The Regal Rper
Mad Scientist
Out of Character Chat
“First of all we’ve got to garner some sort of trust, and going by some of their track records that’s going to be… hard…”
— Emmett James, Fate Mentor
— Emmett James, Fate Mentor
Most of our actual OOC occurs within our Discord channel, PM for a link if interested. This OOC can be used also for new, interested players or to check in. We do make new groups and restructure some from time to time, so I may create an updated list here for such purposes alongside the Discord if that ever proves useful. Primarily what this page is for is outlining the rules and guidelines for posting, which we separate from those for character creation. I won't list them as much as describe how we do things.
Firstly, as with any game, all RpN rules apply. Just have to get that out of the way.
Secondly, if some type of conflict arises, we prefer to handle it privately instead of in open format. PM's or DM's, whatever works. You may come to either one of us with issues, or both, and we can address them.
Thirdly, in terms of post structure, we have yet to see any posts that don't really hit our minimums, but we aim for normally at least three decent paragraphs and a structure of 1. reaction to previous posts 2. internal dialogue or thoughts, if applicable 3. actions for following post to react to. As long as these components and the bare minimums are met, we aren't too harsh on posts. This is at times hugely dependent on the situation you're in narratively, and typically we like to go by the rule of thumb to "match the effort you see around you"--which has done good for us thus far.
Lastly, post frequency. Instead of the vague "one post per week" concept, the way we look at posting is as post cycles. A post cycle would be one full round of posts, at least, from every player for their characters in a given scene (in some rare cases, there may be more than one post for a player, but in general it's a 1:1 ratio). From the point that the last player to post in a post cycle posts, we're looking for a post from every other member within 7 days. To be clear, this is not a post from your last post, but the last post in a cycle. Ideally, if done right, this should result in a post cycle being completely in 5-9 days, so roughly one post per week per character. This structure is designed to keep the fluidity of one post per week, but avoid the time crunches some people feel of "well x player didn't post until three days after mine, so that's really only four" and so on. This also accounts for if posting gets faster. If everyone completes their post in a post cycle faster than expected, you can just proceed without worry of speed posting as long as it's all confined in your logical scene.
Now, of course, because this is a shared story and timelines can be wonky, there is flex room for if characters are showing up or doing special interactions, etc., these are guidelines and sometimes for the sake of the story, they do need stretched a little. That said, that does not justify outright failure to meet them. Now, we do understand people are human and schedules shift; if that is the case, contact us and we'll try to come up with something, but if no communication with us is happening and things are getting stalled, our policy will be to skip a turn in the post cycle if possible, move on, and if it occurs again, we will look at retiring a character or altering a scene without said character. We try to allow a flexible system, open opportunities to communicate with us if there's an issue. If you have the ambition to stay in the game and something genuinely comes up in life that makes it difficult to play, we will match that energy and look for a solution. That said, our goal is to prioritize the flow of the game as a whole, so we want to avoid huge stalls.
A side note, we have before also had situations where there were 10+ posts per day, and that was also exhausting. I know that isn't a common problem, but if there is a spike in post rates like that, we have--especially us with multiple characters--typically sided in favor of that pace being unsustainable for long, so while a tiny spike is fine if it happens, don't expect us to be pushing for it in the slightest. Our goal is to maintain one post per character per week, with some flexibility either way; not to sprint through the game and leave other posters in the dust.
GMs:
The Regal Rper
Sir Les Paul
Firstly, as with any game, all RpN rules apply. Just have to get that out of the way.
Secondly, if some type of conflict arises, we prefer to handle it privately instead of in open format. PM's or DM's, whatever works. You may come to either one of us with issues, or both, and we can address them.
Thirdly, in terms of post structure, we have yet to see any posts that don't really hit our minimums, but we aim for normally at least three decent paragraphs and a structure of 1. reaction to previous posts 2. internal dialogue or thoughts, if applicable 3. actions for following post to react to. As long as these components and the bare minimums are met, we aren't too harsh on posts. This is at times hugely dependent on the situation you're in narratively, and typically we like to go by the rule of thumb to "match the effort you see around you"--which has done good for us thus far.
Lastly, post frequency. Instead of the vague "one post per week" concept, the way we look at posting is as post cycles. A post cycle would be one full round of posts, at least, from every player for their characters in a given scene (in some rare cases, there may be more than one post for a player, but in general it's a 1:1 ratio). From the point that the last player to post in a post cycle posts, we're looking for a post from every other member within 7 days. To be clear, this is not a post from your last post, but the last post in a cycle. Ideally, if done right, this should result in a post cycle being completely in 5-9 days, so roughly one post per week per character. This structure is designed to keep the fluidity of one post per week, but avoid the time crunches some people feel of "well x player didn't post until three days after mine, so that's really only four" and so on. This also accounts for if posting gets faster. If everyone completes their post in a post cycle faster than expected, you can just proceed without worry of speed posting as long as it's all confined in your logical scene.
Now, of course, because this is a shared story and timelines can be wonky, there is flex room for if characters are showing up or doing special interactions, etc., these are guidelines and sometimes for the sake of the story, they do need stretched a little. That said, that does not justify outright failure to meet them. Now, we do understand people are human and schedules shift; if that is the case, contact us and we'll try to come up with something, but if no communication with us is happening and things are getting stalled, our policy will be to skip a turn in the post cycle if possible, move on, and if it occurs again, we will look at retiring a character or altering a scene without said character. We try to allow a flexible system, open opportunities to communicate with us if there's an issue. If you have the ambition to stay in the game and something genuinely comes up in life that makes it difficult to play, we will match that energy and look for a solution. That said, our goal is to prioritize the flow of the game as a whole, so we want to avoid huge stalls.
A side note, we have before also had situations where there were 10+ posts per day, and that was also exhausting. I know that isn't a common problem, but if there is a spike in post rates like that, we have--especially us with multiple characters--typically sided in favor of that pace being unsustainable for long, so while a tiny spike is fine if it happens, don't expect us to be pushing for it in the slightest. Our goal is to maintain one post per character per week, with some flexibility either way; not to sprint through the game and leave other posters in the dust.
GMs:
The Regal Rper
Sir Les Paul
