General FAQ for #VampyrePub By Jay Foster (LrdSilver) With comments from Peter Bolt (Faethor/a_ghost/Bullwolf) and Angel Parker (AngelRose/LadyAngie) -------- CONTENTS -------- Section 1: General Conduct 1.1 General Abuse Policy 1.1.1 Autogreeting 1.2 Speaking and Acting 1.2.1 Using macros/scripts for introduction 1.2.2 Foreign languages 1.3 Multiple Characters and Clones 1.4 Polling 1.5 Bots 1.6 Advertizing Section 2: Rules 2.1 The Rule of Fun 2.2 Roleplaying 2.2.1 OOC and IC 2.3 Creating a Character 2.4 Resolving Conflicts 2.5 Killing/Maiming/Healing Others Section 3: The Vampyre Pub 3.1 Brief History 3.2 Overview of Regular Characters 3.3 Voices 3.4 Ops Procedure 3.5 Kick/Bans Appendix: Common Abbreviations -------- -------------------------- Section 1: General Conduct -------------------------- #VampyrePub is a role-play channel. Acceptable conduct on this channel is slightly different than what you may expect elsewhere. This section explains the differences and attempts to point out how a novice can blend in with the seasoned pros. 1.1 General Abuse Policy ------------------------ Much like the rest of IRC, abuse toward another person is not to be tolerated. This includes flagrant cursing, yelling (typing in ALL CAPS), spamming the channel with unwanted subject matter, and flooding. Much like the rest of IRC, it is a bannable offense to continue with such behaviour after you have been asked to cease. 1.1.1 Autogreeting ------------------ To quote an excellent FAQ on general IRC behaviour: "To automatically say hello or goodbye to people is extremely poor etiquette. Nobody wants to receive autogreets. They are not only obviously automatic, but even if you think you are polite, you are actually sounding insincere and interfering with the personal environment of the recipient when using autogreets. If somebody wants to be autogreeted on joining a channel, he will autogreet himself." This applies to roleplaying channels especially well, since many people have their own introduction lines, and do not wish to be greeted until after they have "officially" entered the channel. In a sense, they ARE autogreeting themselves that way. 1.2 Speaking and Acting ----------------------- My number one complaint, even about regular "customers" to the pub, is that they sometimes confuse their actions with their words. When using an action, you should not speak, unless you place it within quotations. Also, when speaking, you should not act, unless you put it within stars or double-colons after or during the speech. Examples of the impropper use: *LrdSilver takes a peek out the window ... Nice night. Shut up, hoser. smack him on the head. Correct usage: *LrdSilver takes a peek out the window. "Nice night." *AngelRose smacks him on the head, "Shut up, hoser!" --OR-- Shut up, hoser. *AngelRose smacks him on the head. We all screw it up from time to time, so don't sweat it. We just put this in here as a reminder. ;) Also, typo correction should be noted here ... it's rude to correct other peoples' typos and mispellings or make comments about them. We all mistype (even those of us who can do 80 wpm with no mistakes on an average typing test), and the average American can't even pass a college-level spelling test, so just learn to live with it. I know this sounds hypocritical coming from one of the number one sources of typo-harassment, but that's just me. The only times it IS acceptable is (a) when they ask for spelling correction, and (b) when it's one of your friends and they make a "freudian typo", that is to say, they type something like, "I want to play with the but" instead of "I want to play with the bot" like what they meant to say. 1.2.1 Using macros/scripts for introduction ------------------------------------------- Many people use macros or scripts for character introduction as they enter the pub. There's nothing wrong with this, so long as the text is kept to a minimum. Nobody is going to read a 6-line verse about how "cool" you think you are. Two or three lines is the acceptable average; some people choose to make it longer, others choose not to have intro scripts at all. Much like the headline of a newspaper, your intro should be kept "short and sweet." It's a catchline, and should be set up only to reveal what the average person is going to notice as your character steps in. If people find your line interesting, they'll ask for more details. If not, a longer line isn't going to change their opinion. An excellent example is LrdSilver. When he's using a macro, it reads the following: *LrdSilver , a massive native american, strolls in adjusting his worn out duster. His scars and wrinkles reflect a tired old warrior. Short, sweet, and direct. Nothing in there about the symbols stitched into the jacket's shoulders. Nothing about the spirit weapon he keeps up his sleeve or the Klaive in his jacket. Nothing about his demeanor or his expression. Anybody who finds him worth talking to will examine him for more details, which are provided per question. What he's saying is that there's a fine line between acceptable intro length and downright flooding. It's a touchy topic, since many people, not even regulars, want to cut down their "marvelous" 8= line introductions. Personally, I think that roughly 400 characters, which is about 3-4 lines on my screen, is more than enough. If you can't say it in that length, it can't be said. 1.2.2 Foreign languages ----------------------- The pub's official language is American English. If you speak another language, that's fine. Foreign languages are acceptable, only if your character would be speaking that language, and only the occasional word thrown in for flavor. Greetings, thank-yous, and curses are especially effective for this. Beyond that, please be so kind as to stick with English. You know you've gone too far when you've got people saying, "Huh?" or simply not responding to what you said. 1.3 Multiple Characters and Clones ---------------------------------- Running multiple characters is great, if you've got the knack. If you're on top of your clients, running two at once, if you can do it seemlessly, is also great. BUT (and it's a big one) nobody wants to see two clones sitting there arguing with each other. If you want to play with yourself and nobody else, don't waste bandwidth and our time; go offline and masturbate. It'll bring more fulfilling results. Also, if you've got a network system where multiple people can clone off of the same account, that's cool too. But if you're sitting in the same room with the person, roleplaying with him is cool, but it's not exactly good etiquette to come on IRC to talk to nobody but the guy sitting at the next terminal. Silver and I used to to it regularly, until our network was fried ... and our characters rarely even hung out in the same channels, much less did they talk to one another. If I wanted to say something to him, I'd turn around and tap him on the shoulder. 