Prologue
PvP means Player versus Player.
While HWS has Instances and Events where assets are provided and replaced, the classic suvival PvP experience means that a player can lose everything, he/she spent many hours to gather it.
This can make PvP emotional.
Thus the key to success is preparation and planning.
Note: since PvP is always an active engagement and situations can arise not only out of the moment but also out due context, it is important to handle such topics directly afterwards. We might block tickets where situations happened long in the past and brought up suddenly to work for your narrative.
PvE means Player versus Environment.
While PvE is mostly safer that PvP, there are also situations where you might lose a lot of your progress because of a bug or bad game mechanic.
It is also the place where you probably will find other players and thus must keep certain rules in mind.
1. Stealing, Blueprints, Infiltration & Sabotage
1.1 You are NOT allowed to steal backpacks or structures from players on PvE Starter Playfields (planets and orbits). This rule only applies to PvE Starter Playfields, not PvP Starter Playfields.
1.2 You are allowed to capture the blueprints of other players (in PvP) and use them on HWS (this includes selling them via HWS Garage), but you may NOT post the blueprints in the public space (Workshop, Discord, Steam, for example). It is still their intellectual property. You must ask for and receive their permission before doing so.
This especially affects our HWS Blueprints. If you blueprint a Penthouse or POI, you are not allowed to share it in any way outside of HWS! This will be punished heavily, since an incredible amount of time, intellectual property, and effort has gone into HWS-specific blueprints.
1.3 If you think you have a thief in your own faction, it is YOUR responsibility to protect / keep track of your property and assets. HWS CAN’T help with intra-faction gameplay (i.e., internal faction politics), since there are so many players.
Only with very precise proof might we investigate the matter. Overall, we don’t tolerate sabotage and/or infiltration on HWS.
Possible Punishments: Prison, Guilty, Ban, Loss of Game Progress
2. Griefing & Ammo Draining
2.1 Do not grief! For example, killing players in PvE (on the HWS Reforged Eden server).
2.2 Faction Tags (abbreviations) can be quite fundamental for some players / organizations. If your only intention after a full wipe is to steal their faction tag, we consider this to be griefing and will remove you from that faction. In doing so, we will first check your history and try to communicate with you beforehand.
2.3 Do not stay for too long in the NPC Trader menu, preventing other players from having trader access! If you get reported for doing this too often and for too long, we will check the logs and take action. Use common sense and be courteous / considerate.
3. Warp Camping
3.1 Do not warp camp with your structures! The warp entrance area is about 3 square km (randomness +/- 1.5 km). This is a TRANSIT-ONLY ZONE — so you MUST be moving or refueling/remapping. The purpose of this rule is to prevent HV/CV/BA with turrets from attacking players who enter the playfield, who are either in the loading screen or DSL has not caught up yet.
3.2 Supergates are excluded from this rule. They have a 6x6x6 km warp area you get randomly warped into. (Hint: when you warp using a supergate, be prepared!)
4. Offline Protection (OP)
4.1 No alternate / family share accounts are allowed to have offline-protected Bases (private / faction) on hotspot playfields. Offline-protected bases are defined as Bases with an Offline Protection Device built in.
4.2 You are NOT allowed to use an Offline Protection (OP) Device on a private structure (BA/CV). You have to set that structure to faction!
5. Multiple Accounts, Faction Splitting & NAPs
5.1 We allow max. 1 additional account (family share or alternative accounts) on HWS to support legit family play (father + son / daughter, for example). However, you are NOT allowed to have this additional account in a different faction or use it to sabotage, infiltrate others, gain a massive personal advantage (e.g., o:supply, etc.) or employ other abuses derived from having them.
5.2 You are not allowed to do any form of Account Boosting. For example, sending your other account (see 5.1) credits, items, etc. We reserve the right to ban you on any suspicious transaction/interaction, so you must prove to us that the other account is a legit account (e.g., your wife/husband/son/daughter).
5.3 You are not allowed to split a big faction into smaller ones to circumvent our limit system (gain more vessels to steamroll the enemy), whether it’s a “temporary faction split” or permanent.
5.4 You are not allowed to create NAP(s) (non-aggression pacts) with other players if a third party is involved. (1 vs 1, or arranged faction vs. faction fights are of course OK)
We see it as circumvention of the Alliance system Eleon provided and our limit system.
The plaintiff must ensure the report is backed up by proof and certainty, and the defendant (and any of its members/partners) is then responsible for telling the truth.
