15.9 HARASSING OTHER PLAYERS

Harassment is not tolerated, including all forms of sexual harassment. The
determination of harassment is based on our judgement alone, and may include
(but is not limited to) cases of repeated unwanted communications of any kind,
or even the mention of real-world information such as name, city, and the like.

The place where the harassment occurs is mostly, but not entirely confined to
Achaea. At our discretion, it may comprise other forms of communication,
including (but not limited to) emails, forum posts, or instant messages.

What do I do if I'm being harassed?
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Harassment is something we take very seriously, and it is our expectation that
you do too. If someone is harassing you, please first consider these
guidelines:

  If someone is annoying you, or you are having a bad day and they 
  are pushing your buttons, that's what IGNORE is for. This may
  be all you need to do to solve your problem.

  Do not issue frivolously, especially for harassment. Recall the 
  story of the boy who cried wolf, or look it up if you're not 
  acquainted with Aesop's works.

  Do not abuse our willingness to help victims of harassment by 
  trying to get out of situations you have put yourself into, 
  especially when it comes to PK.

After having read this, if you have a valid case for harassment, please file an
ISSUE against the person. Please provide as much additional detail regarding
the situation as possible, so our team can incorporate that information into
their deliberations.

We may choose to take into account information outside of Achaea, but please
keep in mind that we are not a real world law enforcement agency. We are not in
a position to protect you from real world threats, harassment, or harm. If the
harassment you are experiencing is of this nature, please contact real world
authorities immediately.

In our sole determination, if the offence is serious enough, we may alert your
service provider (ISP), your workplace, your university, or other relevant
institutions, giving them details of your use of their resources.

               ***   

In regards specifically to accusations of rape: 
Rape is not possible between players in Achaea. Some will cite very outlier
cases with newbies that will result in the removal of the offending character
(locking a newbie and forcing them onto a ship that they don't know how to get
off again, we frown at this.) These outlier situations are considered 
harassment and we take these very seriously.

But if someone emotes something at you that you do not like, put them on 
ignore and leave. If it's unsolicited and explicit, issue them for explicit
behaviour or harassment, whichever is appropriate. These are not rape.

Secondarily, accusing someone of rape is very serious. There is only one venue
in which you may make this accusation, and this is in an ISSUE involving the
other person. Spouting these claims ICly creates an emotionally-charged and 
mob-like response against someone. 

This is a very effective weapon and we will shrub people who do this. It is
almost impossible to salvage a character that has been assassinated in this
fashion and frankly, if you want to destroy someone else's character, we have
no problem with making yours unplayable in return.