Project Multiverse

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====== Core Rules ======

Project Multiverse is meant to be an open and enjoyable experience for all of our players. Nearly anything can be found or created within our setting. So that members of our community can enjoy their time here, we have a collection of base rules for players to follow during their time with Project Multiverse.

<note>
All players are expected to behave in ways that are beneficial for the community and the stories we are telling together. The absence of a rule does not count as an excuse to act poorly.\\
\\
If you have a problem with another member of the community and don't feel safe dealing with them yourself, please let one of the staff know and we'll try to help you resolve it.\\
\\
Rules will be enforced in whatever manner staff believe will let the community get back to normal as quickly as possible. We want everyone to have fun, after all! So let's all get along.
;;#
**//-Staff//**
;;#

</note>

<note tip>If you just got here, kick things off with our [[guides:getting_started]] guide. Otherwise, carry on!</note>
===== Community =====

  * We are an <color #ed1c24>18+ community</color>.
    * Themes of a sexual or violent nature <color #ed1c24>not suited for those under 18</color> may be found within our conversations or roleplay.
    * Adult and NSFW content should be restricted to the appropriate locations.
      * For Discord, this is the #nsfw channel. 
      * For the forum, posts containing adult or NSFW content must have a Mature tag. 
      * Mature content in a post not tagged Mature should "fade to black"((for example, when two characters are going to be intimate and then the scene changes in a movie)).
    * Not //all// mature content is allowed. We follow Discord's [[https://discord.com/guidelines|guidelines]] on our Discord server, forums, and wiki.

  * Respect the safety and well-being of the community and its members.
    * Hate speech, abuse, and harassment of any kind is not acceptable.
    * We are a community made of people with many different views and identities. Treat others in the way they wish to be treated. 

  * Do not cause unreasonable drama and/or stress for other members of the community.
    * Drama ruins communities and makes it hard to be enthusiastic about participating in the roleplay. For this reason, we have a **Zero Drama Tolerance** policy.
    * OOC and IC must remain separate at all times, this means no bringing OOC drama into our writing or allowing it to effect our characters decisions. This also means that IRL matters do not exist or effect anything in the Universe setting.
      * No discussions of political topics that occurred within the last 50 years.
    * Avoid disparaging remarks and/or advertising for other RP communities/projects. Be respectful towards those communities and ours.
      * If you wish to advertise another community, talk to the staff. We'll try to make something work if it makes sense.

  * In the case where a player is irreparably misaligned with the goals or well-being of our community, we may ask them to leave or issue a ban.

===== Intellectual Property =====

  * Respect the rights of content creators.
    * Art, character concepts, and other intellectual properties can only be used here if you are the owner of those properties.
  * We believe that a persistent, collaborative universe requires that additions to the story or setting are permanent. For this reason, posts, wiki additions, and other content additions to Project Multiverse's forum or wikis are done under the [[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en|Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)]] license.
    * In short, this gives us the right to share or adapt your content, so long as we give you appropriate credit.

==== Departures ====

  * Should a player leave, we will do our best to respect their wishes on how to handle their content, so long as we can do so in a way that is not disruptive to the setting/community.
  * Content without an active owner will gradually go into decline. Systems will be relinquished for others to claim, technology/magic/etc withdrawn back into their home system, characters will vanish into the background, and so on.
  * If a player designates someone to take control of their content, we will treat that player as the official owner of the content moving forward.


===== Consent =====

One of the core concepts for Project Multiverse is **consent**. We let players have extensive freedom to play how they want. In exchange, we have some important expectations for how players treat each other and the setting as a whole.

Generally speaking, using another player's character/s requires that player's express consent. Players running Shards and Plots are given implicit consent to use characters by a player participating in that part of the setting, within reason.

Unless they have consent to do so, players should never do something to another character that can't be easily reversed. This includes romance or violence in all their forms. SMs and GMs may bend this rule, so long as a plot's players understood what they were getting into beforehand. If you have something you want to do with someone else's character, make sure to to talk to them and get permission first!

<note tip>If you are concerned about how a shard or plot might affect you and/or your creations, we encourage you to talk to the appropriate players first.
</note>

===== Fairness =====

We are a collaborative story telling community. We aren't interested in who is the most powerful or who has the most territory. Something being "the most" is only as interesting as the stories that can be told because of that.

Project Multiverse largely avoids setting restrictions upon its members in terms of what a given character or Nation can do. We accomplish this by assuming that everyone and everything is, at the end of the day, equal in the eyes of the story.

