MMO rules you live by.

Mine are pretty simple;

1. Do what I'm told, god knows I don't need to make anything more complicated than it needs to be

2. Stock up and throw out Awakens to everyone like candy

3. Make corny jokes throughout the whole thing

1) Don't store passwords in clear text.
2) (related to 1) Don't allow passwords to be reverse-engineered. Worst-case scenario, just make the user reset it.
3) Don't make users give their real names if they don't want to.
4) Don't e-mail crap to people unless they've explicitly said they want whatever it is I think is so important.
5) No third-party ads. Not only are they annoying, but it's a good way to get compromised.
6) Allow users to control how much/how little of their own information is publicly accessible.
7) Don't allow people to post naughty things. Personally, I don't care, but out of respect for other people and to stay on NCsoft's/Paragon Studios good side, it's a good rule.
8) When NCsoft/Paragon Studios asks you to do something, try your best to be responsive and accommodating. They can make you and they can break you.
9) Treat the other developers and editors as if they're smart, even if you think they're being boneheaded. They really are smart, and it might be me that's being boneheaded. Still...
10) Don't let them do something that you fundamentally know is wrong.

...

What? That's how I roll. Aren't we talking about playing City of Heroes? That's how I spend most of my time playing...

Rule # 1

Never take a shower in the men's locker room on Virtue without a chastity belt on.

Here's my in-game rules.

1. Have fun
2. Don't prevent other people from having fun.

My personal rules:

I play the game solo until I feel I know how to play well enough to play with others.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you . . . until they really piss me off.

Everything else I make up as I go along.

I wish I had "rules" (they're more like guidelines) that I could always stick by.

I generally try to be nice and civil to people in-game, and I'm generally laudatory when leading teams, even marginal ones. But, on occasion the ugly, nasty, anal-retentive, cantankerous ******* that I am sneaks out and takes it out on someone who doesn't deserve it.

I'm usually IMMEDIATELY sorry for losing control like this.

Either that, or someone just starts pushing my buttons, deliberately, and finds out exactly how short the fuse really is (yeah it's that little bit of fluff right on the surface of that 15-ton bomb). So I bust out the napalm and go to war.

After these I'm usually NOT very sorry.

Maybe some day I should try to do something about my nasty, short temper. But I shot the last guy who commented on it in the face with a bazooka. So it might be a while before it's under full conscious control.

Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.

Be nice. Have fun. Follow the tank. Cats rule. The dog did it.

Questions?

1. Avoid teaming.
2. When you break rule #1, try not to die every five minutes.
3. When you break rule #2, make an excuse to leave as soon as the mission's over and log off in embarrassment.

I don't have specific rules as such, but if I did write some down, it'd be much like this.

0: This is a game, it's supposed to be fun for everyone. All other rules must conform to this one.
1: Concept comes first, then powersets, then build optimization.
2: When making a character concept, be sure it at least plausibly fits in the game canon.
3: Be nice to other players, and have a healthy respect towards each other.
4: Teach those who wish to be taught, and learn from those who know things you don't.
5: It never hurts to be polite, even if some people find it amusing.
6: When I lead a team, anyone is welcome, unless they show me that they shouldn't be. (I will not tolerate racist or hateful comments when I'm team leader.)

But it all boils down to "Make cool characters and be nice to people unless they prove themselves otherwise."

Never correct people who claim to have insider knowledge of the game you're working on/have previously worked on. There's no way to graciously refute it without going too much into detail.

Similarly, never correct someone who claims to have heard something directly from you, but you've never even spoke to said person nor said claimed information.

Mine are a bit specific...

1: No real names. I won't give mine, I won't ask for yours.
2: Competitions are for winning, Games are for having fun, and this is a game. 'Playing to win' is an oxymoron, unless it's fun

Other than that, I just do what everybody else is doing.

Never implement a Beast Mastery power set without ferrets.

My real rule. Who cares? There is nothing, I repeat NOTHING in this game worth getting angry or frustrated about. It's just a game.

• It's a game. A GAME. If you start getting worked up about something, ask yourself: is this worse than being a war orphan in Darfur? Then feel guilty and calm down a little bit.
• Could be a real good reason for that guy acting like a jerk/crybaby/ignoramus/knowitall. Maybe it's best to let it slide.
• If you're not having fun, start doing something to correct that.
• Vet status, regdates and postcounts tell you nothing at all about a person, and if you judge people on such meaningless criteria, you're a fool.
• Nothing rankles a troll or griefer more than simply being ignored.
• Mute the sound.

1. Never join a raid guild. It will only end in tears.
2. If #1 is violated, never let them make you an officer. It will only end in tears.
3. If you're still violating #1, when it comes to raid schedules no weekends, no holidays.
4. Just don't violate rule #1.
5. Let the tank think he's awesome. It's either bragging or whining, your choice what you have to suffer through.
6. Let the "healor" think he's awesome. It's either bragging or whining, your choice what you have to suffer through.
7. If the group thinks green numbers are the awesomest form of mitigation EVAR don't bother correcting them, they won't understand, willfully or cluefully, and it will end in tears.
8. There are just some things that should not be pointed out to some people. Be safe, let them wallow in their ignorance.

Its a game, have fun.
Pay stuff forward.

1) Don't join a TF that you don't fully intend to complete.

2) Don't be the first to throw in the towel if things get rough.

3) The team/league leader (and I don't mean myself) has the final say on the big picture strategy. If you think they should do something differently offer your advice in a tell instead of trying to stage a mutiny.

4) This is a game. Even if a TF ends in total failure you haven't lost anything more than a couple hours and you still probably got exp/inf/drops along the way.

5) You're supposed to be having fun. If there's some aspect of the game that doesn't contribute to your enjoyment then don't take part in it. If you're not having fun at all then it's probably best to log out and do something else for a while unless you've made commitments to others in-game.

6) Assume any jabs people take at you in chat are in jest and react as such because trading friendly insults is fun. If someone really is being a dingleberry don't fight back, just put them on ignore.