Turbine Official Roleplaying Rules and Policy

[Sapience]

Turbine Official Roleplaying Rules and Policy

Turbine has official and supported role-playing servers for our players within The Lord of the Rings Online™. These servers provide our players additional ways to interact within The Lord of the Rings Online, and give players the opportunity to be deeply immersed within the lore of The Lord of the Rings. Roleplay-Supported servers have separate naming and chat rules to preserve the atmosphere of the Lord of the Rings and provide an enjoyable experience for our role-players. Servers are designated as Roleplay-Supported by the “RP” tag before their name. These policies are in addition to Turbine’s Code of Conduct, found at http://www.lotro.com/support/1033-coc, which applies to all Lord of the Rings Online servers.

The following worlds are Roleplay-Supported
[EN-RP] Laurelin
[DE-RP] Belegaer
[FR-RP] Estel

In addition, the Landroval server is Roleplay-Encouraged. This world does not support the additional naming and chat rules, but encourages roleplaying in a friendly environment.

The server name is:
[EN-RE] Landroval

If you witness a Roleplaying Rules or Policy violation on a Roleplay-Supported world, please report it using the help system.

To report a Roleplaying Rules and Policy violation:

1. Press “Escape” to open the Main Menu.
2. Click on the Help button.
3. Select “New Ticket” at the bottom of the help window.
4. Submit a ticket under the correct ticket type.
   
   1. For Naming Violations, choose Name Violation as a ticket type.
   2. For inappropriate chat or harassment, choose Harassment as a ticket type.
   
   

Some players may be unable to submit tickets from the Help window due to account status limitations. In-Game Customer Service is only available to VIP players and Premium players who have purchased points within the last 45 days.
Please note that Turbine In-Game Support will always be out of character. Any discussions with Game Masters or Senior Game Masters within The Lord of the Rings Online will be out of character, regardless of chat channel.
Roleplaying rule violations will only be enforced on the official Roleplay-supported worlds of Estel, Laurelin, and Belegaer. Any roleplaying rule violations reported on other worlds will not be enforced, and the ticket closed without response. Abuse of the reporting system, such as repeatedly submitting incorrect tickets, may result in action against your account, up to and including an account suspension.


Turbine Roleplaying Name Policy
This policy is in addition to Turbine’s Name Policy, found at http://www.lotro.com/support/1033-coc, which applies to all Lord of the Rings Online servers.

In order to facilitate an immersive roleplaying experience, all character names within official Roleplay-Supported servers are required to be within the spirit of The Lord of the Rings. Character names should be inspired by and reflect the lore of The Lord of the Rings. Please note that names that are homonyms or similar to characters from the lord of The Lord of the Rings may not be used, as stated in Turbine’s naming policy.

Turbine’s Roleplaying Name Policy:

• May not reflect any subject matter that did not exist within The Lord of the Rings lore.
  
  • Examples: Hamburger, Templar, Roman, Computer, Car, Mayan, Peanutbutter, Blitzkreig, Bicycle, Tomatosoup.
  
  

• May not be modern non-fantasy names, nick-names, or slang.
  
  • Examples: Bustacap, Bionicman, Robotrampage, Roflcopter, Beefhead, Lololmao, Whyushootme, Foshizzle.
  
  

• Should follow the naming conventions provided by the naming guidelines at the Character Creation screen.
  
  • We suggest using the “Random Name” function when creating a character if you are unable to find an appropriate roleplaying name.
  
  

• Must be within the spirit of The Lord of the Rings Online.
• Turbine suggests looking towards names within Fantasy and Medieval settings for inspiration.

If a character’s name does not meet these guidelines, you may report them by going to the Main Menu, then Help, then New Ticket. Turbine will then investigate and determine if the name violates the Naming Policy or Roleplaying Name Policy. If the name violates the naming policy, Turbine will change their name to a roleplay-appropriate option.
Repeat violations of this policy may result in:

• Warnings.
• A block from the official Roleplay-Supported worlds.
• Account suspension.
• Repeated or extremely offensive violations may result in a permanent account suspension.

Character Renames
If a Character Rename is purchased from the Turbine Store on Belegaer, Estel, or Laurelin, the new character name must abide by the Roleplay Naming Policy. If the character name does not abide by the Roleplay Policy, the name may be changed. If the name is changed, no refund will be provided for the Character Rename purchase.


