Howdy guys, Kayse again.

So we constantly have a stream of new people joining Valence, and obviously they need somewhere to start, and need to know how the server works. Usually, this comes in the form of a tour. Now, we do have designated “helpers” on Valence that are chosen directly by management- but not all of us are always available to give a tour to every single new player.

Tours should be something that are normal to give, but they absolutely need to have some sort of standardisation. A lot of tours that are given by non-helpers are quite fine, but there are a fair amount that absolutely do not cover all the necessary bases, and cover TOO many unnecessary ones. So, I am here to make ANOTHER guide on things that should be shown during a tour.

What Kind of Server We Are

So obviously Valence is a roleplay server, but not every new person completely knows what that is. Many SMPs that exist and are popular are very different from the one we all play on.

Make sure new people understand the following points:

• We are a D&D based RP server. We have set storylines and everyone has an original character that they play as. HOWEVER, every character has their own story- and they are free to have their own personal storylines and plots.
• We don’t use any of those fancy plug-ins or mods that give commands like townies or land claims, everything is done completely in-character.
• Valence already has complex governmental systems set up (that they can learn about later), so they can’t just shack up anywhere they want, otherwise they may be told in-character to take it down.
• There are two different “worlds” on the server, Orlan and Cirallia.
  • Make sure they know that they are referred to as “islands”, and that both are part of Kara.
  • Tell them that they can talk to the NPC on the boat to go to the other island.
  • Kara is the collection of islands, the Kingdom of Stone Bay is the country of the islands.

Mechanisms to Show Them

There are a few different things that are very important to tell people about so that they can start to function on the server normally.

Our different server-side chats. Tell them to use /chats to see all the different ones they have.

• /g or /global - This is our global chat. It is a normal Minecraft chat. Everyone on the server can see it, and it is completely out-of-character.
• /ooc - This is our out-of-character chat. It is a proximity chat that most people use to communicate out-of-character to others nearby. They should be using this when talking to someone close to them in-game.
• /l or /local - This is our main in-character chat. It shows up as yellow text with the character name. It is a proximity based chat.
• /whisp - This is another in-character chat. It shows up as grey text with the character name in front of it. It is a smaller proximity chat, of about 3 blocks around them.
• /do - This is the last in-character chat, and is used to show actions.

The commands to sit down, etc.

• /sit - Players can use this to sit on any empty block they are standing on. Players can also right-click on an empty slab or stair to automatically sit. Shift to stand up.
• /lay - Causes the player to lay down on their back. The block that they are standing on when they use this command is where their head will go, and the direction they are facing when typing it will make their legs go that direction. Shift to stand up.
• /crawl - Causes the player to crawl around on their belly, as if they stood under a trap door and opened it. Shift to stand up.

How to Get Started

Once they understand the most commonly used commands, it’s time to get them actually started on the server. There are a few things to help them get prepared and self-sufficient.

• Take them to Gretchen on the docks.
  • They should right-click on Gretchen to talk to her. They can use arrow keys or the scroll wheel to change the dialogue they want to select. Right-click again to select the dialogue option. Shift to exit.
  • Tell them to ask for starter tools, the exploration compass, and the starter donkey from Gretchen.
    • Make sure they get all of those things!
• Show them the Customs House.
  • There are some freebies they can get from there, like more food, and IC books about the server.
  • If they don’t know where to live for their first few days, they can stay in the Customs House for up to two weeks if there is an empty room.
• Get them some silver.
  • Take them to the Silver Mines to show them where it is.
    • If they don’t have any armour or weapons, Steward’s Cross has provided some.
    • Make sure they know that the mines are DANGEROUS, there are mobs.
  • Use the road to get there.
    • Have them set their exploration compass to the Silver Mines.
  • Tell them that if there is no silver in the mines, they can always come back later- it regenerates.
  • Show them back to the city, and show them where to smelt their silver.
    • There is a furnace in the back of the Tempered Talon.
  • Take them to the bank across the street so they know where to exchange their silver for coins.
  • Make sure they know there are other ways to make silver if they don’t want to go mining all the time. You can either use this as reference or simply send it to them.
• See if they need help making a character. If they want help or seem unsure, direct them to open a writing ticket here.

