The Newb Guide is…pretty self explanatory, really.
Sir Mike of Decoyness says:
First off, this is a game, for fun, nothing more. Do not take it seriously enough to let happenings in character spill over into out of character. Don´t be a jerk, keep arguments and personal vendettas out of the chat. Don´t excessively swear, flood or abuse the caps lock key. Swearing in character to an extent may advance the plot, but excessively, it doesn´t help.
In the chat, you play a character. The character´s history, physical traits and personality should be set in your mind before you even come IC. Picture this, in Goldeneye, you play James Bond who is the focus of the story. In the chat, you create a character to become the focus of your story.
The basics: When you speak in the chat, you are saying what the character would say. When you post actions ( like this *Stryker walks to the bar*) you post what the character is doing, should you want to post what you, yourself would be doing, post like ((this)). Example: ((*Mike dances around the room*))
Also, make your posts descriptive and keep in mind an action is not instantly completed. For example, say your character was drawing a weapon IC, do not simply post ´´*draws PPK and fires at Josh´s head*´´. In all actuality you´d have to draw the weapon, raise the weapon, aim the weapon before you could squeeze the trigger if you wanted an accurate shot. Also keep in mind many weapons have recoil, thus every shot you fired would not be on target. When you post an action your character does not instantly complete it. Let me give you an example: Mr. Z´s character is sitting at the bar and Mr. X wanted to slap him on the shoulder. Mr. Z posts ´*walks out the door* ((I walked out, you can´t touch me))´ No, it doesn´t work that way. Mr. Z would have to first stand, starting walking and cover the ground between his current location to the entrance to even reach the door, never mind walk out of it, leaving a window of opportunity for any other people to interact with them.
If you plan on leaving the chat, *gone* does not instantly save your character from any damage. Plan on leaving a good 5-10 minutes before your time as your character must first leave the area and may be attacked on the exit.
When it comes to playing characters and taking damage, play your own, don´t try to play the other person´s character. What I mean is, they know the history, abilities and personality of their character, don´t try to tell them what they are, or what they can and can´t do.
You are not god. Survival is not guaranteed. Do not simply post that you ´dodge´ everything. Think of how the character you are playing would avoid or defend against the attack and describe that as your action. When your hit, think of the damage the attack would cause (if you are unsure about the weapon, ask). Also think of the lasting effect it would have during the battle (ie:pain, fatigue, blood loss). When it comes to the attacks, also keep in mind that some weapons may travel faster than the speed of sound or effect an area. Meaning that you´d have to dodge by other means than hearing the sound or cover a fair distance in a short time to get out of harm´s way.
If You have any special Info about your character that you don´t want everyone to know (like them being a hell spawn), make sure that at least two other people who aren´t your best buds (but don´t hate you) know about it too. It makes it Oh So much easier if your character gets attacked and the abilities are disputed.
No calling damage on other characters!
Buzzdudeman says:
Cantina Tutorial for Newbies And Anyone Else For That Matter
Beta Version 1.0, Property of Argonon Enterprises™ LTD
Written By Garrett Cannon Argonon
1. Know the difference between IC and OOC. OOC posts are enclosed ((Like this)). Posts can only interact with posts of the same type.
2. Respect others who know what they are doing, and help those who don't (if you know what you're doing). This will make your life, and everyone elses much easier.
3. DON'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS!!!! It doesn't make you look any smarter, angrier, or make your penis any bigger. Anger can be expressed more effectively like this-"Look, you dickhead, I don't have your damn Woolongs!" Note the difference between that and- "LOOK, YOU DICKHEAD, I DON'T HAVE YOUR DAMN WOOLONGS!!!!!!".
4.Don't take OOC matters IC, or IC matters OOC. But if You happen to do so, don't bitch when everyone and their brother comes around to take you out.
5.Don't think that you can dodge chaingun fire from pointblank when You're turned the other way, or that you can dodge the snipers bullet intentionally (Freak Accidents, however, do happen. The cantina has a large number of disposable NPC's…).
6. 42.
6.5- Paying for drinks in the cantina is pointless, charge them to Buzzes tab, he never pays it, anyway.
7.Have You Hugged Your Mike today?
8.In case of Monster or army attack, point the assailants in the opposite direction of the Poker Club members.
9. Think up your own Damn Reason. I'm gonna go drink some more port..
10. Never assume You are part of someone elses faction, or that someone else is part of your faction. Always confirm this, otherwise you'll get a really nasty surprise and a big union dues check when they find out you aren't.
