How Laws Online Work

[Archprince]

For those of you who don't want to bother to play Pro RP WoW, I'll spell it out.

There are laws required in order for any society to function. This includes a roleplay environment. There are 5 types of laws, generally speaking.

1. General Law: General Laws are laws that encompass that an act is ILLEGAL. There are no loopholes, no flexibility, zero tolerance. These are the base of any roleplay environment, and act as framework for the other laws.

2. "Canvas" Law: Canvas Laws are laws that have SOME flexibility, usually include a few warnings, and help to cover up what isn't strictly forbidden. These are also major in roleplay societies, as they set boundaries on which moderators can pass SOME judgement.

3. Moderation Laws: These laws are extremely flexible and are largely up to the moderators to enforce. These laws should be used sparingly, in order to add a bit of flexibility, but should not exist in excess, else the society is run on nothing.

4. Ghost Laws: These are laws which are not moderated upon or rarely so. These should be as nonexistant as possible.

5. Antilaws: Antilaws cover loopholes and prevent new laws from overriding needed General and Canvas laws. These should be made often, about once or twice a week. These are needed to make sure that not only can the laws adapt, but they keep their structure. Antilaws also can completely nullify existing laws if they are deemed unnecessary.

This was my tutorial on Law. I dumbed it down from what I got upon entry to my WoW servers (from 10 types to 5) and I made the descriptions shorter and simpler. Now, look at this guideline, then look at Kiwike's laws. It's not just the server that needed a revamp, the law system seems to also.

[The Black Sun]

Laws and rules are different things.
In my opinion laws are created by players - such as a nation banishing/fining a murderer or thief, or creating restrictions on the prices of certain items in nation shops. Laws are part of an RP environment and are player created and managed.

Rules on the other hand are entirely extant at the meta-game level - "No stealing" is a law "No hacking" is a rule. Rules should always be litmus tests, either they are broken or they are not. Dividing rules into "Rules we actually mean" and "Rules we sometimes mean" like you seem to be proposing invites arbitrariness that annoys players and confuses people.

Ideally a server will have the smallest number of rules possible and the largest number of dedicated players who work to organize society in-game rather than being forced to do so by "Canvas" laws and "Moderation Laws" as you call them.

[Cerce]

I agree with the Black Sun here. WoW and Minecraft are very different; especially in the fact that nations are made, and not acted out. Therefore, the nations should set what is and isn't allowed within the nation, instead of the server doing it for them. This way, nation-building is encouraged.

[Archprince]

Did you read nothing of that, or get nothing. Moderation Laws are BAD. Also, Laws were the rules in WoW RP servers. They were called LAWS for a reason. Little law means no society, as without rules, it is ANARCHY. There need to be strict rules in place for this type of server. Sure, in a regular server, your IDEAL society could exist, but it cannot in an RP server, they are just too complex.

Rules, Law, whatever you choose to call them, we need them. They should be able to gradually adapt, but they need to have a BACKBONE.

As for Cerce, you've obviously never heard of a Private Server. Nations and Towns are MADE, just as they are here. Sure, buildings are generated differently, and the playstyle is semi-different, but in all actuality, the systems needed to run each are the same. Nation building is INCREDIBLY important in both, and rules are still needed to balance power between players. After all, who wants to live in a world that will ultimately end up with only one nation, who attained its status through brute force and not through strategy nor careful roleplaying. That's what we are going to end with, at this rate. The only way to fix it is to enact better rules for play.

[The Black Sun]

I think we are saying the same thing actually. If a rule is impossible to enforce it should be done away with or fixed so that it is easy to enforce and define what is or isn't against the rule.

[Archprince]

Yes, rules need to be strict enough to be enforcable. A simple lie should NOT be able to be the difference between a ban and not. And there should be agreement between all mods on most issues.

Which is exactly what my OP said. You want more enforcable and semiflexible laws, and less of those that are up to mods to decide the outcome. Mods should be Moderators, not Judges.

[Cerce]

It is my honest and firm opinion that moderators are put in place to provide an environment for fair and enjoyable roleplay - not enforce morals. Yea, it's bad to kill without some RP reason - I of all people should know this - but some of the most memorable and 'historic' events of Kiwike 2.0 occured because of immoral acts and killing without roleplay.

[sethd13]

if this is supposed to be realistic peeps just shouldnt have to rp in rl no one is like "im on kill yall!" they just do it. maybe if everyone was on ts....

[Archprince]

Seth, ideally, that would be the case. However, without rules on killings, people will continuously raid and murder, because no one on this server has enough sense to be peaceful. This is where an RP reason comes into play; it prevents unneeded killings, thus making it more balanced. Ideally, everyone would be on teamspeak. However, my mic isn't working, and I suspect that this couldn't be the case for all. Murders should have RP reasons though, whether stated beforehand or appealed in a new forum section for mods to approve. The rules need to be strict and clear though on what is illegal and when. This is why an ideal society of no rules CANNOT work: no one has enough sense to be peaceful.

[yottabyte]

because no one on this server has enough sense to be peaceful.

Not true