[War_ooc] WAR Rules: Post Standards

[John Penta]

Okay...This is being written prior to POD and touched up throughout
the day. A lot of this is (or should be) obvious, especially to older
players, but I want to state it here so everybody knows, so that
nobody can say it was never said - and so that newbies can refer to it
later. Please don't reply to the list with comments - I'd like this
post to stand out so people can find it. Other posts, similarly
entitled "WAR Rules" may add to this post.

---
Posts should really be in plain text only (If you use google, there's
a button to switch to plain text - otherwise, there's an option in
every mailer; check your help files). If it's not, the listserv will
strip out the HTML usually (always for the archives) and leave it
sometimes looking ugly, sometimes completely unreadable. Sometimes
there's no effect at all, but there's no way to tell beforehand.

For obvious reasons: Posts should be in English only. This is a
text-based medium, so proper spelling and grammar is a must. Not that
I'll spike a post for typos, but if I cannot understand a post, I will
retract it. I strongly recommend, if at all possible, restricting
yourself to characters that are on a US/UK keyboard - I can't
guarantee that accented or umlauted characters (to say nothing of more
exotic characters) will display at all, either on screens or in the
archives. Short uses of (transliterated!) foreign language are okay,
but if you think the gist might be misunderstood, include a
translation.

---

Initially I had this whole thing written up about post content. I'll
spare you all from reading it. Suffice to say: Use your brains. We're
rated R (If you need what that means explained, let me know), but
that's a maximum; if you go beyond PG-13 (excluding if it's just foul
language), include warnings for the sake of those players reading from
school/work/other public places, out of courtesy if for no other
reason.

We have -no age minimum- for players. For under-18 players, I will
endeavor to carefully explain just what they're getting themselves
into. For over-18 players, I will make it simple: Use your head.
*Anyone* can read the archives. I would be totally unsurprised if they
show up in a Google search (and I have no idea, not being the
webmaster, how to prevent that). When in doubt, presume a teenager of
around 13 or 14 will stumble onto what we post here. Try not to scar
them, okay?

---

Keep OOC stuff (including country profiles) to the OOC list from this
point forward. IC stuff goes to the IC list. IC stuff that goes to the
OOC list will get you laughed at and will not count. OOC stuff that
goes to the IC list will just get you laughed at, and if done enough
get me annoyed.

---

Okay, with that said, on to the specifics.

I'm going to require post titles. I know they can be hard to figure
out, but they help differentiate when we get a lot of posts.

Include an IC date in all of your posts; if posts cover multiple days,
okay, just give us clues when they happened. Initially, for intro
posts, limited retro-posting (posting that takes us prior to the date
of the WR period) will be allowed. After the first WR, it'll only be
allowed with my approval, so that timelines can be kept sensible.
Please try not to advance -past- the WR period.

Secret Actions are preferred for posts that you don't want others to
ICly know the gist of. Otherwise: Unless you somehow got bugs in the
room ICly, or it's clear through context that it's in public and in
earshot, you don't hear the details. This should hopefully allow for
more writing generally.

Subject lines should look like this (keep in mind that the list
inserts [WAR] on all posts to the IC list):

"US: Insert Catchy Title Here"

or

"France: Insert Catchy Title Here"

Without the quotes.

At the start of your posts, I strongly suggest (but will not require)
a format that looks like this:
---
"Insert Catchy Title Here"
Primary Actor (you can be vague here - using "Assorted people" or
something is fine on occasion)
Country (or countries, if it's a joint post)
IC Date (expressed in any readable format, Gregorian calendar only) -
if you need to do flashbacks or other forms of time-manipulation,
indicate them somehow in the post.
===================
---

Posts should ideally be in third person past, with or without
omniscience as you may wish. Third person present is a bit
out-of-standard, but also okay if used sparingly.

First person will get your post retracted and will cause me to hurt
you. First person makes my head hurt. This may seem like an
imposition...Well, it is an imposition, but it's one that's needed.
---

About actions...I'm going to try a test here.

If it's just going to be 'Give speech' or something, don't include it.

The Actions Section of your post MUST be backed up by the narrative,
but should not solely summarize the narrative.

Think of it like really high-level computer code: It tells me what to
go back and look at when I'm doing the WR, and it clarifies what
exactly you want a post to accomplish. When I'm doing a WR, I am
unlikely to have the time to deeply analyze this section: It needs to
be clear upon skimming.

If I don't understand what a post was meant to accomplish, I'll ask.
If I misunderstand it, that's a good clue you need to work on your
phrasing.
---

Posts should ideally read well. If you're trying to do something
confusing, only then should you include stuff beyond the post for me
or others to read.

Meaning, maybe WAR can break its habit of footnoted posts.
---

John