Post by Jon Snow on Aug 4, 2012 9:40:33 GMT -5
Plot
King Robert has died and the stage is now set after Joffrey Baratheon, first of his name, has become King of the Iron Throne. Eddard Stark has been beheaded as a traitor to the realm for conspiring to murder the King, which has lead the North to name Robb Stark, Eddard's eldest son, King of the North, who has then risen the Northmen against the South in a civil war that will engulf the entire realm. Renly and Stannis Baratheon, brothers to the now dead King, have both called their banners, labelling themselves Kings and setting their own claims on the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, beyond the Wall, the Wildliings are preparing to head South and the Others have finally shown themselves, near decimating the ill-prepared men of the Night's Watch...Winter is Coming.
Eddard Stark, along with King Robert and all of the other characters from Season One & Two that died, remain dead. If you can think of a good reason for characters that have seemingly died in Season One to come back from the dead, you will be allowed to create and write as those characters; though you cannot just pretend that those characters never died in the first place. However, the players of the Game now continue forth into their own stories. We are not ruled by the books (although you can write out parts of the books, if you so wish) but rather we are ruled by our own imaginations.
Timelines
On most sites you pick a character to write with and then write out chronological threads for that character, limiting you to one location at a time and near one thread at a time. This method is fine, though we’ve noticed that it can cause issues - for example, if you are writing with someone and they vanish for a while, it leaves you without anything to do and it causes a drop in activity. However, on Winter Is Coming we take a somewhat different approach.
We allow you complete freedom in this respect, so you are able to have as many threads in as many locations as you can keep active, with as many different people as you like; you can even write a thread from your characters past, if you like. We do ask that you maintain some semblance of a chronological order to your character and their history, but that will be for you to organise and keep a check on. However, when it comes to Site-Wide Plots we will ask that you maintain a present and chronological order to all threads that are included with it, as they affect everyone on the site.
This site takes place where Season Two finished, albeit with some site-related changes. The events of Winter is Coming are a combination of Canon and what we create, with each decision shaping the world around us all. For further details on all the major events that have thus far taken place on the site - with all of the major differences from the books/show listed here - the please check out the Events in a World of Ice & Fire thread.
Detail
In simplest terms, include as much detail with your posts as you can. We do not ask that you go into so much detail that you have to write essays per post, so a basic rule of thumb would be around a couple paragraphs with some detail. Also, do not use run-on sentences for an entire paragraph; "I'm not a very good writer," is not an excuse, because compound/complex sentence structures and paragraphs are studied by all children. However, if you compare the next two paragraphs, you will know exactly what we mean:
Do you see the difference? But, of course, we do understand that sometimes you will have writers block or something like that (another example, you only can reply with one line towards the current response because of vagueness). Just try not to do it excessively. This is more of a Guideline to follow, though people will all level of writing ability are more than welcome.
King Robert has died and the stage is now set after Joffrey Baratheon, first of his name, has become King of the Iron Throne. Eddard Stark has been beheaded as a traitor to the realm for conspiring to murder the King, which has lead the North to name Robb Stark, Eddard's eldest son, King of the North, who has then risen the Northmen against the South in a civil war that will engulf the entire realm. Renly and Stannis Baratheon, brothers to the now dead King, have both called their banners, labelling themselves Kings and setting their own claims on the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, beyond the Wall, the Wildliings are preparing to head South and the Others have finally shown themselves, near decimating the ill-prepared men of the Night's Watch...Winter is Coming.
Eddard Stark, along with King Robert and all of the other characters from Season One & Two that died, remain dead. If you can think of a good reason for characters that have seemingly died in Season One to come back from the dead, you will be allowed to create and write as those characters; though you cannot just pretend that those characters never died in the first place. However, the players of the Game now continue forth into their own stories. We are not ruled by the books (although you can write out parts of the books, if you so wish) but rather we are ruled by our own imaginations.
Timelines
On most sites you pick a character to write with and then write out chronological threads for that character, limiting you to one location at a time and near one thread at a time. This method is fine, though we’ve noticed that it can cause issues - for example, if you are writing with someone and they vanish for a while, it leaves you without anything to do and it causes a drop in activity. However, on Winter Is Coming we take a somewhat different approach.
We allow you complete freedom in this respect, so you are able to have as many threads in as many locations as you can keep active, with as many different people as you like; you can even write a thread from your characters past, if you like. We do ask that you maintain some semblance of a chronological order to your character and their history, but that will be for you to organise and keep a check on. However, when it comes to Site-Wide Plots we will ask that you maintain a present and chronological order to all threads that are included with it, as they affect everyone on the site.
This site takes place where Season Two finished, albeit with some site-related changes. The events of Winter is Coming are a combination of Canon and what we create, with each decision shaping the world around us all. For further details on all the major events that have thus far taken place on the site - with all of the major differences from the books/show listed here - the please check out the Events in a World of Ice & Fire thread.
Detail
In simplest terms, include as much detail with your posts as you can. We do not ask that you go into so much detail that you have to write essays per post, so a basic rule of thumb would be around a couple paragraphs with some detail. Also, do not use run-on sentences for an entire paragraph; "I'm not a very good writer," is not an excuse, because compound/complex sentence structures and paragraphs are studied by all children. However, if you compare the next two paragraphs, you will know exactly what we mean:
- What We Do Not Want - It was quiet at the borders of the North. Very quickly, the Lannisters had destroyed the North. The North fought back but they couldn’t stop the Lannisters from defeating them and the war was over very soon. Though the battle was pointless because the White Walkers were coming and the wars of the land had done nothing but weaken the realm and so when the White Walkers came it was bad.
- What We Do Want - Silence. Perhaps the most difficult thing to find in all of the Seven Kingdoms, and thanks to current events it was now all the more rare. Though it had only been a short while, the Lannister forces had taken the North like a flock of vultures to a fresh corpse, leaving nothing but the stripped clean bones of destruction in their wake. No one had expected them to act so swiftly or efficiently, and as such they had completely taken the North by surprise
While the Lannisters fought for greed and power, and the North for revenge and honour, little did they all know that their petty arguments were nothing in the face of what was to come. The Others, renamed the White Walkers by most, were about to prove that myths and stories didn’t always remain as such. The men of the Night’s Watch, partially forgotten about during the wars of the realm, were ill prepared for their ancient task set to them. In possibly one of the most disgusting showcases of massacre in Westeros’ history, the White Walkers decimated the land and brought about the fall of Westeros as we know it.
Do you see the difference? But, of course, we do understand that sometimes you will have writers block or something like that (another example, you only can reply with one line towards the current response because of vagueness). Just try not to do it excessively. This is more of a Guideline to follow, though people will all level of writing ability are more than welcome.
