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 August - September 2007 This newsletter is posted via the XMR Wiki. To sign-up for your own account, visit http://xmr.dune.net/wiki/index.php/Main/SignUp. Want to get notification whenever someone updates the XMR Wiki? For LiveJournal, just add this feed to your friends list: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/xmrwiki/ For other news readers, simply add this link instead: http://xmr.dune.net/wiki/index.php/Site.AllRecentChanges?action=rss Don’t forget that we also have a Yahoo Group, xmr-mush@yahoogroups.com. To join, send a blank email to xmr-mush-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/xmr-mush/. And XMR is also located on both LiveJournal and Vox. Visit us there at http://www.livejournal.com/community/xmr/ and http://xmr.groups.vox.com/ respectively. And finally, our web forum can be found at: http://www.debbo.org/xmr (anyone still using the btvs.ca domain to access the forum needs to update their bookmarks to debbo.org, since btvs.ca will be expiring soon!) Layout Board(Table of Contents)
Paradigm ShiftArticle the Second - Communication is Key From time to time, it's come up on XMR where pretty major events have happened without staff's okay in advance. When something like this occurs, it makes our jobs a lot more difficult. But more than that, it leaves us with some not very great options. Option one, we can ignore it and let those players involved play it out however they wish. Honestly, this is easiest for us, but then our little IC world begins to fall apart. Similar actions need to have similar consequences across the board, or we end up with many tiny stories instead of one big co-operative one. As staff, I view part of our job to keep the main story on track, and to make sure that everyone is playing by the same rules both ICly and OOCly. Option two, we can step in and say it never happened. Obviously, this isn't a favourite of anyone's. Sometimes by the time we hear about something, the effects have already spread, and even when they've been contained, it's never much fun to have to negate anyone's RP. Generally, we leave this one for only those situations where we can't think of any other good resolution. Option three, we step in after the fact and impose consequences accordingly. This is the one we end up doing most often. Even so, it's not an ideal option. Often by the time we find out enough information to step in, things have progressed to a point where the consequences may not be what the players want. But in order to keep the game fair and within the boundaries of its own reality, we're left little choice but to do what we can to keep a bad situation from spiralling into something worse. We don't like having to play the bad guy, but we'll do it when it's worth it to the IC story. Of course, the best option is to tell us before these things happen. We aren't trying to ruin anyone's fun and we don't want to be control freaks. But when you bring these ideas to us, we can work with you to go over the likely consequences of the actions. You can communicate with us what you'd like to see as the outcome and we can guide you towards making that possible. When you work with us, we can work with you. Sometimes we have to turn down an idea when it won't fit or won't be fair to other players, but if you come to us and let us know what it was about that idea that you really wanted to see happen, we can try to help you come up with alternatives that will work here. We do understand though that sometimes things develop in the course of RP that you didn't foresee. This is usually the sign of good RP! We don't want to discourage that sort of off-the-cuff storytelling here. But your best course of action in this case is to let us know as soon after as possible. This way we can help you contain it. We can advise you in how to make sure your character doesn't run into unnecessary consequences over it. Or if you want some IC consequences to make your story more interesting, we can provide these for you. If there's one thing I'd like you to take away from this article, it's this: communication is key. We don't need you to run your every move by us, but if you think it might be something bigger than usual, or if it's something that a staff-run NPC or background player (eg. a police office) might notice, it never hurts to toss off an @mail. This way we all end up on the same page and there are no nasty shocks for anyone. Remember, it's in everyone's best interest to have a game that's cohesive and co-operative, so let's all try to do our part in keeping that spirit alive. I still try to read all the logs I can find! Back to the Top. The Looking GlassShort But Sweet Welcomes Perhaps a little surprisingly, I only have a couple of things to say for this edition:
