Settings:
- Setting: A particular location, such as a colony, ship, or similar, which is generally separated by physical space from other settings.
- Active Setting: This is a setting which is intended to be maintained in an actively Role-Played manner. They are either the Main Setting, or a Secondary Setting. Active setting may at times be focused, paused, or implied.
- Inactive Setting: A setting which is not actively Role-Played, unless it becomes part of a Merged setting. Generally this would be a colony that is not actively Role Played once it is no longer Merged with an Active Setting.
Active Settings may be one of the following:
- Main Setting: This is the central Active Setting of the server. This setting will always exist, and be maintained.
- Secondary Setting: This is a less central Active Setting, but is still actively Role-Played. There may not always be a Secondary Setting on the server, and there may be more than one. A Secondary Setting is akin to an Alt, an Alternate Setting.
- Merged Setting: Since some settings are ships, it is possible for two settings to merge. A Merged setting may be two otherwise Active Settings, or an Active and Inactive Setting. A Merged Setting is considered a single Active Setting.
Active settings can be in one of the following states:
- Focused: The Active Setting in which full focus is being given, to be determined by Admins with Player input and feedback. There is only one Focused Setting at any given time, and every other Active Setting is Paused or Implied.
- Paused: An Active Setting which is considered to generally be in a time freeze (OOCly), so that focus can be put on a different setting. As such, it is also in a Role Play freeze.
- Implied: An Active Setting which is considered to generally be in a Role-Play freeze, even though time may be implied as progressing. Time may progress at a faster- or slower-than-normal rate. Implied Role-Play which is to be considered to have happened during the implied time skipped will be discussed and agreed upon once the freeze is lifted, so that focus can stay on the Focused Setting.
The server will be completely focused as a whole on the Focused Setting. In general, Role Play in any capacity occurring on Paused or Implied settings is not permitted, with very few exceptions as stated later. This is done for a number of reasons, among which are the following:
- Making sure that Players and Characters have the opportunity to participate and respond to Role Play within a given setting, as split focus severely harms that.
- Making sure that individual settings can be managed with reasonable OOC resources, time and energy.
- Making sure that a limited player base is not actively split between two settings.
- Making sure that each setting gets the proper focus it deserves, without split attention.
- Making sure that time can remain actively synced between settings, if and when necessary, especially given that time is inherently variable.
How long a setting remains Focused, Paused or Implied will vary greatly. When Focus is switched will ultimately be decided by a consensus of Admins, but with input from players. This means Players are encouraged to ask for a switch in Focus when necessary or simply desired. Please keep in mind that due to the fact that other active situations may not permit Focus to switch, it may not be really possible- at least not immediately, but will be taken into account.
When it comes time to switch the Focus to a different setting, the current Focused Setting will be considered switched to Paused or Implied. Which one, and the rate of time for Implied, will generally be decided in advance by server consensus. If necessary, any time implied which needs to be discussed for the newly Focused scene will then be discussed- this may need to be as a server as a whole, or between particular Players for particular Characters.
It is possible for the server to decide in the beginning of a day of Role Play to switch Focus for that day, and plan to return the next day. This can be done for storyline reasons, or simply because we want to, for reasons similar to the concept of comic relief. Switching for single days should not be done routinely, as it defeats the purpose of Focusing.
Interaction Between Focused Setting and a Paused or Implied setting:
The sole exception may be if the Focused Setting requires some kind of IC input from an Implied or Paused Setting, such as long distance communication. In that case, the minimal amount of Role Play necessary to provide that input may occur, in support of the Focused Setting. Any Role Play in Paused or Implied settings which is not in direct support of the Focused setting is not permitted. If active Role Play is required to give that support, the Focus will be switched to permit for that Role Play, or a one-time exception will be evaluated.
These exceptions are critical to the functioning of the Focused Scene, and should only be done in such a way that minimizes the potential for the need to switch Focus.
Examples of permitted exceptions, and violations:
Character A is a part of the Focused Setting. Character B is part of a Paused/Implied Setting. Character C is part of the same Paused/Implied Setting.
Example 1 (permitted exception): Character A may contact Character B for ANY IC reason, and once contacted, Character B may reply as that is in direct support of the Focused Setting. Character B may need to ask something of Character C. If that can be done in an implied manner, then it should be. If actual Role Play is required between Character B and Character C, Focus should be switched or an exception to the focus should be agreed upon by Admin. If Character A's request causes significant Role Play on Character B's part, even only between Character A and B, Focus should potentially be switched at least for a short time (perhaps one day) afterwards to permit any potential Character C to potentially interact and respond to the Role Play. This should not come at the expense of allowing other characters in Character A's setting the same opportunity. (For further reasoning for all this, see comments on private Role Play and why it's vital to allow responses to it)
Example 2 (permitted exception): Character B contacts Character A, at such a time as is reasonable given the timeline of Character A's setting so long as it will not violate Character B's timeline, and only when it is for the purpose of supporting the Focused scene. This could be for storyline reasons or personal, as both are in support of the Focused scene. As with Example 1, if any amount of significant Role Play comes of this, Focus should be switched at least for a short time to permit any potential Character C an opportunity to interact and respond. Depending on the specifics, implying Role Play between Characters B and C MAY be appropriate, but it may not always be known who Character C actually might be, and so a temporary Focus switch is often more appropriate.
Example 3 (violation): Characters B and C are Role Played.