The Blue Mountains Regiment

Kinship Rules

As members of the Blue Mountains Regiment, we strive to be honourable dwarves and hold ourselves to a code of conduct.

Presented below are the rules that each and every recruit, kinsdwarf and officer should abide by, under penalty of demotion — or even exclusion — from the kinship.

In addition to those, do keep in mind that The Lord of the Rings Online™ is rated T for Teen by the ESRB, and PEGI-12 by PEGI; so our behaviour should be reflective that.

Code of Conduct

Newcomers and long-standing members of the Regiment alike are expected to observe the same core principles.

• Pay attention to other people's boundaries.
  There is a fine line between joking around and being a jerk. If someone asks you to stop, listen. Bullying and harassment will not be tolerated.
• Treat one another with respect.
  We have zero tolerance for bigotry, ableism, discrimination or slurs. Do not ridicule or harass someone for their nationality, culture, race, disabilities, gender, religion, sexual identity, etc. Do not make jokes that dehumanise others.
• Do not share explicit content.
  This includes avatars, images, links, or other messages that could be deemed pornographic, harmful, shocking, particularly gory, etc.
• Stay away from controversial topics.
  Some subject matters (including but not limited to politics, racial tensions, religion, etc.) are extremely volatile. We ask that you avoid them or have these conversations in private. If an officer requests that a discussion not take place in kinship chat or on discord, take it elsewhere.
• Be respectful of other's privacy.
  Do not ask others for personally identifying information or images. Do not repeatedly ask others for information they don't want to share.
• Keep it on-topic.
  Try to keep channels on-topic in discord. Try to stay in-character at roleplay events, and use ((OOC brackets)) or other channels if you need to say something out-of-character.
• Listen to the officers.
  If they ask you to stop doing whatever you are doing, tone it down, change the subject, etc. Please do so without arguing or retaliating. If you have a person you are having an issue with, please bring it to an officer to solve or mediate.
• Do your best to be kind and helpful!
  Don't make rude comments to your kinmates about their gear, level, roleplaying style, etc. Instead, help them where you can, and try to have fun!

Roleplaying Events

We are all proud members of the Regiment and our main role is to unite the dwarves and keep Eriador (and beyond) safe from evil. We are a roleplaying kinship. Not a RP-heavy kinship, nor a RP-light kinship, but a RP-mixture kinship. Our events are all in different styles, but should give all participants freedom to have fun.

We welcome all kinds of people, and will not force anyone to do things against their will.

If you JOIN an event:
Each event has it own style, so try and respect that style. We will invite you to participate, but not force you if you don't like that style of event. We do encourage you to attend bi-weekly kinship meetings and weekly military drills, though!

If you HOST an event:
Try to be flexible and welcoming with everyone, as we all have different personalities, even if it doesn't fit your intention for that session. If people don't react as expected, you can eventually try to steer it into a certain direction! If however the situation starts getting out of hand, try to contact an officer who is online (in-game or on discord) for assistance. If none is online, then try to remain calm and bring a report to the officers who can investigate the issue later on.

Roleplaying and Consent

Please communicate out-of-character (via /tell, kinship chat, discord, etc.) with the other participants if you intend to roleplay an intense scene, particularly if it has stakes. This includes your characters arguing (make sure your roleplaying partners know that it is your character who is upset, not you the player!), having a physical fight that may involve significant wounds, maiming or death, or doing anything to them that may result in a long-term change in appearance (i.e. shaving a Dwarf's beard).

If you want to play as a prejudiced character (i.e. a Dwarf that openly hates or insults Elves), please ask out-of-character if your roleplaying partners are comfortable with it first; and don't take it too far in-character: stay in everyone's comfort zones!

Night Watch Events

Events taking place after 6pm (Server Time) fall under the purview of the Night Watch and captain, Snjorblom; participants are expected to respect the following rules:

• Be on time.
  Night Watch event starting times are displayed in the discord event tab and the in-game Message of the Day.
• Follow the loot rule.
  The loot rule is set to 'Round Robin with Roll/Pass'.
• Stick with the group.
  Don't act like you're playing solo!
• Mind the level gap.
  If you join a low-level group as a higher-level character, don't one-shot the enemies!
• Plan ahead.
  The Night Watch's schedule is set in advance; so if you wish to complete something, communicate it beforehand on discord in the Night Watch Events channel (or, if not possible, via in-game mail or chat to Snjorblom.

In case of conflict, be calm. Think it over and see if you can handle it and go on; if it is too much an issue for you, wait until you arrive at a safe spot, wish everyone a good night and leave.

Bards' Night Out

Here are the rules for Bards' Night Out:

• Respect everyone who comes.
  A little light banter is acceptable, but nothing that would tear down another person or make anyone feel unwelcome.
• Observe the golden rule.
  Treat others as you would want them to treat you.
• Everyone is welcome to play music.
  We play in a round-robin style, each person or band playing one song when the clockwise rotation gets to them (when the band or soloist on your right finishes).

If you are going to play in the Blue Mountains Band, show up with all the instruments you are able to play, along with the band's latest zip file installed and ready to play (available in the ⁠music channel on discord).