As the Galaxy Cauldron Forums will be moving over to discord within the coming weeks, the
entire RP section will be changing.
Ongoing RP's taking place on the forum will be allowed to continue until the bitter end, mid-September, when the forum is locked. This provides a really convenient
must-finish-by!!! date if you want it to wrap up neatly and be visible for
all time here! If, however, you think that goal that is improbable, you can always transport storylines over to the new system and continue in the new format!
The "new" system is more of a port of the current system into a cleaner, more organized, central location
off of discord that will facilitate RP on discord and on a separate board website. There are changes to the storyline and profile templates, and the submission and review processes have also been updated to take advantage of technology, but those processes are
still in place as our goal is to broaden out into a Roleplaying
Community, and keeping things organized and standards high is important to fostering player buy-in so storylines can really shine.
Hightlights from the Town Hall are below; only
changes are specifically mentioned!
New GCRPG Community Central "Hub" Website> All explanations, rules, guidelines, important documents, etc., can be found there.
> Everything is organized in
Google Drive folders, which are clickable right from the hub and open in a new window.
> All files marked "00" are
important documents. All files marked "01" are templates to be copied.
> When you open the files, beside the document, in the top left hand corner, you'll see a little mini piece of paper will a bullet list.
Use this to easily jump around the documents! It's
crazy useful!! Please note: You will need access to Google Drive to continue playing in the GCRPG Community. Google Drive can be accessed with pretty much any email account, but gmail accounts automatically have access to the drive.
First Section: Rules and Information> GCRPG Rules are pretty much unchanged.
> Consequences for breaking rules have been updated to fit discord.
> Quick Start Guide is updated for discord channel support.
> There are 2 general "quick start" situations - without a solid plot in mind and with.
> Roleplayers will be able to pin posts in a new discord Brainstorming channel for easy browsing!
> Using and Submitting Documents walk through
step-by-step how to get your stuff to us using google drive.
> For those familiar with google drive, the TLDR version is that we're using "comment only" sharing permissions and submitting through a form rather than sharing with the email address associated with the GCRPG account. This keeps all original content in the author's name, rather than the GCRPG's, and prevents direct editing by anyone other than the author, as well as alerting the author via email when the reviewer has commented on the submission. Once the document is accepted and added to the GCRPG drive, the author is encouraged to make access "view only" so random people are unable to comment on finished products.
> There are also instructions within the document for how to "make a copy" of stuff (like templates) to your own drive for direct editing.
>There is an additional folder for roleplaying resources! Feel free to submit some of your favorite resources using the form link within the description of the section!
Second Section: Storylines>
Rules and Information have changed: > Storylines will not be reviewed until there are at least
two people signed on to play the proposed storyline - the author+1.
> This change was made to encourage roleplayers to reach out to one another via the brainstorming thread and rp lounge channels, as well as to emphasize that storyline creators should focus on finding players before going through the submission and review process!! We found throughout the years here that people will spend so much time and effort putting a storyline together for review and when it's approved it just... fades away, and that makes us sad @-@. Go into it with a buddy who definitely wants to play the idea!!
> Tagging storylines have changed: If a storyline is looking for players, it will start with the tag [LFP]
> Storylines with more than 2 players can have their own OOC channel on discord.
> "Relaxed" storylines are now "Casual" and take place primarily on its own discord channel.
> "Advanced" storylines are now "Formal" and can take place either on its own discord channel, or on the GCRPG Discourse boards, depending on how the group wishes to go. Discord has a 2000 character limit.
> Storyline creators are responsible for updating the storyline board with plot development as the RP progresses.
>
Storyline Submission Template has changed. > The formatting has been altered to make the organizational information easily available at the top, such as the player to character list (linked to character profiles), open roles, restrictions, where the OOC and IC is located, and the moderator assigned to assist players.
> The
storyline folders are separated into Sailor Moon storylines and Other storylines.
> When you click into either folder, you can sort the documents within
> by name alphabetically ((which allows you to find the [LFP] storylines really easily!)) or
> by creator ((to find storylines created by a certain player)) as well as
> by submission date ((to find the latest or oldest storylines submitted!))