Turbine Roleplaying Harassment Policy
This policy is in addition to Turbine’s Code of Conduct, found at http://www.lotro.com/support/1033-coc, which applies to all Lord of the Rings Online servers.
To encourage a friendly and cooperative environment within Turbine’s Roleplay-supported servers, players should be tolerant of the roleplaying choices of others. Since roleplaying may mean different levels of involvement and immersion to different players, you may not disparage, harass, abuse, or threaten players for their choice of roleplaying. You may not use roleplaying as a reason for disparaging, harassing, abusing, or threatening other players for any reason.

If a player is harassing, disparaging, abusing, or threatening other players because they are roleplaying, please report them by going to the Main Menu, then Help, then New Ticket. Turbine will then investigate the situation and take appropriate action.

Repeat violations of this policy may result in:

• Warnings.
• A block from the official Roleplay-supported worlds.
• Account suspension.
• Repeated or extremely offensive violations may result in a permanent account suspension.

Turbine Non-Roleplaying Chat Restrictions
This policy is in addition to Turbine’s Code of Conduct, found at http://www.lotro.com/support/1033-coc, which applies to all Lord of the Rings Online servers.
In order to foster an environment that encourages roleplaying, chat restrictions apply to chat channels within The Lord of the Rings Online Roleplaying servers. Certain chat channels within The Lord of the Rings Online are designated “in character,” while others are “out of character.” “In character” means that all chat must abide by the lore of The Lord of the Rings. “Out of character” means that topics outside of the lore of The Lord of the Rings may be discussed.

The channels and locations that have chat restrictions are:

• Trade. Trade chat must be in character.
• Say (the area around you). Say chat must be in character.
• Regional. Regional chat must be in character.
• LFF (looking for fellowship). LFF chat must be in character.
• Shout / Yell. Shouting or yelling to players must be in character.
• Emote. Emotes, done by typing “/emote” without the quotes, must be in character.
• Player Biographies. Players may create biographies for their characters. These biographies must be in character.

The channels and locations that have no chat restrictions are:

• OOC (out of character). This channel should be where all normal out of character discussion takes place, aside from advice questions.
• Advice. This channel allows out of character chat when asking for advice on The Lord of the Rings Online.
• Kinship. Kinship chat may be in character or out of character. While kinships may choose to be in character, Turbine will not take action on out of character chat in kinship chat channels.
• Player-created chat channels. Player created chat channels may be in character or out of character.
• Private Chat / Tells. Private chat or tells between players may be in character or out of character.
• Fellowship / Raid. Fellowship or raid chat may be in character or out of character.
• In-Game Mail. In-game mail may be in character or out of character.
• Crafted Items / Legendary Items. Some crafted items and legendary items may have notations or names put on them by the crafter or owner. These notations and names may be in character or out of character.
• LFF Notes. Players using the Social panel to find fellowships may have notes that are in character or out of character.

Examples of in character chat:

• “The Rangers say that foul Orcs may be found north of Trestlebridge.”
• “I believe that Michel Delving has the greatest pies ever made in the shire! I’ve taken some with me – does anyone want some? Oh, they’ve all been eaten.”
• “I am looking for five stout-hearted adventurers to join me in ending Sambrog’s presence within The Great Barrow.”

Examples of out of character chat:

• “I really wish that Christmas break was longer than a week. I still have shopping to do.”
• “We had hotdogs last night after watching the local sports team.”
• “In West Philadelphia born and raised.”

If players see another player using out of character chat in an in character chat channel, players may politely and courteously ask them to talk in an appropriate chat channel, such as OOC or Advice. If you disagree with the chat occurring in a chat channel, but the chat is not a violation of the Code of Conduct, we encourage you to use the following options:

• You may choose which chat channels to view by right-clicking on your chat tab, and selecting which channels you would like to view. In this way you may filter out in character or out of character chat within that chat tab.
• You may also create additional chat tabs to manage your chat channels.
• Turbine highly suggests that you use the “ignore” feature if you disagree with how a player is communicating. You may ignore a player by typing “/ignore playername” without the quotes, or by right-clicking their name and choosing to ignore them. This will prevent you from seeing any chat from that character.

Occasional mistypes or mistakes should not be reported. If a player is repeatedly talking out of character within in character chat channels, and refuses to move their chat to an appropriate chat channel, you may report them by going to the Main Menu, then Help, then New Ticket.

Repeat violations of this policy may result in:

• Warnings.
• A block from the official Roleplay-Supported worlds.
• Account suspension.
• Repeated or extremely offensive violations may result in a permanent account suspension.

