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LOTRO Code of Conduct

Updated

THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™
CODE OF CONDUCT

The Code of Conduct (CoC) governs player behavior while playing The Lord of the Rings Online™ (as applicable, subject to the payment of applicable software license and services fees, the “Game”) operated by Standing Stone Games, LLC. (“Standing Stone Games”) and participating on the Game Website http://www.lotro.com/, including the forums. The Code of Conduct is designed to make players’ game experience as enjoyable as possible. Failure to follow the Code of Conduct may result in the suspension or termination of your Game account without refund (if applicable).

  1. While participating in the Game or on the Game Website you must respect the rights of others to play and enjoy the Game world as intended by Standing Stone Games.
  2. You may not communicate any player’s real-world information through the use of the Game Website, Game client or server software or any other means.
  3. You may not use or distribute sexually explicit, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive language (including, by way of example, but not limited to, ethnic slurs and religious epithets), content, character names, titles, descriptions, or in-game labels (including, by way of example, but not limited to, offensive or inappropriate guild names, pet names and inscriptions).
  4. While playing the Game or participating in related services, you may not exhibit or partake in behavior that is disruptive to the Game’s normal playability, causes grief or alarm to other players, or degrades the service performance or other players’ client software (for example, deliberately using game bugs or loopholes to disrupt the game or dropping excessive items).
  5. You may not spam or flood with multiple posts the Game chat or the Game Website features.
  6. You may not impersonate any Game Support Staff member or other Standing Stone Games employee, past or present.
  7. You may not violate any local, state, national, or international laws or regulations.
  8. You may not market, promote, advertise, or solicit products or services within the Game or Game Website.
  9. You may not modify the Game client, server or any part of the Game Website.
  10. You may not advertise the intent to, commit the act of, or facilitate the ability of others to commit the act of, unauthorized selling, buying, transferring or sharing access to any Game account.
  11. You may not advertise the intent to, commit the act of, or facilitate the ability of others to commit the act of, unauthorized selling or buying of Game items for real-world monetary values or other consideration.
  12. While participating in the Game, both in-Game and through the official Website, you will follow the instructions and guidelines of authorized Game support staff at all times.
  13. You may not form or participate in groups whose ideology is based upon or resembles anti-religious, anti-ethnic, anti-sexual orientation, nationalistic, racist or sexist philosophies.
  14. You may not intentionally hide or falsify personal information that is deemed necessary for Game account or website account creation.
  15. You may not upload or transmit copyrighted material to any aspect of the Game or related services without the express consent of the copyright holder.
  16. You will not attempt to interfere with, hack into, or decipher any transmissions to or from the Game or related services.
  17. You will not exploit, distribute or publicly communicate any Game error, miscue or bug which gives an unintended advantage within the Game world. You may report bugs at https://help.standingstonegames.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id....
  18. You may not create, post, use or distribute any utilities, emulators or other third party software tools without the express written permission of  Standing Stone Games (including, without limitation, macroing programs, botting programs, server emulators, client hacks, map hacks, and data gathering utilities).
  19. You may not harass other players or  Standing Stone Games staff, including by way of example, but not limited to, threats, stalking or abuse of others.
  20. You may not post website links or URLs in the Game that point to content deemed by  Standing Stone Games to be inappropriate, including, without limitation, any website links or URLs directed to other commercial products or services. You may not post website links or URLs to any materials (including software and other information) that could harm (or is designed to harm) other players’ computers or would allow others to inappropriately access software or websites.
  21. You may not use the Game and/or related services for illegal activities.  Standing Stone Games is not responsible for anything you say (text or voice) in-game or in our chat rooms or forums, or for any consequences that arise from what you say. If you break the law, you alone will be responsible for the consequences.
  22. Although the Game is a role-playing game, you may not claim “role-playing” in defense of any violation of the Code of Conduct.
  23. You may not conduct surveys, contests, pyramid schemes, chain letters, junk email, spamming or any duplicative or unsolicited messages (commercial or otherwise).
  24. You may not defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others.
  25. You may not post or upload files that contain viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, corrupted files or data, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of the Game or other users’ computer.
  26. You may not advertise or offer to sell or buy any goods or services for any purpose, unless the Game specifically allows such messages.
  27. You may not falsify, delete or disable any copyright management information, such as author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations or labels of the origin or source of software or other content.
  28. You may not restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Game or related services. For example, disrupting the flow of chat in chat rooms with vulgar language, abusiveness, hitting the return key repeatedly, inputting excessively large images so the screen goes by too fast to read, use of excessive SHOUTING (all caps) in an attempt to disturb other users, “spamming,” or “scrolling” (continuous posting repetitive text), are prohibited.
  29. You may not harvest (in an automated manner or otherwise) or otherwise collect personal information about others, including e-mail addresses, or use such information to send unsolicited emails.
  30. You may not use, download or otherwise copy, or provide (whether or not for a fee) to a person or entity any directory of users of the Game and related services or other user or usage information or any portion thereof.
  31. You may not attempt to get a password, other account information, or other private information from a member or any other user of Game and/or related services.
  32. You may not improperly use in-game support or complaint buttons or make false reports to  Standing Stone Games administrators.
  33. You may not use the Game and/or related services in any manner other than for personal communication as an individual user (i.e. not as a corporation or other entity).
  34. You may not use the Game and/or related services for fraudulent transactions including, without limitation, fraudulent in-game virtual transactions.
  35. Attempting to Defraud a CS Representative - Petitioning with false information with the intent of receiving benefits as a result. This includes reporting bug deaths, experience or item loss, or accusing other players of wrongdoing without basis for it.
  36. Impersonating a Customer Service Representative - falsely representing yourself to another player as a Standing Stone Games or a Daybreak Game Company LLC employee.
  37. CS Personnel Abuse - This includes, but is not limited to, sending excessive /petitions (as an individual or group), sending excessive /tells to a CS Representative, excessively using say or other channels to communicate to a CS Representative, making physical threats, or using abusive language against a CS Representative.
  38. Implying Favoritism by Game Masters - Stating that employees of Standing Stone Games or Daybreak Game Company LLC will show favor towards one or more parties involved in any given situation. This includes but is not limited to, using threats of retribution or inferring that you will not be held accountable for your actions due to special consideration.

