The World of Althanas FAQ

Here you can find answers to questions about how the board works. Use the links or search box below to find your way around.

Welcome to Althanas

Welcome to Althanas! We are a fantasy-based site (founded in 2001) that incorporates collaborative writing with role-playing to give our members a unique experience. We encourage both co-operative and competitive writing in what is called "play-by-post role-playing". Althanas is a community dedicated to showcasing and improving the writing of its members, and innovative rolepaying. As a new member of the forum, we recommend reading through this guide as you create your character and explore Althanas' features.

What is Althanas?

Althanas, a Play-by-Post Role-Playing Game (or "PbP" for short), was founded in January of 2001 as a sister site to AllRPG.com. In a PbP, you create a character and write stories from that character's perspective, as you would in any piece of fiction. Often in a PbP, you'll work collaboratively with other players, teaming up to write a story together. Wikipedia.com's entry on PbP offers a quick summary of this process:

"The first message posted onto a thread of that nature is usually one person laying down the scenario, starting a story about their character and inviting others. If successful, the thread then becomes an ongoing story in which players periodically advance the plot by reading the latest reply and then typing a short paragraph or two about what their character does and how the environment changes in response. These replies are often open-ended so that other players can continue."

Althanas is no different. What separates us from other forums, however, is our emphasis on improving the writing of our players through constructive, positive feedback. At the conclusion of each role-playing thread, Althanas staffers can offer advice and comments through a process called "Judgments." There are a couple of different Judgment types, explained in more detail later, but typically they either follow a star based grading system (non competitive writing) or a point based system called the "Althanas Rubric," (competitive only). Both methods reward the character with EXP and GP, which allow users to "level up" and become more powerful. Of course, the Judgment process is entirely optional, as many writers here are content simply to write for the enjoyment of it. The "No Judgment" option is available for such situations, which simply offers EXP and GP. Be sure to explore the various types of judgments, also outlined in this section.

Forum Registration

(Note: This section explains how to register on a vBulletin - most players will already know how to do this and should move to the next chapter, "Character Registration.")

The first step in becoming a member of Althanas is to register your user name - with this registered account, you will fight battles, participate in quests, and enter tournaments. Most of your writing on the forum will involve your character, so registering a user name with your character in mind is the first step towards making your stay at Althanas a worthwhile experience.

Once you click the registration link, you'll be taken to a page asking for your date of birth (your own, not your character's). You will then be asked to agree to the forum rules.

Next comes a page which asks for your user name. Your user name does NOT have to be your character's name, but it is highly recommended. The rest of this page is self-explanatory, although we call your attention to the profanity filter at the bottom. This allows you to select words that you would like censored on the forum.

Creating Your Character Profile

The profile page serves as part of your character sheet for Althanas (it appears to the left of your posts), and filling this out correctly, as well as maintaining your Realm of Greeting thread (detailed later), is key to your character's success on the forum. Remember, the most important rule about your character is that he or she (or it!) must be your own work - you cannot role-play as Luke Skywalker, or Legolas, or Elton John. However, you may borrow or use parts of your favorite character, meaning that you can make a character that is based loosely off of him or her, provided you use an original name and make it so that the character you are registering isn't recognizable as a character from another setting.

A guide to character creation can be found here.

Stonevale/The Bazaar/Introduction Forum

Those looking to jump directly into Althanas role-playing often start with Stonevale. Stonevale is an in-character forum in the guide of a town where much happens, where you can create open threads, and introduce your character to other players. It has roaming threats, active quests and even NPCs who you or another writer can use or be. Threads in Stonevale can still earn you rewards (experience and gold), and you do have the option of having them judged if you so choose. It is typically a place without violence, but occasionally a disagreement can erupt to so much more.

The Bazaar is the Althanas marketplace - your character can buy almost any item there to use in role-playing threads, as well as staff designed abilties.

Finally, the Introduction Forum is an Out-of-Character chat where you can introduce yourself to the members of Althanas. Tell us everything that's interesting about you, so we can welcome you to our forum.

Submitting Your Work (Judgments)

On Althanas, when you complete your first quest or combat thread, you will then submit it for Judgment. This means a team of staff members will read your work, offer you feedback on your writing technique, and reward you for your efforts in Experience Points and Gold Pieces. These points are automatically added to your account, with EXP increasing your level and GP increasing the amount of money you have to spend at the Bazaar, Auction House and Ability Shop. As you level up, you can power up your character sheet later for further threads and stories. If you are not interested in having someone else comment on your work, know that there is a "no judgment" option available. You are never required to receive commentary, except in competitive play. However, the option is there should you like it. When submitting for a judgment, it is important to know what you are requesting. Take a moment to look at the descriptions below to help you select the proper feedback for you.

