The Staff has decided to retire the Patch Notes section of the forums. Our reasons for this are: 

1. We have been more consistently using the announcement threads to announce changes to rules, storyteller, mainstoryline, etc. The intended purpose if the Patch notes was to do this, without making announcements.
   
2. The patch notes system is not user-friendly, and becomes unclear what each patch note entails
   
3. The patch notes system is overshadowed by changes made through announcements and becomes out-dated
   

Hey guys, unfortunately, it seems our Dynamic staff app idea did not pan out so well. As I said in the thread, the test would last either until the start of 2019 or till March 2019. Because of only one application however, we have decided to shut this system down and revert back to the original system.Which is us opening up staff apps when we feel we need more staff.

Right now, Staff Apps are open from January 21st to Feb 10th

But this is not all. The staff itself has gotten together and discussed what we feel we expect from new staff members based on our past experiences in doing this job. Below you find a comprehensive list of what we not only expect from new staff but ALL staff.

1. Strong Teamwork: Despite what people may think, we do not make decisions on our own. The staff discusses how answer player concerns, lore issues, loot, and even item effects to ensure as many views as possible are seen so we can craft the best possible answer to give the player. People who want to join the staff must be comfortable working in a team and discussing things with staff without letting their personal feelings get involved.

2. The staff is a position of service: Those who join the staff must understand that being on the staff is not a privileged position. Its not there for people to use to uplift themselves or their friends. If your own the staff your working the betterment of everyone on Freedom, which means sometimes you'll have to make hard decisions that may effect you negatively but in the long run be better for the server.

3. Work Ethic: We need people who are dedicated to the staff and when willing to do something, will do it.

4. Willingness to try: Before we used to break down staff members somewhat. Those who could do events, those who could handle the more administrative stuff and everyone in between. Well we can't really do that any more. With Legion approach closer and closer, I can't handle all the story on my own. Hosting events, creating loot, acting as a lore character are all very daunting things at first but it gets eaiser over time if your willing to learn. That's what the staff needs. I don't need event runners who can dm for 40 people. But I do need people who are not afraid to dip their feet water and give the story hosting side of Freedom a try. I won't ever burdern any of staff with something I think that can't handle or won't offer to help when you need it but first you need to give it a shot.

5. Sharing your thoughts: One of the most important things for a staff member and something I personally expect greatly, is the ability to share your thoughts on the situation. I'm not looking for yes men to agree with me every step of the way. I'm asking for combative or argumentative people, but I am asking people who can reasonably debate things and share their concerns and ideas. People who can constructively get their points across and give ideas when needed. 

I hope people who are interested read this over and apply with these points in mind. I look forward to finding new staff members as Freedom makes its way forward this year.

Hello Freedom!

Its been an interesting four years since I had a fit of madness and decided to apply for GM, I definitely could not of predicted how far we've come, and how both the server and the community has changed over time. Unfortunately, one of these changes is my stepping down from the Staff. This is owing to my IRL circumstances and has in some ways been a long time coming, as my ability to commit and to perform has been on the decline due to factors beyond control. I have nonetheless got a lot of enjoyment and fulfillment through working for and with this community I first joined in 2010, and then stepped up in 2014, and I wish it well going forward on the march towards Legion. I do not intend to leave Freedom altogether, but I shall likely be taking a bit of a break for a while as I acclimatize to not having absolute power at my whim.

Thank you to the rest of the Staff for keeping me mostly sane, and thank you to everyone for the good times.

Peter, Signing Off

Hey Freedom, this is going to be a major announcement, and we recommend reading it fully and carefully.

With the Holiday Break starting now, the Staff has a little more time to dedicate to not frantically trying to stop everything setting on fire. As a product of that, we are considering a few changes we could make to potentially make it easier on people to RP more spontaneously and with less restrictions.

