The following are the basic rules of conduct that governs player interaction and activity within Starpeace Online and in the official Starpeace Online Forums. Failure to act responsibly and comply with these rules within Starpeace Online and the official Starpeace Online forums may result in the termination of your account without notice or refund.
General Rules
You may not harass or threaten other players.
You may not use any sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory
You may not impersonate any Oceanus Communications employee or contractor.
You may not violate any local, state, national or international law or regulation.
You may not modify any part of the Starpeace Online Client, Server or any part of the Starpeace Online Web site located at http://www.starpeace.net.
You may not arrange for the exchange or transfer of any pirated or illegal software while on Starpeace Online or the Starpeace Online Web site.
You will follow the instructions of authorized personnel while in Starpeace Online or on the Official Starpeace Online Forums.
You may not organize nor be a member of any guilds or groups within Starpeace Online that are based on, or espouse, any racist, sexist, anti-religious, anti-ethnic, anti-gay, or other hate-mongering philosophy.
You may not give false information or intentionally hide any information when registering for your Starpeace Online account.
You will not upload, transmit on Starpeace Online, or on the Starpeace Online Web site, any copyrighted content that you do not own all rights to, unless you have the express written permission of the author or copyright holder.
You will not attempt to interfere with, hack into, or decipher any transmissions to or from the servers running Starpeace Online.
You will not exploit any bug in Starpeace Online and you will not communicate the existence of any such exploitable bug (bugs that grant the user unnatural or unintended benefits in-game), either directly or through public posting, to any other user of Starpeace Online. You will promptly report any such bug in-game to a Game Master or via the support@starpeace.net email address.
You will not attempt to play Starpeace Online on any server that is not controlled or authorized by Oceanus Communications, or its designees.
You will not create, use or provide any server emulator, or other site, where Starpeace Online may be played, and you will not post or distribute any utilities, emulators or other software tools related to Starpeace Online without the express written permission of Oceanus Communications.
Fair Play Policies - Activity within Starpeace Online
In addition to the general guidelines listed in section 1.0, players are also subject to these supplementary rules while playing Starpeace Online. While by no means an all-inclusive list of the do's and don'ts of playing Starpeace Online, the following provides a suitable foundation from which the player can determine what activities are appropriate
As a mayor, you may not abuse zoning. Specifically, it is forbidden to use your position as mayor to arbitrarily zone and rezone areas of the map to derive an advantage for a player or to damage the interests of some players.
You may not abuse the game so as to entirely monopolize a particular business. While there are instances where a player may be the only one operating facilities in a particular business (auto dealerships, mines), overly aggressive tactics to drive or keep out competitors may be considered contrary to the spirit of the game and the rules of conduct.
You must comply with arbitration in contested issues. When two or more players or groups have conflicting positions regarding their businesses and their interactions, they are required to compromise. If an equitable compromise cannot be reached between the players prior to Starpeace Online Support's involvement, Support will mandate a binding compromise. Refusing to abide by a compromise mandated by Support will be considered a disruption. It is therefore strongly suggested that players make every attempt possible to reach a compromise that they can live with. Support should only be contacted as a last resort as the compromise they will mandate may not necessarily suit the parties to the extent that a player-devised solution would. Note: A "group" in this case is defined as a party of one or more characters that are united in a common belief or goal.
Again, foul language is not permitted, in any language. Excessive use of foul language in an inappropriate context, including swear words, real-world racial slurs, and other language that is not consistent with the Starpeace Online environment and designed to hurt, will be considered a disruption. The existence of the "Ignore" function is not a license to be profane.
To expound upon the general guidelines, you may not harass other players. Harassment is defined as specifically targeting another player or group of players to harm or inconvenience them. Harassment can take many forms, as it goes to the state-of-mind of the person or party on the receiving end of the action. However, in order to account for those who are excessively thin-skinned, Starpeace Online Support will make a determination as to whether or not the average person would feel "harassed" and act accordingly.
