We seem to be having a LOT of trouble lately with god-modding, especially among our newest members. I need to remind everyone that god-moding/power-playing is one of the worst sins of role-playing. It can stifle play, puts unfair burdens on your role-playing partners trying to adjust to your actions against them, and can kill a thread quickly. It also gives you, the player, a VERY bad reputation -- word gets out who god-modes and who doesn't, and soon, no one will want to role-play with you.

Reminders on what we consider god-moding (this also applies to power-playing):

-- god-moding is when your character does something to another character that the other character's player did NOT give you permission to do.

-- god-moding with magic -- you CAN shoot a spell at someone, but you CANNOT say it hit them! You must give the other player a chance to decide whether their character was "hit" or not.

-- god-moding physically -- you CAN say your character did very mild "social" touching (like touching an arm, patting a back, shaking a hand, friendly gentle nudging), but interfering with another character's actions beyond that is god-moding. This includes knocking someone down, pressing them against a wall, hitting them, preventing them from moving, etc. (and yes, this includes kissing!)

-- god-moding emotionally -- you CANNOT say another character is acting in a certain way that the other writer did not first write of themselves. You certainly cannot write that their character has a crush on yours WITHOUT the other player's permission! And remember -- your character is not psychic! They cannot know what another character is thinking! Even if the other player has written several paragraphs on what their character is thinking, your character cannot know this!

-- god-moding with information -- you CANNOT have your character know something about another character that they have not been directly told through role-playing. If you, the player, read that another character's pet died, your character cannot then offer them condolences in another thread.

Read the following links for more in-depth explanation of what is considered god-moding.

Fun Fights and How to Do Them Right
God-Moding and other Sins of Role-Playing
Common Role-playing Missteps

The incidences of god-moding have been increasing. Normally, the staff does not interfere with god-moding issues unless we receive a complaint, because we cannot know when some god-moding is preplanned and arranged by the players offline. This practice will continue. But we HAVE been receiving more and more complaints, especially about the 1st Years/new members. We normally send a PM and place an OOC violation against the character's record, but if the incidences of god-modding complaints continues to rise, we may begin handing out official 10% Board Warnings. Too many of these will result in an account being suspended or banned.