Coordinating IC/OOC
An issue that arose from players breaking the IC/OOC rule.
For quite a while now, the staff have been aware of and have been following egregious OOC coordination of IC activities by a number of players. We have been made aware of this behavior by a multitude of people over quite a long period of time, and via our own first-hand accounts.
We understand that LotJ is a community, and that OOC friendships and chatting are a core part of the positive feelings many of you have about playing this game. We do not want to discourage that.
That being said, there are actions that do cross the line and are detrimental to everyone playing LotJ, especially those who do play by the rules and respect our IC/OOC boundaries.
It is important that we do not allow players to gain ongoing IC advantages via breaking the rules with blatant OOC coordination. We are not talking about brainstorming fun character ideas, or giving advice to newbies, or commenting on big IC happenings that rock the galaxy. We are talking about specific, situational IC/OOC coordination to give a small group of friends a meaningful benefit in the game, again and again.
This is not a new phenomenon in LotJs history, and we do recognize that this will happen again. But at the end of the day, this is an issue of respect for your fellow players. It is doubly problematic that many of those involved are also the most vocal about what they want the LotJ community to be, while circumventing the very rules designed to make it a fun experience for their fellow players, even those who are not their friends.
To that end, we have issued a long-term ban to the folks involved who are repeat offenders and deleted the clan that is the focal point of this coordinated activity. The others who have exhibited this behavior will also be penalized harshly (though perhaps less visibly), and watched closely going forwards. I am very disappointed in many of the veteran players involved, and especially in how they roped in newbies to this bad behavior. We will be slightly more forgiving of the newbies, but you are all at fault.
To those of you who do not engage in this behavior, thank you for being positive contributors to the game. We hope this ends up being a small blip on the radar in the grand scheme of your LotJ experience.
We will not be entertaining appeals, and permanent bans will be considered for those circumventing our rulings. Thank you, and may the force be with you.
We understand that LotJ is a community, and that OOC friendships and chatting are a core part of the positive feelings many of you have about playing this game. We do not want to discourage that.
That being said, there are actions that do cross the line and are detrimental to everyone playing LotJ, especially those who do play by the rules and respect our IC/OOC boundaries.
It is important that we do not allow players to gain ongoing IC advantages via breaking the rules with blatant OOC coordination. We are not talking about brainstorming fun character ideas, or giving advice to newbies, or commenting on big IC happenings that rock the galaxy. We are talking about specific, situational IC/OOC coordination to give a small group of friends a meaningful benefit in the game, again and again.
This is not a new phenomenon in LotJs history, and we do recognize that this will happen again. But at the end of the day, this is an issue of respect for your fellow players. It is doubly problematic that many of those involved are also the most vocal about what they want the LotJ community to be, while circumventing the very rules designed to make it a fun experience for their fellow players, even those who are not their friends.
To that end, we have issued a long-term ban to the folks involved who are repeat offenders and deleted the clan that is the focal point of this coordinated activity. The others who have exhibited this behavior will also be penalized harshly (though perhaps less visibly), and watched closely going forwards. I am very disappointed in many of the veteran players involved, and especially in how they roped in newbies to this bad behavior. We will be slightly more forgiving of the newbies, but you are all at fault.
To those of you who do not engage in this behavior, thank you for being positive contributors to the game. We hope this ends up being a small blip on the radar in the grand scheme of your LotJ experience.
We will not be entertaining appeals, and permanent bans will be considered for those circumventing our rulings. Thank you, and may the force be with you.
