RULES FOR THE PBeM

The purpose of these rules is to retain the flavor of ongoing dialogue in the PBeM while lessening the burden of the Refs, who are now forced to handle tens of thousands of lines of text for every turn. They are not final, and discussion on them is open on the pbemchat line; however, they should be assumed to be in place until an official Ref fiat overrules part or all of them. If you want to put in any objections to them, do so as soon as possible on the chat line.

These rules are in three parts: first, rules for the form and content of posted moves, second, a description of our first try at timeflow structuring, and third, rules and suggestions on etiquette in the game. They may be verbose and repeat themselves in places; this is to assure that everyone sees in cold print exactly what is expected of them.

RULES FOR POSTING

1. DO NOT ECHO ANY MESSAGES TO PBeMREF: we get them automatically, and the software on Nooster doesn't always strip out extra copies. Use pbemref if and only if you need to talk to the Refs directly, outside of game actions.

2. ALL MESSAGES MEANT TO BE INCLUDED IN THE TURN SUMMARY MUST BE LABELLED "PBEM TURN": This differentiates "PBeM" messages, which include the dialogue that makes up 90% of the game, from "PBEM TURN" messages, which should include some form of action as well as dialogue (unless the dialogue is critical to the game in and of itself; an example would be the mutiny on the Kingfisher).

   Each character is limited to two PBeM TURN moves per day of real time. No single move can exceed 100 lines (counting included text, but excluding mail headers and .sigs). Included lines should be kept to a minimum, but must be sufficient to accurately place interwoven moves in their proper context.

   There is no limit to the number of PBeM moves per day, but the size of each move should also be limited to under 100 lines (i.e. about four screenfuls of text on an ordinary monitor).

   Naturally the limits do not apply to the Refs, although it is unlikely that many of the NPCs controlled by the Refs are ever going to need such exceptions.

3. MESSAGES MUST FOLLOW STRICT TITLING RULES: Every message should have the following information in its SUBJECT line-- the word "PBeM" must be the first word, followed by locale and timestamp. EXAMPLES:
   Subject: PBeM TURN: Elissa Bridge - 1350 138-1120

   Subject: PBeM: Khtaliyr Commander's Quarters - early morning

   Please note the colon (":") after the key phrases "PBEM TURN" and "PBEM". Make sure it's there as it is used by the automatic collating software when constructing a consolidated turn.

   Also note the " - " between the location and timestamp. This is also used by the automatic collating software. DO NOT OMIT EITHER OF THESE SPECIAL CHARACTER SEQUENCES.

   These timestamps must be as precise as you can make them, to aid us. From now on, any turn that does NOT have this title format will be chucked in the bitbucket automatically. (We're putting together software to help us collate turns, and a standard format is a necessity for it.)

   Messages for the chat line are not subject to any restrictions, but please begin the Subject line with the words "PBeM CHAT." Remember that pbemchat is for metadiscussions, and is not archived.

4. FORMATTING YOUR PBeM TURN/MOVE: For the most part, PBeM move and turn postings can be free-format. However, to aid in collation at the end of each turn, we (the Refs. and turn collators) request that you adhere to the following formatting guidelines:
   1. Do not indent paragraphs. Everything should be left justified and should start in column one.
   2. Separate paragraphs by a single blank line.
   3. Try (whenever possible) to present dialog as separate paragraphs from actions.
   4. When presenting dialog (whether spoken directly, over the comm, or written), use the correct encapsulating characters to help identify how the dialog is being heard by others. For the sake of completeness (and for the benefit of the new players), the dialog rules are shown here.

      "I use double quotes here," the speaker said out loud.

      _Underscores are conventional for computer speech, such as my own,_ adds PATER.

      << Double angled brackets here, >> came a voice over the commdot.

      The screen lights up with the following message. ::Typed text (such as that appearing on a monitor or console) should be in double colons.::

      *Asterisks are preferred in psionic contact,* the mental voice says.

      {Curly braces are indication of a foreign language being spoken.} says a voice in Trokh.

      Yeesh, he thought to himself non-psionically. At least I don't need punctuation to THINK!

5. "PBeM" MESSAGES ARE NOT ARCHIVED: They will be read by the Refs as they come along, and if need be we will issue fiats on them right on the spot. When the time comes to collate the Turn summary, however, they will be picked out and thrown away by the collation software. This will reduce the Turns to a reasonable size.

6. BE CAREFUL WHEN REPLYING TO PBeM MAIL: If you're replying to a message, you should edit the Subject line to fit the proper format. Any mail that begins "Re:" may or may not be read by the Refs; it will certainly not be considered a legal move, and will not be archived. We ask that this editing of Subject lines be a signal to players to choose their words and actions carefully before firing off a reply to another move.

