User:Froyo/Sandbox

This page provides description of the community and staff which serve it.

The Zelda Universe Forum
Zelda Universe is home to many different sections (not to be confused with the Zelda Wiki usage of "sections") which are further divided in individual forum boards that house discussion threads of varied topics, which include discussion about the Zelda franchise, lifestyle, art, politics and more.

The following are the Zelda Universe sections and boards, as well as their role and nature.

Sitely
The Sitely section is the primary source of information and basics of the Zelda Universe forums, the boards located here contain the basics, rules and guidelines of both the forums and the Wiki. It is the first section of the forums due to this, new users will find it critical given the nature of it's boards.

Newbie Central
Also known as New Members' Board, the Newbie Central is the board dedicated to the introduction of new members to the community, it's primary purpose beyond introductory threads being the acclimatization of new members to the community via the adoption scheme and placement on Clans.

Adoption
's adoption system, currently located in the Adoption Lodge thread in the Newbie Central board, gives new members the opportunity to have a personal mentor and friend. These "adopters" give advice when their "adoptees" make mistakes, help them feel more comfortable being in a large forum if need be, answer their adoptees' questions (this is great if an adoptee is too shy to ask someone else), as well as be one of their first friends on ZU.

Becoming an adopter
To become an approved adopter on ZU, a user must fit the following criteria:


 * The user have been a member of ZU for at least 3 months.
 * The user must have proper communicative skills, be easy to approach, friendly and set a good example to others.
 * The user must be an active member of the community.

Once the user is qualified to become an adopter, they may send a Private Message to the current moderators of the board, stating why they believe they would make a good adopter.

Conditions for Adopting

 * Only officially approved adopters are allowed to adopt.
 * Adopters should have a maximum of 2 newbies each. This limit can be relaxed depending on circumstances.
 * Adopters must help guide their adoptees and guard them from attacks. Adoptees should not be released until the adopter is certain they are ready for the forums, have been inactive for at least 2 weeks or request to be released themselves.

A complete list of approved adopters can be found in the Adoption Lodge thread.

Clan Placement
Members of may join groups called "Clans" where they can participate in games and discussions. Although it is not mandatory, joining a clan is a common practice among Zelda Universe's members, partly due to the laid back, less strict atmosphere of the Clan Forums. There are three clans, namely the Din, Nayru and Farore clans. Analogous to the Goddesses the Clans are named after, Din stands for Power, Nayru for Wisdom and Farore for Courage and are represented by the colors red, blue and green respectively.

Each clan has a separate board for conversations between its members, only members of the clan, as well as forum staff members, can see the clan boards, furthermore, each clan member receives a clan banner upon joining. The banner is overwritten by other special banners, but clan board access is not removed due to this.

Joining, leaving and switching Clans
For a member to join a clan, they have the choice of simply entering the Clan Placement thread and making the choice of which one to join, clan descriptions are provided on the thread, and post so an Administrator moves them to the desired clan. Alternatively, they can contact specific staff members privately to be given a Clan Test, a questionnaire with the purpose of giving the member better insight on which clan to join.

A member may switch clans after at least 1 month has passed since joining by privately contacting one of the specified staff members on the Clan Placement thread. They can also choose to take the test again. It is to be noted, however, that switching clans in quick succession is generally frowned upon by the community.

A member can lose their clan access indefinitely by repeated misbehaviour.

Zelda Wiki
The dedicated Zelda Wiki board exists as a place where forum users can interact with the work environment of the Zelda Wiki, provide insight and feedback, as well as where Zelda Wiki staff can make announcements and communicate publicly with forum users. It is also where the Wiki Team announce and detail the recruitment process when needed.

