There aren't many rules, and all we ask is that you use a little common sense with what you do.

Also see Rylen's Top 10 Things to do on Desolation Risking a Banning guide.

Can't get enough rules? Well you could always check out Rylen's MORE RULES.

Only One Character On At a Time

We don't care if you have multiple characters made, we just ask that you don't have them all on at once. By ask, we mean don't have them on at once.

We generally follow the rule only one character per IP, because we cannot be sure if you and your pal really are on a network or not. Be aware of this. If we ask one of your characters to log off, do not fight, it is because both have the same IP and there's no way for us to know if you really are on a LAN together.

If you and a few friends are on a network, and all want to play at the same time, please log on with only one character and talk to an admin to see if it's ok. They might be okay with it, they might not be. If they aren't, please understand.

Do Not Transfer Gear Between Alts

Do not transfer money or gear between your alts. If we catch you, it is likely that you will lose all gear that you transferred, and possibly all your gear.

Do NOT Exploit Bugs

We hate bugs. We also hate when people find, and exploit them without telling us. If you do find a bug, please report it to us. You can report them with the 'bug' command. If you find a typo, you can report that too with the 'typo' command.

Help the Newbies

You were a Newbie once too. Help them out a little, so they can be as smart as you are.

Oh? You're saying you were treated like crap as a Newbie? Well pretend you weren't.

Helping newbies does not mean 'twinking' them out. Know that whole "teach a man to fish" thing? "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime." Keep that in mind with helping newbies. See below about twinking.

Do Not Twink

Twinking is basically providing a character (your own or those of others) with gear (including money) they would not normally be able to achieve at their level. It's fine to help newbies a bit by giving them some cash, maybe a knife or a pistol, but do not give them 10,000 dollars and an assault rifle. It doesn't matter if the character is your best friend, significant other, whatever; don't do it.

Leave Invisible Wizards Alone

It's true, wizards can go invisible, and there are ways to detect these invisible wizards. Keep in mind, wizards have reasons why they are invisible. Often times, it's to avoid pesky players. It is not proper for one to search out these wizards, trying to figure out who they are. You should not try to talk to them or interact with them unless they talk to you first. Bugging them while they are invis does not show them any respect. Just leave them alone. Vik would also like to be left alone while he's visible as well.

Fallout

Desolation is not based on Fallout. Desolation is based on the game Wasteland. The Fallout series are also heavily based on Wasteland. We have some references to the Fallout games, but we also have a lot of references to a ton of movies, games, books, music, and other games.

As far as the Fallout plot lines: They didn't happen in Desolation's universe. There is no Brotherhood of Steel, no FEV virus, no G.E.C.K., no Vaults, no Master, no Enclave, no Deathclaws, no Two-Headed Brahmin, and no Super-mutants. You will, however, see Rot Gut, Nuka Cola, and Stimpaks around. However, I must again state: Desolation is not based on Fallout and the plot of the Fallout games have not taken place in the world of Desolation.

Please Spell Properly

We aren't asking for perfect spelling or perfect grammar, but at least a good attempt. A typo here and there isn't a problem; everybody does it. The problem is when every other word you type is a typo. Also, lack of punctuation and capitalization is a problem. Excessive punctuation is annoying.

Another huge, very annoying problem is what some people refer to as 'Internet shorthand' or 'Internet slang'. This includes using 'ur' in place of 'your', 'u' in place of 'you', 'thx' in place of 'thanks', '2' in place of 'to', etc.. That doesn't fly here. Please avoid it at all costs. Don't dare do it in an RP. Repeated use of 'Internet shorthand/slang' after being warned will result in constant abuse. Just don't do it.

See Rylen's Top 10 Things to do on Desolation Risking a Banning guide for details.

In RP, you will not always get your way. You won't dodge every bullet, every hit. You won't miraculously hit everyone every time. RP is all about give and take. You win some, you lose some. Don't try to win all the time. That's no fun.

You can not determine where your character hits or effects another character. That is up to that character's player to decide.

Be realistic.

Keep in mind that New Nevada is LARGE

New Nevada covers a good deal of Arizona, part of California, part of Nevada, and small sections of Mexico and Utah. It is roughly 500 miles square. To give you an idea of how big 500 miles would be, imagine you're driving a car at 60 miles an hour. It would take about 8 hours and 20 minutes to drive 500 miles. Just think of how long that would take to walk. And that is only walking from the bottom of the map to the top. It is by no means a small area, and it should take many days hike to get from say, the Ranger Center to Needles.

As for the size of worldmap rooms: As the staff figures it, a worldmap room is about 8 miles square. It should take the average, healthy character at least 1 to 2 hours to hike across a worldmap room, in fine conditions. This is not including hiking across the desert, which very well may take longer. (On a related note, please remember the human body's need for WATER.)

We've seen people run from the center of Needles, out to the wastes, across the Colorado River, down to Quartz, and then back in a matter of minutes in-character. We do not want to see this again.

Please keep how much land is actually being traveled in mind while RPing.

