Game Conventions

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In order for people to feel more comfortable with knowing what some of the conventions for the game are, particularly when it comes to things like pose orders, how long to wait for people, etc, we're writing down what some of the game's standard practices are. These are NOT strict rules, but most of the time should be considered to be defaults if nothing else has been agreed upon by the players involved.

We do encourage people to set expectations with each other at the start of a scene if they want to deviate from these standards. If everyone agrees, then wonderful!

Pose/Post Orders

We generally follow a semi-strict pose/post order, with a three-pose rule in place.

That means that if Bob (who cheats on his dice rolls), Suzie, and Harold are in a scene together, and Bob poses first (but doesn't cheat this time), followed by Suzie, and then Harold, they will generally follow this same pattern in a cycle. This is done to prevent someone from feeling like they keep typing up most of what they say, but they type slower, so they end up having it all go to waste when someone jumps them in the order and negates what they were going to do or say.

In general, occasional quick interjections, like a single sentence, outside of the pose order are usually considered acceptable. Particularly if responding to something that someone said directly to or in reference to your character, or high-fiving someone back when they try to high-five your character, or something of that nature.

The three-pose rule means that if a scene grows large enough that it matters (5 or more people), you can pose again once 3 other people have posed before you. This helps to keep things moving.

Waiting for Poses

If you're trying to follow the pose order but someone hasn't posed within 10 minutes after the person before them has posed, it's okay to skip them. Sometimes people get pulled afk, or fall asleep, or just get distracted. We can't expect people to wait on us forever. If you do have something come up, though, try to at least put a ((skip me for now)) ooc comment in the chat before you go afk.

Joining Scenes In Progress

Even if a scene is in a public place and only has a couple of people in it, it's polite to ask if people are game for another person before joining. Sometimes people are in the middle of a specific, unplanned conversation they want to finish before getting interrupted. Sometimes both the parties involved are about to leave, so they may want to save you the trouble (or insulted feeling) of joining just to have them immediately stop RPing. In general, checking first can make everyone feel more comfortable, but we encourage people to ask to join ongoing scenes when they're interested! Don't feel bad for asking.

If someone asks to join a scene and you want them to hold off, think about whether you're ready to have them join after one more round of poses, or if it will be longer than that. If it's longer than that, we encourage you to just turn them down politely, rather than asking people to wait for what might end up being a much longer time than you expect.

Maximum Scene Population

In general, unless otherwise specified, assume that the maximum number of people for a scene is probably 5. People can get overwhelmed beyond that. If you see a scene going on in an open room and and there are already 5 people there, definitely ask before joining, and don't feel insulted if people ask you to sit it out this time.

Time and Synchronicity

It's usually assumed a scene is happening on the present day, at close to the present time in Philadelphia, with one exception: unless otherwise specified, scenes going on in public places are assumed to be at night, because we have vampires and it makes it easier for them to get involved in RP. Vampires should definitely ask before joining a public scene, since it might be the middle of the day.

It is totally permissible for people to have scenes that are going on outside of the current date and time with their agreement, but it's strongly preferred that the time is either later in the same day, or in the past, to avoid circumstances like someone having a scene set next Tuesday, only to have something happen before then that makes the scene impossible.

Asking for Dice Rolls

It's totally fine to ask people for dice rolls to see if they notice something, like your character slipping something into their pocket, or that they're holding something back in an answer. This kind of thing is encouraged! However, if you ask people to roll for something, and someone is afk or not paying attention and hasn't rolled within 5 minutes of you asking, just move on. The default assumption is that they failed, but if they come back and it makes sense that they still might have noticed, and the people in the scene agree, they can roll when they get back.

Making an Entrance

Until your first pose in a scene, your character isn't actually present and can't hear anything that was said, even if it was said in the pose right before yours. This can be waived with the permission of the other people in the scene, especially in cases where it might provide comedic effect or add to the story, but we encourage people to ask first. If anyone in the scene hasn't okayed it, don't do it.