
“The .Graveyard is a complete network of servers that hosts several worlds based on fiction, novels, history, past and present that humanity has developed along the years.” – quoted from the .Graveyard Project Announcement post.
“Ancient Egypt, cyberpunk, horror, fantasy, dark ages, steampunk, gothic, space, fiction, future, present, past, what is, what isn’t real, what was once reality. If you can think of something, it probably exists within the .Graveyard. You just have to filter down the right server to join!” – quoted from the .Graveyard – Avatar 101 post.
As quoted, the .Graveyard is nothing more than a network of servers to venture to. From an Avatar’s perspective, they are entire worlds and, sometimes, even universes to explore. Though those are called Servers, even among Avatars, it’s clear that their perception of what a Server truly is seems to be completely detached from the true meaning.
For an Avatar, a Server is not a machine that is connected to a network. It is a word to describe a parallel universe. The same way that Avatars glance at the word .Graveyard and don’t conclude that they living in a graveyard but, within their knowledge, the reality they live in is named as such since they can never die and are always resurrected. Thus the word .Graveyard doesn’t hold the grim and dark meaning it actually represents.
When facing a network of servers within a Server’s world, they use the word Server not the same way as they would name a Server within the .Graveyard. But, instead, use the word as a representation of the word “To serve a network”. The same way someone would call someone that serves a Server.
That’s one big list of Servers!
The .Graveyard hosts a good number of servers to please hundreds of billions of Avatars. It keeps expanding and mostly abandoned Servers tend to be destroyed by Admins when they notice a lack of interest for a good amount of time.
Variety is key. As such, there is a Server for anything anyone can think of. Entire universes and worlds to explore. Some Servers are large, others are smaller. The best way to decide which Server one should go, they have to learn how to search the Server List. The Server List can be accessed with just a thought at any given time. It remains within the mind of the Avatar, the floating windows that hold all the information they could require to make the wisest decisions. Folders, categories. All organized and personalized the way an Avatar can understand, given that the Server List is but a fragment of their own intellect and creativity.
I have the right to know where I’m going to.
Managing the Servers List can be a difficult task at the beginning of an Avatar’s existence. Lack of filters, favorites and control over one’s own abilities. But, once an Avatar has been teleporting from Server to Server for quite some time, it becomes natural.
The Server List exposes the names, their ID’s, their tags, their rating from one to five, the news, a few comments (with the ability to see how many agree with the comment). An Avatar can also create their own list of favorite Servers or organize them accordingly. Every Avatar can rank a Server of their choice and expose their own opinions for other Avatars to either agree or disagree. The most agreed upon comments get to be the one’s noticed the most.
This Server has plenty of rules…
Each Server has their own set of rules. Though all of those rules are not under the supervision of an Admin. If a Server explains that it is illegal to steal, an Admin won’t be the one arresting an Avatar that does so. NPC’s are the ones that take care of Server specific rules. In fact, some NPC’s tend to break the Server’s own laws too. Avatars are also free to change the rules within a Server as long as these rules don’t go against any of the .Graveyard’s own rules.
I have super powers as long as I remain here.
Of course, there are Servers that provide more than just an alternative appearance or entire societies to deal with. Some Servers provide certain powers and skills that would be impossible on other Servers. Such as the ability to cast a spell or the ability to move objects with their own mind. Or to fly, to breathe underwater. Those traits can be learned and they always remain on the Server where it belongs. An Avatar may be able to commune with the natural elements within a fictional world. But, if an Avatar finds a horse in the Dark Ages, the Avatar won’t be able to create a form of communication with the horse the same way they would be able to talk with eagles on that other Server.
Clothing, armor, weapons, trinkets, currency. Everything that the Server generates or provides to an Avatar cannot be transported to another Server.
You know… for science.
Perhaps the grayest of questions and issues an Avatar may have is; given how one cannot use the same set of skills and traits from one Server to another, is it morally correct to produce certain types of items that, by all means, are considered too advanced with the tools provided by the Server? The question is not if it is possible or not since, given the limitations and tools provided by the Server, there are things that can still be created if an Avatar has the knowledge to do so. With rocks and sticks, should an Avatar create something that is far too powerful for the ancient times represented on the Server? Or create a gun within a Server that’s barbaric? Or bring technology to a world of magic and wizards?
