Rules

Standards of Conduct
Sim Central Affiliation
The crew of the Styx is affiliated with Sim Central. All players must join the Sim Central Discord and accept their community rules before joining this game. Our ship’s protocols extend Sim Central's standards—please review both sets of rules carefully.

General Requirements
Age Requirement: All members of the Styx must be eighteen (18) years of age or older.

Sim Central Membership: All potential players must join the Sim Central Discord prior to joining. Players who leave the Sim Central Discord are assumed to be resigning from the game.

Respectful Conduct: All members are required to be respectful to each other. We have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying or conduct disruptive to the group. Personal disputes must stay out of public channels.

Discord Access: Players must have access to the Mainframe (our Discord server) for out-of-character communication and mission coordination.

Activity Requirements
The defense of Zion and Shepherd's mission cannot function if players do not post in a timely manner. It damages plot momentum and puts strain on your fellow crewmates.

Minimum Posting: All members are expected to participate in at least one published post per calendar month, unless involved in a longer joint post or an excused Leave of Absence (LOA).

Response Time: Members should respond to tags in active scenes within 72 hours. If you need more time, please communicate with your fellow crew and the Captain (GM). Real life comes first, but communication keeps the story moving.

Leaves of Absence (LOAs): If you are unable to meet expectations, let us know in the designated Discord channel. LOAs are not requests for permission—they're a heads-up so we can coordinate around your absence.

Extended Inactivity: If you have not logged in or communicated for more than 30 days without an LOA, we reserve the right to retire your character, conclude associated plots, and remove access. Don't ghost the crew—Shepherd abandons none, but we need to know you're still in the jack.

Writing Standards
Posting Format: All posts must be written in third person and past tense.

Example: Shepherd watched the code cascade down the monitors. "Jack them out," he ordered, his voice steady despite the approaching Sentinels.

Writing In Character:

Only write for your assigned character. Don't control other player characters or major NPCs without permission.

No Metagaming: Your character does not know what you know OOC. If the Captain tells you something privately in Discord, your character only knows it if they learned it in-game.

No "The One" Syndrome: Stick to your character's biography and skills. Don't spontaneously generate "super-user" abilities to solve a crisis. In 2226, even the best redpills are subject to the laws of the simulation—and the consequences of failure.

Location and Timeline: Appropriate location and timeline information (Date: 2226, Time, Matrix vs. Real World) are required for all posts.

Content Rating & Maturity Guidelines
Game Rating: 3-2-3

Language: 3 (Mature language permitted)

Sexual Content: 2 (Fade to black)

Violence: 3 (Graphic violence permitted)

Violence & Gore
The war against the machines is brutal. Scenes of violence—both in the gritty reality of the tunnels and the stylized combat of the Matrix—are expected.

Graphic violence is permitted when it serves the story. The "Real World" is a graveyard of human civilization; the Matrix is a high-stakes battlefield.

Don't be gratuitous. Violence should enhance tension, not glorify suffering.

Torture/Medical scenes should be faded to black.

Sexual violence is prohibited.

Sexual Content & Nudity
No explicit sexual content. All such scenes are "fade to black."

Warning Labels: If a post contains sexual content or nudity, please include a warning at the top.

Language
Mature language is permitted. However:

NO modern slurs of any kind.

Setting-appropriate profanity is fine.

The Reality of 2226: Unity in the Resistance
In the year 2226, the human race is on the brink of extinction. Because of this, the social prejudices of the 20th and 21st centuries have largely been burned away by the fires of the Machine War.

Zion is a Melting Pot: The last human city is composed of descendants from every corner of the earth. Race, gender, and background are secondary to one’s ability to contribute to the survival of the species.

The Matix is the exception: Racial differences and other prejudices are retained in the Matrix to keep people divided.

The Shepherd’s Creed: Captain Shepherd’s motto is "Abandon None." He doesn't care who you were in the Matrix or what you look like in the real world. If you are human, you are worth saving.

Plug in. Wake up. Abandon none.