User:Jaszon Maynard/Jaszons sandbox SWRP Intro

Welcome to Star Wars Role-Playing in Second Life! (SWRP)

The SWRP community is comprised of various sub-communities that have formed around common interests in various storylines, locations, regions, rules, etc.

The purpose of this intro is not to describe or advocate any sub-community (which come and go anyway), but to give some general ideas on how to get started in SWRP, as well as widely-accepted "good practices" in roleplay (RP). Hopefully as you get started in a particular community or region, that community or region offers more specific steps on how to get started with playing there.

Finding Star Wars Regions

The easiest way to find a few is to go into Second Life's Search and search for "Star Wars" in Places and that will allow you to locate a few SW regions.

Styles of Play

Pure Action

While many people in SWRP point out that it's "role-play", and thus they would prefer everyone there actually play a role, for some people the SW regions are just about using SW weapons in a SW universe, and they'd rather treat it as a big shooting game.

If shooting is your only interest, be aware that some regions do not welcome random shooting, and violating their rules (which usually are automatically given to you on a Notecard before you enter a region) could get you banned from the region. However, you may find regions that allow "kill-on-sight" with little RP required, or you might attempt to RP yourself as a crazy person or a loner terrorist. Be aware though, in some regions this then means you will be treated as if you are crazy, or a terrorist, and that might not be fun. Or you can attempt to find regions or players or groups with similar interest and you guys can shoot each other with no repercussions (provided you don't break any of the region's rules).

Shooting is not a terribly "deep" game, so there's not much else needed in the way of introduction if this is your interest. You'll have to start visiting regions, checking their rules, or asking around for areas or players where heavy shooting action is allowed, and start doing your thing. Though the tips below on exploring or "starting your character" might help you do your initial investigation into regions easily without violating any region rules, and give you tips on finding advice/mentors, and you may wish to read the section on "Combat systems".

Role-Playing (RP)

If what you'd like to do is "play a role" (in which ocassional combat may or may not be one part of being that character), one good way to get started is to pick a role you'd like to try investing some time in for a while, pick a place (or several), and start playing. Once you begin to get your bearings, you might decide you want to try other places to see if you like someplace else better, or you may change your mind and decide that your initial role pick isn't going to be a good fit for you and you'd like to switch to a new character.

What It Means To RP

write about IC, OOC, playing as real, avatars, metagaming, tags, godmoding, timelines, canon, being maverick, etc

Selecting a Role, and Exploring

So, you need to pick a role to play. Even if you already know you want to be a Sith or a mechanic or whatever, these exploration tips may still be useful so you can decide in what region you'd like to begin your playing as a Sith. If you don't know what you want to be, you may find it helpful to you to wander a few regions, watch things, and talk with a few players. Eventually you can decide what role fits you and you'd like to invest time into.

Exploring

Observing in some regions is very simple. Just head to the region, skim their rules to see what rules apply to OOC visitors, then start exploring. In some regions it is as simple as wearing the free "observer" tag that they offer or sticking an OOC title on your avatar, and some also provide free basic clothing so you don't disrupt the look of the region, and can feel yourself like you belong (indeed, in some regions you may not enter unless you look like you belong).

Generally when you first arrive in a region, you arrive in an area that is not IC. Often there is shopping in this area. You must leave this initial area to get into the IC section of the region.

As you walk around in the region, if you don't feel like you're ready to RP yet, if you are accosted or addressed, you can simply reply OOC as described earlier. You might say:
((I'm new, right now I just want to watch))
((I'm new, I'm not going to RP right now, though if you can answer some questions in IM I'd like that)) [if you're in a private location, like a house, you don't have to use IMs for OOC chat]
((I'm new, I'm not going to RP right now, though if you can give me a tour or introduction I'd like that))

Choosing Your Initial Region

Be aware that certain regions are less hospitable to certain character types than other regions. For instance, if you want to be a Light Jedi, as a new user that will be a pretty tough thing to do in a region ruled by a Sith empire. You would have to conceal your status at all times, couldn't train openly, wear disguises, there may not be many other Light Jedi around who can help you and mentor you, etc.

This is true for starting a character in any region that doesn't have a lot of that character type. You may have a problem finding compatible mentors, groups, play partners, and people with which to hang out, all of which can be valuable until you're more comfortable role-playing on your own. This can be even harder for character types that are not typically prominent. Jedi have temples, Imperials have their own buildings, etc, but if you wish to be a mechanic or an entertainer, you may have a hard time locating others of your type. Indeed, some regions are not very supportive of players that aren't interested in combat of some form or another.

Starting Your Character

Once you've selected a role, and a region to start in,
like the look, players, rules, playstyle, comfortable
write about mentors, groups, etc
establishing your new self, acting as your new self

RP Best Practices

not rules, just good ideas & techniques

Combat Systems

classing, types, re-classing

check notecards help resources, webforums, etc?