Hello everyone, I'm Tacc (or Ashe in game) and this is a general guide that will be developed by the entire community to help get you started! First, let's start with the basics. Yellow text is galaxy chat (everyone can see it) and green text is planet chat (only people on the same planet as you). Always check the little button in the bottom left hand corner before speaking! See the little planet in the bottom left hand corner? That means you are switched to planet chat. Now here is that same button, only switched to galaxy chat. This means everyone will see it. Now, when it comes to communicating in game, there are several headers that can be added to change the context of your message. These are as follow: R: is radio, broadcasted on galaxy or planet. This can be read IC by everyone. EX. "R: Can someone give me the coords to Avalon?" ER: is encrypted radio. Only people you designate can read it. EX. "ER: *To aiko* Seriously give me them coords" I: is Intercom, always used in planet chat. It is only directed room to room, and depending on which colony you are, only people within earshot of an intercom item can hear it. EX. "I: Anyone with coords to Avalon please report to my office" RP Related Chat Commands: These commands are used to enhance your roleplaying experience. However, they can also be used for no good, so there are restrictions. /nick "Name here" : This changes your name in game, temporarily. This can be used to shorten your name for whispers, or for other cool things like adding "Doctor" to your name or your rank if you're military. You should always talk to a moderator or admin before using this command. *** please note that if you use the /nick command while in a party, whoever is in your party will NOT be able to beam to your ship until you /nick yourself back to your original name. /w "target name here : This is the whisper command, and is effectively a PM. Example: /w Ashe thanks for telling me how to use the whisper command! Please note that this command won't work if the person has a space in their name. Starting out: Now the fun part. Getting started ingame! You'll spawn into the server with only a ship and yourself, with no sense of direction (especially if you start within the first 24 hours of signing up for the forums). Most people send out a distress call in order for people to come save them. This is a good way of introducing yourself, and they will probably bring you to one of the communities. Awesome! At this point, it's good to be educated. Most people will ask you where you want to go. If someone forces you to go to one place in particular, they aren't doing it right. Here is a basic rundown of some of the colonies available. (( please colony leaders, post or pm me so I can add you to this list)) The list was super outdated, so now I'll just link you to the colony section of the forum. Be sure to read through relevant topics, so you have a good idea of what each colony is about. http://community.playstarboundrp.com/categories/colonies.6/ Okay so what do I do now?: You've gotten rescued, you've applied on the forums for a residence, and you are now set up on one of our fantastic colonies. Good job! But...now what? Just RP living out your days? Well, you could do that. Or, you could check the Storyboard/Interest check section under Other Roleplay. There, people plan new RP "Events" and even long term RP ideas. Most people have the philosophy that the best RP is the random, spontaneous and improvised RP. That can be fun, but when there's no framework for you to be all that in, it can get stale pretty quick. Most people will offer up their services to "GM" the event. GM being game master. They will set up the framework for the story, and act as a mediator for all the parties involved. This is another great way to meet people, get involved, and build your character. And now is the best time to get in on it, as it's just starting up after the server wipe! Mods and You! The general rule of thumb for mods is "don't do it". Any type of mod that isn't listed as "Vanilla Friendly" CAN and WILL cause problems. Right now, Starbound is incredibly unstable. Until it's restored to it's former glory, the community mod pack is on hold. If you need to cheat, use Sen's mod. The first test is finding it. It is vanilla friendly, and is tolerated by staff to a degree. If you use it, you are expected not to abuse it. Wipes and You Currently, Starbound is in an unstable build. Wipes are widespread. That being said, if you are going to build on a planet, try and start construction an hour before reset. I will get into resets shortly. This way, your planet state will be "saved" with a lower risk of wipe before that save. Think of resets as building checkpoints. If your planet wipes, make sure to have the coordinates marked down, then post in the "Wipe Thread" (under the security section) the time it was wiped, the coordinates, and a nice thank you to staff for fixing all your problems. These