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Welcome to Star Army! This article has the basic steps and info you'll need to participate. Please read it thoroughly.
In a nutshell, Star Army works like this:
You must be 16 or older to join Star Army. There is no cost to join or participate.
The wiki login system is separate from the forum one, so you will need to register for both.
The Character Creation Guide (CCG) is your primary resource for making your character. Note that there are several species-specific character creation guides to help you. Before you make your character, if possible, do a little background reading on the role-play and get an idea of the plot you want to join. Once you're somewhat familiar with the role-play setting, you'll want to get started with the CCG. It should give you vital information for your character, based on your choices.
When you're done Creating Your Character, you'll need to:
If there are no problems, approval will usually be quick and painless. If there are issues with your biography, the game master will do his best to help you adjust it so that it makes sense or fits in the role-play. The most common sources of problems are overpowered, glorious histories and skills, story continuity issues (things that wouldn't make sense, like joining the Star Army before it was founded), and lack of detail.
NOTE: If you update/edit your bio, post a reply to its thread so the reviewers will know to look at it again!
A character forum moderator will post approval of your character in the forum thread you posted. The topic will then be moved to the APPROVED forum (so if your character thread seems missing, check there!). The character forum moderator who approved your character will send a private message to you and to the GM of the plot you listed as your first preference. We encourage you to also send your own private message to the plot GM introducing yourself.
In the unlikely event your character is approved but cannot be accepted, the GM (or if he is not available, the Faction Manager or Setting Manager) will post a notice in the approved character thread and then contact your second choice plot GM on your behalf.
Once you're accepted into the plot, edit the plot's page so your character is on their crew roster (or ask your GM to).
Note: If your character is in the military, you will also get an orders thread in the appropriate communications forum. It will tell your character where to go and serves as a record of his/her military service including transfers, awards, and promotions.
Once you're in a plot, start role-playing! If it's a single-post plot you can start right away (or as soon as it makes sense in the plot). If it's a joint_post plot, then find out when the next chat session is (most plots have a scheduling thread in their forum).
Full rules are available here: Site Rules
Most Star Army roleplay is done by posting directly onto a thread (or start a new one), which is called a Single Post. Sometimes single posts are consolidated into compilations.
For JPs, we usually arrange a meeting time or just spontaneously start role-playing with whoever is online that fits into a plot. These RP sessions usually last about an hour or two and when we're done, one of the people in the RP session saves, edits, and posts the transcript (then referred to as a joint_post) onto the boards. The above methods of RP are why some parts of the board tend to have big, long posts with multiple characters and few replies–so don't let them intimidate you, they're just giant edited transcripts.
For more information on JPs, read the Guide to Joint Posts.
There are many ways to get help: