Bad RP alone does not a twink make—nor does good RP exclude somebody from twink-dom. Therefore, I have chosen to deal with recommended OOC behaviour before talking about posing and IC stuff. First of all, remember this: you will be a twink when you first start playing. We all were, and most of us did some truly horrendous things that we now cringe to think of. So don’t stress about getting it ‘right’ straightaway and proving to people what a wonderful addition you are to the game. We expect you to make get things wrong, and certainly won’t hold it against a newbie. If you’re not terrible, it makes us feel inadequate, because we were. Think of it as acquiring memories to laugh over in a few months time. And we like new people who have the good taste to play where we do, so we’re not going to scratch you off our friend-list for one mistake. Or even two, three, four, five…. Just make the effort to get better, and you’ll be fine.
Making friends It sometimes seems a little intimidating when you start, but most people are usually very welcoming. Everybody's here for escapism, and if you show willing to join in, they'll be willing to let you.
Dealing with questions and mistakes If you have a question, no matter how stupid you think it might be, ask! People are usually good with answering questions—there might be a guide system on the game to help newbies. Do listen and take note of what they have to say (log it if you think that would help) because while nobody minds answering a 'stupid' question, they do get irritated if you consistently do something you've been told not to.
Taking objects You'll find a lot of objects littered around the different rooms but Do Not Take Them. Unlike MUDs and one player RPGs, the objects aren't there to help you win a quest. If you do want a coded object, you can create it. Ask somebody on the game how.
Private rooms Not all rooms are public. Most are, but some will belong to a particular player, usually their bedroom or study. You can generally tell these apart from public rooms because they'll have somebody's name preceding them in the list of exits. Don't invade these, since they're sometimes used for private RP or OOC sessions.
IC & OOC In Character and Out Of Character. IC is you as the character, OOC is you as the player at the keyboard. They can be two totally different things. Keep OOC chat on channels and out of RP, and remember that another player's IC attitude is not the same as their OOC one.
Discretion Often people can be rather private about their OOC business and their RL. If somebody tells you something OOC or about themselves in RL, don't feel that you have a right to repeat it, even if it seems trivial to you, unless you're certain it's not a secret.
Helping out Never be afraid to volunteer to help out with some OOC work or organisation should somebody ask. It's a great way to integrate yourself and see what goes on behind the scenes. Just remember that if you volunteer to help, make sure you do. Most people can do something no matter how new they are.
General behaviour Just use your common sense and be polite. This is a social environment and it's not too different from any other. And always remember that if it doesn't work out, it's very easy to leave and try a different area, game or character.
So, you’ve got your character and set yourself up somewhere. There seem to be loads of people buzzing around on channel and in RP who know each other and are swooning over their latest friend to connect tonight—and none of them has the faintest idea who you are. Personally, I found this intimidating and I wasn’t sure how join this ‘clique’. After a week, I figured out that there wasn’t a clique. People were welcoming and friendly. Obviously there’s a difference between welcoming and friendly people and actual friends, but it’ll come. The easiest way is to get out and RP. That is the supposed reason everybody’s there, and it’s a good way to meet a few people at a time rather than getting introduced to everybody in general via a mailer or channel.
It's worth emphasising the fact now that this is a game where people go to play, not to talk about their lives—although occasionally you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. The thing to remember is that, on the whole, people are here for escapism. On channel, they talk about nothing and have raised it to an art form. Join in with channel conversations by all means, but don't do nothing but whine and moan on there about your life if you can help it. At least not on a public channel. As you go on, you will acquire numerous private channels on which you talk to friends who will probably be a lot more receptive to RL gripes than other people. Of course, as you go on, most people on the public channels will be your friends too and at the beginning, they're the people to go to if you have a problem with the game or don't understand something. And for heaven sakes, if it's a game related issue that's genuinely confusing/bothering you, say something! So, it's a judgment call. But as a general rule of thumb, if you're just going to whine and demand pity, don't do it on a public channel. If you truly feel that you've been treated unfairly, page somebody about it—that's also the more tactful way if there has been a misunderstanding. For more general questions on the game, speak up to whoever you like—see next section.
