STAR ARMY

Sci-fi roleplaying and worldbuilding community

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guide:rules

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Rules

Please carefully read all of these rules; they are designed to make Star Army enjoyable and consistent for all members. They are not meant to limit you unreasonably or to stifle anyone's creativity. The rules below were forged through experience and adaptation. They protect members from abuse and protect the community itself. Each is important and exists for good reason.

The list is being continually refined but ignorance is no excuse to ignore the rules - they are posted here for all to see and to subscribe to. If you refuse to follow them, then the administration will take action. In the event something is questionable or not covered by the rules, the final say goes to the administration. Please have the courtesy to accept their decisions.

Characters

Character Creation

  • The Creating a Character article is the official guide to creating a SARP character.
  • All characters must be original. No characters from television, movies, or books.
  • Don't build your character as part of an existing family or as related to an existing character without their permission .
  • Importing an original character from another RPG is not allowed, but you can build a similar character.
  • Characters not on the wiki will not be approved.

Limitations

  • Unapproved characters cannot used used in the roleplay, except for in the Cluster Flux freeform RP area.
  • non-player_characters do not belong to role-players, but can be played by them with GM permission.

Membership

StarArmy.com wishes to provide proper credit to the authors of the works created in the RPG. Please post your contact information and online times in the contact info thread, so other people will know how and when they can get a hold of you. If you don't use your real name on the site, then you can't be credited for your work in Star Army publications.

Forum Avatars and Signatures

  • Maximum allowed size is 120 pixels wide and 135 pixels tall.
  • Forum signatures are not displayed on the forum but are visible on member profiles.

Usernames and Passwords

  • Usernames should be 15 characters or less.
  • Only one account per person is authorized.
  • Don't share your password.
  • Don't use a username that is a technical error such as HTTP status codes.
  • You're allowed to change your username if you'd like. If you do, please:
    • Make a post letting everyone know.
    • PM wes with a link to the post aand he will change it for you.

Plot Participation

Joining a Plot

  • Only approved player_characters can join canon plots.
  • Players and GM who already play in and/or run 4 or more plots are not allowed to join or create additional plots.
  • Game Masters have the right to request a list of plots a player is already participating in.
  • Game Masters have the right to refuse a player or player character for any reason, or for no reason at all.
  • You may join an adventure at any point in time, as long as it is okay the Plot GM; however, it is recommended that you wait until the beginning of an adventure before you join in IC. The most common ways of introducing a character are a transfer via shuttle, or catching a ride on a cargo ship.

Leaving a Plot

Don't just disappear in the middle of an adventure; it can create major problems.

See: Leaving a Plot or The Community

  • Players should tell their GM 3 days in advance if they're leaving the plot.
  • Players leaving a plot have the right to take their player_characters with them, if feasible.
  • non-player_characters belong to the GM and players have no right to take them.

If you have shown that you do not have the time necessary to take part in the RP, you may be asked to leave and open a spot for players who do have the time.

Disappearances

If a staff member, game master, faction manager, moderator, or administrator does not post in 30 consecutive days, we have to assume that they no longer have the ability to perform their duties; therefore, they will be relieved of them. If the member returns after a disappearance, these positions of power should not be restored until a reasonable amount of time has passed in which the member shows activity and good behavior.

  1. Moderators: 6 months
  2. Admins, Staff Global Moderators: 12+ months

Time limits may be excused or shortened if the member gave advanced notice, or disappeared because of a disaster (tsunami, etc) or medical emergency beyond his/control (car crash, etc).

Respect Others

Players must respect fellow players. Being deliberately hurtful to or harassing another player or Game Master will not be tolerated, including remarks made in private or without the victim’s knowledge.

  • Do not harass, threaten, or libel the other players or other people.
  • Do not “flame.” Your post will be deleted or changed and action may be taken against you. Flaming is using abusive language and belittling comments towards other players. This includes sarcastic remarks.
  • If someone harasses you, Save a copy of the offending material. Let the Site GM know immediately.

Do not cuss/swear, threaten, harass, or use derogatory racial terms in your posts; The only time you are allowed to cuss is: In-character, in a JP or SP post as part of a character's speech, or in a non-public forum.

Respect the Community

We want the community to be enjoyable to its members and to be a fun place. New players need to feel welcome, respected, and should be shown Star Army’s best.

  • No vandalizing or spamming the wiki, imageboard, or forums. People have worked hard on the content here.
  • Listen to administrators and moderators.
  • Do not un-do moderator changes if one edits something out of your post.
  • Do not pose as an administrator or moderator.
  • Stay on topic with the post title and the forum the post is in.

No advertising. Do not use the website to solicit members, promote any product, services, or games of chance (lottery, contests, etc.)

