I arrived at Splintered Rock in Second Life. What is this place?
You have arrived at a collection of regions that are devoted to science-fiction roleplaying. We have created an iconic setting for your adventures: a desert planet, such as the world depicted in the Frank Herbert 'Dune' novels, or Tatooine in 'Star Wars', and come to think of it, most of the worlds that were shown in the original Star Trek series!
What can I do here?
There are a lot of different activities that can be part of your roleplaying experience on these regions. Some examples would be: try your hand at spice mining, go for a tour of the desert in your favourite sci-fi vehicle or talk with the other players here. As with much of Second Life, you are firmly in control of how you explore the regions and the more pro-active you are, the more likely you are to find something that appeals to you or a group of players who share your interests. However, if you can't seem to find anything that interests you, please don't give up right away. The area is HUGE by Second Life standards and some of the aspects of play here can be difficult to find. The area also attracts players from all around the world so it is worth checking at different times. If you feel lost, you can always ask another player for help. Many of us are more than happy to show you around the place.
How do I roleplay here?
We encourage players to immerse themselves in the surroundings and their charcter and join in with the many stories and adventures that players create together. The best way to do this is to chat with the other players you may meet to find out what is going on. You can do this either 'in-character', interacting with them as your character would, or 'out-of-character', just talk as yourself. You can also check The Spice Report which will tell you about the major stories which are running.
We welcome all players who enjoy science-fiction adventure and don't presume to make any judgement about what is the 'right' way to roleplay and what is the 'wrong' way. For some players, roleplay means that a player must work out a deep characterisation for their character and assume that role at all times when playing, much like a method actor does; for others it's more about the 'look' of their character and they will spend a great deal of time exploiting the visual and creative aspects of Second Life to come up with an avatar that they feel is 'just right' for their role. Those are just a couple of examples of the different styles of roleplay - there are many more. If you are enjoying yourself, and the players that you interact with are enjoying the interaction too, then you're almost certainly doing something right!
There can sometimes be confusion between sexual roleplay and adventure roleplay. Roleplay that is centered around sexual gratification is not appropriate for these regions. That is not to say that romance and even mature sexual themes cannot feature in your roleplay, but if you are interested in meeting a partner or sex-worker for cyber-sex, you're in the wrong place!
Do I need to join a Second Life group to play here?
No, not at all! In many Second Life areas, you are expected to display a certain group 'tag'. This is not the case here and in fact there is no single group to join; instead there are several groups which provide benefits depending on which regions you usually play on, what you enjoy doing and which factions you have joined. As you start to play you may be advised to join or invited into various groups but, to repeat, there is no need to join any group at all in order to play here.
Who owns and runs this place?
The 6 regions are divided between 2 owners: Vooper Werribee owns Splintered Rock, Desert Basin East and Deep Desert, Joan Vhargon owns Al Raqis, Evangeline and Wadi Emet. Each of the owners has a slightly different way of running things so you'll find that there are three distict 'flavours' of play. For example, some areas encourage players to conform to a certain 'background' and provide more structure to their play, while other areas leave the players to completely construct their own backgrounds as they wish. This means you can find the area that corresponds to the style of play you prefer.
And don't worry about falling afoul of these differences. We are aware that to players the place appears to be just one big desert area, and we understand that it is unexpected to most players that the rules of play can change slightly as they cross into different regions. The owners will try to make you aware of the different rules and are extremely lenient with newcomers.
I want to jointhe roleplay, but I'm not sure where to start.
--we are currently working on an answer to this question--
Are there any areas that I'm not allowed to be in?
--we are currently working on an answer to this question--
What do I need to get started spice mining?
--we are currently working on an answer to this question--
I was wearing a combat meter and someone shot me for no reason! Do I report them as a greifer?
--we are currently working on an answer to this question--