FAQ 7

Joining X-Project

The Basics

Here I am, approved and ready to go. What now?

Now you go through the email the mods sent you, with the To Do list. Join the appropriate comms and mailing lists, get your Wiki user ID set up, introduce yourself to your fellow players.

Can I do my character's Wiki page before I bring them into the game?

Certainly you can. It's a good way to get into things slowly, especially if you have a complicated entrance plot. Your character won't appear on the list of characters, however, until they're actually seen in-game.

Is there a deadline for the Wiki page?

We'd prefer to have something up on your character Wiki page by the end of the month that you introduced your character. If you don't have it done by then, the mods may step in and post your application instead.

I've never used a Wiki before. Help?

The Wiki has a bunch of helpful links situated here. If you're still stuck, ask one of the mods or one of the other players for help.

How do I introduce my character? Do I have to have an actual plot?

Not necessarily. In fact, if you're brand new to XP, we'd recommend you keep your character's introduction to the school as simple as possible. If you do want to run a plot, we suggest getting an established player to help you, and to make sure you have plenty of time to organise yourself and your players.

How do I get people involved in my intro plot?

Ask for volunteers on the mailing list when you introduce yourself. If you're finding there's not much response, let the mods know and they'll help you out.

How often do I have to post?

At least once a month, you need to have some kind of activity on the game - character journal, log, x_communication post, comments, whatever, as long as it's activity.

Contact Details

Do I have to provide my personal contacts on the contact details parts of pages?

Not if you don't feel comfortable. There is a player-only spreadsheet available for players to add their details if they don't want to share OOC details.

Do I have to have a personal LJ?

Having a personal LJ is not compulsory and we’re happy to use your character LJ for the player-only comm.

Er, what’s this AIM thing you mention?'

It’s a direct messenger service. Once upon a time, everyone used it to log. These days, people seem to prefer email or Google Messenger. Whatever floats your boat, basically - give us what you want us to know about.

Journals

I've got a brand new character journal. Do I have to friend _all_ these journals?

Yes, you do, in order to a) follow the gameplay and b) let other characters comment in your character's journal. Alas, LJ has cancelled the mass Add Friends function, so you will have to go through by hand. However, most of the time the mods will have updated the friendslist/created the friendslist for you before handing you the password.

What if my character wouldn't use a journal to talk about their life?

For the sake of gameplay and the minimum activity requirement, some leeway in characterisation is encouraged in this area. Some characters use their journals to announce absences and returns, others make arrangements for meetings or social events. Some post their classes, be they students or teachers, or opinions on current events. There's a lot of options.

Can I do locked/private entries?

There are no 'friends locked' or 'private' posts - all posts can be seen by everyone. If you want to limit who can see and respond to a post, we recommend one of the communities - xp_generation_x, for example, is visible only to the members of the Generation X team - the students and graduates. Or you can have an IC email thread or SMS/text conversation on x_communication. The Comms page gives a full explanation of the various communities.

Should I make my character journal open to anyone to comment?

All character journals should have commenting locked to Friends Only, to avoid spammers and to prevent accidental posting with OOC journals. It has happened in the past that we've had non-players troll journals, and to avoid issues, we encourage people to make their journal comments friends-only to post, but open for anyone to read. To do so, go to the settings page and go to the sixth option down; just set Enable Comments to Friends and you're set.

I've never used LJ before. Help?

The LJ FAQ is available here. A helpful hint from the start is to set your posting format as HTML, with the auto-formatting disabled. This allows you to use the normal LJ coding without the rich text settings getting in the way.

I'm ready for my first post. How do I do it? Do I need permission?

If you're posting a log, make sure it goes in x_logs. See the Logs section of this FAQ for details on formatting. If it's a post to the character's journal, just go ahead. No permission is needed before starting into the game - the mods will have covered everything with your welcome email.

Character Introduction Plans

Do characters have to live in the Mansion?

Voted on by the game June 17, 2011

Initially, yes. This allows for all players to ensure that their character is firmly established in the game, and to build strong connections with other players and characters. Also, IC the mansion is a sanctuary in a world that is dangerous to mutants - it’s the safest place for your mutant character to be.

It is possible that after a character has started in the mansion and has established themselves that they choose to move out into another location, such as District X or Salem Center. But it is strongly suggested that characters reside in the mansion or in District X where casual logging opportunities will be easy to facilitate and where connections to other characters can easily be maintained.

Exceptions may be made for players returning to the game or new players adopting well established, previously played characters. These exceptions will be considered by the mods on an individual basis.

So it's okay if my character eventually moves out and lives somewhere else entirely?

Part of XP is being able to have the chance for random logging, and characters living away from the school don't have those opportunities. Sometimes, in order to take a break or to pursue a particular character thread, people will move out, but the preference is for them to come back at some stage or settle in District X where random, casual logging opportunities also exist to a lesser degree. Many players find it difficult to maintain connections to other characters when their character lives outside of the already established areas of residence.

Does my character have to be on a team?

Part of the relaunch was intended to address the “floating” population of the mansion, those who lived there but weren’t part of any particular team. It was found that these characters, over time, had less involvement in the game and their players found it hard to connect. To address this problem, and to reflect the “dark new world” of Phase 2, characters have the following options:

Adults with full control over their powers/combat training/etc: to join the X-Men, X-Factor Investigations, X-Force, X-Corps, or become part of the Xavier Institute Staff (which may include teaching Generation X).

Teenagers, young adults and adults with no training or control: join Generation X, which is the training team which receives tutelage from the rest of the characters and provide manpower or skills to the other teams. From there, they can move on to one of the other teams, or become Institute staff (if they aren't already!)

Do I have to play a student or a teacher to be in the mansion?

No, the mansion is a sanctuary for mutants, although to preserve the cover of it being a private institute, we prefer adults have an on-paper reason to be living at the mansion. Graduate students attending college, for example, will live at the mansion because it provides a safer environment and extra powers training, plus caters to any special needs they might have, or they might be part of the Xavier Institute. Other adults may work with X-Corps, or on the grounds in a non-teaching capacity.

UNDER RECONSTRUCTION - MORE TO FOLLOW