[Patrickwg]

Will be a very busy first few weeks for turbine employees trying to keep up with the massive incoming flood of tickets for all of the rule violations there will be. Things like Player Biographies, Chat violations, and Name Policy will probably be very popular reported items.


/Popcorn ready for June 1st

[GCT]

Hallelujah, Turbine actually gets it!

Bravo! You are the only gaming company around now that actually supports roleplayers with a policy that includes a player ban from the RP server if the rules are not followed.

If I didn't already own a lifetime subscription, I'd be buying one now.

[AlphaMan]

In West Philadelphia born and raised, I was out of character all of my days.



*Before the hubbub starts, remember the links provided are to CoC rules for all servers, period. Which means there are naming/harassment guidelines already established and practiced, so report as necessary (or /ignore) on other servers. Thanks for the consideration!

[Brandon_Blackbird]

Wow, this is really something else!

[GBergen]

I have never RP'd and never will (because I find it weird) but I'm really happy Turbine has gone ahead and done this for those who take part in RP. Thank you Turbine for reassuring my trust in that you do, in fact, listen to the LOTRO community.

[ddodeadman]

Nice! I just might have create a character for this. I've done some light RP in other games and LOTRO, but with an actual server designed for it?...I'm in.

[Saelie]

I'm curious about biographies, what would be considered IC and what OOC in those? Most people on Laurelin use them to list alts and their Epic Conclusion crits, which is obviously OOC but also useful information to others (well, at least the alts list). Does the policy aim for more character stories in bios instead of OOC stuff like killing blows etc? Can someone get reported for writing "I luv hamburgers" in their bio?

(also, I know some who'd consider even a story about a character's past as "OOC information" because it's (probably) not something that's tattooed to their forehead so knowing anything about a character that's not outwardly visible is "ooc knowledge" and "metagaming" )

[Korrigan_EU]

I have never RP'd and never will (because I find it weird) but I'm really happy Turbine has gone ahead and done this for those who take part in RP. Thank you Turbine for reassuring my trust in that you do, in fact, listen to the LOTRO community.

Even if you don't actively RP, but enjoy a more immersive experience without "Roflcopter" running around in Bree, you can enjoy those rules. Roleplaying is never enforced, it's just supported. There are a ton of non roleplayers on Laurelin who respect all those rules and blend in perfectly.

[Korrigan_EU]

I have a question that may be stupid, but are you sure tomato soup didn't exist in Lord of the Rings... I'm pretty sure Hobbits could have grown and enjoy such a dish.

Of course, that doesn't make it a valid name, but it may not be a good example for the category it's used in as example.

[Stobbit]

I have a question that may be stupid, but are you sure tomato soup didn't exist in Lord of the Rings... I'm pretty sure Hobbits could have grown and enjoy such a dish.

Of course, that doesn't make it a valid name, but it may not be a good example for the category it's used in as example.

What are these tomatoes? They sound very tasty. Sadly, we hobbits have no tomatoes so no tomato soup.

Tomatoes came from the Americas and so wouldn't be considered part of what was available in Middle-earth (unless specifically added in somewhere to the 'lore' , like taters/potatoes were). Also don't have yummy stuff like bell peppers and sweet corn, but for some reason we do have pumpkins.

[Korrigan_EU]

What are these tomatoes? They sound very tasty. Sadly, we hobbits have no tomatoes so no tomato soup.

Tomatoes came from the Americas and so wouldn't be considered part of what was available in Middle-earth (unless specifically added in somewhere to the 'lore' , like taters/potatoes were). Also don't have yummy stuff like bell peppers and sweet corn, but for some reason we do have pumpkins.

You are right, I just read the full article on Wikipedia. My bad.

Still I would be way less "choked" by a hobbit roleplaying that he is eating tomato soup, than by someone named e.g. "Potato Soup" in the game. But point taken

[Mundungas]

Is it just me, or is Laurelin not available for US players at this time? When will it be?

[Siegfriedpf]

I understand that the specific RP rules will not be enforced on Landroval. However, will the GMs be more responsive to things such as harassment during concerts or other large events? It's honestly been rather hit and miss thus far.

[Ayrolen]

Is it just me, or is Laurelin not available for US players at this time? When will it be?

The big move is June 1st, I believe.

“In West Philadelphia born and raised.”

That made me laugh out loud (with a mouth full of oatmeal). Then, of course, I had to sing (read: "rap") the rest of the song.

[Sapience]

In West Philadelphia born and raised, I was out of character all of my days.