There is no such thing as a stupid question
If you have questions, ask!! It’s another way to get to know people for a start—I still have some friends who I first met when they helped me out as a newbie, and I have friends who I met when I helped them out. Anybody who you ask a question of will have asked their own questions as a newbie and valued the answers that somebody gave them. They’ll often be all too happy to help another in their turn. Who to ask can sometimes be the problem. Remember that almost anybody you ask will either know the answer or be able to point you in the direction of somebody who does. If you’re RP’ing with somebody and it’s just a quick question, ask them. Especially if it’s related in some way to the RP that’s going on. Try not to let things degenerate into a question and answer session for you though, the other person may well prefer to RP. On the other hand, they might start rambling with advice themselves, in which case it’s a fair bet that they’re just as happy if not moreso helping you. What if you’re brand new and you don’t know anybody? There will most likely be some guide system on the M* greeting you as you come in. They will always be there to answer your questions, even after you’ve been on the M* for years. Once you have a home, your area leader or somebody on the staff can probably help you too. Or if in doubt, just say on channel somewhere: “I have a question…” or something similar. I can almost guarantee that somebody will help.
No matter who you ask your questions of though, the most important thing is to pay attention to what they say. Fair enough if you don’t understand the answer, just ask them to explain it in a different way. What will irritate people is if they carefully explain something to you, and you say OK and then go off and completely ignore what they said. If you think you’ll forget—take notes! Log it, if you have a client that logs. The same goes for people telling you that you’ve made a mistake. Heed them, don’t get indignant. Even if somebody jumps down your throat for a small thing that you simply didn’t know about, pay attention to what they say. Most people will just give you a friendly nudge, fortunately, they’re good like that, but some will get incredibly uptight about it. It’s wrong for anybody to get at you for simple ignorance, so how you subsequently treat them is up to you (try to be reasonably tactful though). But what they said still has value, remember that mistake and try not to make it again.
Don’t take things! This isn’t a game where you go on a quest to save the kingdom and pick up anything you like along the way in case it comes in useful. This is more like the real world as far as that goes. If you walk into a room and see a flute, you leave it because it belongs to somebody already. If you want your own object, then you should be able to create it—although keep in mind that diamond necklaces for a peasant girl might be a touch on the unlikely side. But your character could well have some belongings to carry with them, or you might be able to buy something, assuming your game deals with money. Personally, I avoid coded objects altogether for the most part and just RP having them, although occasionally they come in handy. But anything lying around probably has a reason to be there, so unless somebody tells you otherwise, leave it alone.
Trespassers will be prosecuted
Not all areas of the game are public. Several established characters with their own positions have their own private room. You will usually find that you’ll still be able to get into such a room by wandering around—and then be asked to leave by the person in there. Basic way to avoid this? Don’t follow any exits marked Foofoo’s Room or something similar. People with personal rooms usually use them as a place to keep their character when they’re not RPing, so that they can avoid spam from somebody else in the room, while they’re busy with OOC stuff. Even if they're asleep when you wander in, don't take that to mean that it doesn't matter if you poke around for a bit: it's their room, their property, please respect that. Fortunately, most places are public domain and are free for you to explore, so don’t worry too much.
OOC and IC: Out Of Context/Character and In Context/Character. I.e., you, the player typing away on the keyboard, are the OOC side, and the character who is playing with a dragon or whatever is the IC side. RP is IC: Foofoo smiles and waves as she spots her friend enter. “Hello! Want to try a piece of this cake I just made?” she asks, eyes sparkling with mischief. You, the player, are not doing any smiling and waving. Your character Foofoo is doing that. Otherwise it’s OOC: Foofoo drats. “What’s the command for paging two people at once?” Foofoo the character couldn’t page anybody if she did know the command. You want to know for yourself. Now, anything said on a channel is OOC, seeing as characters don’t have channels. Likewise, posts to mailers and pages are also OOC, that’s fine. RP however is entirely IC and should be left like that.
