Starfyre's Condensed Introduction to Role-playing in Shards


This guide provides a brief overview of roleplay conventions in Shards. Shards is very different from most other sites online, and takes a great deal adaptation if one is to succeed here. Even if you are an experienced roleplayer, you are strongly encouraged to read this guide before getting into Shards. First, some definition...

What is a HUB and why does it matter?

It is not an understatement to say you will not enjoy roleplaying in Shards until you understand the hub concept. At its most basic, the hub is just a collection of rooms that have a consistent set of rules and go together to form a coherant setting. Hubs come in all different shapes and sizes with different expectations. Some hubs are classifief as relaxed or casual while others are more hardcore (more on this later). Generally, you can tell what room a hub belongs to by a tag in its description. For instance, if you look at any of the Bayocean rooms, they all have the tag "Bayocean - Early Renaissance."

Why is this so important? The hub is the fundamental unit of organization in Shards. Most other sites comprise a single setting, or have different rooms that are all different settings. Because rooms are linked together in Shards, settings can be quite a bit larger and more detailed than you may have experienced. And because people are free to build as they will, there are many more settings in Shards. You cannot just jump into a random room and play without first understanding where it belongs in the larger hierarchy of hubs and more importantly understanding the expectations for a particular setting.

It is also important to understand that a hub is not just rooms. Hubs are full fledged communities with regulars, standards of etiquette and so forth. Just as no site would tolerate someone coming in and breaking all the rules, no hub tolerates strangers coming into the hub with inappropriate characters or inconsiderate roleplay. Hubs are people - if you treat those people with respect you will have a blast. Treat them poorly and you will most certainly not find much enjoyment.

What's this Hardcore RP thing? How is it different from normal RP?

In addition to understanding the hub it is vital that you understand and respect the Hardcore classification of rooms. Another key difference between Shards and many other sites is the huge diversity we have here in roleplaying interest and style. The Hardcore tag was created in an effort to make this difference more obvious so people can more easily integrate.

Hardcore roleplay is much more involved than normal roleplay and generally requires a degree of work much closer to classic pen and paper roleplay or MUSHes on the part of the player. Specifically, Hardcore play demands strict adherance to rules and strict respect for the details of a setting, and demands much more effort on the part of players to always perform their best. The hardcore player is going to be fanatical about excellence, demanding much more of themself and of the people they play with. In short, hardcore players tend to place much more emphasis on playing "correctly" than a more casual player would. They value fair play and cooperation and are going to expect people to all be playing by the same standards. This may come across as snobbish or elitist sometimes, but the hardcore RPer attitude is really no different than any other group passionately committed to an activity.

While it is possible to jump straight into a hardcore setting with no prior RP experience (or no prior experience in Shards), bear in mind that you are going to have to invest a lot more up front effort in reading and understanding the rules and background of the setting than you will in "normal" roleplay rooms. Hardcore roleplay requires a level of commitment and energy magnitudes above what you may have experienced elsewhere. Far more than in "normal" roleplay, you are going to be expected to prove yourself in a hardcore setting. By that, I mean you will have to show you are interesting and show you add richness to the setting and the storylines that arise from the play. Hardcore players are not impressed by flashy displays of "power" or large numbers of character abilities. The "currency" of hardcore RP is the play itself: your contributions to the evolution of story and setting, the depth of your character, how convincingly you dialogue and so forth. "Meta" skills such as the ability to work with others and play for everyone's enjoyment as opposed to just your own and especially the ability to keep things in perspective even as you get intensely involved in a RP are also paramount to hardcore RPers. In short, to "buy" your way into a hardcore RP hub you must do more than create a stunning character; you must play well, make good contributions that advance everyone's enjoyment and in short show you are a valuable addition to the hub before you are likely to be fully accepted.

This last point is important. A lot of people come to Shards and jump straight into a hardcore setting without realizing how much effort this will require. They then are quickly offput when they receive a "hostile" reaction from the regulars in the hub because they failed to do basic tasks like reading the rules completely or watching the play for a while before getting involved, or even more so because they are received indifferently at first until they have demonstrated their RPing ability. Unless you are willing to make substantial investments in time and energy and willing to do a lot of up front work before you get to play (let alone be accepted as a part of the hub), you are well advised to stay away from hardcore hubs until you have more experience RPing in Shards. Normal RP settings tend to be more tolerant of newbie mistakes and in general less concerned with "correct" play, so you may find this to be an easier introduction to Shards. The decision where to play is yours; just be aware that jumping into a hardcore hub carries an expectation of commitment to play above and beyond what you have probably experienced.

How do I get in on the play?

Shards is not like other roleplay sites. This cannot be stated enough. To get in on the play you really need to first decide where you want to play. Click on the Who's Here link and check out the descriptions and rules for various areas people are playing in. If in doubt, you can always consult a Pathfinder (if available) or even one of the many Shards regulars for advice on good places to play. Once you find a setting that looks promising, you should jump into the room and watch the play for a little while before joining in. If the setting is Hardcore, you must must MUST read the rules thoroughly before playing. Once you get a feel for the room and have read the rules (you read them, right?) you should be able to decide if you can bring in an existing character, or (this is frequently the case in Hardcore areas) you need to create a new character.

From there it should be a fairly simple matter of playing and interacting with other people to get involved. It's a good idea to click the info link and find out the room moderators, particularly for hardcore settings. You may want to introduce yourself to them as well, particularly if you are having difficulty finding a play partner as the moderators will frequently know the play opportunities for a hub best. If you follow the simple advice here you should have no problems.

Patience is a virtue here. It can be particularly frustrating at times when people are involved in their RPs and don't seem to notice you. Remember that Shards is first and foremost a roleplay community! Most people here are rather friendly, but we all have our "cliques" or regulars we usually play with. We're here to roleplay and chat with our friends, not to bow down to every hot-to-play newbie who walks in off the net! People wont intentionally ignore you (well, unless you do something really obviously lame like bringing in a banned character type to a hardcore setting), but they also wont drop everything they're doing to acknowledge your oh-so-witty 3 paragraph entrance. In short, if you aren't noticed it could be because you just happened to come in at a bad time, or people were busy, or the phase of the moon was wrong. Keep trying! If one approach doesn't work try another! And remember that room moderators and Pathfinders are here to help, so there's no need to give up hope.

Once more, you can always consult a Pathfinder if you need specific advice. You can also check out the RP Etiquette Guide for more in depth advice on the specific dos and donts of roleplaying in Shards. If you don't find something you like or there doesn't seem to be much going on, don't worry and don't lose hope. Shards is large, but a lot of our citizens have irregular hours. You can come back a few hours or days later and find a completely different mix of players. Pathfinders are generally always willing to help improve your roleplay experience, so don't be affraid to fire off a PM!

We hope this guide has provided some useful information for getting started on your roleplay career in Shards. As always, if you have any questions feel free to ask!

Starfyre and the Pathfinders

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