To begin, if a rule is being broken there is a specific process which is absolutely necessary to the reporting process. You must screenshot the offense (such as harassment) and you must type /savechat. The GM & admin staff works off of facts, not hearsay. The top echelon does not care how many GMs were present during an event where a rule was broken, if there are no screenshots and is no /savechat then there were no rules broken. The reason for this (very simple) requirement is to protect certain players from being unjustly accused of unacceptable behavior, as has been known to happen in the past.

Admins will be considered as GM level 80 and above and are free to exact punishment at their discretion. Below that, screenshots & /savechat. Savechats will be accepted only if accompanied by a screen. If you supply a savechat only, your report will be noted but no action will be taken. Remember: the screenshot is the only way to have action taken.

To summarize: screenshot and /savechat any reports of rule breaking or harassment, or the infraction did not occur.

Minor infractions will be treated with a standard of Verbal Warn → Written Warn and Jail → Suspension → BAN.

Major infractions will be treated to an immediate minimum seven day ban, followed by a permanent ban on the second major infraction.

Any questionable behavior deemed to be against the rules by the GMs or Administration is punishable even if it is not currently listed here. The GM team has put forth its best effort to maintain a complete list of rules, along with precedence, but are still subject to error. If an action seems in poor faith of the rules, err on the better side of judgment, do yourself a favor, and don't do it. You can and will possibly be punished.

General Conduct issues generally involve interpersonal relationships, and thus the need to moderate these will be based primarily upon player reports. All players have a right to report player conduct if they consider it offensive, so be considerate of other players at all times. These will be reviewed and handled on a case-by-case basis.

• Players may not harass one another, or intentionally create emotional, or otherwise, distress in other players.
• Keep discussions and disagreements relating to Non-RO related subjects in an air of civility. The subject of conversation, how the GM feels about it, and the “who was right and who was wrong argument” will not be determining factors if poor conduct is reported.
• Any specific details about the changes that are taking place are to be considered rumors unless verified by the head admin. Players should refrain from spreading rumors about the new administration, the decisions that are being made with regards to the transition, or badmouthing any of the previous administrations. Intentionally spreading false rumors in order to create dissent or drama will be severely punished. Speculation is one thing, but informing others of any game or forum changes that did not come directly from the mouth of the administration in order to paint the server as bad are considered as undermining. Players caught undermining the new leadership by any GM in the new administration will receive a written warning which will be logged and a ban issued on the second infringement.
• Players may not be excessively vulgar. This includes, but is not limited to: lewdness, inappropriate references, and curse words. What dictates excessive and inappropriate behavior will be at the discretion of the acting GM. This is not a family game, so explicit content won't be controlled; however, extreme profanity or sexually explicit references or descriptions can be judged as excessively vulgar and can be reported to a GM if they are found offensive or in bad taste.
• AvaniRO does not promote or allow bragging, heckling or other forms of poor behavior & harassment, including but not limited to instances of poor sportsmanship, insults, public chat spam, @main spam, consistent belligerent cursing and/or harassing other players. What constitutes inappropriate behavior will be handled at the discretion of the acting GM.
• It is acceptable to request items or money from other players, however, if the player being asked asks you to stop, then stop. Consistently begging will get you a warning by the acting GM. Any more offenses after that will result in a ban.
• Arguments between players over items, WoE, or otherwise are to be mediated by a GM. Failure to listen to the GM or continuing the argument beyond intervention will result in heavier punishment. Argument moderation does NOT need to be solicited. In other words, if an argument is occurring in general chat or @main, any nearby GM has the right to step in and warn players displaying offensive conduct or order that the argument be discontinued or taken to whisper / chatroom in the interest of bystanding players.
• Talking or bragging about illegal activities such as commiting serious crimes, especially hacking, will not be allowed. Any network-based threats made against the server, joke or not, will be dealt with mercilessly.

