Send Valbullion?
Table of Contents.
1. Introduction
2. OOC
3. Roleplay, characters and T1
4. The Sprawl
5. Posting; Experience Points
6. Free will; Character Death; Open-Source
7. Technology
8. Administrative Enforcement
9. Genres
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So you're new to Valucre, meaning one of two things. You're either completely new to roleplay, or your knew to Valucre roleplay. Either way, you're sure to have some questions, and this walkthrough is meant to answer them.
Assuming you're brand new, let's start at the top, with the people you need to know.
P.S.: Before we begin, I'd like to throw something in here that Nette, our PR&M Team Leader, drafted up one night just messing around and dropped a gem on us.
Important People: Who and Of What
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The OOC portion of the site is rated R, for strong language and innuendo. The IC portion of the site is rated R for text-based adult themes, strong language, violence, and nudity. Although these themes aren't pervasive, situations call for it. However an R rating does not mean NC-17 or TV-MA; explicit depiction of sexual acts will not be tolerated.
Code of Conduct: The Code of Conduct details the rules of public interaction between players as well as the complaint process. The complaint process is to be followed for serious complaints, as most conflicts can be resolved at ground level without administrative involvement.
Tabs Explained: Explains the tabs in the main navigation bar at the top of the site, and an explanation on the forms available for user submission.
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Now that you've familiarized yourself with the staff, their responsibilities and their moderators, as well as the OOC portion of the site, we can get into the thick of things.
Valucre the World: This is an article intended to give the user a rough sketch of Valucre as a planet. Does not include the Other section of the site. Will be replaced by a world map in the future.
Roleplay FAQ: Here you will find roleplay terminology, some generic and some specific to Valucre, as well as a break-down off the IC areas of Valucre the World.
Roleplay is a game of collaborative fiction. To play the game you need a piece. You need a character.
A character sheet is only necessary when participating in a tournament or a judged fight. One does not require a character sheet for friendly spars and combat through roleplay. Some members may have special requirements for specific roleplays, and many members find them useful ways to organize information.
Character sheet templates: If you're interested in filling out a sheet, here are some blank templates provided to us by our users. You are not limited to these templates and are free to make up one of your own.
In a free-form forum, it's a great deal more difficult to say what you can't do than it is to say what you can, as a player. Our rule of thumb is story over mechanics, usually dependent on the respective board-leader and parties involved.
The first two links below will give you some idea of a balance of the mild-powers system we use on Valucre, and the last four links will give you a more comprehensive look into our T1 Combat System.
Mild Powers
Revised combat guidelines
T1 Tutorial
Fresh to Death tournament rules.
Grey Area
T1: A Comprehensive Study
You do not need to know T1 to play on Valucre. We have an opt-in rule on the site. No one can force you to fight them just as no one can force you to write with them; it is your right as a writer. On the other hand if you attack someone without their prior knowledge or consent and they accept the attack, it becomes a legitimate battle and is played by T1 rules.
Limits on power become much stricter than they would for an orchestrated battle. The hard-cap of an offensive ability is the destruction of a building, whereas for an epic storyline and with the cooperation of a board-leader, attacks of a higher magnitude might be allowed.
On Valucre, intelligently played story always wins.
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Now you have a character and you've chosen their abilities. You now have an avatar for your writing and understand the scope in which it can be played. Now what? Where to play?
Boiled down to the basics you have two options available. You can make a thread or ojin a thread. Valucre staff recommends that you join one rather than make one.
If you don't get your feet wet you won't learn how to swim. Don't get disheartened if no one joins your threads, maybe you're not the only shy one around the site, and don't be afraid join an already existing thread. We're all here to write.
The Water Cooler: The purpose of the WC is to provide a focal point for players to list their ideas and recruit fellow writers. Here a player can propose Valucre or Other storylines/ideas, can place ads for players to fill out characters, or can look for other characters to participate in a quest.
Open threads: Found in the WC. A user-maintained listing of open threads. Because it's user maintained, it doesn't always get updated, so use it as a handy tool but don't depend on it.
Any thread that's not listed specifically as being closed or semi-closed is considered open. The only reason we made the Open Thread Listing is to give a single location for a new member to find something to jump right into it.
Step By Step Guide to Canonization: When you've got a character rounded out and are confident in your ability to use him/her, and are ready to make an impact on Valucre Canon, follow this guide.
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If you've been browsing the site while reading this walkthrough over the course of a few days, as recommended, by now you're probably wondering what closed and open threads are all about.
-- Open: Free to join by anyone, for any reason.
-- Closed: Closed to the public, and usually invite-only.
-- Semi-closed: Closed to the public but the creator is open to new members, just wants to control the intake.
You're also probably wondering what ValBullion is and what significance your Experience Points have.
ValBullion and Experience Points: This article addresses the above but in short Experience Points are earned for every IC post made (4pts per post, 4 pts per thread). Your XP makes up your ValBullion, which can be used as a form of IC and OOC currency.
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Free Will & Character Death
We are all writers. Gods in how we can control what we create. Whole lives and cultures. Your character is your literary device and no one can tell you how to write it. But we must understand that Valucre is as much about individual empowerment as it is about collaborative effort. There is a certain consensual respect we must all abide by.
What are the limits of our power as individuals interacting in a persistent world communally created and? No one can force you to write with them, but likewise just because you can write doesn't mean you are free to influence another writer's literary construct haphazardly.
