SDN Worlds 4: Participant Rollcall

[Shroom Man 777]

Other people have had no problem of joining recently, Crossroads. If you wanna wait for five, then we'll tell you when five is, don't worry.

[Simon_Jester]

[modhat]

Look, Crossroads, don't call us, we'll call you.

[/modhat]

[doom3607]

I'm new to SDN, mainly signed up because I thought this looked worth trying... Anyway, if I can still join, I'm in as the Locrian Collective.

[Simon_Jester]

To everyone considering joining this game, I would like to state the following for the record, in my capacity as one of the game mods.

We've had a lot of rather silly experiences with new joiners, and a few good ones. These questions may sound kind of harsh, but in my experience they are necessary. Ask them of yourself. If the answers are favorable, you might even want to answer them in this thread; if the answers are not favorable, we invite you to keep watching the game, but suggest that both you and the players would be better off if you stick to the sidelines rather than running onto the field.

[modhat on]

1) Have you read or at least seriously skimmed the story threads, ruleset, and taken a look at a few countries' naval orders of battle for samples? I consider all these things to be prerequisites before joining the game. People who are totally unaware of the rules of the game, including some of the more important unwritten ones, or the current status of play should seek to learn more before joining.

2) Do you expect that you can make an actual story post on a semi-regular basis? Say, once a week, once every two weeks? These posts do not have to be all that long, but they are expected, especially if your country does things which provoke reactions from others. It is extremely bad form to do something that pisses people off and then ignore their responses for more than a few days, unless you have a damned good reason for doing so.

"I got bored" is not a good enough reason, and if you think you're likely to get bored of this game in a month or two, you probably shouldn't join; writing up your country would be a waste of your time and energy.

3) We are, because of past experiences, very averse to having new nations appear out of nowhere inside the game. Can you deal with this? If you are joining the game, be advised that you should write a country that has been present for a long time if at all possible. Kind of 'always there' but not mentioned. This is easier to deal with for everyone, you included. Because you won't have to waste a ton of energy writing "first contact" stories with everybody else.

4) Professing ambitions of galactic conquest out-of-character is a really bad idea, because it will make people belligerent. It is especially foolish to do this if you're not doing a good job of roleplaying your nation in-character. A player who doesn't write interesting characters or do interesting things in the story, while wanking about how powerful his nation is out of the story, will find himself the enemy of everyone in the game very quickly. This has happened once already.

Can you avoid making an ass of yourself? Can you participate in a cooperative game?

5) Do you have a good idea of where on the map your nation might fit in? Do you know anything about the neighboring countries? Can you suggest a past history between yourselves and the nations around you? Or at least a current policy towards those nations?

6) Do you have at least a basic grounding in things like history and technology? This is kind of optional, but it will help you avoid claiming things that make people angry because they look wanked, such as being able to modify ships to make them more powerful very very quickly.
_______

Now, if the answer to many of these questions is "no," maybe you should take some time out to go over the game and watch the ebb and flow of the commentary thread before you sign up.

If you don't think you can devote the time to keeping track of people's posts and writing the occasional post of your own, maybe you'd do better as a spectator. If you don't think you can play well with others, likewise.

This game has already had more than it needs of people who started countries and then got bored and wandered off, of people who started countries and then made an ass of themselves, and of people who come charging in talking about starting a country only to demonstrate total cluelessness about the rules- requiring people to patiently explain every detail to them, usually only after they have already tried to pull some stunt that breaks the rules.

It is not worth the mods' time to deal with this sort of behavior any more, so we ask that you take a moment to consider whether you are willing to play nicely and actively enough to participate.

[White Haven]

Alright, still rounding out the details and numbers and so on, but that shouldn't take too much more. I'm in as The Royal Kingdom of Scarlet vs. The Midnight Confederation, refereed(?) by Deep Purple.

Yes, there's a parenthetical question mark in there. All will be made clear once I string the various bits together into a madness-inducing whole.

[Simon_Jester]

Official mod ruling on Bluewolf's entry into the game:

[content removed pending edit]

[KhorneFlakes]

In as the Taiidani Combine.

Basically, Taiidan separatists.

[Mayabird]

In as the Taiidani Combine.

Basically, Taiidan separatists.

Before we go on, did you read Simon's post just slightly above yours on the page?
[line 2]

[Simon_Jester]

I repeat Mayabird's question.

Suffice to say that we've had enough bad and aggravating experiences with new players that the barrier to entry is now rather high, significantly higher than it was at game start. There are people whose entry I would be happy with, but they're all people I already know and respect for other reasons.

