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In this thread we are attempting to revise the existing Halfwits from the ground up. It was thought that the current version was a bit out of date and out of context based up when it was written and how it has progessed since then by its creator. So the wise one thought that perhaps it would be best if those peoples who are here now take it upon themselves to create a new version that is more in keeping with how things operate today.
So, since all of us here love Halfwits, and those who used to own and run it, we took that idea and ran with it. We used much of the concepts and content from the old Halfwits, just with a different layout and half the fat.
But, what we need you all to do is take a look at it. Put yourself in the shoes of a new person, and read through it. Does this tell a new person practially everything they would need to get started? Are these the guidlines what we go by today? Are we missing anything? Just a few things to keep in mind while reading.
We also would like to start a FAQs thread in the bottom of the document, that would contain many of the questions we get from new people here today. So if you can think of any, or if you are new and have some, please ask away or answer away. The better we can make the document, the more we will all be on the same page, and can get people in here and writing having fun all the faster.
So let us know what you think, and if we can all mostly agree on a final draft, then I will post it in a new thread; I would like to come up with a decent title though, so a new person would know to go there first.
[ December 06, 2006, 12:11 PM: Message edited by: KO ]
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*** VBS FOR HALFWITS: USER REFERENCE GUIDE VER. 9.0 ***
Welcome to the Virtual Battle School! This topic, jokingly called Halfwits, has been created to help new users understand how VBS (Virtual Battle School) works. While VBS is a fun, entertaining, and an addictive activity, it can be very complicated to understand when you are just beginning to post. So please take the time to read the guide before posting.
Contents: Starting Out-
Basics- What it sounds like
Site Sections- Break down of what goes where
Posting- A few guidelines to keep in mind
Writing a Character-
Age, Height, and Weight Guide
Book Considerations- We do have to be true to the book
Character Creation Guide- Helpful hints and suggestions
Profile Template- Sample profile you fill out and post to join an army
So you wanna be a Virtual Battle Schooler eh? Well we can see why, and this section is supposed to get you on your way. But what is VBS anyway? Well, Virtual Battle School is much like the name says- writing the lives of children within the Battle School, eternally five years before the beginning of the book Ender's Game.
However, first thing to know and remember is that this site is owned by Orson Scott Card, not us, so what he says goes. His administrator is a wonderful woman named Cuchulain, and what she says also goes. So if you ever see a post of yours edited by her, you can be sure you probably made a funny somewhere. But as long as you don’t make it a habit, I wouldn’t worry about it but just make sure you know what doesn’t go on the forum.
Now to find out what does not go, you first need to register by going here . Once you do that, you will see a fine list of things you are agreeing not to do as you register like: bad language, referring to God, spamming, fighting or anything else deemed by the moderator to be inappropriate. This also includes agreeing not to write for any of the characters that exist in any of the published novels, be they students or administrators alike; we won’t want to go breaking those copyrights now would we?
We would ask that you have read at least one of the two books this forum is based around, either Ender’s Game or Ender’s Shadow. You needn’t re-read them to start writing here by any means, but it’s important that you understand the basic environment, army setup, teacher stance, etc. So if you have read at least one, then you can read this guide and refresh your brain, and read through the Reference/FAQs part to pick up some of the finer details.
Starting Out: Posting
This is just about as easy as it sounds for the most part. Once you are in a thread, and logged in, you may go to the bottom of the page and post a reply. It is also possible to create new threads, but this is typically only done in the Out of Character section of the site by all members who are not posting a new thread for the army they are commanding. Mostly we use the existing threads for everything in all the sections, save OOC, which are explained in more detail below.
One important subject is the difference between IC (In Character) and OOC (Out of Character). This is a pretty basic concept: Anything written by you for your character in any section except the OOC section is what we call IC. Comments that you would like to make in the IC section should, if possible, be made in the OOC thread for your respective army and not be made IC unless it is absolutely necessary. And if so, the please be sure to put it in some format like this so people understand it is not your character talking or acting but rather a comment of yours: (OOC- Your comment here should be very brief-OOC)
Another thing to note, more common sense than anything, is that your character cannot exist in multiple places at once. So she should not be eating in the mess laughing with those in her toon, and at the same time have another post going in the barracks sleeping. That can’t happen in reality, and it can’t happen in Battle School; since as far as we know the I.F. still has bans on clones.
