Nova Roleplay Expectations

Introduction to Nova Sector

'Nova Sector' (Same name for the general area IC)

• While we are a direct downstream of /TG/ Station, we differ heavily in our expectations both in roleplay, and how items are used.
  • Sometimes, we'll have items or features from upstream that don't necessarily align with our principles, so try to keep our general ruleset in mind despite how something appears it should be used. (For EX: you still need CI to use a parapen.)

• We do not expect new players to know every rule right away, just to work with staff if you happen to break them.

• Nova Sector Main should be treated as a roleplay-first server, that means the expectation is that you should be atleast trying to put roleplay at the forefront, this doesn't mean you have to do nothing but emotes, but that you shouldn't acting as a general detractor from the roleplaying environment.

Be respectful of others.

Recommended Reading!

To get off on the right foot in both the application process and our server, please follow the following list and read the documents provided.

A basic understanding of the required documents is required in order to gain entry into the server:

1. Community Rules: Here!
2. Server Rules: Nova Sector 13 Ruleset and Rulings - The idea is to get a basic overview of what is and what is not allowed. Most are just common sense.
3. General Player Policy & Standards: You're already here!
4. Keep the expectations around erotic-or-equivalent situations in mind: Miscellaneous Roleplaying Policy
5. Check over our usage of "Combat Indicator": (see below)

"Combat Indicator" and it's uses

1. Combat Indicator

Combat indicators signal the transitioning from roleplay, to 'combat,' or elsewise putting yourself at an advantage.

After activating CI, you're required to wait atleast two seconds if they don't CI back, or not-at-all if they do, this applies to everyone involved, or about to be.
Think of it as a handshake that should be returned by the other party, so that people cannot get the jump on someone who is typing, and or not paying attention. You cannot CI before a situation or interaction, unless they're PMS. The follow up acts are something that exist in a somewhat grey area, and shouldn't be used in bad faith, or with intent to gain an advantage, and rulebreak or not will be context dependent: Setting up a slip, or a beartrap while being approached, Running away mid escalating situation, Radio'ing something that will get others to show up, (or any other method of communication, PDA, carrier pigeon, news caster, request-help from departmental consoles, etc) Most things that put yourself at a mechanical advantage, without being direct attacks, entirely dependent on follow-up (It's fine to shove someone over to get past if you aren't talking to them, but you shouldn't shove them mid message to steal their baton.) If you or your target is in the middle of active mechanics, (already fighting, running away, trying to break/get into somewhere, or away, etc.), you don't have to wait, but should still pop CI. if something is forcing mechanics, i.e. another player, an event like depressurization, previous wounds, etc, CI isn't required, though you shouldn't stage this.
There are other situations, where you don't need to CI, because you're not doing it for an active advantage (shoving someone down without a follow up, taking something unrelated off a table, checking over your inventory, whipping a pie at someone, etc) but this should only be done in good faith, and if they are being done for an advantage (pie'ing someone before running up to shove and grab them) you should still CI!

Creating your Character!

Character Creation Guidelines
Your character must be functional. Your character must be functional and capable of doing their job. Your character should be able to function on their own, regardless of help or not. This however, doesn't meant they have to be a perfect, law abiding citizen, they can be criminals, liars, thieves, murderers, even deviants, however, they shouldn't be incapable of functioning in the station's environment. A character cannot be excessively primitive if they are part of a civilized faction such as the station crew.
Your character must fit the setting in a grounded way Your custom species must be adapted if they are of supernatural or cartoonish origin that is ill-fitting to the server, without adapting it to be more believable. i.e. Demons, Angels, My Little Pony, etc. For example: if you want an imp, incubus, succubus, and so forth character, you may if you avoid excessive mentions of magic, or abrahamic origins, stick to what's grounded and believable. Note: Possessing cartoony art of your characters is completely fine.
Give your character a proper name Give your character an acceptable name. Do not name them after real-world people (historical, political or just general popular figures) or pre-existing fictional characters (Don't just name your lawyer Phoenix Wright, be creative!). You should not give your characters titles in their names, unless a mime or clown.
No mary sue characters Your character should not be good at nearly everything, and especially not literally everything. They shouldn't be of notable importance to the lore. This means, while you can be good at engineering, and know how to patch yourself up, you shouldn't go from building your own functioning SM, to doing heart surgery. Their background, equally, should detail where the knowledge they do have, when capable, especially in regards to background records.
No feral-like custom species Your custom species and character cannot be a talking four-legged animal with no arms. They also cannot be anything too animalistic to the point they are difficult to distinguish from an actual animal. Taurs are allowed, and borgs are not a custom species.
Flavor is encouraged within reason You are allowed to be flexible with your character, even if they have abilities or features that cannot be fully depicted within the game. However, it cannot be anything that may influence mechanics, even if it is only for emotes. For instance, you can say your character has minor psionic abilities, given you act within reason about them.
No purely fetish characters Your character or custom species cannot revolve solely around a fetish and should instead be a believable, fleshed-out individual. For reference; if you have a vore fetish, the character can have physical alterations to accomodate this, but they should be able to exist without the fetish being the main focus., Another example are latex characters. As long as the character is sensible with a reasonable backstory on why they are the way they are. This does not prohibit characters that are designed to allow for whatever fetish you may have, rather your character must be well-balanced in their personality and appearance. Remember: While this server allows for ERP, it is not its central focus. For any NSFW detail in the flavortext/oocnotes/speciesnotes/records, please write them under an "incoming NSFW" warning.
Adults only Your custom species or character must follow the adults-only rule. Attempts to skirt past this rule will be dealt with harshly. To keep it simple, they must look like adults, and they should not act like a child either. Short species like dwarves, goblins, kobolds, and so forth are allowed, however, they must be physically mature. Age play is explicitly forbidden and will be met with a community blacklist.

