Shard and Forum Rules for Whispering Pines (latest changes in red)

This is a family oriented shard. Kids are welcome if properly supervised. Except for occasional events or staff sanctioned bouts, we are a non-PVP shard. If it is your goal to upset people, leave now. We expect players to use a load of common sense. If it seems dumb or stupid then don't do it. We also expect players to have consideration and respect for ALL PLAY STYLES.

Accounts:

Accounts are limited to 1 character per account, and 2 accounts per IP, unless otherwise approved. You must page for an Admin to add your 2nd account. Prepare a book in-game before you page with your account name, character name, the name and password for the new account and reason you wish a 2nd account.

Your account is your responsibility. If you let someone else use your account and they lose your stuff, get you jailed, or do something to get the account banned, that is your fault and responsibility. We strongly advise against letting others use your account.

Accounts are considered inactive after 45 days, unless you have made other arrangements with the shard owner. After 45 days of inactivity, the account is subject to termination and house(s), if any, will be dropped.

Character:

When first creating a character, you will be presented with the default UO selections. Pick whichever you like. Then you will name and color your character. After that you will be placed in the Whispering Pines starter area where you will have a chance to read our Agreement Board and Agree or Disagree. If you agree, you will be moved to the Class Gate area where you will choose one of four "Quick Start" classes [Mage, Warrior, Ranger/Tamer or Crafter]. All your skills will be set to 70, and 6 skills key to your class will be set to 100. Your stats will also be adjusted for your class. Read the light blue books in this area for more details on what gets changed.

Choose carefully, once you go through a Class Gate, you will be placed at Britain Bank. DO NOT go through a gate until you are ready! You may only go through one gate. We will no longer honor "Do Over" requests because you chose the wrong class or went through the wrong gate. If you are looking for more of a challenge, choose a Class, then page for staff to reset your skills back to their default values.

General Behavior:

If the character name you choose conflicts with the name of a staff member or existing player, we will ask you to change it.

No inappropriate, racist, offensive, political, religious or sexually oriented character names will be allowed.

No inappropriate, racist, offensive, political, religious or sexually oriented chats or chat topics will be allowed.

Whispering Pines is an English-speaking shard. All public and private chat is to be conducted in English. We welcome citizens of all countries here, but languages other than English may only be used in guild chat or pm's.

If you encounter a donation chest povided by other players, please only take what you need and can use. Taking any more than that is just greedy and will be frowned upon. In addition, these items are not to be sold on a vendor. They have been provided by the good graces of generous players on our shard. Do not take unfair advantage of their generosity.

The following are not permitted;

Swearing, cussing, foul language or blasphemy
PVP (except for specific events or staff sanctioned bouts. See PVP section below)
Stealing from other players (grounds for immediate ban) [You may train stealing at the training area]
No unauthorized snooping into other players backpacks [only ok if they specifically ask you to snoop]
General bratty or childish behavior
Littering (use the trash cans or your Trash 4 Tokens bag)
Releasing pets in town or in the Training Area
Advertising or recruiting for another shard (grounds for immediate ban)
Being in possession of more than 1 Token Ledger
Mass casting in public areas
Asking Staff for favors, items or spawn locations
Vandalizing the shard or website in any way, shape or form

Abuse or harassment by players towards staff or other players will not be tolerated.

What staff says is final, do not argue with them.

Players will be jailed and/or banned, depending on the severity of the infraction, at the Admins' discretion.

PVP:

Except for occasional shard events or staff sanctioned bouts, we are a non-PVP shard. If you would like to spar with another player or players, write a book with the names of all members being involved who want to spar and the date, then page for staff to pick up the book. Staff will either approve or disapprove the bout. Be aware that W.P. is not responsible for any lost or taken items during this sparring time. Approval only applies to that instance of sparring, and no more PVP sparring will be allowed without new approval. Remember that if you are found sparring in a non-sanctioned manner (no staff approval) you are subject to an instant shard ban.

Macroing & AFK (Away From Keyboard) activity:

At this time, AFK macroing is allowed in the wilderness, training area, or at your house only with the following exceptions:

Do not AFK train your pets or leave them unattended anywhere on the shard. If found unattended, they will be deleted. This includes having your pet fight while you are AFK (thus the pet is unattended).

There is no macroing allowed anywhere in the city of Britain, period.

There is no AFK allowed at any champ.

Champs:

There are some etiquette rules for champ spawns that staff would like to see players adhere too.

If a player or players(s) are already engaged in a champ and you wish to join, please ask the participants first.

When the champ is complete, it is customary to grab all the gold and PS, then meet at a designated location (a bank provides a good location, I suggest Moonglow as it has a banker and a large table to sit at) and equally divide the loot among the champ participants. One person should collect all the gold, then divide it by the number of participants, make bank checks in that amount and give to each participant. Powerscrolls and other loot are usually placed on the table or ground so each player can see whats available, then each states what he/she would like. When dividing powerscrolls, take care of the undisputed powerscrolls first. If there is a dispute for any item, a dice roll determines the winner.

It is customary to divide the stat scrolls from the Harrower in the same equal manner.

Houses:

Staff will not place a house for you unless you have donated for a 2nd house deed. Staff will then be glad to assist you in placing your new house. You may choose to join your second and first houses together (but the existing house needs to be a foundation only), or have them in separate locations. Be advised that joined houses may only be joined in an East-West orientation, not North-South (We realize there may be some already done like this. They are grandfathered in before this rule took effect).

Houses may not be placed in a manner which blocks roads or paths, nor obstructs movement along mountains or water bodies.

If you have more than one house and wish to move one of them, you must page for staff before you demolish the house. We must see and acknowledge that you do indeed have more than one house, and you will need staff's help to erect the 2nd house in its new location (without destroying your other house).

Miscellaneous:

Felucca is not active on WP and is off limits except for special areas set aside by staff. If you are found in Felucca or have runes to Felucca locations, you are subject to shard ban. If you discover a previously unknown way into Felucca, page staff immediately and report it.

If, for any reason, the shard suffers a glitch, bug, crash and/or rollback (i.e. an old save file has to be used) and characters lose skills or items, the items or skills will not be replaced. There is no way for the staff to determine what a player had acquired since the last save.

Never ask to be on staff. If you do wish to be on staff, follow the forum guidelines for staff applications. We monitor the forums and all applications, so do not ask if your application was reviewed. It was. If you are applicable, and there is a position available, an Admin will notify you.

Please monitor the forums. Any ideas players have for the shard can be placed there in the appropriate section.

We reserve the right to change/modify/amend these rules at any time. Notice of changes will be given in-game in the MOTD [message of the day].

Where applicable, these rules also apply to the forums here on the Whispering Pines website.

These rules serve as your only warning so adhere to them closely. You have no excuses. They are not difficult to follow.

Remember: Be Nice, Play Nice, Have Fun!!

Amended 6 October 2009