Don't Get Muted, Marked or Banned

Greetings, my fellow Runescape players. As some of you may already know, I am a Runescape Player Moderator. Recently, I have gotten a lot of questions regarding the rules, so I decided now would be a good time to write them down and maybe clarify some things. Unfortunately, the rules aren't always written in black and white; there are some grey areas here and there, and sometimes even seemingly innocent actions can get us into trouble. Here are some things to be careful of to make sure you don't get black marks, muted or banned.

1. Read the Rules.
This seems simple enough, but I am surprised at how many people I talk to that don't even have a basic understanding of what the Rules of Conduct say. Sure, it isn't the most exciting thing to spend half an hour on, but having a good grasp of the rules really will make you a better player. Also, if you are the type of player who actively reports the rulebreakers you come across, this knowledge will help you know what to report and what not to report. Did you know that the word "noob" is not a reportable offense? Yet I hear people constantly saying, "I reported so and so because they called me a noob."

2. Don't use Offensive Language.
This is perhaps the biggest grey area in the rules of Runescape. What is offensive to one person may be just commonly used words to another. The easiest way to avoid this is to simply put the other players in the game before yourself. In Jagex's words:

"We have this rule to maintain a pleasant environment in the game. For many people it's not much fun playing if there is someone else being rude or offensive, so please consider others when chatting. Also please remember not everyone playing is the same age or from the same background, so may be more offended or upset than you expect."

Don't swear. Especially, don't go around the filter by using other symbols or spellings of blocked words.

Don't call people names. Really how old are we anyway, five? Let's get past the name calling, shall we?

Watch what kinds of jokes you tell. Even if you are just talking with some friends, if you are saying something that could be considered offensive to someone, you may get reported by an unknown person. Remember that everyone else can hear you. Try private messaging your friends instead. I once got reported for telling a 'yo mama' joke. I said, "yo mama so ugly that when she was a kid, they had to tie a pork chop around her neck just to get the dog to play with her." When the report came in, I had to explain to Jagex that a group of us were just telling these jokes and were not really intending to insult each other's mothers. Remember, the Jagex staff gets hundreds of reports and no doubt has to go through them quickly. When they see something like that, it gets a mark, probably without having time to specifically analyze each one in-depth.

3. Scamming or Hacking
Obviously, this is a serious offense. If you item scam or hack someone you can be muted and banned. Therefore, it is best not to give any kind of appearance of scamming or hacking. Again, and unfortunately, this kind of thing can get misinterpreted so don't talk about it and don't joke about it. I believe it was one of our own villagers who was joking around with a player and said his robes were Zezima robes. He got black marked for it. I also have a friend who got two black marks for hacking, because of a conversation like this:

Idiotplayer3782: You hacked me.
My Friend: What?
Idiotplayer3782: You hacked me.
My Friend: I would like to see how I hacked you.
idiotplayer3782: Reported.

My friend hadn't hacked the kid but someone at Jagex thought it was him admitting to the hacking. Extreme I know, but in this situation it is best just to say "No, I didn't," and move on. Arguing with people like this only ends up making you look bad or bringing you down to their level. Take the high road and just walk away.

4. Asking for Personal Details and Site Advertising
Again, you have to be careful here. General information like what country you are from is fine but even then I have seen people say "reported". DO NOT ask for specific information like addresses, phone numbers, or names of schools. That will get you in trouble for sure.

Site advertising is tricky as well. We once were allowed to walk around and say "Go to Runevillage.com. It's the best fansite," but due to all the cheat sites out there, that is no more. You cannot advertise a site or give out a link to a site even if it is a clan site. I don't even tell people I am a member here at RuneVillage or that I used a quest guide here or whatever. I just don't want to risk being reported.

5. Multiple Log-ins
If you have more than one character, they are not allowed to interact in any way. Again, Jagex's words on the subject:

"We have this rule to maintain a fair gaming experience. We don’t want RuneScape to become a game where everyone feels they need to use multiple accounts at once just to compete! It’s much better to team up with your friends.

I have two accounts. Can my friend play one so I can trade between the characters?
No, this goes against this rule. You are not allowed to trade between two characters owned by one player. You would also be in breach of the Account Sharing/Trading rule (see Rule 6).

Can I give items to another player from one of my accounts, so that they can then give the items to another character that I play?
No, this goes against the rule. You may not transfer items between your accounts in any way.

My brother and I both play from our own accounts in our house. Is it all right if we trade items?
Yes, this is not going against the rules of conduct providing you are both playing from two separate accounts created by each of you."

Oh, and drop trading is not allowed, either.

These aren't all of the rules, (go read them, right now!) but they are the ones that I get the most questions about. I hope this was helpful to clear some things up. Remember, the Jagex staff is human (shhhh, don't tell them I said that) so it is often best to ere on the side of caution.

Written by: Zilla
Edited by: Jaron
Coded by: Hoof NoobQuest