In Character Death

While this is the standard for most other Role Playing games, sadly we have to spell it out for you, because some people on Desolation just don't get it.

A player's life is his own. He has the last word on if he is injured, or even death. You cannot outright kill another player. If you want to kill someone, talk to them using OOC or tells, work something out, and then go with it. Don't power play. You can only attempt to kill another character. The player gets to decide if they die or not. Be realistic. If a gun is held against your characters head, and the wielder pulls the trigger, your character isn't ducking that.

On the other hand, player, don't be afraid of death. We understand you put a lot into your character, but IC death leads to great RP. Plus we'll transfer stats, skills, and money to a your new character when you make one. Don't power play, and try to live forever.

Remember, if your character jumps into the middle of a gunfight, you are giving your consent to have your character killed just by getting involved. If you don't want your character to die, don't give anybody a reason to want to kill them, and don't get them involved in anything they'll likely die in.

Mutants, Robots, Cyborgs, Super-mutants, Aliens, Etc.

Desolation does have mutants, robots, cyborgs, and possibly even aliens. If you want your character to be one, however, you must talk to a member (preferably multiple members) of the staff beforehand. As long as the character you want to play is realistic, and in the cases of robots and cyborgs, have a really good, really detailed history, you may be allowed to play them.

Keep in mind that we will not let you be a 15 foot tall, 5-tons of muscle mutant, nor a cyborg with most of its body replaced with cybernetic parts that will outperform any human by %500. A mutant is more likely to be a deformed hunchback riddled with cancer. A cyborg is more likely to be an unfortunate human who lost their hand, but saved up enough money to have it replaced with an old, clunky, slow cybernetic hand in a seedy out-of-the-way shop in Vegas. Be realistic. Be reasonable. Please have a good, well thought- out history ready beforehand.

As far as aliens go... I don't know why I mentioned them. I guess in case they come up. Don't try to play as an alien. Just don't.

As this is not Fallout, not based on Fallout, and what has happened in Fallout has not happened in Desolation's world, there are no super-mutants. Super-mutants were humans dipped into the FEV virus. There is no FEV virus, no Master, so no super-mutants. The same goes for Deathclaws.

Character Cloning

Certain areas and people have access to cloning tubes, and cloning technology. If you recently died, but decided you still want the name, you can be cloned. There are, however, a few conditions:

1. There must be an RP situation over getting you cloned. Either by asking the people who control the tubes, or by forcefully taking control of them.

2. The person or people cloning you must have some of your blood. Either in a rag, in a metal cup, they can take your severed arm to the tubes for all it matters. Without blood, there is no clone.
NOTE: If your character was a Desert Ranger, then a sample was kept in their labs. This sample must of course be in tact.

3. The person or people cloning you must have the skill: Clone Tech. You can continue the clone if the person doesn't have Clone Tech. You'll just be deformed.

4. When you are cloned. You forget everything You start your character over anew. No memories from the past. No old friends. Nothing. In short, when you are cloned, you become a new character, with the same name.

If we find that anyone who died, improperly cloned themselves, and then resumed their current role as if they hadn't died, they will be killed. Again. And then banned. Then whoever helped them get cloned, will be killed. And then banned.

Area Destruction

Interacting with your environment is the key to RP. However, destroying your environment doesn't leave you with many places to RP at. Destruction of property is a valid RP angle, however not all of the staff will agree with what you destroy.

The last word on area destruction rests with the creator who coded the area. If you wish to demolish something, talk to the person in charge of the area first. Sometimes they will cooperate with you, and even recode the area to reflect what happened. Sometimes.

However, going out and burning down a town will not only piss off the wizard who made the area, but also the entire player base. The other players have to RP in that town, too, and if it's not there anymore, they're going to be mad.

Don't Let OOC Things Effect You ICly

It's just good RP etiquette. If someone pisses you off Out Of Character, don't take it out on them In Character. Or vice versa.

Don't Act Like An Idiot, And You Probably Won't Be Abused

As it says on the side bar, Desolation is not a Newbie-friendly MUD. This is because a lot of newbies can be complete idiots, and after years of dealing with idiots, the staff is tired of it. Try to be intelligent, try to type well, and you should be OK. It's also a really really bad idea to insult any member of the staff.

What To Do If You Are Being Abused By Wizard

If you are being abused and feel it is wrong, you can always report the abusive wizard to an admin. An admin will do as they see fit. It is a good idea to log what happened, including your own part. It doesn't look good on you if we find that your log is incomplete, right? It also looks really bad if it's completely made up.

What To Do If You Are Being Abused By Admin

Well, you may be shit out of luck, but you can try reporting the admin to other admins, and especially the owner of the MUD, Squid.

Sexual Harassment

There are a lot of lewd statements and jokes made regularly on Desolation. Usually, these are in jest. If somebody targets you, anybody at all, player, wizard, whatever, if they target you and sexually harass you, tell an admin immediately. We will not stand for it. Any player that sexually harasses anybody else will be talked to and banned. Wizards and admin will be dealt with as the staff sees fit.