It should be noted for our Guest Helpers, too, that there is a new local command available in the Guest Starting Room. This command is '+ghelp' and replaces the rather long list of objects that had been cluttering up the room. If anyone finds anything doesn't work, please @mail *STAFF asap and we'll see what we can do with it. Meanwhile, I do believe this is it for the time being. Enjoy! ~ Alice ~ Back to the Top. How to be a better newbie than I was, part one: Getting into scenesBy the player behind such worthy attempts as Nikki Vibe and Luke Donovan Everyone can tell the difference between a good newbie and a bad newbie. A good newbie asks questions and learns quickly, deferring to tradition and accepted etiquette, and eventually becomes an accepted and well-liked member of the community. A bad newbie makes assumptions (usually wrong ones), insists on doing things his way or the way people do things at such-n-such place you've never heard of, and unfortunately retains the pejorative "newbie" status long after the sell-by date. (Also, all bad newbies seem to have atrocious spelling. It's a mystery why.) When I first started playing XMR last summer, I'd never played a MUSH before, and I wasn't a roleplayer in either the mouse-clicking WoW or dice-rolling D&D sense. In other words, I was (and probably still am) a total "n00b". So when I write a guide for newbies, I am not the voice of authority doling out wisdom to the masses. I'm just telling you stories -- stories from barely a year ago, actually -- in the hopes that you'll run into the same stuff I ran into, and with any luck, deal with it more intelligently than I did. So, to start, let's look at starting! Starting a scene, that is: you don't get a second chance to give your fellow roleplayers a good first impression. Every game seems to have its own take on the etiquette for this crucial moment, and when I first came here, I didn't even have experience from other games as a guideline. A few misconceptions soon had me testing the patience and understanding of the XMR playerbase. My first mistaken impression was that characters on XMR are limited by any continuity of time and space -- i.e. the people who are logged on are 'awake,' those who are OOC are 'asleep,' and to get somewhere you type N, E, S, or W 50 times. Since I knew my character would spend her first couple of days exploring New York, I spent my first couple of days on XMR actually wandering from room to room around the grid. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, and can actually help you get an impression of the different locations available to you. However, the first time I wandered into a room with people in it, I mistakenly assumed that our characters had, in fact, just run into each other in the street, and immediately posed my character's entrance so my fellow players would have something more than "Nikki arrives from the east" to react to. XMR Veterans are no doubt shaking their heads now. See, when I say there's no continuity of time and space, that means that entering a room does not actually mean your character has entered a room. Your character is sitting quietly in the character's bedroom, or not connected at all. Contrariwise, you can feel free to drift all over the grid while your character remains confined to the library, studying in what we call the 'background.' This 'background' is the stuff that happens between 'scenes' (which are your roleplayed interactions with other people's characters) in which you describe your character's every action; the background is anything you say or assume already happened to get your character to where she is now. In other words, background is what happens so that Luke Skywalker has a chance to use the toilet without everyone watching him. So what does background have to do with starting scenes? It's everything! Scenes happen when you grab a little bit of background and flesh it out into a story. As a result, your character got to the scene through action that is assumed to be in the background. And because background is so stretchy, you can just use one of the MUSH's many movement functions, like +myplaces or +meet, to instantly go where you where you want, and just say you walked. As a consequence, actual room-to-room movement is less important than I had assumed it was. When I walked into a room with a scene going on, my character hadn't entered the scene; rather, my godlike eye of observation had blundered into someone else's story. What you're supposed to do at this point, if you're interested in joining the scene, is page (or use 'ooc') and ask permission. Even if they desperately want you to listen or join, they'll appreciate that you gave them the option to refuse. In a way, joining a scene is just like any other character interaction. When my character hugs someone, for example, it's proper to say 'Nikki reaches out to hug Bernie,' rather than 'Nikki hugs Bernie,' because the first version gives Bernie's player the option to refuse (an 'out'). True, it's unlikely (especially if you know the characters) that Bernie would dodge or forcefully break a friendly hug from Nikki, but this workaround leaves Bernie's actions completely under her player's control. Likewise, it's unlikely anyone will deny you entrance to a scene, but giving them the choice means you're leaving them in control of their scene. To simply drop in and pose, from that perspective, is the same as forcing everyone else in the scene to interact with your character -- in a way, it's a violation of consent. The number one rule when joining ongoing scenes is: ask! People appreciate such courtesy, and will want to roleplay with you more if you use it. Also, give the people in the scene time to confer -- if one of them pages that he's OK with it if the others are, wait for all to respond (or one who speaks for the whole group) before dropping in. If there's a delay in response, the people in the scene are probably using the OOC channel to make sure no one objects to your request. Also, if there are people out there who aren't in scenes yet, it's usually easier to roleplay if you start your own rather than joining one in progress. Use +where to determine whether everyone's tied up -- characters alone in rooms are definitely not in scenes. They can be paged, if