If the unfortunate should happen and you post the next bit of story for your character and it happens to have some typo or conflict with what is going on and you need to change it, don’t worry, you can adjust it. There is an edit feature in VBS that will allow you to pull up an old post and either delete it, or completely change any text within it. If you look at the post you want to change, at the top on the far right you should see an icon that looks like a piece of paper with a pencil on top. If you click on that, you will be taken to a screen that will let you make your changes, and re-post what you need to.
Now for one of the most important of all rules here in VBS: Godding. There will be none of it tolerated by anyone on VBS, so just don’t do it. We define Godding, or “God-RPG’ing”, as: the act of taking a character that is written by another writer and useing it without first consulting its writer. There are three typical ways of godding a character – 1) Making it say things or do things without clearing it up with the writer; 2) Forcing it into doing things that would be out-of-character for it; and 3) Making an action that will affect the character without allowing the writer an opportunity to respond. By godding someone's character, you are robbing the writer of the reason to play the game which will only make others not want to write with you, or even worse, in VBS at all. So just don’t do it!
There are, however, certain exceptions to these guidelines. Godding is a problem more of fairness and common sense as opposed to being afraid of doing because it might not “work” with what someone else is going to do. Don’t be afraid to try new things!
Starting Out: Site Sections
School Records- This is just what it sounds like, the section where all student records are kept. This is what the administration has on file about all the students in the school. So this is an “in character” section where you should post a profile for your character after getting permission from an army’s commander; the details for doing that are in a later part of this guide. NOTE: Be sure you do not post a new topic here, for only commanders do that once a new army is started.
The Barracks- This is another “in character” section where you would post your character when he/she is in the barracks of their army. Again, be sure you do not post a new topic here, for only commanders do that.
Public Areas- When your character is in the public areas of the school, you should post here. Always check and see if an area exists already before starting a new topic. It is "in character" so, again, please avoid out of character questions and remarks. This area is best for interaction between characters of different armies, and multiple plotlines. As VBS posts are erased a after a year of non-use, it is best not to start a new topic but continue the old topic, thus allowing a more full view of all threads in that topic. Some popular topics include: The Game Room, Corridor, Commander’s Mess, The Mess, Bathrooms/Showers, (Army) Battle Room Practice, Infirmary continued, The Library, The Gym, and The Vasquez Memorial Gardens.
The Mind Game- This is another “in character” section and just as it says it's for records of your character's dreams or fantasy game experiences. There are two prominent joint mind games, The Illusion and The Heroes and the Villains; for more info on these check out the Armies section of this guide. Please take note: every other thread in this topic should include one character only.
Out of Character- This is the main repository of all things not IC, where it is acceptable to post questions, remarks, concerns, or whatever. If you search the old topics, you will likely find the answers to any questions you might have. But if not, feel free to start your own thread and ask away. This is a gold mine of information and fun.
Internal Communications- This is an “in character” place for messages, like email, that are sent across the students’ desks to each other. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Writing a Character: Age, Height, and Weight Guide
Chris Kidd’s Age Guide:
At age 7 he/she would be arriving in the launch group
At age 8 the launchie goes into an army
Between the ages 9 and 10 you have a good chance to be a toonleader
Then between 11 and 12 a character can become a commander
But remember, when creating an older character, he would know a lot more about Battle School than a “Launchie” who doesn’t know a thing. In addition, you may be able to stretch the upper border of the age limit- not all characters become commanders at 12 (or at all), not all characters are Toon Leaders at 10, etc. But the lower border cannot be stretched! There are no commanders under the age of 11, there are no soldiers under the age of 8, there are no Launchies under 6, even 6.5. This is the ages given by the book, so we're duty bound to following them.