1.4 Polling ----------- Polling anybody on the pub with age/sex checks is extremely poor etiquette. At best, you're going to get their character's response to that particular poll. As a matter of fact, polling of any kind is considered to be rude. If you really MUST poll, though, the proper etiquette is to message each individual seperately with, "Can I ask a few questions?" Most of the time, they'll be more than willing to answer that way than if the question is just thrust upon them. 1.5 Bots -------- The channel already has a bot, |Beowulf|, maintained by Shortcut and GrayWolf. No other bots need apply, and we'd greatly appreciate it if you kept them out of the channel. |Beowulf| simply maintains the channel's ops list and serves drinks. You can find out more about him by typing !bar in the channel window. It is considered very rude to abuse |Beowulf|. Even though he cannot usually respond to threats and attacks, that doesn't make him a brightly-colored target. Some of the channel operators, particularly Shortcut, are very protective of |Beowulf|, and will gladly kick from the channel anybody showing hostility toward the bot. 1.6 Advertising --------------- Imagine that you're sitting in your favorite establishment enjoying drinks over a light conversation with some of your friends. Suddenly, somebody walks in and yells out, "Hey! Eat at Joe's!" It's simply not something you'd consider. By the same account, it's considered rude to advertize another channel in the #VampyrePub. Mentioning it in casual conversation is okay at times, but spamming the channel with a notice to check out another channel is rude. ---------------- Section 2: Rules ---------------- Yes, it's a game, of sorts. And like any other game, it's got rules. Here they are. 2.1 The Rule of Fun ------------------- #VampyrePub is supposed to be a vehicle for people to have a good time. The ONLY rule that counts is the "Rule of Fun" ... as soon as it stops becoming fun, just stop. Take a rest, have a cigarette, take yourself out for pizza. It's nothing to get worked up over, though many people take it way too seriously. As you might hear about certain albums, "If you don't like it, don't listen to it." Feel free to ignore other people, or simply leave the channel without warning if people are getting on your nerves. Message an operator explaining that you're offended (keep it short), and he might step in and put an end to the problem. Or he might not, depending on the circumstances. Bloodsucking, mildly foul language, and occasional sexual references are things to expect on this channel. If you can't deal with the subject matter, please don't vent about it. The best solution is to either ignore the offenders or leave the channel. 2.2 Roleplaying --------------- The whole concept of roleplaying is quite simple. It's a cross between the child's game of "let's pretend" and impromptu theatre. In the case of #VampyrePub, we're pretending that were vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of the night, interacting with each other in the setting of a bar that specifically caters to our needs. To make it seem somewhat logical, the explanation has been given that the pub appears to be an empty storefront to anyone who is not supernatural. When playing a character, we generally tend to put our real selves aside, and become a totally different person. With this, we have an entirely different language when it comes to discussing the people at the keyboard. It's the difference between Character and Player ... 2.2.1 OOC and IC ---------------- OOC (Out of Character) and IC (In Character) remarks are kept separate by the use of double parentheses or greater/less than marks. The occasional OOC remark is acceptable now and again, but having entire OOC conversations is something that should be done in a message window. Also, most people use private messages in roleplaying, to swap knowledge that their characters are sharing without anybody else catching on. This is usually the case with Aura Perception, special senses, and LadyAngie's Soulscan power. Also, telepathic speech and note-passing is done primarily in private windows. However, most of the time, the private message is going to be totally OOC. This is called talking out of character. This is when a typist will reveal what he/she is thinking about, but the words have no place coming out of their characters mouth. Here's an example: i have been a vampire for over 300 years...... 