GETTING STARTED IN RAIN CITY
Once you have successfully created a character you will find yourself in your hotel room in the Dampmore Hotel, which, like most of the rest of Rain City (RC), is owned by Alan Paulson, founder, chairman and CEO of NetScoop Inc., the world's largest software producer. You will see several different scraps of paper along the top of your screen, along with the yellow S.P.I.T.E. logo. Clicking on these will take you to different places in the city.
The S.P.I.T.E. logo will take you to the opening outside panorama of the city, allowing you to access the all-important What's New billboard. Clicking on this opens the way to becoming a sponsor of RC, to view certain police records, and (most importantly) to access the map of the town. Several sites on the map are clickable, allowing access to other chat sites within the town. These are: The Community Center, the RC Medical Center, Paulson's Plaza, the Drowned Duck/Wally World Mall, the Cloud County Jail (where all convicted criminals' chat is confined), and Rainbow Park. The park itself has three different chat sites: the main park area, the basecamp at Mt. Thunderhead (where Grey Lake lies) and the mountain lodge. These chat areas are where the main role-playing action of RC takes place. here you may "act out" your character, interacting with other residents of RC.
Certain conventions have developed for role-playing in RC since its inception. These are NOT hard and fast rules, but rather guidelines to assist beginners. "Actions" are generally typed enclosed in brackets, like stage directions in a script. For example, if I am in a chat, I see the blank chat window. I know that my name, room number, and UTC timestamp (don't ask, it is confusing, arbitrary, and essentially meaningless) will appear at the beginning of anything I post. I want to smile at a suspected criminal and then tell her I am onto her. I type in the open window: [smiles craftily at Sacred Rose] I know that you are the one who gave Agent D the documents. Then I click the "Post" button. My post will then appear (but immediately only to me). Others DO NOT see what you type immediately. There is a "refresh" feature in all the chat sites which functions every thirty seconds. Once the chat is refreshed, you can see what other players have typed in the intervening time. You may refresh the screen more quickly by clicking the "refresh" button under the chat window. Clicking the "Post" button without typing anything first WILL refresh the window, just as if you had actually said something, but will make your name appear with no dialogue or action after it--a "newbie blank post."
Another convention, introduced by the "second generation" of players, is to differentiate between things said "in character" and "out of character." Comments made out-of-character are preceded by the abbreviation "OOC." "BIC" (rarely used) means "back in character."
The second means of communication is your telephone. This allows you to send and receive messages directly from other players. Rule Number One about using the phone: IGNORE THE "SEND MESSAGE" BUTTON!!! This button is glitched and non-functional. To send messages, you must use the "search rooms" function. You may then enter the name and/or room number of the person you are trying to call. The system will search its database to find the correct person, and their name will appear, followed by a green link which says "Send Message." Click on this to send them your phone call, then click the "send" button. A dialogue box will appear that says "Message sent to room 1184U" or whatever. Click "OK." Your text will then disappear. You MUST WAIT a few seconds after your text disappears before you close the "Message Center" window. You may hear your hard drive continuing to click/grind for a few seconds after clicking the "OK" button. Wait until it has stopped (seven seconds is a good guideline) before closing the window. If you close it too quickly, the recipient's phone line opens, but the message doesn't get through. The result is that they will receive a blank phone call--a message that they RECEIVED a call, but with no message or sender attached. Kinda like a blank answering machine message.
Getting started in Rain City can be tough going without a little help.
Two other locations deserve special mention to newbies. The first is the Swizzle Stick. Here, one can interact with three different built-in "bots": Alice Wanderlust, Yu Pei Mee, and Vulgarian Agent. Each of these is a pre-programmed AI which will respond nonsensically most of the time, but can provide useful information if one uses the correct "keyword" to trigger them. Yu responds best to questions beginning with the word "where." Vulgarian Agent (AKA Agent 13) can provide one of the the passwords necessary to commit crimes. Getting anything useful out of Alice is still anyone's guess, although it may be helpful to know that she was a friend of Bert Rudall.
The other special location is the NetScoop Office, located in NetScoop Tower. By accessing their computer system, one can commit crimes (spyware) or access information on other characters (pryware). Talk to Agent 13 to get the initial System Override password, which is used in the "chat" area of the NS system. Then go to the BBS and play around...you will find that this lets you commit crimes. Remember the penalty for being caught and convicted of a crime, however...you MAY NOT chat anywhere except the Cloud County Jail site for the duration of your sentence.
Information is the key to solving the many mysteries of RC. The prime source of info is back issues of S.P.I.T.E. Scroll down to the bottom of the cover page of the issue on your bed to find the link to back issues. But remember: the system changed in August 1999. There have been many articles which have been published which are no longer available in the back isues. To get this sometimes critical information, you will HAVE to talk to other, more experienced players. Other helpful information can be found on the BBS, which includes everything from domestic squabbles to Public Service Announcements to gossip to actual news releases from the underground press.
There are really only three rules for newbies: 1) Try clicking on everything. 2) Try asking other players for important info. 3) NO SPOILERS WILL BE OPENLY GIVEN! Do not come into chat asking for the answer to your current assignment--you will just piss others off. Neither should you post spoilers on the BBS to assignment and/or plot points without a warning in the BBS subject/title that it is a spoiler.