Also, are you aware of the existence in the game of the Clans of Hiigara, and their backstory? It is rather amusing. It may interact strangely with your intentions, should you enter the game, which the mods are probably going to have to think over for a while.

A good place to begin understanding the game, and the interactions among its parts, is the wiki, and its list of nations:

http://worldsofsdn.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_PCs

[KhorneFlakes]

In as the Taiidani Combine.

Basically, Taiidan separatists.

Before we go on, did you read Simon's post just slightly above yours on the page?
[line 2]

Yeah, I did. Having trouble understanding some of the rules though. I understand the ship hulls and their construction pretty well though - might ask to be placed in a sector once I feel I've managed to understand the rules a bit more.

Simon_Jester: I was aware of that - I just thinking about my nation's backstory, and how it might involve them. Needless to say, when I get my sector...I'm avoiding the Hiigarans - just in case Kartr_Kana decides to fllow Homeworld canon and have the Hiigarans hate the Taiidan's guts.

As for how I'll join...let's just say the Separatists have been roaming space for quite a while, and only recently have settled on an inhabited world (the sector with free stuff you get as your starter)

[Simon_Jester]

That is actually fairly viable... the problem is that the nation creation rules really do revolve around you staking out multiple sectors. Two or three, at least.

EDIT: There is at least one precedent for a nomadic civilization with a small 'core territory,' possibly two depending on how you count the Refuge. Physically small territory would also help resolve the problem of us not knowing where to put you.

But there's still that barrier to entry created by past idiots and nuisances; my apologies on that, but I take it rather seriously by this point. I'd like to see input on this idea from the other mods, and for choice I'd like a chance to interview you about your plans; do you do AIM or MSN messaging? If so, could you PM me a screenname?

[KhorneFlakes]

That is actually fairly viable... the problem is that the nation creation rules really do revolve around you staking out multiple sectors. Two or three, at least.

EDIT: There is at least one precedent for a nomadic civilization with a small 'core territory,' possibly two depending on how you count the Refuge. Physically small territory would also help resolve the problem of us not knowing where to put you.

But there's still that barrier to entry created by past idiots and nuisances; my apologies on that, but I take it rather seriously by this point. I'd like to see input on this idea from the other mods, and for choice I'd like a chance to interview you about your plans; do you do AIM or MSN messaging? If so, could you PM me a screenname?

I meant the three sectors you get, sorry. Didn't remember at the time.

I don't use AIM, but I suppose I could download MSN again. I stopped using MSN due to a lack of understanding of it, though now you say it...

My screenname will probably the same on I have here. I'll pm you about that when I download MSN.

[Simon_Jester]

If you could see clear to using AIM, I could introduce you to the AIM chat associated with the game, which is on most nights as an unofficial 'side' institution, and which contains most of the game's more active players. This would be a good way to get yourself more involved, and for the mods to judge your interest level.

[KhorneFlakes]

Actually, I think I'll just use AIM. I forgot how much I hated MSN. Installing it right now.

[KhorneFlakes]

If you could see clear to using AIM, I could introduce you to the AIM chat associated with the game, which is on most nights as an unofficial 'side' institution, and which contains most of the game's more active players. This would be a good way to get yourself more involved, and for the mods to judge your interest level.

Righty, it's downloaded. Can I set the interview you wanted to tommorow - it's 3:44 in the morning right now where I am

Although that's mainly has to do with this strange bug I've had lately - makes me really tired for some reason.

[Simon_Jester]

Catch you in eight to ten hours, then.

[Kosh]

Hi! I stumbled across this game while I was browsing the site, and it looks like tons of fun. Any chance I could get in on it?

[Mayabird]

Before we go on, just as with KhorneFlakes, have you read this? Can you definitely say 'yes' to all of the questions? Do you already have a good workable idea?

If not, you can still discuss the story in the commentary thread, which is a lot less work and you can still read the stories.

Note: I'm not a game mod but I hope I'm not overstepping here.

[Kosh]

I have and I can. I was thinking of adapting the Vorlons, from Babylon 5 - my plan was to have been sort-of hibernating, and all the recent craziness (nations appearing from nowhere, etc.) woke them up. I was thinking of a central-ish map position, North-East of the United Nations of Earth and Nova Terra. There has to be some reason why that space is unoccupied, yes? I figured, why not be that reason?

[Simon_Jester]

A few points.

1) Our previous experience with 'awakening elder race' did not go well, as you no doubt already know. Actually it didn't go at all and the whole thing is being written off as a massive interstellar prank. We've also had more than our fill of nations which pitch themselves as having categorically superior technology or as the other sorts of things that are traditionally associated with 'elder races.'

