Rules, Etiquette, And Guidelines

First and foremost, Thrae is a community. It is built by the players, for the players. The rules laid out in the channel description are guidelines that are simply being expanded upon and clarified here. These may change or evolve over time, but these rules are not up for debate.

## Rules:

### 1) Presence in Thrae OOC is mandatory.

People entering the IC are also required to enter the OOC. This is to keep everyone informed of plot hooks, people looking for scenes, general chat, and to keep the community together as it thrives in the OOC. You are not required to be in the IC room, however. People in the IC but not the OOC will be asked to join us. Those who remain in the IC without OOC presence may receive a private message asking to join us in the OOC. If a fair amount of time has passed and the person out of the OOC does not comply, they will be kicked. Users who are kicked are more than welcome to return at any time.

### 2) If you have an issue with a particular person, talk it out with them in private messages. If this does not solve the issue, you may then contact a moderator about the issue. Don't clog the OOC channel with your complaints.

Many issues stem from simple misunderstandings. It's better to talk things out in private and avoid any drama. You're an adult. If you cannot reconcile, simply don't interact with that person. /ignore is there for a reason. Openly talking negative about someone whether they are in the room or not is also heavily discouraged. Users seen openly badmouthing others will approached by a moderator. Should the behavior persist, further action will be taken. This includes being kicked, temp-baned, perma-banned, or reported to globals for toxic behavior.

### 3) Characters must be written explicitly for a high fantasy setting. Generic furries are not accepted as characters. Furred, but genre-appropriate races such as gnolls or khajit, are acceptable.

Quite possibly the largest topic of debate in Thrae. Generic furries are defined as humanoid anthropomorphic beings. Ex: A bipedal fox, a weight-lifting Arcanine, upright tigers with horse dicks, horses with tiger dicks and cool-guy sunglasses, etc. Anything that is simply an animal with a humanoid form. The exceptions to this are lore-laden fantasy races such as the ones mentioned early, or feral yet intelligent creatures such as dragons and monsters. Fantasy races such as centaurs, minotaurs, gnolls, khajiit, lizardmen, werewolves, etc are acceptable. If you feel your character may not fit the setting with this rule, engage the community and see if they can help you make adjustments or even assist in writing up the lore to explain why your race exists.

### 4) Technology must precede Renaissance-era levels.

This has been argued more times than you'd think. Thrae is a fantasy room that takes creative liberties with magic and technology. Matchlock guns, cannons, and other black-powder weapons are allowed but they are fairly discouraged. Users are welcome to create characters who utilize these things, but they fall under the same balance regulations that magic users do. Black powder exists yet it's better used for mining. It is rare, expensive, easily damaged by rain, and cannons are typically unsafe to be standing near. Balance is a subject that will be touched on later, so do your best to keep your character in a more medieval technology range. Please engage the community with questions on what may and may not work. They are your best resource.

### 5) Extreme Kinks such as vore, torture, scat and ageplay should be taken to private upon request.

Sexual encounters can and will happen in the IC. Despite Thrae's story heavy nature, lewd scenes and events are also part of the world. However, keep in mind that you're writing with forty other people reading, so try to keep your sexual scenes more generalized. Not everyone enjoys the same things. If you have to ask if something is extreme (*see: beast*), then it already is too extreme for the general public to view. Please keep such scenes in private. On the other side of this, don't complain if people are using the IC room for sexual scenes. Take a look at the site you're on before issuing grievances.

### 6) Creations must maintain a level of activity. You are held responsible for what you make here, if you leave unexpectedly for a month then your creation may change while you are gone. It is alright to ask a mod to hold your creation until your specified date of return.

You'd be surprised at how many people come in the room, plant their flag in a piece of the map and build up a wiki...only to disappear for months. Creations should be kept up, and if your character isn't doing anything in the world, at least have a presence in the OOC and engage with the community. It's happened many a time where people have done little IC, left and then came back 2-3 months later and threw a huge fit that the land they created was rewritten, invaded, destroyed, or built upon. Inactive creations can and will be adjusted.

### 7) Powergaming, Godmodding, Metagaming, and the like are disallowed.

Thrae is a communal writing effort. Keep in mind that you are writing, cooperatively, with other writers. You are creating a story, advancing a plot you've written, and ultimately adding to a world that is developed and upheld by other writers. Having a character that is a god of death, or a person who can freeze time or enslave others just by looking at them is frowned upon. Try to keep your powers and abilities in check, and while your characters may be very powerful, know that it's fair to have weaknesses even if they're not readily apparent. Magicing ones way out of situations is lazy, and you cannot be this supremely strong, infallible being who destroys cities with a mere thought. This is a collective story, not a fighting game. With this in mind, remember that this is not your shonen teenage power fantasy. It doesn't matter what your character is capable of if there is no one willing to interact with you.

### 8) Thrae has a continuity. Off-world / parallel universe chars are widely discouraged. Please consider adapting the character you want to play in Thrae to fit in Thrae, making a new character to play in Thrae, Or finding a reasonable way to write them into the setting.

Being an amnesiac from another world/dimension is a tired trope that is both uninspired and overused. This rule is here to remind newer players to work their character into Thrae. There are many ways to do this, the easiest of which is to simply write your kingdom/land into Thrae. There's plenty of land on the map, many places in the sea that islands can come from, and even floating islands or underground fortresses. You can make a Thrae version of your character as well, if you already have an existing canon elsewhere. Or, if all fails: create a new one. There is a whole world full of stories and lore that you can create a character from, or create something new within the world. All we ask is that you make your character part of Thrae organically rather than forcing your universe upon an already existing one. A room of forty people will not change it's long-standing universe simply because you believe your world is more important than the one created by these players.

Also note that canons characters are frowned upon, as are characters from canon universe. This means you can't bring your night elf deathknight in from Azeroth, nor can you somehow make Drizzt or Khaleesi fit in. Someone who uses a canon design as a basis but created to fit Thrae's universe (with no attachment to the original world) may be accepted but are subject to approval.

### 9) Mods operate in a Democracy, to keep power divided among them. Rule 9 is an effort for transparency, so that you can trust that no one mod will be able to act alone. (Barring extreme cases.)

 No one mod has any more power than another. As stated before, mods operate in a democracy with a 'majority rules' stance. Long-term issues, debates, and world-affecting changes are often debated over a period of time. More pressing issues such as regarding a toxic or abusive user may be handled by one or two mods depending on the situation. Keep in mind Thrae is a community and not controlled by the mods. They are not here to dictate nor police the place, simply here to give guidance, assist new players, engage with the community, and keep the peace when needed. While arguing with a mod is frowned upon in the OOC, you're welcome to debate/discuss things with them in private message.