wipes are also related to crashes. I will say this now, when the server crashes and you get back in game, it is HIGHLY advised that you ignore it. Otherwise, we get half the server posting in galaxy ((was I the only one)), ((crashtacular!)) and other nonsense. The server is pretty lenient to OOC, but you'll get a good rep if you refrain from it as much as possible. Resets Due to the current build, we use a 3 hour reset system to keep planet states backed up and stability as high as possible. What this means is, every 3 hours the server goes down for approx 10 minutes. This is a good time to go to the bathroom and stock up on supplies for the next 3 hours of RP fun. The 3 hour intervals start at 12am EST and run throughout the whole day. Emoting: A Love Story Oh no, you got in a fight! How do you do this? Right, so there are varying RP styles out there, and most are easy to comprehend at first glance. However, when it comes to the CoC and any competitive roleplay, it is always best to practice Active and Reactive Emoting. What is Active and Reactive Emoting? Active and Reactive Emoting in simplest terms is "I act, you react". For example, were one character to try and pin another character, that would require some emoting as you can't pin a character through game mechanics. Here is an example of the improper way to do so. *Character A pins Character B without problem because cybernetic arms and 7 feet tall* Can you guess why it's wrong? It leaves no room for reaction. It's closed and final, that character is pinned and they have no say in the matter. This will make people mad, and generally dislike you. You don't want people to dislike you! Let's see a better example. *Character A moves to pin Character B with a full nelson, holding them still without harm should they succeed* Can you guess why this is better? It leaves it open ended, and allows Character B to properly react without getting frustrated. Opposite to what Yoda said, do not do, try. Always emote attempts when it comes to other characters, and you'll be emoting properly in no time! Server Lore The Server Lore follows the lore set out by Vanilla Starbound, using Codexes and the wiki. However, as information is scarce right now, there is some freedom in what you can do with that lore. The best thing to do if you're not sure, is to post in relevant sections to get community/staff input. I will list some brief tidbits that relate to server lore. - The year in Earth Years is 2414. This is extrapolated from a codex entry that states that United Systems bunkers opened up 7 years after the loss of Sol. As it is similar to our own year, and it has been stated that Starbound takes place some 300-400 years in the future, 2414 seemed like the way to go. - Sol System was lost to the tentacle, the United Systems is rebuilding - Slavery has become a widespread problem, stemming from the Empire and Luminaria - There are two "areas" of space: United Space and Independent Space. - A glitch order of knights has sided with downtrodden florans to create a prosperous colony - StarGazers are still ruthless - more to come, someone somewhere is working on a timeline of sorts. - As our AoM friends brought up, this server takes place in the Milkyway Galaxy. As to the lore pertaining to their arrival, I am awaiting staff input on the subject. For now, it should be done on a player by player basis. NPCs and Their Interactions NPCs are tricky. The general rule of thumb is "ignore them", as faction NPCs are almost always hostile and do not reflect the intention of their related PC faction. However, if you come across an NPC village, you can choose to either ignore it's existence or acknowledge it ICly. As for dungeons, they should almost always be written off, save for specific circumstances. Concerning PC assigned NPCs, those NPCs cannot be ignored in their capacity. That is, whoever placed that NPC has assigned an attribute to it. Wether they be a janitor or a sentry, they must be acknowledged ICly. Always report abuses of this function, such as someone spawning a bunch of guards around you then emoting them all at once. It is best to give NPCs a passive role.
Well, there's the arena where you can challenge anyone to a duel in as well as having tournaments hosted in it. Also, all races are welcome except Hyotl as long as they respect our laws and respect our people. Besides that its only claim to fame is being the only predominantly Floran colony.
It's worth mentioning /w doesn't work with names which have spaces in them. Try to make character names without spaces in them!
Seems like making that guide of mine has already caused people to make their own. Guess Kaz has to make a new sub-forum for all these guides.
I am sorry because I keep breaking immersion in galaxy and planet chat because I still, in my denseness, haven't figured out the whisper command is it, for example: /w(space here)name(space)message. Does the name have to be in brackets or anything?