If there is the slightest doubt, spot checks will be done.
If the defendant(s) is/are lying to me, the whole faction(s) will be banned and/or their assets handed out to the plaintiff.
5.5 If you use CSW, make sure that both of your players are in the same faction on both servers.
6. Illegal items & Duping
6.1 You are not allowed to acquire, possess, use, trade, or sell any illegal items or illegal quantities. If you discover an illegal item or quantity (examples: debug tools/weapons, exceeds normal stack size, massive rare items in the Marketplace, etc.), do not pick it up — report it immediately to HWP, Admins, @RexXxuS
If we find out you duped items or are handling duped items, we will punish you without notice immediately.
7. Tackling & Docking Exploits
7.1 Do not intentionally use collision mechanics (tackling, pinning, trapping) to repeatedly restrict another ship’s movement in a way that leads to its destruction or pilot death.
Make sure to read the More info section below to know if a ticket will be reviewed or not.
More info
Note:
Reports must include complete, unedited video footage of the entire encounter. Partial clips or screenshots are not sufficient. The burden of proof is on the reporting player.
Due to Empyrion’s multiplayer physics limitations, ordinary collisions, accidental impacts, ramming, bumping, and temporary entanglements are considered normal PvP behavior and are not automatically rule violations.
Pro Tip: instantly press and hold the O button until you are free again.
When this rule is enforced
Staff will only intervene if ALL of the following can be clearly demonstrated:
- A player intentionally and repeatedly uses collision mechanics to pin, trap, or entangle another ship.
- This results in a clear inability for the affected ship to reasonably maneuver or continue combat.
- The situation directly leads to the destruction of the ship or the death of the pilot.
- The entire sequence is clearly visible in the submitted evidence.
Not considered rule violations
- Accidental collisions or head-on impacts
- Mutual ramming or both ships flying into each other
- Brief or unstable ship entanglements
- Attempts to slow or disrupt another ship’s movement
- Situations where the affected ship successfully escapes
- Situations where both sides continue normal PvP engagement
Important clarification
Loss of speed, temporary loss of control, increased damage taken, repair costs, or being disadvantaged during pursuit are considered part of normal PvP gameplay and are not, by themselves, evidence of a rule violation.
Staff reserve the right to reject reports where intent, sustained trapping, and direct causation of ship loss cannot be clearly established.
7.2 Do not dock your SV to enemy CVs. Due to bad game mechanics, this will instantly stop a ship and the enemy can’t do anything about it. It’s a worse offense than ramming / tackling. As with rule 7.1, a clear proof needs to be sent to us.
8. Illegal Building & Spawning
8.1 You are not allowed to clip / overlap anything (including players) inside structures. For example, glitching inside POIs to loot them freely or damage other players from cover of blocks you are inside.
8.2 Vessels (CV, SV, HV): Floating turrets, devices, blocks, or any combinations thereof are not permitted. All devices and blocks of a vessel must be attached to each other.
8.3 You are NOT allowed to build / spawn your structures near resource asteroids in PvE space or resource deposits on PvE planets, with the intention to prevent others from getting the resource (e.g., with a land claim device — especially in RE in combination with Voidium).
8.4 You are NOT allowed to build / spawn / fly your structures inside asteroids or inside POIs and park them there (within the bounding box).
8.5 Lag Engineering.
DO NOT build structures with the intent to create lag for other players (i.e., excessive lights, thrusters, triangles, etc.). Structures reported for possibly being created to generate lag will be examined by admins, and decisions will be made & actions taken on a case-by-case basis.
8.6 Proximity Alert Decoy.
DO NOT build proximity alert decoys only with flares or other devices which have a bad render distance. Make sure to use regular blocks for them. DO NOT change the center of your object by moving the core or other things away as well. The HUD marker needs to be directly bound to your object.
8.7 Bounty Farming.
DO NOT arrange bounty cleanups. No matter if it’s a stranger or not, the bounty system is not intended to be used this way. It must be removed naturally from you in PvP or a PvP event.
9. Living in PvP
9.1 With the exception of Fairplay Rules, bugs, and exploiting, almost all bets are off in PvP playfields, and you should be prepared to risk it all if you dare to venture there.
Tips
- Never ever enter PvP or PvE playfields with stuff you can’t afford to lose.
- Never ever fly the same route in PvP playfields. Always cheap-scout before jumping and take different warp routes.
- Never ever get emotional in chat. Use the mute function if necessary.
- The more you record / stream your gameplay, the better we can investigate and help you later on.