7. THE DISTRIBUTION OF MESSAGES IS UP TO THE PLAYERS: Some people post their actions to the whole PBeM; others prefer to keep things to themselves. We are not particular, and neither is the software doing the distribution on Nooster. All that we ask is that each posting be designated PBEM or PBEM TURN.

8. DIALOGUE TURNS: There are several players (I won't name names, but we Refs were two of them before we achieved Godhood) who love the dialogue between characters for the sake of dialogue; they get into their characters and talk to each other. That's fine and dandy, but the dialogues involved rarely add directly to the plot of the game. Dialogue should be restricted to PBeM moves, not Turns; that will let the dialogues go on without forcing the Refs to do more than read them over quickly and correct glaring errors in factual content.

   If a group of players thinks that their dialogue is turning into something that really is important to the game, they can retroactively have the dialogue entered into the game summary as a Turn. BUT the responsibility for preparing the dialogue for inclusion will be theirs, not the Refs'.

   A player group who want their dialogue to be included as a Turn must conclude the dialogue to the satisfaction of all parties involved (including any NPCs the Refs are running), collect the relevant posts themselves, edit them into the proper order, remove all included text from replies, remove signatures and headers, identify each character speaking by adding their name at the right points (most players do this automatically when they write, "Joe says '...'") should such data be missing, and submit the dialogue in completed form to the Refs (mail it to pbemref with the title "PBeM dialogue: approved?") for approval before posting it to the PBeM as a Turn... all before the turn in which the dialogue occurs officially ends. We cannot have dialogues sliding over into subsequent Turns! If you must, halt the dialogue in progress and start a new one at the next Turn's start.

   Does this sound like a lot of painful work? well, golly jeepers, kids, it IS. We've decided to let people do their own self-policing and tracking of timescales for the long-drawn-out-soliloquy-contests. We know that the people who do this stuff the most are also willing and able to volunteer to put the posts in order; if we get them as such, then we don't mind how long they are because we can drop them into the summaries in one piece.

   There are no limits on how long a dialogue can be or how long it takes to get included; we just ask that the people involved use a little common sense in terms of getting Turns out on time. If a dialogue takes a week to finish and results in an action being taken that causes contradictions of Turns that were posted while the dialogue was being assembled, the Refs are going to get really steamed in a big hurry. The one firm limit that we insist upon is that no dialogue be carried over into the next Turn.

   It should be obvious that dialogue compression of this type is only needed for people who (a) talk a lot (b) mind if their discussions get forgotten about. Most people should be able to go merrily along and not worry about their casual chatter not getting archived. This is part of the self-policing process that we'd like more players to use; it isn't always necessary to have every idle conversation turn into a moment that can change the course of history....

9. LIMIT YOUR ACTIONS TO ONE TIMELINE AT A TIME: From now on, no character may be doing two things at once in different locales with different timestamps. Anyone who tries to jump the gun on this rule based on the assumption that "there's a really juicy thing getting started over there, and I'm ALMOST done over here", is going to get a cadmium-sabot enema from the Refs. A great deal of the shit we go through in trying to collate these moves is trying to reproduce a sequential order, even given timestamps, for each character's actions. Since timestamps often conflict, they do not solve the problem.

   One exception to this rule is allowed on a permanent basis: A character may at any time pause in their current timeline to answer a comm call. Such answers must be brief and to the point-- preferably only one response to a query, and no ongoing dialogue. MAKING comm calls is part of a timeline, even if the character is alone at the moment.

NOTES ON THE DUTY-CYCLE SYSTEM

The differentiation between ordinary PBeM moves and PBeM TURN moves allows us to do one more thing that will improve playability for those who LOOOOVE this game while still leaving it manageable for the Refs: it allows the Refs to shut down the game frequently to collate shorter Turns and keep events up to date, WITHOUT stopping the play for the purposes of dialogue, which makes up over 90% of the content as it is. The game will, for a month or so, be run on what we call a "duty cycle" system; if it works out, we'll make it common practice.

Here's how it will work: The duty cycle of the PBeM will be two weeks on, two weeks off. During the two weeks on, the game will proceed from a plot and action standpoint, with dialogue and Turn moves coexisting. All dialogue Turns, if they are to be archived, MUST be handed in by the end of the Turn. The Turn will then end, and be collated and redistributed on the TML, as always, over the next two weeks, by the Refs. During that time, however, dialogue between characters MAY STILL CONTINUE. This is the time "between crises" that characters have to just sit and talk, work out differences, develop ways of dealing with problems, and so on. As with PBeM dialogue moves during the two weeks on, these moves will be read by the Refs and adjudicated if necessary, but they will not be archived. They will be subject to a few restrictions:

1. Conversations can not be carried across Turn boundaries, starts or stops. Conversations between Turns, as with conversations in Turns, can only go on for two weeks of real time. Also, each character can only participate in one such dialogue at a time. (We can hear certain people gnashing their teeth from here, but we have to keep SOME kind of a lid on this.)

