Frequently Asked Questions

Roleplayer's Haven (or just "the Haven") is a community of roleplayers from various servers in the Age of Conan MMO. The community is served by a website (where you're at now) a wiki page (under construction). The purpose is to provide a place where role-players of all stripes can come together, share stories, co-ordinate events, gather and post information, and supply a resource for new and veteran role-players alike.

To join Roleplayer's Haven, 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 is very important. In a few moments you will receive an email with your account information and password. Login, and you will see your name and more options on the right-hand side. 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, visible by clicking the "create" link in the left hand column. Here, you can enter a blog entry for your character, create an event, forum topic, poll, quote or create a group.

These fields represent how various entries are tied together.

Submission type is either IC or OOC, designating whether your post is an IC ("In Character") post or OOC ("Out of Character") post. Generally, blog entries are IC and forums and event posts are OOC, but you can choose either of these for your entries.

Archive is to notify the Moderators that you'd like to have a post removed from being listed on the front page.  It will still be accessible elsewhere on the site.

Rating is to give a friendly warning for posts that contain mature or explicit content.  Please do make use of this if your post contains images or descriptions that might cause someone problems at work or could be offensive to some.  Generally, the mature rating is for sexually charged posts or posts that contain some detailed descriptions of violence.  The explicit rating is for very detailed descriptions of sexual acts or particularly disturbing scenes of violence.  For the most part, we allow users to rate their own work, but from time to time a Moderator may step in if the user-selected rating doesn't quite match what's in the post.

Players is a list of players involved in your blog. If, for example, your blog includes Pugnose, Elivel and Lorith, you'd list them out here. Please try your best to use the same names people use here for logins, just to keep things organized (in other words, you'd say "Aurelius" instead of "Captain Aurelius").

Storylines is a list of storylines that your entry is related to (typically used for blogs and events). Again, you should try your best to make sure you spell the same storyline the same way, or the software won't realize posts with those storylines entered are related.

Keywords is for any other words you feel are appropriate to the entry which may help users. For example "murder" might be good if you are writing a blog about someone's murder, as might be "crimes."

Criticism is used to notify users if you'd prefer no criticism, would welcome criticism or if you desire criticism of your work.  Users are asked to please respect these ratings.

Media is used to identify anything aside from text that may be in your post, such as a number of images, music or a link to a video.

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.

When you make an image-heavy post, remember to use the "image" tag.

To notify the Moderators that you'd like a blog entry moved off the front page, just select Archive from the Archive drop-down list box when you are creating your post.  When the Moderators see that tag, they will move your blog off the front page.  Not that this is NOT required.  If you want to make 10 posts in a row, go right ahead.

To add an avatar (the little picture beside your name in all your posts) go to “my account” and click on the edit tab. You will see a box labeled “Picture”. This is where you will upload your avatar. Avatars should only be 85x85 and a maximum 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.

An event can be anything you have planned that people might be interested in, from one-time events (weddings, trials) to repeating events (hosting a tavern, guild meetings) to instance runs.  Basically, anything you might want to invite the community as a whole to attend or view can be an event. When you are viewing an event, make sure you read closely what groups the event is tied to. For example, if an event is listed as part of the "Immortals" group and the text body says "guildmembers only," you'll likely not want to crash it without talking to whomever created the event.

Under the “create” link, simply click on “event”. Fill out the start and end times and the rest of the information. Your event will then appear in the "Upcoming Events" area in the right side-bar 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.  Let folks know you are holding an event! We're always looking for them. An important note about time: In your account settings, make sure you set your time to YOUR time zone. When you enter an event, use YOUR times for when it will be held.  The event page will change the time for each person who views it, in accordance to their time-zone. Just to be sure, you may also want to add a note mentioning the server-time as well. When creating an event for a specific group, make sure you click the checkbox for that group.

Groups are a means to provide "connections" between roleplayers, whether by guild (Immorals, Skullsplitters), cross-guild organizations (Hyborean Accord), nationalities, etc.

You can join a group by going to the Group Directory, selecting the group you are interested in and then clicking "subscribe" in the right hand column (if the group moderator has elected to allow for subscriptions to the group). Alternatively, you can join a group by checking its checkbox in your "my account" settings.

Once you have joined a group, you will see it listed under "My groups" in the left hand column. You will be able to see who has posted to the group, as well as who is currently subscribed, etc. Basically, groups are a means to manage what sort of content you read (you'll see only content tagged by members of your group on the Group page) and establish connections with other characters that you might not have known about otherwise.

