The Silence Rule

The Silence Rule is a player's sole recourse when he or she is being harassed. This applies strictly to direct harassment (such as, but not limited to: directly speaking to, whispering to, or attempting to join/summon the player). The Silence Rule does not apply to rumors or slander. When the Silence Rule is applied, the player must be put on ignore and kept on ignore, and any initiation of contact by the one claiming harassment will invalidate their claim.

If you feel like another furre is harassing you, these are the steps to take to make them stop. You must follow them exactly.

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a) Tell the furre "Don't ever speak to me again, I am using the Silence Rule." Then put them on Ignore by typing 'ignore Their|Name'. Check to see if your ignores are set to permanent by going to the 'C' tab on your Furcadia window and clicking the 'edit my settings' button. Find the tab marked 'ignores' and click in the box next to 'Save ignored names' if it is not already checked. You might want to include a link to this document in your whisper, but this is optional.

(Click here to learn how to set up permanent ignores.)

b) Save your log file by doing the following: Locate your 'Furcadia' folder. Inside, there should be a folder called 'Logs', Locate the text document that shares the same name as the character you were playing. Highlight and copy the portion of the log that is desired. Make a new text document and paste the material. Save the document under a new name.

(Click here to learn how to retrieve your log files adjust your log file settings.)

c) On another day or game play period, if the harassing furre bothers you again, follow the same steps. Make *sure* you do not initiate contact. Note that the Silence Rule applies to the player, not to an individual character. If the player contacts you using a different character, it counts as a strike. They may not contact you on Furcadia in any way.

d) On the third day or play period if they speak to you again (on any of their characters), follow the steps again and then take all three log files to a Guardian. Make sure you have ignored the furre and made no contact with them. The Guardian will give them warning to never speak to you again. After the warning is given, if they do speak to you again, take the log file to the same Guardian and it will be taken care of.

Some things of note:
Once you have initiated Silence Rule procedures, you must realize that it is called the Silence Rule for a very good reason. Silence must be upheld in BOTH directions. They cannot speak to you, and you must not speak to them or you forfeit any enforcement of the Silence Rule. To this end, you need to place them on ignore, and LEAVE them on ignore (you may need to change your configuration settings to save your ignores), and never -ever- initiate contact. The sole exception where it is acceptable for you to speak to them is if they find a way around your ignore and you tell them once again, "Never Speak to me again, I am placing you under the Silence Rule." Then you should immediately place them on ignore again. After the first time when you inform them to never speak to you again and place them on ignore, if they get around your ignore somehow, follow steps a and b in the Silence Rule again and save this log with your first one. If it happens again, repeat steps a and b once more, and this time contact a Guardian. The Guardian will give them a warning and make a report. After this, if it happens again that they get around your ignore, bring this fourth log to us, and we will use more stringent measures to enforce the Silence Rule.