Tips for New and Old Players

Asako Kashiwagi · **Joined:** Tue Mar 31, 2020 12:56 am **Posts:** 865

Just some things I have learned from running and playing these kinds of games... in no particular order and others feel free to chime in.

Private Messages are super useful, use them in busy threads, remind players if a thread goes dead or to clear up misunderstandings. Also useful for scheduling threads, yes it seems less organic but scheduling stuff is very useful.
Pop-ups are much more useful in the early game than the late game, so keep that in mind. On the topic of pop-ups I find the ones that work best are ones already in public semi to high traffic areas... bath threads are a great way to meet people for the new and old.
Make a daily thread in your forum to track your posts, for some players this can be quite useful. See here.
Player hosted meetings/gatherings, these can be very awkward, I find if you are doing one there is really two best ways to do it, post in the first post everything you need to get out and then note people can assume they heard it or not or post and then follow up after a few hours with an info dump to get things moving or you will have 2 to 3 pages of greetings and small talk and then day change.
If you want to keep your clan semi-organized, having a running thread in the clan folder of useful information and notes can be very helpful. This was super helpful for me at a semi-recent Rokugan Space game.
Just a reminder to use your private messages that is a great way to organize threads and communicate with players.

I am sure there are other tips.

Suzume Chihaya · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 3:29 pm **Posts:** 850

My main tip is 'remember this is the internet and tone/context get scrubbed out a lot.'

Try not to assume the worst of what people are saying - often it is a misunderstanding, not malice.

It keeps drama down to preemptively assume the best of your fellow players.

Ikoma Homura · **Posted:** Sat Apr 04, 2020 4:27 pm

Taking what Kashi and Chihaya said, if you're replying to something and you're concerned you didn't understand what the intent was with internet speaks, don't feel like you can't PM the player and say 'did you mean X?' We're all here to have fun and nobody wants to run anyone elses time. You can always message!

Togashi Tsukimi · **Posted:** Sat Apr 04, 2020 4:31 pm

As others said, communication is key.

This is also very helpful when doing things Temptation to seduce a character, Courtier to manipulate a character into doing something specific, or using a Technique to learn something about a character/make them do something. In my experience, not only does it help to convey to the other player what you are trying to accomplish, but it also allows for both parties to find some common ground in the exchange. Especially things like seduction and various forms of manipulation can feel uncomfortable for some, so it's good to try to work things out OOC.

It helps to make sure you're both on the same page, and helps prevents players from feeling icked out by an encounter.

Kasuga Asakuro · **Joined:** Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:13 am **Posts:** 274

For the newer folks, things I have learned and applied over the games I've been in all these years:

Try not to be overwhelmed if some threads move fast! Especially if people align (similar time zones, active during same parts of the day, etc.) things can move pretty quickly!
At the same time, be mindful that some things move slowly too! People live all over the world, some people still have work (even including now during coronapocalyse) or other IRL obligations, and so on (last I checked human being still eat and sleep, for instance!), and that's okay! If a thread is just you and someone else on opposite sides of the planet, yes it will be slower-paced, but try and stick with it if you can - you'll be pleasantly surprised with the conversations you can have!
In threads where multiple conversations are going on at once, try and quote posts that you're responding to - this really helps to not get lost in the sauce!
PMs are great as has already been mentioned - do feel free to let someone you're in conversation with know you may be delayed by IRL events so they can either wait for you or keep convos moving along if others are involved too. People are very understanding and appreciative of the heads-up because they've likely been there too!
You are the best judge of the amount of time you have for posting - don't feel like you have to have something going on every time slot just for the sake of doing so! If you only have time for conversing in one thread on one day, that's okay! Make that one thread awesome!
If you're interested in participating in various events as they pop up, go ahead and do them! If you truly want to give it a shot, don't let good-looking rolls from others before you intimidate! Long-time vets know that Orokos giveth and Orokos taketh away - maybe a newer character might not have the dice to toss like a veteran one does, but you never know what to expect, especially when dice explode and explode and explode! I have both succeeded spectacularly and fallen on my face on die rolls, sometimes in the same day in the game, and just about every vet probably has some great story of where Orokos did them right or wrong!
Don't be afraid to ask questions, either in your private forum for the GMs or to your fellow players - lots of people are willing and able to help depending on what you need!
You don't have to post a lot, fill up every time slot, or be involved in every single event in order to still have great impacts on events in the current game or even the storyline writ-large. Much of where this particular character has accomplished and the impacts they've made have been during games in which I have been at my busiest IRL, haven't posted a lot, but where I was on the right side of Orokos where it mattered. And I had lots of fun along the way too!

And with that, have fun! We're all here to have some fun and hope that you do too!!!

Togashi Tsukimi · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:13 am

If there was a Like button I'd hit that so hard for Asakuro's post!

Tips for New and Old Players

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