11: If you are in a faction, be VERY aware of what faction you are in, its goals and chain of command. If you ignore these very important things, you're likely to get gang raped by everyone else in the faction and all of it's allies. They don't hand out top level security clearence to everyone who scrubs the floors.
12. Words enclosed in *.* are amost always actions. EX-*sips ale* Just about everyone uses this, except for the occasional jackass who comes in once a year and won't listen to reason. Words Enclosed in {.} are usually used for NPC's, [.] or <.>'s for COMM's, and ~.~ for telepathy and thinking to ones self. These are the most common uses But they Aren't mandatory. That means that they can be used for other things as well. In the author's opinion, if you can't figure out what the hell something means and it pretains to you, and you don't ask, You deserve to be dragged out in the street and stoned (Pelted with big pointy rocks, Not Given a joint. and instructed to smoke it)
13. For all public stonings, there will be a stone vender nearby who is selling stones that have been preselected by a group of stoned Stone Expert's, for their size, weight, and pointyness factor. Anyone caught using stones that aren't certified, will be stoned themselves.
14. Contraty to popular belief, it is impossible to wage a personal war against a major corporation and live. These things are at least done in groups of 3 and more often by large armies owned by rival coporations.
15. Time for some explanations of some common posts you will see.
*L*-Laughs, Laughing, ect.
*LOL*-Laughs out loud, Laughing out loud, pretty much the same thing as *L*
*LMAO*-Laughing My Ass off
*ROTFLMAO*-Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off (Variation-*ROTFLMFAO*-Rolling on the floor Laughing my fucking ass off)
*S*-Smiles, Smiling, ect.
*EG* Evil Grin
*VEG* Very Evil Grin
*RaE*-Raises an eyebrow
16. If people are arguing OOC, don't automatically jump in and take sides. Chances are, they don't need or want your help. Doing so only escalates the situation, and leads to big, long, and stupid posts on the message board and/or legal proceedings.
17. Don't flood, any 2-year old kid can type something and smack the enter key until their damn finger breaks off. Instituting floods does not make you look smarter, less of an asshole, and certainly won't make your penis any bigger (see similar warning by the one about typing in all caps).
18. Don't come into the cantina and start lecturing everybody about thier morals and lifestyles, then try to convert them to racism or anything else for that matter. And never NEVER call people "My Children" and claim that you are Jesus re-born/God, because no one wants to hear your load of shit. If Jesus/God did come back to earth, he certainly wouldn't be telling us in a chatroom that 99% of the people on the net have never even heard of. It would at least be televised on the Scifi Channel.
19.You cannot suddenly pull a rocket launcher out of your ass in the middle of a firefight (they don't make anal storage compartments that big).
FALCON_X-0N says:
Setting:
The Cantina's default location is, unsurprisingly, a Cantina. Specifically this is a bar, located at the corner of Fifth and Waters street, in Mos Eisley, on the planet Tatooine, with a history for violence and trouble. Yes, THAT Cantina. However, it's changed some hands since it was known as Chalmun's Cantina back in 0BBY. At the current date, 22ABY, the Cantina has changed hands twice. While it was initially bought from Chalmun by a well-traveled galactic adventurer and entrepreneur known as “Buzz” Argonon, who initiated a number of changes, involving an attempt to make the bar less hostile to tired spacers. However, the bar was later bought out by a shadowy, and very wealthy consortium, which conspired to return the Cantina to it's legacy of scum and villainy. The Cantina is colloquially referred to still as Buzz's Cantina, or more often, just the 'tina. For more information, click here.
Tatooine's reputation as the most boring planet on the ass end of the universe changed dramatically one day when it was discovered that there was a powerful spacial anomaly located at the outskirts which seemed to connect the Tatoo system which dozens, if not hundreds of different 'places.' While Tatooine was always known as a stop to rest of the hyperspace highways, the addition of a literal 'galactic on ramp' inside the system elevated the planet to the first stop for a whole new generation of travelers. This anomaly is referred to by the locals as “the Route” and goes by a dozen different names. Few factions have had the time or resources to study it, but it looks as though it may allow near instantaneous travel to both other galaxies, and possibly other dimensions. Again, for more information, click here.
The Cantina seems to have a knack for attracting trouble, both mundane and mystical. The Cantina itself is built on a hellmouth, which attracts interdimensional energies and seems to alter probability.
