User:Triogenix/Sandbox 4

EVENT RULES AND REGULATIONS

The following section is both a guide on how to do events and the rules and regulations that surround them. It is important for all lore staff to be aware of these requirements.

MINI-EVENTS AND ARCS

Before going further, it is necessary to cite the differences in Mini-Events, and Actual Events, as well as their associated arcs, as they have two separate sets of rules and regulations.

Mini Events can be defined as the following: An event, or set of events, that while potentially canon, has little to no impact on the setting at large, run with already available assets, or assets that can be created by one person within the timeframe of a week. Their impact is mostly focused on player characters, and aftershocks are generally limited to the SCCV Horizon, or another limited area the event takes place in, such as a space station being visited. No spur-shattering moments, instead being built around more mundane things, that could be seen as day-to-day in the Orion Spur. The overarching objective being to create an environment where players can develop their characters by reacting to everyday canonical situations as they occur, which they might not have been able to do as effectively without a staff-planned event.

This differs from actual events and their arcs, which are much wider in scope in both lore impact and development time.

Mini-Event Rules and Regulations

• Mini-Events, and their arcs, must be properly documented on the forums in the form of a calendar post, made following Arrow’s Guidelines. They should not be documented on the wiki.
• Mini-Events must also be announced to the server at large at least 5 days in advance of their planned date, and be presented to the administrative team, any relevant species writers or loremasters at least a week in advance.
• Mini-Events must be approved by any relevant species head whose lore is used, canon or non-canon, it doesn’t matter.
• Loremasters must approve canonical mini-events and their associated arcs, however, they do not need to be posted in the Lore Staff section of the forums for review.
  • This does not mean Loremasters should not be aware of the happenings of the event, but in general, a lesser review process, only there to ensure that if something occurs that results in a staff complaint, Loremasters do not need to play catch-up to understand the general context of the situation.
• Mini-events should, whenever possible, be planned in conjunction with a member of the administrative team, who will then act as the assigned administrator for the mini-event(s).
  • Due to their potentially short development time, this is to cut down on miscommunication and ensure the assigned admin is also up to date as to what will be occurring during the event. If this is not possible, standard procedure should be followed.
• Any technical requirements of mini-events are not to be referred to the Dev Team as a staff assignment. It is of course okay if a specific member of the dev team wishes to assist, but it should not be considered a project the likes of handling technical requirements for actual events. Either use assets already present or get someone to code whatever you want without making it an assignment they need to do as staff.
• Non-Canonical Mini-events do not require the approval of Loremasters, but instead the approval of a member of the Administrative Team. It is preferable that this approval comes from a primary administrator, but approval from a secondary administrator is also acceptable.
• Canonical Mini-events follow all the procedures of canonicity as regular events, including death retcons.
  • Any complaints that result from a canonical mini-event are to be handled as all staff complaints against lore team members are.
• As mentioned above, canonical Mini-Events should have their impact and aftereffect limited to the SCCV Horizon, or minor impacts on the corporate organizations characters work for.
  • In addition, unless given express permission by the Lore Team Administration, Mini-events are limited to an intensity of Low, or Medium. Should you wish to run a High Intensity Mini-Event, reach out to the current LTA members.
• The Main Objective of Canonical Mini-Events is to create an atmosphere between larger arcs where there are canonical opportunities for players to develop their characters, rather than develop the setting.
  • This could be something as simple as a party; basically any situation that players can react to, or interact with, in order to further develop their characters. Keep it in mind when planning mini-events.
• It is encouraged that beyond reaching out to the administrative team, other teams such as CCIA are also reached out to, both to keep them in the loop, and to possibly include in mini-event arcs.

EVENT ARCS

EVENT ARC PLANNING AND TIMING

Major Event Arcs should be planned and presented for review before the arc that would precede them is completed. An example of this would be that, after the second event of an arc taking place in the Coalition, an arc plan is presented that would take place in Adhomai. This is to give both the dev team and yourself ample time to prepare the following arc, and minimize the gap between major arcs. In theory, there shouldn’t be more than a three to four month gap between major arcs. Presenting an arc while its predecessor is still ongoing, and then immediately starting work on it helps tremendously with ensuring this gap remains small.

The Lore Team Administration reserves the right to decide the timing of arcs in relation to each other. Just because one arc was approved before another, does not mean that it will come first. Such a decision should be preceded by a team discussion on the reasoning behind it, and allow team members the opportunity to express their thoughts about changing the timing of event arcs to the Lore Team Administration.

Major Event Arcs should also in some way impact the setting in which they are run as a whole. This could mean the entire Spur, or just a single system where the arc takes place. This impact does not need to be clearly defined by the crew, they may simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but an impact on the overall setting should be the theme of any major event arcs

EVENT RULES AND REGULATIONS

• Major Events and their arcs must be properly documented both on the forums before/during them, and then properly documented on the wiki afterward. This documentation should follow not only Arrow’s Guidelines for the scheduling of events themselves but also the Arc Outline Template that can be found here.
• Arcs should also be announced with a general time of occurrence to the server as a whole two months before their scheduled time, to alert players of what might be coming next. Whenever possible, this should be kept OOC only.
  • An important part of this is ensuring that you will in fact be ready in two months. Announcing months ahead of time, only to be delayed constantly, will merely leave the player base waiting on their hands for the arc to begin, not as engaged as they might be.
• Major Event Arcs must be presented in the Lore Staff Section of the Forums, to be approved by Loremasters after a review period. This presentation should take place during a major event arc that would be preceding it, as mentioned above.
  • In addition to the Loremaster review and stamp of approval, Major Event Arcs should be discussed amongst the entire team in regards to their impact. If possible, other teams should incorporate some of the impact of an arc into their own lore, in order to make the setting feel more alive.
• Events follow the server’s canonicity rules, as outlined below.
• When Scheduling an Event; the forum calendar post should follow this format.
• All event arc proposals must follow these rules;
  • This is the format for event arc proposal forum posts, the long description is a google doc, shared via link to anyone who access the link.
  • This is the template used for the cover page of the proposal.
  • The Proposal Document should be several different documents, with a main document containing the links to the others being the “cover page” of the proposal. This page should outline the overall objective of the arc, and specific goals that are needed to accomplish the objective. The centerpiece of this page however should be an overview of the arc, including its stages; as well as the traits of the arc.
  • Linked to the proposal page, there should be a document, or set of documents, containing the written information about the arc, including event summaries, articles, wiki changes pre and post arc, and potentially even differing sets of articles and events depending on actions taken by the crew over the course of the arc.
  • Technical Requirements such as sprites, code, maps, and other similar things should be compiled into a technical document, with the arcs name, and if approved, then forwarded to the Dev Team in a newly created channel for managing the technical side of the arc, who will work on it as part of their contribution to the staff team. Whenever possible reference images should be provided, and outlines of event maps made for the dev team.
  • In addition, the development process should be coordinated by a member of either the dev or species team running the arc, who acts as a manager for the technical side, ensuring that work is completed in a quick and organized fashion.
  • By the time everything has been entered into the appropriate fields, the document should look something like this.
• Staff Complaints regarding event arcs, such as complaints regarding canon deaths, are to be handled as per the respective rules.