Thread Making

[Sassaflash]

So once a character is made and approved by a staff member, posting can begin. This forum is free for players to make most threads they want at will with a few exceptions tagged here. If a thread meets these criteria, then follow those steps in addition to these.

Most threads will be Character Development, open ended, or arranged with friends. A thread may be started by anyone and involve anything (within the rules and reason). There are very few things that every thread is required to have, but it is important that when making a thread, you follow this format:

Calendar Date

The canon timeline for this site is posted here. When making a new thread, please include the date at the top of the first post. The day and year is all that is required. Once dated, please put (Dated) in the title of the thread for now. This is so staff can ensure that the timeline is being followed.

Proper Tags in the Title

When making a thread, it would be good to add what kind of thread or who is in it in the title. If a thread is open for everyone, putting (Open) in the title will let any other players know that the thread is open for any to join. If it is private but not against others joining, putting (ask first) or (private) will help others know. Also, if this is a small thread, putting who is in the thread can also be helpful. Of course every dated thread should include (Dated) for now. When a thread is finished, please put (Closed) in the title.

Closing a thread

When a thread reaches its conclusion, please make sure that the thread is resolved and not just left. While the players of the thread may all agree on how it ended, unless it is posted, no one else would know. Posting either a walking away scene, or fade to black, or anything like that allows closure for the thread. Also when a thread is closed, please add (Closed) to the title, so that staff knows which threads are active and which have ended.

First Post

While not required, it is good form to make as descriptive a first post as possible when making a new thread. Describing the time of day, weather, location, any notable features will help all the players that participate in the thread to have the same setting in mind. This will prevent clashes in thought, when the players think it is morning or raining, and really it is a hot midday.

Again, these are not meant to hinder or block any threads from being posted. These are only meant to help keep structure and facilitate smooth role playing while on the forum. Unless a thread is part of the other guidelines mentioned at the top, then this is all you need to start a thread.

Slow Posting

There are things to consider when making a thread, particularly what should happen with a player is posting too slow or not at all. While the site does not allow the controlling of other players characters, with their permission this can be done. Before beginning a large thread, maybe ask everyone participating if they would allow NPCing if they are taking too long. Now this is permission based only, and any abuse or harassment of this will not be tolerated. If a player gives their permission, only the person they give the right to is allowed to post for them.

If a thread is taking a long time, and some players in the thread are not the main subjects, i.e. they are tagging along, or nothing major is expected to happen to them, then it is allowed for a player to move to the next thread while the other is still going on. This is to hopefully prevent players from becoming stuck for weeks or even months while a thread is completed. However, players are strongly cautioned to not make mistakes between the two threads. If you jump into a thread without any harm, and suddenly in the previous one you are gravely wounded, there will be a problem. So these are the rules for Thread Jumping:

1) No skipping PvP threads, ever. Combat has too many variables to be able to know for certain whether or not something will happen.

2) A thread must be AT LEAST a week old before players are allowed to jump to the next. This is meant to prevent characters from becoming blocked, this is not meant for players to be in multiple threads at once. This is an exception, not a norm.

3) A character may be in no more than 2 ACTIVE threads at a time. Meaning if you Jump to the next thread and that one is also slow, you cannot jump again until the first thread is finished.

To help understand when it is okay to Thread Jump, here some things to consider: have the character’s goals have been accomplished in the thread, is it expected that nothing else major will occur to the character in the thread, is the next thread expected to have very little to do with anything that will occur in the previous thread from that point on? Those are good questions to answer before deciding if Thread Jumping is okay to do. Again if this becomes a problem, with players making paradoxes and being in 5 threads at once, then this will be removed and characters will only be allowed in one thread at a time regardless of anything.

Inactivity

Something to consider, any thread that is inactive for a maximum of two weeks, i.e. there have been no posts and no word from any of the players about it, it will be closed by a staff member and a message will be sent asking the players to resolve or finish the thread. This is important, since characters have freedom making any thread they want, to ensure that staff and players can keep track of which threads are current and which are not. Otherwise the forum will become cluttered with too many active threads.

If this happens to a thread and the players return and wish to finish it, please notify a staff member and the thread can be reopened to allow the players to finish it. However, if the same thing happens, then the thread will likely be closed and skipped.

If something in real life is known to cause a thread to go inactive for an extended period of time, please notify a staff member so that they know that more time should be given before closing it. This is not meant to bar or limit players in anyway, so if a thread needs time because of some issues, then that is perfectly acceptable. This is only meant to keep the forum looking clean and to keep the flow of role playing steady.