Zelda Universe Forums - The Village http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/ en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:06:07 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/images/zutemple/misc/rss.jpg Zelda Universe Forums - The Village http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/ <![CDATA[The OoC Thread [v18]: Congratulamations Teacher Kittay!]]> http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/the-village/102044-the-ooc-thread-v18-congratulamations-teacher-kittay-new-post.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:07:18 GMT *~*Introduction*~* The OOC thread serves the following purposes as regards the EH: 1. The discussion of anything BA related such as characters, battles and writing technique 2. Writing in general may be discussed as well. Giving helpful hints about writing style and helping others to...
~*Introduction*~


The OOC thread serves the following purposes as regards the EH:

1. The discussion of anything BA related such as characters, battles and writing technique

2. Writing in general may be discussed as well. Giving helpful hints about writing style and helping others to improve their writing are very welcome

3. Immersive situations can also be discussed in this thread where a member may come up with a situation and ask other members to share their opinions or answers to such a situation.

4. Small, fast-moving discussions are best left in a chatroom. Like the EH's Chatroom, for instance. You can find it here.


Now, beyond that, the OoC Thread also exists for casual chatting and general discussions on any number of topics. Serious discussions are also catered for, as writing often draws from internal reflection. Just remember that this is not the I:SB. The OoC Thread may be somewhat lenient, but that doesn't give you the right to abuse it.

~*Da Rules*~



The following rules are non-negotiable and will be adhered to:

1. Posts that contribute nothing to the discussion will be deleted on-sight.

2. Posting without an approved player is not allowed.

3. Flaming will be severely frowned upon and may lead to an infraction.

4. Blatant smexual content will be met with an immediate infraction.

5. Excessive swearing will be rewarded with an infraction.

6. Evading the swear-filter will warrant a post deletion or editing.

7. Picture plugging is to be kept to a minimum, this is not an image-board. Supply links instead. Only images that are smaller than 200KB and 500px x 500px will be tolerated, but even so, use them only sparingly when they really are needed for what you are saying and a link will not suffice. The images must follow the rules for signatures and avatars, meaning that no vulgar or inappropriate content in them will be allowed. There should not be more than one image at most on a page for the sake of those with slower connections.

8. There will be no exceptions or special favours. Those who deserve an infraction will get one, regardless of gender, status, popularity, pwnsomeness or Councilorship.

9. Mods are expected to fullfil their duties and you as EHers must demand that those duties are fulfilled and that any violation of these rules is immediately reported to them.

Overall, this is to be kept family-friendly. Smutty behaviour is not outlawed, of course, but not at the expense of intelligence. We're here to have fun, humour, discuss and socialize. Just don't step out of line.

And your BA Councilors Are...

Power Shot
Shetani
Altamira
Insaney
Cookie
Ciroton
Drammor
Puck
Scott
Shrub
Zorolo
]]> The Village Ciroton http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/the-village/102044-the-ooc-thread-v18-congratulamations-teacher-kittay.html <![CDATA[The Escapists' Guide to the Haven]]> http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/the-village/102033-the-escapists-guide-to-the-haven-new-post.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:34:13 GMT Welcome to Shrubbery’s guide to role playing and battling. This thread is mostly just suggestions and advice on how to write better characters and how to write better role plays (both of violent and non-violent types). This thread is about all the things we would like to encourage you to do more and all the things we want to you to do less, but aren’t mentioned in the Rules, for they are not mandatory. However, I think you’ll be getting more compliments if you take some of the information here and apply it.

Now before we dive into it, the basics:

What is an RPG?
The RPG (Role-Playing Game) is a place where written characters from your imagination can interact with one another in many ways. Since all of this is written, anything from your imagination can come into play, so long as it does not break the EH Rules. An RPG (or just RP for short) can be a long, drawn out event, or it can be a simple exchange between characters.

RP’s with long drawn out combat between two or more characters belongs in the Battle Arena. RP’s in the Crossroads may have combat but not long ones between characters. It’s more about conversation, traveling together, or even joining forces to go on quests for mystical artifacts and the like. To learn more about which RP’s belong where, read the Escapists’ Haven Rules. You should read these for more than just that, so that you don’t accidentally break them.

Getting a Character
To write in the Haven, you must first have an approved character. So you’ll need to read the Acceptance Policy and Guidelines. These will outline the basics for creating a character. Again, you can send a private message to one of the EH moderators or Councilors, and they will help you to understand anything that is unclear. Or even ask in the OoC thread, they don’t bite … Okay, sometimes they do bite. Watch out for Quark.