Judgment:

This offers the writer feedback in the form of strengths and weaknesses, and is graded out of ten stars. The star rating you get determines your EXP and GP rewards. Typically, you'll receive feedback a couple of days after submission. Please feel free to continue to write other threads while you wait!

Full Rubric:

Competitive writing, such as battles, tournaments, and quest league entries, are always a Full Rubric. This offers the writers comprehensive and comparative feedback and is typically handled by more experienced staff. The judgment is graded using the Althanas Rubric, and commentary is given under each segment for each player. It will be common for the judge to pull out specific quotes to illustrate a point or single out errors. This judgment is the most time consuming, so please be prepared to wait between 7 and 14 days.

Workshop

Judging staff posts an entry into the Writers Workshop forum. Then, the thread receives rewards from a Judge. The rewards are posted immediately and peer feedback is open for 30 days. This option is best for quick rewards and group input from your peers instead of a single judge. Anyone who contributes their feedback to a workshop will also receive impressive rewards.

No Judgment

The thread is given rewards only based on a Judge's read of a thread. No feedback or score will be posted. This is the best method for quick turnaround. These will be tended to by the judge and awarded within 24 hours.

New Player Referrals

If an existing player refers a new member to the site, they will both receive incentive rewards for doing so! Think of this as a "thank you" for helping Althanas continue to grow!

Existing members who refer a new player will receive 5% of the total experience needed for them to level up and 500 GP. The new player will receive a voucher for 50% increased rewards on a completed thread of their choice. These rewards will be awarded to each player as soon as the new player has successfully gotten their first character approved.

We truly appreciate the word of mouth advertising we get from our players, and would like to reward the service they do in getting new people on board.

Thank you all so very much.

Affecting Canon

Welcome to the Canon Submission Guide, your definitive handbook for world building on Althanas. Canon is the official lore of Althanas, including important locations, people and events. In other words, it is the foundation upon which our interactive world is based. You can find what and what is not Canon by looking at the FAQ.

Much of our canon, especially region and historical information, has been compiled over the years by numerous content moderators, and developed by the writers of Altga as. Some lands, such as Dheathain, were added through contests, and some events were added following major featured quests, like To Rule All Flesh, the Xem’Zund Saga.

In the past, it was very difficult for individual players to affect Canon, but now it is easy. All you have to do is have a strong idea, and submit it using the form under, "Lore."

Canon is split into two categories

Althanas Legends – Any material that pre-dates the End of all Things featured quest will be canonised as “Althanas Legends”. This includes, but not is limited to, the Judge's Choice section, featured quests, tournament outcomes and places, groups and events that are generally widely accepted as existing in the Althanas timeline. There is no need to submit an application for canon for anything that falls into this bracket, as it already qualifies as canon.

Official Althanas Canon – All post-End of all Things material is eligible to be submitted as Official Althanas Canon, and all "at a glances" in each region will be updated accordingly with events from each region that qualified for this.

In both cases, it is our intention to update the wiki with Althanas Legends and Official Althanas Canon content over time. This will ensure that your creations are enshrined in the almost twenty years of Althanas’s history.

Canon submission will be judged on a common sense basis. Generally speaking, a staff member will be able to approve changes to canon without a need for a vote, but anything that borders on world changing will need a majority administrator vote. Please note that material in the canon is subject to use and change by other players.

Affecting Canon

So, how do you affect Canon? The short answer is to immerse yourself and your character in the Althanas setting. The long answer is to submit Canon for moderator review. Keep in mind that not every idea, wiki entry or storyline you submit will become official Canon, and that’s okay. Everyone can have his or her own private storylines on the site, and that will always be encouraged.

What can be submitted to Canon? Basically anything. Some common examples include:

1. Flora

2. Fauna

3. Races

4. Religions

5. Cultures

6. Locations

7. Cities

8. Subregion

9. Regions

10. Historical Events

11. Current Events

This is not an exhaustive list. We’ll even consider the more niched material, including songs, ales, or anything else you can come up.

All Canon submissions will be reviewed by the moderator staff, then will be approved or denied accordingly. There are no set rules for the process, as all Canon submissions are unique, but we will give fair consideration to everything we receive. Before evaluating the submitted material, the moderator will run a conflict check to ensure that there are no conflicts with existing Canon. For example, if you submit the official tree of Corone, we’ll make sure no one has previously submitted it. Then we run a 3 three factor review to determine what submissions will become Canon. This is our standard for review.

The factors we use to determine what submissions will become Canon are:

1. Severity

2. Scope

3. Permanence

Severity measures how much of an affect the submission will have on writing of other player characters. For example, killing the Jya’s fourth cousin is less extreme than assassinating the Jya herself. Similarly, sowing political unrest in a city is less severe than inciting race riots against elves, which might prevent someone else's elf character from being in that area.

