You wanna know it? Ask it!
Index What are the rules? Why all the Rules and Restrictions? What are logs and why are they important? What is the difference between PC and NPC? What is OOC and IC? What happens if we get into a fight? What happens if I get sick of my characters?NEW Q Why no Eevees? Birds/Dogs of Power How do I begin? Can I play more then one character? What if I have to ask a Question? Is there a special format to posting? How do I interact with another character? Can I evolve without gaining the appropriate level? Can I play MewTwo? What about Mew? What about Hybrids? Are there any restrictions to breeding? And the Offspring? Can we get Trainers? Can we play Trainers? How do I earn XP?
What are the rules? 1. You start with a basic pokemon at level 5 - no Mewtwos, birds/dogs of power, Serebi or Eevees. 2. You do not play trainers. You play WILD Pokemon. 3. No powerplaying. This means making your pokemon super powerful and doing unusual things. If you do this, you will be warned and then, banned if it continues. 4. There is a maximum of 4 characters per player. The exception being NPCs, more on this later. 5. You gain XP through interesting posts, good backgrounds, playing unusual pokemon and being imaginative. Also through pictures. You do not gain XP through fighting unless it is in your Pokemon's personality to do so. 6. I dish out XP weekly or so, when I have the time. Every 10 points of XP, you go up a lvl, at lvl 16 and 32 you can evolve. 7. IF your Pokemon requires a stone to evolve, tell me when you want to evolve and we shall sort something out. 8. Rare candy, antidotes, and all those other neat items do not exist, as far as you a concerned. You are wild Pokemon. If you find any, it will be at my discretion. So saying, if you are poisoned, you are allowed to find a herb or something to heal yourself!
Why all the rules and restrictions? These are to keep things fair. Some people here have worked for months creating their characters, building their personalities and gaining special abilities and experience, and it is unfair to allow people to come in at a more powerful level then them. I have generally found that the best writers and players are more then happy to start with things basic and allow their characters to grow, and the more power-hungry players who can't write, normally get themselves beaten down and eventually give up, thus meaning that as far as Lake Eerie goes, nearly all the players are good writers with interesting and creative ideas.
What are Logs and why are they Important? The Logs are the stories we write, cooperatively. They are important because they are basically what this game is all about creating! Stories! If you feel your character is going something noteworthy, then store all the relevant emails in a special folder and cut and paste them together, taking out any OOC comments or irrelevant bits. These are also helpful for new players, who may not have a good idea of what is going on and do not wish to read almost 10000 posts!
What is the difference between a PC and an NPC? PCs are Player Characters - only you post for them, they gain XP and they are your character. NPCs are minor role characters, such as those that you use to achieve an ends (like all LV's Nidoran, for example), they do not gain XP and other people can use them, with permission. The only exception here is my characters, because I cannot dish out XP to myself! They are more-or-less PCs that do not earn XP.
What is OOC and IC OOC: used for "out of character" such as when one is posting a question or comment. Please use these! IC: In character, so that players know when you are back in character!
What happens if I get in a fight? This is VERY important for all of you to read. When you are fighting, you make the attack, but the target decides the damage. I know this means that the opponent can make it so they take no damage ever, but that's considered bad form and is decidedly better then having your character's leg shattered without you being able to do anything (it happened to me, ok). Here's an example: (Dark's player) "Dark lowered his horn, preparing to stab Thor in the throat". (gives intention) (Thor's player) "Thor brought his horn down to meet Dark's, thus pushing it aside, although it scratched him in the process. He oculd feel the venom race in." It is good form to lose about half your fights.
