New guy!

[boston_bruiser]

Hey everyone! The name's Jack. I've just got an app approved and look forward to play with you guys soon.

While this isn't my first time roleplaying (going on three years this June), this is my first time participating in a LiveJournal roleplaying community, so I'm a little unfamiliar with all the jargon ("slowtimed", "open until it scrolls", "tinytag", et cetra). If anyone could explain it to me, it would be much appreciated.

I'm also a huge Mass Effect and Half Life fan, so expect me to tag any character related to those two fandoms like crazy.

Other than that, there's not much to say, except to expect a newcomer to The Bar within a day or two.

Also, my AIM's TheMightySpazz.

Comments

[a1enzo]

By all means!.

• "Slowtimed" means that one or more parties isn't available for tagging solidly at a stretch, so either the thread is on hold until they are, or each will simply throw in a tag whenever they can.
• "Open until it scrolls" means that the post is available for new threads until it disappears from the community front page.
• "Tinytag" is what happened when LJ imposed a limit on the number of entry tags per community and there were already far more characters than that limit so there wasn't room for new ones, but people still wanted a way to indicate from the front page which pups were involved in a thread.

[boston_bruiser]

Thanks!

[a1enzo]

No problem! By the way, advice: in your profile, instead of saying "Name: Voodoo", fill it into the actual Name field. That way people can mouse over your userpic and see it, which is helpful if they don't know the character.

[aisforamy]

Hi Jack! Welcome to the game! Everyone here is pretty friendly and you'll find we're more than happy to help. You'll get used to the lingo and the different personalities around here soon enough. Feel free to join us in crackchat any time on AIM... I think the name of the chatroom is still crackinthewall.

The most important thing is to have fun!

[thebattycakes]

Hiya!

Welcome aboard!

There is or was a Milliways Wiki thingy somewhere that's helpful, but I've given up on trying to find the link, so maybe someone who knows can get you there.

:D

Edit: Pfft, and wouldn't you know, I post this and decide to go back one more page and there it is. *facepalms*

[genarti]

Hello and welcome! :D

I'm trying to think of any more jargon floating around this place that might get confusing...

EP = entrance post. OOM = Out Of Milliways, aka a thread done in a character's journal rather than the main comm. Sometimes these are simply single posts, and sometimes they're threaded out. Sometimes you'll also see something like "not technically OOM" when something is threaded in a journal but set in Milliways' outdoors, upstairs, or even occasionally in the main bar.

"Plot-locked" means you're posting a character into the bar, but not actually open for random threads, because you have a specific plot planned out and someone else is going to participate by pre-arrangement. This doesn't happen very often.

"Millitiming," also known as "abusing Millitime" and other variants, is when people take advantage of the fact that LJ roleplaying allows for somewhat flexible timelines. For example, you might declare that one thread takes place before another one even though they both began in the same time in the same entrance post, or that your character was out of the bar for three days by their time even though you brought them back through the door two hours later. You'll sometimes see this when someone finishes an OOM much later than it was begun or when it was theoretically set, and links it to the main bar with a note like "Millitimed to two or three weeks ago."

A related, and sometimes overlapping concept is handwaving, which is basically a catchall term for not bothering to explain how something works. For example, if your character comes into the bar with a serious wound and gets it healed in two separate ways in two different threads, you might just wave your hands and not work too hard at figuring out how they both could have happened. Or, if your canon doesn't make a lot of sense in certain aspects, you could just handwave away the part where they defy physics every day and twice on Sundays. (Cartoons and action movies often call for this.)

You can also ask pretty much anybody, either on AIM or by any other method that suits, and we'll all happily explain! We try not to obfuscate, but jargon does build up. :)

[leeshajoy.livejournal.com]

"Handwaving" may also refer to a particular event that is assumed to have taken place without it actually being written out--usually because it would be boring, the mun(s) ran out of time, or some combination of both.

[lordoflorien.livejournal.com]

HELLO, JACK!

My name's Gabby, and I'd just like to reiterate everything that's already been said. WELCOME TO MILLIWAYS! I'll tell you, it took me months to figure out all the jargon and the setup to this place, but they were fun months. The wiki (linked above) is definitely helpful for the weirder pieces of bar history (for instance, did you know there is a lake outside? And that freshwater squid live in said lake? True story), and if you use AIM at all, crack!chat is the #1 go-to for any questions you have, or just to get in touch with other players. It is still in the room "crackinthewall" on AOL, and anybody would be glad to send you an invite if you can't self-invite!

Other than that, using the back room like this is a life saver. Ask us anything, we're friendly and try to be helpful! But the nice thing about the bar is that it's pretty flexible, and always changing.

Hope to play with you soon!
Gabby
AIM: LordoLorien

[aberrantangels]

(for instance, did you know there is a lake outside? And that freshwater squid live in said lake? True story)

And their names are Mr. Julia Fruitnugget (blame anthy_rosebride) and Sunshine Dust (I'd say that was in honor of stewart_baxter, but she hasn't any).

[jothra]

Nice to meet you! We love new people!

And like they ^ all said, feel free to ask stuff. The back room is very handy for that sort of thing. Welcome aboard!

[batyatoon]

Welcome to Milliways! Hope you enjoy this game as much as we do. :D

[silveraspen]

Hello and welcome! Glad to have you here.

[chanter1944]

Hi, and welcome to the fun! Glad to have you aboard. This place is a blast. An addictive one at that. :)

We're quite the friendly, quirky bunch, and just about everyone is open to questions. Crackchat has... already been covered, as has the wikithingie, and there should be an IC room list around here somewhere...? Anyway. Oh, and unconnected to much of anything, watch for falling Mandarin and/or Dark Tower canon slang floating around, IC and OOC. :) It's catching, too.

Oh, and because Gabby had a good idea:
Chanter
AIM: Chanter1944

[theoldfirm.livejournal.com]

Hi Jack! Just dropping by to add to the chorus of welcome!

I had Tarik, one of my characters, tag into Voodoo's entrance post. Looking forwards to the threading!

And to continue with Gabby's idea:
Mel
AIM: Meliadine

[lai-lore.livejournal.com]

HII! Welcome!

And, um. You know, what they said.

Lai
booksofferlife

[wickedtrue.livejournal.com]

Aha! Metal of Honor! That's awesome! It's great to meet you!

I am also a huge Mass Effect and "blow shit up" games. Get to see more people here that like them! :D