GETTING STARTED
When you arrive in Cedar Creek, we strongly encourage you to visit the Welcome Center first. Here you can find useful information, such as the primary group used to roleplay in Cedar Creek (Cedar Creek Township), the landmark to the sim, job applications to our primary town-operated careers, available Managers, a road/point of interest map of the town, as well as links to the website and social media. One of the most important things you will find here is the Town Covenant. These are the binding rules for the community. Familiarize yourself with these, since ignorance is not a valid excuse if they are breached. We also provide a dice HUD to help with decision-making during RP and an evidence kit if you think you might fancy yourself a criminal.
Explore
Join the Cedar Creek Township group and you will be given a tag that says CC | Tourist. Feel free to walk around town and explore, and observe other roleplays going on. Exploring gives you time to familiarize yourself with the layout of the town, discover where things are located, or find something that might inspire you to want to start playing here. The best way to learn is by observing others. Remember, there are people from all different backgrounds coming to Cedar Creek, so there may still be some that are learning the methods used in Cedar Creek, as such, not everyone is the epitome of the perfect roleplayer, but it is the good roleplayer that can continue to be patient, and still engage with these players, that make Cedar Creek a fun place to learn.
Preparing to Play
Once you have explored the town, and observed some of the other community members engaged in roleplay, you might be ready to play too! First, you must become a citizen. This will give you In-Character documents, like an ID, Learner’s Permit, or Driver’s License. To become a citizen, head back to the Welcome Center on Array or read our Town Covenant (http://www.cedarcreeksl.com/community-covenant/) for the link to the web application. There, you will find an application for Citizenship. Complete the application and submit it. When you receive your documents (these come as textures) in world, you will see that you can select a different title in the Cedar Creek Township group, Citizen.
Posting In
Now that you are officially part of the community, you are probably ready to get your feet wet! Starting slow is sometimes the best way. Approach a person or a group, wait, and observe. By not waiting and observing, you risk the chance of posting something that might break the immersion of the scene. While this is something that can be rectified, it can come across as annoying and doesn’t allow you to put your best foot forward. Another thing you can do is ask for help. Instant/Private Message (IM or PM) one of the players and ask for an overview of what is happening. Remember, an IM or PM is considered to be an Out-of-Character (OOC) conversation. However, some common In-Character (IC) uses for IM or PM are making phone calls from one character to another. Once you have established what is occurring, emote yourself into the scene. Be descriptive, but don’t worry about writing a novel. A first post could be something as short as:
/me walks up and says, “Hello!”
However, a more descriptive post would be something like this:
/me sees a group of firemen standing in front of the fire station as she walks down the street. Nearing the group of men, she says, “Hi guys!” Sarah waves.
This includes an observation of what the character has seen and is taking action on, it shows her making a statement and then gives a few actions that the character took, such as walking up to the group and waving to them.
The more you include, the more the other players have to react to. Do not assume that your actions were reacted to and continue to write as if they were acknowledged by the other characters. Wait for others to respond.
Congratulations, you are now a part of the scene!
Finishing the Scene
After you have entered a scene, remember who the person was that posted before you. Your turn to post again will be after that character posts. This is called post order and is a generally agreed-upon method for determining who posts at what time. However, if there are a lot of people, say 5 or more, sometimes having a player type a quick OOC note in brackets with a list of the people involved is a better method to ease any confusion.
((Hey guys, lets make a post order: Lacy, Rei, Taylor, Art, then Jez. Is that okay?))
From that point on, everyone will post in that order. If you are lost on when you are supposed to post again, ask if there is a post-order already.
If nothing has transpired during a round and it becomes your turn to post again, you can either emote doing nothing or simply type OOCly to skip your turn. Sometimes this helps speed up the scenario. Remember, you don’t always have to take action, especially if your character wasn’t affected.
/me watches as the two men debate racing.
Or
((Skip me))
If you have to leave your computer, it is common courtesy to let the other players know you will be gone and to let them know how you want them to proceed. You can tell them, that you need to use the restroom and you will be right back to post when it is your turn; you can tell them you will be AFK and to skip your next turn(s); or you can turn your character over to another player.
((Hey guys, I’ll be AFK, Jez can post for me if needed))
Remember characters are just that…characters. They do not necessarily reflect the attitude or the ideals of the typist. This is important to remember in case you feel like you are being personally attacked or harassed. Sometimes a character can come across as mean, gruff, or inconsiderate, but a lot of times it is because of the type of character they are. Plus if everyone was happy-go-lucky, it would be a pretty boring place…think of the movies “Pleasantville” or “The Truman Show” as an example.
When it is time to leave, simply post your character walking away, or type something that would otherwise end the scene, such as “Fade to black”. If you need to leave in a hurry, something came up in real life, or the scene has gone longer than you expected, simply explain to the group you are roleplaying with OOCly for permission to post out of order so you can leave, or that another player will be finish for you after your log, as if you were an NPC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Roleplay Styles
Roleplay Terminology
Roleplayer’s Code of Conduct
Getting Further Involved
When Problems Arise