You may not disrupt the normal playability of a zone or area. Zone/Area Disruption is defined as any activity designed to harm or inconvenience a number of groups, rather than a specific player or group of players. This includes actions such as:
Creating garbage dumps or industrial facilities near residential areas.
Excessive and unwarranted use of roads or other structures to occupy land.
Refusing to cooperate with the other parties in a contested issue after having been instructed to do so by Starpeace Online Support.
You may not defraud other players. Fraud in all transactions between players will result in disciplinary action when confirmed by an internal audit of Starpeace Online. Fraud is defined as falsely representing one's intentions to make a gain at another's expense. Examples of this activity include but are not limited to offering to give Starpeace Online money in exchange for some game-related favors (e.g. I will give you 1 billion if you build ten Movie theaters in my town) and then refusing to comply without a valid reason.
You may not abuse other players, customer service representatives, or the game system. Though some of these actions are covered in part by other rules, they deserve their own note here. The following would be considered an "abuse" in-game:
Hate Mongering - participation in or propagation of hate literature, behavior, or propaganda related to real-world characteristics.
Sexual Abuse or Harassment - untoward and unwelcome advances of a graphic and sexual nature. This includes virtual rape, overt sexual overtures, and stalking of a sexual nature.
Sexual Abuse or Harassment - untoward and unwelcome advances of a graphic and sexual nature. This includes virtual rape, overt sexual overtures, and stalking of a sexual nature.
Attempting to Defraud a Support Representative - petitioning with untrue information with the intention of receiving benefits as a result. This includes reporting false bugs, or accusing other players of wrongdoing without basis for it.
Impersonating a Support Representative - falsely representing yourself as a Game Master or an Oceanus employee.
Support Personnel Abuse - sending excessive requests for a Game Master chat or unduly using other channels to communicate to a Support representative, making physical threats, or using abusive language against a Support representative.
Using Threats of Retribution by Game Masters or Support Staff - attempting to convince another player that they have no recourse in a disagreement by alleging that Oceanus Support staff favors one party over another.
Message Board Conduct
As the official Starpeace Online Forums are extensions of the game, posting to these forums is bound by the game's End User License Agreement that can be found in its entirety at https://secure.oceanus.ca/legal/eula-sp.htm. In addition to the terms of the agreement, we have a few supplemental rules that apply to the Starpeace Online Forums.
You may post any material, written in a courteous and mature manner, providing that it is on-topic for the forum to which you are posting. This includes material that disagrees with the way that we, the developers, operate the game. We will not interfere with the communication of thoughts and ideas as long as the presentation is appropriate for all those capable of reading the forum.
You may not, however, post any material that:
Attacks or insults others on the board. Feel free to debate the idea, but do not turn your disagreement into an attack upon the poster.
Engages in name-calling, harassment, or threats. See above.
Contains obscenity, vulgarity, or profanity.
Disparages any religion, race, nation, gender, or sexual orientation.
Is considered inappropriate for children 13 or over, as governed by general standards of decency.
Infringes on anyone's privacy rights.
Furthermore, you may not:
Make multiple posts on the same subject for the purpose of getting attention paid to your issue.
Post off-topic comments in threads for the purpose of drawing attention to another thread on a different subject.
Monopolize the front page of any forum by "bumping" threads of the same or similar content to the front. We may intervene by closing threads any time that this occurs.
Use the official forums as a staging-ground for creating general unrest within the game (e.g. Sit-ins).
Use the official forums as a place to advertise the sale of Starpeace Online accounts in exchange for real-world money.
Advertise web-sites with content that violates these rules, or the Starpeace Online EULA.
Advertise products or websites that are not related to Starpeace Online or other Oceanus Communications products.
Action that we might take in regards to a post in violation of these rules on the official Starpeace Online
Forums will vary depending upon the transgression. It could include any number of the following:
Editing of the post.
Deletion of the post/thread.
Closing of the thread.
Suspension (results in user being unable to play Starpeace Online for the duration of the suspension).
Banishment (results in the user's account being canceled. User will no longer be able to access Starpeace Online, or any official Starpeace Online Forum).
