Rules for Writing Laws
Contents |
Passing a law in ME
All Kingdom or County laws must be written in English. They can be written in another language but the English translation must be always included.
Where should i post the Kingdom Laws?
To be valid, laws must be posted IG (In Game). It is possible to read the laws of every Kingdom from the Travel Map.
My Kingdom is part of a Confederation/Alliance and we have laws in common. How can we publish them?
You would need to publish the same laws in each Kingdom that are part of the Confederation/Alliance, or publish them in a Kingdom Laws board and post a link to the laws in all the other involved Kingdoms laws boards.
Why Am I not able to modify laws?
Published laws can't be modified. You can publish a new version, specifying in the post that the new version substitutes and invalidates the previous one.
There are some specific requirements on how to write a law?
Yes:
- Laws must not discriminate against any player's (not necessarily character's) race, religion or gender.
- Laws must not require activity or participation in any off-site forum or messenger service for any In-Game position
- Laws must not contradict any Forum or Game rule published by the Administration.
- Laws can't have impact on the real life of the player. For example, laws that requires a certain amount of activity are not valid
- Laws can't be retroactive
- Laws must have a 'grace period' of at least three days
- The law if exists and its in favor of the Criminal (example: Prescription) should always be applied.
- Law must specify the date upto when is valid (end date) or clearly specify it doesn’t expire
- Laws must be published in game in English Language and contain at least:
- a clear description;
- the target of the law;
- law classification;
- Old Laws which have been replaced by new Laws for the same crime must be deleted within 24 hours of the new Law being in effect;
- Laws cannot contain punishments that humiliate the PG or player (example: public excuses);
- Laws cannot reiterate any punishment. The only exception is in case of a character banned from Kingdom.
- Laws cannot include any other punishment beside money or prison days.
Law Structure
Description
Description must not be generic and should define precisely the action that it targets.
Example of correct descriptions
- Bread can’t be sold at a price over 4 silver coins;
- It is forbidden to cross region Lombardia;
- It is forbidden to extract resources in region Lombardia without a written authorization from Judge
Example of incorrect descriptions
- It is forbidden to wear non proper clothes while in the Kingdom (what kind of clothes are considered non proper?);
- It is forbidden to buy too much food at the market (the quantity is not clear);
- It is considered enemy of the Kingdom whoever commits terrible actions (what are these actions?)
Law target(s)
The law target(s) must be clear. Targets can be:
- a single character;
- a list of characters;
- all members of a group;
- all citizens of a Kingdom;
- all followers of a Religion;
- everyone.
Law Classification
A law must be specify what is forbidden and classify the crime as per following table:
Type | Description | Prison days (fixed) | Max Fine | Compensation/Damage |
---|---|---|---|---|
A | Administrative offence | 0 gg | 100 | No Limit |
B | Minor Crime | 1 gg | 200 | No Limit |
C | Severe Crime | 2 gg | 400 | No Limit |
D | Capital Offence | 3 gg | 1000 | No Limit |
Examples of correct descriptions
Law | Target | Classification |
---|---|---|
It is forbidden to cross region Lombardia | Guglielmo Di Valenza, Pagans, Member of group “Cavalieri di San Peleo”, Kingdom of Rome citizens | Minor Crime |
Bread can’t be sold at the market for more than 4 silver coins | Everyone | Severe Crime |
Notes * If character age is <= 90 days fine is reduced by 50% * Prison days and Fine are not exchangeable, they must be both applied
Compensation/damage
There is no limit on how much the judge can ask for compensation, however the judge will need to prove the damage. In addition the compensation can be asked only the following type of damage:
Type of damage | Evaluation method | Notes |
---|---|---|
Coins | Coins | |
Goods | N. of Goods * Average Selling Price | Based on table published by Administration on International ME Blog |
Other | Evaluated by administration | Once the damage evaluation is established he will be used as a compensation rule in following trials. |
Example 1
- Law: It is forbidden to cross region Lombardia.