It’s pretty simple: you fill out an empty template provided in the Acceptance thread. By copying and pasting it in some kind of document on your computer or however you want to do it. It’s a good idea to save all your character profiles on your computer. ZU and the Forums have been known to be hacked and have to reset from the previous day. Meaning, your thread could end up lost forever, unless you saved it and can repost again.

Remember, we here in the Escapists’ Haven appreciate good grammar and spelling. Please check thoroughly to make certain you have everything right. As for the character’s design, the best idea is to imagine the character you want, then fill out the form as would fit that character. Once you are done, make a new thread in the Character Approval sub-forum (also known as Characters and Resources), with the name of the character as the thread name.

Then, wait for an approver to stop by and either approve your character, or tell you what needs to be changed for him/her/it to be acceptable. Once your character has been approved, post its profile in the Character List so you can easily find him/her/it later on. For easy access, I suggest keeping a link to your characters in your signature. There will be more information on how to do that later.

Now, you are ready to role-play!

Out of Character
Remember this, whenever you are role-playing and need to speak out-of-character, mark those comments with “OoC” (meaning "Out of Character"). Once you wish to speak in-character again, you should mark it with “BiC” (meaning "Back in Character"). Here’s an example:

"OoC: Great post, now check mine.
BiC: Grun narrowed his eyes and glared at the stranger...”

Getting Started
Now, you can join an RP that someone else has started if the thread title says “(anyone)”. If no one else has joined that RP, or it is open to more participants, you can just make a post about how your character got involved. Note! It is common manners (and somewhat required) to make a link to the character you are using in your starting post if it is not in your sig.

You can also begin an RP on your own by creating a new thread in the RPG forum with the name of your RP as the thread title. Remember to link your character in the first post too. Then you should make a post that sets the scene and tells how your character got there. Be sure to describe the scenery carefully, so there won't be any arguments about it later on. In an RP, it’s also important to have a good reason for your characters to meet up. None of that “two warriors met by chance” junk. Throw in some storyline for good measure.

And just try not to take on too many RP’s at once. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Signature Linking
As promised, instructions in putting links in things like signatures and posts.

First you’ll need the url, which will be the address in your browser when you are viewing your character’s profile. Copy it. I suggest doing a single post view, so that we don’t have to wait for that huge page of the Character List to load or just use the thread that got your character approved. For that, click the number of your post in the right hand corner of it, and it will direct you to a single view of that post.

After you have the address copied, write a word for the link to be in, such as the name of your character. Highlight it and then click the icon on the tool bar of the signature editing or post that has a little globe on it. It will bring up a box where you paste your address in and then press okay.

Save your sig and you’re done!

Other Stuff to Mention
There are a number of things you should avoid with a passion, though these aren't exactly ban-worthy. No 1337 (“leet speak”, for those who aren’t aware). Try to avoid using posts of only OoC comments. Discussion about the RP can be taken to PMs (Private Messages) or VMs (Visitor Messages) or an instant messenger of some form. OoC only posts should be only allowed if you must address godmoding or powerplaying publicly (see Rules for farther descriptions).

Short posts are not really discouraged. Sometimes they are perfectly necessary; just try to avoid doing only one or three sentences. Ways to avoid this will be covered later in Crossroads Role Playing. Also check out this thread, What NOT to Do, for more tips on what to avoid doing.

Quoted for truth:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drammor
Concept, power level and experience aside, let’s talk about the councilors, their job, the aim of the EH. The councilors here are volunteers who have to apply for the job. None of them get paid for it, but they did have to put in hundreds to thousands of hours of work and dedication to the EH before they could be selected for the position.

When a councilor talks to you about something that’s a problem, it’s not personal and it’s not because they want to, but because it is the job they were hired for, and they do out of nothing but the goodness in their hearts and the love of a good, fun roleplay.

As far as I’ve understood it, the goal of the EH is twofold. The first is to provide writers with a fun, free-form and mature writing environment where they can interact with others in long or short term roleplays without fear of being degraded or disrespected by other players. The second is to help writers of all ages and amounts of experience to improve their writing and roleplaying skills through interaction with other players, and especially the councilors.

So, when a councilor approaches you about something, you need to be able face up to it. If it hurts your pride somehow, then you swallow your pride and grow from the experience, instead. Don’t give the councilors here grief about something they’ve said to you, not only because they aren’t getting paid for this, but because they are only trying to help you. They don't have ulterior motives.