Roleplaying Standards

What are Nova Sector's Roleplaying Standards?

Nova Sector should be treated as a roleplaying server.

To keep it short, while you don't have to be unerringly serious at all times, you should keep in-character, and believable at the minimum.

On Nova Sector, 'LRP' is shorthand for RP without effort, or in direct contrast to the setting, (see: someone saying they're from hogwarts, while throwing BS crystals at people)

Wherein "HRP" is used interchangably for anyone trying their very-best to play a character, that's both believable, acting as they would, and matching the setting.

Though; by nature of the codebase, you will inevitably get 'forced' into a situation that isn't towards our ideal; and that's alright! It's just a fault of the codebase, while staff will be more focused on active, conscious, "lrp!"

DEPRECATED BLOBS, kept around just for a vague reference
Staying in Character. While on the server, you should be making an earnest attempt to act as your character would, this includes when you're alone! You don't have to be emoting to yourself while spacetiding, but you also shouldn't be playing like it's a single-player-game just because you're on your own. EX: Just because you're down mining on the planet, doesn't mean you should suddenly understand how to do complex surgeries as an assistant, without a relevant background. While in maints alone, your character shouldn't suddenly gain knowledge on everything to do with atmospherics as a janitor without a relevant background, just because no one's looking.
"Roleplay First" The server in general focuses on putting Roleplaying, first, this doesn't meant you have to avoid doing anything but, instead it means
What is High Roleplay (HRP)? High Roleplay (HRP), otherwise known as Heavy Roleplay, is what we want people to be where they treat their character with respect for the relative realism of the setting. We are not saying your character must be realistic. We are, after all, playing in a relatively lackadaisical setting on a 2D pixel game that is almost two decades old. However, we want players to take a page from the HRPer who will attempt to immerse themselves as their character and play them according to the setting in a hardcore fashion, as that is the most crucial part when it comes to playing on a roleplaying server. They treat the character separately from one's OOC self. They have a good understanding of their character, their background, and personality. Therefore, they are able to use all that to articulate how their characters behave and conduct themselves through roleplay by showing, not telling. They play their characters as if they are living and breathing in the setting in a way that is distinctively separate from the player. What are Examples of High Roleplay (HRP)? Keep in mind, HRP does not mean you emote before every action. While you should be emoting here and there, the amount you emote does not dictate whether or not you are HRP. Instead, HRP is all about how you treat your character, the environment, and how they interact with everything by contributing to the immersion. Your character should exist outside of your OOC self as its own living, breathing entity that shows through its emotes, dialogue, and even mechanical actions. Let's take for example how a player can engage in combat. The act of engaging in combat can be an expression of roleplaying, as the actions you portray with your character should tell a story about the character and how they would react in a situation like the present one. A HRPer will understand that being the best mechanically will not make much roleplaying sense for your character, especially if said character is physically or mentally weak. A HRP player will not try to play to win, rather they will play to tell a story with their character and to show how they would act in said scenario. Again, emotes are a good way of showing how your characters are from their idiosyncratic tics to any unique style of talking, moving, or behaving. Emoting should be a big part of how you play your character, and it should not be overshadowed by mechanics. All we are saying is that emoting isn't everything about roleplay. At the end of the day, you must show that you are roleplaying your character, rather than to tell. Staff and other players cannot read your intent, rather you must show it. You have many tools at your disposal to express your character such as game mechanics, dialogue, and emotes along with your flavor text. A Parting Statement NRP/LRP/MRP/HRP does not necessarily correspond with quality. One can be very much LRP with quality and effort, rather it correlates more directly with effort placed into roleplaying and creating a comprehensive story that is coherent from start to finish. More often than not, the two do go hand in hand, as quality roleplay cannot be done without effort. Yet, we are not here to be snooty elitists, and we highly discourage such behaviors here. We must emphasize that we have no desire to replicate the restrictiveness of traditional HRP servers, nor do we advocate for elitism. Rather, we advocate for people to treat the setting and character with respect, even if the game itself isn't perfect when it comes to roleplaying.