution, send an email to [email protected]
3.8 If you want to appeal a ban, you can use the ban appeal forum.
Be sure to read the Rules for Ban Appeals, and understand this section of the forums serves to keep GM's honest and truthful by checking their evidence and sanction given for a particular offense. This is not a platform to beg for forgiveness or lenience, we don't do that here.
Always keep in mind that the amount of warned/banned people on this project since its beginning is VERY low compared to the amount of players who haven’t had any issue.
Less than 1% of players have any sort of action taken against their account. If you have action taken against your account, consider the 100 other people who are able to abide by the rules peacefully, it's not that hard to do.
In conclusion:
Mutual courteous respect and common sense is the key of a good relationship.
Once again, this is just a game. Enjoy your time here, don't make it hard for others.
As owners, developers, and enforcers, we must protect the project and the players community and try our best to keep a healthy environment for all.
4. Forum, Bugtracker, & Discussion usages:
Spoiler:
4.1 When you post, keep in mind the general rules and Terms of Use/Service (Respect, courtesy, don't be a jerk)
4.2 Signatures! You don’t need to sign your posts manually, just put your signature in the dedicated place for it inside your profile.
- Total height of any signature may not exceed 230 pixels.
- Please note that this does not refer to the image - it refers to the total vertical distance between the signature dividing bar and the bottom of your post.
- Violating signatures will be placed within spoiler tags.
- We are not monsters and if there is no extreme abuse, some pixels more will be tolerated.
- Signature content must follow rules described in Term of Service. Clean! Classy!
4.3 Avoid moderating others by yourself, or breaking TOS to fight broken TOS.
Simply do not involve yourself in this part of the process. Protect yourself; use the yellow triangle report button, and ignore them. You can also report inappropriate chat in game with a simple right click on the offending players name.
4.4 Do not create a new post if the same topic was locked.
There is always a reason posts get locked. There is very little reason to tempt moderating duties for a second time.
4.5 Avoid formatting abuse.
Use paragraphs and punctuation! Avoid a rainbow of different colors! Make it easy for others to read, and your message will be more clearly seen.
4.6 Avoid thread necromancy.
If a thread’s last post was more than a month ago, do not post in it. Maybe start a new topic!
4.7 Avoid cross-posting in multiple threads or discussion channels.
We've read it the first time, it is unlikely to leave a better impression seeing it a second time, and third time, and the fourth...
4.8 Avoid double posts/comments as much as you can;
Feel free to edit your post if you have more to say and the discussion hasn't moved yet. Feel free to report your own post if it was accidental and needs deletion.
4.9 Avoid « +1 », « QFT » , « Same », « Yes », « This », or similar posts.
This can stall discussion and provides very little of value. If an opinion is so well presented you find nothing else can be said, then nothing else needs to be said.
4.10 Farewell (I'm quitting) threads will be locked and shuffled off to a dark place.
If you are leaving the game, we do wish you farewell and hope that you will return in the future. Feel free to say goodbye to your friends privately, we don't need a public spectacle made of your departure.
4.11 Memorial threads will eventually be locked and preserved as a moment in time.
The passing of a loved one can be a difficult and somber experience, reaching out to the community you feel close to for comfort is a natural response. We will respectfully lock these posts after a short duration and let them reside on the forums in peace.
4.12 Doomsday threads (the game is dying, population is bleeding, the endtimes are nigh, rats under altdorf) will be locked.
MMO populations rise and fall for a great number of reasons, our biggest spike in population to date had absolutely nothing to do with the work we've done on the server, and was pure blind luck that we were noticed by a very large Youtube influencer. We will do our best to continue providing content and a place for everyone to call home, but we expect people will come and go as their mood suits them.
For the respect of all points in this section, failure to abide may result in a warning.
Ignoring the warning may result to stronger sanctions, like revoking access to forum, or temporary/permanent ban.
We know some people like to push boundaries and test how far the rules will go. It is taken into account, unfortunately for them.
Warnings do not expire.
5. In-game chat usages:
Spoiler:
5.1 Server commands can be used in chat, they begin with .
Spoiler:
Do /help to list them all. Most of them work.
For example:
* Finding a GM.
Use /say
then .gm
If it says there's no GM online, then there's no GM flagged currently. (They are probably hidden so they can play the game in peace.)
Of course, you may use in-game chat to ask if a GM is online, but do not spam repeatedly. If you don't receive a reply after several minutes, contact one via the Forums, Discord, or submit a ticket via in-game reporting.
5.3 The in-game report function DOES work,
But only for GM issues at this time. GM's will not replace your items or refund your currency. They deal entirely with player behavior that violate the TOS.
5.4 Do not use in-game chat or the in-game report system to report bugs
That's what the Bugtracker is for.
- Particularly abusive or exploitative bugs should be reported to the Purple named Community Managers or a Yellow named Server Lead (currently MaxHayman, Lheana, or Wargrimnir) via Discord. If you find and quickly report a severe bug that could be abused for profits or that puts other players at a significant disadvantage, there are great rewards to be had.
5.5 Please use the appropriate chat channels as best you can, not everything needs to be in advice chat.
Following is a brief description of the purpose of the different chat channels:
- Advice (/ad) : Used for answering brief and direct questions. /6 is way cooler, /ad is for noobs. Do NOT intentionally give bad advice, it's terribly rude to mislead new players, and GM's may find that to be a form of harassment.
- Region chat (/1) : For discussions of matters specific to the current region you're in.
- General (/3) : The main chat, where everything game-related goes if it's not covered by any other channel.
- Trade (/4) : This channel is for any trades of any kind. These should not be put in any other channel.
- LFG (/5) : This channel handles recruitment matters of all kinds - be they group, warband or guild-related.
- Off-topic (/6) : For long, spammy discussions about matters not related to the game, to avoid cluttering General. Still subject to TOS, keep it clean!
- Roleplay (/7) : Reserved for Roleplaying guild activities and general roleplay banter.
- Russian (/8) : For speaking to each other in Russian. This is the ONLY valid global chat for Russian language communications.
- Realm War Channels (/t1, /t2, /t3, /t4) : For discussion of matters specific to an individual tier of the game.
For the respect of all, failure to abide by the TOS in chat, or abusing channels outside of their intended purpose will very likely result in your account (yes, the whole account) being Muted from using public channels. Ignoring these warnings may result to stronger sanctions, facing hard bans if your behavior does not change, and even leading to a permanent ban for particularly abusive behavior.
