Frequently Asked Questions

(This page was shamelessly stolen from Meta-Wiki's "Don't be a dick" page [link].)

Don't be a dick. If people abided by this, we wouldn't need any other policies about behavior. Most other rules are special cases of this one.

Fundamentals

"Don't be a dick" is the fundamental rule of all total social spaces. Every other policy for getting along is a special case of it. 

No definition of being a dick has been provided. This is deliberate. If a significant number of reasonable people suggest, whether bluntly or politely, that you are being a dick, the odds are good that you are not entirely in the right.

Being right about an issue does not mean you're not being a dick! Dicks can be right — but they're still dicks; if there's something in what they say that is worth hearing, it goes unheard, because no one likes listening to dicks. It doesn't matter how right they are.

Being a dick isn't equivalent to being uncivil or impolite (though uncivil and impolite dicks are not unheard of.) One can be perfectly civil and follow every rule of etiquette and still be a dick. The use of a vulgar term to convey the concept is intentional and serves to distinguish this principle from issues of politeness and other protocols of interaction. To avoid being a dick is not a matter of obeying etiquette but is a broader and more important concern.

Coping with being labeled a dick

If you've been labeled as a dick, especially if you have been told this by several people in a particular community, it might be wise to consider the possibility that it is true. If you suspect that you may be a dick, the first step is to become aware of it. Ask yourself what behavior might be causing this perception, and if you can't work it out, politely ask those that perceive it to explain or clarify. Once you have determined which behaviors are causing the problem, try changing them and your mode of presentation. In particular, identify the harsh words in your communications and replace them with softer ones.

Honestly examine your motivations. Are you here to contribute and make the community good? Or is your goal really to find fault, get your views across, or be the one in control? Perhaps secretly inside you even enjoy the thrill of a little confrontation. This may not make you a bad person, but to everyone who is busily trying to build something great, you become an impediment. People get frustrated, rancor ensues, the atmosphere changes, and the whole community suffers. Are you here to give, or to take?

If appropriate, publicly apologize to anyone to whom you may have been a dick. It's okay; this won't make you seem weak. On the contrary, people will take notice of your willingness to cooperate and will almost always meet your efforts with increased respect.

How to deal with dicks without being a dick yourself

Telling someone “Don't be a dick” is usually a dick-move — especially if it’s true. It upsets the other person and it reduces the chance that they’ll listen to what you say.

Focus on behaviour, not on the individual. Be specific about what you want. Be specific about why you want it. Be specific about why the other person’s behaviour is counter-productive. Assume good faith to the maximum extent possible. If you don’t understand why someone is doing something, ask. Don’t rush to complain until you are sure that good faith negotiations can’t work. Try to understand before you try to be understood.

Above all, be genuine. Don’t ask questions when you know the answer. Don’t say you want one thing if you want another. Don’t try to persuade people of things that aren’t true. Never respond to a dick by becoming a dick.

Wyrmrest Accord.net is a moderated community. What this means is that we try to maintain a certain standard of conduct here in order to avoid the bickering, flaming, and general unpleasantness of other forums on the internet (such as the official WoW forums).

The number one rule of interacting on this community is this:

Don't be a dick.

This is the One Rule to rule them all; most other rules stem from it. If we all followed this rule, there would be no need for other rules. You can read more about not being a dick on our FAQ [link].

Unfortunately being a dick isn't really a punishable offense, so we also have a more specific breakdown of rules.

The following are behaviors that will not be tolerated on the site and will result in corrective action by the moderators:

1) Personal attacks or comments intended to hurt other members.
2) Spamming, trolling, and flaming.
3) Public discussions about real life religion or politics. (Religion/Politics discussions via PM are okay.)
4) Bypassing an account ban or private message block by creating multiple accounts.

Breaking these rules may result in:

- Private reminders about our rules from a moderator.
- Your posts being edited, removed, or locked.
- Account suspension for repeated violations (such as repeatedly making political comments after being asked not to).

The following are self-policing guidelines that will not generally result in corrective action, but make the site more enjoyable for us all:

1) Mark entries that contain explicit content with [NSFW] (Not Safe For Work) tags.*
2) When posting screenshots on the forum, try to keep them under 600px in width. This will help reduce image load times.
3) Keep cursing at a minimum. This is not an age discriminating forum, though we understand the need for the occasional spout of foul language. Use your best judgement when deciding how much is too much.

 *Moderators will add [NSFW] tags to unmarked entries that contain explicit content.

A note about private messages:

Private messages on this forum are just that: private. Moderators cannot read private messages sent between members of the site. If you are being harrassed by another member via PM, you can block PMs from that member by clicking the "Block Author" link in the message screen.

If the member you are trying to block is making multiple new accounts on the site in order to bypass the message block, please let a moderator know and we will take corrective action.

