Official:Policy

Blockades
In the event that an attacking flag is unable to compete in a scheduled blockade we can end the blockade early (in favor of the defender) as long as all of the following conditions are met:


 * A petition is sent from a royal representative from the flag that holds the island and from all flags who have dropped a war chest with the request to end the blockade
 * If no members of royalty for an attacking flag are online at the end of round one we will consider that as their flag's consent to end the blockade early
 * The blockade has run for one full round

Please note: Blockades cannot be closed before they begin. Any modification to a running blockade is at the discretion of the on-duty Ocean Master. Blockades will not be closed in favor of an attacker.

Blockade Closings
Blockades will only be closed for one or two weekends each year during the Christmas and New Years holidays. All blockade closings will be announced ahead of time in the Announcement forum. Tentative closing dates are as follows:
 * 2012: December 22, December 29
 * 2013: December 21, December 28
 * 2014: December 27
 * 2015: December 26, January 2

Ship, Shoppe and Roommate Thefts
YOU MAY BE PERMANENTLY BANNED FOR THE THEFT OR DELIBERATE DESTRUCTION OF ITEMS PURCHASED BY SOMEONE ELSE
 * We may give you a partial refund for any stolen items, however, we encourage you to seek out the thief, point out this thread and try to get the full amount back on your own.
 * To report a theft, please submit a complaint, if you do not include all of the following items, we will not be able to help you:
 * How much was stolen from each vessel/shoppe/house
 * The name of the vessel/shoppe/house
 * What island the vessel/shoppe/house is located

Thefts: Trading/Loans
Three Rings does not recognize loans and deals with terms outside of the in-game trading methods. Once something is exchanged via. a trade, /tip or /pay, the recipient is under no obligation to return it to you. While we will investigate claims of wrongdoing in such cases, we make no promises or guarantees as to what will be done or returned.
 * As with other forms of stealing, anyone caught scamming or otherwise cheating someone else out of their poe may be permanently banned from the game.

Dusting Buildings:

 * We will not accelerate the dusting of shoppes or stalls
 * Bazaars may be dusted if they are empty and all shoppes of that type have also been dusted on the island.
 * Houses cannot be dusted
 * Palace and Fort Dusting: At the moment, when a palace or fort dusts, things break in the game. Until a fix can be implemented, we will be transferring control of any islands whose forts/palaces are with a day or two of crumbling to a random Brigand King to ensure that taxes are paid. Please pay your taxes or let us know that you intend to give up the island so we can transfer it before it dusts!
 * Construction Sites may be dusted when requested through a petition. Note that we will not be refunding commodities on construction sites that have been started unless it's clear the wrong shoppe type was placed by mistake.

Dark Forts and Palaces

 * The dusting of a fort or palace has the potential to break things in the game so it will not be allowed to happen. (If you see a dark palace or fort, please report it in a petition)
 * Islands where the fort or palace has gone dark may be taken by a BK at any time, although typically this will happen some time in the last week before they dust. Islands will not be returned once taken, they will have to be won in a blockade.

Pet Name Policy
Pets follow the same guidelines as pirate names, inappropriate or offensive named pets may be confiscated or result in a ban. Pet names will not be reset.

Age Policy
The age requirement for playing Puzzle Pirates is thirteen and up. Anyone playing the game who is confirmed to be underage will have their account suspended until they are old enough to play.

Sinking as a result of a problem
If we can verify that it was caused by a bug or other failure on our part, we will restore the sunken vessel.

If you feel this has happened to you, please do the following:
 * Immediately submit a bug report in the game with the /bug command. Explain in as much detail exactly what happened.
 * Submit a single petition including the ship name, owner of the ship and a description of what happened.

Please make sure that you submit a bug report immediately after you experience the problem, without these we cannot verify sinking claims or investigate/fix any bugs which might be causing unwarranted sinkings. We will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible, please be patient as it can take a few days to investigate.

Please note that we will restore a sunken vessel by unbottling the same vessel that was sunk. In order to ensure a timely resolution please keep the bottled vessel on the owner's pirate.

Shoppe limit per week
The number of shoppes that can be placed in a week is two to slow the rate of development of an island. Note that this does not apply to bazaars and other government buildings!
 * A week is the time between one blockade and the next or between Sunday and Saturday if there are no blockades. Essentially you can plot two shoppes at any time during one week, it doesn't matter if they're both at the very beginning or the very end.

Building Naming Policy
Building names are one of the more noticeable items in the game, and as a result we have decided that we would like to try and encourage those names to be interesting. We have put together a set of rules for building names to follow, trying to keep them fairly flexible.

Name must meet *all* of the following criteria: 
 * Must comply with normal game chat rules in terms of content, language and offensiveness
 * Building names should not imply a different shoppe type (ex: Shipyard Inn would not be acceptable)
 * Building name should be sufficiently different from others on that island so pirates can tell the difference between them.
 * Pirate names are not allowed in building names except when:
 * Used in a sufficiently punny or witty way that makes sense (ex: Pirate named Fairy, building named "Fairy Ales")
 * The name fits exclusive of its being a pirate name (ex: Thanos' Mausoleum fits the Superhero theme)

Disclaimer: Some building name cases may be clear, and others may be borderline. In each case, we will endeavor to apply these rules consistently and without bias. We will amend or clarify the policy if required.

One Oceanmaster will take care of all building name issues to try to keep them consistent. The current OM in charge is: Prometheus

If you own a building that does not follow the above criteria you will be contacted to request a new name or to give further clarification on why your name fits (a cultural reference which was missed, for example.) If a suitable name is not provided, the building will be renamed to something appropriate to the theme of the island.