Rules

Discord & Community Rules

0. Administrator rulings are final, given they are made in accordance with the other rules and designated policies. Even if you believe a rule is being wrongly applied, you should still comply with the administrator's request; they know what is best for the server. If you have an issue, you may make a discord ticket about it and request a Head Administrator or Lead Developer, or send an email using this link.

1. Administrators are required to follow the rules themselves.
2. Repeated line-toeing of an offense will be punished the same as the offense.
3. No NSFW content, or any content that can be considered NSFW. This is not an ERP server. Discussion is allowed to an extent but if told to stop by a Moderator you must stop. Discussion about ERP servers is not allowed, ever.
4. Don't be a dick. We're all here to play a game, be nice to others and don't make their experience worse. We can all have fun, but don't go too far; if someone asks you to stop, stop. Do not shit-talk other servers, minor discussion is allowed but not excessive shit-talking.
5. No bigotry. No slurs, no fictional real-world adjacent slurs, and no "joke slurs". Zero tolerance.
6. Stay on topic. Keep discussion in the proper channels, if you really need to go out on a tangent, make a thread!
7. No politics.
8. No venting or sensitive personal topics. We are not your friends, we are a SS13 server. If you need to vent, do it to people you know.
9. No IC in OOC, If it's actively ongoing in Shiptest, or another server, don't talk about it here. Admins are exempt from this in administration channels as needs arise.
10. All players need to be 18 years of age or greater. We will not actively search for users age, or require age to be submitted to be here. If you are under 18 and admit to it in some public form, we will have to ban you until you are over the age of 18.

Needless to say, the above rules also apply ingame where it is sensible for them to. Use your common sense and be amicable and you will get along fine.

Gameplay Guidelines & Standards

The Standards

Note: These rules were made in order to enhance to experience of players, not restrict them for the sake of it. These rules are subject to change as our community grows, evolves, and changes. Things listed in the "You are required to:" section are considered roleplay rules, and not meeting these standards can result in staff action.

You are required to:

1. Consider the person on the other side of the screen, always. Especially important if you are in conflict or a difficult situation. Try to think about what they want to do in the game, and be accommodating. While most people enjoy conflict, remember that all ingame actions are in the service of storytelling and you should not be "playing to win". Use LOOC to communicate and coordinate if you are unsure, and pay attention when people ask something of you in LOOC; they are communicating with you directly as a player and should not be ignored for IC reasons. Examples of courteous play include: Fair treatment of prisoners (do not cuff and drag them excessively if they are not actively resisting, try to plan for their release so they do not spend all round tied up), considerations for casualties after combat (calling a medical ship), and ensuring the other side is onboard with an IC interpersonal conflict if you are unsure.
2. Play a character at all times. This is a roleplay server. Your character is an element in the story, not just a vessel for your desired actions as a player. This is doubly true in conflict; though you may want to intervene in a hostage situation, as a lowly Engineer your are unlikely to stand up to someone with a firearm (even if in gameplay firearms are fairly weak) and would rather comply with their demands. Sometimes, you will simply be on the losing side of a situation: Take this opportunity to portray how your character deals with hardship and loss, and do not shy away from it. Life on the Frontier is necessarily tenuous.
3. Comply with the server lore, which can be found on the wiki and the Shiptest HackMD (https://hackmd.io/@shiptest). The wiki is the preferred resource where available. Do some research on species and factions before you play them, and express your character's background where possible. Don't be afraid to make some of your own lore, but it should fit in the confines of the overall established setting and match the tone of Shiptest.
4. Avoid using metaknowledge, metacomming, or speaking of IC events in OOC and vice versa. Do not respawn as the same character if yours has already died in a round. Do not join another ship as a character that has already entered cryo storage. Use of RP features (such as the typing indicator) to get a gameplay advantage is also discouraged. Avoid interfering with others jobs when possible- Do not steal patients from a doctor, or simply fix engineering issues yourself when there is an engineer around who has signed up to do just this!

