Shoutcurses

A shoutcurse is the revoking of the ability to speak over lines, tells, as well as any projecting method of communication. (This includes a removal of ALL Jedi abilities, for their ability to project thoughts, feelings and messages over distance.) Communication will be limited to 'say' and 'mail'.

Grounds For Shoutcurse:

Having a voice in a public forum (i.e. any non-private form of communication or any communication that is in a non-private area of the mud) is a privilege, not a right. A shoutcurse is a punishment given by any wizard who feels that you are abusing your ability to speak in the presence of a large number people.

Most commonly, a shoutcurse is earned for using language that is inappropriate according to the standards of the mud. It is not limited to this, however. Excessive spam, harassment of others, discussion of secrets, failure to follow the requests of a wizard regarding conversational topics, or any other public communications deemed inappropriate by the staff are also grounds for a shoutcurse. You will also face a shoutcurse for providing Internet links to any site which itself fails to follow any of these rules (no matter what warnings you or the site itself provide).

Generally, shoutcurses will only be given to those who break the rules over the mud's public channels. However, if someone chooses to complain about something said or done over a private line, ie. clan line, party line, honey line, padawan/apprentice line, say, tell, or mail, you may still face a shoutcurse, so think before you type.

Language Standards:

SWMud believes in a modicum of decency in public forums. What this means is that any inappropriate language, however it is spelled, masked, or phonetically represented will not be tolerated. By inappropriate language, we mean anything that would not be appropriate in the presence of a young child, or language and conversation topics which would be inappropriate when dealing with teachers, during job interviews, etc.

What You Can Expect:

There is no way for the staff to be able to state beforehand all of the different words, situations, phrases, or expressions that may or may not be considered offensive. However as a general rule, if Dictionary.com refers to a word as 'vulgar' or 'vulgar slang' or if a phrase contains, or even insinuates subject matter which you would not find in a PG film, you cannot say it, however masked, on any public channels.

We ask that you use common sense before hitting the enter key. Admittedly, what may not be offensive to you may be offensive to others. If something you say is offensive, you will be asked to refrain from using that type of expression again. Continued use of that language will result in a shoutcurse. If it is blatantly offensive, such as profanity, or sexually explicit, you will be given a shoutcurse as a warning instead of an initial verbal warning.

Length Of Shoutcurse:

The length of a shoutcurse is dependant on both the severity of the infraction, and previous shoutcurse history. But typically, the scale is as follows...

1st offence will be 1 hour.
2nd offence will be 1 day.
3rd offence will be 3 days.
4th offence will be 1 week.
5th offence will be 1 week, plus monster (mob) death & 3 days in jail.
6th offence will be 1 month, plus 2 mob deaths & 1 week in jail.
7th offence will be 2 mob deaths plus 1 week in jail & permanent removal of the ability to speak on public lines.
8th offence (which should never happen) will result in the removal of your character.
Any further infringments will result in rid and siteban.

Please note that these are the minimum punishments and, depending on the infraction, one or more can be skipped in favor of a more severe punishment. Upon being shoutcursed, you will receive a mail (cc:'d to law) explaining the reason for and duration of the shoutcurse.

Shoutcurses are automatically released at or nearly after the punishment's expiration. When you log in, you will see the expiration date of your shoutcurse. If you log on after it has expired (by hours, weeks, months, etc.), you may have to wait up to 15 minutes for the shoutcurse to release. This is unavoidable, but the shoutcurse will release when you are recognized by the daemon.

What to do if you feel you've been unfairly punished:

If you feel that the shoutcurse or duration of the shoutcurse is excessive, unfair, or inappropriate, you must appeal your case. 'mail law' if the shoutcurse was received from any wizard who is not part of the law staff. If the punishment originated from the law staff, forward the mail you received explaining the reason for your shoutcurse to 'moff' and 'senator' along with your appeal. You will receive a reply regarding the status of your appeal within 1 day of the appeal (taking into consideration availability of staff, time zone difference, etc). Read up on appeals to find out who you would speak to first in your appeal situation.

— Last edited 6-Feb-2004