Hello all, and welcome to Syliras!
We are happy to have you all here in the city, but we do feel that we need to go over the rules for playing in this city to that you all can get the most of your time here, while playing within the rules.
For those of you who are older may see that many of these rules are the same ones that Dusk posted and there is a reason for that. The rules aren't being changed we're just reminding everyone what they are and adding a few of our own as well.
We are happy to have you all here in the city, but we do feel that we need to go over the rules for playing in this city to that you all can get the most of your time here, while playing within the rules.
For those of you who are older may see that many of these rules are the same ones that Dusk posted and there is a reason for that. The rules aren't being changed we're just reminding everyone what they are and adding a few of our own as well.
- 1. READ THE LORE - both on Syliras and on the Syliran Knights. If you want to role-play a character in this setting, we expect you to know WHAT setting you're playing in. If we find you playing out a thread with something that doesn't mesh with the city, we will post an intervention explaining what the problem is and will later delete the thread. If you can't be bothered to read two pages worth of Lore, this isn't the city for you. We have too many players for us to police every thread, so you're expected to handle it yourself. - Adding to this, there seems to be confusion about what parts of the city are indoors and how much is outside, if you have questions about this PM us, we swear by Sylir we won't bite.
2. Ask questions. Seriously, just send us a PM. You and the storytellers will both be happier people. We are patient with any questions that are brought to us - however, if you don't bother asking and we come across a problem (or, worse, have a problem brought to us by another player), things could happen... Please, please ask any questions you have. Use common sense, and come to us for help. It's what we're here for.
3. When creating a character who starts off with housing in the Stormhold Citadel, the Fortress, keep in mind that the entire city is one huge castle. You will not have a cottage, you will have a 20x20 room in the bowels of the castle, and - unless you actually play out renting your room through the Housing Authority, you are so deep in the interior that you probably don't have any windows. Keep that in mind. We have noticed a few people claiming to have housing in the nicer parts of the city, and while we don't have a problem with that, unless you get permission that nice little apartment isn't yours. And by Sylir, don't ask to have a nice apartment while paying poor living expenses.
Alternatively, if you start off in the Mithryn Outpost, then you can take the 20 x 20 Cottage option.
4. Do not post one-liners in our city. They will be not worth any XPs. Don't even try and post two liners. The threads and/or posts will not worth anything, because... there is nothing to award in the first place. The suggested length of a post is 300 words, it is a good goal to strive for and not too difficult to achieve.
5. Do not post so blatantly lazy that you can't even be bothered to capitalize or punctuate your sentences, or separate anything into actual paragraphs. We are not expecting you to all be top writers on the proper use of the semi-colon, and typos are totally understandable, but if we have to actively try to discern the meaning of your thread instead of just being able to read it, you've done something wrong. You will likely receive a PM from one of us asking you to fix it, and if no effort is made those threads and/or posts will be intervened and not given any XPs or Lores.
6. Syliras works on a "three strikes" basis. If we have to warn you of your behavior, or ask you to change something, more than twice, you will be kicked from the city. Please don't take this to include questions from new players who are having trouble assimilating - that's something completely different and we are absolutely here to help you. However, if we have to say "There is no Assassin's Guild or Crime Family in Syliras, stop posting about it" for the third time, it will be the last time we do.
7. Do not hijack threads. This hasn't happened recently but when it did we deleted the persons post and sent them a PM. If someone posts a thread and tags it as OPEN, keep in mind that it is still their thread. They have created a situation and invited people in to it - that means it is up to you to interact with them, and within the situation. Don't just have your character show up and then go off on tangents. If someone tells us their thread has been hijacked, or if we see it happening, you can expect a PM and a deletion of your posts, and you can count that as a Strike. Please keep this in mind.
8. We don't mind you rp-ing robbers, bandits, cutthroats frolicking in the Cobalt Mountains, stalking the Kabrin Road, even brawls in taverns. We do ask if you want to use a Knight in a thread that you PM us and tell us what you need them for. We will then decide if it's something that an ST needs to handle or allow you to do so yourself. As for self modding shops, you can handle that yourselves, however as always if you need help with prices etc, you can PM an ST. Here is an example of how to self-mod a purchase without breaking the NPC rule). You also may not create other NPC workers in the Shops - these are Mod territory and we have characters there already. If you're unsure about whether or not you're breaking this rule, just ask - send me a quick PM and we will gladly answer it. Some of the established players can be trusted to run their own NPCs, but they've built that trust over a lot of scenes. If you're new, you'll have to work up to it.
