GAMEPLAY GUIDELINES
This document consists of most gameplay guidelines for Stapleton County. Updates to this document may occur at any given time without notice. It is expected for each individual to understand basic rules prior to participating in any activities within Stapleton County.
Last modified 12/26/2023
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BASIC GUIDELINES
SPECIFIC-SCENARIO GUIDELINES
DEPARTMENT/BUSINESS/MISC. GUIDELINES
USE OF MEDIA CONTENT AS EVIDENCE
EXCEPTIONS
ENFORCEMENT & CONTESTING MODERATION
BASIC GUIDELINES
ROBLOX COMMUNITY STANDARDS
All players must follow Roblox’s community standards to ensure safety and security for all players. Failure to do so may result in moderation action taken against you. The roblox rules can be found here. Examples that are strictly prohibited are self-harm, self-harm encouragement by falling off the bridge, or by another other means.
LTAA/RTAA
LTAA (Leaving to Avoid Action) or RTAA (Resetting to Avoid Action) is the action of leaving and/or resetting to avoid actions taken by law enforcement officers. If an individual has been handcuffed using the “handcuff” tool in specific, they may leave the game, but may receive additional jailtime.
If you have been detained by an officer for questioning, you are obligated to remain in the server until the officer has completed their respective actions in an appropriate amount of time. If you believe that the officer is unnecessarily holding you, the officer may face moderation actions against them.
Should an individual lose an officer during a pursuit, they must wait around 5-10 minutes before leaving the server. The waiting process should not happen when actively driving or evading from law enforcement officers.
SPAWN-KILLING/ARRESTING
“Spawn-killing/arresting” is the action of intentionally hunting or arresting players that are loading in to begin their gameplay within Stapleton County. Should the subject have an infinity symbol above their character upon initially joining, it means they have recently spawned and are loading into the game. Officers shall allow for the subject to leave the dealership and begin their gameplay prior to attempting to arrest the individual.
Players who have been killed/respawned may be detained at spawn for booking/investigatory measures.
METAGAMING
“Metagaming” is the act of receiving information that you would have not been able to receive otherwise. For example, utilizing the citation book tool in order to grab the identification of a subject.
If an individual releases their username to another individual, then the use of the leaderboard or any outside sources to match the individual is authorized. Searching a subject’s vehicle plate or scanning the individual’s prints may constitute the authority to utilize the leaderboard to view their avatar to match the individual. Viewing the leaderboard to match an individual who is evading is not permitted if no other form of identification is used, and is considered “random searching”.
Random searching may also be defined as utilizing the phone to call every user in the game to match their caller ID to the person that previously called, or using tools such as the Commerce giver & donation tool.
Exceptions are if an individual is breaking game rules, such as attention seeking. Utilizing the leaderboard or citation book in these contexts are allowed.
POWER-PLAYING/FEAR-RP
Power-playing is the act of controlling another character without their consent during gameplay in scenarios such as a hostage. Players are not able to force another character to do these actions, such as forcing you to “slip on a banana”.
Players are recommended to follow along power-playing attempts as long as they are not considered harmful to gameplay. Following through with power-playing attempts enhances overall gameplay when both parties are willing to participate and not cross any boundaries.
Fear Roleplay does not exist between civilians and public employees. Controlling an officer or public employee based on fear, such as holding them at gunpoint, or to control (power-playing) is prohibited. FearRP is authorized between civilians, as long as both parties are willing.
VEHICLE OPERATIONS
If a civilian’s vehicle has been flipped while being pursued, they are unable to flip their vehicle back up (unless their vehicle has been flipped due to an individual exploiting unintended bugs.If an officer’s vehicle has been flipped during a pursuit, they may begin to flip their after after they lose sight of the suspect’s vehicle. If the suspect’s vehicle is still within sight and is damaged (popped wheels, boxed in, etc), the officers may not flip their vehicle upright until the scene is considered complete.
Non-law enforcement officers such as the Department of Public Works are able to flip their vehicle upright as long as it’s not involved in a roleplay scene.
ATTENTION SEEKING
Attention seeking is the act of doing activities to bring attention to yourself such as purposefully ramming an active scene that you are not part of. Following an officer during their movements during pursuits or traffic stops is considered attention-seeking and should be avoided. Unless such activities are causing severe server disruptions, the officers should utilize the law to its fullest extent and deal with the individuals in-game.
