Joining Guide

Joining Imperion can seem somewhat arduous; there is a lot to read and quite a few steps to applying itself, but, hopefully the below guide will get you going as painlessly as possible. Remember, if you ever have any questions about the joining process, or would like clarification on something, whether a part of joining, or a part of the site documentations, you are always welcome to PM a staff member on the board, or ask in the OOC chat-box. You may also post in the Help Desk, if you'd like to ask a long question without registering. Imperion's staff are here to help, and our members can be pretty handy, too! Staff members will be either medium red or hot pink.


Registration

When you first register your account with the forum, remember that you will be automatically logged out in exactly an hour after your registration. You will want to log out, and back in, ticking the check box that reads Keep me logged in, to prevent this from happening amid an application. If it logs you out, all your progress will be lost, so bear this in mind!

OOC accounts are not required. You may choose to use one, as it displays characters below your OOC account username on the who's who list, and may make you easier to connect with on a personal level; it also encourages better separation of IC and OOC, but, whether you choose to use one or not is up to you. OOC accounts can be registered with any username you want, and this will be the username you use to log in. Character accounts should be registered with the character's first and last name ( if applicable ), properly capitalised and spaced.

I.E. Jane Doe.
Not: janedoe, jane doe, janeyjane, superskittle99.

If your character's name is entirely in an Eastern Asian language ( Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Indian ), it will need to be ordered last first when registered. This is how they order their names traditionally in east Asia, and we will respect this cultural nuance.


OOC Accounts vs. Character Accounts

Our forum has a feature called sub-accounts. Most are familiar with this feature, now, but there are some slight differences between ours and the one most would be familiar with ( that of MyBB and Jcink ). SMF's subaccounts feature can create accounts that do not exist while linking them. Subaccounts also cannot be logged into directly; you can only log into a subaccount by logging into the parent, and then switching using the drop-down. This means, subaccounts/character accounts can have any password you like — it does not matter what it is, it just needs to exist. If you de-link an account later, it will ask you to change its password, so that doesn't even matter, either.

OOC accounts and character accounts remain separate, fully functional independent accounts of their own. Each has different profile information, different account settings, a different username and ID number, etc. Further, each account can have a different set of skills and a different party. This allows players to personalise their OOC presence in the form of an OOC account, and use this account exclusively for out of character interaction on the boards. Similarly, it gives them a unique, identifiable, unifying presence in the chatbox. From your OOC name, other players can find all the characters you play via the Who's Who list.

It is a matter of taste, whether a user creates an OOC account or not; some don't, and that's fine with Imperion. Whatever you'd prefer.


Application

Our game's application may seem like a lot, at first glance. All of it is in your forum profile. To edit it, click your username on the user bar, at the top of the site below the banner. From there, find Modify Profile, and hover over it, then click Forum Profile. You'll be presented with a series of fields. You may skip all the text-area fields and head down to the free-form field, if you'd prefer to do your application free-form. Remember that a lot of other fields are, however, attached to a site claim, so you may want to do them even if you do a free-formed application. Auditions and starting gear are also still required.

For a traditional app, simply fill out the fields if they apply to you. If not, leave them blank. It works just like a normal application, and there aren't any more fields than there usually are for a traditional application, it just looks that way, as they are all spread out into fields. Be sure to get some detail into the personality and history sections; though it may be tempting, you will be asked to expand on a history if you cut corners, and claim nobody knows ( and then decide not to tell us ). While it's possible to keep this information unknown, the staff do need to know, and it makes it much easier for other players to plot with you, by seeing where your character's been, and if they may have come across each other before.

This is the first impression of you the site will ever get; make it a good one.


Starting Gear

Each character type that you can play starts with a certain set of skill points, party member slots, and items. These will be the stuff you start your journey on Imperion with, a bit like the starter gear for a new video game. Some of these items and party slots can be traded for one item off the starting gear swaps list — one item for one item. Wanted ad characters also gain bonus incentives alongside their normal starting gear, so there is an incentive to taking on wanted ads.

