hanging, please show us the same courtesy.  There are real people on the other side of that screen.  A one sentence post to the list is all it takes.  "I need to take an LOA for one week" Or a month, whatever.  Tell us why if you want, don't if you want.  Your characters will be tactfully ignored and life will go on.  These messages should be sent to the list, BEFORE you leave.  Not just to me, and not after you've been gone for weeks.

4 - The Vanishing Act will not be tolerated
This goes along with rules 2 and 3. 

If you take up a canon character, YOU MUST post with that character 3 times per week-- and that's for each canon character you have. If you do not make this minimum for 3 weeks in a row, your character is fair game. If someone asks me for him, I may or may not say yes, depending purely on how much contact we have and what I know of your situation.

For original characters, it's 2 posts per week, and after 6 weeks I will REMOVE your character from the game, though I do not adopt out original characters.

Once you have no characters, I will remove you from the list at my discretion. If your characters are removed from you in this way, then contact me and I will try to work with you, but "I forgot" is not an excuse for me to go ask a new player to give you back your character. In my opinion there are very, very few reasons not to send an LOA notice. It takes 5 minutes to write a quick note to the list letting us know you need to go and when you'll be back.  If your characters are removed in this way, or you are removed from the list, then you will have to reapply as a new player.

5 - Make your posts easy to read, and conserve list space.
When you're posting, remember:  Third person point of view, spelling and grammar count, and never quote more of the last post than you write for your post.  It's good to quote something though.  If you are writing four lines, quote no more than 4 lines of the post before you. Yahoo gives us criminally little archive space, and since I intend for this game to last a long time, it's gotta last!  See also the 10 commandments for roleplaying, available in the files section of the Yahoogroup.
 
6 - Posts should be of a decent length.
Okay, so what's a decent length?  That varies post by post.  Generally one paragraph, where a paragraph is 4 sentences. Post the surroundings, the characters thoughts, feelings, emotions.  Anything goes!  Even the background noises in the room.  Please don't post one word or sentence posts.  That's never necessary, and will not count towards your 2-3 post per week minimum
 
7 - No on list flaming or arguing.
If you have a disagreement with another player, fine.  Everyone does.  Just keep it off list.  Don't argue, or if you must, CC the GMs.  Flaming on list will not be tolerated, and will result in immediate moderation, or removal from the list entirely.
 
8 - This is only a game, have fun!  Enjoy!
 This is a game.  It's here for everyone's enjoyment.  Please have fun.  If you're not having fun then we want to help you have fun, but we can't if we don't realize it.  Contact the GM.  Please do not get stressed or upset over this list, that's not what we're here for.  If you let bad feelings fester, they often (quickly) worsen.  Bring the problems to me, and I may be able to help.  I'm really easy to talk to, and can (usually) help with these things.
 
9 - Joint Posts are great!  But don't use them to circumvent others.
 Joint posts are allowed, and even encouraged.  If you are in a post with one other player, which you don't want someone walking in on, by all means JP it and send the finished product to the list.  This should not be used to exclude members from play though (i.e, Sara, Sue, and Mike are talking together.  Sara and Sue should not suddenly do a lengthy JP excluding Mike, if he was in the scene too.  If they walk out that's another story, but Mike's player should be allowed to respond)  This goes double for combat.
 
10 - Aynesa's rulings are law and her word is the final say.
Ok, this is basically to say that the I am the GM, so don’t argue with me. I don’t like kicking people out of the group, and so far it's never happened, but I will if there is definite undermining of the game by any player. Keep in mind that there is a difference between argument, and debate. Debate if you will, but know that I am the last word.

11 - Players Characters are players property and responsibility
Players may post –only- for their own characters, unless the player of the other character grants SPECIFIC permission for character use, or the other character is an NPC. Don’t post for other people unless they ask you to. The consequences will be… dire.  NPCs are the obvious exception here. 
   
12 - NPCs are fair game
NPCs are characters that do not belong to a specific player, or the GM.  If you have any question on wether or not someone is an NPC, ask.  The general rule is 'if they have no bio on the website, they are an NPC'.  The website isn't updated daily though, so that's not something good to go on.  If in doubt, ask.

13 - Play on. (The dating system)
We have a dating system in XMI.  In the subject line of every post, should be the month and day, in that order.  So 8.10 would be August 10, 12.6 December 6, etc.  If a player does vanish, feel free to move on to the next day.  You don't have to wait for the GM, or other players.  If you're bored, just start a new thread on a different day! "I'm waiting for another player/character" is no excuse for not making your posting minimums.
 
14 - Character death –can- happen.
As simple as this sounds, a lot of people don’t really appreciate this. Take a stupid action, and you could end up dead. Don’t be surprised, don't whine and complain, just accept it.  This usually won't happen without your approval, but circumstances do come up.
 
15 - You're not God!
Alot of people don't get this one either.  No, sorry, you can't be perfect, solve all the problems of the world, and leap tall buildings in a single bound.  God characters aren't fun to play with.  Everyone's got flaws, and not everyone hits the homerun every time.  Please be courteous of others and understand this.