Height and weight can be found using the following addresses: For boys For girls
Writing a Character: Book Considerations
You have to keep in mind not to make your character too Ender or Bean like, i.e. they cannot be super-geniuses. They will of course be geniuses but they can’t be the super guys amazingly good at everything. To that end, please take note of the things from the book you should keep in mind while creating a character:
Your character can only have one sibling. That’s it, period, end of discussion. Thirds were more than rare, they were unheard of unless your character comes from a Catholic country like Poland.
Your character cannot have any debilitating physical or mental issues at all. As we saw in ES, the I.F. would have fixed any problems that were possible before hand, or simply not let the child in. However, certain mental issues may occur, as was the case with Achilles and even Bonzo.
No one was allowed to bring any possessions onto the station, not even clothing. So your character should not have with them anything but the hair on his/her head. Exceptions might include glasses, but as a general rule these things would be issued to the students upon arrival.
There are only a handful of girls on the station so there really can’t be more than one or two in a given army at once. This is more of a suggestion. There’s usually forty characters to an army, so if there’s three writers all writing for girls, then the rest of the army can be guys, so no problem.
Here are also a few things to take note of since they are easily broken accidentally, don’t break them:
This site should not exceed a PG-13 rating. To that end there should not be anything vulgar, explicit, or graphic in nature at all. Remember the Rules Agreement you signed when registering, well that ensures this and more. So please keep it clean, fun, and safe for everyone.
Romance among students is not unheard of, but it is generally among the very oldest of students and must never beyond a PG rating at any point. These are children and should act as such, so if you are thinking of writing something romantic, it would be good to keep in mind that not only would the school not permit that and probably throw your character out, but this is a site for fun innocent writing so keep it PG.
No one dies in VBS. There were only two students to ever die, the first was Pinval, the second was Bonzo. That’s it. Not to say you can’t get seriously hurt and go to the infirmary, but your character cannot die.
If your character gets injured, which can happen for a variety of reasons, fighting or their own stupidly in the battle room, your character should not only be in the infirmary for a few minutes. Bones take months to fuse back, viruses take time to fight, and gashes need to be sewn up and seen too. So keep in mind that your character will need time to heal.
An army is split into four toons of ten soldiers each plus the commander for a total of 41 in an army. Each toon has a toon leader, A through D, and typically the better toon is A down to D. Ender was the first to split into five, so we cannot break out of the four toon rule.
Formations were all that are used in the battle room until Ender’s arrival. So if and when there is ever another battle, they are rare and hard to manage; only formations should be used. Also, only formations, for the most part, are practiced in battle practices.
Your character must play the mind game, not to say you have to post things in there, but you can’t make references to not doing so. Bean was the first andonly character to not play the game.
Writing a Character: Character Creation Guide
Ke'ak's Guide for Writing a Character:
Why is it that almost all characters act/think/feel exactly the same? Why is it that the only way that we can seem to make our characters different is through different eye color, or different hairstyle? Why can we not find a way to create unique, believable and relatable characters, but instead are constantly swimming through a sea of clones?
I believe the answer lies somewhere in the basics of creating a character. Far too often, we allow ourselves to create characters based solely on appearance, or some other single trait that really isn't the character, but simply a minor part of it. My attempt here will be to relate tools to help you to create believable, unique characters that can be used not only in this forum, (for this is a beginning, not an end), but really in any place or project that you may choose to pursue. Here goes.
In this essay, "he" represents he, she or it. It's just too redundant to go through and write them all.
Who? - Developing a Fictional Personality
This is the basic, core root of the character. Answering these questions will help you to "flesh out" a character that you may have in mind. It's not just a magic process, you have to use your head too, but these questions can help you have a basic foundation to work from. So, with your character in mind, answer the following:
1. Is he right-handed, or left-handed? 2. What color of hair? 3. What color of eyes? 4. What side of the bed does he sleep on? 5. What is his favorite food? 6. What is his favorite smell? 7. What is his relationship to his father? 8. What is his relationship to his mother? 9. What are his relationships to other family members (siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc?) 10. What does he love? 11. What does he hate? 12. What is his favorite color? 13. What would he do with a free afternoon? 14. What relationships does he have with others (outside of family)? 15. Which way does he roll out of bed in the morning? 16. Which shoe does he put on first? 17. What does rain make him think of? 18. What is his favorite time of the day? 19. What is his favorite season of the year? 20. What does he live for? 21. What injuries has he had in the past? 22. What does he do when no one is around?
