Privacy Policy

Introduction

This document sets forth the privacy policy of Ragnarök. We take seriously the protection of our players' privacy and on-line safety. While we are committed to doing our part as outlined in this document, you need to recognize that you have an important role to play in protecting your on-line safety and privacy as well. Please know your responsibilities and use the internet safely.

Please read this document carefully. It is included as part of our Terms and Conditions under which you are permitted to access Ragnarök, including any and all associated services and content.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) We May Collect

For the most part, we do not require any PII from you in order to play the game here. You are known by a character name (invented by you) to the other players and administrative staff. However, there are special rules which apply to wizards (see below).

E-mail Address

You may elect to provide your e-mail address for the game system or administration saff to send you game-related content, at your discretion. You will have the option to make this e-mail address visible to other players or not, at your discretion. If you choose to make it visible, you are publishing that information publicly and waiving any right to privacy to that address. However, other than allowing other players to see your address, we will not publish or distribute it further. (For example, we will not sell it to a third party, nor post a publicly-visible directory of player names and e-mail addresses.) What other players may do with the information if you make it visible to them, is of course, beyond our control.

In any event, administrative wizards may still be able to see your e-mail address even if it is not otherwise visible to the player community. We will not divulge this address further, or make other use of it beyond contacting you, or other uses which are necessary to administrate the game environment.

Please note that it is our policy never to collect or store e-mail addresses or any other PII for players under the age of 13. If we become aware that we inadvertently were given any such information, it will be removed from our system. See the specific notes in our Terms and Conditions relating to minors who play Ragnarök.

Personal Information for Wizards

Since wizards play a more administrative role in the game, and have access to see and change essential system-critical components, as well as (to varying extents based on specific roles) access to oversee player activities, we need to know who you are and expect a closer working relationship based on mutual trust than is necssary for players.

To become a wizard, you must provide us with the following personal information:

• Your real name (given and surname)
• Your age
• Your e-mail address

We will keep this information confidential within the Raganrök wizard community and not publish it elsewhere. To comply with applicable US law, since we cannot collect this information from anyone under 13, children younger than that cannot become wizards in Ragnarök.

Other Information Collected

In the course of your access of our MUD game and associated services, we may collect any of the following kinds of information about you, or other items of a similar nature:

• Your Internet Protocol (IP) address. (Without this, it would be impossible for you to access anything on the internet, including our services. Permanent records of your access within our system will include your IP address.)
• Cookies may be generated, stored on your computer, and retrieved as necessary to perform the functions of our website, game system, client/server protocols, etc.
• Your computer's operating system type and version, web browser type and version, screen resolution, etc. (This is generally collected by every website you visit on the Internet.)
• We store a running log of all activity within the game environment, which includes everything you say or do in public or private areas of the game. The number of administrative staff members with access to these logs is limited, and while every effort is generally made to protect your privacy, administrative staff and other necessary personnel may view the logs to diagnose technical problems or to investigate suspected abuse or inappropriate use of our game system.
• Communications between you and other players of the game, including without limitation use of the Ragnarök Post Office, in-game bulletin boards, and chat channels, is stored and forwarded within our system to carry out the intended communication you are carrying out.
• Information about your character's current state, including in-game “bank” balances, inventory of items carried or stashed in your locker, character statistics and attributes, etc., is stored in the game system. This may include your IP address, e-mail address, or other information about yourself you provided to us.

How We Use This Information

We make use of the above-mentioned information about you in the following ways:

• To facilitate the normal play of the game system.
• To enforce our policies and rules.
• To send announcements, messages, and other game-related content to you.
• To cooperate with law enforcement officers to the extent required by law, court order, or in cases where, at our sole discretion, we judge necessary to protect Ragnarök's assets, owners, officers, players, and/or the general public from harm and/or to comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

Except as otherwise noted here, we will not sell, transfer, or otherwise disclose your PII to other parties.

Your Responsibilities

Much of your privacy and on-line safety depends on your own actions and precautions. Please remember that the Internet is never completely safe, secure, or private.

1. Never divulge your password to anyone. You would be responsible for any action they take while logged in as your character in the game, as we will assume that it's always you playing that character. You would also be exposing the content of messages intended only for you from other players, and allowing the other person to impersonate you in sending message to others as well.
2. That includes Ragnarök administrative staff. We never need to ask you for your password, ever. We can access everything we need to help you without knowing that. Anyone claiming to be an admin staff member who says they need your password is almost certainly an impostor.
3. Never use the same password in Ragnarök as elsewhere. In the event that someone observes you typing your password, or someone manages to eavesdrop on your data connection and captures your password (which may happen as a result of virus or other malware being on your computer, or the overt actions of someone at any point in your data connection between your computer and our servers), at least the damage would be contained to them having gained access to your character in a MUD game. While that is obviously not desirable, it's a lot better than having them get access to your school records, bank accounts, personal e-mail, or whatever else you are protecting with the same password at other sites.
4. Always use a strong password. Choose a password which is at least six characters long and includes at least one each of: lower-case letter, upper-case letter, digit, punctuation symbol. There are no forbidden characters which cannot be used in passwords here, other than control or otherwise non-ASCII characters.
5. Change your password often. We'd recommend changing it every 90 days (30 if you are a high-ranking wizard), or immediately if you suspect it has been divulged to anyone.
6. Don't give out personal details to anyone. People may wish to chat and be friendly, but remember that you don't really know anything about who they are, or what use they will make of what you tell them. Never tell anyone online your real name, address, telephone number, home location, school, or other information which could be used by someone in ways you would not approve of.
7. Never agree to meet anyone in real life. You have no way to know if the friendly person you chatted with online bears any resemblance to the actual person behind the screen, or what they will be like in person. If for some reason you decide to meet someone anyway, Never, ever do it if either of you are under 18, and never meet them alone.
8. If someone harasses you by making unwanted advances to you of a sexual or intimate nature, threatening or harassing you, or whose conduct is making you uncomfortable, please report their actions to the admin staff. Do not continue interacting with that person.

Changes to This Policy

We may change this Policy at any time and at our sole discretion, to remain in accordance with applicable law or which will, in our judgement, foster a more playable, stable, and safer playing environment for all our Players and Wizards.

While we generally try to announce these changes in game announcements or on the website, it is your responsibility to check the Terms and Conditions, this Privacy Policy, and the Player Rules to be aware of their current content. Your continuing access of our services indicates your agreement with, and acceptance of, these terms as amended at that time.

Contact Information

The game administrators may be reached by posting a note in the MUD game's central post office, addressed to “#admin”, or by regular e-mail to the address “admin@rag.com”.

Effective 26 April 2010