Dialing 911 to gain the attention of law enforcement is permitted as long as the location is provided, no matter if correct or false. Spamming the 911 system is forbidden.
SCENE DISRUPTION
Scene disruption is the act of disrupting active scenes for the sole purpose of causing annoyance. Roleplaying scene disruptions in respect to your character is permitted, as long as it does not harm the gameplay for others. Shooting or ramming public employees repeatedly constitutes as scene disruption and can be subject to moderation.
If an individual’s actions are premeditated with reason, it is permitted. Scene disruption is up to the game moderation team, depending on prior history.
CAMPING DEALERS
Camping any illegal dealers within Stapleton County is strictly prohibited for both criminals and law enforcement officers, unless you are holding up the dealer against law enforcement officers. Officers may use interactions with illegal dealers to try and follow them to get a different probable cause to pull the subject over and initiate a search. Interactions with dealers should not be the reasoning for BOLOs. Being near, or interacting with any dealers shall not constitute probable cause.
Taking a weapon out in order to refill ammunition is considered interacting with the dealer. Taunting, the act of willingly taking out a gun to pretend to refill ammunition may be used as probable cause.
CUFF-RUSH/CUFFS
Cuff-rushing an individual is the act of utilizing the handcuffs/any detainment tools to rush at an individual. An example of cuff-rushing is sneaking up to a person at an ATM robbery and immediately cuffing them. Instead, dry-stun them as it acts as a tackling mechanism.
For law enforcement officers who wish to cuff-rush individuals for continuous attention seeking (such as constantly ramming your vehicle & running away as soon as you pursue or similar), you should gather evidence of it beforehand in the case a ban request is submitted regarding yourself cuff-rushing. Game moderators won’t be going into the DMs of LEO’s to ask for evidence (although we may ask for context for clips submitted by criminals).
Cuff-rushing is not permitted except under special circumstances. These circumstances only include the following: If the user continuously logs out of cuffs, if the user continuously seeks attention and leaves the scene upon pursuit; if the user continuously breaks gameplay guideline regulations and if the officer is unable to grab them appropriately; or if the user is glitching and/or exploiting the game.
Law enforcement officers may not use the handcuff tool to grab government officials, or any player to remain in a “godded” state to prevent harm. Using players as shields while in a situation is also strictly prohibited. Law enforcement officers purposefully detaining/holding a suspect and intentionally holding them for an unnecessary amount of time to process the arrest will face moderation.
In the event a player escapes detainment into any body of water, law enforcement officers are authorized to run after the individual with handcuffs.
ABUSE OF GAME MECHANICS
Abuse of game mechanics is the act of abusing features unintentionally added with updates to the experience. Abusing unintended mechanics is strictly prohibited, and may result in moderation action.
VEHICLE USAGE
Car surfing, the act of standing on top of a car, whether inside or on the hood is prohibited. Should the vehicle they are standing on begin moving, the subject should leave the vehicle and roleplay from that point onwards. Running away from crimes by jumping on or inside of a moving vehicle is prohibited and will result in moderation action.
Equipping tools while driving is prohibited, besides cell phone & ID, civilians glitching their inventory to view tools in the driver’s seat of any vehicle is considered abuse of game mechanics. Law enforcement officers are authorized to equip a radar gun and relevant tools while the vehicle is stopped, as long as you unequip the tool when you start driving. Using a radar gun or any tool while flying a helicopter (being a pilot) is prohibited and may result in moderation action.
Law enforcement officers with rambars are prohibited from slamming into stationary vehicles with “Pattern 3” lights on to disable a vehicle’s tires. The act of purposefully placing your vehicle with pattern 3 enabled is also prohibited and may result in moderation action.
Utilizing the helicopter’s spotlight on players during the day (even to flash briefly) and when they’ve entered any structure that blocks the light’s sight is prohibited, and may result in moderation action.
During a shootout or foot pursuit, players running through vehicles to avoid being shot at or tased is prohibited. While in most cases these actions are unintentional, repeated actions may result in moderation action.
Driving boats onto land is prohibited and may result in moderation action.
