Terms of Service
Multi-accounting
Multi-accounting is not permitted. If we find you engaging in this behavior, you can expect the less-developed account(s) to be permanently banned, with no regard to any resources left behind, and/or real life currency spent on said account. If you continue trying to find ways to implement some sort of multi-accounting scheme without getting caught, or if obvious resource funneling is occuring, you can expect worse. In extreme cases (such as obvious funneling), the main account will also face a ban.
If you share an IP address with other players, for instance on a public or school network, please contact a mod in-game, so that we can sort out any problems caused by people logging on from the same IP, and to prevent the assumption that you are using multiple accounts, which may lead to action being taken against you.
Personal Information
No mods or admins will ever need to ask you for your password or account details. Ever. If a player is asking such details, and you do not feel comfortable, please tell them so. If they continue to pester you for information, please report the player to a moderator and place them on ignore (/ignore <playername>). This offense may result in a warning, mute, kick, or a ban from the game depending on the severity of the offense. If a mod can't be found, contact us. Situations like this aren't always negligible issues as they might seem to be. (This is not to say this information CANNOT be shared, only that unwarranted solicitation is not acceptable)
Information like this is often trivial in real life, but on the Internet, someone looking for this kind of information can be a red flag, and you may put yourself at risk by giving out even small amounts of seemingly trivial information. Telling someone your birthday may seem trivial, but it may also be the last detail they need to start using your credit card on-line.
Obviously, it's up to you what information you share, but be aware that mining for this kind of information can attract the attention of a moderator.
There's one more thing to keep in mind: protecting your account information is your responsibility, one that you should take as seriously as any other part of this document. If you've given your password away for some reason and that person uses your account illicitly, you may bear some of the responsibility for their actions. If you give out your account information, and someone steals something from your account, we may or may not get it back for you. If someone uses your account to break our Terms of Service, a mod may take action against them. If you come back and your account is banned, we may or may not lift it for you.
Hacking/Botting/Scripting
Do not hack the site. If you do, at least have the decency to tell the staff what you did and how you did it. If you find legitimate security holes and tell us without telling the world, you may even earn some compensation. We aren't unreasonable people.
That said, if you start scripting against the site without notifying the staff, don't complain if we suddenly ban you.
Lyrania is designed to be able to be played at work. So if you improve your autos and can kill all day, more power to you. As soon as you write a script and/or use programs to send commands to the server, you're out of line and will more than likely have a ban coming your way.
Due to abuse of the privelege, any and all Script changes are punishable offenses, including and leading up to permanent ban. Just don't do it, and if you figure out how to do it, please inform the game staff and NO ONE ELSE.
In-Game Purchases
All sales are final. Due to the nature of selling digital goods, you will get your item(s) delivered instantly when your payment is received by the administration (unless paypal is delayed for some reason, as paypal sometimes does). Please note that this does not apply to purchases made via Google Checkout. Purchases made via google checkout must pass through a manual process which requires an admin to complete. As such, if an admin is not available at the time of your purchase, processing may take up to a day to complete (typical cases have been a few hours).
All Users agree that if any transaction tied to their account is charged back or refunded, and any Tokens/Upgrades/etc. are used or traded, their account will be suspended until such time as the transaction is paid in full.
Chargebacks and refunds are not processed instantly by PayPal. There is an investigation process that is initiated and we provide them with all logs requested so that they can determine if a player was actually defrauded.
Chat guidelines
This is a limited rule-set that should give you a clear example of what's acceptable and what's not, and give you some insight into the kinds of things that a mod will take action to enforce.
If a single player or small group of players is giving you a hard time, verbal abuse or offending you in chat in any way, we encourage you first to use the /ignore command. This will block any communications from them, including whispers. They may still mail you at a large cost to themselves. If a player is abusing this mechanism to continue to harass, then a moderator or admin should be contacted.
If you and another player are engaged in a discusion that may cause problems in the main chat (flooding it, spamming it or inciting arguments), we ask that you take the discusion to a private chat channel (creating and modifying atributes of private chat is covered in the 'commands' section of the game info links in the top-right of the in-game window).
The main language used here is English, and we ask that if you are having a conversation in another language that you take it to a private channel. Otherwise, Just don't do horrible things (I.E. Incite a chat riot, etc.) and you should be in the clear.
Respect the Team
Please respect the moderators. They're doing a tough job. Much of what they have to do involves making judgement calls in grey areas, and sometimes they can be wrong. The moderators here are serving on a volunteer basis, giving up their free time for a community they love.
Remember, mods need your cooperation to do their job smoothly. If they can't do their job smoothly because they lack cooperation, they'll just do their job forcefully. Please help them out when they ask for something as a moderator. Nobody likes having to take action against players. If you can help the mods by responding when they try to act tactfully, they'll be able to handle a situation with much more lenience.
