Real Manners in the Kaneva Virtual World

Our friend the Wikipedia defines manners as, "The unenforced standards of conduct which show the actor to be cultured, polite and refined. They are like laws in that they codify or set a standard for human behavior, but they are unlike laws in that there is no formal system for punishing transgressions, other than social disapproval."

So, in short, be polite to others, or there will be some informal punishment, like shunning.

These rules are as true in the Virtual world, as they are in the real world. Avatars are berated, kicked or banned for a variety of offenses, some real... some imagined.

To your left, you see a Kaneva party. Notice how many avatars are jammed in a reasonably small space. This sort of thing happens in the Virtual World every day. Like real life, some rules apply:

• Don't dance with another avatar uninvited. There's nothing worse than a pissed-off player because "Dildor5000" is dancing too close to her.
• Don't jump up and down on other avatars. Again, personal space bubble stuff. No one like strangers that close.
• No swearing in public places
• Don't dress like a homeless person or a hooker in a public space
• Do not impersonate a Virtual World employee or Game Master. Like real life, you cannot impersonate a cop or a judge.
  
• Do not hack into the client, exploit any bugs that are found or cheat the system
• Don't use hate speech in any form. There are no 1st Amendment rights in a Virtual World.
  

Furthermore, as it was pointed out to me by a dear friend recently... It is NOT okay to just teleport to people directly in the Virtual World. You don't just open up closed doors without knocking in RL, so you should do the same in a VW. It's sad, actually that I do this without thinking. I am the one who enforces the rules of the road in Kaneva, yet I was constantly breaking this particular rule.

I kick idiots.
I ban racists and bigots.
Yet, even I break some of the rules that I am supposed to uphold.

No more. I will never again 'port without asking, and I will apologize if I infringe on other peoples' space bubbles.