When you enter a Palace, watch the upper right hand corner of your screen. The Palace operators often show messages there to greet you and perhaps give information about rules pertaining to their Palace.

Look around the room for links to a "Rules" , Policies, or "Guidelines" room or a link to a web site with more information about the Palace.

If there are no written rules available and you have questions about what is permissible in the Palace, speak privately with a staff member to get the information you need.

You'll find that across the board, most Palaces have policies against harassing other users. Harassment includes, but is not limited to, verbally attacking another user, following someone around when they've asked you not to, whispering to someone that has asked you not to and talking to someone about anything that they've asked you to stop talking about.

In general, if someone asks you to leave them alone, leave them alone. Otherwise you are harassing them. In most cases you will be disconnected from the Palace for this type of behavior. In some family oriented Palaces, you may be banned permanently from returning.

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Many Palaces also have "Obscenity" policies. Obscenity generally includes, but is not limited to, using offensive language, hate speech directed at others, and wearing offensive avatars.

If the Palace you are visiting has a "no obscene speech" policy, please abide by it. Different people have different tolerance levels for foul language and your best bet is to refrain from any swearing when you are new to a Palace. Find and follow any posted rules and be kind enough to stop swearing immediately if someone asks you to.

"Obscene speech" policies can also apply to hate speech directed at other users. Again, in some cases you will be disconnected from the Palace for this type of behavior and you may be banned permanently from returning.

Everyone has their own ideas of what is obscene when it comes to avatars. Check the rules of the particular Palace before wearing any softcore or hardcore avatars. It is not allowed at all at some Palaces, and only allowed in nonpublic rooms at others. Please do not wear adult avatars as you enter a new Palace as it is very uncommon for this to be allowed in entry or gate rooms. It's a good rule of thumb not to wear an avatar in an entry room at Palace that you wouldn't wear on a T-shirt in your day to day life.

If someone is uncomfortable with your av, no matter what the Palace rules, please be kind enough to change it or move to a room with like minded guests. It will make your Palace experience much more enjoyable if you consider the feelings of others.

You'll find that many Palaces have policies against visitors using obscene names. You take the chance of being disconnected immediately, with no warning, if you choose to use a name that others would find obscene. If you question whether the name you are considering might be offensive, chances are good that it will be. You can always change your name later if you find that it is acceptable.

Don't "sit" on other users. Don't stand too close if you're not welcome.

On the other side of this coin, don't get upset right away if someone doesn't move when you ask them too. They may be "lagged" due to isp problems, slow modems, or because there are many visitors at the Palace.

Be patient and wait a bit. They may already be trying to move. You'll soon know if they are behaving that way intentionally and then you can decide how to proceed.

Your best bet is usually to simply quietly move to another spot in the room. If you argue with the person, of course, it may only encourage them.

If they continue to annoy you, page a moderator, hide or leave the Palace for a few minutes before coming back.

Try not to get too personal with other users right away. Get to know them first. You'll enjoy your visit a lot more if people aren't annoyed by your asking "age, sex, location" questions, or worse, right at the start.

Palace staff members are identified by the * in front of their names. One * means the person is a staff member, two means the person is the Palace owner. They can help you with any questions or problems that come up.

Staff members are referred to in different ways depending upon the Palace you are visiting. You may hear them referred to as Wizards, moderators or hosts. Palace owners are sometimes referred to as "Gods". I think you'll find that the "Gods" and "Wizards" at Palace are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet.

Learn to use Palace commands so that you will be able to handle problems with others, when they come up, quickly and easily.

If you find that you need help in a room where a wizard is not present at the moment, you can contact a wizard by typing 'page before your message.

For example, type this in your input box: 'page I need help

. . . and a wizard will respond to you. Don't forget to include the ' symbol before the word page.

There are other special "Commands" available while you're visiting Palace. These commands are typed on your keyboard and do not appear on the screen. You will, however, see them in your log. Remember that commands always start with the ' character. If you don't include it, the command will not work.

Below is a listing of commands that you may find helpful along with an explanation of each one. Keep in mind that these commands are configurable by the Palace owner. Availability of each one is dependent upon what the owner has chosen to include.

Finding the Rules		Personal Space
Harassment Policies		Personal Questions
Obscenity Policies		Responsibility
Misc.Tips
'help	Type this into your input box to see a list of all the commands available at the Palace you are visiting.
'page message	Type 'page and then type your message to page a moderator. Remember to put one space between the command and your message. A moderator may come immediately to the room you are in or send a message. After you hit your enter key to send the message, watch the upper left hand corner of the room for a reply (This type of message, from someone in another room, is called "esp".
're message	Type 're and then your message to reply to the last person that sent you an "esp" message. Use this to reply to the moderator who has answered your page.
'hide on	Removes your name from the User List in order to hide you from the other visitors of the Palace that you are visiting.
'hide off	Turns off hide. Your name will then appear in the User List as usual. (You will need to refresh your User List in order to see your name)
'hidefrom name	Type 'hidefrom, and then the name of a person, to hide only from one visitor.
'unhidefrom name	Unhides you from the person named.
'mute name	This command will mute the person named so that you will not see anything that the person says. Other guests will still see, but you will not.
'unmute name	Unmutes the named person.
'rejectesp on	This command will stop any esp messages sent to you so that you do not have to see them.
'rejectesp off	Stops rejecting esp messages.
'rejectprivate on	Stops any private messages sent to you.
'rejectprivate off	Stops rejecting private messages.

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