You are encouraged to:

1. Maintain a realistic basis of your character's knowledge and skills. Characters who "cannot" do certain things often spawn very interesting stories when a workaround needs to be found. If your crewmate is wounded but your character is a mere Assistant, they may apply some gauze and fashion a basic splint, but fixing the bone itself is out of the question; you will need to beg or trade for help, or simply find ways for that person to fill their role even when wounded. Similarly, if the power goes out or is slowly running down, a ship with no engineers may have to make sacrifices (turning off machines and lights) that can make gameplay more interesting, rather than just fixing the source of the issue. Do not shy away from the challenges this creates; if an issue is truly intolerable enlist specialized help.
2. Be a subject of your circumstances. As a player, your spirit is probably not easily broken; you know most disasters can be weathered and are not scared of the dark, planetary fauna, and difficult situations. However, these things are much more threatening to your character than they are to you. You should strive to roleplay accordingly, and give a situation proper gravitas. For example, you may refuse to go outside alone as a doctor, and insist on an escort when moving planetside. This can help you survive OOC as well! Surgery is another example, though Shiptest does not have pain mechanics (yet) you are encouraged to ask for anesthesia as a patient and roleplay your injuries in a way that can generate sympathy for your character. Don't just walk around wounded!
3. Be a little dangerous! Not everyone on the Frontier can be trusted. Be suspicious of strangers and forge tentative relationships. Your character may even be the reason the Frontier has a reputation for shady people; embody this. However, if you are antagonizing people openly, do so with a clear goal in mind and pay special attention to our first expectation.

Remember: You are here to tell a story! Embrace your part.

Additional Explanations

What’s a character?

According to Webster, a character is defined as being “one of the persons of a drama or novel,” “the personality or part which an actor recreates,” “a person marked by notable or conspicuous traits,” and other similar definitions.

…okay, and what does that have to do with anything?

Well, your “character” in SS13 reflects all of these definitions. It’s a personality that you, the actor, recreates. It’s a person in the drama that is a round of Space Station 13. It’s a person with notable/conspicuous traits as if everyone acted the same, rounds would be much more dull.

What the hell goes into flavor text?

Flavor text is there to define the first impression of a character. Anything others can perceive about your character (what can be seen, observed, etc), and anything you'd want OOCly known about you the player, like "I'm new!" or "I don't like being converted to antag" (and it should hopefully be marked as such). You shouldn't put anything into flavor text that people wouldn't be able to know, like their backstory or personality (though things like tone of voice or posture can indicate such things and are acceptable!).

As a tip, don't force others to think in a specific way about your character - just list your character's features and let them form their own opinion on their traits.

Lenience will probably be shown to jokier non-sequitur types of flavor text - after all, every videogame ever has had references in the flavor text of items or achievements rather than any genuinely useful information. And of course, it shouldn't violate any of the server rules.

So, what does in-character mean?

In-character mostly means you act like the character you’re trying to recreate would. Not that there’s really a for sure way to tell what they would do, as they don’t exist, but as you are their creator, you should be able to infer from the personality you construct for them what they would do.

Does that mean I just have to do exactly what I’m told without question, like what I’ve heard the stereotypical HRP server requires?

Well, you can, but generally people don’t always do exactly what they’re told no matter what the circumstances. A good character has to be believable, so if they just follow orders blindly (unless this is the personality you’re going for), it may not be believable as a character that sometimes questions or even refuses doing morally questionable things.

So can I not do stupid stuff?

You can totally do stupid stuff. Last I checked, most people had a sense of humor mixed with some amount of curiosity. HOWEVER, this doesn’t mean you can be stupid at the great expense of others. Most people are generally smart enough to know when something obviously is going to go wrong and have the morality to not do things they know will hurt others unless they have a really good reason for doing so.

So what kind of RP level is this again? I forgot.

RP tags are horribly complicated but just trust that you're making your primary purpose here to be to RP and you should get along fine.

Can I play a pirate?

No. Pirates are event-only roles. You can roleplay a former pirate, however.