Greetings Lords and Ladies!

I'd like to welcome you to the Rules of Civility! The Rules of Civility are guidelines and thus not official rules!

In this topic we'll mainly talk about staying polite, communicating, what to do when you're being threatened or trolled and finding friends.

Well, let's start at the beginning shall we?

1 - Civility

1.1 - Civility in General

Civility is important to prevent quarrels and/or misunderstandings. By that reason I'll be explaining some rules in that category!

1.2 - Stay Polite and Receive It Back!

Being polite is a key to better reputation and respect from others! This means that when you're politeful to others you get politeness in return for yours! As example try to write complaints in such a way, that people will do their best to help you. Let your anger, if any, flow off your shoulders. If you're too angered to make a topic in that case, then try to relax first before making one. This way we can avoid any quarrels and misunderstandings.

For in the game counts the same thing: When someone captures a worthy settlement of you, and you ask him or her politely if you may have it back, most of the time they actually do so!

2 - Communication Among the Players

2.1 - Finding Friends on Stormfall

There are enough ways to find friends on Stormfall! Ask friends in real life, or maybe by writing letters! Perhaps you will find someone on your journey! Maybe don't wait for them to come, feel free to message anyone you trust!

2.2 - Jokes Can Be Fun- But Not All Of Them!

Jokes, ah yes! The way to make people laugh and give them joy. Jokes are always good to make, but it has its confines! If the other does not like it then remember to stop playing as jester. Jokes that are generally not funny could be jokes that repeat, are offensive or something that shouldn't be told.

2.3 - Is Someone Threatening/Insulting You?

If someone is truly threatening & insulting you, don't hesitate and report it! But do not create a topic saying that 'someone is really mean' as it will probably turn out worse than you expect.

Related links:

> Official Forum Rules (Important!)

> In-game Policies (Important!)

Important Points of Civility:

What you should do:

1. Accept fellow players as who they are; Do not act rude to people whom you think are 'different'.

2. Stay polite; Even when you're mad, because that way you will be rewarded with a bunch of respect.

3. Help each other when needed; Try to give them what they need to regather their powers!

4. Report abusive players; Don't create a topic saying that 'someone is annoying', try to fix it yourself by talking to him/her first.

5. Use clean language; Do not swear, cuss or insult at someone or in general.

6. Explain; Insufficient explanations about your story can lead to misunderstandings.

7. Avoid condescension; No matter how frustrated you are, do not tell people to "grow up" or include any language along the lines of "if this were kindergarten" in your messages, topics or anything similar.

The opposite of the above written rules are obviously the things you should not do!

Please, note that I cannot write every rule down. I assume that you know what to do and what-not.

Dealing With Incivility:

1. Consider whether you and the other writer may simply have misunderstood each other; Clarify, and ask for clarification.

2. Consider the possibility that something you said or did wrongly provoked a defensive, irritated or fed-up response; Be prepared to apologize for anything which you could / should have done better.

3. Even if you're offended, be as calm and reasonable as possible in your response; Until there is clear evidence to the contrary, assume that the offense was unintended.

4. Explain, clearly but kindly, exactly what you felt was uncivil; Sometimes it helps to let the other Lord or Lady know how their letter/topic made you feel. ("That made me feel..." is much less likely to incite more anger or resentment than "Your post was...")

5. Ask them to remove an uncivil comment, or re-word it calmly and neutrally, if they have not already done so by this point.

6. No matter how much you're being provoked, resist the temptation to snap back; It never works well; it just makes things worse. Strive to become the Lord or Lady who can't be baited!

7. If none of this is working, and the other person is not ruining the topic or being uncivil or unkind to other Lords or Ladies, then leave the topic be.

Apologizing:

Disputes, and even misunderstandings, can lead to situations in which one party feels injured by the other. There's no loss of face in apologizing. We all make mistakes, we all say the odd hurtful thing, we all have bad days and bad moments. If you have a sneaky feeling you owe someone an apology, offer the apology. Apologizing does not hurt you.

Remember, though, that you cannot demand an apology from anyone else. It will only get their back up and make it either less likely to happen, or to be totally insincere if you do get an apology. Never be too proud to make the first move when it comes to saying sorry. That kind of "pride" is destructive. An apology provides the opportunity for a fresh start, and can clear the air when one person's perceived incivility has offended another.

Thank you for reading this, it is an honor to help those whom need it!

I'm also grateful to aid the Moderators on Stormfall and would like to thank Lord Oberon and the other Moderators for helping & letting me in!