¶ Haze Community Standards
Welcome to the Haze Community!
Our community is a diverse, inclusive, and creative space where players from around the world come together to share in a mutual adventure.
To ensure that everyone has an enjoyable, safe, and respectful experience, we've established the following community standards. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with them.
¶ Our Standards
Haze is at its best when everyone shares in a mutual respect for each other. These seven points summarise our stance on the social meta.
¶ 1. Respect
- Treat all players, DMs, and community members with respect. Personal attacks, harassment, and hate speech are not tolerated!
- Inclusive Language: Use language that is inclusive and welcoming. Avoid language that is discriminatory or offensive.
¶ 2. Content
- Appropriate Content: Keep all in-game roleplay and out-of-game discussion appropriate. Explicit content, including but not limited to sexual, abusive, or graphic themes, is strictly prohibited.
- Mindfulness: Be mindful of topics that may be triggering or deeply unsettling. When in doubt, avoid potentially harmful subjects or seek consent from all involved parties before proceeding.
¶ 3. Gameplay Integrity
- Fair Play: Cheating, exploiting bugs, or using third-party software to gain an unfair advantage is prohibited.
- Conflict Resolution: Resolve in-game conflicts within the game's roleplay context. Avoid bringing in-game disputes into out-of-game contexts.
- Conflict Avoidance: Do not engage in activities to antagonize other characters (such as stealing), then purposefully kill of the character if caught to avoid consequences. If you refuse to roleplay the consequences of being an angtagonist, do not be one.
¶ 4. Communication
- Constructive Feedback: Provide feedback in a constructive manner. Criticism should be aimed at ideas, not individuals.
- Reporting Issues: Report any issues, breaches of community standards, or suspicious behavior to the team promptly.
¶ 5. Privacy and Security
- Personal Information: Do not share others' personal information without consent. Protect your own personal information.
- Impersonation: Impersonating other players, DMs, or officials is not allowed.
¶ 6. Community Engagement
- Active Participation: We encourage active participation and engagement in community activities, discussions, and events.
- Supporting Others: Support new and existing members, offer help, and be welcoming to all.
¶ 7. Enforcement and Consequences
- Rule Enforcement: The DM team and community leaders will enforce these standards fairly and consistently.
- Consequences: Violations of community standards may result in warnings, mutes, EP Loss, temporary bans, or permanent bans, depending on the severity of the incident.
¶ Best Practices
Below are some of the best practices for ensuring a fair and respectable experience for everyone.
¶ Character vs. Character Conflict
Conflict between characters, especially on a permadeath server, can be intense. Players should always:
1. Consider Consequences: Recognize that conflicts may escalate, potentially leading to permanent death for involved characters.
2. Prioritize Enjoyment: Focus on the roleplay’s evolving story and the enjoyment of all participants.
Avoid blurring in-character (IC) actions with out-of-character (OOC) feelings, ensuring conflicts remain part of the narrative rather than personal grievances.
Additionally, make sure to thoroughly acquaint yourself with the rules regarding character conflict. It is your obligation to do so.
¶ Fair Play
Avoid a “play-to-win” mentality, which prioritizes personal gain over organic storytelling. Examples of unacceptable behavior include:
- Godmodding: Controlling others’ actions without consent.
- Metagaming: Using OOC knowledge IC.
- Powergaming: Exploiting game mechanics to force outcomes.
- Abusing Glitches: Leveraging technical issues to gain unfair advantages.
If emergencies force you to log out during gameplay (e.g., while being pursued), communicate with other players to ensure fairness.
¶ Respect and Collaboration
Haze values dynamic, organic roleplay. While players can create IC factions and pursue goals, they must avoid forming OOC cliques that exclude or manipulate the broader player base. All groups should operate transparently, keeping the roleplay collaborative.
¶ Conflict Resolution
The DM team will help you resolve disputes fairly! If issues arise, whether regarding meta-gaming or perceived rule violations, players should bring them to the DM team rather than confronting others directly.
¶ DM-Player Etiquette
When playing on Haze, you might find yourself in a DM-led encounter or event. While these aren't hard rules, there are a few bits of roleplaying etiquette that can be good to keep in mind, that makes things easier for both DMs and players.
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Don't spontaneously attack NPCs or creatures that are clearly part of an event or being piloted by a DM without telegraphing it.
- Do: Declare your intent in a /dm tell or with an emote. You are allowed to try almost anything, but giving the DM a heads-up helps everything run more smoothly and avoids interrupting event pacing or narration. An exception of course applies to combat-centric encounters and events.
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Don't make rolls, public or private, without any context, expecting a DM to respond.
- Do: Send a /dm tell first asking if you can make a roll. The DM will then give you further instructions, if necessary.
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Don't get upset if your /dm tell don't get an immediate response.
- Do: Be patient. DMs juggle a lot at once, and it’s easy for a message to get missed. If you’ve been waiting a while, drop a polite reminder in the /dm channel. Most of the time it’s just an oversight, not intentional.
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Don’t use OOC chat to argue rulings or challenge the DM mid-scene.
- Do: Save rules questions or disagreements for after the scene, or DM privately to clarify something in a respectful way.
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Don’t break character mid-scene for OOC jokes or commentary.
- Do: Do your best to 'read the room!' Meta-commentary is fine in moderation, but it’s best used sparingly. Especially in emotionally charged or dramatic scenes.
¶ Metagaming & Integrity
Simply put, Metagaming is when a player uses out-of-character knowledge or exploits, to exploit mechanics or in-game systems in an unimmersive way. It goes against the spirit of roleplay on Haze.
We understand some overlap is natural—you might remember things from a past character or recognize monster behavior. Those things happen, and are okay. It only becomes a problem when it’s used intentionally to gain an edge or avoid consequences.
Examples of Metagaming:
- Recreating a “doppelganger” character to dodge death.
- Sharing creature stats(e.g. weaknesses, strengths, etc.) your new character wouldn’t know.
- Dropping gear before using !suicide to keep items for your next character.
- Logging out mid-combat to escape danger.
- Exploiting known bugs or mechanical loopholes.
- Using /tells to coerce, question, or try to find out more about IC context, characters or similar.
Death of a character can happen if a mechanic was abused to avoid permadeath, and bans, both temporary or permanent, can result from repeated or serious violations.
If you're unsure about a situation, talk to a DM! You won’t be punished for asking questions.
¶ Final Word
We are all here to enjoy the immersive world of Haze and to be part of a community that values storytelling, creativity, and camaraderie. By adhering to these community standards, we can ensure that Haze remains an enjoyable, safe, and welcoming space for everyone.
Thank you for being part of our community!