We’ve decided to start with a trial of the most liberal system we are considering. What this entails, simply put, is raising the bar considerably on what needs a CtS/staff approval. We’ll go into more depth of what does still require staff approval later, but to summarise, unless specifically told by the staff that you should do otherwise, nobody will be expected to make a CtS for storylines that don’t have major lore implications, for loot that isn’t major and for character/class concepts that aren’t entirely outlandish.

This does mean we are placing a great deal of trust in you, the playerbase, to moderate yourselves and not use this as an opportunity to go absolutely wild. The lore is still the lore, and common sense is still common sense. If individuals abuse this trust we are giving to do things that are unacceptable, the staff will step in to potentially punish those responsible, retcon the situation, and remove the culprit from this new system - effectively blacklisting them so they have to gain approval for everything the current system would require. It would be messy and unpleasant for you and for us. If there is a great deal of trouble as a result of this trial, then the trial can be ended at any time and we may consider other options. Obviously, we want to be able to trust you all, and ideally this will make everyone’s life easier and happier, but it does put a great emphasis on individual responsibility. If you are unsure if what you’re doing is crossing the line, then you should definitely consult with us beforehand.

With that in mind, we will go into more depth on what does cross the line now. We reserve the right to amend this list, and it should be treated as much as a guideline as a strict ruleset. Just because something isn’t listed, doesn’t mean it's free game if common sense says it's dodgy.

You should still look for staff approval if the RP you wish to run includes:
-Major lore implications - Anything involving the Titans, Naaru, the Emerald Dream, directly related to the Old Gods, defecting to another faction etc.
-Major lore characters - Faction leaders, Leading/High-ranked figures in major organisations and otherwise ‘very important’ individuals/entities (Celestials, Naaru, Wild Gods, Loa, Titanic Constructs, Elemental Lords etc.)
-Major Custom lore - Making up that the barkeeper at Goldshire knows your character isn’t a big deal. Inventing a whole new kind of magic, that you’re the leader of a major military, civil or religious organisation, that you’re the descendant of Azshara, or altering existing lore in a significant way (An existing settlement changing ownership, altering the overall status quo in a zone, destroying the entirety of x) is a big deal.
-Canonical NPCs and Quests - ‘Rares’, Retail Questlines, World Bosses. As before, these just need to be claimed via CtS, you don’t need to give a plan for how you’ll do them, but you do need to claim them so we can mark them off.
-Structures or changes to the in-game world that are intended to be permanent (Bases, camps, houses) and/or aren’t ordinarily present at the location (It's fine to spawn saberon in a saberon camp without asking. It's not fine to spawn a permanent occupying guard garrison in the same saberon camp without mentioning it) If we find a build in the world that we weren’t informed about and is older than a few days, we will be investigating, and action may be taken depending on the circumstances.
-Major Promotions - Getting a major officer rank in a canon organisation (Alliance, Horde, Cenarions, Crusade etc.), becoming a recognised Archmage, Archdruid, High Divinist, Champion of x, etc.
-Major Loot - This is a harder one to define as the line is highly blurred. As it stands this is already a highly blurred area. Characters are already able to create items if they have the skill in the right profession ICly, and players can already hand out mundane and more minor magic items without permission. What this change means is that the bar is higher. What it doesn’t mean is that you should now hand out loot like candy, just because you can. If we see a flood of loot, or unreasonable effects, we will be intervening very rapidly.
To try to frame the context, before you could hand out a flaming sword as loot without saying anything. Now it could also shoot fireballs, or cover you in a cloak of immolation, or give you resistance to fire as well. But it couldn’t create a massive firestorm, or make you immune to all fire. Anything on the level of a lore item or a mid-upper tier Raid item is still application level.
Also consider part of the reason the staff reviews loot is because oftentimes people are not experienced in writing loot that is clear, concise and fits the medium. You should still consider submitting your loot for review if you aren’t confident in its structure, or you think it might be ‘too powerful’. As always, the counter-attack system is off-limits unless otherwise stated.

