Rules

Do not give *excessive* amounts of equipment or money to other players.
Specifically, don't help newbies too much.  Handing a sharpened giant's
sword over to a level 3 player, for example, is against the rules.  If
the wizards wanted newbies to have top of the line equipment, they would
put such equipment on newbie monsters.

Notice the word "excessive".  Nothing stops you from helping a newbie
out by buying them an ale, or grabbing them a leather jacket.  Use
common sense.

Examples:

(1)  Do not give/loan a player below level 15 more than 250 coins per 
     his/her level.

(2)  Do not sell/give good equipment to a player below level 15, if they
     can not get the equipment from the NPC on their own, and/or do not
     know the location of the NPC holding the equipment.

     This applies to everyone.  If a person cannot buy it at a shop and
     they do not know where to get the item, you cannot give it to them.
     No matter what the level, if it is a specialty item, they must know
     how to obtain it first.

(3)  If in doubt ask.  The only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

Note that the gift rule applies to *all* players below level 15, not just
newbies.  If a player starts over, or drops below level 15 by dying, he/she
is subject to the gift limitations.

Bear in mind that the gift limits apply to things like the dartboard,
leaving cash or equipment on a corpse for a person to pick up, hiring
them for a service, and so on.

Do not steal things from other players.  Some examples:  Stealing the
items from a fellow adventurer's corpse; finishing off a monster which
you know belongs to another player; looting the corpse of a monster
someone else killed.
 
NOTE: PK players (Xalinteri) may steal from other Xalinteri, including
      monsters claimed by other Xalinteri.

NOTE: PK players (Xalinteri) may inadvertently steal items from a NPK
      player if the NPK player leaves their items unattended in a prop-
      erty owned by a PK player.

NOTE: All players are urged to _not_ leave their items lying around
      unattended!  Lockers and other safe places are available.  This
      should cut down on the confusion and complaints.

Do NOT give out hints/solutions to puzzles, such as (but not limited
to):  mazes;  how to get to areas, manors, guilds and monsters;  and
ESPECIALLY quests.

In addition, do not give out information about how tough a monster
is, what spells the monster is immune to, or other combat information.
Do not give out information about an item or weapon's special powers
or abilities.  Anything you find is only new once - don't spoil the
game for yourself or others.
 
There is usually at least one wizard on; if you need a hint, ask or mail
a wizard.  Only the creator of the area, his/her designated "hinter," or
the owner of the manor may give hints on that area.

This can range from the blunt "A bug has occured in the game.
Notify a wizard." to the not-so-blunt act of buying wares at one
shop only to sell it to another, in a limitless cycle.

Exploiting bugs and loopholes in the game is, briefly, ILLEGAL.

The realm of playerkilling is reserved for those who have chosen to join
it.  Those who are not PK must stay out of any direct involvement in a PK
situation.  Although not every situation can be anticipated, here are
the rules for what NPK players may and may not do during PK:


They MAY:

Spot PK players and relay their location to others.  NPK rangers may
track PK players.  The Orb of Scrying has been changed to not permit
NPK's to scry PK players.

Cast beneficial spells (heal, shadowcloak, etc.) on a PK player who is
not directly involved in combat.  If there are any enemies of the
recipient in the room, they *cannot* cast the spell.  I expect that
this rule will cause a lot of he said/they said accusations.  If it
becomes too much of a problem, I will hard-code a solution.

Supply equipment for a house store, or to a PK player, as long as
that player is not in direct combat.

Kill any Mud NPC, even if it has a value in a war situation.  Note
that certain useful NPC's in Ivory village can no longer be killed
by NPK players.  These same NPC's, if killed by a PK player, will
become "ghosts", and only serve players under level 16 until
they reset.  (this will be implemented soon)
-----------

They MAY NOT:

Heal any NPC that is being attacked, whether by a PK or NPK player.

Hinder a player involved in PK.  This involves deliberate spamming,
encumbering him with items, or casting any spell that hinders him
in any way.

They may not block exits, hold doors closed, or cause any other
interference with a PK player.

Harass other players in "game terms".  NPK players cannot
publicly bash other players or houses, nor send harassing tells to
any player.  Players that think they can mouth off and be protected
by their NPK status will quickly find themselves being made PK.
*** Note that RL harassment is not allowed by *anyone*, PK or not ***

Retrieve the items or corpse of a PK player killed by a another PK
player, unless given permission by the killer (see below for more on
this).
-----------

The corpse of a PK victim belongs to the killer, not the victim.  It
is solely at the discretion of the killer whether the victim gets a
cleric resurrect, or gets any items back.  The killer can enlist the
help of NPK allies to carry the corpse and items.  Note that other PK
players may steal the corpse/items of the slain PK player from the killer
or his NPK allies.  This is the only case where PKs may steal something
from NPKs, since the corpse/items really belong to the PK killer, not the
yers helping him cart the stuff off.

The changing of houses to allow NPK members was to expand the
roleplaying opportunities for all players; it was not done to give
NPK's an excuse or an easier chance to interfere in PK.

A note to the NPKs:

Punishment for violation of these rules will most likely consist of
being put in the PK system (except for major infractions, which will
usually result in a zap).  My advice is that if you don't want to
risk becoming PK yourself, stay far away from PK situations.  Don't
try to push the limits of this rule, especially the "direct involvement
in combat".  Take this scenario: Two players are fighting in Cheers, and
one runs to the dartboard, and you heal him.  If his opponent follows
him in, or he heads right back out to fight in Cheers again, this may
well be considered a "direct combat" situation.

It is now legal for a Xalinteron to steal the claimed monster of another
Xalinteron.  I left it up to a player vote, and the result, 14 to 4, was
overwhelmingly in favor of changing the rule.  It is still illegal for
Non-Xalinteron players to steal any claimed kills, or for Xalinteri to
steal the claims of non-Xalinteri.

A word of warning to Xalinteri: Make SURE that the person whose claim
you are stealing is Xalinteron; there will be no tolerance for "I
thought he was" as an excuse.  If you're unsure of the other player's
Xal status, don't steal the claim.

When you first join Everdark, you are prompted to enter your email
address.  This address will be validated.  Very few, but some exceptions
may be made for people who do not have access to email.  You are not
allowed to change your email address once you start playing.  If, for
some reason, your email address changes, contact a wizard and have them
change it for you.