We have a few moderators here in order to keep things tidy. They are:

Mishawee - owner, administrator, and moderator (Send PM)
Nathaniel Loving - administrator and moderator (Send PM)
Natharai - moderator (Send PM)
Samanthiel - moderator (Send PM)
Garreth - moderator (Send PM)
Peregrinne - moderator (Send PM)
Yarane - moderator (Send PM)

Please contact any of us about anything anytime!

As to where and how to contact people, you have several options. Be patient and persistent. Friends don't happen overnight.

In game: Join our chat channel (wranet) or any of the other roleplayer chat channels (listed here). Identify yourself, be responsive, be friendly and positive. Come to events. We have a lot on this server; check the calendar!

On the forums: Post interesting, witty, and/or informational stuff. Get to know people. You're more likely to make friends if you make an effort, and the most visible place for that is on the forums.

Direct message: Every user on this account can accept private messages. Compliment someone on a recent blog post or continue a discussion from the forums. You'll find most of our members are friendly and inclusive.

You are free to start debates as long as they are actually debates and not arguements. A debate is a constructive discussion of two or more different sides of an issue using facts and rhetoric. An arguement is people disagreeing loudly.

Please try to avoid letting debates get personal. It can be easy to get caught up in the moment, but personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Wyrmrest Accord.net is a site made by roleplayers for roleplayers, specifically catering to the Wyrmrest Accord realm of World of Warcraft. This is a place for roleplayers of all sorts to come together, share stories, coordinate events, gather and post information, and provide a resource for new and veteran roleplayers alike.

Inspiration from this site was drawn primarily from similar sites of other servers, namely Shadow Council's RP Haven and Feathermoon's Feathermoon.net.

To join Wyrmrest Accord.net, click the "Create new account" link in the left-hand column. Read through the instructions there and fill in the information requested. Please use your character's name for your login name. This will help people you meet through the site get in touch with you in Warcraft.

In a few moments you will receive an email with your account information and password. Log in, and you will see your name and more options in the left-hand Navigation menu. You may want to go right to “my account” and change your password or enter more information about your character, but otherwise, you're all set!

You can post to the community in several ways. To get started, click the "Create" link in the left hand column. Here, you can choose to enter a Blog entry for your character, create a Book, Event, Forum topic, Group, or Poll.

You can also participate by joining groups, contributing to books, or commenting on others' blogs, events, forum topics, or polls. We look forward to hearing from you! There are no requirements to post, but we definitely encourage people to post often. The more you contribute, the stronger our community becomes.

Images are often used within journal entries, or sometimes simply shared. We do not currently permit uploading of images to the site, but you can link to an image from another site within you entry by clicking on the "Add Image" icon.

Some users choose to use an outside picture-hosting site for their images, such as Imageshack or Photobucket. You can easily "break" the formatting of the site with large images. Try to keep images down to no more than 550 pixels wide. If you would like to offer the image in a larger format, simply add a link to your image.

To add a signature or avatar (the little picture beside your name in all your posts) to your account, click the “My Account” link in the Navigation menu, and select the Edit tab. You will see a box labeled “Picture”. This is where you will upload your avatar. Avatars should be no larger than 100x100 with a maximum file size of 120Kb. Click browse, and select your avatar from a file on your computer. It will then be uploaded and appear on every post you make.

 You can also add your signature on the Edit Profile page. This signature will appear only on your Forum posts. Please keep your signature relatively small. Members are welcome to have graphic signatures provided they follow the guidelines below:

An Event can be anything you have planned that people might be interested in joining, from one-time events (trials, plays, etc.) to repeating events (story circles, taverns, guild meetings, etc.) to scheduled instance runs. Basically, anything you might want to invite the community as a whole to attend can be an Event. When you are viewing an Event, make sure you read the Event information closely. For example, if  the text says "guild members only," you'll likely not want to crash it without first talking to whomever created the event.

Events can be viewed at the Events Calendar.

Under the “Create” link, click on “Event”. Fill out the start and end times and the rest of the information. Your Event will then appear on the Calendar, and in the "Upcoming Events" area in the right sidebar every day until the event has passed. If your Event is tied to a storyline, you may want a link to the event page in your Blog or Book. An important note about time: When you enter an event, use the server time zone for when it will be held. When creating an event for a specific group, be sure to mention that somewhere within the Event description.

Publicize your Event! We're always looking for them. There is an Events forum specifically devoted to this purpose, so be sure to post something about it there.

Groups are a means to provide connections between roleplayers, whether by guild, cross-guild organizations, storyline connections, or in-game factions. Basically, groups are a means to establish connections with other characters that you might not have known about otherwise.

You can join a group by going to the Group Directory, finding group you are interested in, and then clicking "Request Membership" in the right hand column (if the group moderator has elected to allow for subscriptions to the group).

