Examples of Government Types

Manners guidelines published on LambdaMOO

(lambda.moo.mud.org 8888)

LambdaMOO, like other MUDs, is a social community; it is populated by
real people interacting through the computer network.  Like members of
other communities, the inhabitants of LambdaMOO have certain
expectations about the behavior of members and visitors.  This article
lays out a system of rules of courteous behavior, or "manners", which
has been agreed upon by popular vote.
First of all, any action that threatens the functional integrity of the
MOO, or might cause legal trouble for the MOO's supporters, will get the
player responsible thrown off by the wizards.  If you find a loophole or
bug in the core, report it to a wizard without attempting to take
advantage of it. Cracking falls outside the realm of manners.  Read
`help cracking' for more information.
Additionally, other loopholes should also not be exploited.  This rule
was established by *B:Patch-Arbitration-Loopholes (#4223):
If you find a loophole in the social system, make a petition to fix it. 
If you find a place where the documentation does not match the standing
law on the subject, report it to a wizard without attempting to take
advantage of it.
Taking personal advantage of loopholes and bugs to personal ends will be
regarded as an antisocial act.  The purpose of the social system here is
to allow us to work together, not to allow us opportunities to revel in
how we can beat the system.
Beyond that, there are two basic principles of friendly MOOing: let the
MOO function and don't abuse other players.
====   LET THE MOO FUNCTION  =====
Besides not trying to hack or break things, this means not hogging
resources by taking up more memory or processing time than necessary.
To help keep database bloat down, please @create thoughtfully, @recycle
unused objects, @rmmail when done with it, use feature objects instead
of copying lots of verbs, and don't recycle and recreate objects seeking
"interesting" numbers (this inflates all the object #'s, which are long
enough already).
The MOO server is carefully shared among all the connected players so
that everyone gets a chance to execute their commands.  The more
demanding players' commands are, the more of a load there is on the
server, and thus the more lag there is.
If you are writing a program that will run for a long time, please make
it wait at least five seconds between iterations (use `fork (n)' or
`suspend(n)' where `n' is at least 5).  This will give others a chance
to get their commands in between yours.
==== DON'T ABUSE OTHER PLAYERS =====
The MOO is a fun place to socialize, program, and play as long as people
are polite to each other.  Rudeness and harassment make LambdaMOO less
pleasant for everyone. Do not harass or abuse other players, using any
tactic including:
* Spamming (filling their screen with unwanted text)
* Teleporting them or their objects without consent
* Emoted violence or obscenities
* Shouting (sending a message to all connected players) - Don't shout
unless you have something everyone needs to hear.  This basically means
emergency system messages from wizards.
* Spoofing (causing messages to appear that are not attributed to your
 character) - Spoofs can be funny and expressive when used with
forethought.  If you spoof, use a polite version than announces itself
as a spoof promptly, and use it sparingly.  See `help spoofing' for more
information.
* Spying - Don't create or use spying devices.  If you reset your
teleport message, make sure it is set to something, so that you don't
teleport silently. Besides having a disorienting effect on people,
silent teleportation is a form of spying.
* Sexual harassment (particularly involving unsolicited acts which
simulate rape against unwilling participants) - Such behavior is not
tolerated by the LambdaMOO community.  A single incidence of such an act
may, as a consequence of due process, result in permanent explusion from
LambdaMOO.
* Hate speech in the public areas - This is generally frowned upon
though not forbidden (see the paragraph headed "General"). LambdaMOOers
are generally very tolerant of all races, religions, sexual
orientations, and just about whatever else you can think of. They do not
tend to tolerate hatred based on such distinctions.
* Try to respect other players' privacy and their right to control their
own objects, including the right to decide who may enter or remain in
their rooms.
* Respect other players' sensibilities. MOO inhabitants and visitors
come from a wide range of cultural backgrounds both in the U.S. and
abroad, and have varying ideas of what constitutes offensive speech or
descriptions. Please keep text that other players can casually run
across as free of potentially-offensive material as you can. If you want
to build objects or areas that are likely to offend some segment of the
community, please give sufficient warning to casual explorers so that
they can choose to avoid those objects or areas.
* General: Although it is not technically against MOO law to harass
people, it is suggested that you do not. The advice here is intended to
make the MOO a better place for everyone, not to limit freedom of
expression. However, the legal system on the MOO is evolving at this
time, and it is not well understood just how some laws from the real
world might apply. If you commit an act that could be considered a
transgression against these manners it is possible you will be punished
by anything up to and including permanent banishment from LambdaMOO.
There is some disagreement in the LambdaMOO community about how much
protection for free speech rights should be provided. This document,
while not favoring censorship, encourages you to think about what you
say and do.
===== SELF-DEFENSE ======
Avoid revenge!
If someone is bothering you, you have several options.  The appropriate
first step is usually to ask them to stop.
If this fails, and avoiding the person is insufficient, useful verbs
include @gag, @refuse, and @eject.  Help is available on all of these.
Note these following rules established by the passage of
*B:Patch-Arbitration-Loopholes (#4223):
* All characters are bound by some system of justice which has been
voted by the people.
Characters are free to suggest that this is not so, but such suggestions
will regarded as "mere speech" and will carry no force of law.  [...]
Characters who wish not to be subject to the lawfully created rules of
this MOO are, like anyone else, free to request that their accounts be
turned off.
* No character may in any way exploit the use of multiple characters to
beat the system.
For example, if a character is newted for punitive reasons, all
characters controlled by that typist will be newted AND if that typist
shows up controlling a guest during that period, he is still not
welcome.
==== PROBLEMS WITH GUESTS =====
If you are having a problem with someone logged in as a Guest, you have
another recourse: you and another character may @boot them. Type @boot

This will ask you for a reason. Enter the reason on multiple lines,
followed by a `.' on a separate line. After you have entered your
request, notification is given to all other qualified players in the
room with the guest. Any other qualified player may second the booting,
citing their reasons, and complete it. Please note that abuse of
guest-booting is quite serious. All guest-bootings are logged.
Additionally, per passed ballot *Ballot:Guest_Accountability_2 (#63904),
guests may be held accountable for anonymous mail sent to individual
characters. One such effect of this accountability is that the Guest's
site information may be revealed to the recipient of harassing mail.
=============================================================
This text may be changed by later petitions.  In addition, wizards may
add mention of new self-defense, help, or related techniques or verbs
without the need for separate public approval of the added text.

Reporting abuses in ladder tournaments on Battle.Net

(www.battle.net)

LADDER ABUSES 
It is considered an abuse of the ladder system to:

Repeatedly play the same opponent(s), 

Playing more than 2 illegitimate (5 minute then surrender, "dummy"
player not building anything, repeatedly surrendering when there is no
need, etc.) games against the same person in a single day. 

Playing more than 4 illegitimate games against the same person in 2
days. 

Winning more than 3 legitimate games to the same person in a week. This
allows you to have a "best three out of five" match against someone. Any
more than this, and it will be considered abuse. 

Intentionally lose to an opponent to increase his rating, or disconnect
from a game for the purpose of avoiding a loss. 

Blizzard may, at our sole discretion, delete the Battle.net account of
any player suspected of abusing or attempting to abuse the ladder
system. 

Since the results of all ladder games are posted to the Ladder Games
Forum, any interested observer can easily check the record of a ranked
player to see if he/she is repeatedly playing against the same opponents
or consistently disconnecting from games.