Continuity
Created | Updated May 14, 2017
Another list of rules that works just as well as this one
Ah, roleplay. Essentially my favorite pasttime here at the H2G2. But sometimes the question of "what happens" might come up, and we need some rules on how to behave in certain situations.
Of course, different places might have different rules; for instance, in Camelot, people are encouraged to control other peoples' characters. Here's some rules to go by.
The Prime Directive of Continuity:
Have fun!
This is very important. Obeying all these rules is important, but even more important is an environment you'll enjoy. These rules will help you do so.
- Once something has been imagined into existence, it must be accounted for logically.
Yes, I did take that from the other page. But it wouldn't do to contradict it, would it? An example was the Fiend Incident mentioned in the other page. Fiend would come in, greet a character made up for that post, do a Hulk routine, and exit, in one case via a window. So, the proprietors had to a) get the window fixed and b) account for his made-up characters. Then the Continuity thing was explained to him, and he was well liked until the college people took him off the H2G2. - Read posts.
Bad enough when you're trying to keep track of a whole bunch of different things in a text-only situation, but when you have someone say something or do something which would be impossible for them to do or think if they had read your post ... You get the idea. Obeying this will also allow you to obey these better. There's the jukebox situation in the Other Page: don't automatically asume there's a jukebox and put a coin into it, because the proprietor may hate jukeboxes and may get mad if you dragged one over here, expecially if you scuffed the floor. Instead, make some vague comment like, "What's the music like here?" and let other people post comments about that. - If there is an out-of-character conflict or lack of clarity, resolve it out of character.
Most roleplay threads I've been in use <OOC> or <Continuity>, as if they were HTML tags, in order to handle apparent contradictions or clarifications, or general out-of-character discussions, rather than trying to resolve everything in-character. - Don't outright contradict the current situation.
You can't say that Object A is in Room B, when Person C said it was in Room D, without an explaination as to why you moved it there and, if it's big enough, how. Of course, if it's because they're apparently contradicting you, resolve it OOC. - Don't take over the plot.
Don't change the story of the from what it originally was supposed to be. For instance, in the late Esirpretne forum, we had been going to another galaxy, with the intent of saving a planet from the Sunkists, and then someone came in, blew up some starships they'd brought in, and then basically turned the plot into trying to save these gems from themself.
On a similar note to that last bit, starting a thread with your own story doesn't count as "taking over the plot" because you started it. - Don't control another researcher's characters.
This includes their reactions to your actions. It's okay to post firing a weapon at someone (well, depending on the situation), but not to post them keeling over and dying, which is up to them. There are exceptions, of course, but if you aren't sure if it applies to you, assume it doesn't. - When a puzzle has presented itself, don't solve it right away.
At least give other people a chance to see the puzzle. "One-post solutions" are frowned upon. - Don't take offense.
People are trying to have fun here, and if they insult you, they're probably joking. - Don't make offense.
It won't help and it violates the Prime Directive.