For Storytellers, this greater freedom does of course also apply to you guys. But, as you have the powers to more greatly affect the world, we will be expecting to be able to understand at least to a basic level what you’re doing through your Storyteller Report. That does mean you might need to add a little more detail than you’re currently doing if you’ve been on the more lax side. ‘Did an event this day’ might not be good enough anymore.

In Closing, we will re-emphasise that this is an exercise in trust. Please do not abuse it. This is us giving people more liberties, If you do walk the line and fall foul, you will thereafter have to work on the same system we’ve always used. Do not complain if you have this new freedom rescinded. If you find anything about this announcement unclear or ambiguous, ask. If you aren’t sure if something is kosher, ask. If you’re newer and haven’t got a feel for what’s normal or acceptable, err on caution and ask. If you’re a returning player and have a history with us or aren’t sure how much things have changed, ask. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a giant formal CtS, but talk to us. This will work much better if we keep communication open between you, the playerbase, and we the staff.

Hey guys, this announcement is with concern to morphs and their compatibility with artifacts. We have given leeway when it comes to morph class combinations in the past but we feel it would be irresponsible not to post this for the general population of players to see. To put it plainly,more extreme morphs will be put under more scrutiny when it comes to receiving artifacts over regular player characters.

For example, we will not be allowing feral worgen to go for any of the monk artifacts, and we would not allow demons or anything of the sort to go for the Warlock artifacts. These two examples come from different reasoning, the first being that the items in question and morphs would be incompatible. The second example whilst compatible would not make much sense on an IC level. Why would the class halls trust a demon to carry an artifact when they could so easily turn and use it against the people of the world.

Morphs we are more likely to accept would be something akin to Arakkoa receiving the shadow priest artifact, or a Vrykul receiving Warswords of the Valarjar and Scale of the Earth Warder, not only are they compatible and have lore to back up why they would fit the artifact, it would also make sense on a cultural level why they would go for such an item. For those worried about not getting any artifact at all on a morph character, keep in mind we will be allowing custom artifacts as well as ascending some lore items to Artifact Status.

If you have any concerns with your characters compatibility with an Artifact we would advise you consider if the morph in question might be outlandish for the item, if you are still unsure we recommend making a CtS. It would be unfair for you to main a character throughout the rest of WoD hoping to be considered for an artifact only to be told only to be told you weren't eligible.

Villains in the Main Events

Hey guys, this thread is being set to formalize the set of rules people who are interested in bringing villains to the main event storyline. I will be listing them off numerically to make it easier to read and digest. If you have any questions please don't be afraid to ask.

1. Villain Characters will be able to attend some of the Main Storyline events, acting as secondary antagonists to whatever threat the heroes are facing that day. The Villain Characters must be thematically appropriate to the enemy being fought(Demons for Legion events, Orcs for Iron Horde etc)

2. Villain characters will be told if an event is appropriate for them to attend at the start of the week of the event. The DM for that event will let those people know what the general plan is, where they will show up, when they should retreat and any other special information.

3. Villain Characters will get their own separate raid. If the player is also attending on another Hero character they are free to drop out for the duration of the fight. You will not lose your place in the raid if you choose to do this nor miss out on loot if this is the final boss.

4. Villain characters AND Hero characters should use common sense and play fair when fighting each other. Capitalize who you are attacking, do not god mod and be sure to take some hits every now and again. You are not trying to win, just trying to have fun.

5. Villain Characters should not attack players that are currently in the group making the raid emote. They should also begin to cease attacks on players about to go and change focus to others.

6. Villain Characters must remember THEY CANNOT change the course of a Main Storyline event. If the boss or force is dictated to lose that they are fighting with, that cannot be changed.

7. Neither Villain nor Hero character can kill each other without consent.

8. Hero Players who do not wish to fight Villain Players between turns should make it clear and Villain players should respect that. Hero Players should use TRP to their advantage and put down if they are Open to PVP or Not Open to PVP.