It is a gray area that Avatars tend to not agree with each others. Some believe that it is incorrect, given that it affects the natural preset of the Server. Others believe that it gives an unfair advantage over Avatars who just want to blend with their surroundings. Some will defend the right to create such technology. And there are others that will produce technology that they think will benefit everyone on the Server.
But what do the Admins think about it? An Admin usually don’t concern themselves with such, though they will react if the generated technology causes too much destruction since it will fall under the rule that informs Avatars that they shouldn’t harass others. Sometimes, Admins will look at what the Avatars created and applaud at the Avatar’s ingenuity, allowing it to continue to evolve and progress. However, if the technology developed changes the landscape and lifestyle of everyone within the Server, Admins tend to either clean the Server to it’s original state or alter the name and tags to reflect the renewed appearance that no longer is appropriate to the name and appearance it carries.
Tags are your friends.
The best way for an Avatar to find the right Server for themselves is by the use of tags. Only Admins are allowed to change those. With the use of certain keywords, Avatars are able to find the Server that they wish.
The method Admins use to tag the servers gives the illusion that the World/Universe represented within a Server is neither a type of fiction or belonging to former times of human history. Instead, they use words such as “Ancient”, to represent a Server on which the populace there lives in a rather primitive environment. Or words such as “Magical”, to represent a work of fiction that doesn’t actually exist in reality.
Admins have to give the Avatars the illusion that the .Graveyard is reality and there is no other reality outside of it. They will do their best to keep it so, no matter the cost. So the way they choose their words and tags tend to be in a way that an Avatar would consider to be part of reality, such as Magic existing on certain worlds and that there are worlds that are simply inhabited by primitive NPC’s. It allows the Avatar to decide whenever or not to give the right tools for the inhabitants to progress or to simply allow the Server to be preserved just the way it is.
Server sizes don’t matter, r-right?
Not all Servers have the same biodiversity as those that are large enough to host an entire World, realm or Universe. Some Servers have clear borders, however, if they gain popularity, they are expanded by Admins. The sizes and their meanings are the following:
- Tiny – These Servers are large enough to host a mere village or city. Or maybe just a forest or mountain. Though there are no visible borders, if an Avatar walks to the edge of the unknown borders, they’ll end up on the opposite cardinal direction of the area. As if the world reflected on the Server is either round or keeps replicating itself over and over. If trying to fly upwards and away from the unknown borders, they’ll be teleported back to the Spawn Point and, if they used technology to get there, the technology that is making it possible simply ceases to exist.
- Small – Small Servers host an entire region, continent, ocean or country. These also lack visible borders but, unlike Servers that are tiny, if one walks to the unknown border, they’ll be teleported back to their Spawn Point.
- Normal – Usually Servers that host an entire planet or realm. The borders, in case of an entire planet, tend to be located a good number of KM’s away from the planet and natural satellite(s) (if they exist). Somewhere in space. When trying to travel to space beyond the unknown borders, Avatars are pulled back to the planet’s own gravity by force (no matter how far they tried to reach away from the planet). In case of an entire realm, the borders are non-existent given that realms usually don’t operate under the same rules as an actual planet.
- Large – As one can imagine, a large Server can host more than just a planet. It can host an entire universe. There are no borders. At all.
Don’t forget to create your own Spawn Point!
Spawn Points are a neat way to call a designated point, previously visited by an Avatar and created by the very same Avatar. These are personal and an Avatar has the freedom to choose where to place it within every single Server. They can only have one per Server and, if they do not, the next time they come back to the Server, they’ll be teleported back to the many pre-determined Public Spawn Points.
Those Public Spawn Points are usually located within public and friendly areas within the Server, such as a Space Station, a Train Station, a Public Spa or any public area with plenty of movement. Avatars are teleported there, already standing up, as if they were mere spirits that materialized out of thin air in middle of a public area.
