Q. You allowed several anthro-races, why can't we play an anthro-race of a different animal?

The intention of Orcrest's races is to allow each space to breathe, and to have each feel like a credible part of a living world. That is why each of the allowed anthro-races are not named after their stereotypical anthro counterparts, and why each has a wealth of lore associated with it. However, we are open to the possibility (with no guarantee) of expanding the list of races in the future. If you have an idea with a creative name and a lore rooted in the world of Orcrest, the staff team would be more than happy to hear you out!

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Q. Why have you chosen to raffle slots for the limited race I want to play?

There are two answers here. The first is an answer for why the races are limited in the first place, and that is to allow the fantastic without diluting the world from "regular" characters. If everyone is special, no one is, after all! If the more fantastical races start to feel mundane, it removes their entire purpose. The second answer is to why a raffle specifically, and that is to allow everyone (with a character concept that's good enough) the chance at getting to play those roles. A raffle also prevents both favoritism and the appearance of favoritism, neither of which are good. Having the selection be random instead of the staff choosing the subjective to us best fit means players can relax and RP without worry that the limited slots are only going to be handed out to friends of staff. 

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Q. Why an automated HUD instead of doing things by hand like Mhirdrun?

Largely, we wanted a system that encouraged people to go outside their rentals or other safe spaces, to go bump into people in areas they wouldn't otherwise frequent. The system is designed to be casual-friendly, while still having enough depth to sink your teeth into. Success comes from collaboration, letting players engage with what interests them while relying on their friends or faction members for the rest. At its core, the system facilitates IC drama and conflict, while balancing PvE, PvP, progression, and inter-player economy. This means there's a role for everyone, even those who have no interest in ever joining a faction or fighting.

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Q. How does progression work?

Approximately every hour spent on sim in an IC area will give you a coin drop. There are a maximum of five coin drops a day, and the first two also give you XP alongside them. In addition, you can go out in the world to find nodes to harvest. Nodes come in various flavours, with dedicated resource nodes being faction controllable and giving guaranteed drops, while random nodes out in the wilderness require skill checks, and treasure nodes in dungeons require progression through that dungeon. Once a day, if you successfully harvest a node (other than the resource nodes), your coin drop will trigger regardless of how long you've been on sim. Wherever you get your progression from, it is time gated, so players won't be able to streak ahead.​

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Q. What is progression time gating?

Time gating is effectively setting a maximum rate of system progression characters can achieve. In this case, we're time gating things on both a daily and weekly basis. Every day, characters can earn up to 2 XP and up to 25 silver, but weekly progression is capped at 6 XP and 75 silver. In addition, each character can get up to 3 node harvests per week, which represent a large bulk of the loot a character can get. This means if you can play over the course of three calendar days per week, you can get the maximum progression for your character and not fall behind. With this, a character who plays at least an hour a day for three days every week can expect to hit maximum level in about six weeks. 

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Q. Why are you time gating progression?

Well, for one, we want to respect everyone's time. Roleplay isn't anyone's job, and having to treat it like that or fall behind isn't conductive to anything but burnout. On the flip side, we still want to encourage players to leave their rentals and go out into the world, and this system also accomplishes that. You won't hit your maximum progression without going out and exploring, giving plenty of opportunity to interact with others.

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Q. Could you expand on Rule 8: Reasonable Right to Life?

Reasonable Right to Life exists to prevent random, wanton perma-death without reason, while still allowing death as a natural consequence to certain storylines when its warranted. Killing a character is a serious thing, and stopping to make sure you're doing so in service of story and with proper justification is paramount to making that killing a part of an emerging story, rather than the abrupt end to one. The one exception to this rule is that of Limited Roles. Any Limited character has no right to life, and may be killed by anyone at any time. In addition, know that killing a character (no matter how justified or if they are a Limited Role) will always curtail your own rights to life to those who are close to that character. Those who live by the sword often die by it. Remember, no matter what you OOCly know a character to have done, you character still must find out about it in roleplay. Before killing someone, consider:

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Have they...

• Killed another character, even for a good reason?

• Been convincingly accused of murder or sexual violence?

• Provoking death while imprisoned? (ex. "Go ahead and kill me, I won't talk!")

• Continuing a longstanding feud, despite having been defeated several times?

• Persisting in hostile spaces after having been expelled?

• Attempting mass executions?

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Does your character...

• Have a personal connection to the victims of the above?

• Have legal authority to mete out justice for one of the crimes above, and the punishment for that crime is death?

• Have a vested interest (financial or otherwise) to see justice or vengeance done for one of the above?

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Murder isn't always the best solution, so when you reach for that particular tool make sure it's the right one for the job. Consider potential alternatives to death that may be suitable:

• Imprisonment, servitude, or hostage exchanges.

• Oaths, arranged alliances, non-lethal duels.

• Scars, brands, amputations, or other lasting marks of justice.

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Q. Could you expand on Rule 10: Fade to Black?

Fade to Black (FTB) is a fast-forward tool for skipping intense, uncomfortable, or mundane scenes - but it does not erase IC consequences. It exists to protect players from discomfort, not to protect characters from IC events. Any player may initiate a FTB at any time, and it should always be respected. Once initiated, stop RPing and OOCly discuss with the other player(s) involved what will ICly have happened, and what the end result of the scene is. After, that scene is considered to have happened, and any IC consequences from that scene are fair game to be played out in a separate roleplay down the line. FTB does not allow characters on either side of the scene to avoid bad things happening to their characters, it just allows a safety net so no one is forced to roleplay out uncomfortable, distasteful, or otherwise unpleasant scenes. FTB is a compromise, and requires clear communication, but if everyone treats it with the respect it deserves it will reduce OOC tension while still allowing the storyline to continue.