Post by Emily on Sept 11, 2015 11:29:21 GMT -8
Q: What is NYA Joe's/VT:L?
A: A group of fun and fiction loving nerds who like to get together on AOL, write stories about things that don't really exist and roll a die every now and again.
Q: Dice? Wat? Bye, Felicia.
A: Relax. We use a simple 1d10 to determine who between a player and the Storyteller comes out on top in guided adventures. It's not rocket science and it's not required of all adventure or conflict scenes. We like to write. That's where our focus is. The dice just mix things up a little bit for us.
Q: Can my character die?
A: Yes. You may write stories that end with your character's death, your character may die in a diced adventure or as part of one of the group's larger stories. That said, we like to encourage long-term participation, character and story development, and that's hard to do when you're killing off half your cast on a regular basis, so we do exercise some sense in the matter.
Q: Do you have an activity requirement?
A: Yes. Ask. And meet it, or your characters will be downgraded and eventually removed. You won't be given warnings. You know if you haven't been participating, so do we, and choices will be made accordingly. :)
Q: What are "the Chronicles?"
A: The Chronicles are the solo writing pieces and logged multi-player scenes that make up our story. You or someone in your pair/group is responsible for logging and posting this content within seven (7) days of the scene's completion. Please make sure you establish who is going to take care of it before you begin a scene. If it isn't chronicled, it didn't happen! There are exceptions to this rule, including but not limited to scenes that end up not going anywhere and strictly romantic scenes, if you're into that. Nobody cares who your character has the hots for if it doesn't have anything to do with their development or the overall movement of the story.
Q: What kind of writing can I expect from you? What kind of writing will be expected of me?
A: Most of us write at a high school graduate level or better and type pretty quickly. We're not elitist snots, so it's okay if your spelling and grammar aren't textbook perfect, but you should be able to keep up with the majority if you're going to find a good fit here. We're novelesque and descriptive. We're also short form and snarky. We have a sense of humor. We break the fourth wall frequently for amusement's sake, but never where it matters.
Q: I have AIM, but I don't have regular or dependable access to AOL. Can I still play with you?
A: We're afraid not. The majority of our scheduled and impromptu group sessions happen in public chat rooms on AOL. If you can't make it to those on a regular basis, you won't be able to keep up with the story.
Q: Who still uses AOL? You guys must be old or something.
A: Shut up.
Q: Purple people eaters: Are they purple eaters of people or do they only eat purple people?
A: Just wanted to see if you were still awake. This is pretty dry reading material.
Q: How old do I have to be to play with you?
A: 18+, please. Adult content, including profanity and language referring to or describing substance abuse, sex, violence and death happens here.
Q: What if I'm 18+ but sensitive to certain adult content?
A: We try to be as thoughtful as we can in using trigger warnings. We want everyone to feel comfortable in their play space. If you see a trigger warning included in a post's header and are sensitive on that topic, please proceed per your best judgment.
Q: What are your hard limits on adult content?
A: All adult content must be included in a TW: (trigger warning) at the top of message board posts containing it. Use your heart; use your head. No graphic descriptions of sexual violence. Absolutely no descriptions of adult content involving children, period. You may allude to these things as past traumas in telling your stories, but we're not criminally insane procedural drama perps (shout out to our boy Jack McCoy of Law & Order, RIP) and this is not a sick fetish community. If you cross the line between adult content and "okay, that's fucking scary, you should probably be on lockdown" we'll let you know in no uncertain terms. We might call your Mom and tell on you, too, because we know she raised you better than that.
Q: What do I do if I feel uncomfortable with the way a scene is going in regard to adult content?
A: Communicate with the person or people you're playing with out-of-character. We can find a way to remove your character from the scene or end it entirely that works with the story. There is never an excuse for playing a scene you don't feel safe and comfortable with playing. If you continue to play, we will interpret that as willing participation.