But it will happen sometimes that you’ll want to ask or say something OOC to the people in the room with you. If you do, just make sure that it’s clear that this is an OOC comment and not an IC one. Above all, try not to bog down the RP in OOC chatter. If you can keep it to a channel, do so, but don’t stop RPing in favour of asking everybody where they live RL. This isn’t a chatroom. People come here to RP, and, although there’s nothing wrong with getting to know each other on channel, try to get to know each other’s characters as well. That’s where the fun part is.
Also, remember that a character’s IC attitude does not necessarily reflect their real one. If somebody is grumbling at you, it probably only means that the character is grumpy. It’s extremely doubtful that the player has anything against you personally. Similarly, if somebody’s flirting with you, don’t think that they are getting an RL obsession. The player might be of a different gender, gay or happily married—maybe all three. On the game, they’re just playing a role, because that’s what roleplay is. Kind of accounts for the name, doesn’t it?
Discretion is the better part of valour
By the nature of the games, you and all the other players will automatically have a certain amount of anonymity. By the nature of humans, you will discard that anonymity with certain people and tell them information about yourself—after all, that’s what you do when you get to know people. And there’s nothing wrong with this, but remember that any information that a person has revealed to you is not yours to reveal to another person. Well, yes, common sense, right? Except that, as a newbie, you might not realise that what another player said to you was confidential, simply because it doesn’t seem that important. As with everything in this section, it varies from person to person, but to be on the safe side, if somebody tells you something about them personally, don’t reveal it to anybody else unless you’re sure that it’s fine by all parties concerned. Personal information isn’t limited to their real lives either—in fact people tend to be more tight mouthed about the OOC side of their M*ing. Don’t reveal people’s alts (alternative characters that they have) either on the same game or elseM*, any other games that they play on or plans that they have for a character (E.g.: applying for a leadership position, having an IC relationship with Goober, etc). Some people couldn’t care less about who knows all this, but some people have good reason to keep it secret—and some people would just rather that other people didn’t know. The likelihood is that you won’t find out anything of earth-shattering importance anyway—and if you did, you’d be told not to repeat it—but if in doubt, don’t mention it.
One great way to get yourself involved with the game and to meet people is to volunteer for OOC work. From time to time, somebody in your area may decide to organise a party or to have a large TP (tiny plot: a planned bout of RP rather than just coming into a public room and seeing who else will come and play). They'll probably post to a mailer somewhere and ask for volunteers to help. Go ahead and sign up, even if you don't have the least idea of what you can do. Input is always much appreciated, even if you do no more than make a few suggestions, but if you do say you'll help, make sure that you do do whatever you signed up for. Also, remember to go by the judgment of the more experienced players and the overall organiser, since there's usually a lot more to a TP than you might think.
All the behind the scenes stuff tends to be a lot of fun too in most people's eyes, and it's something that people who aren't so strong in RP can do to find their niche on the game. We may all be here to RP, but people who can code (programme) things or who can organise are valued hugely. Saves the rest of us from having to bother. Obviously, Events won't happen every week or even every month in your area, but they pop up every now and then and I'd recommend having a bash at helping out at least once.
This is basically common sense. Don’t be obnoxious, don’t try to get all the attention, don’t pester people if they’ve already told you that they’re busy and can’t talk or RP. Do listen to people, try and remember who’s who, join in with what you can, apologise for your mistakes. Also, respect the opinions of those who have been here longer than you, particularly those of people who have been here for more than a year. You do not have to agree with these opinions, but keep in mind that they’ve been formed from a lot of experience of what will and will not work on the M*. It will take awhile maybe, but you should find your place.
Finally, it may happen that you and Foofoo never get settled. It could be that the game isn’t right for you, or it could be that Foofoo or the area isn’t working out. That happens. Try a different area, maybe with a different character. See what happens there. Sometimes you just need to find the right people to play with. There’s nothing wrong with that. We’ve all been there.
Making friends Dealing with questions and mistakes Taking objects Private rooms IC & OOC Discretion Helping out General behaviour