Things in Discord

• General Text - ALL OF THESE ARE OUT OF CHARACTER
  • Chat
    • General chat. Self explanatory.
  • QOTD
    • A question of the day is posted every day! Anyone can respond.
  • Characters
    • A place to post and read character bios. You do not need approval to post in this channel.
  • Art Pics
    • A place to share pictures, screenshots, art, and other things!
  • Ads Promotion
    • The ONLY place where self-promotion is allowed. Usually used for D&D games, art commissions, and Twitch streams.
  • Lore Plotting
    • A place to advertise your character, or storylines for others to participate in. Also a good way to make some friends in-character.
• Support Category
  • This is where they can open a ticket, request a name change, and apply to the staff team.
• General Voice - ALL OF THESE ARE OUT OF CHARACTER
  • A place to hang out OOC! They can join any call they want if it is not full. Encourage them to MEET NEW PEOPLE, don’t just syphon them for yourself.
    • If they want to make a VC themselves and have people join, tell them to join the “Click to Create” channel.
• Roleplay Text - ALL OF THESE ARE IN CHARACTER
  • Events Channel
    • This is where event-team hosted events are posted. Anyone can attend and participate in these events.
  • Kara Press
    • A monthly writing-team produced newspaper. A good place to catch up on some old news if they want.
  • The Board
    • A place where anyone can post a variety of things. Player events, announcements from towns, government meetings, and other various things.
  • Classifieds
    • Where people can sell, buy, hire others, and put out business advertisements.
  • Rumours & Whispers
    • A channel where players can submit rumours. If it’s in the channel, your character can know about it in-character.
      • To submit a rumour they just DM the bot.
• Roleplay Voice - ALL OF THESE ARE IN CHARACTER
  • This is where MOST of the roleplay happens.
  • If they can see a group of people in-game, they can join the call. They don’t need to ask permission to join.
  • Talking via a microphone isn’t required! Some people are shy or uncomfortable talking verbally, and that’s okay.
    • If they are in a RP call and don’t want to talk, they can mute and use local chat to communicate if they wish.
  • To make a new RP call, click “RP VC Create”.

Places to Live

• DO NOT GO AROUND SHOWING THEM EVERY SINGLE TOWN.
  • You do not live in every single town. You cannot give a 100% accurate description of every single place on the server. I cannot even do that.
    • Not only will your description not be accurate, but it will be a LOT of information for a brand new player to process. We don’t want to overload everyone.
• Tell them about which towns exist, and who they can talk to about those towns.
  • Orlan:
    • The City of Stone Bay
    • The Duchy of Norbrook
    • The Duchy of Stendahl
    • The Barony of Grimwood
    • The Barony of Steward’s Cross
    • The Barony of Wildridge
  • Cirallia:
    • Shoreguard
    • Hollow Creek
    • The Gosh Dang Kommonwealthe (GDK)
    • Rosemoor
    • Kyndra
  • If you don’t know who they can go talk to about specific towns, just ask in global for help.
  • If they ask if they can just go into the wilderness and build, the answer is no.
    • There is no rule against it, but if they are caught in-character they will have to move.
  • Advise them to talk to some new people, and see who they vibe with.
    • New players should be given options, and shouldn’t feel pressured to join any single town.
  • Make sure they know that if they don’t like where they live- they can just leave and move somewhere else.

Closing Statement

Congrats! You've finished touring around a new player, I hope this helped all y'all. Make sure they feel welcomed, we want them to stick around and have as much fun as the rest of us have had. I always suggest friending them on Discord, or simply offering yourself if they ever have any questions.

Get out there and get touring!

Love,

Kayse