WALL SHOOTING/VEHICLE SHOOTING
Wall shooting is the act of shooting through walls or poking only the barrel of your firearm past a wall. During a shootout, a part of your body must be visible. This action is prohibited and may result in moderation action. If the windows of a car have been damaged/broken and the person still cannot be hit due to game physics/errors, they can shoot the player from inside the vehicle. It is prohibited to walk inside a vehicle to shoot prior to having a broken window.
VIOLATION BAITING
The act of violation bating is baiting other players into breaking any gameplay guidelines. Doing so may result in moderation action.
JUMPING OFF UNREALISTIC HEIGHTS
Jumping off of unrealistic heights is the act of jumping from an unrealistic height to evade from players, and may result in moderation action. Examples of this are jumping from the center or any other extreme height of Skyway bridge to evade law enforcement.
FALSIFYING REPORTS
Falsifying reports is the action of falsifying, cropping footage, or framing an individual in a light that is inherently false or skewed in order for them to receive any sort of moderation taken against them, and may result in moderation action… An example of this is an individual glitching prior, which the offender clipped, cropped and sent to the moderation for action to be taken.
SPECIFIC-SCENARIO GUIDELINES
ABUSE OF PUNCHING MECHANICS
Abuse of punching mechanics is the act of utilizing the punching feature to punch individuals through vehicles, buildings, or any other object that is not realistic. In the event an individual is being punched and the criminal escapes to their vehicle in an attempt to use this rule against them as a shield, it shall not be in effect.
SPIKE STRIPS
Spike strips should only be used during pursuits in an attempt to stop the vehicle from fleeing any further outside of city limits. They should not be used to stop a vehicle from driving away from a traffic stop, high-risk stop, or thereof, and may result in moderation action.
PLACEABLES
All placeables within the experience are to be used for the purpose they are intended for. Placeables should not be used as cover, to climb structures, or thereof, and may result in moderation action. An example of this is placing a barrier or other object, to then use as cover.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CRIMES
The act of committing crimes on public transportation such as buses and taxis are prohibited, unless the operation of such transportation method permits for an appropriate scenario, as long as the administration of the company allows it. All drivers should consult with their supervisors prior to organizing roleplays involving crimes on a transit vehicle for public transportation.
TASER, K9 USAGE DURING SHOOTING & RUSHING
During a shootout, officers are expected to not use their tasers to end a shootout and arrest an individual. K9’s can be deployed on an active shooter when all other means have been exhausted, and should not be the first go-to in every shooting scenario. Rushing into scenarios without first attempting to negotiate with reasonable attempts (such as bank robberies) is strictly prohibited and deteriorates gameplay for all players, and may result in moderation action.
Officers shall not under any circumstances tase players or use K9’s within vehicles, and may result in moderation action.
TREES
Shooting and hiding in trees is allowed, and law enforcement officers may not cuff-rush any players for hiding within a tree to ambush, or evade law enforcement officers.
EXPLOITING IN OTHER EXPERIENCES
Exploiting other experiences relevant to Firestone, such as during times of war or deployments is strictly forbidden, and will result in moderation action.
BAITING
Laying in snow to bait getting run over by others is considered violation of gameplay guidelines and may result in moderation action.
FIRE SCENE
Running into an active fire scene is unauthorized, unless you join part of the scene before any first responders arrive, such as law enforcement officers and paramedics/firefighters.
BIKES
Purposefully utilizing bikes to glitch vehicles is against the gameplay guidelines and may be subject to moderation.
SOLITARY
Purposefully resetting your character when placed into a single cell to re-enter the day room is against the gameplay guideline and may be subject to moderation.
STREET/STOP LIGHTS
Purposefully standing on street and stop light poles is against the gameplay guideline and may be subject to moderation. Law enforcement officers are authorized to tase subjects down.
POSTAL
Committing crimes which require lethal force, or other actions that god-mode gives an advantage towards while doing the postal job is strictly prohibited and may result in moderation action. Otherwise, minimal crimes such as simply evading should be handled by law enforcement officers. Law enforcement officers shall not cuff-rush or otherwise break the gameplay guideline in order to detain/arrest the individual, unless other regulations are broken.
CRIME IN SPECIFIC LOCATIONS
Committing crimes within locations such as the Lunar Arena are considered against the gameplay guideline. Those committing crimes within this location may be subject to moderation.
