Etiquette Guidelines

These are not policies you must +accept before you can join the game, but respecting these guidelines will make for an all-around more pleasant RP experience. Should you feel that a player repeatedly flaunts these guidelines to a point where it bothers you, please let us know so we can adress the issue.

Joining a Scene

If you play in public rooms, be prepared for other players to join your scene. When this happens, make an effort to incorporate them. Should you have been playing for a while and your scene has become rather private, please relocate to a more private room when you become aware of that. If you plan a private scene from the start, please do choose a private room.

If you are a player looking for RP and you see a scene going on in a public room, you are free to join the scene. However, it is always polite to first page the players and ask if it's OK to join. There are some occasions where having a stranger join may be awkward, i.e. if a conflict between players is just escalating, a casual flirt has turned into something more, or simply that the players are about to wrap up and go offline/idle.

If you don't page the players in advance and simply join the scene, please make an effort to read the room. In almost all cases those present will not mind having another player join, but once in a while it just gets awkward trying to integrate someone new into a scene - that's nothing personal. We recommend waiting 2-3 rounds of poses to get a feel for the scene. Then you may decide to not join after all or come up with a good and fun way to join.

Departing a Scene

OK, sometimes the internet conks out, your mother-in-law visits unannounced or the garden shed is on fire. In these cases it's perfectly acceptable to rush off. But generally speaking, try to let others know that you need to leave. Ideally you will have enough time to write a quick pose out in which your character is called away on urgent business. Otherwise, at least try to type a quick OOC message that you need to run. And please DO log out or remove your character from the scene when you need to go. Don't let players sit and wait for a long time, because they think you're still part of the scene.

Longer Absences

Real life happens to all of us. If you know you will be gone from the game for a longer while, it's kind to inform your fellow players about it, so they won't keep waiting for you. If you had to leave in a hurry or don't feel like dealing with the player base, you can always contact an admin. We can then let others know, if they ask about you and we also know to not @idlenuke you.

Privacy

For the love of God, take TS scenes to private rooms. We are aware that there are a few rooms where public RP may become very private. If you spot two people in such a room, page them first and ask if you can join the scene. Be prepared for a no.

Please never wander into other characters' private houses unless you have OOC permission from the owner or a very good IC reason to do so. Make sure to not idle in someone else's private rooms.

If you are going to idle, please always take your character +home to idle in your private room. Some players find it disturbing to see idle characters in rooms such as pubs and taverns, where the idler may overhear everything that's being said and played out.

FTB (Fade to Black)

You know this from movies: The hero and heroine finally sink into each others arms and the screen goes black, leaving their sexytimes to the viewer's imagination. FTB is an acceptable device in RP situations as well. Players may feel uncomfortable playing out certain scenes - including sex or violence - and will ask to fade to black. This means that the activities of the characters still happen, but the players don't have to sit there reading it (and writing it). All requests to FTB should be respected.

Retcons (and Retcans)

A "retcon" is a change made to the storyline, usually to fix some conflicting circumstances. It stands for "retroactive continuity" because you're changing something after it was already introduced, possibly even months later. If a situation calls for it, an admin may declare a retcon and spell out how the storyline has been adjusted. Players may also agree upon a retcon between themselves, for a situation which only involves their own characters.

The best way to retcon something is to change as little of the established story as possible. Let's imagine that a group of thieves stole a trunk full of priceless bobblehead dolls, had a raucous party, and then took the dolls to a fence to sell. That's at least three scenes already, and this could generate more RP… people talking throughout town about the theft and trying to recover said dolls, or buying and selling them on the black market. Then suppose that someone else says "wait, those dolls weren't even at the estate to begin with, they were on a ship out in space!" There might have even been some scenes on that ship, admiring the doll collection, using them for a game of catch, or whatever. How to reconcile these two threads of the storyline? Rather than say that one or the other side of the storyline didn't happen (which is technically a retCAN, retroactive cancellation)… we might say that the thieves stole a trunk full of duplicate dolls which were created as decoys, to protect against such thefts. Or perhaps only half of the collection was on the ship for the game of catch, and the other half was stolen by the thieves. These small adjustments (the retcon) allow both storylines to stay largely in place.

If you feel that a retcon is needed, discuss it with each other to come to an agreement about how to handle it. Bring admins into the discussion if it's a situation that affects the game or other players who aren't part of the conversation. You can also talk to the admins if you feel stuck, and we'll try to help you find a good solution.

Channels

There are several channels available to you. Public Channel is where you can talk about almost everything. Please keep the chatter PG - even though we have set an age limit on players, not every adult wants to read smutty chatter. If a quick exchange turns into either a heated argument or a much longer chatter because you suddenly discover a fellow Beatles fan and want to discuss all their best records, take it to pages. Not everyone wants to read your elaborate critique of Sergeant Pepper.

If you have questions about the game itself, the chargen process or other things to do with settling into the game, please use the +newbie channel. You are automatically added to that channel when you create a new char and can always leave later (or stay and help other newbies with questions).

There are also channels for each individual organization to have a space to chat. Use these channels rather than the public channel to discuss internal affairs of your +org. The rest of the playerbase doesn't need to hear you planning your smugglers' raid of a Federal cargo liner or next night of strip poker.

If channel chatter distracts you from your RP or whatever else you are doing, you can always temporarily gag the channel (@chan/gag pub) or leave it (@chan/off pub). You can later activate it again by typing @chan/ungag or @chan/on pub. "pub" stands for Public Channel here, but the command works for all channels.

Player vs Character

A character can be the biggest jerk in the Verse or a mean scheming bitch - but the player behind may still be the sweetest person on actual planet Earth. Please do not confuse Player and Character. Should a character's attitude grate on your nerves too much, feel free to page the player and see if he/she is willing to tone it down. If you play an antagonistic character who enjoys annoying other characters, please do check from time to time whether other players are fine with your RP. Few things kill RP fun as fast as feeling OOCly antagonized by a character/player.

How to run a TP

A TP (TinyPlot) is a plot within the overall story of the mush. It can involve your ship’s crew robbing the bank in Eavesdown or having a feud with a smuggling gang from the Rim. A TP should have a clear beginning and ending and not drag on forever.

Smaller TPs that don’t impact the overall storyline and theme can be run by players themselves without admin permission. You can, if you want, ask admin to provide you with a neutral GM (Gamemaster) to help you steer the plot how you want to (or even let admin surprise you with how it ends).

Bigger TPs that could impact the overall storyline and theme must be run past admin first. We want to be sure that you know what you’re doing and that your crew’s actions won’t have bigger consequences (say, you plan to smuggle an atomic bomb through Eavesdown and there’s a genuine risk the thing blows up… that would get a hard no from us).

OOC Behaviour

Mushing is a hobby shared by people around the world. Please always treat your fellow players with respect. Should conflicts arise, please first try and discuss it among yourselves. If you can't find a way out or have the feeling that you can't get through to the other player, please ask staff to arbitrate and mediate. Please be prepared to show us logs and screenshots to prove your points. We can't act on a "he said… she said…" basis.

Wiki Pages and Logs

You are under no obligation to create a wiki page for your char and keep it updated or to post logs of your scenes. However we appreciate both. Wiki pages help other players to know who you are and yourself to keep better track of your history. Not every little pub scene needs to be logged, but it's fun to collect logs on a TP that will eventually feel like reading a book or screenplay. Logs also help other players who missed a scene during a TP or couldn't be present at an event to still find out what happened. Please try and keep posted logs PG.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License