To create a group:

• Click "create," "additional content" then "group"in the left hand column.
• Enter the name of the group (for example "Cimmerians" or "Immortals")
• Enter a brief Description 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").

Group Type, selectable by the Administrator, is the nature of the group's organization:

• Cross-Guild Organization: These are groups that exist between guilds, such as raiding organizations like Hyborean Accord.
• Guild: This group is for a specific in-game guild, such as Immortals, Skullsplitters, etc.. If you are not the guildmaster for the guild, please request permission from your guildmaster before you create a group for your guild. If you are the guildmaster for a guild and you are not the group administrator, either because it was created before you joined the site or because of a change in leadership, just contact the site Moderators and ask them to change the group administrator to you (Moderators will, of course, verify that you are the current Guildmaster before assigning you as administrator). Typically, you'll want a Guild group to be set up so that the group administrator must approve applications to join the group.
• Nationality: This group is for specific nationalities/ethnic groups of the Hyborean Age. Examples include the Cimmerians, Corinthians, Nemedians. These are groups that are not guilds, but various people consider themselves a member. Typically, these groups should be set up to allow for members to sign up without authorization by the group administrator.
• Storylines: This group is for posts related to a specific storyline.  The Group Moderator for these groups should be the main point-of-contact for the storyline.
• Other: This is a catch-all for groups that do not fall into the above types. If you choose "other," you will likely be contacted by a Moderator, who will either move your group into a more appropriate group type or create a new group type based on your idea.

On the Group page (when you click the link for a group you manage under "My groups"), you'll see several tabs across the top and links in the right hand column that you can use to administer the site.

To access the full list of subscribers, click the subscribers link in the right hand column. For Group managers, this will display several operations on the list tab, including edit group (next to your own name), unsubscribe to remove a member and admin:create to make that member the group's manager. Note that this will revoke your management rights to the group. Group pages can have only one manager.

Books are a means to keep track of entries on the site, usually related blog entries. 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, event or another type of entry that you then associate with the book on the outline tab on the entry itself.

One of the more handy links for keeping track of things is the recent posts link on the left sidebar. It will list all the recent postings and will show in red lettering if a post is updated or new. It will also show new replies and how many replies a post has recieved. Also remember to use the page numbers at the bottom of the front page.

Though we've tried to cram as many "teasers" into the front page as possible, on particularly active days things can easily fall to the second or third page. Another way you can keep track is by subscribing to a thread. This is done my clicking the “subscribe post” link at the end of a post. Or, you can choose “subscribe blog” and keep updated on that character's entire blog! Your subscriptions can be managed on the “my subscriptions” tab in your “my account” settings.

You can also choose to make that writer your “buddy”. This is done in the user profile of the character you wish to make your buddy. Click on the character's avatar or name, and you will be taken to their profile. Read all about them! Then notice the link that says “Add to my buddy list”. When a character is your buddy, their posts will show on the "recent posts" tab on the "my buddylist" link under "my info" in the left hand column. It's a great way to keep track of writers you enjoy!

The moderator for Roleplayer's Haven is currently Aurelius, though we will be adding more Moderators to the site in the near future.

Moderators are responsible for general maintenance of the site, the chat channel and the general welfare of the community as a whole.

Though we very much prefer people resolve their differences between themselves, there comes a point sometimes where a person is so disruptive to the community that a Moderator needs to step in to resolve the situation. Usually, a brief whisper or private mail is more than enough and is the first step moderators are encourage to take. If a forum topic or discussion is in danger of becoming destructive to the community, a moderator may lock the topic or ask that the discussion be shelved. Locked topics will be discussed by the Moderator group and either reopened or remain locked, with the reasons for our decision posted as the last response. If a specific player proves to be a problem on a recurring basis and no other avenues have resolved the issue, we do reserve the right to lock a person from the site and ask them to leave the chat channel (or kick them from the channel, if necessary). None of the moderators want to exercise this ability, but we will do so in extreme circumstances if we feel it best for the community as a whole.

We are a civil community doing our best to nurture and support each other. Constructive comments are welcome. We do recognize that discussions will sometimes get heated, but we do not welcome flaming. Unless the author requests it, it is generally considered bad form to provide literary criticism in a comment on a blog entry (we are a community of RPers, not writers... we each have different tastes and preferences). Respect is the key word here. Respect your fellow members, respect the community as a whole. Feel free to offer your opinion and discuss any relevant topic under the sun, but do so with care and consideration for the other members of your community.