9. When you've completed a thread and want to receive XP for it, submit it to our Grading Request Thread to be awarded. Don't PM it, don't post it in the OOC thread, don't just post "End" on it and expect us to hunt it down and find it. The Grade Request thread is a way for us to track everything, so make sure you use it.
10. With this being the most popular forum for new players, we often have to deal with a lot of abandoned threads when people try out the site for a few days or weeks and then disappear. As such, we are instituting a 30 Day Abandonment Clause for Syliras. If you are in a thread with someone who disappears without any explanation, you may submit the thread for XP Award after 30 days have passed since the last time the other person posted.
11. In order to qualify for Seasonal Wages, the following must be true: (A) You must have worked out your employment with a storyteller PRIOR to trying to claiming wages. This means that we have to approve your job, and have written record of it either in PM or the Employment Office and Welcome Center where you received approval for the job from an ST. You cannot simply come to us and say "I was a Weaponsmith! Give me 700+ gold!" We have to have approved your hire and agreed upon your wages. You must have participated in at least 2 job-related threads to show that you as a player have been role-playing the position. Money is not free in this game, and if you don't meet this minimum you won't be eligible for your entire Wages (1 Job thread equals to 50% wages). Participating in more than two will earn you Seasonal Experiences in a skill related to your main job skill.
Seasonal XP for shop-owners or Seasonal Wages for employed character is only awarded by the Domain Storyteller. This means that if you have a job, you cannot simply add your wages to your CS at the end of the season; you must submit your request for wages to the Job Wages Request thread once the season is over. Make sure that you are paying attention to what season you post them for. It is possible for the seasonal award thread to still be up from the prior season to the one that you need. Also, if you do not actually role play them doing their job, they don't earn any money for it. They have to actually do the job, not saying "Alice done the her job as a tailor and now she was frolicking in the Rearing Stallion tavern."
NOTE: In your first season, you will only be awarded wages from the Real-Life date that you started playing. So if your character said he got the job on the 2nd Day of Summer but you didn't join Mizahar until August 22nd, you only get paid for nine days of work.
12. Using Skills and Knowledge At Their Levels (No Overplaying, Godmodding, or Metagaming)
There is one last thing a player should think about when roleplaying their character and using a skill. Always try and roleplay a particular skill at the level a character has that skill at. If they are a novice, please do not roleplay perfect results and comprehensive knowledge. Instead, roleplay in the way someone who just has beginner knowledge would act, including the occasional mistake or learning curve that is necessary when starting out with new things. To do otherwise is considered to be metagaming or godrping, and is considered bad manners. If characters consistently metagame or god-rp, they will find it hard to interact with others as people will avoid threading with them. Storytellers are chosen for their positions as storytellers due to their fairness and integrity, people who consistently don't write about their characters failings or struggles (aka write at a higher level than they actually have points for) will find a hard time getting someone to mediate their threads or storytell for them. In fact, Overplaying is such a serious issues that chronic offenders are often slammed with the ban hammer, we don't want that to happen, trust us.
This is another problem that occurs in the city that gets the most new people. We have a lot of players rping above their level and having knowledge that they shouldn't and it needs to stop. There is not one PC in this city that knows everything about everything, nor is there anyone so skilled in magic or combat that they can't be beaten. There are no Mary or Gary Sues in this city so check that at the door before the STs dumb you out with the rest of the them. We would rather not, but we will start posting examples of threads where PCs are doing this if this continues. So lets get things back on track.
13. And most of all... have fun! This is a storytelling site, and we're all here to tell our character's stories and hopefully to to expand those stories through interactions with other characters. Yes, there are rules to abide by, but these are in place for consistency and quality control, and we think you'll find yourself much happier with the experiences you have here because of the rules we have in place.
NEW INFO FOR PCS PLAYING AS KNIGHTS AND SQUIRES
Starting as of Winter 513, Knights are expected to increase two skills per season (going towards their knighting flash back), and squires are expected to increase one skill per season (going towards their knighting quest). If they fail to do so for two seasons straight they are out of the order.
So knights have to increase two skills (out of the four required to become Knights) 5 points each a season. Long sword, shield, ranged, it doesn't matter which. Just as long as they raise 5 points in two of those skill for the given season.
Squires have to raise one skill (out of the four required to become Knights) 5 points each season.
Rules credit to Dusk and Accolade
So knights have to increase two skills (out of the four required to become Knights) 5 points each a season. Long sword, shield, ranged, it doesn't matter which. Just as long as they raise 5 points in two of those skill for the given season.
Squires have to raise one skill (out of the four required to become Knights) 5 points each season.
Rules credit to Dusk and Accolade
