SWmud Code of Law

The purpose of this Code is to explain how the law procedures of SWmud work.

Basic tenets:

1. We are all adults.
While some of us may not be legally adults in the sense of being 18+ years old, we should all be mature enough to act as adults. In specific terms, this means that everyone is expected to use their brains; if you think that something might be a questionable practice, ask about it before you do it!

2. Players play, coders code.
The game is created and maintained by wizards, and played by players. The upshot of this is as follows: if you want to be involved in creating and maintaining the mud, become a wizard. Players who regularly complain that "we do it *this* way on the mud I code on..." are highly annoying to the wizards of the mud. Although this is not a punishable offense, it is considered inappropriate behavior for players.

This is *not* to say that you can't or shouldn't make suggestions about how to improve the mud; just that you should try to be polite about it, and not complain if your suggestions are not chosen to be implemented.

On the other side of things, if you would rather play than code, don't become a wizard. Wizards of Applicant or Secretary rank are not allowed to have their own player characters. Ambassadors and above may have *one* player character, but are expected to spend more time coding than playing. More rules concerning player characters owned by wizards can be found in the wizlaw panic file.

3. Wizards should be more responsible than players.
Because of their greater power, wizards are held to a higher standard of behavior than players. In general, if a wizard and a player are involved in an illegal incident, the wizard should be punished more severely than the player.

4. Players are punished, not characters.
The person controlling a character is responsible for that character's actions. Thus, if a wizard has a player character, his/her wizard character may be demoted, rid, etc. for things done by his/her player character. Similarly, if a player is caught having multiple characters, *all* of his/her characters may be rid.

5. Punishments are meted out on a case-by-case basis.
The Law wizards and other wizards are not required to be consistent in their punishments. They may choose whatever punishment they feel to be appropriate to the offense and the offender, taking into account the offender's past behavior and the seriousness of any threat to the mud. Also, in general, wizards will be punished more harshly for violations than players will.

For example, take the case of someone who exploits a bug, then claims to have done it without knowledge that it was a bug. An offender who has always been respectful to the arches, has never engaged in "questionable" behavior, and is new to mudding would be punished less severely than one who regularly insults the wizzes, has often done questionable things, and/or is an experienced mudder.

Some will say that this is not fair. That may be true. Remember, however, that the game is set up for the enjoyment of both players and wizards, and that playing is a privilege, not a right. Thus, someone who decreases the enjoyment of others by being rude or insulting is hurting the mud, and the arches are under no obligation to allow someone to continue playing on the mud if they do not wish to.

Procedures:

The Head of Law is the primary law enforcer of the mud. The Head of Law may punish any character for any offense in any way he or she may choose, subject to these procedures.

In addition, should the Head of Law be unavailable, any wizard has the power to punish offenses. However, other non-Admin wizards may not rid a character unless they believe it necessary to the security of the mud, or that character does not have a valid email address and has not contacted the wizzes to explain why he/she does not.

In any case, an wizard who punishes a character should inform the other wizards of the punishment and why it was given, and of any evidence that might exist (logs, screen captures, etc.).

Decisions of a single wizard may be appealed. This may be done by sending mudmail to 'law', or if you have been rid, by using the Law Contact form. You should include information on who you are, what you were accused of, and your explanation of why you feel your punishment was unjust. The wizards may then decide whether to allow your punishment to stand, give you a lighter punishment, give you a heavier punishment, or rescind your punishment entirely.

Decisions of the wizards as a group cannot be appealed.

Finally, note that all of the Admins (Senator and Moff) have the full power to rid anyone they choose, no explanation necessary.

Punishments:

Punishments that may be inflicted include, but are not limited to:

• Demotion to a lower level/position.
• Removal of any benefits the character may have gained from the player's actions (e.g., removing money, experience, etc. from the player).
• Fining the character money, experience, skill points, or anything else.
• Giving a warning.
• Permanent or temporary removal of the character from the game.
• Death, with attendant loss of experience and/or levels.
• Removal of the ability to shout.
• Removing a wizard's file access, or other wizard privileges.
• Banning the player's site.

In general, punishments should be chosen to fit the crime. For example, if a player took advantage of a bug to make money, he/she should at the very least have that money taken away, and may be fined as well. A player who kills another player in a situation where he or she should not have been able to may be killed. Again, however, the arches may inflict any punishment for any offense.

Of course, anyone who suffered from the character's actions should be compensated.

– SWmud Administration