> The Storyline Graveyard will hold copies of roleplays that died due to inactivity.
> The storyline board will be moved to this folder when the IC channel goes inactive.
> Storyline players (not! the moderator!) can copy the entire roleplay thread (channel) over to a google document and share that with the GCRPG drive when a storyline dies due to inactivity, so that it has the potential to be "revived" using that document later.
> Inactive storylines, after being prodded by their moderator for inactivity and not updating the IC thread actively within the given timeframes (outlined in the storyline rules), will have their discord channels deleted to keep the RP discord channel list under control / populated only by active roleplays. When the moderator posts about inactivity, they will also be reminding players to make a copy of the IC channel for submission to the graveyard. They will be reminded one last time, 24 hours before deletion.
> Storylines taking place on discourse will not be deleted (as it's not taking up discord channel space); they will, instead, be moved to the graveyard there.
> The Hall of Fame will be similar to the graveyard for hosting completed storylines (finished storyline boards move here, players can copy/paste/format completed channels into a document and submit them here).
> Completed "formal" storylines that took place over Discourse do not need to copy their IC threads into google as they will not be deleted.
Third Section: Character Profiles>
Rules and Information has changed > Profiles will not be reviewed unless the character is to be played in a storyline that has already been submitted or is in the review process.
> Players are encouraged to use the new templates to organize character profile data for any and all characters!! However, please do not submit them for review until they are going to be played in a storyline! xD We have a wonderful collection of profiles here on the forums! But... to help admins out with their irl vs online responsibilities, we are no longer reviewing profiles unattached to storylines.
>
Character Profile Template has changed. > Both profiles - casual and formal - have "quick information" sections at the top to allow for easy access to what other characters would notice upon meeting the character for the first time. For Casual profiles, this, the storyline specific information, and RP sample are all that is required. Formal profiles will also need to describe appearance, personality, history, and etc., in multi-paragraph format.
> The storyline specific information will need an active link to the associated storyline document either approved or under review before the profile is reviewed.
> The
character profile folders are separated into Sailor Moon Canon, Sailor Moon Original, Other Canon Canon, Other Original folders.
> Like the storyline folders, these can be ordered by name, by creator name, and by modification date for easy access to profiles.
"Join the GCRPG Community" Button > Once the changes occur to Discord, as the RP section can balloon to huge sizes (with each RP potentially having its own OOC and IC channel), to get join the discord @Roleplayers group and see the new boards, players will have to take a quiz over the new stuff.
> @-@ I know, it's a
quiz. > I know, you don't want to do it. I didn't want to make it. But I had to make it, and I really ask that you do take it, because...
> It focuses on the
new stuff.
> Changes to rules.
> Procedures for how to submit documents.
> Where to go to get certain information
>
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS ALL OPEN RESOURCE. This is not meant to be "closed book". Have the drive open in another window. Jump around. The quiz even tells you when to swap resources to hunt down new answers. Use the materialssss. some of the answers are even in this reporttttt > It's
repeatable.
> It tells you what questions you missed, even!
> It's "had to make it" "have to take it" for
everyone (even the GCRPG staff take it!) because it highlights procedures. The goal is streamlining submission processes so there is less time spent in review and more time spent roleplaying!
> this helps you!
> this helps staff!
> If it didn't highlight the new stuff, current roleplayers would be grandfathered in, but it
does highlight new stuff so we can't do that ;n;
Other things!> If you would like to move an ongoing storyline to the new system, you will have to go through the submission process again!
> New formatting, you see ^^'
> and we have to get it onto the drive...
and staff does not have unlimited time XD :hearts: > Provide a link to the previously accepted storyline for a super fast review!
> If you would like to use previously-accepted characters
in a new or ongoing storyline for the new system, you will have to go through the submission process again!
> Characters in active storylines only, please!
> New formatting, have to get it on the drive, etc!
> Providing a link to the previously accepted profile will also streamline the review!
>
General note: Casual storylines and characters will always have a streamlined review process. Casual is casual, so the review process is also casual ;D Have something in every spot we ask for ((and keep canon canon xD)) and titled correctly and all that jazz, and it'll be a super quick thing!
Questions, comments, suggestions?