Introduction
Things to read before you start playing. Get familiar with the game rules, world lore, and player responsibilities.
Policy and Rules
INTRODUCTION
The policies on Aalynor's Nexus have been designed such that the majority of the player base can enjoy the game without fear of harassment, being taken advantage of, or being treated unfairly at the same time ensuring that Aalynor's Nexus continues to be a quality role-playing environment.
All players are responsible for reading, understanding, and keeping up to date with the system policies. We reserve the right to change them at any time. Ignorance of these policies is not an excuse for breaking them.
Violation of system policies can be punished in a number of ways, ranging from penalties to the character that commits the offense, to the extreme of removing the offending player from the game.
RULES
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It is against the rules to use robots or automated scripts of any kind to play this game. These include, but are not limited to scripts which automatically watch your characters or other characters health and cast spells, initiate combat, or any other task that you would reasonably do for yourself. It is permitted to have macros and aliases for commands, but not complex triggers to perform the action for you without explicitly initiating it. If in doubt, don't do it. Using scripts seriously takes away from the level of interactive role-playing that many of our players enjoy -- and there are many other MUDs on the Internet which allow them, we ask that you go there if you'd rather "Script" your way to the top.
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It is against the rules to have more than one character under your control in the game at any one time. This includes temporarily lending a character to another player, for the purpose of having both online. The system considers the owner of a character the one who created and who plays the character. It is against the rules to "hand over" one of your characters to another player. There is an automated task that watches for multi-playing characters. The Gamemasters receive reports on questionable activities and may, at their discretion execute the deletion (after confirming it in the logs).
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It is against the rules to broadcast to the game out of character. You should try to have all your communications in the game done "in character" however, we understand that this is not always possible, and we ask that you prefix any sends, whispers, and says with "OOC:", or use the Osay command, so that others in the environment are aware that it is your player, not your character speaking. (If you need to contact the Gamemasters, make use of the appeal command, prefixing your descriptive statement, once again, with the "OOC:", lest the Gods decide you're bothering them.
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It is against the rules to take advantage of any game flaw that presents you with a bonus that is not justified. Violators of this will find their characters penalized. If you find a problem with the game, you are to report it immediately to the Gamemasters via Discord or the in-game Bug report feature. If you are aware of others cheating by manipulating a design flaw, you are to do the same. (This includes things like amazing weapons and/or shields suddenly dropping where they never dropped before, finding ways to overload your character, abusing special commands, etc).
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It is against the rules to harass any other player. If asked to stop, you are to stop any behavior which could be construed as being offensive. This includes but is not limited to spamming, swearing, private sends, whispers, private actions, requests for personal player information, sexually themed actions, etc. We do not wish any player on this system to feel uncomfortable because of the behavior of others. If you feel you are being harassed and the person in question does not stop after being asked, inform the Gamemasters immediately, through private message on Discord, by appealing. Those that ignore repeated requests from players and Gamemasters to act responsible will be removed from the game permanently.
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Along the same lines, it is a violation of policy to make racist or discriminatory comments against any minority or majority group, be it social, ethnic, or otherwise. This includes comments about people's countries, religions, gender, and sexual orientation. People found to be breaking this rule will be severely penalized, or removed from the system permanently.
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Further, in an attempt to maintain the system for all ages, we expect the public areas of this game, the OOC lounge, as well as all public IC locations, to be PG-13 in language and sexual behavior. We expect scenes in private to be at the consent of both adult players. We expect that excessive swearing, and other unpleasantries, be avoided in public. Minors are responsible for communicating their age to any player who initiates contact which minors can not legally consent to (sexual RP, etc).
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It is the policy of this system that the deities are immortal beings of immense power and influence in this magic realm. They are akin to the gods of legend and mythology from our own world. They are spiteful, arrogant, and often fickle in their meddling. To raise the ire of a god will certainly mean thy death.. either directly or indirectly. Never forget that the gods are ALWAYS In Character. To address them otherwise would be seen as madness. The gods see and hear almost all that goes on in the world, and the actions of its heroes draws their attention more than it does with mere peasants. (If a deity appears before you, we stress that you remain as "in character" as possible")
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It is the policy of this system and the nature of the magical world that all mortals have free will. All mortals have the ability to make choices, and act on their environment as they see fit. However with Free Will comes Consequence and those that exercise Free Will must be prepared for and accept the Consequence without question. After all, there is no point in doing anything, if there is not a risk of consequence involved. (Being drunk, or having someone else in charge of your character, is an excuse for nothing. From an In Character standpoint, your character's actions still happened as they appeared to. It your own responsibility to protect your character's password.
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Free Will allows you to do anything in the realms. Marry, Divorce, Steal, Rob, Burglarize, Kill, Assault, Tickle, Hug, and so forth. However, your character is accountable for his or her actions in the world. If you Murder or break a law, you can expect to be arrested. Regarding the justice system: If your character is arrested for committing a crime, they are guaranteed a trial, or release, within a 'reasonable' amount of time. "Reasonable" is in this case, defined by the ease at which trial arrangements can be made, with your cooperation. If you get arrested, and then log off for a month, and come back, expecting a trial, you have not been reasonable in aiding to arrange your trial. If we feel a character has been kept in prison, for an unreasonable amount of time, they will be released, and the member of the justice system at fault for the delay, will be disciplined.