Game conduct issues involve questions of etiquette in PvM situations. The discouraged behaviors are considered poor sportsmanship in almost all MMORPGs, but are redefined here for information's sake. These are considered minor infractions:

• Players may not kill steal (KS). This includes mini-bosses and bosses, but not any monster which grants an MVP award. Kill Stealing is defined as attacking and defeating a monster that another player is attacking, without that player's consent. If the player accidentally attacks another player's mob, they should immediately disengage, apologize and walk away. These rules DO apply to boss monsters (i.e., Mutant Dragonoid, Angeling, Ogretooth), but DO NOT apply to MVP bosses which are considered FREE FOR ALL, except MVPs summoned by quests (i.e., Ktullanux, Thanatos Phantom).
• Players may not loot steal. Lootstealing is defined as taking loot dropped by a monster that was killed by another player without their consent. Autoloot has been placed in effect, but do note that not everyone chooses to use it. Dropped loot from a monster is the player who killed said monster’s right, whether they choose to use autoloot or not.
• Shops and chats may not leave the sidewalks or block NPCs. You will be relocated at first, repeated offenses will result in the usual punishment ladder.
• Players may not “train” mobs on other players. Training mobs is defined as leading aggressive monsters toward another player and then teleporting so that the monsters attack the by-standing player. When reporting people for this behavior, keep in mind that it frequently happens by accident. If you believe a player is doing this on purpose, ask them to stop. If they do not comply, be prepared to produce a screenshot or chat log to back your claim, then contact a GM.
• Mobbing a whole map by yourself is allowed, as long as no one else is on said map. The moment another player enters said map, you are required, per game rules, to establish a share pattern with said player. Not one single player, guild or party owns any map, regardless of when they got there or how long they have been there. Failure to do so will result in a warning. Repeated offenses will bring you up the punishment ladder. If you believe a player or players are violating this rule, contact said player and be prepared to produce a screenshot. Then, request GM help via main or on the forums through a PM.
• Soil breeding in town or in a building is not allowed.
• Do not abuse or trash the current server. This includes players and any and all GMs from any administration. Any questionable behavior (including excessive haxing) with regards to showing respect for the community and administration needs to be reported immediately.

All rules apply in-game as well as forum. An infraction or warning in-game carries over to the forum and vice-versa.

• No drama. This includes, but is not limited to: Bickering, Flaming, Griefing, Complaining, Grudging, Fighting, Whining, or Insulting.
  • Flaming is defined as verbally attacking other players or guilds, or arguing for the sole sake of deriding and slandering said parties.
  • Griefing is defined as repeated assault (in WoE/PvP or in the forums) of a particular player or guild out of spite or malice.
  • Complaining and whining is not conducive to the spirit of friendly WoE/PvP and will not be entertained by the GM staff – if rules are being broken, the offended party should make a proper report with screenshots in private rather than throwing a fit in public chat.
• Slash and burn tactics will not be allowed. Any guild committing these tactics will be forced to disband and receive further punishment based on the severity of the actions. Slash and Burn is defined as attacking a guild castle for the sole sake of ruining its commerce. Taking a castle and immediately leaving it undefended is slash and burn. Taking a castle, but being honestly called away to reinforce a more important hall is not slash and burn.
• Emblems, names, titles, etc., may not be used to disorientate others. Examples of this would include blank emblems, or emblems that mimic cursor graphics as well as other guild’s emblem in order to create confusion.
• No player should EVER go into WoE with an admin-issued disguise or fake name; these can be removed by simply relogging. Although they can assign disguises and fake names, GMs and Admins are NOT RESPONSIBLE if you walk into WoE with an assigned disguise; it is the player’s responsibility to relog before participating in WoE. If you are caught breaking this rule, you will receive a ban.
• On pre-castle maps, only cloak, hide, memo/warp portal, teleport, and buffs may be used. No items may be dropped near or on warps into castles, and dead branches may not be used.
• Play dead may not be used on warps.
• Items may not be dropped in castles, unless for a short time between players to accelerate trades/etc.
• Trade/friend requests may not be used in or out of castles to hinder another player.
• Guilds will be disallowed from commerce-destroying themselves or any other guild. Commerce-destroying is defined by the use of two or more guilds to repeatedly destroy a castle's Emperium, thus lowering the commerce of said castle by 5 each time the Emperium is broken. This is usually done in an attempt to reach a low level of commerce, significantly weakening the castle's value.
• Anyone heavily looting guild storage will be severely punished. These things can be tracked. With that said, it is the responsibility of the guild master to handle minor disputes regarding miscommunication. Unless someone intentionally stole items or ran off with the entire guild storage, deal with it yourself.

