Neutral Play

Neutral Play

Neutral Play refers to the period of time before the 16th player joins a given ship and no one has been selected as Mush. It is important to remember that (except for Sanctionable actions) this is a community concept, NOT an official SDF stance. Nevertheless, some players will request or even insist that Neutral Play be observed until all players have joined the game.

General Advice

• Neutral Play requires fair and honorable play on both sides.

Fair and Honorable play is defined as no one stacking the deck unfairly for or against either side (Human or Mush) before all players of both sides are actually on the playing field.

• Violations of Neutral Play have occasionally resulted in quarantine actions being taken against the offending player in certain cases.

While rare, there have been cases where violating Neutral Play, (such as taking decidedly pro-Mush actions before the 16th player has joined just in case one is selected as Mush) has been viewed as a sanctionable offense.

Actions which are considered to violate the spirit of Neutral Play

• Completing any anti-mush research before the 16th player joins.
• Hiding important items such as the Mush sample and the Apron, before the 16th player joins.
• Taking actions specifically to prepare for joining the Mush before the 16th player joins, especially those contrary to Character background, .

• Such as a Finola player deliberately becoming dirty, and staying dirty to lower morale so that Finola will be easy to kill, just in case the player becomes a Mush with the intent to take the Transfer skill.

• Rushing PILGRED research to completion or near completion before the 16th player joins, with the intent of forcing an early return to Sol for a Mush win.

Actions which are not considered to violate the spirit of Neutral Play

• Moving items around the Daedalus to ideal locations.

• Such as Expedition tools and weapons being moved to Icarus Bay, the Mush sample and Apron being moved to the lab, Pots to the Hydro-gardens, and so forth.

• Picking up and keeping weapons, tools, and Blueprints.
• Completing Neron Projects.
• Completing Non-Mush related research.

• Such as Anabolics, Narcotics Dispenser, and NCC contact lenses.

• Completing a modest amount of PILGRED research.

Violations of Neutral Play which are Sanctionable

• Generally speaking, only actions, series of actions, or posts which strongly suggest or actually prove intent to rig the game in favor of one side or the other are ever considered as possible action items.

• The Finola example given above was one such example.