The threads of higher importance on this board include the introductory thread to the Zelda Wiki and board, where forum users can learn about the Zelda Wiki and it's basics, as well as providing useful links; the Zelda Wiki Introduction Thread, where, as the name implies, Zelda Wiki staff members can introduce themselves to the community; the Guide to Basic Wiki Editing thread, for knowledge of Wiki basics before entering the Wiki itself, especially for forum users interested in joining the Wiki; the Things to Do thread, where information on content needed for the Wiki can be publicly announced by staff, and finally, the Zelda Wiki Suggestions, Feedback and Requests Thread, where, as the name implies, the forum users can give the Wiki Team their thoughts on the aforementioned matters. The information found on these threads is meant primarily for forum users, as much, if not all, of it can be found on the Wiki itself as well.

Help and Feedback
The Help and Feedback board serves as an introduction board for the technical side of forum usage. Here, forum users can get support regarding how to use the forum software tools, report slowness, bugs, provide feedback on the site's design and other general questions.

Among other important roles this board plays, it is also the place to cite the rules of the forum, which serve as absolute guidelines over what is and isn't allowed on the forums, as well as a list of the forum leaders, the individuals responsible for the enforcement of the rules and general running of the forums.

It is recommended that new users refer to the threads on this board when first accessing the website. The Help and Feedback board is also the only public board where all moderators have power in.

Zelda
The Zelda section is generally the main focus of the forum, given it's nature as a Zelda fan community first and foremost. The section handles all discussion regarding the Zelda franchise; it's world, lore, characters, games, side materials and more.

Besides it's normal boards, when a new game that sparks sufficient attention for it is announced/released, discussion regarding it will merit it's own board. After an undetermined amount of time passes, it is merged to the appropriate board.

A thread that applies for all boards on this section is the Official Zelda Section Rules and Guidelines thread, that serves for what the title states on top of the regular forum rules.

General Zelda
The General Zelda board is the place where general discussion and miscellaneous thoughts about the franchise as a whole and it's elements, as well as forum games, challanges and events regarding the franchise, go.

Examples of the nature of the threads on this board are discussion regarding each individual's favorite Zelda game, sharing videos regarding the franchise, creating yearly challanges for Zelda players and more.

Classic and Current Zelda
The Classic Zelda and Current Zelda boards relate to Zelda games of certain age; the former is exclusively for games considered "classic" in the sense of old age, specifically of Zelda games released on the 6th generation of video game consoles and before, while the latter is only for games considered recent, released from the 7th generation of video game consoles up to now.

The Current Zelda board is also where boards regarding recent games exclusively are merged to once activity drops sufficiently.

Future Zelda
The Future Zelda board is meant for publication and discussion about ideas for the Zelda franchise and it's various elements, as well as speculation regarding future installments in the series.

Among the threads that reflect the board's role the most are the "Idea" threads, which serve as hubs for general sharing of ideas of different categories depending on the thread, be they about future games, new enemies, new items, skills and/or weapons or miscellaneous ideas, the last of which serves for ideas that do not qualify for the other threads, and do not have a dedicated thread for themselves.

Theorizing
The Theorizing board is where fan-made theories regarding the series' lore, world, characters and other factors are located, as well as discussion about these theories, with arguments supporting and/or against them. Examination of what content to use as canon material is also of importance on this board, and where many arguments and theories depend on.

Important threads on this board include the Newbie's Guide to Theorizing which seeks to help individuals new to theorizing and/or the franchise to forge their own theories and participate in discussing others, as well as the Theorist Directory, which lists frequent theorizers and contributors to the Theorizing board on Zelda Universe, as well as labeling them by skills and experience.

Community
The Community section is where all discussion boards that do not fit any strict category are located at. It is made for different kinds of purposes and topics with a focus on the members of the community.

Community Central
The Community Central board, also known as CC, is focused on community activities and events, as well as announcements.

Activity tends to be focused on large-scale games like Mafia and Land Wars.

General Chit-Chat
The General Chit-Chat board, also known as GCC, is where non-gaming general discussion takes place. It's the board dedicated to miscellaneous lifestyle, events, opinions and other thoughts are posted.