there's a specific one you're interested in meeting, or you can use a general call via a comm channel or +rp/poke (see "+help rp"). However, keep in mind that some people may be busy outside of XMR. A polite refusal to start a scene should never be considered an insult. Once you've asked for a scene, and someone has agreed to meet with you, all you have to worry about is where to start, and who should 'set' -- write the first pose. Location should be determined by the actions you can assume your character is doing in the background: if they're exploring, suggest a neighborhood; if the +time is around lunchtime, suggest a restaurant. If you aren't familiar with the grid yet, let the more experienced player know what your character is up to and ask for his suggestions. Another suggestion is for the more experienced player to set the scene, as he'll be more aware of IC current events and the personality certain places have assumed as people roleplay there. (A newbie might not be aware, for instance, that Xavier's students tend to go to the lake for a relaxing swim and the pool for a bit of invigorating flirtation.) With these simple points in mind, joining your first scenes will be an enjoyable, easy process, and you'll get to see your creation make the jump from +char sheet to character without any OOC confusion or stress. If only I had been so lucky! Fortunately I learned from my mistakes, and even went on to have several great scenes with the understanding one of the duo I interrupted. In the next issue, we'll discuss a tricky thing for many newbies to handle: violence in scenes. At least, it caused /me/ no end of trouble... A synopsis of recent public plotlines... State of the PlotA synopsis of recent public plotlines... Public plots were postponed over the summer months due to RL issues. Check next month's issue (and the game!) for upcoming plots. From +events: Info on: Museum Fund Raiser Date: Mon Aug 6 21:30:00 2007 TZ Notes: A fund raiser will be held at the Museum of Modern Art in Queens. This is being hosted by a special interest group dedicated to education of art history in schools. As an OOC note, the event does have some potential for violence though chances of serious injury are slim. I would like to keep the number of players for this particular event down to around six. Don't worry, I've got two more planned to give everyone an opportunity to get into some action. Any questions, please @mail noir. Thanks! Please keep an eye on the wiki for updates on the log and other developments! Back to the Top. There Goes the NeighbourhoodHere's just a quick listing of who joined us since May:
Back to the Top. In the MarginsNikki currently leads in +salutes with 208 salutes. Congrats Nikki! Keep up the good work. Salutes Top 5:
=== +thought as of June 1st: "How is it possible to have a civil war?" - Set by Bernie === +roster stats as of June 1st:
We 69 approved characters. === Currently approved feature characters: Betsy, Bobby, Clarice, Creed, Emma, Henry, Jean, Jean-Paul, Jono, Jubilee, Kurt, Logan, Lorna, Magneto, Marrow, Pietro, Rahne, Remy, Rogue, Scott, Theresa, Wade, Wanda, Warren, Xavier For a current feature character listing, type +fcs on-game. ===
See '+help birthday' to set your IC birthday. === We've had 16 logs submitted to the Logs Listing Page, located at http://xmr.dune.net/logs.php Link your own logs for +tokens! Back to the Top. Feedback LoopIn the future, this will be a space for you to have your say. You can ask questions or give opinions and they will be addressed here also by staff. We will strive to include every question and opinion, but may need to withhold or edit some for content or to reduce repetition. If your question is not addressed here, you may always contact staff for a private answer. To submit a question, @mail *EDITOR or email alicexmr AT gmail.com (remember to cc xmrstaff AT debbo.org), with the words 'Feedback Loop' in the subject line. Back to the Top. ClassifiedsIn the future, this will be a space for players to post classifieds. You can submit birthday wishes or other such greetings for specific players, put out ads for characters/concepts you'd like to see played, bring attention to sites or other games, or any other myriad messages. To submit a classified ad, @mail *EDITOR or email alicexmr AT gmail.com (remember to cc xmrstaff AT debbo.org), with the words 'Newsletter Classifieds' in the subject line. === OOC: Frankie's player is looking for people willing to play any of her nine siblings. Some of the Pace children are regular humans and some are mutants. The personality of each has not been established, so the player would have a lot of room to create and fashion the character the way they want. Just @mail Frankie if you want details. === IC: Hear a knocking in the engine? Car won't start? Call Bruno's Garage in El Barrio at (phone number given). (OOCly: Kyle works at Bruno's ICly and is open to using it as an intro into RP with people, so page or @mail him if you're interested!) LIVE BANDS! Jazz, Caribbean, Blues, Jazz, Hip-Hop and Rock -- all local talent! Stop by for fine Jamaican food by day, drinks and entertainment by night, greeted by our friendly staff! Stop by Howl at the Moon in Brooklyn to show you're part of the pack! (OOCly: Theresa's bartending at Howl at the Moon and could be available for scenes this way -- talking to a bartender can be a fun introduction scene! Page or @mail her if you're interested!) SUBMISSIONS FOR NEXT ISSUE DUE: September 24, 2007 |
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