Q: How big of a temper tantrum can I throw before you get fed up with me and kick me out?
A: Let's just say that VT:L was designed so that story can continue no matter who comes or goes. We aren't afraid to bid adieu to players who take our fun and turn it into unnecessary stress. If you leave, whether it's your own decision or ours, you will be offered the opportunity to write your character(s) out. If you choose not to, we will do it for you to ensure continuity for other players. All content posted to this message board are belong to us and is for entertainment purposes only.
Q: Anything else?
A: We shouldn't have to include this, but apparently we do: Our player base is comprised of people from all walks of life and is meant to be a safe place for all of them to express their creativity. Hatefulness, whether intolerant of class, race, gender identity, sexuality or any of the other many reasons people are cruel to each other, is not welcome here.
Q: When do you normally play?
A: Most of us are available most weekday evenings and on weekends, though we do have a small crew of late-nighters, too. We schedule most group events and adventures for weekends.
Q: What kind of characters can I play?
A: What kind of characters do you want to play? We do set limits on certain kinds of characters that tend toward being too overpowered for us. We also want to limit the number of regular folk we have running around due to the premise of our universe. What we don't want to limit are clever concepts, so just think balanced. Talk to us about it.
Q: How many characters can I play?
A: That depends entirely on your comfort and activity levels.
Q: How can I situate my character so that I have regular opportunities to play?
A: Well, the first and most important thing you want to remember if you're concerned about that is that you have to be friendly and proactive, no matter what kind of character you want to play. Nobody is going to chase you around, here. You are responsible for your own activity level. Reaching out to individuals via email and IM is cool, but showing up for group play is your number one best bet for integration. We want to be as inclusive as we can be, so coming up with a little back-dated story that involves your character with a prominent family or organization isn't at all out of the question, either.
Q: How do I apply to play with you?
A: You don't. We think applications are annoying. We have more fun hashing ideas out in real time. 1) Get ahold of flashofthroat@aol.com for a little brainstorm time. 2) Register for the board, post a simple character profile (template provided) and play.
A: A group of fun and fiction loving nerds who like to get together on AOL, write stories about things that don't really exist and roll a die every now and again.
Q: Dice? Wat? Bye, Felicia.
A: Relax. We use a simple 1d10 to determine who between a player and the Storyteller comes out on top in guided adventures. It's not rocket science and it's not required of all adventure or conflict scenes. We like to write. That's where our focus is. The dice just mix things up a little bit for us.
Q: Can my character die?
A: Yes. You may write stories that end with your character's death, your character may die in a diced adventure or as part of one of the group's larger stories. That said, we like to encourage long-term participation, character and story development, and that's hard to do when you're killing off half your cast on a regular basis, so we do exercise some sense in the matter.
Q: Do you have an activity requirement?
A: Yes. Ask. And meet it, or your characters will be downgraded and eventually removed. You won't be given warnings. You know if you haven't been participating, so do we, and choices will be made accordingly. :)
Q: What are "the Chronicles?"
A: The Chronicles are the solo writing pieces and logged multi-player scenes that make up our story. You or someone in your pair/group is responsible for logging and posting this content within seven (7) days of the scene's completion. Please make sure you establish who is going to take care of it before you begin a scene. If it isn't chronicled, it didn't happen! There are exceptions to this rule, including but not limited to scenes that end up not going anywhere and strictly romantic scenes, if you're into that. Nobody cares who your character has the hots for if it doesn't have anything to do with their development or the overall movement of the story.
Q: What kind of writing can I expect from you? What kind of writing will be expected of me?
A: Most of us write at a high school graduate level or better and type pretty quickly. We're not elitist snots, so it's okay if your spelling and grammar aren't textbook perfect, but you should be able to keep up with the majority if you're going to find a good fit here. We're novelesque and descriptive. We're also short form and snarky. We have a sense of humor. We break the fourth wall frequently for amusement's sake, but never where it matters.
