Mainstream Mule
What is The Gaia Mainstream?
The Gaia Mainstream is, in the words of opaj, "The Gaia of Commerce... When your character goes into a random tavern, they're in the Gaia Mainstream. It's the pluralistic, chaotic continuity that flows from thread to thread."
This partial quote is the spiritual founder of the Gaia Mainstream - the idea that a character can be anyone, from anywhere, and have a basis of continuity, of "canon" as they move from thread to thread. Expanding opaj's initial statement outward, why not apply the idea of continuity to roleplaying threads, instead of simply one character?
Instead of having a single thread, existing on its own in the sea of roleplaying Limbo, what if it could become interconnected to another thread, and another, and so on until you no longer have a single bar or inn or fortress, but instead you have a veritable world of free-form roleplay that shares the same continuity, the same canon, the same "creative space" that allows them to weave stories together and provides a broader world in which to participate?
In the Gaia Mainstream, a character could be anyone, from anywhere - they could participate in an open world that has no map to define its limits, and the world only has room to expand as people choose to add their own roleplaying locales to the mix, letting multitudes of story arcs leap from thread to thread, allowing for greater interaction and growth.
Aim
The aim of the Gaia Mainstream is not to box in people's threads or locations into a closed world, as a guild might. It seeks to allow for a common "world" that any and all threads can coexist in to allow for greater roleplaying purposes so that these roleplaying locales aren't alone in their own little world. The Gaia Mainstream isn't a strict organization, but could be more accurately described as a charter, or web of affiliation. Threads affiliate with the Mainstream and with their fellow Mainstream signers to show that they're part of the same creative space as their neighbor, that a character can - literally - travel from one location to the next, and that this coexistence is acknowledged, instead of having the traveler leave one world and walk into the next, so to speak.
In short, the aim of the Gaia Mainstream is to take the little, private world that each thread may have, and expand it so that threads can share the same world, allowing the roleplayers to be a part of a greater whole and broaden their possibilities. If there were two bar threads located in Durem that were a part of the Mainstream, a character could, literally, walk down the street to the next bar, and continue roleplaying in that thread. This is only a minor example, but it is meant to lend to the notion that an interconnected world allows for a shared continuity that can broaden the scope of of a roleplayer's choices and potential storytelling.
How Does it Work?
The Gaia Mainstream relies on a charter of sorts, a written agreement which essentially states that any threads that choose to affiliate with the Mainstream share the same "Gaia" world as the other threads in the Mainstream. That each thread is part of a whole - a city here, a bar there, a fortress here, all coming together to paint a greater picture of a real world of roleplaying.
The charter, beyond that purpose, also lays very few ground rules to help avoid stepping on one another's toes, but is purposefully made to keep from restricting anyone's roleplaying experience. This written agreement between threads relies on the trust system; if a thread agrees to join and take part, they're expected to recognize the canon of the rest of the world when applicable.
The joining process is simple - agree to follow the Mainstream charter and its rules, add its banner to your list of affiliates, and at most give a small description of what that means on your thread page so the inhabitants of your thread understand it. Any thread that doesn't expressly break or ignore the rules of the charter can be automatically accepted, as long as they make their intent clear in this thread and PM the mule with the relevant information. Give us a banner or link to your thread, and a small blurb describing your location, and the Charter will add your thread to the list of Mainstream locations.
The Charter will never be an exclusive concept - threads are free to join as long as they fit the rules; the idea is to bring many threads into the fold, not a select few that fit within this group of roleplayers or that.
What are the benefits of this loose, contractual interconnectedness to other threads?
- Participating in a broader world of roleplay: A thread is no longer alone in the world, but now shares it with other inhabitants and locations, giving it a sense of life, movement, and time. This allows for much more roleplaying, as you are no longer limited to a world that is shaped around a single bar, city, forest, or other location.
Greater advertisement: As the intent is for as many threads as possible to become a part of the Mainstream, this OOC thread acts as a literal hub of advertisement, where roleplayers from all the various IC locations can find other places to travel and roleplay in, bringing greater traffic to your threads.
Broader story-lines: As part of the Mainstream, the inhabitants of different threads can coordinate storylines that cover much larger scopes, allowing for more participants and more places to include than one thread would allow. This thread also acts as a hub for storylines and events, allowing threads and individuals to advertise through the Mainstream community.