If you think a moderator has misjudged or misused their power, or if you feel singled out, or that a mod is being too strict or aggressive, screaming "Mod abuse!" is not the way to gain support for your cause from other members of the mod team, or from any members of the staff. The best way to handle this is to talk to the mod in question. Preferably you will do this calmly, in a reasoned manner, and privately. There's no reason to try and drag it into the public eye before you even settle the question of whether something was mishandled. Causing a riot over mod abuse in Main Chat only makes you a part of the problem.
If you can't come to a swift understanding over a mod action that you think was mishandled, or an outright abuse, then please don't spend too much time dealing with that particular mod. Mods come under fire a lot, especially after handling a difficult problem. This can sometimes put a mod on the defensive when a player comes to them disagreeing with recent actions.
Summary: Help us help you. If we're wrong, help us understand that. Helpful people get helpful mods. People who cause riots get the mods rioting against them. Try not to argue too long with a mod you disagree with right after a situation's occurred.
Begging
Begging for, anything, really, is frowned upon. Some of the most generous people in the community will ignore random pleas for free swag. Don't be a mooch, and you're more likely to receive help from others.
Fraud
Please note that all chats including Guild, Pub, and whispers are logged, as well as the content of every trade made. The substance of any transaction and the agreements made about it beforehand can be retrieved and inspected. To a degree, the market is buyer-beware. Before you swap game items you need to find out what they're worth.
direct trades (between players) that are agreed upon before hand are binding. If through user error or deception a player is 'scammed' out of a valid trade that both parties had previously agreed on, the mods and admins are within their rights to enforce or reverse all parts of the trade, as well as issue bans for repeat offenders.
Summary: Please don't trade deceptively. Please take reasonable precautions.
Bug Abuse
Please do not abuse bugs. Please report any player you find bug abusing by informing a member of staff. A moderator can then warn the player that they may be abusing a bug, and will be asked to not do so. Intentional bug abuse may be punished pretty severely, and can include being removed from the game.
Summary: Please try to respect the developer's intent. Please alert us if you find a bug that can be used to gain advantage.
Regarding Mods
This is all about the mods, the constraints they operate under and the freedoms they're granted. Also, you'll find a lot of information here about what to do if you don't like a mod's decision, as well as how to make sure that you are taken seriously when you take your grievance to the staff.
The Rules Mods Follow
All of them. Seriously, every one of these rules applies to mods. If you see a mod breaking these rules, you might try talking to them first. Calm and cool and polite are the keywords here - avoid language like 'double standards' and 'abuse of power', if you're not trying to turn it into an argument. If they aren't responsive to your concerns, talk to a different mod, (preferably one senior to them).
You will probably see lenience applied when a mod breaks the rules. This is normal - we often are lenient with any person, player or mod, who is reasonable and agreeable and apologetic. People who understand that they made a mistake and are reasonable in discussing it are often given no more than a verbal warning. In other words, the traits that lead us to be lenient with a player are the same traits that we seek when selecting mods. This is why seeing them given lenience is normal. It's not necessarily because of a bias, but because a mod breaking the rules is usually the result of an honest mistake, usually one that they wish they could take back, and usually something that they are honestly upset about.
A lot of times, you won't see the discussions we have with mods about infractions. This doesn't mean that nothing happens. There is a private place for mods/admins to discuss things of this nature to keep it from overflowing into the public eye.
Appealing mod action
If you don't like a mod's decision, your first action should not be to cry out "Mod abuse!" Moderators usually deal very well with reasonable complaints. If you don't agree with an action they've taken, ask to talk to another mod. If you can't find another mod, look for an admin.
If you still can't resolve your issue, best idea is to post an appeal in the appeals section of the forum or send an e-mail to lyraniarequests@outlook.com.
Again, a polite, reasoned manner will be your strongest ally here. You may be angry, and you may well have a right to be angry. But when you ask for someone to appeal a decision against you, the decision is going to be made based on reasoning, facts, and logs, rather than how angry you are. A reasonable approach will be heard much more favorably than an angry one. This will also see you taken more seriously, more immediately.
Now, let's discuss a few things that will not help you.
Being deceptive will not help you. There is a lot of information passed back and forth under the skin of this game, and Admins/Mods can access much of it. If we suspect deception, we don't always tell you. We may just give you the rope, and let you hang yourself. If we have to confront you with evidence and proof to get you to admit you did something wrong, you probably won't get a favorable response. Admitting you did something that is forbidden under ToS, and apologizing, will usually result in a much more forgiving response.
Being bitter will not help you. We understand if you feel wronged, we understand if you feel angry, but take a deep breath, and try to tell us clearly and calmly what is upsetting you.
Epilogue
In summary, we will ask all players to have a certain level of maturity. The rules above are obvious violations, but they're all part of a much larger, much more basic rule: Be a part of the community we're trying to create. Upbuild this community. Don't tear it down, and don't belittle it because it's not the community you'd like it to be.