As always, these rules are subject to change and addition. Since this is a new system we will adjust based on our future experiences.

Hey guys, I'm making this announcement as a way to help improve the main event situation a bit. As has been noted by players and and staff alike, events have seemingly gotten longer while we have been on Draenor and it is causing some frustration among people. So I'm going to be some posting some new decisions the staff has come up with in a way to try and make events more manageable and less time consuming.

Before I begin, as the main event runner for the main storyline, the optimal event time seems to be between 3-4 hours, with anything beyond that becoming very tedious. Now obviously this doesn't count dungeons, raids or extremely lore heavy events. Those events will be given the time they are needed. But those are not the vast majority of events. Instead, main events usually consist of the build up to said events. While important in their own regard, they shouldn't be insanely long.

Harassment and Bullying

Here on Freedom we are all here to have fun, and enjoy ourselves, roleplaying is a hobby we are passionate about. However as of late we have seen evidence of harassment and bullying occurring on the server; this is unacceptable and cannot continue. Do not impose upon others to the point they feel uncomfortable or do not feel welcome in an rp or on the server as a whole.

Harassment is characterized by: 

• Making threats and unwanted sexual remarks
  
• Trolling with the intent to provoke and offend targeted persons or people 
  
• Denigration (Posting/spreading of harmful rumors and falsehoods to damage reputation and friendships)
  
• Exclusion (intentionally and cruelly excluding someone from RP situations that is public.)
  
• Any harmful, repeated behavior that is done with the intent to harm someone else.
  

ERP, Age, and Consent

Though our server is decidedly not an ERP server, we are aware that it happens and are fine with it as long as it is between consenting adults and done in private. However, due to staff-held beliefs and recent rulings in the US (where the server is hosted), we must make some of our stances on sexual conduct in RP explicitly stated.




Age of Consent: First and foremost, any and all ERP that happens must be done between consenting adults. There have been and are currently minors on the server, and in no way will we facilitate any sexual activity with them. To this end, we will make it explicitly clear that ERP with individuals under the age of 18 is expressly forbidden, and should be discover that it has been happening on the server, both individuals involved will be immediately and permanently banned without a chance for appeal. What you do in private is your business, but it will not happen on the server or any public channels relating to the server, including the forums and any guild discords. Guild leaders who own a discord have an onus on them to make sure it does not happen. Any and all NSFW content posted there should be restricted to NSFW channels with an opt-in option.

Sexually illicit RP in public: There  is, of course, a grey area that exists where RP is sexually suggestive, but not expressly ERP. An off-remark that is suggestive is fine, but if it enters the territory of using explicit language, then it crosses the line. This should not ever be done in public RP or in the mall, and once again, not done in the presence of anyone under 18. Additionally, it should never be impressed upon someone that is unwilling to participate with it, which brings us to the next point.

Consent: Consent is one of the most important aspects of this. Consent is not achieved if one constantly denies sexual advances and eventually caves in. This is sexual harassment, and will not be tolerated on this server in any capacity. If you are a victim of sexual harassment on the server, please do not hesitate to report it. Sexual Harassment carries a punishment of a permanent ban without appeal.


If you have questions or concerns about Consent, Age of Consent, or adult content on the server, please reach out to us.

Hello everyone,
 
A minor announcement that going forward we will not be accepting any new characters under the age of 16 in the main story. This applies to all conventionally aging races from Orcs to Draenei. We do not feel it appropriate for characters without physical or emotional maturity to be allowed into combat in a warzone, and while we recognise there is an argument to be made for races like Orcs and Trolls, we have decided a universal guideline for conventional races is more fitting.
 
This will not apply retroactively to those characters we have already allowed to attend the main story previously, however we will note that all characters participating in the main story are expected to show a baseline maturity, and the Commanders do reserve the right to remove a character from the frontline if they are deemed not capable of that.