Now, there are others. Some of these would take a little longer than you might think, and some might seem to you quite redundant. However, I can promise you that as you go through these, as well as coming up with more questions to ask yourself about your new "creation", your characters will become deeper, more real. They will cease to become simply letters on a page and will begin to become almost real to you. Think about the characters that you see in movies, that you read about in books, etc. You can always tell when you've connected with a character, in that you are almost worried about what will happen to them, or are excited when good fortune goes their way. You can also, on the flipside, tell when the writer has created simply a paper-cut-out of a character, and you simply care nothing for that "person."
Why and When? - Detailing a History
Think about your own life. In the ten to one hundred years that you've been alive, you've had myriads of experiences, countless little instances in your life where things have affected you, have bothered you, have lifted you, hurt you, or strengthened you. When you're creating a character, you need to decide what has happened to your new creation. You don't necessarily need to detail it quite as well as your own life, but a basic history along with certain specific details is essential.
First off, using the list above, notice the personal history that you've already created. You have everything from smells to colors to family and friends to injuries and religion. Now is the time to sort through these and decide the reasons for each of these things, and decide when that occurred. For example, we'll create a character, and name him Allen. Now, let's run through the exercise with question number 12 from above:
12. What is his favorite color?
Blue
Why?
Blue is the color of the interior of his first car. He loved that car, and would clean it almost obsessively. Because he was so familiar with that car's color, it became his favorite.
When?
Allen got his first car from his parents when he was sixteen-and-a-half years old. They gave it to him to borrow, if he would pay the insurance, gas, and repairs, but it was essentially his.
Does that make sense? Suddenly we have a small bit of history behind what is otherwise a trivial fact - Allen's favorite color is blue. We also have something of a base to work with, in that we know that in Allen's personal history, anyone who knew him when he was sixteen would know that he had a car with a blue interior, and they could relate to it, or that little detail may play out later in the story. It may seem insignificant, but sometimes the places in a story where you get "stuck" could really be smoothed out if you really had a background for your characters actions and personality.
A Word of Advice - And some resources
I hope that these things can help. I've always enjoyed writing, and I love to do it. I hope that I may continue to use writing in my own career. You truly reap what you sow, and when you put a little work into your characters, it will go a long way towards helping you bring a more full, rich, and personal flavor to your stories. For some extra information that I've found helpful as I've done my years of writing, I would recommend the following:
Teen Writing (http://teenwriting.about.com/)- an excellent source of simple writing tips and teachings OSC's Tips (http://www.hatrack.com/writingclass/index.shtml) - OSC has an excellent group of little tips and tricks that will help
Thanks for listening, and hope that it helped!
- Brandon Karratti (Ke’ak)
Writing a Character: Profile
This is a pretty standard version of the profile used for most armies; though I would check the School Records in the army you are looking to join to be sure you have the proper one for that army. But it is at least a starting point for you to work from while creating your character.
------------------------------------------------ ***CONFIDENTIAL*** BATTLE SCHOOL PERSONAL REPORT PROPERTY OF THE INTERNATIONAL FLEET DO NOT MUTILATE OR DESTROY ----------------------------------------------- Personal Information- Student Name: Home of Origin: Current Army: Nickname (If applicable): Probable Origin of Nickname: Self-identification (Per Monitor Reports): Physical Description- Gender: Current Age: Current Height: Current Weight: Hair Color: Eye Color: Additional Physical Information:
It’s important to realize that some armies are far more active than others. Some post daily, some post bi-weekly, and some are in between. So you really have to ask yourself how much time you have to read and write in a given week when deciding which army to choose to join.