Note: This list is not all-inclusive and Standing Stone Games has the final say over what constitutes a violation of this Code of Conduct.  Standing Stone Games reserves the right to change the Code of Conduct at any time. Check the GameWebsite http://www.lotro.com periodically for updates to the Code of Conduct.

 

Remedies to inappropriate behavior:

A player who violates the Code of Conduct may be warned by  Standing Stone Games staff, but some particularly serious violations or repeated violations can result in other sanctions, such as a lockout or permanent ban, without warning. In addition,  Standing Stone Games reserves the right to delete characters or entire accounts as we see fit, without warning, for certain violations.

Chat (text and voice) in the Game and Game Website may be logged and may be reviewed at any time and for any reason, including, without limitation, to assist in making decisions regarding violations of the Code of Conduct. This includes, but is not limited to, private chat, fellowship chat and kinship chat.

If you understand the terms of the End User License Agreement and the Code of Conduct and these terms are acceptable, please indicate your agreement and your intent to be legally bound by them by affirmatively accepting the terms where indicated.

 

LOTRO Character Naming Policy

Character names in The Lord of the Rings Online should try to reflect the adventurous and heroic spirit of The Lord of the Rings. When selecting a character name, please be aware of the type of character you are creating, be it a Human, Elf, Dwarf, or Hobbit. Each race has its own naming conventions and it is encouraged that you select a name befitting the race and spirit of your character. Although this is not required, it does helps to shape a fun, engaging, and immersive world for everyone.

The following are examples of character names and guild names that are NOT appropriate for The Lord of the Rings Online and is also applied to kinship and organization names. Some names that do not fall within one of the examples below may still be inappropriate. The Lord of the Rings Online Support has final say over what constitutes a violation of the character naming policy.

Proper names and places or close facsimiles thereof, from the story characters or non-player characters (NPCs) introduced in the fiction of Lord of the Rings Online.

  • Sexually explicit, defamatory, obscene, racially or ethnically offensive names.
  • Names of historical or religious significance.
  • Trademarked names of products, goods, materials or services.
  • Common names, slang or references to drug related substances, culture or paraphernalia.
  • Names causing harm, mockery or imitation of Lord of the Rings Online players or NPCs, in addition to Standing Stone Games, Inc. employees, past or present.
  • Misspelled variations or homonyms of any of the above rules.

 

Policy Enforcement

There is a Zero Tolerance rule in effect for the following name violations:

  • Sexually explicit, defamatory, obscene, racially or ethnically offensive names.
  • Common names, slang or references to drug related substances, culture or paraphernalia.
  • Names causing harm, mockery or imitation of Lord of the Rings Online players or NPCs, in addition to Standing Stone Games, Inc. employees, past or present.

This means that if your character or kinship name is in violation, the name will be changed without question. For characters that violate this rule, your character name will be changed and your account will be automatically placed on a one day suspension for a first offense. For kinships that are in violation, the kinship name will be changed and the account of the kinship leader will be placed on a one day suspension for a first offense. Additional offenses will consist of further account actions, including possible closure.