For a full listing of the given starting gears, the swap list, and the want ad incentives, see the starting gear page.


Suite Set Up

The Skill Suite is our in-house coded skill system. Essentially, it exists to take the end-user work out of a play-by-post forum game that happens to have a system. It takes care of almost everything — the only thing you need to worry about, are HP and multi-turn skill effects. Sometime before April 2017, the Skill Suite version we use currently, 3.5, will be upgraded and rebranded to Arceus' Battle Suite version 4.0. 4.0 is designed from the ground up to automate absolutely everything in a play-by-post forum's system mechanics. When 4.0 is released, all you'll need to do, is have fun, enjoy the game, and focus on writing good posts to go with the system automation.

The Suite is not optional; everyone needs to set up their skills and their Demons in the Suite. However, once set up, you can simply ignore it exists, and never get into a fight on the board. Bear in mind, however, that if you do not use the system, your skill levels will not go up, and you and your Demons will not get stronger, so don't be surprised when you don't. But, if plot-based threads with no physical conflict are more your thing, you can get by just ignoring it.

You can find a guide to getting going with the Skill Suite on this page, but it's fairly straight-forward and user-friendly, if you'd like to just give it a whirl on your own.

You can have fun, write a great post, and still use the system. The system does not impede on either your ability to write around it, and still be creative, nor does it impede on the thrill of battle. Simply, it exists to make sure that both players play fairly, and don't try to power-play, one-up each other, and remember to get hit once in a while. The system is designed with the intent that both sides will be hit pretty consistently, unless they are fairly low-levelled, so remember that potions and healing skills are good things to have. Be creative! All the system tells you is whether it succeeded or not, and how much damage/healing it did, and or if it caused a status condition. It does not tell you how to react, how to deal with it, how this happened, or what you do now. It's just an automated third-party, making sure everything stays fair, arguments do not happen, and both sides have fun.

Give it a shot before you knock it — you may find it's funner than you think, and you've really got nothing to lose. The worst that happens is, you never fight thread again, or you quit the site.


Review Process

Once you're done setting up your character, you will need to post in the Tag People Box, letting staff know your character is ready for a review. Ideally, you'll post it under the character's account, or link to their profile. A staff member will be by as soon as possible to look over your application, and write a review for it.

Every character that starts their journey with Imperion will likely receive at least one staff review, requesting changes, before they are accepted. Everyone messes up at least a little bit — this is entirely normal, and it isn't meant to be discouraging, nor is it the staff picking on you. We just want to make sure your character is solid, and can begin their journey with Imperion as easily and seamlessly as possible.

Here are some pointers, things to think about, to make your reviews as short as possible.

  1. Clarity — while we won't nitpick spelling and grammar, we will mention things that contradict themselves, contradict something else in the application, or something that doesn't make any sense in context.
  2. Abstract Ideas — things that seem to be there for no particular reason, and add nothing to the character themselves, will probably get a request for further information and or clarification.
  3. Setting Knowledge — we don't expect you to become an Imperion Encyclopaedia overnight, but we do expect some noticeable, solid setting foundations. We have an entire lore-book here in this wiki, and we do expect it to be mostly kept to.
  4. Balance — balance is key. There must be weaknesses to the character, both in personality, and in skill set. No one should be perfect.
  5. Playability and Plot Opportunity — if you're likely creating a character that won't see much easy plotting or interaction with others, we'll warn you of this before acceptance. We want you to play with others, as likely that's what you want, too, so we'll try to be sure you can.
  6. Short and Vague — if we can't really get a good feel for your character, who they are as a person, where they came from, why they are how they are, we'll ask for expansion on their personality and or history. You're creating a person, not just a mask.

Have fun with your application! Explore your character, get to know them better, and get into who they are. It's a good opportunity for you as a writer, don't think of it as a necessary evil, and it'll be done and you'll be playing before you know it. =)

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