Legal Action (i.e. contacting law enforcement personnel in regard to a threat).
Violators of the board's rules may or may not receive a warning before action is taken. In the event that a warning is given, the warning will be recorded in the game account and may result in further action should the player show a pattern of engaging in prohibited conduct. Philosophically and administratively, there is no distinction between conduct in-game, and conduct in the official Starpeace Online Forums.
Naming Policy
These guidelines apply to all names. Account, company, building, and product names in Starpeace Online should reflect the genre of the game.
The following types of names are unacceptable and are listed in order from the worst to the least offensive:
Vile, profane, rude, or racist names including common swear words, anatomical references, racial slurs, and homonyms of these words.
Words or combinations of words that produce an offensive result, or that promote racist or religious intolerance, homophobia, xenophobia, violence or war against any people, or hate of any group.
Names of religious, occult, or significant historic origin (e.g. Jesus Christ).
Copyrighted or trademarked names of products, characters, services, or concepts (e.g. Oldsmobile, Microsoft, Sony).
Names from popular media. These names can be either fictional (e.g. Rambo, Darthvader) or non-fictional (e.g. Garth Brooks, Pierce Brosnan, Ronald Reagan, Michael Jordan).
The names of Support representatives or employees of Oceanus (e.g. Cepero, Iroel)
Names chosen with the intent or possessed with the effect of harming the reputation of a player or Support representative.
For all of the above, misspellings and alternative spellings of the word or words are also unacceptable.
If a name is found to be in violation of any of the above polices, a Support manager will then use the following process:
For category 1 or 2 offenses, a GM will delete the company or account as soon as it is discovered. You will not be notified of this deletion. The companies in the account will not be restored or reimbursed under any circumstances. Depending on the nature of the offensive name, the account may also be subject to disciplinary action including suspension or banning. A GM will not contact you before disciplinary action is taken.
For categories 3 through 7, the GM will contact you either in-game or via email to notify you of the need for a name change. Please be aware that if you do not choose a name that is in accordance with this naming policy at the time of creation, a new name will be assigned to your account or company and this name will not be changed. A name change for a company or an account will not cause a reset for the company (or all companies under the account).
Conditions for Name Changes: Names will not be changed unless they violate the Naming Policy. Players may ask to have their account or company name changed, or ask for a confirmation that a name does not violate these rules.
Images and Graphics Policy
Images or graphics uploaded by a player for display as the picture in the player's profile should be an image or graphic ("graphics") that reflects the nature of the game or a picture of the player.
The following guidelines apply to any and all images uploaded by a player.
The following types of graphics are unacceptable and are listed in order from the worst to the least offensive:
Pornographic, offensive or rude graphics including depictions of sex organs.
Combinations of graphics that produce an offensive result.
Photos or drawings of religious, political, or other public figures, whether historic or current.
Graphics that contain names that violate the Naming Policy.
Graphics that promote racist or religious intolerance, homophobia, xenophobia, violence or war against any people, or hate of any group.
Trademarked graphics of products, characters, services, or concepts (e.g. Logos, images of products.).
The photos of Support representatives or employees of Oceanus.
Graphics designed with the intent or uploaded with the effect of harming the reputation of a player or Support representative.
Graphics of religious, occult, or historic significance.
Images from popular media. These images can be either fictional, or non-fictional (e.g. obtained from news pages).
In addition, you may not use the road-building tool to write or draw words or images in the game. If a graphic is found to be in violation of any of the above polices, a Support manager will then apply the following process:
For category 1 to 7 offenses, a GM will delete the account as soon as the graphics are discovered. You will not be notified of this deletion. The companies of the account will not be restored or reimbursed under any circumstances. Depending on the nature of the offensive graphics, the account may also be subject to disciplinary action including suspension or banning. A GM will not contact you before disciplinary action is taken. The only exception is relative to category number 4. The type of action it will be according on which category of the name policy has being violated by the graphic.
For categories 8 through 10, the GM will contact you either in game or via email to notify you of the need to change or remove the offending graphics.