Anyone attempting to steal players (convince them to leave the community for another community) from Star Army will be immediately, permanently banned. Any unauthorized use of Star Army intellectual property or IP licensed by Star Army will be aggressively countered by all means available.

Roleplaying

Communicate!

There are several available methods of Communication available to RP Members. Yahoo! Messenger, E-mail, private messages, and the forums themselves are some examples. Sub-plots, problems, questions, concerns, suggestions, and many, many other things have to be worked out between members, and these are the best ways to do it.

Conflicts

Bad things can and will happen to your character. If the character has an intact ST backup of themselves the GM can kill them off whenever he feels it is necessary for the story or just for a bit of dramatic effect. Killing of characters will also happen if it appropriate for actions they have taken. DO NOT whine about it, you made the decision in the first place therefore you should be willing to accept all consequences.

Any major event, situation, condition, action, etc. which directly involves another Player's character must be discussed with said Player beforehand, if possible. The Player reserves the right to have any post deleted that directly involves their character and was not discussed beforehand, unless that post was made by the GM. The post will be deleted or moved and sent to the offending Player for editing.

In the case that someone has used your character in some way, or done something that went against one of your plots, sort it out politely and quickly. Attempt to work it out with the offending Player first. If this fails, take it to the Plot GM. In an RP as large as this one to become, it is nearly impossible to avoid all problems, but if we can sort them out smoothly, politely and quickly, there will be minimal difficulties.

Listen to the site owner and his appointed GMs. If he says something works one way, he would know, he did create the universe after all and a lot of the technology in it. (GM However has a responsibility to make the limits, uses and capabilities known to the entire site.)

Format

  • Parenthesis are used to signify OOC (Out Of Character) comments. Please don't make off-topic OOC comments during JPs, and keep the OOC to a minimum.
  • Tag the post title with the setting(s) in brackets if required. Example: [YSS Empire, Kyoto] Birth of a Family

Keeping Up

Try your hardest to read each and every new post. This cuts down on confusion and prevents conflicts in the storyline from arising. If you don’t have time, at least read the ones involving your ship. Print them if you need to. You are expected to post regularly (at least one RP post a week). If you can’t for some reason, let people know why and kindly excuse your character or arrange for someone else to play her in the meantime.

As a player, it is also partially your responsibility to keep the game moving. So long as what is happening isn't going to change the face of the world, or isn't combat, don't wait for the game_master. Just continue roleplaying! You are encouraged to develop your character's relationships with others. Forge friendships, find a lover, argue, create rivalries, go out, see the sights! Experiment! Just don't do anything that will change the nature of the game without your GM's permission.

People don't appreciate a player who doesn't post frequently. Some GMs even impose posting time limits in order to keep the pace up. If the game is lagging and you are able to post, do it. And don't just post to yourself! Try to interact with other characters to keep things exciting.

Posting a Joint Post

Once a JP is finished, it should immediately be posted in the appropriate roleplay forum. If editing is not possible (due to time constraints or software problems), post the unedited JP.

JP Posts with strong erotic content are required: (1) To be tagged with [18+] after the title. (2) Not to be relevant to the plot. That is, if someone doesn’t read the post, they shouldn’t miss anything important to the plot.

Starting a Side Plot

In each adventure there are two types of plots: The Backbone Plot, and the various Sub-plots. The Backbone Plot takes precedence over sub-plots. Sub-plots must be worked in and around the Backbone Plot in order for the RP to function correctly. This is not to say that because a sub-plot goes against the Backbone Plot it can't be used. It simply means that you must either rework, or put off the sub plot until such a time as it can be used.

Metagaming

Let's all remember to keep OOC knowledge separate from IC knowledge. Don't direct your character to stuff if he/she wouldn't find it by themselves. That includes sniffing at a random moment when a character has no reason to do so and then find someone stalking them that way. If something is hidden, let it be hidden until there is a plausible reason for it to not be. Just because you know a player character is plotting to kill yours, etc. does not mean you can have your character act like he's especially alert for some reason. Keep it realistic.

Writing

Writing is the means with which we interact with one another. It is vital that you write well, so that others can understand you and so they aren't distracted from the RP by errors. Don't bother posting a sentence if you can't be bothered to capitalize it or put a period at the end. The clearer your post, the less the likelihood it will be overlooked or misunderstood.

  • Sentence structure, and correct grammar and spelling are a must.
  • Double spacing between paragraphs is required. This means paragraphs should have a full blank line between them.
  • All posts should be written in third person past tense. The third person is mostly for clarity because there are many “I's” in this story.
  • Please use your character's name in the first reference to them in a paragraph (especially in JPs).
  • Try to be detailed and descriptive.

Additional Rules


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guide/rules.1355607676.txt.gz · Last modified: 2023/12/20 15:53 (external edit)