Newbie Guide
From Relativespace
Gameplay
What's the etiquette on replying to prompts and other things in character LJs?
I find that replying to prompts IC or OOC is really up to you. If I think a prompt speaks to Ten, I'll reply IC, like he read it on an LJ or something. If not, I'll just chat with a big OOC before whatever I want to say. Usually it's a good idea, if you're REALLY insecure, to ask the individual who wrote themself in an OOC post.
Like...here, let me get you some links. My own journal, cause I know it.
For RP threads, unless they say "RP for so-and-so" or "locked to so-and-so" or are in a specific PERSON'S journal, rather than a community, I think they're usually open and people are willing to hop in. If you're insecure about it, drop an OOC note, asking. Communication's the key. People are, in general, pretty open to playing. I know I am. =)
What do I do if someone hasn't replied in a thread? How long do I leave it before I do something?
If we're talking a day or two, send them a polite 'your turn' (via IM/chat or email) and, possibly, the link to the thread. People have real life, LJ loses notifications often, and, sometimes, people are involved with so many threads that yours gets lost in the shuffle.
Do not hound them if you don't get an immediate reply. It's best if you are patient and polite about it. If you grump, other people tend to grump back, and that's no fun for anyone.
When there are three or more characters in a thread do they have to reply in order?
Not necessarily. It's a matter of preference, and I always say ask OOCly if that's how people want to do it. I usually IM someone and say "Hey, we going Nine/Rose/Ten/Reinette?" and take it from there. I like in order, I think it's easier, but not everyone likes to play that way.
What's the difference between a locked post and a friends-locked post?
A post is friends locked if there's sex in the comments somewhere. To friends-lock a post, change the security level on the post or edit page to 'friends'.
A locked post means that only the people listed are allowed to reply to it. There's nothing to stop anyone else from replying, but the idea is that the characters involved are having their own little plot, which no other character can see.
Conversely, an open post means anyone can reply. This is useful for your first post, and if you find yourself not in any other threads or want to interact with more people.
Help! I've posted a comment with the wrong journal!
Don't worry, everyone's done it at one time or another. If no one's posted another comment after it, you can delete it and repost it with the right journal, and only the people getting the notifications emailed to themselves will be any the wiser.
If someone has posted another comment after it, it's up to you and them what to do. Chances are if they've not noticed, it's probably not worth worrying about.
What's this map all about?
The map is a visual way to see where in the world everyone is. Go and add yourself: RS map
Character journals
Do I have to friend all the characters here on my character's journal?
It's not essential, no. But sometimes people might post prompts, memes or rps there, so it helps to read your character's friendslist to see what's going on.
How do I add them then?
Since there are quite a few characters in the game, adding them one-by-one would take a while. But fear not, there is help at hand! If you look at the friend add tag in the OOC community, the post at the top will be the most recent. There are instructions included in the post in what to do and how to do it.
Where do I get icons of my character?
You can either make them yourself, or someone else can. To make them yourself you'll need a screencap or a picture with your character in. This you can either do yourself or get from a website. The best ones for Doctor Who are the Doctor Who Image Archive and the Tragical History Tour.
If you see an icon you like and want to use it, then you need to ask the person who made it if you can do that. If they agree, you'll then need to credit them. When you upload it, just add a note in the comments box to say who it was made by.
If you want a particular icon and you can't find it or make it yourself, it's always worth asking.
Other RS places
What's the wiki for? Do I have to add my/my characters information or is it optional? Do I have to do it myself or will someone else do it?
The wiki is a guide to the game. It has information on the people, the characters and an faq. It's definitely worth a read.
You don't have to add your information, but it is useful, especially if someone wants to contact you about a plot with a character of yours.
I'm sure if you were nice enough someone would add the information you wanted them too. Buts it's not that hard to do yourself. If you can cope with lj-cuts you can cope with wiki.
How do I edit/create new pages on the wiki?
First you need to sign up for an account. Then on each page you'll see a tab at the top that says 'Edit'. Clicking on these will allow you to edit the page. The idea of a wiki is that anyone can edit any page.
To add yourself or your character, just edit the list on the relevant page. Just copy any other link on it. Then when you go back to that page, you'll see the link is now red. If you click on it, it will take you to the edit page for that link - thus creating a new page.
