Post by Jyhad on Jul 31, 2009 18:43:16 GMT -6
Alright, in order to keep the Seattle After Dark forum RP running smoothly and coherently, there are some very specific guidelines to posting responses. All players must post by these guidelines in order to take part in the RP process; those that fail to abide by these rules will be given a warning. Remember, the first warning is just that, a warning. The second warning is a week long suspension. The third and final warning is a banning. But I doubt anyone is going to have trouble with these rules.
Posting Rules of the Seattle After Dark RP Forum[/u]
1. Post in third-person, past-tense narrative.
This is your standard novel format and what people generally write stories in anyway. First person makes things very confusing in a story where there are multiple writers and the character is not omniscient. Here is a brief example: "Joshua walked down the hallway." Easy enough.
2. Proofread your response before posting.
This one is REALLY important. It only takes a few minutes to put your post into a word processor, run spellcheck, and manually read over it. The quality of your work will be greatly improved, I promise you. This one is really big for me as I can't stand to see easily avoided spelling errors and typos. I mean, I won't be going over your posts with a fine tooth comb. You won't see me in a Grammar Nazi uniform. But if I can casually glance at your post and be assaulted by a glaring mistake, I won't be happy. It doesn't take that long to proofread and it shows a respect for other players by giving your concerted effort to make this forum vaguely professional in its writing level.
3. Posts will have meaningful content.
All RP posts will consist of at least one paragraph involving meaningful plot movements. One-liners are strictly prohibited; they really do not advance the plot and are dangerously close to spamming. Anytime you want to post something that has a back-and-forth, rapid element to it, simply work on a joint post with the other player. Joint posts will be explained later in this rules section.
4. Every storyline or specific encounter has its own thread.
Under the appropriate board in the town setting, specific storylines and encounters are posted. These are often kept separate so as to avoid confusion. It’s difficult if there are a dozen posts in a single Downtown board thread, but if one were devoted to a Ventrue and Toreador negotiating above surface and the other to the machinations of the Nosferatu below ground, everything is Kosher. For storylines or encounters that eventually move and intertwine, use the Continued Command, explained later in this rule section.
5. Response periods will be held in one week increments.
From Monday at 12:01am to Sunday 12:00 PM will mark a single night or day in game time. During this time you can do anything feasible within a 12 hour period. Each week will be considered a night or a day, as posted in the Announcement section at the top of every board. This is important due to the Kindred’s particular allergy to the sun. This is done in order to keep continuity in the storyline, as well as to give the decidedly weaker Kine time to recoup and get stuff done. So that means a day will take two weeks, and two days will be a month. This may change depending on how quickly people can post. Any character that does not post by 11pm on that Sunday will be auto’d by the appropriate player in order to conclude the interaction. They will not be allowed to do anything detrimental to your character unless that is what you and they were going towards anyway.
6. Do not barge into or disrupt another player’s thread without due cause.
It’s rude to interrupt someone in the middle of an important conversation or period of reflection. Now, granted, this is dramatic at times and can lead to juicy conflict! But often this can just be disruptive and extremely annoying. Those that engage in butting into other peoples thread without good reason, storyline motivation, or with obvious malicious intent will be considered naughty indeed.
7. Never ‘auto’ someone else’s character.
Autoing is the act of writing a player character’s response without the involvement or consent of the other player. This includes verbal and physical responses. This is considered the height of rudeness and the offending post will be deleted immediately. There are only three instances where autoing is allowed.
8. Proper Commands will be used at all times to avoid confusion.
Commands are specific words, left at the bottom of a post and colored yellow. These inform other players as to the next step involving this post. Commands are very important to the efficiency and coherency of the RPing process, so make sure to familiarize yourself with all the Commands. Here is a comprehensive list of the Commands of Seattle After Dark:
9. Use the proper format for specific communication.
Kindred can communicate a myriad of ways, especially with Disciplines. In order to avoid confusion, the following formats will be used in conjunction with the appropriate manner of communication.
Note: Online communication and texts will take place between PC's or between the PC and the myself, as an appropriate NPC. You will still be required to use the above mentioned formatting, in case it is ever "intercepted" and read.
10. When posting exclusively with two or more players, attempt a joint post.
Joint Posts are posts including the back and forth conversations and interactions of two or more players, done so to increase the flow of a particular storyline. Two or more players will collude outside of the forum, through Instant Messengers or e-mail systems, to write a post together. Afterwards, they post the Joint Post onto the forum, where it will read more fluidly and look pretty damn spiffy! Make sure to use a proper Command, as stated above!
11. When using NPC’s play them as they were characterized.
Every NPC listing will have a specific guide for RPing these characters which should be followed to the T. Once more, do not kill an NPC unless you have special dispensation from the creator to do so. If you really must kill something, have a “red shirt” get slaughtered instead. However, as Kindred are under the protection of the Prince and the Camarilla, killing even a red shirt may be a breech in the Traditions. Make sure to go over the In-Character rules presented. Happy hunting!
Posting Rules of the Seattle After Dark RP Forum[/u]
1. Post in third-person, past-tense narrative.
This is your standard novel format and what people generally write stories in anyway. First person makes things very confusing in a story where there are multiple writers and the character is not omniscient. Here is a brief example: "Joshua walked down the hallway." Easy enough.
2. Proofread your response before posting.
This one is REALLY important. It only takes a few minutes to put your post into a word processor, run spellcheck, and manually read over it. The quality of your work will be greatly improved, I promise you. This one is really big for me as I can't stand to see easily avoided spelling errors and typos. I mean, I won't be going over your posts with a fine tooth comb. You won't see me in a Grammar Nazi uniform. But if I can casually glance at your post and be assaulted by a glaring mistake, I won't be happy. It doesn't take that long to proofread and it shows a respect for other players by giving your concerted effort to make this forum vaguely professional in its writing level.