- Target: Guglielmo Di Valenza, Members of Teological Church
- Classification: Capital Offence
Guglielmo Di Valenza crosses region Lombardia. The Captain arrests him and the judge prosecute him for violating the law. He is considered guilty accordingly to a law classified D. Punishment will be:
- 3 days of prison;
- A fine of 400 silver coins (max 1000).
Cumulability
If a characters breaks more than one law, fines, jail days can be summed up to a maximum of:
- 5000 silver coin
- 5 jail days
For the crimes judged in the same trial. It is not possible to open more than one trial at the same time.
Note: The only reason to give more than 5 jail days will be the lack of money to pay a fine or damage and this should be confirmed by administration.
Example 2
James Rossi crosses region Lombardia on day 1st May. The Captain arrests him and the judge prosecute him for violating the law. He is considered guilty accordingly to a law classified D. James Rossi is a 80 days old player. While restricted, James breaks a Law B on the 2nd May. After 15 days, he breaks another law classified as A.
His 1st punishment will be:
- 4 days of prison;
- A fine of (max) 1200 * 50% = 600 coins
His 2nd punishment will be:
- 0 days of prison;
- A fine of (max) 100*50% = 50 coins;
Example 3
James Rossi crosses region Lombardia on day 1st May. The Captain arrests him and the judge prosecute him for violating the law. He is considered guilty accordingly to a law classified D. James Rossi is a 80 days old player. Trial ends and James Rossi is considered Guilty on 3rd May.
On the 4th May james Rossi breaks another law B.
His 1st punishment will be:
- 3 days of prison;
- A fine of (max) 1200 * 50% = 600 coins.
For the second punishment a new trial will be needed.
His 2nd punishment will be:
- 0 days of prison;
- A fine of (max) 100*50% = 50 coins.
Confiscation
Confiscation during Peacetime
It will be allowed to confiscate player goods on the market only in the two following cases:
- If the char is inactive and not on holiday mode (minimum 7 days of inactivity). If the char becomes active again, he should be refunded;
- If the char has been declared guilty in a trial and doesn’t want to pay the fine or he hasn’t enough money.
Example 4
Problem: a citizen of a Kingdom that has not sign a trade agreement uses the market.
To avoid this write a Law that prohibits this and use this schema:
1. Restrain character; 2. Do a quick Trial > punish him accordingly to Law classification.
All other uses will be considered abuse and the Kingdom will be punished by administration with 2 * average price of each confiscated item.
War time
It will be possible to confiscate items of Enemy Kingdom citizens provided there is a law that cover the case. A Kingdom is considered an Enemy Kingdom if there is an Hostile Diplomatic Relationship.
Example 6
Regent of Milano Kingdom writes the following law:
The government will confiscate items on market belonging to a Enemy Kingdom.
In Milano market there are some items for sale of Wallachia citizens. The following day Walachia changes the Diplomatic Relation with Kingdom of Milano to Hostile. Milano government can proceed to confiscate Wallachia goods without having any trial and specyfing in the Confiscation reason the Law.
Process for collecting fines or damage compensations
If the criminal doesn’t want to pay the fine, the Government is allowed to confiscate criminal goods on the market in order to cover the fine applying the average prices published by Government on the International Blog.
If the criminal does not have anything confiscable or the goods don’t cover all the fine amount, a ticket can be opened by the Judge or King to ask Administration help. If the characters has funds, administration will get the money from the character with a surcharge of 20% and refunds the Kingdom. If the character doesn’t have enough coins or items Kingdom can extend prison days by the following formula:
days = max(1, round( coins amount / 500 ))
Example 7
Guglielmo di Valenza digs 80 iron pieces. He breaks a law classified as D. He gets a fine of 1000 s.c. + 3 gg prison but it doesn't want to pay so Kingdom Regent escalates to Administration. Guglielmo di Valenza does not have the money therefore Administration allows to extend prison time to:
3 + round( 1200/500 ) = 5 days of prison.
Administration oversight
It will be possible to open a ticket ALWAYS if a trial did not follow the procedure. The trial will not be invalidated but only the invalid steps will be repeated, giving an extra time of 4 hours. It will be possible to open a ticket to ask administration for an evaluation of the complete trial only for punishment >= 3 gg or fines > 3000 coins.