Help Us Help Newbies! Input Needed!

[Bree]

I'm working on compiling our much delayed Newbie Guide on our new website, and I'm hoping to get some input from some of our newer members! We have a lot of information on the website, but since I was responsible for putting a good chunk of it into our database, it's hard for me to remember a time when I didn't know where it all was!

While the search function is useful, sometimes people don't know what they need to search for. I'm working on compiling a FAQ category for newbies with the most important Need To Know links. What I need from you is some help in remembering what are the most important things a new member needs! What things drove you crazy trying to find? What things are STILL driving you crazy trying to find?

Feel free to reply here or e-mail me at mailto:bree@triadweyrs.org">bree@triadweyrs.org if you have lots of input. Anyone who thinks they have some good ideas and would like to help out with compiling lists of links can contact me as well!

EDIT: Thanks to Jenny for pointing out I'd put this in the wrong forum. ;) People should be able to reply now.

[PastMember]

Ack!  I knew I should have been writing things down.  In general I've been very impressed with the site, but I've had trouble locating a few things.  I'll try to remember what they all were... but in the meantime here is a small one.  

How to refer to time.  

An hour is a candlemark, right? Is there a Pern term for a minute?  

A year is a turn and a week is a sevenday but so far as I can tell a month is month.

[PastMember]

Not to take this subject off-topic already, but I think I read somewhere that "candlemark" is not actually a term used in the Pern books, but rather has existed in the fantasy genre for some time and got "adopted" into this fandom. It's like the term "flit"--which may have been mentioned once in the books, as "flitterby" or some such--and has since been repeated so many times that it's become a part of fan canon. I'd have to look through parts of the books to see if this is actually correct--whether "candlemark" is actually used or if it is and always has been "hour."

As for the newbie guides, how about a general description of the Weyrs and possibly major holds in the North, perhaps even giving a general idea of the attitudes of people in those places towards female Crafters and the southern continent in general? The descriptions of the PC locations are very informative and helpful when trying to write the sheet of a person originating there, but there is a notable lack of information about the Northern Continent.  Do northerners look down on southerners? Respect them? Ignore them? How did the people of the Northern continent react to the news of the plague? Do riders ever transfer south?

If this information does in fact exist somewhere on the website, then perhaps it should be made more obvious.

[Eimi]

That's a part of the FAQ that is being worked on, but has to be done all from scratch, so it will take some time.  In the Triad Hostory you could read about the history between North and South as a start.

As far as descriptions of the North, Northern Weyrs and Holds, since we do not play in the North (other than the odd post of going up to a Gather up there or visiting family, etc) we probably won't be adding much information about specific locations.  It's just not somewhere we travel to very often and when we do, we are for the most part non-specific (being based in the South in our timeline and climate, we would rather keep action to the South).

[Eimi]

Here is the link to the Triad History.  The first paragraph will explain the rift between North and South until the FAQ can be completed.

[Chelle]

When I was newbie the most useful things were:
1. Persona submission guidelines and considerations-IE: this is what is good and what won't work etc
2. Information on mentorship-how it works, how many chars can you have, etc
3. Triad canon ie: links to information about the game premise including history, female craftban, hold prejudices, holders vs Weyrfolk stereotypes etc
4. How to use the forums including the plotting groups
5. The member rewards system

That's about all I can think of.

[Eimi]

Thank you Chelle!

Many answers to those questions have been added to the FAQ over the years.  Here's some of them:

1. Persona submission guidelines and considerations-IE: this is what is good and what won't work etc

Please check this link where you will find information like a 5-Step guide to writing your first persona and persona limits: http://triadweyrs.org/faq.php?q=newbie
The 5-Step guide also has links to Triad's history, the mentorship program and other useful places.

2. Information on mentorship-how it works, how many chars can you have, etc

Here is all the information on  what the program is and how mentorship works:  http://triadweyrs.org/faq.php?fq_id=496
It does not have the persona limits written there because it was written elsewhere, but I will work with the Council on putting something in there about that to make it easier.

3. Triad canon ie: links to information about the game premise including history, female craftban, hold prejudices, holders vs Weyrfolk stereotypes etc

This one includes pretty much the whole FAQ, but I would look particularly in these places:

Life on Pern, including articles on Craft information, child rearing, North vs South, Women in the Holds vs Women in the Weyrs, Food distribution and much more!  http://triadweyrs.org/faq.php?fq_id=726

Triad History, including NPC locations, the Triad history and the Triad Timeline:  http://triadweyrs.org/faq.php?fq_id=658
The history is something that will eventually be updated and made a little easier to follow.  But I would really suggest looking into each Hold, Hall and Weyr's history to get a bit more feel for the place.

4. How to use the forums including the plotting groups

This one is something I don't think we have in the FAQ right now, but I would be happy to write something about that.

5. The member rewards system

This should explain pretty much all you need to know about the member reward system: http://triadweyrs.org/faq.php?q=rewards


Hope this helps!