(recently written/new!)
The laws of the sandbox are pretty self-explanatory in nature and based in common sense (e.g. play nice, be respectful, etc.). We can't possibly cover every single 'law' as most of them are 'unspoken' and are in the spirit of being courteous and respectful to fellow players and staff. However, here's a quick explanation to help define what falls into the 'spirit' of the laws of the sandbox.
It's all about respect.
Respect is not just about treating each other kindly when logging in (although that's a large part of it, of course). It's also about how we treat people on the game on an ongoing basis. If we agree to a scene, the expectation is that we'll be at that scene when we agreed to be or to make an attempt to communicate when it is not good for us, if plans have changed, or even to acknowledge after the fact that we missed said scene.
If we work with others to create continuities and storylines, it is respectful to communicate with the other players out if we realize we need to back out of that continuity or story, when we need to put a character on ice for a while to try something new. To work with affected players to help them work out how their own characters will react to our characters' absences is a way of respecting each other. Basically, no character is an island. What happens to one will affect others and we need to be conscious of this even moreso in an environment such as Nexus where experimentation is one of the main points of playing here.
Respect is also about inclusion. While there are no rules here stating who should be roleplaying with whom, including others when we can is also encouraged. If we run a group scene, it's only courteous to invite all who can make it or all who may be interested in the theme.
And of course, communication is the key to all of this. If we cannot roleplay when we are asked, or don't wish to, timely responses are expected. Or, if we need to move away from the keyboard, it's polite just to give the other person(s) we are roleplaying with a heads-up that we need to do so and perhaps a rough estimate on how long we expect to be.
Some may suggest that this is all silly because it's "just a game". This is very true! But the bigger issue is not about a commitment to the game — the game should always take a back seat to real life, of course!
No, it's more about a commitment to the people on the other side of the screen. It's about respecting others enough to care that they are sitting on the other side of the internet, waiting to interact and to create stories with us.
And remember: no peeing in the pool, please.
File last updated: 06/13/09 (needs to be added to news.txt)
