InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Hello Austria!"

ALL WORDS ARE AWESOME WORDS!!!! (tryslora) wrote in rp_tutorials,
@ 2010-07-29 13:37:00

Rules
One thing I hate doing when I'm working on a new game is writing up the Rules post. There's such a fine line between saying too much and being too restrictive, to being too laid back about things. So I'm wondering a few things...

1. Can anyone point me to what they think was the absolute perfect set of rules/faq/information that they saw in a game they played in?

2. What rules do you like seeing, or expect to see information about?

3. What rules are a complete turn-off to you for a game?

Thanks to all! And as always, thank you to everyone in this community for all of the wonderful resources.

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spacemonkey
2010-07-30 09:47 am UTC (link)

1. i don't have any examples since i'm not currently in any games, BUT

2. the basic rules formats i usually see come in three parts (and i find it easier to divide them this way when writing them): 1) player conduct and expectations, 2) character creation and storyline rules, and 3) world-specific rules, or what is and isn't possible per the game's canon. generally, the fewer the better--a lot of stuff one would be tempted to put in the rules can just as easily go in an faq section. that said, i like it when games have rules that address certain storylines, like "certain topics [rape, self-injury, ed, etc] are very triggering to some players and require mod approval and an lj-cut with a warning when they do get posted about", and have pb requirements--i.e., games that require people use ethnically/racially/age appropriate pbs.

3. when i was 16 games that had an 18+ rule made me so mad :P no but seriously, umm. ridiculous activity requirements, "passwords" you have to put in the app to get accepted, post word length minimums. journal name requirements i hate, although i accept the wisdom behind banning usernames with excessive underscores or random numbers or x's or whatever. i agree about the tone of the page being appropriate--you want to be firm without sounding like a dick. injecting a little humour never hurt.

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	spacemonkey 2010-07-30 09:52 am UTC (link)
	oh i lied about not having a set of rules as an example. this is the rules page i'm working on for a game i'm tentatively thinking of opening, if you're interested in copying any of it, haha. it's longer than i would say is necessary or even wise i also really like this set of rules--it's concise and to the point while covering lots of bases. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	tryslora 2010-07-30 04:28 pm UTC (link)
	Thank you for the examples! I've been following the tone advice, and my rules are sounding much less irritating and much more like me, AND they are far easier to write. I'm totally including statements about pb appropriateness. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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