Frequently Asked Questions: (All the cool kids have FAQs now)
Q: Why a Cross-Franchise Cantina? Why is the base franchise Star Wars?
A: There's two answers to this. The most pragmatic one is that this used to be the Cantina on the Wildman Website, back on Beseen, and when Beseen died we migrated all of our characters here. Since we would bring in a bunch of stuff from other shows anyways, once on our own feet we decided to make it official, coined the name “Cross-Franchise Cantina,” and took Mike's fledgling Vietnam chat the hell over.
Mike has never recovered.
The reason why we kept it Star Wars, well, think about it. Star Wars already blends science fiction and fantasy- -it's a good starting point. Most things can fit. Nobody's going to question a sorcerer when there's Jedi and nobody is going to look twice at a Klingon when there's stormtroopers.
Q: So we can bring in anything? What kind of stuff is already taken?
A: Generally speaking, yes. For instance, our version of Tatooine has the Hutts vying for power against both Harkonnen forces and the Shin-ra Electric Power Company, all of which have legal take to the planet due to the mechanations of Wolfram and Hart, Attorneys at Law. It gets busy.
Q: What about Canon Characters?
A: This is a tough one. We do allow canons, but they're hideously difficult to pull off. Most canons in this chat are defacto ones- -if Shinra's around, somebody needs to play Rufus. If there's a new Jedi Order, then Luke has to show up, eventually. These are rarely that person's main character. A few of us do take canon's on as main characters (I'm especially guilty of this), and it is one of the hardest things to do.
Just to make things clear: if you do a canon well, it will show. But most of the time, people screw it up. Now, if you are a horribly inconsistant Rper, and it shows, most people wont really give a damn. If you bring in a canon, and horribly screw it up, yes, people will notice, and yes, they will call shenanigans.
Q: Oh, so I have to be registered to play?
A: Nope! We don't require registration, though we do encourage it. The same goes for profiles. Again, canon characters, probably better idea to reg them. In fact, they are the exception to the 'registration not required' thing.
Q: So I can bring in God? Pre-Crisis Superman?
A: Yes, but on Tatooine, kryptonite comes in the form of collector's mugs. Don't get us wrong- -we're Cross-Franchise, we take anything, save for the ridiculously overpowered stuff that can kill everyone else instantly(you can't bring in the Infinity Gauntlet or a Death Note unless you have a damn good reason). But we don't usually do the fights on the Dragon Ball level, and if you're just here to play king of the mountain, you're outnumbered and we're a lot more creative than you. Plus, we already have God regged.
Q: Whats this I hear about post length? What is a 'Post Bomb' or 'Flood' and why did everyone scream and hide when I posted?
A: For some reason that I, truly, cannot explain, the majority of the chat dislikes incredibly long posts. We get shit for this, but it's just a comfort level thing. A good-sized post is usually around four or five lines- -anything over than that, and people can sometimes complain. Usually post-bombs are more tolerated during the down hours or if they're largely expositional. Look at it this way: in a lot of other chats, the idea is to make your prose as purple as possible- -here, it's a lesson in consisement. Not everyone can read as fast as you, anyways..
Q: OMGWTF I JUST GOT BANNED
A: As an admin, I can officially say that we treat the very concept of having to ban someone with the utmost respect, and only do it if the person is exceptionally disruptive, distasteful, or if we think it will be even a little bit funny.
Q: WHY AREN'T YOU IC THIS IS AN IC CHATROOM RIGHT?/You're doing ___ wrong!
A: Lighten up, Francis.
Q: So the setting is the Cantina. Am I allowed to leave the bar?
A: Of course. Sometimes adventures take players out of the bar, through the woods, and to grandmother's house. We understand that. The Cantina is the default setting- -everything kind of revolves around it and it's patron in this very weird, hellmouthy, sitcom plot-device kind of way.
Q: There's…there's nobody in the Cantina. It's just my character sitting alone.
A: Uh, yeah, sorry about that. Downside to the last question- -sometimes, everybody will be off adventuring. Most of us try to avoid this, some don't care. Most times, people will be kind enough to bring in another character to play with you, and if you're real bored, you can just ask them OOCly if you can maybe crash their RP. Very rarely you'll hear a 'no.' We don't really have the traditional, closed-off 'private' Rps, it's more of a comfort thing between players.
Q: What's the central plotline/can I get involved in the RP the mods are running?
