So, I noticed in other threads that there are some unwritten "rules" that some players have come up with that, when broken, irritate the heck out of them. I remember the same thing happening in Faunasphere, which seemed to only result in lengthy arguments and alot of very angry people. Although common courtesy is something that should be expected from everyone (but don't be surprised if some players don't show it), defining specific rules of behavior that not everyone is privy to (no matter how "obvious" it is in your mind) will only result in alot of unnecessary stress, IMHO. It will get a million times worse when the game goes live, by the way. Here's a list of the ones I've seen, including my personal opinion on each one:
1) Thou shalt not pick items up from the ground that are at another player's feet.
--- I am ashamed that I did this once or twice the first day I played, without thinking. It didn't occur to me at the time that the person may have left it there temporarily with the intent of picking it up again later. Now that I see there may be a reason for a player to do this (I didn't at the time know how limited our inventory was), I don't do that any more, and I see how it is common courtesy not to. However, some newbies (especially) may not know what they're doing (like me). This is the most understandable of all the unwritten rules, but anyone who drops stuff should realize that there is a chance someone else will grab it (either obliviously, or maliciously).
2) Thou shalt not mine a rock that someone else is mining.
--- The game makes it possible to do this, so it's obviously not a hard game rule. I didn't see a problem with doing this until I read in the forums that some people were irritated by it, and wanted to be able to sit on one rock all by themselves until it is gone. After seeing that, I stopped doing it, but don't expect other people to automatically know this unwritten rule (or even agree with it).
3) Thou shalt not scrape barnacles unless you are part of a group in the area that is doing so, and are coordinating with them about which ones you are allowed to scrape.
--- I just read about this one a few moments ago, which is what sparked me to start this thread... All I have to say is: Really? WOW! .... how are people outside your group suppose to know this? And do you really think this is fair? Really??? hmmm.... Maybe we should have the same rule for everything else one can gather in the game. Why stop at barnacles? Please, let me know if I'm misinterpreting this one.