I have personally had councilors talk to me about my own roleplay, but because I knew they were only trying to help, I didn’t look at it from a point of view with my head stuck in some orifice and I fixed it. Turns out, it created a better experience for everyone involved.
Table of Contents: ]]> The Village Shrub http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/the-village/102033-the-escapists-guide-to-the-haven.html <![CDATA[The Escapists' Haven Rules]]> http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/the-village/102032-the-escapists-haven-rules-new-post.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:32:11 GMT _*The Crossroads and the Battle Arena*_ First and foremost, before I get into all the rules for both the Crossroads and the Battle Arena, I shall state the depiction between both role playing areas. While battling is not completely banned from the Crossroads, if people are doing nothing but...
The Crossroads and the Battle Arena

First and foremost, before I get into all the rules for both the Crossroads and the Battle Arena, I shall state the depiction between both role playing areas. While battling is not completely banned from the Crossroads, if people are doing nothing but fighting each other’s characters in the Crossroads, then it shouldn't be in the Crossroads. If they do “battle”, it may be in a team against an NPC or several NPC’s, and preferably not against each other’s characters. The Crossroads are more for epic quests, adventures, and development between characters. There can be violent conflict between characters, but try to keep it to a minimal or move it to the BA. The Crossroads are dedicated more toward plot than random brawls. While role plays in the BA can also have plots, the content should be mostly of violence between the characters involved.

Things to Note:
Please keep the battles and role plays in a certain person. A person means that you are writing either in 1st Person, using "I", "me", etc. acting as if you were your own character in the battle/role play, or that you are using 3rd Person, speaking as if you were an outsider watching the two or more characters battle/role play, using “she”, “he”, “it”, “him”, “her”, etc. In 3rd Person, it is more common to control more than just one character.

If you want to start any thread that that you may be unsure whether or not it is a battle or Crossroad thread, get the okay from a Councilor.

Remember that the purpose of The Battle Arena is not to win, but to write something, have fun doing it, and perhaps learn something about writing. So don't focus intently on who wins and who loses.

Make sure you've read about the other person's character before battling/role playing with them. If you’re going to be interacting with that character, then you should at least know what they look like if not more. If you’re battling, it’s important to know what their character is capable of.

Make sure bad feelings in battle/role play don't carry over to the rest of the forum. We have The Escapists' Haven to have fun.

And now for the rules:
  1. All regular forum rules apply, including the rules against spamming and flaming.

  2. You must have an approved character to participate in the Escapists’ Haven. If you do not have an approved character yet, read this thread for information on how to get one.

  3. When you wish to talk about out of character, type "OoC" (meaning "Out of character"). Use "BiC" (Back in character) when you wish to write in character once again.

  4. Try to type at least one or two paragraphs of in-character battle/role play. While short posts are not strictly prohibited, really try to avoid writing only one or two sentences.

  5. While controlling another player’s character is not strictly prohibited, it is advised that you avoid doing so as much as possible. You are not allowed to describe the actions and thoughts of another player's character without their express permission. Each character belongs to the person who made it and not you. This is known as powerplaying, and it isn't allowed in any type of role play, though it is more commonly seen in the Crossroads.

  6. Godmoding is not allowed. Godmoding is using your character in such a way that their skills, abilities, or powers accomplish things that break the fairness of a role play. Such as assuming your character's actions work automatically or that they always come out on top of every situation. This is more commonly seen in the Battle Arena. For more information, seek link above.

  7. You cannot kill any character other than your own unless you have the approval of that character's owner.

  8. While sex in the Crossroads is not strictly prohibited, you are not allowed to write lemons: graphic description of the act itself. Everything leading up to it and everything that follows is okay. You can write an entire sex scene without going into details about the mechanics. However, implied sex scenes are best, if there must be sex scenes. Oral sex also counts for the lemon rule.
Any breaking of these rules can lead to a warning, being slapped with my ruler and sent to the corner, and possibly a ban, as everywhere else on the forums. The Council and the Moderators of the Escapists’ Haven will decide on what punishment should befall you if these rules are broken. It should be noted that we cannot know what goes on in every battle or role play, so if you see this kind of behavior please report it to a Councilor. Especially if you have issues with the person's role playing. ]]> The Village Shrub http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/the-village/102032-the-escapists-haven-rules.html