10 Things Every Newbie Should Know
1. You get out of this game what you put into it. If you want to get involved, the key is to get your character to know other characters. If there's a common room post or any post that says "open," that's an invitation to go for it. If you want people to notice you, you have to put in the effort to be noticed.
2. Don't bite off more than you can chew. With such a big game, there is always a lot going on and even within one post there is the temptation to ping into every thread. It's better to be timely in replying to the few threads you have than make people wait ages while you get through everyone. Same goes for workshops, classes, clubs and plots.
3. ICA=ICC. You will see this acronym a lot. It means "in character actions = in character consequences." If your character does something, you are expected to deal with the consequences. Pretty easy stuff!
4. Everyone is fictional, so no one is fictional. We use meta in place of normal pop culture references so that the question of one character puncturing another character's "4th Wall" by recognising her as fictional never comes up. So, for example, even if Heroes is a real show in your character's universe, your Fandom High character would not know that show. They would know it as Supers, the game's meta version. Check out a more in-depth explanation here.
5. Learn the ropes. The handbook is a great place to figure out the basics of what goes where. If in doubt, ask someone if you're confused, but learning the basics is a good place to start.
6. OOC Communication is Your New Best Friend. Got a problem? Talk to someone about it. Don't know what you're doing? Talk to someone about it. Pretty much everything can be resolved by talking to someone. Keeping your lines of communication open makes things oh so much easier. It's probably a good idea to get AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) as that's what most folks around here use.
7. You don't have to read everything. Lots of people. Lots of characters. Lots going on. You don't have to get through it all. fandom_radio's main purpose is to summarize the day's events in an in-character broadcast (ie: the characters can tune in and listen to the day's gossip) and give you links that you, the player, can click on to read if you really want to. But you're not expected to know everything that's going on. Just be sure to keep up to date with fandomhigh_ooc and listen out for in-character announcements in the fandomhigh comm. Everything else is optional.
8. Modding is bad, unless you have permission. Modding is when you try to dictate what someone else's character or environment is doing. The biggie here is that you can't dictate what the weather is on the island (posts set elsewhere are fair game) and you can't suddenly come up with big things that the rest of the island will have to deal with like a new statue in the park or a herd of mammoths waltzing through town. On a smaller scale, imply what you want to do, but always give your RP partner a chance to do something else with their character if they want to. Example of modding: "Hades hugged Rikku." Example of getting the point across without modding: "Hades leaned in to give Rikku a hug." This states Hades' intention and still gives Rikku a chance to run far, far away if she wants. If in doubt, check with your RP partner OOCly to see what's okay. If they say it's fine to mod their character in this situation, then feel free to go with the direct hugging!
9. You need to run guest stars and plots by the admins first. Want to run a storyline of your own? You'll get the hang of this by seeing what other people do, and definitely talk to your sibling/buddy about this as they'll be able to explain it in more detail, but basically if you want to do anything big or have a non-player-character visit the island for whatever reason, you need to email the admins for approval in advance. This is to moderate character traffic, make sure things stay cool for everyone involved in the game and so the admins can help you iron out any problems that you might not immediately see. This pretty much falls under the "when in doubt, ask" thing.
10. Don't assume everyone knows your canon. You'll find an array of players at Fandom High coming from a variety of backgrounds. Even if you think your show/movie/comic/book/play is the most commonplace thing ever, chances are someone will never have heard of it and, as such, may not know that your character is awesome. Enlighten them! Put up an information post, tell people where they can get the canon if they want to, fill them in on details about your character if they ask. The best way to spread the joy of your canon is to give the best portrayal of your character that you can.
Other random tidbits:
* Don't get overdramatic with your character's powers if they have them, or expect other characters to get too worked up about them. So many people have powers that it's not a big deal in a place like this.
* Make sure your user profile contains all this info;, set up a voicemail post and have an OOC email address readily available on your user info page so people can contact you if they have to.
* You don't have to be online 24/7. See #1 for what we mean, but really, we have people who only check in once a week and they still have a great time.
* Keep people informed if you're going to drop off the face of the planet. Everyone knows real life is important. We just like to know whether you're going to be around or not.
* Pay attention to the other information posts that are going to come your way regarding special places in Fandom. Some areas have their own guidelines.
* Show up to classes. You only have to sign in, but it's the bare minimum to stay in the game.
* Don't be a jerk. That solves so many problems!
This may look like a lot, but basically it's just here to try to pre-emptively answer any questions you might have, and to be a nifty reference tool. We love us some obsessive-compulsiveness when it comes to being organized.