In order to provide the best storyboard experience possible, the
following guidelines and rules have been provided. While
OpenRoleplaying.org believes that its members can handle story writing
as reasonable adults, these rules and instructions are here to help
make it a smoother experience for everyone.
The following sections outline the rules and guidelines for the
OpenRoleplaying.org Storyboard. These rules do not
apply to any other section of the site. Please read these rules and
guidelines before participating in any stories.
If there are any questions or concerns about these rules or
guidelines, or if you have comments or suggestions, please contact the
Storyboard Moderator, Amy.
General Rules:
All general site policies
must be followed on this board.
In order to create a new story or post to an existing one, you
must be a member of the OpenRoleplaying.org community. We do this so we
can better prevent unknown users from disrupting a story. If you are
not yet a member, click here to join.
The story moderator (the person who started the story) is
responsible for posting any specific game guidelines, disclaimers,
warnings, or notes about setting, story direction, character types,
etc. on the game's Cover page. This page can be edited by clicking the
appropriate button at the top of any of the posts, if you are the
story's moderator. This includes reasonable exceptions to the general
site policies (i.e., "This story may contain language and violence not
suitable for children under 13").
The story moderator has control over his or her own stories.
This means that thay can not only dictate guidelines (as above), but
they can also delete posts as necessary to enforce those rules. We ask
that moderators use this power with intelligence and moderation, but
certainly do not discourage them from using it where circumstances
warrant. It is considered good ettiquite to explain (via e-mail or
Storyboard Forum) why you have deleted a post, especially if it was a
serious attempt to take part in the story.
Any Openroleplaying.org member may create a story or participate
in any story unless specifically limited in the Cover page. All we ask
is that you respect these rules and those laid out in the cover page of
each story and try to stick to the tone and continuity of the existing
posts.
Unless otherwise noted in a particular story, it is not
acceptable to kill or maim someone else's character, or cause wanton
distruction. Have respect for other writers in your story -- if you
want to do something that will turn the story on it's head, communicate
with other writers outside the story.
It is not acceptable to steal character ideas or story ideas from
other sources. Derivation is one thing; blatant theft will not be
tolerated.
The Storyboard moderator or another Site admin will step in if
there is an overriding issue of policy or abuse, and they are always willing
to answer any questions or settle disputes. However, the Storyboard
moderator does not necessarily read every story every day. Also, the
policy for this board is to allow story moderators to run their own
stories. If you require the involvement of the Storyboard Moderator,
please post in the Storyboard Forum, or send e-mail to Amy via the
contacts page. Do not leave notes requiring administrative attention
buried in the middle of a story.
Discussions about stories and OC ("Out of Character)
conversations should be conducted in the
Storyboard Forum
discussion forum and not on the storyboard directly.
Similarly, private conversations between writers should be
conducted offline or in e-mail to prevent disrupting the story unless
the moderator states otherwise The
Storyboard Forum
discussion forum can also be used for this purpose.
NOTICE: These rules are subject to change. Check back
here regularly for changes to the board's guidelines.
Adding a Post to an Existing Story:
Log in to openroleplaying.org via the login fields in the upper
right-hand corner of the window.
Read all the posts in the story. Yes, all of them. Really, we
mean it.
Take note of the above rules, and any guidelines or information
set forth in the story's cover page.
Navigate to the last post in the story, and type (or copy and
paste) your new post into the available field at the bottom of the
page. Click the "Add to Story" button. DO NOT click "Add Conclusion"
or "Start Over" unless you really mean it.
Creating a Story:
Log in to OpenRoleplaying.org via the login fields in the upper
right-hand corner of the window.
Go to the main Storyboard page and click "Create New Story"
Create a title and a first post for the story, introducing the
starting scene. You can introduce a character, or a scenario, or
whatever you wish, but try to give other writers something to build
on. Click "Create Story".
Click "Go to New Story" and then click on "Edit Cover" toward the
top of the page.
Create a Cover page for your story. Include a general world
setting, any information you feel that writers for this world need to
know, any guidelines you wish to impose, any notes about where you
would like the storyline to head, if there's anything you *don't* want
to happen. This is where you get to tell the other writers how you
want this project to take shape -- remember, very few of us are mind
readers and other writers won't know what you're picturing unless you
say so. On the other hand, remember that this is collaberative
writing, so leave lots of room for other people's ideas as well -- if
you know too much of what you want, you'll be disappointed.
