Note  51  Mathias      (09/10/09 13:24)  Reminder about Harassment

Greetings Ardans,

I'd like to take a moment to remind you about harassment and 
how to deal with it.

This can be a competitive game and it is easy to get into
disagreements and arguments about every aspect.  This is an
acceptable part of the game.  What becomes unacceptable is
when that argument becomes harassment and the victim's
experience is diminished.

If you believe that you are being harassed (someone is saying
something offensive to you), your first step should be to use
our 'ignore' command.  This will prevent you from seeing any
tells, comms, and mails from that player.  It will NOT prevent
you from seeing shouts (remotely) or says/emotes/semotes while
in the same room as the player.  If you are in the same room
as a confrontational "harassing" player, the easiest way to
defuse the situation is to leave that room.

Should the "harasser" shout offensive comments or follow you
to continue harassing you, you should use the 'harass' command
which will log everything that you see for whatever period
of time that you set, and file a law report.  In your law
report, be sure to reference the harass log that you have made
and to include ALL details of the harassment.

You may also opt to deal with your harasser through other
methods: take out a contract on that person, steal all of
their gold, or just plain kill them.  Note that these reactions
may be subject to lawsys charges (and fines).

You should NOT react to a harasser by harassing them back. This
will not garner you any favor with the administration and should
any of the harassment be reported, you will (both) be punished.

The administation's protocol of punishing harassers should
never need to be used.  If you feel a need to harass another
player, use the 'ignore' command so that you will be unable to
send offensive tells to that person.  If you are in the same
room with that person, leave it.  If you cannot escape the
compulsion to harass that person, use the 'quit' or 'hibernate' 
commands to prevent yourself from making a mistake.  Should
your indiscretions make their way to the administration, the
administration will not be pleased.

Thank you for taking this moment with me to learn of the
proper ways of dealing with harassment.

Mathias