3. Posts will have meaningful content.
All RP posts will consist of at least one paragraph involving meaningful plot movements. One-liners are strictly prohibited; they really do not advance the plot and are dangerously close to spamming. Anytime you want to post something that has a back-and-forth, rapid element to it, simply work on a joint post with the other player. Joint posts will be explained later in this rules section.
4. Every storyline or specific encounter has its own thread.
Under the appropriate board in the town setting, specific storylines and encounters are posted. These are often kept separate so as to avoid confusion. It’s difficult if there are a dozen posts in a single Downtown board thread, but if one were devoted to a Ventrue and Toreador negotiating above surface and the other to the machinations of the Nosferatu below ground, everything is Kosher. For storylines or encounters that eventually move and intertwine, use the Continued Command, explained later in this rule section.
5. Response periods will be held in one week increments.
From Monday at 12:01am to Sunday 12:00 PM will mark a single night or day in game time. During this time you can do anything feasible within a 12 hour period. Each week will be considered a night or a day, as posted in the Announcement section at the top of every board. This is important due to the Kindred’s particular allergy to the sun. This is done in order to keep continuity in the storyline, as well as to give the decidedly weaker Kine time to recoup and get stuff done. So that means a day will take two weeks, and two days will be a month. This may change depending on how quickly people can post. Any character that does not post by 11pm on that Sunday will be auto’d by the appropriate player in order to conclude the interaction. They will not be allowed to do anything detrimental to your character unless that is what you and they were going towards anyway.
6. Do not barge into or disrupt another player’s thread without due cause.
It’s rude to interrupt someone in the middle of an important conversation or period of reflection. Now, granted, this is dramatic at times and can lead to juicy conflict! But often this can just be disruptive and extremely annoying. Those that engage in butting into other peoples thread without good reason, storyline motivation, or with obvious malicious intent will be considered naughty indeed.
7. Never ‘auto’ someone else’s character.
Autoing is the act of writing a player character’s response without the involvement or consent of the other player. This includes verbal and physical responses. This is considered the height of rudeness and the offending post will be deleted immediately. There are only three instances where autoing is allowed.
- The player has given specific permission to be auto’d to either another player or the board at large through a Command
- The player has not posted a response by the end of the week (11pm Central time every Sunday)
- The player is currently suspended or banned
8. Proper Commands will be used at all times to avoid confusion.
Commands are specific words, left at the bottom of a post and colored yellow. These inform other players as to the next step involving this post. Commands are very important to the efficiency and coherency of the RPing process, so make sure to familiarize yourself with all the Commands. Here is a comprehensive list of the Commands of Seattle After Dark:
- Tag – Tag specifically targets another character for response. At the end of the post, a player types in Tag ______, with the characters name in order to identify who the action or interaction was targeted at.
- Continued – Continued is used whenever there is a change of setting. At the end of the post, a player types in Continued in ______, with the appropriate board or thread name to guide other players. If you’re feeling generous, why not hyperlink this Command?
- Exit – If a character disengages from an encounter, moves to another one, or is involved in any situation that means they have “left the building” must use an Exit Command. At the end of the post, a player types in Exited to ______, with the appropriate board of thread name to guide other players. If you’re feeling generous, why not hyperlink this Command?
- Joint Post – When creating a Joint Post, it is important to acknowledge all the contributors to the post. At the end of the post, a player types in Joint Post by _______ with the contributing players’ names.
9. Use the proper format for specific communication.
Kindred can communicate a myriad of ways, especially with Disciplines. In order to avoid confusion, the following formats will be used in conjunction with the appropriate manner of communication.
- Verbal Face-to-Face - Any conversations in person will be surrounded by " ", just like in a novel or short story.
- Phone Communication - Conversations held over the phone will be italicized and bracketed like this: [Easy enough, right?]
- SMS Communication – Cellphone texts will be framed in double colons at the beginning and ending of the text. ::Basically texts will typed out like this :-)::
- E-mail/Instant Messenger Communication – When communicating over the internet, make sure to begin every line with doubled forward slashes, //as so. For e-mails, include a subject.
- Mental Communication - This is any form of telepathy, empathy, or other psionic communication. This will simply be italicized as such.
- Animalism – Animal speech (via Feral Whispers) and commands given to beasts through the Discipline Animalism are to be italicized and orange.
- Presence – The Discipline Presence will be represented by text that has been italicized and red.
- Domination – When a command is given via the Domination Discipline, the text will be italicized and blue.
- Dementation – Suggestions and statements carrying the power of Dementation will be italicized and lime green.
Note: Online communication and texts will take place between PC's or between the PC and the myself, as an appropriate NPC. You will still be required to use the above mentioned formatting, in case it is ever "intercepted" and read.
10. When posting exclusively with two or more players, attempt a joint post.
Joint Posts are posts including the back and forth conversations and interactions of two or more players, done so to increase the flow of a particular storyline. Two or more players will collude outside of the forum, through Instant Messengers or e-mail systems, to write a post together. Afterwards, they post the Joint Post onto the forum, where it will read more fluidly and look pretty damn spiffy! Make sure to use a proper Command, as stated above!
11. When using NPC’s play them as they were characterized.
Every NPC listing will have a specific guide for RPing these characters which should be followed to the T. Once more, do not kill an NPC unless you have special dispensation from the creator to do so. If you really must kill something, have a “red shirt” get slaughtered instead. However, as Kindred are under the protection of the Prince and the Camarilla, killing even a red shirt may be a breech in the Traditions. Make sure to go over the In-Character rules presented. Happy hunting!