What happens if I get sick of my characters? You have two choices here, one, you can kill them off, or two you can retire them off. If you are absent for a lengthy period of time and your characters are an essential part of another plot, then the players left with that plot retain the right to take over your characters. In this case your characters are regarded as NPCs this means that they can be killed off at the whim of the players or moderators. If you are planning to leave, you can offer your characters up for adoption, but once again, if noone wants them then you must face the fact that they may be killed or used as part of a plot device. If you are taking a leave of absense and plan to come back, please let us know and make sure you leave your characters away from a plotline! If you just disappear in the middle of a crucial story outline, then whatever happens, happens, and you cannot come crawling back saying "I don't want Floppy to die, bring her back to life." If you want to change characters, because you tire of one, the best thing to do is work out a lovely way to get rid of them that leaves everyone feeling touched. Having them die saving another's life is a good way to do this.
Why no Eevees? Well, no new Eevees. Because I have found these to be easily exploited and I do not particularly like people who log on with an eevee, evolve it and then stop playing. Also, I am sick and tired of made up Eons!
Birds/Dogs of Power You can play what I call the juveniles of these, I don't have names for all of them yet, but there are several of them in the world and when the bird/dog of power dies, one of these will evolve to fill its place. If you play one of these, you cannot evolve. Birds of Power: Moltres = Phoenix, Zapdos = Elechick, Articuno = Auroris; for more details of these, see my gallery - here. Dogs of Power: Suikuin = frost.
How do I begin? Firstly, come up with a basic story, anything will do, a meeting with a friend, a small event, if you have too much difficulty getting started, let me know and I'll give you a hand.
Can I play more than one character? Yes, but it's not advisable until you get the hang of your first one. If you play two characters they will earn XP independent of each other.
What if I have to ask a question? Either ask me or post it on the list with the heading: "OOP: a question" or some such thing.
Is there a special format to posting? It would be helpful if you began by filling the subject line with where you are and a brief title: ie: "(forest) Goldy goes hunting". This allows other people to know where you are and whether they should interact with you.
What if I want to interact with another player? Put yourself in an appropriate position to do so and see if they make a move. Otherwise get them email address from the list and email them personally.
Can I evolve without gaining the appropriate levels? Yes, if you can find the special stones to do so. These are hidden and will require some hunting for.
Can I play MewTwo? No, Mewtwo is unique.
How about Mew? No, not without special permission. All of the Legendary Pokemon need special permission to play, even in their unevolved forms.
What about Hybrids? Normally I would say "no", but with the new G/S rules, it is possible for Pokemon to interbreed with almost anything. However, it is highly unlikely that a Nidoran and an Ekans would breed together in the wild state! Hybrids are not permitted as your first character, and only may be permitted if relationships between current characters allow hybrids to be born (ie: such as Achi and Tachi).
Are there any restrictions to breeding? You must be at least level 16 to breed, or with special dispensation from one of the moderators. Unless there is some strong reason why it should work, your chosen mate must be a species similar, or the same, to your own. This means prey/predator relationships are highly unlikely - dog pokemon (Vulpix, Frost, Growlithe, Houndour) will mate freely within those species, and meowth and Nyura can interbreed. If in doubt, ask!
And the offspring? With offspring of two different species, expect half to be resembling one parent, and the other half the other - ie: a Nidorina and a Ootachi could produce two Otachi and two Nidoran. The Otachi may have some Nidoran features - ie, blue or pinkish colouring, ability to use poison attacks... Actual hybrids, where the physical form resembles both equally, are especially rare and have a lower survival rate. Why is this? To stop Lake Eerie being taken over by odd Pokemon!
Can we get Trainers? If you happen to be caught by a Trainer, you either have to escape or lose your character. You can keep playing it as long as your Trainer is at Lake Eerie, but will only be able to write from the Pokemon's perspective, so if you're trapped in a Pokeball, this is kind of dull.
Can I play a Trainer? No, there are plenty of on-line Pokemon games that allow you to play Trainers. I'm trying for something completely different.
How do we gain XP? By posting interesting stories, providing a picture, providing a background. You will earn some XP through battling, but not a lot. Any battles for the sheer heck of fighting will br frowned upon!