2. Events that occurred in the previous Turn, the one being collated at the time, are to be treated as past tense. They cannot be altered retroactively, only commented on and learned from.

3. All other rules for PBeM moves still apply; use proper headers and keep individual moves under 100 lines when possible. Be considerate of post length, but you may choose to spread your dialogue over the whole PBeM list or restrict it to a few characters.

We think this system may allow for the best of both worlds, but we ask in return that players be responsible in their dialogue. It's tempting to natter all over the place, but remember that as a party we would like to keep the game moving forward. If you MUST wax eloquent about something not directly linked to the game's plot, please do so between Turns.

NOTES ON GAME PLAY AND ETIQUETTE

Mark and Metlay took over the PBeM just about at the time that the UWO (now Nooster) system automated it to the point where the bandwidth exploded to the breaking point. Our rulings are not always popular. We don't make friends with every step the game takes. But we're doing our best with a game that is literally ten times too big to handle, and we ask for your patience and indulgence. We don't want to alienate or upset anyone, and we certainly do not plan to deliberately screw anyone. We want to make this an exciting, fun adventure for everyone involved. However, we will not be able to please everyone all the time. Life isn't like that. So we would like to remind you of a few things:

1. THE REF'S RULINGS ARE FINAL. We are always willing to listen to arguments in defense of actions we rule out. But when we say "no more discussion on this," we mean it.

2. THINK ABOUT THE PBeM AS A GAME. This bit of advice has two important parts: one, don't forget that it is just a game, and it isn't the end of the world if your character gets reamed; and two, remember that your actions can contribute to or detract from the enjoyment of the game by others. Try to behave in a responsible fashion in your mode of play and in your mode of posting.

3. BE HEARD, BUT DON'T SHOUT OTHERS DOWN. If you're naturally quiet, try to post often enough to at least be recognized as being around. If you're a big talker, shut up once in a while and let someone else get a word in edgewise. Remember that we're handling a bunch of NPCs and can't always be where you need us at the right time, and the same goes for people whose characters are critical but whose players are rare posters. We plan to have a "station-keeping" rule in place for this game: any character who isn't heard from is at his duty station or asleep in his cabin, in case we need to assume a position and the player doesn't respond.

4. AVOID SPIRALLING TIMESCALES! It is rare that an action CAN and MUST take place at such and such a time and no later; if you can do something later and thereby avoid wedging in a move "now", a later timestamp will make you the Refs' friend for life. This game can't move forward if everyone is always trying to get the last word in. Try reading dialogue out loud as you read it; time it. You'll see that the amount of stuff that gets said and done is ridiculously high for the supposed timespan of a turn. This is because timeslots tend to spiral in on themselves if an action occurs and people feel they need to "get their licks in" before that action occurs. Don't do this if you can help it. Stretch out; act when it's appropriate to do so, and don't panic if you don't make it "in time."

5. AVOID HANGING PLOTLINES! It is nice to get everyone involved in actively doing something at all times, but some people just can't post that often. I'm hoping that the two-Turn-moves-per-day rule, the one-action-line-at-a-time rule, and the non-savability of dialogue will thin things out a bit, but you should avoid handing the flow of play over to a character whose player is never around. And people who don't normally chime in when asked shouldn't be surprised if the Refs take over their character long enough to provide a simple answer or action and get a hung move going again. We don't like putting words or actions in people's mouths, but if we need to neaten a dangling thread, we'll do it. Please be forewarned and be patient.

   We don't want to end this on a sour note, but it needs to be said....

6. IF YOUR ACTIONS DETRACT FROM THE ENJOYMENT OF THE OTHER PLAYERS, YOU WILL BE REMOVED. This has nothing to do with what your character does with the other characters- that should be whatever it takes to keep him or her IN character. It involves other real people and whether or not they're enjoying the game with you in it. Be considerate and polite whenever possible. Yield to others sometimes to get things done. And remember one important difference between this year and previous years: From now on, the list of people whose vote counts when the removal of an unpleasant character is under consideration has two new names. Mark Cook and Mike Metlay. We took our personal opinions out of the loop when we became Refs, and tolerated everyone in the game without allowing ourselves recourse to eject people. We've decided that we deserve as much say as anyone else when it comes to dealing with problem players. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter.

Thanks for your attention. Try to keep these rules handy and make sure you understand them; it seems like a lot of trouble, but if we don't try to control things to some extent we're going to fly apart at the seams. Feedback is encouraged, especially now before the game begins.

- M&M

Copyright © 1997, 1998