Hi everyone, this is the journals section for Season 4. Posters, please take a read through this guide. Casual readers, just sit back and enjoy. Here are a few rules that I'll address through a Q&A.
[The reason for these rules is simple: I'd like to make this story as approachable as possible for people visiting the website. Remember to stick to the X-COM universe and the approved back story of your character.]
Q&A
Who can write journals?
ACTIVE soldiers, scientists, engineers, pilots, etc. If you haven't been invited to the XCOM base yet (Soldiers waiting for hire, Zhang, Annette, some interceptor pilots, etc) please hold off on your posts until you actually show up in the game.
How many journals can you write?
For now, you can write one journal per episode. The episodes will release on Sundays around 3PM EST.
What makes a good journal entry?
My first piece of advice would be to take a look through previous seasons and see what stands out to you. You'll notice some similarities between the posts you find most interesting. Sometimes it's the way someone organizes their post, other times it's the way in which they write. Remember, "good artists copy, great artists steal."
It's a good idea to include your name/class/rank etc at the top of each journal entry.
Think about the reporting structure. Scientists report to Vahlen. Engineers report to Shen. Etc.
Think about what kind of things your character would outline in his or her journals. It can be anything from events that happened during the episodes to relationships your character establishes doing things around the base. Though most characters will train a lot, there will be a tremendous amount of downtime for most characters. Ideally you want to make the mundane interesting in a roleplay. These journals are where you truly establish your character.
Remember your pledge; you have pretty much signed away your life for this project and sworn it to your Commander. There will be a constant atmosphere of impending doom and it is the every day mundane stuff that will be your only way to distract yourself from this. I have personally found journals that include interaction with other characters to be the better ones, rather than the ones outlining what happened during the last mission (although both are important). It should be the impact of other characters and progression through the missions that are the vital parts of a journal entry.
What areas of the base can I access as a recruit?
As an X-COM soldier you have full access to the Barracks, Mess Hall, Range, Recreational Areas, Gym, Auditorium, Hangar, Officer Training School and similar facilities. You have limited access to both the labs and engineering and similar facilities, which is limited to outside the glass windows to the actual lab and manufacturing floors. You do not have access to Satellite Uplinks, Generators, Experimental facilities (typically one-time builds such as the Hyperwave Relay and Alien Containment), Mission Control and the Situation Room.
How can I interact with other people if my journal is private?
Since your journals are a place to react to all events, this includes interactions with
other characters. When another character does something and you can place your own
character somewhere he or she would have noticed this, you can write about this and how
your character responded.
For instance, Alice wrote in her journal that she yelled something about the great
quality of the potatoes at X-COM while she was in the mess hall. Then Bob can write in
his journal that he noticed Alice yell this and decided to confront her about her love
for potatoes.
Since it is difficult to write for other characters, if you want to pull off a more
significant engagement, I suggest you contact the person you want to do this with and set
out the details for the engagement together. Then one of you can post the result in a
co-operative effort.
Will there be a place where we can talk out of character?
Absolutely. You can head on over to the Think Tank thread where you can discuss anything you want out of character. It can be related to character/relationship building, strategic advice for the commander, or anything else related to X-COM.
Can I EDIT my posts?
You are authorized to edit your journals, but if your edit goes as far as changing, adding or removing some story elements, then you must follow these 3 conditions:
- It must be your post of the week. Each time a new video comes out, all the journals that comes before it are to be considered untouchable.
- The changes must be reasonable of course, and not provoke any incoherence with has already been posted after the journal.
- You must announce here, in the Think Tank thread, that you edited your post, and precise the nature of the changes. This way people will know about it, and GMs will also be able to check if everything is still in order.
As an example, here is what I changed in my first journal : I added a paragraph in order to include the bar party mentioned in later journals and which involves my character. It was also the occasion for me to make my character's less anti-social about the attention she got, as I realized this would be more consistent with her personality.
Here we go. The point of this rule is not to prevent or restrict the edits, but just to allow everybody to keep track of them correctly. And also, even if you have done some changes to your journal before I made this post, don't hesitate to announce it now
Who are the GM's?
Grelite
Sarge-Pepper
Suryce
What is a GM?
This wikipedia article could probably explain it better than I can. Essentially, they keep things organized. They'll let you know if you're infringing on any rules and provide advice on how to fix it. Feel free to reach out to them or myself if you have any questions.