Scope measures the size of the submission’s affected area. For example, adding an entirely new region or subregion, which would require major changes to the map, is larger in size than the addition of a small mining town in Salvar. Similarly, a border skirmish between fiefdoms in Salvar would be smaller than an all out war between Corone and Raiaera for control of Lornius.

Permanence measures the length in in time of the submission will last or remain effective. For example, a quest where characters discover, reveal and destroy an ancient evil in a closed fashion, would be less permanent than a meteor falling from the sky and permanently destroying a portion of Concordia.

The Three Tiers

Canon submissions are broken down into three tiers. Tier 1 submissions are generally mild in severity, scope and permanence. Tier 2 submissions are generally moderate in severity, scope and permanence. Obviously then, tier 3 submissions are generally great in severity, scope and permanence.

Submitting Canon

Now that you have the basics, here’s how to submit Canon:

1) Click the Canon Submission link, which is located by clicking the "Lore" tab at the top of your screen.

2) Once you’ve arrived at the Canon Submission Link, choose a type of submission from the drop down list. If you do not see your type listed, please select “Other”.

3) Choose your anticipated tier: 1, 2 or 3.

4) Add required information, as indicated below.

Tier 1 submissions will include simple additions to the current regions, like discovering a new plant or animal. Submissions for tier one will require the following information:

1. Name of item

2. A Brief description including any special features

3. Location

4. A link to a completed wiki entry (stub) with all relevant info with suggested edits on core wiki pages

Typically, provided tier 1 submissions do not conflict with existing canon, we will almost always approve them. They generally only require a change or additional link to the core wiki pages.

Tier 2 submissions will include additions to the current regions that provide expanded information, like races, minor events, small cities, specific cultures, and religions. Submissions for tier two items will require the following information:

1. For a new race, information on the history, appearance and any special traits

2. For culture/religion, information on the history, core beliefs, important rituals, holidays, area of influence and major gods

3. For cities, the location, landmarks, unique features, population & any other information that may set the city apart from others in the region

4. For a historical event, information regarding the event, important participants and relative dates

5. For current events, a link to a completed and judged thread incorporating the change with an attached summary

6. For all, a link to a completed wiki entry, with all relevant info with suggested edits on core wiki pages

Our goal is to also approve as many tier 2 submissions as possible, though with greater discretion. When considering events, factors like number of participants in the thread and the score will also be considered. However, they are not dispositive factors, so do not be discouraged from submitting no judgment or workshopped threads as canon events.

Note: Tier 1 and 2 submissions VIA wiki (i.e. those that do not require completed and judged threads) are first come, first served. They can only be changed thereafter VIA quest. For example, if someone has submitted the official flower of Raiaera as a tier 1 submission, a second player cannot submit a change to the flower without a related quest.

Tier 3 submissions will include major changes to a region or the world as a whole. This will include the deaths of any major figures as well as the discovery of a new region or continent. Purifying the Red Forest is an example of a recent major Tier 3 canon change. Submissions for tier 3 items will require the following information:

1. For a new region/continent- Size, location, population, history, dominate races, cultural and religious preferences, technology level, terrain, major imports and exports, weather conditions

2. For a historical event, information regarding the event, important participants and relative dates

3. For current events, a link to a completed and judged thread incorporating the change with an attached summary

4. For all, a link to a full wiki entry, with all relevant info with suggested edits on core wiki pages

Tier 3 approvals will be rare, as they require quite a bit of input from content moderators and other staff members on how to properly incorporate them into the world, but again, do not be discouraged from submitting them. We will try to find ways to turn tier 3 submissions into multiple tier 2 submissions if there is no way to incorporate it as a major change.

5) Click submit. Please allow about 7 days for a submission to be reviewed and an additional 7 days for approved content to be added in important places.

Rewards

So what does submitting canon get you? Other than instant recognition and a permanent spot in Althanas’ history, you’ll get a few extra neat perks:

1. All of your wiki entries will receive the official canon marker.

2. The wiki entry you create will be locked for editing and will forever state, “Submitted by [Your Name].”

3. If you submit an event, you’ll be featured in the permanent timeline threads in each forum and the master regional timeline in the wiki.

Note: Tier 3 event submissions will receive a permanent spot in the master Althanas timeline, as well.

If that isn’t good enough for you:

Approved Tier 1 submissions get you 400 EXP AND 250 GP

Approved Tier 2 submissions get you 800 EXP AND 500 GP

Approved Tier 3 submissions get you 1500 EXP AND 750 GP

This is an addition to any bonuses received in the thread, if submitting an event.

You now know all you need to get started, so go out there and write your own legends! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them.

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