A: …Whoozle whuzzle?
Q: Wait, so we have to make up our own stories too?
A: Yes, you lazy bastard. Or get involved with someone else's- -everyone can pull out an RP. Generally, the better Rpers are 'allowed' to do the bigger, more cataclysmic stuff, but we really just encourage you to BYORP. It's more fun that way.
Q: Can I end the world?
A: No. Well, you can try, but we'll kick your ass. We don't encourage you to do the giant, end-of-all-reality plotline. It's not that we don't like them- -we LOVE the overly-epic, apocalyptic storylines- -it's just that we like them RARE. On average, we have maybe two a year(not counting whatever the fuck Scott is doing at any given moment), and those two are run by people who we know and trust. You can still be a competant villain without having to resort to universal annihilation. We'll still love you even if you're only trying to kill and rob us.
Q: I didn't give so-and-so permission to kill my character!
A: You don't need to. It's rude and mean to just up and kill somebody, but you don't need their permission to do it. There might be bitching and moaning involved, to avoid that, have it make, y'know, sense. Part of the plotline. If your plotline is “I'm an incredibly well armed nigh invulnerable psychopath who wants everyone else to die,” see the next question.
Q: So I can just bring in characters to kill off other people's characters?
A: Don't try it. We're better at this than you. We're the chat that tamed Crusader- -what does that tell you?
Q: Dammit, how come the good guys always win?
A: They just seem to. Besides, if you want to go play in a world where the bad guys usually win, go outside.
Q: How come my single, lone fighter got killed when he walked into Shinra Tower and started shooting things?
A: 'Cause you suck. Next question?
Q: Did I just have to fight a fire breathing animatronic bear? But RP is serious business!
A: Yes. Yes you did. Enjoy it. Not everything needs to be oh-so-serious. This is a game, it's supposed to be fun- -we are not writing the great american novel, here. If things get silly, or lame, don't flip out. If somebody's a terrible Rper, don't freak. It's just RP. Stick around long enough and you'll get your pathos.
Q: What's a “Fourth Wall Gnome” and why did they take my shoes?
A: The “Fourth Wall Gnomes” are the psuedo-IC running gag that's designed to explain why franchises which may know of each other as 'fiction' can meet and not bring up that pesky fact and otherwise ruin the illusion for everybody else. It's a wink and a nod and then they steal your clothes if you try to press the issue. Unless you're specifically going for some weird, Captain-N 'oh no, I'm trapped in the world of make-believe!” kind of thing, in which case…cool.
Q: I don't like so-and-so, can I ignore them?
A: No.
Q: But they're using a character/group/show I don't think goes well with mine!
A: Tough. What are you, twelve?
Q: What if they're harassing me OOCly?
A: Who the hell does that? Okay, yeah, then it's fine, /ignore to your heart's content.
Q: I keep hearing talk about the “reset” or the “restart.” What does this mean?
A: Don't worry about it. It doesn't affect you in the slightest.
Q: No, really, what's it mean?
A: It doesn't matter! Just ignore it.
Q: Pleeeeeeeease?
A: Alright, fine. In late December of 2004, we, as a chat, collectively, realized that we had just made too many changes and had too much of a sordid, ridiculous past to continue the storyline any farther. However, since we'd done so much with it (boardering on seven years of the same characters, for some of us) instead of just saying 'okay, done' like most chats, we made it into this huge, epic storyline which involved, at the end, the universe itself being reborn into it's current state. The big galactic reset button, everything goes back to 'year one.' Crisis on Infinite Cantina's!
Human nature being what it is, everyone got one or so characters that managed to skirt past the big bang and show back up. This, is course, was a huge deal- -three years ago. Now, all the post-reset characters, having been around for a long time in their own right, are just as valid as the 'old guard,' and it's more or less treated as a parallel universe.
Q: So can I have a character from the old universe?
A: NO. It's not a current storyline, hell, it isn't EVEN a storyline, and we even wrapped up all the 'loose ends' with another big epic apocalypse. It has absolutely no bearing on anything we do currently. Just some bygone talk from some old timers- -and hey, fuck them, right?
Q: What if I'm from back in the old days, and had an old character, and- -
A: Then start 'em from Year One. Reintroduce them. Recapture the moment, as it were.
Q: Jesus, just how long have you nerds been at this?
A: Too long. Join Us. Joooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooin Usssssssssssssssss!