[The reason for these rules is simple: I'd like to make this story as approachable as possible for people visiting the website. Remember to stick to the X-COM universe and the approved back story of your character.]
Q&A
Who can write journals?
ACTIVE soldiers, scientists, engineers, pilots, etc. If you haven't been invited to the XCOM base yet (Soldiers waiting for hire, Zhang, Annette, some interceptor pilots, etc) please hold off on your posts until you actually show up in the game.
How many journals can you write?
For now, you can write one journal per episode. The episodes will release on Sundays around 3PM EST.
What makes a good journal entry?
My first piece of advice would be to take a look through previous seasons and see what stands out to you. You'll notice some similarities between the posts you find most interesting. Sometimes it's the way someone organizes their post, other times it's the way in which they write. Remember, "good artists copy, great artists steal."
It's a good idea to include your name/class/rank etc at the top of each journal entry.
Think about the reporting structure. Scientists report to Vahlen. Engineers report to Shen. Etc.
Think about what kind of things your character would outline in his or her journals. It can be anything from events that happened during the episodes to relationships your character establishes doing things around the base. Though most characters will train a lot, there will be a tremendous amount of downtime for most characters. Ideally you want to make the mundane interesting in a roleplay. These journals are where you truly establish your character.
Remember your pledge; you have pretty much signed away your life for this project and sworn it to your Commander. There will be a constant atmosphere of impending doom and it is the every day mundane stuff that will be your only way to distract yourself from this. I have personally found journals that include interaction with other characters to be the better ones, rather than the ones outlining what happened during the last mission (although both are important). It should be the impact of other characters and progression through the missions that are the vital parts of a journal entry.
What areas of the base can I access as a recruit?
As an X-COM soldier you have full access to the Barracks, Mess Hall, Range, Recreational Areas, Gym, Auditorium, Hangar, Officer Training School and similar facilities. You have limited access to both the labs and engineering and similar facilities, which is limited to outside the glass windows to the actual lab and manufacturing floors. You do not have access to Satellite Uplinks, Generators, Experimental facilities (typically one-time builds such as the Hyperwave Relay and Alien Containment), Mission Control and the Situation Room.
How can I interact with other people if my journal is private?
Since your journals are a place to react to all events, this includes interactions with
other characters. When another character does something and you can place your own
character somewhere he or she would have noticed this, you can write about this and how
your character responded.
For instance, Alice wrote in her journal that she yelled something about the great
quality of the potatoes at X-COM while she was in the mess hall. Then Bob can write in
his journal that he noticed Alice yell this and decided to confront her about her love
for potatoes.
Since it is difficult to write for other characters, if you want to pull off a more
significant engagement, I suggest you contact the person you want to do this with and set
out the details for the engagement together. Then one of you can post the result in a
co-operative effort.
Will there be a place where we can talk out of character?
Absolutely. You can head on over to the Think Tank thread where you can discuss anything you want out of character. It can be related to character/relationship building, strategic advice for the commander, or anything else related to X-COM.
Can I EDIT my posts?
You are authorized to edit your journals, but if your edit goes as far as changing, adding or removing some story elements, then you must follow these 3 conditions:
- It must be your post of the week. Each time a new video comes out, all the journals that comes before it are to be considered untouchable.
- The changes must be reasonable of course, and not provoke any incoherence with has already been posted after the journal.
- You must announce here, in the Think Tank thread, that you edited your post, and precise the nature of the changes. This way people will know about it, and GMs will also be able to check if everything is still in order.
As an example, here is what I changed in my first journal : I added a paragraph in order to include the bar party mentioned in later journals and which involves my character. It was also the occasion for me to make my character's less anti-social about the attention she got, as I realized this would be more consistent with her personality.
Here we go. The point of this rule is not to prevent or restrict the edits, but just to allow everybody to keep track of them correctly. And also, even if you have done some changes to your journal before I made this post, don't hesitate to announce it now
Who are the GM's?
Grelite
Sarge-Pepper
Suryce
What is a GM?
This wikipedia article could probably explain it better than I can. Essentially, they keep things organized. They'll let you know if you're infringing on any rules and provide advice on how to fix it. Feel free to reach out to them or myself if you have any questions.
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