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All players must follow the spirit, if not the literal interpretation of these rules. In short, those we will affectionately terms "smart-assess" will quickly find themselves put in place.
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It is against system policy to deliberately disconnect yourself from the game, in order to avoid a death, or other consequence. If you are caught doing this, you will be penalized, severely.
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It is not a tolerable excuse for policy violations, to claim that other players are doing the same. These policies are readily available within the game, and very clear in what they allow. Stating that you know other characters violating the policy, will only get you in further trouble, for not coming forward about the matter.
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We expect that anyone who takes on a position of IC leadership agrees to fulfill certain responsibilities in the areas of communication and ongoing commitment to role-play on the game, as per guidelines set out for these positions.
If you have any questions about these policies, or any problems with the system, please send one of the Gamemasters a private message on discord so we can get it worked out.
Premise & Alignment
Adventurers & Heroes of the Allied Races
The major premise of Aalynor's Nexus is that all player's take on the role of Adventurers and Heroes which have the ultimate goal of protecting Nexus the City of All Races from all enemies, to safeguard the Allied Races and to liberate the Realms.
As such, all character's must be aligned to this purpose. You may however, take on roleplaying against the City of All Races, with the stipulation that you recognize that once you have taken the plunge, the Gamemasters, may, at any time, assume complete control of your character. In rare cases, they will be made a Non-Player Character. In most cases, you have just doomed that character to being deleted from the player files or given Final Death. Players are urged not to take this course but if are they are adamant, they should contact the Gamemasters at, or before, character generation.
In Aalynor's Nexus there is no true system of alignment. Everything is relative to the premise of the game, where you are a Hero whose ultimate goal is to protect the city, and Allied Races, for whatever motivation (perhaps your family was slain by the enemy of the realms? or perhaps you owe a blood debt to someone?)
Your alignment is essentially how you play your character. Does your character care about how they go about accomplishing their goals? Or are they purely focused on the goal? Such questions will tell you how your character is aligned.
Roleplaying Basics
The Basics of Roleplaying in Aalynors Nexus
Roleplaying in the realms of Aalynor's Nexus is as necessary as it is enjoyable. Indeed, it is the concept upon which the realms are fundamentally based. Aalynor's Nexus is a world in and of itself, with its own races, politics, and religions. Roleplaying is being the character that you created WITHIN the premise of the game. What does this mean? This means that you respect the order and guidelines of the world of Altin and the game. While there is a great deal of lee way in the guidelines for individual direction, there are lines that once crossed, is a role-play no no.
Set in a medieval/fantasy environment, Aalynor's Nexus has neither knowledge nor concern of our modern-day society, and, consequently, none of this society should be taken there. Think of it as an escape, a place where one may step into another world, and, for a time, leave all of his/her 'baggage' at the door. In short, this is not just some 'Hack 'n Slash' MUD, and to be perfectly blunt, if that is all you want, read no further, and seek your pleasure elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you have a heart for adventure, then we look forward to seeing you there - in character, of course!
Every character in the realms has his/her own personality, and ideally every action and utterance made should duly reflect this personality. We realize, of course, that this can be difficult; it sometimes takes a good while before one can flesh out his/her character. It's really only necessary to keep the context of the setting in mind to start ... One's name should befit a medieval environment, and one should act accordingly in this environment. From there, make it up as you go; have fun with it (After all, that is the point, is it not?).
Each character should have a history to explore your character's persona and background more thoroughly. Mundane histories are perfectly fine, not everyone has to be half demon god, a tortured child of evil parents, the soul survivor of a nation, or any of that. Some of the best roleplayed characters grew up in Nexus or Tamlet, and decided to go to Rymek to train. Much more detailed than that, but it demonstrates the normalcy of their history. Nothing wrong with having a grand, sweeping back ground either, but usually they are difficult to role play up too, are forced for a time, then fade away. It's all up to you; your character's life is completely in your hands. Therein lies the freedom, and enjoyment, in Roleplaying. It may seem a bit intimidating, at first, but it's worth it.
To think like your character, we recommend a few things. As we've said before, make a character history. Second, learn the history of the realms. Not all information is on the web pages, ask some of the older hero's for stories. Third, learn about what your race is like in this game. This may seem like a lot, but you'll be amazed at how fast it gets after a little practice. The more IC you stay the easier it will be as well.
There are, of course, instances in which one must make an out of character statement. This is permitted, however every such statement should be proceeded by the abbreviation, 'OOC' (See help 'osay'). This prefix should be used rarely; people who wish to have entire discussions out of character should go to the 'OOC lounge,' by using the 'OOC' command. It should be noted that, while it is permissible to say or send out of character comments, it is against system policy to broadcast out of character (see 'Policies'). The rewards for Roleplaying are great; the penalties for breaking policy are equally, if conversely, grave. Please understand that these rules exist for the sake of our little world, and that of our players' overall enjoyment. They are not meant to daunt or dissuade, merely to guide. Roleplaying is at its best when all participate, and, we think you'll agree, it's well worth the effort.
Non-Player Characters
NPCs
Non Player Characters, or 'NPC's,' are those characters, usually controlled by the Gamemasters, who exist solely for the purpose of roleplaying, and of advancing the ever-developing plot of our timeline. They range from army generals, to malevolent enemies and ancient dragons; they play important roles in most of the quests and major events of our realm, so keep an eye out... their appearance may signal glad tidings, or imminent doom.