There was a very long internal discussion, which later spilled on to twitter, about this actually being in character.

[oldbadgerbrock]

Tomatoes came from the Americas and so wouldn't be considered part of what was available in Middle-earth (unless specifically added in somewhere to the 'lore' , like taters/potatoes were). Also don't have yummy stuff like bell peppers and sweet corn, but for some reason we do have pumpkins.

Tobacco is another item that was imported from the Americas. This is why it is called 'pipeweed' in LOTR. When the word 'corn' appears in Tolkien's writing it refers to grains such as wheat, oats, and/or barley rather than maize.

[AnthroGirl]

Wow, this thread fascinates me. I guess I never realized that I haven't seen any tomatoes (or corn) around the game. I had no idea.

[delafuzz]

Turbine’s Roleplaying Name Policy:

• May not reflect any subject matter that did not exist within The Lord of the Rings lore.
  
  • Examples: Hamburger, Templar, Roman, Computer, Car, Mayan, Peanutbutter, Blitzkreig, Bicycle, Tomatosoup.
  
  

While we're at it, will you also get rid of the taters? They are annoying.

Oh and I think that there was a breakfast with tomatoes shown in the motion pictures. Made me cringe.

[Harla]

I have a brief question regarding naming and name changes:

Is the policy regarding names more directed inthe sense of "That's strictly not in the Lore" or "That's not stricly outside of the Lore"

I ask because there are plenty of character names, especially in the case of, for example, monickers that a character might go by (ie. he might have been named James Cartwight by his parents, but now as an adult gets called Haystack amongst his friends, becasue of a somewhat amusing incident a few years back, and introduces himself as such), which by virtue of being callings rather than names specifically, aren't truly "lore appropriate names" ... but at the same time, when taken with the character's biography, are completely believable and acceptable.

Would Turbine enforce a name change over something like this, if it were reported by a player that didn't consider the character's story along with the name, and/or would turbine view the character's story and other information when making a decision regarding a name?

Or is it more the case where only names that are very flagrantly out of line will be modified?

Also, if a name change occurs and you don't believe that the change was justified, are there any channels to make your case or appeal the decision?

[Warriorpoetex75]

I have been hoping for this for some time. I am not an RPer. However, I have always played on RP servers to avoid the ridiculous names. Also RP servers tend to have better communities. I'll definitely be checking out Laurelin once it's up and running!

[Warriorpoetex75]

Hallelujah, Turbine actually gets it!

Bravo! You are the only gaming company around now that actually supports roleplayers with a policy that includes a player ban from the RP server if the rules are not followed.

If I didn't already own a lifetime subscription, I'd be buying one now.

I really like that rule as well. However, I should point out that lifetime subs are no longer available. Glad I bought one when I did!

[Glingaeron]

I have been hoping for this for some time. I am not an RPer. However, I have always played on RP servers to avoid the ridiculous names. Also RP servers tend to have better communities. I'll definitely be checking out Laurelin once it's up and running!

There are still a fair amount of people, on RP Servers, who don't engage in what the server was founded on in the first place!

RP Supported Servers were the collaboration between a large petition from EU Players, and Satine of Codemasters' who eventually pushed hard enough to get players a server to Roleplay on.

Even with these fantastic rules in place (and I stress fantastic, for they are a tad better than Codemasters' own - which were lax, following F2P), there will still be the odd rulebreaker, or those that don't follow in the spirit of what we founded. It is that, which saddens me - that a single slot on an RP server, could have so much potential! So many storylines, or events could be made - yet is wasted simply because they wanted "better scenery".

That said, I don't want to willy-nilly enforce RP 100%. It's a fact that there are some aspects of this game that we cannot RP; and to do so would wreck the lore behind it and the work of Turbine in implementing a good story to it.

[Hydranova]

Is there some list about what foods are in Lotr lore? Cause now i want to see if bacon exists....in Middle-earth that is.

[Fredelas]

It seems to me that a forum post is not the best (or possibly even correct) venue to communicate these rules to players. There are probably tens of thousands of players who have never even visited the forums and have never been made aware that these rules apply to them and their behavior.

It would be helpful if these rules and policies were integrated directly into the CoC (or at the very least referenced directly in the CoC) so that players would not have to take their own intiative to seek out a forum post.

The Terms of Service (which a player must read and accept when launching the game for the first time) explicitly mention and link to the Code of Conduct, so it seems to me like it would make sense for the Code of Conduct to explicitly mention and link to the Official Roleplaying Rules and Policy, too.