Roleplay

What Is Roleplay?
Simply put, roleplaying is playing the role of somebody who is not you. When you're connected to Miriani, you've shed your real life identity and stepped into the shoes of a starship pilot in the distant future. Everything you say, do, wear, eat, smell, sing, or think about should come out as if it were said, done, worn, eaten, smelled, sang or thought about by an actual starship pilot in the distant future. One aspect of roleplay in Miriani that may differ from what you're used to is that your role can be defined both by your emotes as well as your day to day actions. Since the majority of game mechanics are hardcoded, this means that actions can heavily influence roleplay. Please make sure to view the examples at the end of this policy. They help clarify a lot of the points made here.

When To Be In Character
You should remain in character at all times in public. If an area is accessible to any player, or can be viewed remotely by any player, it is considered public and you should roleplay there. If you're in a private location, such as your own starship, apartment, or house, you're allowed to be out of character so long as everybody in the room agrees. You can use the ROOC command to make it absolutely clear that you're being out of character.

Communication Channels
Communication channels follow similar rules to rooms. Generally, if a channel is accessible to any player, you should be in character at all times. Public channels include: General, Chatter, Alliance Channels 1-11, Joint Alliance, and Courier. Other channels, and their rules, are listed below.

Starship relays, long-range communication bands, private organization channels and private organization message boards must be kept in character at all times. These channels are intended to be used for roleplay and are very specific to that purpose.

Metafrequency channels should be first considered in character, but as long as everybody on the channel agrees, it can also be used for out of character communication. Just be certain that everybody is aware of the nature of the channel. Mixing in character and out of character conversation can be confusing.

Private links, as the name implies, are private. They can be used for both in and out of character communication, but if a player asks you to remain in character, you must comply with that request.

Starship and private structure PAs should be considered completely in character. If you need to speak OOCly, use the SOOC (ship/structure out of character) command.

The short-range radio should likewise be considered in character if you're in one of the primary numbered sectors. If you're in uncharted space, you may use the short-range radio for out of character communication, but it is not recommended. Like private links, you're obligated to stop being out of character if anybody requests that you remain in character.

Communicator Filters
Emoticons and certain abbreviations are considered to be out of character. Since these are very commonly used on the internet, we've employed filters that will automatically replace most of these instances with their appropriate English counterparts. You should avoid using emoticons and abbreviations wherever possible. Similarly, you should not intentionally work around filters to get emoticons or abbreviations to show when they're not intended to. This is considered a workaround (see the policy on bug abuse / cheating / workarounds) and can result in having your communication rights temporarily revoked.

Exceptions
There are only two situations that override the rules on where and when you can be in character in rooms and on communicators: The first is if a host speaks on a channel and asks for input or a response. In this very rare case, you're free to be out of character until the host says otherwise. The second exception is host-run roleplay events. You'll typically know an event is happening because you'll see a new character who doesn't show up on the @who list engaging players in activities not ordinarily available to them. When an event is taking place, you must be in character at all times, regardless of location.

Rerolls
A reroll is somebody who has deleted their old character and created a new one. When a person rerolls, they are an entirely new character. As such, you should not treat these people the same as you did their last character unless their actions justify it. Past grudges should be deleted along with the past character. Taking action against somebody because of who you think, or even know, they used to be is a direct violation of this policy. Similarly, continually asking somebody who they used to be is against this policy and could be considered harassment if you persist. Likewise, you should absolutely never seek somebody outside the game solely to learn who they used to be.

Theme
Miriani's theme is life in the future, with a particular emphasis on space flight and the consequences thereof. Out of theme roleplay is defined as playing your character in a manner not within the theme or scope of the game. It is also considered out of theme to assign actions to any people who did not give express permission to do so. This includes past as well as current characters. If you're unable to get permission from a player, you should not presume to change their story by including them in your roleplay. The examples section of this policy lists a number of appropriate, and inappropriate, roleplay. Please peruse it.