The Ten Commandments of Play-by-Post Gaming
By Jason Crutchley

Thou shalt not play God
You know the type: the ones that can fly, are invincible, can throw fireballs, are invincible, amazing with a gun, jumping around like they are in some kind of John Woo movie, are invincible, are a big shot, are invincible, loved by all the ladies, are invincible, and all the World Leaders bow at his feet. Oh, and did I mention he’s invincible? God characters suck. They offer no challenge, no adventure, nothing beyond the chance to say "I won." We all know this isn’t a game to win or lose.

Thou shalt not solve all the problems of the universe by thyself.
Your character is not the be-all and end-all of the universe. Say you need to hack into the computer systems of Insane Crazed Megalomaniacs IncTM, who are about to launch thousands of nukes to all corners of the Earth. You, being a thug, an expert in knocking heads together, who thinks that RAM is a male sheep, and a megabyte is something to be had at your local fast food restaurant… you aren’t suddenly going to become master hacker. You’ll obviously need help.

Thou shalt embellish thine writings to keep from the "road of tedium".
Put some life into your writing! You have a whole language at your disposal; if you need to use a dictionary or a thesaurus to make it interesting, do so! For example, instead of "Jim-Bob walked up to the goblin and stabbed him," try "Jim ‘Jimbo’ Jim-Bob, a man feared by many on the streets on New York, charged the short ugly goblin, a foul creature of Shadow. Screaming fiercely, the muzzles of his handguns exploded, hailing ammunition upon it, rending the previous silence on the deserted street asunder as bullets tore through the greenskin’s flesh." Which one is more interesting? Those who think the first is more interesting, please leave the room right now.

Thou shalt be true to the character of thy character.
If your character is a 70-year-old cripple, who practically lives in a wheelchair, sucking oxygen from a tube, he isn’t suddenly going to perform a commando raid on a Government building. Think about what you would do in the situation if you were that character. Keep in mind your character’s limitation as well as her abilities.

Thou shalt make sense.
Make it clear what your character is doing. If there are fifteen people in a room and you say, "Jim-Bob entered the pub and walked up to the bloke in the corner" your fellow players aren’t going to have a clue who Jim-Bob is going up to. Instead, try something more like this: "Jim- Bob walked up to the large half Orc bouncer, who stood brooding in the corner of the nightclub, watching for any signs of trouble." From that description it’s fairly obvious who you are going to (unless it happens to be coincidental that all fifteen of the guys are Orc Bouncers.) If you still think extra clarification may be needed append your posts with an OOC (Out Of Character) comment, either by putting your text in brackets or a different colour.

Thou shalt not kill other characters or decide what damage they suffer.
You cannot decide what happens to another character ever! This applies especially to combat. If engaged in a straightforward fight, your opponents may dodge. If you are sneaking up behind someone, leave your post hanging at your attack rather than assuming the outcome. After all, they might hear you or otherwise detect the sneak attack. Even if it’s something that they would never dodge in a million years, still leave it hanging; good role-players will pick it up and take the licks they ought to take. For various exceptions to the rule, see "Thou shalt not decide thy neighbour’s actions, or his wife's actions, or his oxen's actions, or...." later.

Thou shalt be patient in waiting for thy fellow characters to post.
Nothing is more irritating than someone asking repeatedly for you to post. Remember, people have lives! (No really - stop laughing - people do have lives!) They may have work to do or family to be with. Just be patient. If they haven’t posted in say a week, politely get in touch with them somehow and remind them of the game. Be polite and don’t be too pushy. Manners costeth nothing. Never forget, though, that the nature of play-by-post allows it to be played at a slower and more leisurely pace than a tabletop game. Don't expect white-knuckle, breakneck speed from a play-by-post game.

THOU SHALT NOT WRITE IN ALL CAPS AS IT IS HIGHLY ANNOYING.
NEED I SAY MORE?

Tho shlt nut oos fals spillin n gremmmer.
Learn to spell, damnit! N dnt use txt spk as tht is hily annoyin! It makes reading posts that much more difficult if you have to decipher wht sum1 hs sed cuz u cnt reed it. Remember, you don’t have a limit of 150 characters on your average message board. If you are unsure of a word’s spelling or proper usage, you have a few options. Microsoft Word works well enough for checking spelling and grammar. There are also a multitude of online dictionaries one may consult.

Thou shalt not decide thy neighbour’s actions, or his wife's actions, or his oxen's actions, or....
Listen carefully, as I will say this once, and only once. NEVER control another person’s character. It is The Most Annoying Thing Ever to have your character’s actions dictated by someone who doesn’t know your character. Especially when they are playing a weedy pizza delivery boy, and you are a powerful Drugs Baron, and they write it so that the pizza delivery boy comes off with more menace than your Baron. Above all, this commandment is most important. Follow these and your online travails will be most rewarding