These are serious infractions, and maximum punishment will be applied at the first offense:

• All bugs and suspected bugs are to be reported immediately on the proper bug forum, or in the case of abusable bugs, to a GM or administrator with the power to fix it.
• All gains or benefits from accidental bug abuse should be handed over to a GM without question.
• Exploitation of a bug which crashes the server to access timed events, such as MVP spawns more often, is not allowed.

These are also major infractions:

• The only permitted 3rd party application will be custom homunculus AI. The usage of all other 3rd party programs on AvaniRO is disallowed and will be met with an instant ban if discovered. The method of discovery of bots will be at the discretion of a GM, and it will be the player's responsibility to prove they were not botting if a report has been made.
• AFK leveling through use of reflect items or any other means will not be allowed.
• AFK Homunculus leveling will not be allowed unless it is the case that the player is idling there often enough to feed the homunculus. Using alt-tab to surf the internet while a homunculus is leveling is acceptable, on the premise that the homunculus is continually fed and looked after to prevent accidental kill-stealing.

You may dual-client for the purposes of:

• Warping and buffing your allies and yourself anytime (including WoE), ONLY IF DONE INSIDE A CITY. Any buffs, including those from Biochemists, Soul Linkers, Paladins, Whitesmiths, Minstrels, Gypsies, High Priests.
• Having a merchant shop active.
• Trading items between accounts.
• Using a character with Greed to collect loot from another character. They must not be in a party and thus may not be gaining exp while doing so.
• Using Gloria before looting a guild castle. This must be done outside of WoE and is the only time you may dual client within a WoE-related map.

Examples of unauthorized uses of dual-clienting:

• Tanking for yourself. This includes soloing or during parties.
• Playing as two different account characters during WoE, inside an actual fighting guild hall, whether or not the guild hall is being defended or players are present.
• AFK tanking for other players. This means placing a character as an AFK tank for other players, while you use a different account to go about your usual business. If caught violating this rule, you will receive a ban, while the other player receives a warning for allowing the rule to be broken.
• No dual clienting for the purpose of Soil Breeding anywhere will be allowed.

IF YOU ARE USING TWO DIFFERENT COMPUTERS AT THE SAME TIME WITH TWO DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS, IT IS CONSIDERED DUAL CLIENTING. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT BREAKING ANY OF THESE RULES, YOU WILL RECEIVE A BAN ON YOUR FIRST OFFENSE.

• The GM team has a specific job to carry out and needs the cooperation of the playerbase. If a player is considered to be harassing GMs or administrators, it will be dealt with as a minor infraction.
• Additionally, if you are actively in need of assistance, you request GM help over @main and a GM contacts you via whisper, you may reply through whisper. Contacting the admin/GM by another method is also allowed.
• If you believe someone is breaking any of these rules, or are unsure about a rule, ask for GM assistance over @main as usual. A GM will contact you via whisper. Contacting the admin/GM by another method is allowed but proper documentation must be presented/witnessed.

Players are expected to keep abreast of the rules on their own, without GM intervention. Three days after a change is made, and a post made to alert the player base, it will be assumed that the player “knows” regardless of any absence, carelessness, or otherwise. If you take a break from a game, review the rules prior to playing again.