<blockquote>**Example:** If one Nation has a fleet of a million ships and another Nation only has three, the smaller Nation could still win the conflict. Both groups of players are just as deserving as a win - or loss. 

//Star Wars// would be a lot shorter if the Empire had won by default, after all.</blockquote>

What is 'fair' may vary from Shard to Shard, depending on that Shard's themes.

Anyone found to be abusing the community's desire for fairness may find themselves suddenly without all their shiny toys - or banned entirely. If you cannot participate in a fair manner, simply don't involve yourself in it.

When one or more players can't agree on an outcome, we'll lean on our [[rules:conflict_resolution|Conflict Resolution]] rules to help sort it out.

Ultimately, it's up to everyone involved to find a way to make the story make sense. Let's have fun together!

==== Roleplay Etiquette ====

When players decide to RP together, there's some basic rules that players expect everyone to follow. The following are a few roleplay-specific 'rules' of behavior that players should follow so that everyone can have a good time.

  * You must have a player's permission to:
    * Control or write for their characters, including how other characters react to your character
      * aka, //power playing//
    * Harm or kill their characters
    * Engage in mature or otherwise 'inappropriate' ways with their characters
  * If you //have// permission to write for a character, do your best to do so in a manner that is true and respectful of that character.
  * Do not...
    * ... write your character/s as invincible, all-powerful, or without fault. ((aka, power gaming, godmodding, etc))
    * ... give your character knowledge beyond what they would reasonably have. ((aka, metagaming))
    * ... break the lore/setting
  * **//Do//** give other players a chance to respond to your actions
    * i.e., don't say "I punch you", say "I swing my fist at you"


<note important>This list is //not// comprehensive. Inappropriate behaviors that aren't on this list aren't excused due to their absence.</note>

===== Content Submissions =====

Project Multiverse is a setting collaboratively built by all of its players. We are an RP-first community, so while we maintain a wiki for its ability to improve our roleplay, we do not wish for the wiki to be a major part of how we spend our time or a roadblock to good storytelling.

Adding content to our setting comes with a number of responsibilities:
  * All content must adhere to our [[:rules|core rules]].
  * Ensure that your content fits within the themes of the affected [[rules#shards|Shard/s]], [[rules#plots|Plot/s]], or overall setting.
  * Accept that your content will be used and interacted with by others in the community.
  * Ensure that your content is well-written and easy for others to understand.
  * Understand that adding content to the wiki does not guarantee that others will have interest in using it or allow it within their part of the setting(([[rules#shards|"shards"]])).

==== Creations with Broad Impact ====

While we want to be as open as possible about the content allowed within PM, we also need to respect the wishes of the players who already have content. Should your content impact someone else's, then you need to get their consent.

If you aren't a Shard Master, you should talk to them about major additions to their shard. Some Shards' wiki pages may have information about what type of content can be created for the Shard without oversight.

Anything other than characters, plots, or locations (each of which have their own namespaces that you can find on the sidebar to the left) that is //not// setting-wide should be created under the relevant Shard's namespace.

If you're creating something that affects the setting as a whole, you should discuss it with the site staff. Pages outside of a Shard's namespace that don't match the above categories are under Staff's authority and may be rejected or modified. This is because content outside of a Shard impacts //all// Shards - we want to make sure each Shard's setting is respected and only impacted when we feel it is truly appropriate.

Content with limited impact, such as things affecting a single Shard, is typically fine. Don't feel overly constrained.

==== Leave Room for Others ====

It's easy to get excited and start adding all of your favorite things, but when you create something you're taking on the responsibility of making that something truly great. You may also be reducing the 'creative space' in the setting if your creations are overly broad.

**Example:** You decide to make elves. You describe all of the standard elf tropes as variations on the core elves. You give them magic and advanced technology.

If/when you're making something, please be thoughtful about the identity of your part of the setting, whether or not a new addition is necessary, and whether or not you're going to develop your creation to a reasonable extent. 

Making a unique, well developed take on an idea leaves plenty of room for other players //and// expands the setting in fun ways.
==== Usage ====

In addition to our basic [[:rules#intellectual_property|intellectual property rules]], we allow content creators to define some basic asks around how others can/can't use their content. Most wiki templates have a section in the 'OOC' part at the bottom to cover this, but you can add it there yourself should it be missing.

Usage asks //must// be reasonable or they will not be followed. If you're unsure if something is reasonable - ask! 

If you don't wish others to use or interact with your content at all, Project Multiverse is not the place for it. We're a collaborative storytelling community, after all.