Terminology

I know most might know this but there may be some that don't so here is a list of Terms that are often used in both roleplaying and Out of Character (OOC)

Admin - Administrator, the voice and law of the website.

Mods- Moderators the second in command below the Admin. They have the power to move topics to their rightful places, as well as help out with things. Though they have less power doesn't mean they are to be disrespected.

Bounty Hunters - Well this is our sites fancy term for our recruiters. They look for people that might want to join the site and send them our way.

PM - Private messaging. it's just that they are like e-mails only you can read.

Char(s) - A sort term for character(s)

Ban Hammer - A term that admin use changing the ban button to be all powerful. Note: IT IS All POWERFUL!


Power-gaming - is the term used to describe someone's character using exaggerating amount of power; in practice, it makes the character impregnable to other play styles and lead to a snowball of one-ups. The reason it is shunned for the tournament is because a power-gamer can simply justify his character's kill-potential to a high magnitude while undermining everyone's strong or weak points (or their own, if any). Sometimes this leads to arguments or even vindictive behavior which other authors feel to have an 'up,' over their competition by increasing their character's abilities to rival or surpass other players. This is what is known as an ego trip or for a better term, "pissing contest." While characters exist with incredible amount of abilities, power-gamers eliminate the chances of/for weaknesses by exploiting the author's freedom of character development to very significant degrees.


God-modding - (or known as modding) is the act that portrays an author manipulating another author's character or environment around them in a very significant degree that fringes upon an author's ability to respond or retaliate. In a few cases, a line can be drawn between being 'trap,' or godmodding, but it is differentiated depending on what exactly took place. To be trapped is to fall victim to an attack or 'set-up' that puts a character in such a degree of danger, it will seem unlikely they will come out of it unharmed (assuming their abilities couldn't get them out of it). A godmodder ignores what transpires or their opponent's weaknesses and strength and assumes control over their opponent or situation regardless of the circumstance.


Meta-gaming - is the act of using out of character information or events and utilizing this knowledge as a means to obtain an advantage in character. Meta-gaming is subject to criticism, because drawing a line between a light meta-game and pure meta-game is very blurry; In other words, even though you will be using out of character (ooc) knowledge to engage your opponent, it is very gentlemen-like that your character is unaware of what potential danger they're getting into. For all intents and purposes, an author is trusted to stay in character (IC) throughout the entire duration of the roleplay (combat or otherwise).


Ban-list - is a compiled assortment of abilities found in roleplaying that can be either very broad or succumb to abuse more quickly than others. For The Zone's tournament ruling, the staff came to an agreement on which powers were more readily available to technical loopholes or instant advantages. In no way will this ban-list reflect the staff's ethics, but rather diversify the experience of our tournament. This ban list was created purely to avoid 'power-gaming,' on a larger spectrum rather than restrict players from being creative. Everything in the ban-list is forbidden and SHOULD NEVER BE USED inside the tournament.


Regulation list - is a compiled assortment of abilities found in roleplaying that can potentially be abused and broad but isn't entirely taboo. What is contained in the regulation list is more conditional in that, certain privileges for a character can be utilized without grossly fringing on the rights of other authors. This list not only prevents certain usage of abuse but also allows people to harness these technicalities so long as they are held within the realms allowed. Whereas the-ban list is for forbidden aspects of roleplaying, the Regulation list is a lenient detailing of abilities that can be used under certain circumstances.

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Note: The previous information minus some minor editing has been brought to us by Mobius of the zones!