[Divunal-list] Re: Questions about Divunal authoring

[Tenth]

On Tue, 22 Jun 1999, Gordon Tyler wrote:

> Could you tell me what sort of commitment (time-wise, etc.) you're expecting
> from your authors and any requirements?

     We don't really have very strict requirements as to how often or how
much authors should contribute; Generally speaking, we're more concerned
with maintaining the quality of the content that goes into the game than
we are with how much any one person produces. All authors will be able to
use the Divunal server for free, even when it becomes a commercial
game, and can create and play new characters at will. They may also
recieve other benefits (divunal t-shirts, etc.) if our commercial plans
work out, especially if they contribute a lot to the game, but we can't
really guarantee anything at this point.

	The biggest requirements we have are on behavior; We're trying
very hard to create a consistant game world, and we ask that Authors help
to maintain that and remain in character at all times. While authors are
free to play as many characters as they want, to help to advance the plot,
keep the players entertained, or just to have fun, but they must always
keep game consistancy in mind, and maintain a mature, polite, and
professional attitude at all times. Authors have more freedom in creating
new areas and features for the game, (there are certain contexts in which
the game world doesn't need to be as consistant and almost anything is
feasible) but we still want to maintain a high level of quality, and
balance the various features, items, and powers available to the players.

	So, in short, the biggest requirement is that we're very picky
about the quality of our game, and we reserve the right to censor or
correct our Author's work if we deem it necessary. All of our requirements
(including a few standard legal ones) are summarized at:

	www.divunal.com/agreement.html

	Which is the document you must agree to if you want to become an
Author. If you agree to all the terms listed there, and post an email to
that effect on the main divunal-list, we can let you into the author's
sections, and give you a special account on the server. You are under no
obligation to stay, but we do require that you keep the information you
recieve as an author confidential. (See the agreement page for more
information, and reasons why we have to make you sign an agreement.)

	If you can speak english, don't mind typing a lot, and can operate
a computer well enough to send and recieve email, you have all the basic
skill requirements for being an author.  :-)  Background in programming or
other online games is definitely helpful, but not required, and
creativity, patience, and serious interest in helping out is strongly
recommended. We are looking for good roleplayers and writers as well as
people who want to help out with maintain the game code itself.

	If you have any more questions about authoring or Divunal itself,
feel free to email me (or Glyph, or post more questions to the
Divunal-list).

Thanks,

- Tenth