Unfortunately, this topic, in its various forms, has been a divisive topic in many an online RP community.

It is our objective to make this place a positive, constructive community for roleplayers. A "Haven," if you will. As such, we try to encourage as much diversity as possible among our membership. Each of us plays a different way, puts more importance on this aspect or another aspect of game play, etc. And that's the way it should be. But when we try to convince others, or worse, force them, to play a certain way, we're bound to run into problems.

The Moderators of the Haven do not make any determination of a member's roleplaying, their storyline or how they spend their time on AoC. The unifying factor here is that we all roleplay, to varying degrees and with varying goals.

We ask that you try to avoid imposing your own style of roleplay on others, even as a polite suggestion. That doesn't mean the subject of how to roleplay shouldn't be discussed (we very much hope it is!) just keep it civil and respect the choices of your fellow members.

The key to membership is respecting one another... not how well you spell, your grammatical skills, your knowledge of the Lore, what classes you enjoy or your storycrafting. If you're willing to respect the diversity of your fellow roleplayers, then this is the place for you!

The Moderators do not make an effort to censor any material posted to the site, as long as it is at least vaguely relevant to roleplaying on Shadow Council and/or this community. However, please keep in mind that people are often reading the site at work, school or other place where they might not be entirely alone. To prevent anything unfortunate from happening we've come up with two ways to alert the readers. We are asking the users to do the following things when posting explicit content:

1. Put a warning in the body of the content, at the top. Feel free to use ooc indicators such as double parentheses. Please add or move the preview separator so the explicit content doesn't show in the preview.

2. Set the rating to Explicit on the submission page. It's a drop-down menu near the top with the option of <none> or Explicit.

Mentions of mature content in the tags are also helpful. Use your own judgement; just imagine if your post or links contained within were opened at a public workplace where others could see. If you forget to add the warning, the moderation staff will add them for you if your work is deemed mature/explicit/not safe for work.

What constitutes an explicit post? Think along the lines of nudity, graphic depictions of sex, explicit and overly-gorey violence, excessive profanity, etc. While Haven is open to all forms of expression, we would appreciate these types of posts including an obvious warning at very least in the title, and also whereever else the author deems fit. For the most part, just use your own judgement. It's not a big deal if the Moderators need to add the tag to your title.

The moderators have the last word on what content requires a warning, and warnings added by the moderating staff should not be removed by the poster under any circumstances.

This isn't an anti-non-RPer site.  This is a pro-RP site.

To be clear, this site promotes respect for your fellow players.  This includes respectful non-RPers.  Obviously, there are sometimes issues with rude folks running around ganking people because they RP, but there also exists the converse problem of Militant RPers running about OOCly killing anyone they find who doesn't RP.  This isn't the site to promote such activities.  We do not have blacklists nor will we encourge rampant griefing of other players, regardless of the reason.  It is the opinion of the Moderators that this sort of activity, if it must take place, should be the purview of individual guild leadership, not of a site focused on supporting the RP community as a whole.

Just keep it positive and focus on the RP!

Seriously, you're in the wrong place.  Go to the FunCom forums if you really want a discussion like that.

Our objective here is to promote roleplaying and enjoyment on our servers in a positive, pro-active way.  If you really feel the need to call people out, just go to the FunCom forums.  This isn't the place for it.

Roleplaying, as you might imagine, is playing at a role. That's perhaps the simplest definition.

The idea behind roleplaying is that you, as a player, assume the role of the character you play. Essentially, you're building a story with your character that goes beyond the limitations of the stories supplied by the game. More importantly, perhaps, you are building a story with others, whether in a simple conversation between two characters or in a more elaborate storyline spanning many different characters and guilds.

There are all sorts of roleplayers out there, from people who just prefer to hold a conversation as their character once in a while to people who stay in character at all times, in all chats and build elaborate storylines for others to participate in. This site is intended to cater to all of those folks, regardless of their tastes.

One important factor in roleplaying, particularly in an MMORPG like AoC, is that it is cooperative in nature. This means that while you are building your own story, others in the game are reacting to that story as their characters would and adding to that story, either by simple conversation or actually getting involved in the storyline and making it part of their own story. Because of this cooperative nature, roleplaying can get a bit tricky at times. But with a little empathy and willingness to cooperate, it can be a very rewarding endeavor for everyone involved.

Obviously, if you are here, chances are you enjoy roleplaying already and have a decent handle on what its all about. But it never hurts to start a FAQ like this out with a bit of a definition.