Harassment |
Discworld player help |
Harassment |
Harassment
Discworld recognises two types of harassment.
Personal Harassment
The first type includes sexual, racial, religious or other personal forms of harassment.
Discworld players come from many different cultures and therefore there is no specific list of actions defined as harassment. Be careful what you say and do towards other people until you know them - what to you may be lighthearted fun could be intimidating and offensive to someone else. No means no; if someone asks you to stop doing something, then you should stop. Continuing to make someone personally uncomfortable could be considered harassment.
Treating someone badly or verbally abusing them because of their gender, or their racial or religious background is not acceptable and will be treated like any other form of harassment. Premature or persistent unwelcome sexual advances fall into this category, and are just as unwelcome on the mud. Coercion is completely unacceptable, and will be treated severely.
If you're harassed
Your first action when someone is behaving offensively towards you should be to ask them to stop, for example, 'Stop, I don't like that' or 'Please don't say that'. Speak clearly and try to avoid using emotional or abusive language. If someone asks you to stop then don't protest or question, just apologise and leave them alone for a while. If someone continues behaving offensively after you have asked them to stop then you can use the 'ignore' command to stop them sending you tells.
Where to get more help
If a problem continues after you have tried to resolve it yourself, you can ask for help from a liaison. Liaisons will listen to your problem and may give you other ideas to deal with the problem or may talk to the other person if their behaviour is unacceptable. Liaisons will be most able to help if you talk to them at the time of the situation. Alternatively, you can issue a formal complaint in a complaints room, or mudmail the liaison administration - director and deputies - to submit an official complaint.
Game Harassment
The second type of harassment is where a player expends repeated and significant effort to spoil another's experience over a prolonged period.
Although playerkillers may expect a certain level of game-based interaction with other players - this includes stealing and being stolen from, killing and being killed, and other such interactions - it is important not to take this too far. Prolonged, repeated and excessive PK interactions will be considered harassment, particularly when disproportionate and not reciprocal. However, liaisons will rarely interfere in PK interactions and you should expect to have to resolve the situation yourself.
Player-run Solutions
If someone is spoiling your gameplay but not to the extent that would constitute harassment, you should search for an in-game solution. Guild leaders and player councils are intended to play a role in player disputes if they choose, and resolving the problem with the help of friends or other players is the preferred option. If you don't know what to do then you can discuss your problem with a liaison, who may be able to give you some ideas and advise about whether to make a harassment complaint to admin.
When you need more help
If you still feel the degree of interaction constitutes harassment, you should keep a diary of all your interactions with that person over a period of at least one week, preferably with logs of the incidents. During this time you should do nothing to exacerbate the situation and should actively try to resolve the situation if you can. You can always contact a liaison to get help, even if only to ask how to proceed. After that time you should send this information to liaison administration - director and deputies (finger liaison for details) - who will deal with your complaint.
