Newcomer's Guide (no ontology)
From Mazeworld
Welcome on the Newcomer's Guide. This page will help you prepare yourself if you are new to MazeWorld and you wish to know everything you need as a player.
Step 1: Inform yourself
The first thing to do, is to inform yourself.
Make sure to read and understand the following.
If you wish to ask questions, you may join us on IRC, either via webchat or using your own client (irc.stormbit.net - #MazeWorld)
Once you feel ready to join us, it will now be time to think about making a character.
Step 2: Creating your contestant
Creating a character is easy and fast, so long as you respect certain conditions. There are a few restrictions to respect, reflecting the game's nature.
First and foremost, select a gender between male ♂ or female ♀.
Next, think up of a name! Single-named characters are allowed as much as long form names, as long as they can be referred to with a simple, single informal name or a nickname. (If your character's name was to be Maximillian, it would likely be referred to as Max simply. If it has a nickname, it can be used as the main referral as well.)
Human characters are preferred. Not-entirely-human species are allowed, so long as they are virtually the same as a human and their assets are cosmetic only. No contestant must have anything more than a regular, healthy human at the beginning. Therefore no inherent ability and no magic is allowed - the game's point is to find and acquire your strengths.
- Halfling; human with minor animal characteristics (ears, tails, etc). Halflings exist in the Mazes in various species from which you may choose from (Halfling species native to the Mazes: Cat, dog, wolf, fox, rabbit, mouse, rat, lizard, snake, frog. Unlisted species are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.)
- Alien or nonhuman creatures with light physical differences only. Abnormal skin, eye, and hair colors are tolerated
- No extra limbs or features such as a third eye, wings, more than one pair of arms or legs, etc.
- If you have something else in mind that does not enter the descriptions above, please ask questions on IRC and provide as much details as you can.
After this, a short physical stats sheet is required. Data needed:
Height, weight, age, skin color, hair length, hair color, eye color, and when applicable, breast size.
Tips: Make your character reasonably realistic and avoid extreme values. This does not mean that you can only play fit and strong characters, but that you should avoid playing as very small preteens or giant muscle mountains, and so on.
It is optional, but if you have a backstory for your character, please provide it! It will adorn the contestant's very own article on the wiki and will be shown for all to see. It may be used to develop or reveal details about this contestant's past life, personality, behavior, etc, so use it to flesh your character up!
In short
A quick recap of what you need to sign up:
- Username (which name you use to join the game)
- Contestant name (which name you want your character to be called)
- Gender (Male/Female)
- Species (Human/Halfling/Parahuman) + details if needed
- Height
- Weight
- Age
- Skin color
- Hair length and color
- Eye color
- Breast size (if gender is Female or X-Female, ignore otherwise)
- Personality (optional)
- Backstory (optional)
- Extra details (optional)
Step 3: Sign up and play!
Contact the author, usually through IRC, and request to sign up. While a backstory is optional, but encouraged, as it speeds up the creation of your very own contestant wiki article.
We recommend that you first write your character's details in your favorite text processing software (Notepad++, MS Word, etc.), then use a service such as Pastebin to upload it. Once your character details are uploaded, copy and paste the link to the author, who will review your application. To help you write your application, you may use the application template; simply copy it and fill it out, then create a new paste and send it to the author.
If your application is refused, the reasons will be provided (most refused applications are for missing or incomplete information.
If your application is accepted, you should see your Contestant's name show up in the Contestants list, and your Contestant will also have its own wiki page; this means you are officially ready to play! All that is left to do is to check the Game Schedule to pick up a date and time to know when to play!
The author lives in France, which is the Central European Time (CET) time zone (CEST during summer). Make sure to keep this in mind and pick the right day and time accordingly. Closer time zones are easier to accomodate with, but some of the best players in the game's history have been from faraway timezones; don't let it stop you, just plan ahead.
The most common time zones employed by players of the game are:
UTC+1 (Western Europe, France)
GMT (Greenwich Mean Time - United Kingdom)
EST (Eastern Standard Time - USA East Coast)
PST (Pacific Standard Time - USA West Coast)
MSK+4 (Irkutsk Time - Central Russia/China/West Australia)
