Forum Roleplay Rules and Guidelines

Welcome to the roleplaying section

Forum CMDs is dedicated to the creation and playing of roleplaying games in an interactive forum setting. All of the threads here contain either a game or discussions about the games we have created. The gameplay here is as you see it, built post by post inside individual threads. Think of it as an electronic twist on games like D&D, only with more variety and fewer dice.

Whether you're new to forum roleplay or looking for some new games to join, we hope you find some entertainment here. It is all about fun, after all.

Rules

The following rules and policies are required knowledge for everyone who wishes to post in this forum. These rules apply universally to every post in every thread and violating them may subject you to Moderator action. Please read them carefully and understand them well before posting.

1. Read and Obey the Forum Rules
The Clamp Manga Forum Rules and FAQ applies to everyone posting in any section of Clamp's forums, this one included. Moderators have the authority to enforce these rules and will take direct action against violators. Rule violations should be reported to the Moderator for appropriate action.

2. The Game Master's Word is Law
Upon the creation of a game, its Game Master has jurisdiction over all actions within that game. Game Masters may generally conduct their games however they see fit, thus allowing them a great deal of control over the world they seek to create. That level of control is often necessary to allow for the creation of varied and interesting worlds. Game participants found to be violating the instructions of their Game Master may, at the Game Master's discression, be subject to Moderator action.

The Moderator retains the right of appellate review over decisions made by a Game Master. Game participants who feel they have been subjected to unfair abuse by a Game Master, or believe their Game Master is acting in violation of the Forum Rules, may ask the Moderator to intervene. However, any appellate requests will be treated with the presumption that the Game Master acted appropriately within the context of their game.

3. Tag Your Threads
For the sake of forum organization, all new threads should be tagged. Commonly seen tags are as follows:
[disc] -- Thread contains out of character discussion about a proposed or active game.
[preview] -- Thread is used to preview a game concept to help predict its level of interest.
[rec] -- Thread is used for recruiting new players to a game.
[story] -- Thread contains in-character posts for an active game.

Guidelines

The following guidelines are a collection of best practices for being a well respected contributor to the forum. Violating these guidelines will typically not result in Moderator action, though you could easily earn the scorn of your peers. As such, adherence to these guidelines is strongly recommended. Note, however, that inside of a game, different guidelines set by the Game Manager may apply.

1. Lurk and Learn
The best way to find out what should and should not be done on any forum is to look around and see what other people are doing or being told to not do. Most long time members post in a way consistant with how they would like new members to post and make good role models to emulate. When in doubt about whether something is acceptable or not, PM the Moderator or one of the long time members; they'll know what's ok and what isn't.

2. Read Carefully
Very often, games have some elements of story and developing plot which all of the players are trying to keep in tune with. If you don't read the other posts in the thread carefully, you may find yourself confused by what's going on in the thread; or worse, breaking the continuity and risking angering your Game Manager.

3. Use Proper English
In the real world, how you present yourself is often at least as important as what you are trying to present. Even the most qualified candidate is unlikely to receive a job with a Fortune 500 company if he shows up to an interview wearing a ragged teeshirt and jeans. Conversely, a good suit and well pressed slacks can make even a mediocre candidate appear above average to an interviewer.

The same is true of posting on a web forum. Regardless of the merits of what you want to say, people will generally ignore you if you consistantly fail to use proper English. AOL and SMS abbreviations, lack of appropriate whitespace, erroneous or missing punctuation, and poor spelling can all make posts difficult to read or understand. People need to want to read what you have to say, and just as the interviewer will tend to ignore the man in rags, your peers will tend to ignore ragged posts.

4. Take Your Time
One advantage of a web forum over other media like IRC is that there is a lot of time to write coherent, thoughtful posts. Communication is typically not done in real-time, but rather, spread out over several hours, or even days. This gives you a lot of time to make sure that when you post, you post what you mean to.

5. Know the Tier System
The Tier System is one way in which Game Masters can communicate the level of difficulty they plan to build into their games. In many new games, Game Masters will select a tier, or small range of tiers, or even different tiers for different parameters, to give everyone a quick guide to what should be expected.

Um, Ayashi_Hime, could you please start a game off? I would very much like to play a game, but I still don't want to start one in case I make a mistake.