Monte Ozarka
TNPer
Lecture 4: Game Rules and Technical Help--"Today's theme is 'how not to be a douchebag'"
This game is pretty limited technically, so most of the rules involve not being a douchebag as a player. (Many apologies to our lovely TNP forum mods for overuse of the word "douchebag". But it captures the sentiment ever-so-well, no?) Let's get started, although I'm sure that most of you know most of this already.
Things you should not do as an individual player in-game
Things you should not do as a regional recruiter
This game is pretty limited technically, so most of the rules involve not being a douchebag as a player. (Many apologies to our lovely TNP forum mods for overuse of the word "douchebag". But it captures the sentiment ever-so-well, no?) Let's get started, although I'm sure that most of you know most of this already.
Things you should not do as an individual player in-game
- Don't spam other players via telegram. This likely to get your nation(s) deleted. Also, don't try to spam a player on multiple nations, thinking "Well...each nation individually isn't spamming..." Wrong. Mods can easily see through this. You will be on the wrong end of the mod-hammer.
- Don't spam a region on the RMB. Especially if you're not a native. Folk don't take too kindly to that type of stuff, and I'm sure that you'll be receiving a nice message from a NS game mod pretty soon.
- Don't use profanity. Penalties differ, I'm sure, dependent upon the context, content, and severity of infraction. In general, if you're talking to someone you don't really know well via telegram, don't spout off curse words or racist terms. Same applies if you're talking on the RMB and you don't particularly know if the region will be alright with it. Actually. A good rule of thumb is to cut down on vulgarity in general, mmm?
- Don't hack. Seriously. At this game?
- Don't steal someone else's nations. This usually goes hand-in-hand with the previous rule. Way not cool.
- Don't be a racist. Once again, ban-hammer. This is especially true for imagery such as swastikas (unless especially altered). (Read the NS FAQ for more info.)
- Don't be a douchebag. Don't go around doing stuff like saying "I loving having sex with kids." Also, don't move in and out of a region real fast just to screw with people. Seriously. Use your judgement.
Things you should not do as a regional recruiter
- Don't post recruitment ads in non-feeder regions. Okay, I lied, but only just barely. The regions where you are allowed to place ads are the five Pacific feeders, the various Warzones, the Rejected Realms, and Lazarus. DO NOT place ads in a user-created region. Doing so will raise their ire and will get you deleted or banned. Capisce?
- Don't post ads more than once per day. You're allowed one ad per allowed region per 24 hour time period. I'm sure that mods won't really care if you post another ad a little bit before your 24 hours are up, but please be reasonable. An ad 22 hours after the last one? Probably will fly. An ad 5 hours after the last one? Nuh-uh.
- Don't be a douchebag.
- Don't have multiple nations in the UN at one time. This is called UN multi'ing. It's a no-no and will get you smacked down very, very fast. At the least, you'll lose UN status on all your nations. At most, you could be banned from the game, if you have a particularly bad history of it. IMPORTANT: If two people play NS on one computer, only one of you can have a UN nation. Sorry, but otherwise, you'll get caught. :/
- Don't submit inappropriate UN proposals. This pretty much goes along with what we covered in the first section. In short, don't be a douchebag where other people can see it.
- Don't be a douchebag.
Now that you're tired of hearing what you can't do, I'll tell you a bit about what you can do...
Things you CAN do without threat of NS mod-hammer. YAY!- Create as many non-UN nations as you want. Hooray puppets! I myself have a list of probably a couple hundred that I've used at one point or another. You'll find use for them not only in invading/defending but for all sorts of roleplay, citizenship, communication, etc. purposes. See what creative names you can come up with that haven't been taken by others. Out of my own creations, I am quite fond of "Chocobonuts" and "UN Beatstick". Another favorite of mine is Gaspo's UN nation "Griefy McSpamburger".
- Be a dick on non-NS sites. (See above) But I don't recommend it.
- Create a racist, hateful region. Nazis are welcome in this game, too. (Or at least those who choose to RP as one.) Just be sure to stay within the rules above.
- Create as many regions as you want. Meh. (But keep your region name, WFE, and RMB clean.
If you need game mod help, there are several ways of approaching it. One is to post in the Moderation subforum on the official NS Jolt forums. This is also a useful place to ask questions regarding whether or not something is allowed.
Another option available to you is to file a "Request for Moderator Intervention". I'm too lazy to take screenshots right now, but it's pretty easy to do. 1) Get on NS (you don't have to be logged in), 2) Click FAQ in the left-hand frame, 3) Under the list of links at the top is "FAQ doesn't solve your problem? Visit the Getting Help page." Click it, 4) Select a category from the drop-down menu, and describe the situation in the text box.
(As you see, mods can take requests regarding anything from getting one of your nations restored (if it CTE's) to reporting illegal behavior. If you're logged in, you can attach additional information to your request. If someone's spamming the RMB, be sure to attach it. If someone's annoying the region through constant movement, attach the Regional Happenings.)
For something you need done really quick, I suggest you try out the mods' IRC channel. It is #themodcave on esper.net. Usually, there's at least one game mod watching. Apparently, clicking this link will work, too. Huh. If I recall correctly, they don't like idlers, so just go in and do your business. (If you need help setting up IRC...eh...I guess I can help.)
Helpful links:- NS Jolt Moderation forums--Read the stickies; they're all very informational and goes more into detail about the rules.
- A handy thread of all the rules. I think they did a far better job than I did. Read it.
Blah. What a bland lesson. Oh well. If you have any questions about anything that may or may not be allowed in the game, please go ahead and ask. After all, a lot of rules are shrouded in gray.
Since this is the last lesson of the first half of the course, I'd just like to say that after the next lesson, we'll be covering mainly what players have developed out of these rudimentary mechanics. It'll be territory that I think most of us on the forums are far more experienced with.
And as for today's question.............
I can't think of any that relate to rules, because quite frankly, rules are really, really boring. -_-
So instead, tell me your ice cream form preference out of the following three: drumstick, sandwich, or bar (as in on a stick). Why? Be prepared to defend your answer.