If you're in a thread and someone attacks you for no reason, you're free to ignore them. You can continue on with the thread or take your character elsewhere. In some very special circumstances you can even ask that a post be removed, though this is rare.
If someone is responding organically to situations you've created, such as a police officer responding to your character breaking into a home, take your lickings. You extended consent by engaging in the act and their response is that player accepting the situation you've proposed.
Keep in mind, however, than even when legitimately responding in someone's thread to their actions, especially actions that would result in conflict arising in the thread, through combat or tricky storytelling, your intent needs to be made explicitly clear. Choice is about informed consent. Putting something as simple as "I'm going to respond to this in T1, instead of storymode, combat for the remainder of this thread" as a note or spoiler in your post, or sending the other person a PM, is a mark of civility and courtesy that goes a great way towards keeping the peace, keeping the story flowing smoothly, and avoiding unnecessary OOC tension and drama.
If, after consenting and engaging, you decide to withdraw illegitimately (OOC instead of IC), then previous writing and actions are to be considered invalid and the thread may be locked or posts deleted, depending on the depth of action taken.
Here is an example of combative T1.
The Fight: A day in the life
OOC Discussion: A day in the life OOC
Open-Source
Valucre is an open-source system, meaning that we welcome additions and modifications from the player, rather than tightly controlled and static systems of play. Subject to review, we'll accept monsters, NPC's, tribes, settings and the like.
Organization Board: A board where users can display and keep track of the hierarchy and mission listing of their organization, group, crew, tribe or clan.
The World Bestiary: Using the Bestiary Submission form, users can submit ideas for monsters and creatures for public use. They can be used for random encounters, prey for specific materials, or even as playable races.
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You can do, make or introduce almost anything as long as it's somewhat sensible, even if the mechanics are vague, and it isn't a Mary Sue or makes your character into a Mary Sue.
As far as introducing technology understand that the word technology differs from location to location. For technology that is not already present, it's important to understand that you'll only have what you bring with you.
Computers: Nixon never made ARPA net, so there is no internet. Also, there's no AC outlets. Instead people use telepathy and dream-speak, if applicable. Doesn't stop one from having a solar power handheld.
Guns: Guns are not a common technology, with the exception of Renovatio, Muhir, and some sections of Genesaris. Unless you're in those parts, you'll want to carry plenty of ammo or learn how to make your own.
Cars: No fossil fuels. No mechanics. No paved roads between towns, save for major trade routes. Who needs a car when you have a horse, or can fly, or teleport, or shadow-walk or ride a sandworm?
As far as the ' magical mechanics' of Valucre go, there's no need for a hard limit on this. You can believe in, and derive power from, any type of religion, cosmology, mechanical system, energy nomenclature or whatever that you'd like. The source matters less than the raw output and, unless agreed upon or following logic, one system doesn't have an inherent advantage over the other.
DONTS:
Something that can cut everything.
Something unbreakable.
"Just cause" systems. My powers are better than yours just cause. My magic system is better than yours just cause.
Try to boldly and constantly gratify your ego.
DOS:
Quality writing will always help you pull of whatever you're trying to do. Quality writing means work, dedication, thought and creativity. Don't try to force your shit onto other people, make them want it.
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The customer is not always right. The staff-member is not always right. The only person that is always right is whoever is being the most rational and making the most sense, and this can be seen at a glance.
Most of Valucre staff are players as well, often times deeply involved in the in-character aspects of the site, and as such we want to minimize administrative involvement to the minimum degree necessary to keep the gears well-oiled and moving. We are kind, polite, rational, well-reasoned, experienced listeners that have true faith and genuine interest in the welfare of the site.
The community is self-correcting. This is a product of directed design and progress as much as it is a consequence of mature, intelligent, dedicated writers. If you're an asshole, you'll find you'll have people less willing to play with you and without other people to interact with, there's only so far that you can go in this game.
If you're helpful, proactive and serious about your characters, about storylines and plot, then you'll find a new world of opportunities opening up to you. It isn't magic, it's just the way it is.
A simplified version of the formal complaint process is as follows:
I have a problem with
1. Contact the user and calmly attempt to talk the issue out. The user may be insulting you without even meaning to, and responding in hostile fashion only escalates and complicates what is at its core a non-issue.
2. Put the user on ignore by editing your friends and enemies list in Settings. It blocks their posts and private messages.
3. If they persist are going out of their way to harass you on-site, let them know continued harassment will result in contacting an administrator.
4. Contact an administrator and have all your files in order. Screenshots, transcripts, links to instances of misconduct. This will help the admins make a quick and logical decision. We refuse to act on hearsay and gossip, as personal experience has taught us time and again that rumors are and such are often just that. We are firm on this stance.
The user will then be given a punitive measure regarded as appropriate by the acting administrator. This can be:
1. A warning.
2. Freechat ban.
3. Permanent OOC removal, allowing the user access only to the IC parts of the site.
4. Temporary site ban.
5 .Permanent site ban.
And anything else we can think of for reasons we ultimately see fit.
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Current and past (hence possible again). This is just to give you an idea of what you might find on Valucre, and to show you just how diverse the ideas are. Members are welcome to introduce new genres or revive old ones.
Fantasy and magi-tek: Terrenus, Muhir
Steampunk: Tia, Arcturus
Modern Tech: Renovatio, parts of Genesaris
Stat-based (loosely): Itoryn
High/classic fantasy: Rosinder, Iselyr.
Superhero/Comic fandom: Age of Heroes
Mob/criminal organization/syndicate: the Dead.
Magical academy/character progress: Gaian Academy