300 years? you are young where i come from..... ((be right back i need to get a drink)) ((ok, i'll wait till you get back before i reveal more)) where do you come from Igor? the mountains of northern transylvania... ((ok, i'm back)) how old are you Igor? 2.3 Creating a Character ------------------------ When you come in the first few times, it's a good idea to just sit and lurk. Once you've gotten a feel for the channel, you should figure out what your character is, pick a new nick, and join in the fun. Many of the players within the pub use the White Wolf system of rules, from Vampire: The Masquerade to Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension and Changeling: The Dreaming, to create their characters, and they have full character stats on those characters. However, this is not necessary. Only a concept of your character's background, personality and special abilities is required. Another thing to consider is *believability*. If you come in as Satan or God, or stating that you're omipotent or super-powerful is *not* a good idea, as people will generally ignore you for an ego-case. Your imagination is pretty much your only limitation, however, if you wish regular interaction with the pub patrons, you must make your character believable. For example, none of the pub patrons will take a character made of marshmallow and called StayPuft seriously. They will most likely ignore him and anything he says. But they will watch and listen to a character named Vlad who is a 300 year old vampire, and likes to tell tales of his deeds in far off lands. I had the last guy who came in claiming he was god for lunch. ::burp:: Anybody want leftovers? Good judgement is key here. You must make your character believable to yourself, and to the other pub patrons, otherwise it won't be fun for either of you. It's a free-form roleplay, which means that practically anything goes. But be prepared for people to react to your character in totally unexpected ways. Also, if you want to run more than one character in here, that's wonderful. Both me and Faethor do it regularly, so do some of the other patrons of the pub. It's best if you do it with different nicks for each character, and don't run more than one at a time ... i.e. one leaves and the other comes in and the two are suspiciously never seen together ..................... 2.4 Resolving Conflicts ----------------------- Occasionally, you'll want to fight. There's nothing wrong with expressing the urge for violence. But the #1 rule about the pub's environment is NO VIOLENCE. If you absolutely MUST fight, start another channel and invite the person you wish to fight into it as a sort of "step outside" gesture. The rest of us simply don't want to see it, and we certainly will not tolerate anybody who wantonly tears up the pub with a brawl! Still, though, the occasional fight does break out in the pub, and we end up having a big screaming argument and getting all pissed off. That's why we've got that "no violence" rule in place. No Violence: No character is to attack another inside the confines of the pub. If this rule was not in effect, every character would be staking each other in the heart, and the pub would be in total chaos, full of typists who are angry that their character was killed unfairly. This rule insures that all characters are equal and safe. You can threaten, you can taunt, you can scream, but you can't pull that sword out of your belt and start swinging. 2.5 Killing/Maiming/Healing Others ---------------------------------- This is a touchy area. You CAN NOT kill, maim, or even injure another character without their player's consent. This may sound a bit strange at first, but if we didn't have this rule, there would be a lot of people complaining that their characters were killed unjustly. We put a lot of time and energy into our characters, and it's a pain to see them get killed off just because somebody else got a mad-on. By the same rule, you also cannot HEAL anybody without their consent. Sometimes, a player adds a lasting injury to his character, like a limp or a lame arm. If you heal them of that injury, you're taking away a part of the character, and in a way, injuring that character. In this case, healing the blind and curing the sick is NOT the right thing to do! I know what you're saying. "Oh, right. And they're just going to say yes when I ask, 'excuse me, but can I rip your arm off and beat you about the head with it?'" Actually, yes and no. Good roleplayers will allow their characters to come to harm, if they think the character would have been harmed by such an action. Those who shrug it off with "I'm invulnerable" or "sudden magic shield" are lamers, will not retain any reputation within the pub for long. This is a very touchy area. Don't even venture here unless you absolutely feel that you must. Section 3: The Vampyre Pub 3.1 Brief History 3.2 Overview of Regular Characters 3.3 Voices ---------- If you are a regular in the pub, the ops will do a mode change on you that will give you voice in the channel should the channel be muted. The channel is only muted on rare occasions when there is a takeover attempt or other channel problems. Having voice or a "+" will allow you to interact with others while the channel is muted. The "+" sign has become more of a symbol or recognition. If you have one by your name, it is most likely there because you, the typist, is a respected member of the pub. 3.4 Ops Procedure ----------------- Please don't come into the channel asking for ops. You're not going to get it. Hell, I've only had ops once or twice in almost ten months of hanging out in the pub, so that goes to show that you're not being discriminated against in any way. And those of us who do have ops will generally consider you quite offensive for just asking for ops out of the blue. Even people we know don't ask for ops. They're either given, or they're not. Personally, I'm still perplexed that I occasionally get ops after being gone for two months when the list of regulars don't even know me. The moral here is, "Ask and thou shalt NOT recieve." 3.5 Kick/Bans ------------- The operators on #VampyrePub will do everything in their power to see that the patrons are having a good time. This means that occasionally, a nuissance will need to be removed. Ops will usually not kick unless they feel that there is no other course of action. Occasionally, a ban will be added as a cool-off period, which will be lifted after anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour. No insult is meant by this; we're simply trying to keep the place peacful for the majority. Appendix: Common Abbreviations ------------------------------ WB = Welcome Back MM = Merry Meet (it's a wiccan geeting) TTFN = Ta-ta for now BBL = Be Back Later AFK/AFT/AFC = Away from Keyboard/Terminal/Computer NCL = Nature Calls Loudly GFLAM = Gone Fishin' - Leave A Message OOC = Out Of Character IC = In Character IRL/RL = In / Real Life RP = Role-Play mun, typist, player = Mundane, the person at the keyboard in contrast to the character sitting in the pub.