<note important>The admin and moderators did not write these rules, and do not enforce them. These guidelines were written and rewritten by a small group of players over a four-day period in September 2014, as an attempt to codify Rule 1. It in no way reflects any official Improbable Island policy and is presented here for historical purposes only. For moderation guidelines, please go to the moderation policies wikipage, and consult the rules from the 'Site Rules and FAQ' link available beneath every chat box on the Island. Moderators do not enforce or acknowledge rules that are not in the 'Site Rules and FAQ' link. Editors, do not remove this notice.</note>
Improbable Island has a small number of rules that have been left vague on purpose. This has caused them to become a slight point of contention over time as some players desire a more detailed set of rules. The rules as the site admin has written them are detailed in the FAQ found in every outpost. There is further discussion of policy and guidelines in the Moderation Policies wikipage and in the Newbie Advisory.
While it's mostly agreed (is it?1)2)3)) that the first rule is the most problematic when it comes to interpretation, there are a few really specific4) non-written guidelines that are religiously enforced by most players. Here are a few of them. (This list is constantly being added to and changed. The discussion is going on here.)
While fights between characters5)6)7) are acceptable, as long as proper fighting etiquette is observed (willing participants, no “god-modding”, etc), violent fights are frowned upon in Outpost story areas. Some will say that this only applies in NewHome, but a lot of players, and some mods, have been known to extend this to all Outposts.
The idea behind this rule is to keep the atmosphere friendly and conductive to the integration of others who might feel that a fight scene will be hard to write alongside or join.
*Variant: While the no-fighting is universally enforced, the spirit of this rule is sometimes carried over to all kind of conflicts in NewHome, be they verbal fights, wounded characters, drama, or any other kind of crisis. Dramatic players are often encouraged to take it to a private setting.*
Also, while outright violence is looked down on, the good-natured water-balloon/snowball fight, NERF war or just plain old silly harmless fun that anyone can join in on is still accepted. Though this could technically be called fighting by some sticklers, the main thing is that it's harmless, drama-free and something that anyone can join in on which is exactly what the Outposts are for!
Erotic Roleplay (often shortened to just ERP) is accepted on the Island. While it isn't what the Island is for, CMJ has given us the ability to make places and private rooms, so that sort of thing happens. There are a few simple guidelines that go along with it.
Any sexualized behavior is a-okay… as long as it doesn't include age play or the involvement of a character of minor age8). This age may vary depending on where you live, but the Improbable Island servers are hosted in the UK where legal age of consent is 18. Please do not engage in any activity that shows a character of 17 years old or younger having any idea of sex or provocative behavior. This sort of thing gets you banned.9)
These types of scenes are to be kept in private player-owned places and behind locked doors or in double beds. Anything you wouldn't do in public in real life shouldn't be done in public on the Island. Thus kissing, hugging, playful slaps, and pinches are O.K.; anything from heavy petting and beyond will usually get you a polite request from a mod to take it outside10) as it probably made another player uncomfortable.