Please note that with immediate effect rule 1.6 has been implemented.
1.6 - Do not be racist, sexist or otherwise discriminatory. This applies both OOC and IC.
This change was made due to blurring of the lines between IC and OOC behaviour. Furthermore it was noted that there was unlikely ever much quality roleplay due to allowing complete IC freedom, and it was being used as an excuse for overt racism and discrimination which should rightfully have been classed as OOC and would normally warrant permanent bans.
To clarify,
The rule change was made mainly because it was felt that there is not much addition to quality RP by allowing racism IC. It already was not allowed OOC. By banning it both IC and OOC, we make it far much easier to enforce. Often when staff pulled someone for the rule, we'd end up with them saying they meant it IC and the lines would be blurred - this would make it extremely hard for admins and mods to do their jobs. There are concerns that this went through without community suggestion, which I'll move on to now.
From a business perspective (because of course, we're still a registered business with officers and shareholders), it puts us in very murky waters. What if it came to be that staff members or even contractors, those with legal documents signifying a close relationship to us as a business, were to be seen as racist? This could put people into serious personal and legal trouble. As such, the business team and SAs have decided that it's an unacceptable legal risk that we can't take. To avoid that risk, we've banned this altogether. This decision was made at a management level.
There are many people - both management and officers, contracted developers, staff with NDAs or other signed documentation - with legal relationships to Limelight as a company. If it did come back to bite, then those guys could hold the responsibility. We respect that the community has a choice, and an input (as shown by us continuously working on suggestions, bug reports and listening to constructive community feedback regarding updates), but ultimately due to the nature of the risks presented by not having this rule, the choice was clear. Recent changes and precedent in UK and EU law have provoked this change. We'd rather err on the side of caution than potentially open ourselves up to tons of trouble, which I'm sure you can understand.
So to summarize, while normally we would ask for community input for any changes, as the decision had legal weight to it, potentially putting company officers and shareholders at risk, we couldn't leave this to community input where anyone can post anything with zero risk. There are times we'll seek community input and let the community have their voice, but when it comes to matters of a legal nature, it's best left to those with the responsibilities for the company.