To add content, the simplest thing to do is to find another similar to the one you want and go to the edit page for it. Copy everything in the box, and cancel out of it. Then modify the contents, and paste that into the edit page for the one you want. There's a preview, so you can check you haven't done something stupid.
There's a cheatsheet for basic codes
If you get stuck, just ask on the OOC comm or on AIM.
What are all these other RS communities for? Do I have to join them?
There's the OOC comm, which is useful to at least keep an eye on. It contains messages about new people, plots and anything else anyone chooses to post. It also contains a bit list of character journals to add to your character's friends.
The prompt comm is for you to write ficlets featuring your character. It's not essential, merely an extra.
The fan comm is where you can indulge your inner fangirl over a plot, a character, a player - anything Relative Space related.
What's the AIM chatroom for? Do I have to go in it?
Anything really. It's a chance for people to discuss plot, their lives, make comments in character and generally get to know each other. It can be a useful place to ask for a beta (for prompts or fic) or ask for icons. The peak hours are in the evening, American time.
Official chat is at 10pm GMT every Sunday.
It's not essential to spend time in the chatroom. But it is a fabulous waste of time. If you want to talk to someone, you can either reply to a post on their or their character's journal, or send them an email.
Other RP places
I like this RPing lark, is there anywhere else I can do it? Where would you recommend?
There are an awful lot of RP and prompt communities out there that you can find Relative Space players on and variety of Doctor Who characters. Since the list is so long, it's been moved to here.
What are the Tammy's that I keep seeing everyone talk about?
The Tammys are an awards community that started out of one of the larger prompt communities. There's voting done by muses for muses. Like, the Doctor wouldn't vote Rose "best ass" because it's Rose and that's improper! That sort of thing.
To "give" the awards, the Tammy mods create an RP awards show set up with announcers and "media". Beware, though, that the announcements of the winners are in comments and some of these have a lot of comments and so will take a while to load.
So it's both awards and RP: some people do both, some do one or the other and some people don't bother at all.
Jargon
A good place to look up definitions is the Fandom Glossary
mun
Short for "mundane" or "human" -- another word for the player behind the character(s) in a journal roleplaying game.
godmodding
Deciding for someone else what their character is going to do, and then playing it.
headmates
Other pups the same writer writes. From the idea that the characters you play live in your head.
meta
pup/pup interaction or pup/mun interaction that has no bearing on the actual storyline.
muse
See pup.
NSFW
Not Safe For Work. Means there's likely to be sex.
powerposing
See godmodding.
pup
Short for "sockpuppets" -- characters played in an online roleplaying game.
tag
A comment in a journal thread or a live chat that furthers a roleplaying scenario. Also used as a verb.
thread
A sequence of replies to a post.
Chat injokes
crispy
It's a joke about the appearance of the Master in The Deadly Assassin. Hence the LJ name crispymaster
teaish
Like flamboyant or effeminate. Originated in reference to Ten who regenerated with the tea, so personality quirks are a result of the tea.
hoqdy
A typo for 'howdy'.
'Your Loom' Jokes
In Lungbarrow, one of the New Adventures novels, it was said that Time Lords are woven on Looms, instead of reproducing sexually. The jokes are sort of a play on 'your mum' jokes. Like, 'Your loom was so stupid, it thought it was a sheep and spent all its time trying to weave itself'.
Crepes
alt!Ten's nickname, by Ted, in chat. As he consumes a lot of crepes in-chat cause it's very French.
Livejournal technical things
The best place to look is in the LJ FAQ
The one you will probably use most on the main community is making your text smaller. It's used when people write an OOC note with their character's comment, often to tell the people they are rping with that they are away, or to apologise for something etc.
To do this, type <small> before the text and </small> after it - preview your comment to make sure it looks correct.
You'll also find yourself needing to use LJ Cut, if you have a long entry. The LJ FAQ describes how to do this.
A fake cut is really an ordinary link - you can make it look like an LJ Cut if you really want to. To create a link type <a href="http://www.yourlinkgoeshere.com">link text</a>
I have another question that's not in the Newbie Guide or in the FAQ.
Then ask it on the OOC community, in the AIM chatroom, or email the mod. No question is too stupid. Although that's not a challenge.
