How do I... (A guide to DW)

[yunon]

New to DWRP (Dreamwidth Roleplay)? Not used to some of the features that might be useful in this type of game? Ask away!

How do I stay up to date with what's happening?

To those not used to DWRP, this isn't common sense.

Subscribe the IC community sheepwolf , the RNG Mod account sheep_dog , and the OOC community sheering . You can do that by hovering over each of those account names and clicking Subscribe. If you go up to where it says read at the top of Dreamwidth pages and go to Reading Page, new posts will appear on top. sheepwolf is where all character posts will be. sheep_dog will make posts unlocked only to your character journal if something uniquely relevant to your character comes up, though sheep_dog will also PM you said information.

The OOC (out of character) community sheering is where you can chat about things with other players; how closely guarded you want to keep information OOCly is up to you after all, and as fun as not knowing things is, sometimes it's also fun knowing things your characters don't.

The OOC community would also be where you would announce a hiatus in case of some emergency situation.

What if I need to stop participating in the game for a period due to something coming up IRL?

The mods will work on what to do with your character if you're going to be on hiatus long enough it might be weird for them not to be tagging around. In that case the Gen Mod will need to know if you're character A, unfortunately, but we'll work something out. If you miss the Saturday vote by more than 24 hours (that is, by midnight Sunday, which turns to Monday) without notice, you'll be assumed dropped so try to avoid that. As soon as you get back in touch we'll see what we can do to get you back in.


How do I format?

You can use basic HTML in posts and comments.
<b> makes bold text.
<i> makes italic text.
<small> makes small text

Put </b>, </i>, </small> at the end of the text you want formatted.

For <bold>example</bold> will give you: For example.

For links, use <a href="URL HERE">Link text here</a>.

For images, use <img src="IMAGE URL">. It's generally considered polite to link to images instead of using them in the post itself in DWRP culture, but sometimes this is used to use icons that wouldn't fit in your 15 icon slots or if your character is particularly lacking in internet etiquette on a post they make.

HTML only works in posts and comment fields, not in subject lines.

How do I figure out the timing if several people respond to an action log post?

DW players don't have a solid answer to this. Granted in most games exactly where anyone was at exactly any one time is not necessarily as important. For this reason, I recommend making your opening action posts open in nature, rather than seeking help with a problem that would be finished as soon as one character responds. Perhaps instead of a specific event you could list a series of things your character will be doing or where they could be met. This would allow several prompts for people to work with you on.

Granted, this is also a small game, so if you get 2 other characters in a log, you're actually playing with most of the cast. If someone tags in in a way that conflicts with an ongoing thread, you can ask them to join or offer a more general prompt at the same location. This isn't actually commonly done in DW, but it's an option if the continuity bothers you, since it IS such a small game, and who did what with whom where might be important.

Again, not a rule. I hope not to have to make a rule about how to handle this for mystery continuity. 

(Updated with potential revisions here.)


How do I do a thread with 3 or more characters?

If all characters are in the same place, or if it's on a public network, just jump in. DW RP etiquette is to ask permission, but this game is small enough that thread-jacking should be taken as a given. On network posts the other party in the interrupted communication may or may not join in, and the original 2-person thread might continue or they might join in to a three-man thread. In these cases and in almost all thread-jacked action posts, common procedure is to then go in order after a 1-2-3(-4...) order falls into place. You're free to put in a '[pass]' or throwaway tag, but please do so if it's your "turn" so that things can continue. You're free to bow out and request a tag or pause when something potentially relevant to your character comes up again, too. This is common if you play, say, a pet or silent body guard character watching over what's primarily a two-party conversation.  Scratch that, now we just have everyone post willy nilly in whatever over and skip people as needed. You'd think this would be chaotic but it seems to have worked for this setting. Lemme know if you feel it doesn't.

These are not rules. This is just a run down of how most people on DW will expect it to go. Do whatever works for you.

How do I mark a post as a network post or an action log?

Just put [Network - Text] in the subject line. Likewise, if replying by comment to an opening post, you can label it as [action], [text], [video], etc. If you're doing a locked thread but don't want to start a locked post screened to only the other player, put [locked] on the thread. But if the contents are sensitive enough you think it might spoil the OOC suspense and surprise, or if you just prefer to, feel free to just have the post on your own journal locked to the other player (and sheep_dog ) to the feed.


How do I make a post on my own journal OOCly locked to one other player (and the mod account)?

First make sure you've added the other character (and the mod account) to your access list. If you hover over the little grey man by their username, an option to allow access can be seen. To manage your access filters, go here: https://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/circle/editfilters and in the bottom left add a new access group. Name it whatever you like and add the character journal (and sheep_dog ) to that list. When creating a new post, make sure it's to your own journal (options are at the top of the post form to post to communities you're in or your own account). At the bottom of the post form is a bar that says "show this entry to." Select the group with that character. You can then share the link with that player.

The simplest method, which I recommend, is just to PM your partner the link to that private post. Label it as Phone Call to X or Letter to X or whatever. Obviously this can also be used for non-digital means.

Some people have PMs turned off. You'll be notified if that's the case when you try to PM them. If you're turning your PMs off for whatever reason, I suggest you make a "contact" post, which would be a post where others can poke your character. This simulates things like random phone calls. When making your contact post, at the bottom where it says "comment screening," select "all comments." In most games, people just reply there, but because of the nature of secrecy inherent in this game, most comments to you should be a link to a screened post. Screened posts rather than screened inbox threads between you and your partner are necessary in order for the mod to access them in case of a hacking attempt. Comments can only be screened or unscreened and aren't open to group filtering.

What about the language barrier?

This is the ruleset typically unspoken but followed across DW and here as well. All characters can understand each other when speaking their primary language. Characters will only understand another character's secondary language if they know that language.

Let's say we have Nigel (first language: English, second language: French), Pierre (first language: French, second language: German) and Hans (first language: German, second language, English), Tarou (first language: Japanese, second language: English.

If Nigel speaks to Pierre in English, Pierre will understand this despite not understanding English.

If Pierre speaks to Hans in French, Hans will understand this despite not speaking French.

If Pierre and Hans speak to each other in German, Nigel will understand both because Hans' primary language is the one they are speaking in, and characters can always understand the primary communication language of a character they interact with.

If Hans and Tarou speak to each other in English, Nigel will understand this, but Pierre will not. This is because Pierre does not speak English, and neither character involved's first language is English. This is in spite of the fact that Pierre can apparently understand English just fine when talking with Nigel. If Nigel is involved in the conversation, Pierre will understand it because it's become one character's main language.

If a character's first language isn't their main language, this can be adjusted as the speaking character's player likes. For example, if Tarou wishes to never speak Japanese in-game because nobody else does, and to use Japanese as his "secret" language with another Japanese speaker, English can functionally become his first language.

The long and short rule is that people can understand your character unless they speak a language the listening character don't and it's also not the language your character communicates with most commonly in the game.

You can put a tag with [Language] for speaking another language. Also sometimes seen is putting text in italics if they're speaking English but do not commonly do so; for example, an anime character using Engrish.

If Usagi says: "Everyone, transform! Moon Crystal Power, Make Up!" we assume the first portion is in her usual Japanese. Granted, her transformation phrase is also common enough we'd assume her catch phrase stays in Engrish and it wouldn't have to be denoted, but this is an example using the obvious to show how to note the not-so-obvious.

Putting "[English] This is a pear. [Japanese] is how you say "This is a pear." " or any other clear method is also acceptable.