Q: I have AIM, but I don't have regular or dependable access to AOL. Can I still play with you?
A: We're afraid not. The majority of our scheduled and impromptu group sessions happen in public chat rooms on AOL. If you can't make it to those on a regular basis, you won't be able to keep up with the story.
Q: Who still uses AOL? You guys must be old or something.
A: Shut up.
Q: Purple people eaters: Are they purple eaters of people or do they only eat purple people?
A: Just wanted to see if you were still awake. This is pretty dry reading material.
Q: How old do I have to be to play with you?
A: 18+, please. Adult content, including profanity and language referring to or describing substance abuse, sex, violence and death happens here.
Q: What if I'm 18+ but sensitive to certain adult content?
A: We try to be as thoughtful as we can in using trigger warnings. We want everyone to feel comfortable in their play space. If you see a trigger warning included in a post's header and are sensitive on that topic, please proceed per your best judgment.
Q: What are your hard limits on adult content?
A: All adult content must be included in a TW: (trigger warning) at the top of message board posts containing it. Use your heart; use your head. No graphic descriptions of sexual violence. Absolutely no descriptions of adult content involving children, period. You may allude to these things as past traumas in telling your stories, but we're not criminally insane procedural drama perps (shout out to our boy Jack McCoy of Law & Order, RIP) and this is not a sick fetish community. If you cross the line between adult content and "okay, that's fucking scary, you should probably be on lockdown" we'll let you know in no uncertain terms. We might call your Mom and tell on you, too, because we know she raised you better than that.
Q: What do I do if I feel uncomfortable with the way a scene is going in regard to adult content?
A: Communicate with the person or people you're playing with out-of-character. We can find a way to remove your character from the scene or end it entirely that works with the story. There is never an excuse for playing a scene you don't feel safe and comfortable with playing. If you continue to play, we will interpret that as willing participation.
Q: How big of a temper tantrum can I throw before you get fed up with me and kick me out?
A: Let's just say that VT:L was designed so that story can continue no matter who comes or goes. We aren't afraid to bid adieu to players who take our fun and turn it into unnecessary stress. If you leave, whether it's your own decision or ours, you will be offered the opportunity to write your character(s) out. If you choose not to, we will do it for you to ensure continuity for other players. All content posted to this message board are belong to us and is for entertainment purposes only.
Q: Anything else?
A: We shouldn't have to include this, but apparently we do: Our player base is comprised of people from all walks of life and is meant to be a safe place for all of them to express their creativity. Hatefulness, whether intolerant of class, race, gender identity, sexuality or any of the other many reasons people are cruel to each other, is not welcome here.
Q: When do you normally play?
A: Most of us are available most weekday evenings and on weekends, though we do have a small crew of late-nighters, too. We schedule most group events and adventures for weekends.
Q: What kind of characters can I play?
A: What kind of characters do you want to play? We do set limits on certain kinds of characters that tend toward being too overpowered for us. We also want to limit the number of regular folk we have running around due to the premise of our universe. What we don't want to limit are clever concepts, so just think balanced. Talk to us about it.
Q: How many characters can I play?
A: That depends entirely on your comfort and activity levels.
Q: How can I situate my character so that I have regular opportunities to play?
A: Well, the first and most important thing you want to remember if you're concerned about that is that you have to be friendly and proactive, no matter what kind of character you want to play. Nobody is going to chase you around, here. You are responsible for your own activity level. Reaching out to individuals via email and IM is cool, but showing up for group play is your number one best bet for integration. We want to be as inclusive as we can be, so coming up with a little back-dated story that involves your character with a prominent family or organization isn't at all out of the question, either.
Q: How do I apply to play with you?
A: You don't. We think applications are annoying. We have more fun hashing ideas out in real time. 1) Get ahold of flashofthroat@aol.com for a little brainstorm time. 2) Register for the board, post a simple character profile (template provided) and play.