Emote Abuse
Emote abuse is the use of the emote or ROOMPOSE commands to trick other players into believing that something has happened when it really hasn't. Typically, this takes the form of a player spoofing output typically generated by the game to mislead others. Your emotes should be limited to actions being taken by your character.

Explicit Roleplay, Age-Appropriateness, and Liability
Since Miriani allows players under the age of 18, we must be careful about what content they're exposed to and what activities they engage in. For this reason, this policy strictly forbids any minors (individuals under the age of 18) from engaging in roleplay or out of character actions of a sexual nature. Under no circumstances should a minor seek out sexual encounters, offer sexual encounters to others, negotiate contact information with others for the purposes of engaging in sexual activities outside of the game, or engage in sexual discussions of any kind.

This policy of zero tolerance is in place for the safety of EVERYBODY. As such, any minors found to be engaging in sexual activities will be immediately and permanently banned from the game. Similarly, any adults knowingly participating in sexual activities with minors will also be permanently banned from the game.

Likewise, regardless of age, players should not come on Miriani with the sole intention of grooming or seeking out sexual encounters. If you have been told that another player does not wish to roleplay a relationship, engage in sexual roleplay, etc., then that is your cue to drop the subject immediately and permanently. No means no. It is not your place to guilt another party into doing something they do not feel comfortable doing, nor is it your place to harass them for their reasoning. There will be no exceptions to this, and continued discussions, if reported, will result in a permanent ban for the offending party. We want all of our players to feel safe here. We do encourage people to report any encounters they feel uncomfortable with. Please provide a log of the incident, as we will not just take a person at their word on something like this. All such reports will remain strictly confidential, and there will be no need to fear for retaliation.

Enforcement

Participating in out of theme roleplay will net you the following penalties, in order of severity:

1. A host will explain why your roleplay is inappropriate and warn you that continuing will result in penalties.
2. You will lose 100 license points.
3. You will lose 10% of your current license points.
4. You will be given the choice of either a three week lockout or having your current character deleted.
5. You will be permanently banned.

Related Help Files

Examples

• Speaking about your English homework. It is highly unlikely that your character has English homework to do.
• Using languages other than English on public communicator channels or in public rooms.
• Refusing to cease out of character communication when requested to by other people.
• Involving non-player characters, such as government officials, High Guard officers, or other host-played characters in your private roleplay without the go-ahead from a host.
• Talking about Skype over a starship relay channel.
• Roleplaying that your character has supernatural abilities.
• Rerolling to avoid in character consequences and then telling all your friends that you're the same character is considered out of character and goes against the spirit of the reroll system.
• Making OOC statements and veiling them by saying "Back on Old Earth" or "They used to have this thing back on Old Earth."
• Using tradesman item certificates as a bartering chip or asking someone to give you tradesman item certificates in character in exchange for any item. Tradesman item certificates are out of character.
• Telling everyone that your enemy poisoned the water supply of an entire planet just to make you and your friends sick when they haven't done such a thing. Not only is this assigning actions to someone without their permission, but it's also mechanically impossible. Players cannot poison each other.
• Offering to continue work on items you have started on as one character after rolling a new character.
• Going out of your way to find out who someone used to be after they rerolled. If they want you to know, they'll let you know.
• Taking every opportunity to talk about someone's old character when they're new character is around to harass the person behind the keyboard. This behavior is not acceptable.
• Looking for a reason to attack someone's character simply because of who they used to play, or simply harassing them because of who they used to play. All old conflicts should be deleted along with the old character.
• Continuing a conflict with someone after you reroll. Old conflicts should be deleted with your old character.
• Roleplaying a disability that cannot otherwise be accomidated through technological means.
• Referring to room names that your character would otherwise have no knowledge of, such as highly specific room names commonly found during IC events. Use visual markers such as the room's description or exits instead.
• Setting up a message board category for your private organization that is explicitly used for out of character discussions. All private organization message boards are to be kept in character at all times.