Policies

Don't be a prick

The main policy here is quite simple. Don't be a prick and respect the theme. That said, there's a few other things to remember.

  • This is a historical game. People were not called Zarg the Terrible in World War 1. Use a historical @name, not a bizarre fantasy one.
  • The point of this game is roleplay. One line poses are not what its about. There is no app process because we trust you to be better than that. If you are expecting to kill bot Germans all day, you're going to be disappointed. This isn't a MUD - and there are no bots!
  • Everybody starts off at the lowest rank. /Everybody/. This means you, Private!

Alts

At the moment you are allowed to have 1 alt per formation.

Needless to say alts should be minimising interaction which might lead to a conflict - although as this isnt an intrigue and scheming sort of place it won't matter as much as other mushes so we'll be a bit lenient on that one.

Needless to say, nomming your alt is verboten, and we won't be amused if we catch it happening.


Roleplaying

Like football, this mush is a game of two halves.

Much time has been spent (well, not much, but some) so that the combat code can be turned off and on at will via the warzone system. What I personally am concerned with is the smooth operation of that code, which is, no doubt, a pretty big part of the game.

That said, the other part of the game - the majority of the time here in fact - is given over to freeform RP. The fact the combat code can be turned off, and indeed usually is, is precisely for the purpose of allowing and hopefully encouraging some freeform RP - let alone the +nom system. So yes, those who ask me, that is indeed encouraged, nay, expected, of players here.

The skills list is not particularly exhaustive, and there are a number of potential concepts which do not have code support - signallers, logisticians, communications engineers, drivers, cooks, and more besides. So long as everybody starts life as a private, which is a stricture imposed on you all to avoid rank inflation, you can be any of the above, and whatever else you could think of, and RP this concept during the freeform RP periods.

Even being in the rear with the gear has its threats though, so you shouldn't think of it as a combat ducking exercise. Hopefully even the civilians will be in combat at least briefly. Such is war!


Death Scenes

So happens with the way the code works, if you die, its rather immediate, in the *bang* *dead* sense.

Which misses out on potential RP dying later on in hospital later on perhaps. So, if you do die in a fight, you can have the option of being mortally wounded instead - you -will- die, and will participate no longer in the battle, but you can have a death scene back in the luxurious surroundings of the hospital - or on the muddy floor of the trench after the battle, you can pick…

See, aren't we nice?

This isn't coded, you'll have to harass a staffer to get your expiration scene.

This goes double for gas victims, as the code which kills you might potentially run when you aren't even online, so if you get killed by phosgene or something you might find yourself in the afterlife when you log in with nary a pose.


The System

The system here is very loosely based upon the Top Secret SI system, which was an old RPG by TSR which was discontinued some time in the mid 80s. It has its fans though, and there are a few websites which pretty much explain the whole thing. This webring is a good enough start.

http://t.webring.com/hub?ring=tssi

The coded system here is -not- exactly the same, mind. "Inspired by Top Secret" is probably the best way to describe it. However, the +sheets should be recognisably Top Secret sheets, and I consider the Top Secret rules close enough that if someone wanted to run a judged scene, it could be done, using those rules.


Queue Spamming

This is a MUSH, being twisted and abused into something a MUSH is not really designed to do.

Its possible sometimes to spam the command queue of the server by entering the same command as fast as you can - and as the MUSH server is actually quite slow, you might on occasion be able to get two or three actions off all at once, depending on how the server threads them all together. You have to do it pretty fast, so far as I'm concerned, if I catch you doing it, you're doing it deliberately.

Needless to say, this is not allowed.

First offence : warning
Second offence : 10 xp dock
Third offence : temporary banning


GMing and Scening

I thought this was kindof a given, but apparently not, so here we go.

People are free to run (non combat…) scenes themselves, and use NPCs to help them do it. Whether its some PT on Parris Island with an NPC instructor called Ermey, or an impromptu mock theatre in Arras with soldiers wearing tutus and lipstick, I care not.

You can get XP for running such a scene by emailing me the log (or paging me or another staff if they are about).

XP rewards here basically go on the ethos of RP, contribution or risk. RP is noms, contribution is running scenes or generally helping out, and risk is getting shot at, so any of those can net you bennies.


Executions and being a POW

Its not beyond possibility that you get executed, or you get captured, in the course of play here. In which case some special rules will apply.

  • Executions. Obviously you can't +revive from being put up against the wall and shot. If you have no revives when you get executed, no change, you +rollover as normal. If, however, you have a revive left, you will have the choice of genning a new character, with one less revive than your old, and the full experience. So, in essence, a +revive preserving your stats, though not the character.
  • If you end up a POW if theres some legit reason that you are returned then you will be returned. Note, in Spain thats gonna be a fairly rare occurrence though not beyond doubt, it wasn't as gentlemanly as WW1 but prisoner exchanges are still a fact of life. Basically if you have a prisoner IC, then you can swap em IC as well. If you /dont/ and there isnt much chance of your character returning to friendly lines - you can use a +revive and that "stroke of luck" will get you home.

Logs

I thought everybody knew this, but apparently some don't, so. I do accept logs for XP. So if you got a particularly interesting log, then send it to moc.oohay|oipicspc#moc.oohay|oipicspc or post it to the Logs section here on the Wiki and when I get round to reading it, you might get some cosmic karma.


Transferring between theatres

Every so often, the arc, or even The War, will end, and it is time to move on. All the wars and theatres we cover are of finite length, they won't go on and on, and so all good things must, in the end, end.

That leaves the question of what happens to any characters who, amazingly, survive. You basically have the following choices to make.

a) Transfer your character from one war/theatre to the next. If its ICly feasible you can do this, which is probably the easiest for all concerned. However, it may not always be feasible, and so it isn't always an option.

b) Nuke your old character and make a new one. If you do this, your old object gets nuked and you make a new character up with all the XP of the old one, respent as you see fit. The new character will have the same number of revives as your old one. Your previous character, if you choose to go this route, is no longer playable. Essentially, your game statistics are preserved from one campaign to another, even though you have a different character.

c) Go into cold storage. There are characters here that date back to WW1, covered in cobwebs, waiting to brought out again. So long as you can remember the login/password you can just make a brand new character up and later on, when the new plot arc has in turn expired, go for option a) or b) above once more at a later date. Theres no idletimer here, characters don't get nuked for being idle, so you can keep an old character around for as long as you want, for future transferral to new battles.


Communication

When in combat you should use pose <text> or +e <text> to make your poses. This is for your own good, have a read of +help pose for details. We won't come down on you like a ton of bricks for forgetting, the only reason this is mentioned here is because players tend to read policy posts, and the helpfile on it is rather deeply buried and easy to miss.

Every formation has a channel available to them for OOC chatter, almost always mainly for OOC chatter in combat. Some OOC in combat scenes is unavoidable, they can be hectic, you need to be able to ask for help, clarify poses, point out things people would ICly know, etc. But! bear in mind that it is not IC and should not be used as IC! You shouldnt be reporting what you're doing on it, passing out orders over it, or anything like that. You got IC commands (the most basic of which is pose) for that sort of thing. Bear in mind that in battle information is important, and there are all sorts of things coded and yet to be coded (like, say, radios) which will be invalidated if you're all part of some sort of psychic link due to having access to page and OOC channels.

Once again we won't come down on you like a ton of bricks if you do do it, and the fact that you need some OOC level of communication to keep things going smoothly, but the experience would likely be enhanced so to speak if you observe a bit of a self discipline when it comes to using the channels in combat.

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