To create a Spawn Point, an Avatar simply has to remain in the position they wish to have when teleported to the Server, for a minute, and naturally think that they want their Spawn Point there. If the Spawn Point is created within or on top of a moving object, the Avatar, once they decide to teleport back to the Server, are teleported on top or within it. If the Spawn Point is created within or on top of an object that is then later destroyed, the Spawn Point ceases to exist and an Avatar has to use a Public Spawn Point.
What time and day is it?
The .Graveyard works in mysterious ways. The .Graveyard, by itself, works twenty four hours, seven days a week, twelve months, every year.. with no Daylight Saving Time nonsense. Every Server, however, is bound to their own definition of time that is parallel to the time within the .Graveyard itself.
To compare, the .Graveyard’s time and day is an Operating System’s clock and Calendar. However, if a Server is bound by a different definition of time, it is the same has playing a game on which it could be night and 2 AM within it, even though your PC informs you that it is 1 PM.
An Avatar can naturally predict what time and day it is within the .Graveyard itself at any given time and location. The same way they can keep track on how old they are up to the millisecond and learn how much time they have left until their own Reboot.
The method the .Graveyard uses to count their year within itself is by the use of Days (capital D is important). One Day is equal to a thousand years. For example. If the .Graveyard was created 2016 years ago, today it would be “The 2nd Day, Year 16, 29th of October.” A Day ends after the Year 1000, 31st of December; thus, the next day, becomes a new Day, of the Year 1, 1st of January.
Naturally, the .Graveyard was created at the 1st Day, Year 1, 1st of January.
The major events within the .Graveyard story arch happen at the 5th Day, Year 277.
“Avatars can enjoy their privacy on their own Private Server, learn about the news within the .Graveyard and their favorite servers, invite their friends and so on.” – quoted from the .Graveyard – Avatar 101 post.
Avatars are encouraged to meet other fellow Avatars and create relationships with them. As such, having a list with all your friends and acquaintances would be essencial to live within the .Graveyard. How else are you to know where they are and if it’s even appropriate to communicate with them? Telepathically being able to whisper your friends is probably one of the useful set of skills that an Avatar naturally has.
Add me.
Avatars can add other fellow Avatars to their friends’ list if they both agree upon it. It has to be a mutual agreement and it can easily be disagreed upon if one of them decides that they had enough of someone’s ill whispers or foolishness.
Remember, Avatars can only whisper Avatars that are part of their list.
My friends call me all the time!
Avatars can also whisper several Avatars at the same time. Thus, effectively, creating a Group Chat. It is a good method to organize a group even when the Avatars are within the same Server. It is also a good way to talk to a friendly Avatar or group without anyone else knowing.
Let’s all join the same Server, together.
Lastly, one of the other major advantages for an Avatar having a diverse and rich list of friends is the ability to use their own Spawn Point, if they allow it. Such natural skill is useful when an Avatar wants to bring their friends to the same Server and venture together.
However, there are limitations. An Avatar cannot bring more than five other Avatars to their Spawn Point in a single hour. These limitations, of course, do not apply to Private Servers.
They know where they are, at all times.
Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects that may or not allow an Avatar to befriend another fellow Avatar. While it’s true that it can be annoying to have a friend that won’t stop whispering you, even if they are waiting in their own Private Server in the form of a wisp, it can be even more worrying if that kind of Avatar knows where you are.
At the same time however, there is an advantage to know exactly where an Avatar is. To know where to go when trying to find the Avatar in question.
Under certain rare conditions, if a relationship between two Avatars is strong enough, it is said that, if they close their eyes, they’ll be able to see and feel what the other close friend can see and feel as well with exact precision within the Server they are in. In fact, if the relationship is even stronger, they are able to do so across Servers. Avatars that can reach such levels of intimacy tend to maintain their connection for all eternity.. or so they say.
These are all the 101’s for now. If there are more, I’ll be sure to add with time! Be sure to pay attention to the .Graveyard Project’s forum. If you register an account on this website, you’ll be able to watch the Roleplay and the stories that are being tested. I’m sure that even those who are not Roleplaying will be amused by the creativity being exposed by everyone involved!
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