Once you have joined a group, you can view the Group homepage and contribute to the Group via the Group Post option in the Create menu. You will be able to see who has posted to the group, as well as who is currently subscribed, etc.

- Click "Group" under the "Create" menu in the left hand column.
- Enter the name of the group (for example "The Kirin Tor" or "Argent Dawn")
- Enter a brief Description, select a Faction and Group Type.
 - Enter a Welcome message that will appear at the top of the group's page.
 - If the group has a website, enter that information as well (this is particularly useful for Guilds).
- Select whether you want subscription requests to automatically approve new members ("open"), subscribe new members only with your approval ("moderated"), require that new users be invited by you ("invite only") or if new members are not permitted at this time ("closed").
- Decide if you'd like the group to appear in the registration form for new users.
- Decide if you'd like the group to be listed in the group directory
- Click "Submit" and your new group will be created, with you as its only subscriber and its administrator.

Books are a means to keep track of entries on the site, usually related blog entries or storylines. For example, a book might contain all of the blog entries for a specific character, arranged in chronological order. Or it might have the various people's blogs that are related to the same central storyline.

IMPORTANT: Though you can edit the text on your book page, think of this page as the "sleeve" of your book, include a summary of what's in the book, maybe, or even information on the character or storyline the book focuses on. Your main content should not be on the book page itself. It should be in a blog, book page, event ,or other type of entry that you then associate with the book on the outline tab on the entry itself.

Book Creation

The first and most important thing to remember about books is that they are designed to allow one or more users create a long, coherent storyline using their blog posts. Book pages themselves are meant only as a "base" on which to build.

Books are somewhat complex, but easy once you understand the parent and weight systems. Please read this FAQ carefully before beginning; it can save a lot of headaches!

Starting Out

Create a title page for your book. Many users like to create a catchy "splash" page containing a graphic, "teaser" paragraph, poem or song lyrics, or the like, that attracts the interest of the reader. If there is more than one user collaborating on the book, it's best to use the "Create Book Page" function: otherwise, you can simply use your blog to create it.

After you have submitted your blog for publication on the site, you will be forwarded to the published page. At the top of your new blog, you will see tabs entitled "Edit" "Outline" and "Track". Choose the "Outline" tab.

There are two pull-down menus and a text entry box here. The first pull-down menu allows you to set the "parent" of your post. For the main title page of the book, select <Top-level> to show in the menu box. This means that this book will be listed in the main menu of book pages.

Chapters and Dividers

When possible, it is best to divide the entire story into smaller thematic chunks, or "chapters." This is both because it is easier for readers to digest smaller blocks of a story and because it is easier to organize, using the Book function.

Simply use the blog function to create a new splash page with the title of the chapter or part on it. Then, use the weight function to place it properly beneath the title page.

Weights

Again, after creating your chapter page, choose the "Outline" tab. Since this is a chapter page, the parent entry will be the main title page of the book. Select the main title page of the book as your parent page so that it appears in the window when you release the menu.

The second pull-down menu is "weight" and contains 31 numbers, from -15 to 15. This is the function that puts your pages in the order you want them. Any page weighted "0" will appear AFTER a page weighted "-1" and BEFORE a page weighted "1."

Without being weighted, pages will sort themselves, first by numbers if they appear first (01, 02, 03.. 10, 11 or 1, 10, 11, 12... 2, 20, 21) or alphabetically by the first word if no numbers appear first.

Chapters with numerical titles

If your chapter title is something like "Chapter 1: The Beginning" then you only need to weight every nine pages. Chapter 1 through Chapter 9 can be weighted "0" and then Chapters 10 through Chapter 19 can be weighted "1" and so forth, and they will sort themselves into the proper order.

Chapters without numerical titles

The book will automatically sort non-numeric titles alphabetically, which is rarely the order in which the author wishes them to appear. In this case, simply weight the chapter that you wish to stand first as "-15", then wieight the second chapter as "-14" and so forth. This will sort them into the proper order.

Pages

The actual story will (usually) consist of individual blog entries from one or more users. Like chapter headinsgs, they simply need to be placed beneath the appropriate parent page and then weighted in the order the user wishes them to appear. Directions are identical to the chapter headers instructions, but instead of placing the pages beneath the book's title page, you make the parent the appropriate chapter heading.

Example Book Structure

Title Page: Bob's Book (<Top-level> no parent, no weight)

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Bob's Beginnings ("Bob's Book" is the parent page, weighted "-15" )

Page 1: Starting Out ("Chapter 1: Bob's Beginnings" is the parent page, weighted "-15")

Page 2: Running Away ("Chapter 1: Bob's Beginnings" is the parent page, weighted "-14")

Page 3: New Friends ("Chapter 1: Bob's Beginnings" is the parent page, weighted "-13")

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Bob Does Goldshire ("Bob's Book" is the parent page, weighted "-15")