Shared history: Part of being included in a larger world means that there is a shared history and continuity, an acknowledgment of what has gone on in your thread that extends into the world around you. If a bar is burned down, or a fortress invaded, it forms the history of a larger world of roleplaying.
More events: Simply put, the participants of a thread have more stories, events, and happenings to take part in. Regular updates to add events for threads and stand-alone events such as tournaments will be put to good use, allowing the participants of a Mainstream thread to find things to do as often as possible, helping stave off stagnation.
The Mainstream Charter
1. All threads, organizations, and so forth who agree to inclusion into the Gaia Mainstream will share as similar a canon background or "world" as much as possible. This means that all members of the Mainstream MUST recognize the existence of their fellow Charter signatories.
2. To avoid divergences in canon, locations such as Durem, Barton Town, Aekea, et cetera should NOT be destroyed, due to the fact that no signing member of the Charter has any relevant authority over these "NPC" areas.
3. In-Character actions will have in-character consequences. For example, should a character die, they cannot simply instantaneously resurrect in another thread; death in one part of the canon world constitutes death throughout until resurrected. A second example would be if one character attacked another: the attacker cannot hide behind the rules of another Charter thread if they are pursued or attacked in turn.
4. All Mainstream threads will affiliate with one another and with this thread in order to help maintain high traffic for all threads, and to help draw more potential signers into the fold to help expand the playing world in which our characters interact.
5. Each thread is allowed to maintain its own power and character limits, as well as their own rules and whether or not their thread is open for attack. However, it is suggested that fighting be allowed, and that threads should be open to attack within reason (for the sake of story arcs, and so forth) or with proper permission.
6. Each thread is allowed to maintain its own blacklist; or list of banned roleplayers, but concessions should be made, when possible.
7. Despite any previous conflicts, thread owners will OOCly respect their fellow Charter members and attempt to reconcile any problems peacefully, should they arise. No OOC drama between threads or thread owners will be tolerated.
8. All signing members have the right to withdraw from the Mainstream at any time, should they so choose. Of the same token, if a thread or its owner consistently break the rules of the Charter, they can be removed.
9. Threads taking part in the Mainstream should not be insular in nature OOCly. While every thread owner maintains the right to choose whether or not a particular story-arc takes place in their thread, consistent refusal is frowned upon, as it is counter to the concept of the Gaia Mainstream. Should a thread choose not to allow an event or story-arc to take place (wholly or piecemeal) in their thread, they will still acknowledge its effect on the whole of the canon "world", however indirectly it might affect their thread.
10. Players, organizations, and so forth should not abuse membership of the charter in any way.
FAQ
(Updated as necessary.)
Q: How do I join? It isn't very clear in the post.
A: That's probably my fault. Joining is pretty simple; just send us a PM with a blurb (short description) of your place and a link to your thread. You add us to your list of affiliates, we add you to the list of threads that are part of the shared continuity and give you a slot on the newsboard.
Q: Does the Mainstream encourage "niche" locations, such as blacksmiths, or medical facilities?
A: Yes, these sort of locations or roleplay ideas are greatly encouraged, and other threads are encouraged to use "player run" blacksmiths, or healers, or what have you, rather than simply NPC'ing it.
Q: Why is the Mainstream Mule's avatar a frog/toad?
A: Because frogs are cool.
Q: Is the GM only for threads in Commerce?
A: Technically, no - any thread that serves as an open-world "location" can be considered eligible for joining the Mainstream, even if it's placed in the main Barton Town forum, or one of the other subforums.
Q: How does the mission-board/event calender/etc work?
A: Pretty simply, actually. Want to add an event? PM us a short description, a link to the event in question, and the name of someone in charge. Want to update the missionboard for your thread? Just PM us the info, we'll update it for you. Pretty much anything you see that's relevant to events, storylines, organizations, et cetera can be updated/added just by sending a PM to this account with the relevant info.
Q: What is this thread for, other than keeping track of Charter signers and all this other info?
A: Besides its function for spreading information on the Mainstream and keeping track of everything, this thread can serve as a shared OOC thread for the entire Mainstream. Aside from the advantages of communication, it will also keep this thread on the first page so others can see it. It'll also keep the IC threads a little cleaner.. hopefully.
Affiliation Tags and Signature images
The affiliation tag for the Charter members:
The signature userbar; feel free to put it in your signature to show support for the Gaia Mainstream:
(Thanks to Ecks for the great (and free) art for this project. Please save and host these tags if you intend to use them to avoid going over imageshack's bandwidth allocation.)