You should also make sure you understand what the current plotline and back story is of an army before attempting to join. So read through the entire army’s Barracks and associated threads front to back, and at least a good bit of the latest OOC thread for that army as well. This way you will know which army has what kind of characters in it that sound interesting to interact with, and what that army is doing and/or going to do soon.
Once you have decided which army you would like to join, you should contact that armies commander and ask them to join. This is mostly a formality since almost every army on VBS lets anyone who wants to in to join up. However, the pleasantries must be followed some times, so its best to ask in that army’s OOC thread or send the commander an email. Below are a list of the current armies along with their current commanders.
Armies: Current Armies and Commanders
Active Armies: Launch Group 1551 Launch Mum - Mohaka1 • rynz2002@yahoo.com, craig.broadley@gmail.com • Launch website (http://www.launch1551.com) • Assistant Launch Mum- Saanengirl - saanengirl@hotmail.com Phoenix Army Commander – Calcifier • AIM- horsefeathrs7 Raven Army Commander- Mohaka1 • rynz2002@yahoo.com, craig.broadley@gmail.com • Saanengirl - saanengirl@hotmail.com Flame Army Commander- Tirath,Uln Ramar • Silentorb@hotmail.com Joint Mind Game- The Illusion • Angelo- joslyn.bloomfield@gmail.com, AIM- Airbus7 • Ke’ak- tihnjl@hotmail.com • Illusion website (http://illusionreference.spaces.live.com) Joint Mind Game- The Heroes and Villains • Cabarey- Lantern.City@gmail.com
Inactive Armies (See Reference and FAQs)
Armies: Creating an Army- Guidelines and considerations
Commanding a VBS army is very different than commanding an army in Ender's Game. The point in writing a VBS character is writing its life as opposed to EG where all that matters is the glory of winning battles. The best (and probably the only) reason to command an army is having a wonderful plot and a character that would only work as commander. To get writers to join your army, you need to earn their respect and belief you are capable of running an army. Be patient. The most important thing is to remember - it takes time!
The consensus right now is that a writer should not start an army before they have 500 posts. It is important to remember this figure as a gross estimation of the time needed to spend in the army to get the hang of things and the respect of other writers, and not the rule itself. Some writers would still not be ready at 500 posts, others, long before. Also, note that in order to start your first army you need Cuchulain's permission and the permission of the previous commander.
So you've become a commander, now what? Well now you have a lot of hard work, not to mention: • It means you have to think of an interesting plotline, so that your writers won't get bored and leave either the army or the forum. • It means you have to make sure that at all times you have enough writers, and when your writers have disappeared you need to recruit some others. • It means you have to make sure no one in your army is frozen and that you're not freezing everybody. • It means you have to pay attention to who your writers are, what they are doing, in which ways the plot is going. • It means when your writers do something wrong, it reflects on the army, and on you. You must be responsible, within reason, for your writers' actions. • It means a lot of administrative work, keeping up with toon listings, toon leaders, arranging topics. • And it means your internet time will of necessity increase rapidly. You have to be ready for it, or you’ll leave a lot of writers angry and frustrated. • Remember: writing a simple character is often entertaining and involves actual writing, things you sometimes experience less as a commander.
Shell on creating an army (for more advanced writers, who also have more time) 1. Create a commander character 2. Think of some kind of storyline 3. Post in the ooc that you are starting a new army to recruit writers 4. Post a roster 5. Start a barracks topic 6. Start writing 7. Get overwhelmed by the flood of 'new transfer' posts 8. Get sidetracked and forget your original storyline 9. Get a headache from failing to please everyone 10. Listen to writers in your army complain because the commander is frozen dealing with someone else's character, and their character is being neglected 11. Wonder why being in someone else's army wasn't good enough for you - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
References
Complete Army List (Commanders Listed In Order from First to Last): 1. Sphinx Army – Orbit, Ke’ak (tihnjl AT hotmail DOT com) 2. Rat Army – Grogogg, Andrea, Pitry (marvelryskimmer AT hotmail DOT com) 3. Leopard Army - Chris Kidd (mandrolin AT aolDOT com) 4. Squirrel Army - Raiderboy79, Mizzdermeanor (italianboixjxr AT yahoo DOT com) 5. Centipede Army – Amory(stdccg21 AT shsu DOT edu) 6. Asp Army – Teteli (teteli42 AT aol DOT com) 7. Tide Army – Pitry, Zuni, Pitry (marvelryskimmer AT hotmail DOT com) 8. Manticore Army – Zander, Angelo (joslyn.bloomfield AT gmail DOT com) 9. Lion Army - Viola Cesario X, Echo (masquerayder AT hotmail DOT com) 10. Rabbit Army - CADoubleM, Eyes (delli2002 AT hotmail DOT com) 11. Ferret Army - Muad'diB (taleswapper AT aol DOT com) 12. Serpent Army - Serpent, Proteus, Hunter (sonicstar AT adelphia DOT net) 13. Flame Army - Pitry, Alai, Andrew, Tirath,Uln Ramar (Silentorb AT hotmail DOT com) 14. Phoenix Army - Still, Beylion, Calcifier (AIM- horsefeathrs7) 15. Spider Army – Yonush (AIM- DonkeyShot A) 16. Tiger Army - Mary Berry, Intensity (Wwhativebinwaitin4 AT msn DOT comom) 17. Condor Army - Chris Kidd (mandrolin AT msn DOT com) 18. Salamander Army – SteveRogers (Caveman89376 AT hotmail DOT com) 19. Badger Army – AbeLincoln (lejeuneking AT gmail DOT com) 20. Hound Army - Shell, Maggie (member # 39) 21. Scorpion Army - Echo, Viola Cesario X (beatricemeira AT yahoo DOT com) 22. Griffin - Chris Kidd (mandrolin AT msn DOT com) 23. Raven - Mohaka1 (rynz2002 AT yahoo DOT com, craig.broadley AT gmail DOT com) 24. Dragon Army – Cat, Maggie, Denali, Sushi (annamomper AT hotmail DOT com) Upon special authorization from Cuchulain.
Sushi Battle Station Layout: So the main point, there are 3 disks, and no, they are not apart, they do in fact rotate together because the book clearly says that there are cross sections between the three. The middle one is the only one that the students have access to, though, the other disks are for storage and administration purposes (they include all of the teacher's quarters, including the launch mom's). The middle disk has levels 1-9, of those, only 4 of them are for student usage. So, if you count from the outermost deck into the center, the outermost would be 1 and the innermost would be 9 (yes, this is the way it's in the book I'm positive on it). So knowing that, the decks that students live on are decks 3-6 (known to the students as decks A-D). Deck 3(A) consisted of the mess halls, kitchens, launchy barracks, (and of course their bathrooms) and the launchy classrooms. Deck 4(B) had just army barracks (and once again, bathrooms). Deck 5(C) had army barracks and classrooms (and yet again bathrooms). Deck 6 (D) had the game room. The gym was on level 2 and the battle rooms were on level 7 (those are the only things that they can access on those levels). Since they never actually mentioned the infirmary, you could probably assume that it'd be on level 6 or level 3 or one on each (it would be close to the gym and the battle room, places where accidents are more likely to occur). The garden and the cage (the VBS equivalent to the brig) seem to be created by VBS, and are therefore, of course, not in the book. But you could probably assume that they were on level 6 with the game room...(the cage could also possibly be in the other disk near one of the cross sections)
Crazythorn’s Commandments (slightly modified): 1) Thou shall not God. 2) Thou shall not write unnecessary posts and delete repetitions 3) Thou must join an army or launch. 4) Thou must not start an army without experience. 5) Thou shall not be Ender/Bean/anyone really smart. 6) Thou must make an attempt to correct spelling and grammar. 7) Thou must have read Ender's Game and/or Ender's Shadow. 8) Thou must use quotation marks. 9) Thou shall contact an army commander. They shall not come to you. 10) Thou shall not listen to false moderators Have Fun!