2) That space has been used, 'historically' as it were, by me among others as an open spot on the Centrality's border. A certain amount of clear, unoccupied space is important in the game, in order for the easy movement of ships and fleets without having to worry about crossing national borders.

3) I, for one, am a bit cautious about random people just coming to the game with no prior forum history joining up; we've had by now several cases of this not panning out- the person joining basically does a few random things with their country, pisses people off, and leaves. This does give me some reservation about your application to join, simply because we've had this happen too many times already. I'm sure you're aware of the case of Chaotic Neutral and the MEH. He's not the only one, just the highest profile one.

I'd like to take a trial period before admitting you, mostly to see if your interest is enduring and you'll play well with others, and hopefully to get a sense for your behavior elsewhere on the site. Feel free to remark on events or ask questions in the Commentary thread- having a few peanut gallery observers in there won't cause much harm, and it might help enlighten you about the dynamics.

There will need to be some discussion and thought before we let another person in, and without a compelling reason to do otherwise I suspect you'd get a position somewhere on the edges of the map, where your entry would be less disruptive and/or easier to retcon in.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I am personally sick and tired of some random awakening race. Think of something more original rather than "Hello guys! I am finally out of the hibernation burrow!".

[Simon_Jester]

It's been done all of once...

But yes, actually, I would prefer a concept that's a bit more involved. I'd rather retcon new states in than have hibernators, but then, I'd also rather have hibernators than even more sudden "Hi I just appeared out of nowhere!" states.

What matters infinitely more than how a nation is introduced into the setting is the player's maturity, ability to think through their actions, and willingness to stay involved in the game often enough that it's worth the bother to the mods of adding a new nation. That's the acid test, and frankly quite a few of our new arrivals in the past have been disappointments on that score- with conspicuous and entertaining exceptions, of course.

[Kosh]

A few points.

1) Our previous experience with 'awakening elder race' did not go well, as you no doubt already know. Actually it didn't go at all and the whole thing is being written off as a massive interstellar prank. We've also had more than our fill of nations which pitch themselves as having categorically superior technology or as the other sorts of things that are traditionally associated with 'elder races.'

This one I'm happy to say I'm innocent of. My vague plan was that the 'massive interstellar prank' woke me up, and that the newly conscious Vorlons would be equally annoyed to discover the prank and the fact that their technology, unassailably superior when they went to sleep, is now very much par-for-the-course. Sort of a deconstruction of an elder race.

2) That space has been used, 'historically' as it were, by me among others as an open spot on the Centrality's border. A certain amount of clear, unoccupied space is important in the game, in order for the easy movement of ships and fleets without having to worry about crossing national borders.

Oops. I wasn't aware the space had been used. Different location, then.

3) I, for one, am a bit cautious about random people just coming to the game with no prior forum history joining up; we've had by now several cases of this not panning out- the person joining basically does a few random things with their country, pisses people off, and leaves. This does give me some reservation about your application to join, simply because we've had this happen too many times already. I'm sure you're aware of the case of Chaotic Neutral and the MEH. He's not the only one, just the highest profile one.

I'd like to take a trial period before admitting you, mostly to see if your interest is enduring and you'll play well with others, and hopefully to get a sense for your behavior elsewhere on the site. Feel free to remark on events or ask questions in the Commentary thread- having a few peanut gallery observers in there won't cause much harm, and it might help enlighten you about the dynamics.

There will need to be some discussion and thought before we let another person in, and without a compelling reason to do otherwise I suspect you'd get a position somewhere on the edges of the map, where your entry would be less disruptive and/or easier to retcon in.

That's perfectly reasonable. I'd be happy to have a trial period. After all, eventual admittance is still admittance.

[Simon_Jester]

I advise that you participate in comments, work on your background material and (far more important) on what storyline ideas you're thinking of launching. Note that your stories don't have to involve your immediate neighbors.

Do you do AIM? And what time zone are you in? We may be able to invite you to the ongoing unofficial chat which encompasses... most of the mods, and a number of the major players besides them. PM me a screen name and I'll see to it.

[Dave]

I was wondering if you all would be interested in having me back onboard again. I haven't been keeping up, unfortunately, but I'm finished with University and was wondering how much catching up I would have to do in order to participate. This, of course, assumes you guys think it would be workable. If things are too far gone for me to catch up on, I understand.

And, to forestall some questions, I have a gmail account (which I'm told has AIM interoperability) and I'm on US CDT (GMT-5). I'm moving to KC and starting a new full time job in the next two-to-three weeks.

Oh, yeah, I was playing the Iduran Confederation, a bit west of Nova Terra.