OOC: Rules of the Game

Hi! Welcome to the Gotchi Space Raiders board! Cheesy

This thread will outline some of the basic rules to make the game run smoothly. I will be explaining some of the shorthand terminology that we will use to keep things orderly. (If you're wondering, they mostly come from the terminology of MUSHes, a form of text-based roleplaying games that work on telnet. I adore MUSHes.)

One thing you should notice is the shorthand "OOC" in the title. This stands for "Out Of Character". That means that everything in this thread is "OOC". OOC threads are a good place to discuss plans and ideas for the actual plot of the story. This contrasts with "IC" ("In Character"); in IC threads, OOC talk should be kept to a minimum, and always indicated by a colour change to green.

For now, we will have only one IC thread. Every addition to the story will take place there.

There will be another OOC thread called the descriptions thread. I will post a description of the Space Moth's design, so that we all know where rooms are in relation to each other, as well as a description of the general layout of the area of space we will be exploring. I would ask all the players to also include a paragraph-long physical description of their characters. I'll go first to demonstrate so that you'll basically know what to write. This thread will be a useful reference thread to turn to whenever you need a reminder of what someone or something looks like. If there's something else you want an in-depth description of, PM me and I'll see what I can do.

The game will work by having each of the players write their contributions in sequence. The order of writing is called the pose order. The pose order for Gotchi Space Raiders is:

Elana
Brendan
Chi
Jiro

Basically, I start off the game with a piece of the story. Brendan goes next. Then Chi, then Jiro, then me, then Brendan... and so on.

We each get a week to contribute our part of the story, although the faster, the better. Wink

I will be flexible with the time limit, because I understand that sometimes real life can get crazy. If you take more than a week without letting me know, I will give the next person in the pose order the chance to write - so you may miss a turn. A good story has momentum, so let's try to respond as quickly as possible!

I have no specific rules about the length of the contribution, as long as it is definitely a paragraph and not just a line or two. The most important guideline is that something has to happen in your pose: not just thinking or reacting, but move the plot forward. As long as you accomplish that, the pose can be as long or as short as you like.

A Few Do's and Don't's:

Do...

...add to the story as soon as your turn comes up! The more momentum, the more exciting the story will be. It might be handy to subscribe to the thread so that you get an email whenever it's updated.
...make sure that something actually happens in each of your contributions! Give the next person something to work with.
...experiment with cliffhanger endings to your pose! This really gets creative juices flowing.
...feel free to make use of other people's characters! You are not limited to your own character. The focus of your contribution is your own character, but you are mainly contributing a segment of a larger story, and sometimes you need to show character interaction to move the plot forward. Of course, you must keep to the spirit of the other characters, and you mustn't make dramatic changes to other people's characters unless they give you specific consent.
...suggest scenes for the chatroom! Sometimes the story reaches a very high pace and the story will progress better in real time. If you have an idea for something exciting and fast-paced, like a combat scene or plot climax, contact me and I will try to arrange a time for us to meet in the chatroom to play it out.

Don't...

...disappear! If you stop adding to the story, your character will become "public domain" for anyone to do with as they wish.
...write one-line poses! That's just lazy. Also it makes it very hard for the next person to think of things to say and do. If you can't think of anything to write... try something crazy! Or ask me and I'll try to help you with an idea.
...write poses that consist just of your character thinking or having an inner monologue. Those are important ingredients to a good pose, but if that's all there is, you have not moved the story forward or given the next person enough material to work with.
...make other characters look lame or do something questionable! Unless you have permission, of course. Basically if it's not obvious how someone else's character would react in a given situation, ASK!
...be afraid to ask questions! If something isn't clear, contact me and I'll try to work it out.

I want to make myself as available as possible for everyone so if you have any questions or concerns we can deal with them quickly, so we don't lose the pace of the story. Feel free to make use of the contact information in my profile. I'm practically always online one way or another.