FAQs
(To be added soon)
Acknowledgements- Shell, Joe, Still, Grog, Teteli, Chris Kidd, Orbit, Sushi, Zuni, and Pitry
More Acknowledgements- KO, Ke’ak, Saanengirl, Toro, Hunter
[ August 11, 2009, 08:35 AM: Message edited by: KO ]
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KO, I think Chronus is talking about how a new writer might introduce themselves into the story. One of the things that has always helped me is to provide some thoughts and back story to allow the other writers to get a feeling for your character instead of having to look everything (or anything) up in your record.
For example:
Joe walked into the barracks, freshly transferred to the army. Noticing the kid in the commander's uniform, he walked up to him, and presented his transfer slip.
"I'm new here, sir, Joe Regan."
This is an example of a weak first post. Instead of providing us with any background at all, we've got only a name. No thoughts, no mannerisms, no emotion to the character. Why would the commander even respond? There's really nothing to respond to, except perhaps a cursory nod, anyway, and so many writers find themselves all alone.
But what if we tried something like this:
Regan ran his fingers along the hallway wall as he walked quickly to his new barracks. He glanced at the slip in his hand and smirked again. Phantom Army. What a joke. As soon as he'd read it out loud Terry had been all over him, laughing his stupid head off.
"I can't believe it! You're, like, the fastest soldier at Battle School and they send you to the worst army here? Geez, man!"
Even through the jibes and mockery, secretly Regan was pretty excited. He knew, with his skills, that he would be one of the top soldiers in Phantom within days. Sure, the army had a rough history, but looking back, so did most of them. He just hoped that there were a few more vets getting transfered in as well.
He noticed the Phantom insignia was above the barracks door, the purple, white and red lights glowing brilliantly on the ground beneath him to show him to his new home. It was an eerie half-face mask that caught his attention, glowing brightly as he stepped through the door.
It seemed that there were a few new soldiers here, and a line seemed to be forming near the boy who assumed was the commander. He raked his fingers through his red hair, and took a look around, noticing several of the other soldiers were looking at him. He still had on the green and yellow of Chameleon army, but until he got his new uniform, there was no changing that.
Finally it was his turn. He stepped forward, and grinned his pearly whites. "Hey there, sir." He produced his transfer slip. "Joseph Regan."
Now, not just because of length, but because of depth, the second post provides a lot more for the commander to work with. (Or even an interrupting other character, for that matter.) Instead of just being a one-sentence post, it provides substance to mold and shape into the story.
KO, I think this is what Chronus is talking about, but if it's not, then I have no idea. Hope that helps.
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Ummm....... I don't see the Launch in the armies list. I know we're not an 'Army' but still.... do we not get credit for being the longest continuously running group in VBS? Pretty please? Launch Leader would be me - or in my absence Saanengirl. Also, I no longer use the rynz2002 at yahoo dot com account so you can get rid of that.
Perhaps to help stop spam in people's inboxes, could we maybe look at advertising email addresses using at and dot? IE craig dot broadley at gmail dot com
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Thank you for the info, this will really come in handy. I've not done this before so I'll start reading into the toon barracks. I didn't know where to start and I just ran across this thread. Thanks again!
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Bump and a question: regarding being in two places at once... how is VBS currently handling the IC/OOC timewarp? I.e., "the rest of my army has moved to Battle Room Practice, but I was in a side conversation with someone who in real life has been sidetracked by finals/called to two weeks in the Army Reserve/eaten by a tiger. A conversation that would IC-ly take two minutes instead is taking two months, and in the meantime my character missed the entire practice AND lunch afterwards!"
In any forum-based game I've played in, this has been a problem; most often, it's hand-waved, where as long as you take care not to create temporal paradoxes, people don't look too hard if your character is ooc-ly being written in two places at once. But the lovely guidelines above imply that y'all are being kind of stern on that sort of thing... so then how is the ic/ooc problem handled?
In other news... [long list of happy expletives deleted] Asp Army is still listed in the records somewhere! *punches the air* [more deleted happy expletives] YES!!! Long live Rick Li and Asp Army!
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