DEPARTMENT/BUSINESS/MISC. GUIDELINES
BUSINESS TOOLS/PLACEABLES
The usage of business tools and placements should only be used for business roleplays and events. Using your business tools for other means such as creating barriers for criminal use or otherwise is strictly forbidden, and you risk your development support (tools/vehicles) indefinitely. Other businesses may not use a competing business’ tools, even if game mechanics allows such, and employees that abuse these features risk themselves being moderated for abuse of tools.
AUTHORIZED EXPERIENCES
Any experience facilities used for training not under the State of Firestone group, or particular department groups are not authorized for use and may be subject to moderation.
DEPARTMENT ASSETS
If a department official or any other ranking individual is terminated/resigns from a department, all assets pertaining to that department must be transferred over to the next person in charge. Those who fail to transfer documentation in an adequate amount of time may be subject to moderation.
TEAM CHANGE ABUSE
Department/public employees are strictly forbidden from utilizing the switching teams feature to avoid confrontation from players and may be subject to moderation.
FLASHBANG/TEAR GAS/SMOKE BOMB
Use of any throwable object such as a flashbang, teargas or smoke bomb through walls, such as through bank walls is considered against the gameplay guideline, which may be subject to moderation.
PUSHBARS
Pushbars equipped on law enforcement vehicles is to be used as a PIT maneuver mechanic during pursuits. Officers are prohibited from circling around a suspect’s vehicle to pop it’s tires, position their pushbar in a manner that may result in a disabled state, or any other abusive way is considered against the gameplay guideline, which may be subject to moderation.
USE OF MEDIA CONTENT AS EVIDENCE
INTRODUCTION
Our intention is to allow the community to freely live-stream or record themselves playing Stapleton County. Allowing the legal system to prosecute individuals who stream or record & upload their crimes for entertainment purposes will push away streamers, YouTubers and ordinary players out of the community who wish to show their content/gameplay to others.
CIVILIANS/CRIMINALS
Ordinary civilians or criminals who livestream on platforms such as Kick, Twitch or YouTube, or record their actions may not have their evidence used for prosecution purposes within the justice system, or law enforcement officers. If the author of said media permits the usage as evidence to be used, then the legal system or law enforcement officer may use said media. If permission is granted, it may not be retracted.
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES/LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
Public employees, or any law enforcement officer have the same rights as ordinary civilians or criminals when it comes to use of evidence during prosecution. However, they may be punished accordingly by their respective Department Head(s) with the media provided, whether the original author permits or not.
For the media to be used in the legal system, they have the same regulations as civilians/criminals. If the author is attempting to contest the consequences in the court of law due to their actions of self-published media, they must permit the usage of their message as evidence in court. If they decline the usage of their media as evidence, they may not contest in the court of law.
EXPECTATIONS & ENFORCEMENT
Public employees are expected to not misuse this regulation, any intentional misuse permits the courts and their department head(s) to use said media, whether permission was granted or not. Any media content can be used for expungement cases, but the author cannot be prosecuted based on the result of the expungement, unless the author gives explicit permission.
Game moderators may take actions on any users breaking game regulations if the media shows said evidence. Permission is not needed from the author
EXCEPTIONS
CO-FOUNDER+
If a Co-Founder or above is testing a feature, they are to be considered as players that are not actively participating in gameplay, unless they specifically choose to decide to roleplay. If they explicitly state that they are testing a feature, then the individual is unable to perform any action on other players and vice versa. Co-Founders+ will always attempt to do their testing outside of gameplay.
ENFORCEMENT & CONTESTING MODERATION
ENFORCEMENT
All gameplay guideline violations are enforced by game moderators. Typically, if there is a clear breach of gameplay guideline regulations, both parties should ignore such actions and return to what they were doing previously. In extreme situations, game moderators have the ability to kick or ban the player.
CONTESTING MODERATION
If you believe that you have been unfairly moderated, you may submit a ban appeal in the Stapleton County Hub, with your explanation of the situation. Oftentimes, you are able to approach the Head Game Moderator in an attempt to figure out what you did wrong and what can be fixed, as long as you inquire with proper etiquette. Targeting and harassing game moderations will diminish your chances of a successful appeal, alongside potential community removal at the discretion of the Co-Founder+.
Should you have a complaint about a game moderator, feel free to approach the Head Game Moderator with respect to your concern. You should have evidence of your primary concern prior to approaching the Head Moderator about your complaint.