The primary threads for this board include the rules and guidelines thread, which, besides the function stated on the title, also explains the role of General Chit-Chat's sub-boards, and the main Chit-Chat thread, which serves as a space for general discussion that does not have it's own thread.

The GCC board also houses the Personal Help and Technology sub-boards which, as their names imply, deal with more serious threads for advice and guidance, and discussion about technology, it's advances, news and help, respectively.

Serious Discussion
The Serious Discussion board, also known as SD, is the board that sees "serious" threads in the sense of topics involving politics, culture, lifestyle choices and analysis about these, as well as others.

It is the most heavily moderated board in the forums due to the contentious nature of discussion in it, thus, rules are also more strict and specific. Comments are also expected to have a higher degree of quality and thought put on them than the average.

Important threads to read while accessing this board include the rules of the board, as well as the War Room, a place for general serious discussion topics that do not require their own thread.

General Gaming
The General Gaming board, also known as GG, is where discussion regarding non-Zelda gaming takes place, be it video gaming or tabletop gaming. Topics vary ranging from opinions about games/franchises, new announcements, releases, awards and other events, as well as discussion about specific consoles and companies. The main thread of this board is known as the General Gaming Arcadia, and it is where information and discussion that do not require or do not currently have their own thread is generated.

The General Gaming board also houses the Social Gaming Hub, a sub-board that focuses on the organization of multiplayer sessions, Let’s Plays, game reviews and community video game awards nominations and votes.

Forum Games
The Forum Games board, also known as FG, is a board dedicated to games and activities with their own rulesets and objectives played on forum threads, the underlying objective being to provide a distracting, light-hearted atmosphere for forum users to divert their attention to. On a monthly basis, one of the more active forum games is chosen as a “Game of the Month” or “GotM”; this serves to give the specific game more attention and thus, more activity.

The Forum Games board's main discussions and feedback thread is also the thread containing the board's rules and guidelines.

Entertainment
The Entertainment board, commonly shortened to “Ent”, is the board focused on all non-gaming entertainment media, which includes discussion about Television shows, movies, animation, literature, comic books, music and more, as well as mediums through which to watch/read/listen to them, announcements and releases.

Advertising
The Advertising board, as it's name indicates, functions as the place where all advertising is to be located, be it for external websites, blogs or other content. It is the only location in the forum where advertisement is allowed in this manner. The Advertising board is alao the only board with no assigned Moderators, all that occurs on the board is the jurisdiction of the Administrators.

The threads of highest importance in this thread are the rules and regulations thread, which states what, and how, the board ought to be used, as well as the thread for tips on advertising thread, which provides information and troubleshooting in order to give forum users better methods to advertise efficiently.

Creativity
The Creativity section is the general hub dedicated to sharing user-made artistic pieces of different kinds and origins, as well as discussion, contest and other events surrounding both them, and art, general discussion about art, knowledge and advice regarding it.

Material made public here does not require to be related to the Zelda franchise.

Competitions
The Competitions board is where art-based contests and games take place. Similarly to the Forum Games board, events performed here vary in rules and objectives.

Artwork
The Artwork board exists to serve as focus for all kinds of art that do not fall into the classification of "Writing". This includes, but is not limited to, drawing, painting, sculpture, digital graphics, music, video and photography.

Activity regarding these matters is primarily general discussion regarding the mediums used, showing user-made content for other forum users to see and comment on, and user shops where other users can request specific pieces offered, mostly Avatars and Signatures for their forum profiles.

The main threads in this board are The Artwork Instruction Manual, which contains the rules of the board as well as instructions on it's usage; The Artist's Café, which serves as a hub for general discussion in regards to the board, and the Official Artist Request thread, which is meant to serve for users to request content, as well as for artists to know, and possibly fulfill these requests.

Writing
The Writing board is where users go to share, read, comment on and discuss written art. This includes user-made stories, fan fiction, poetry, non-fiction stories and more. This includes discussion regarding specific works, like feedback, as well as discussion and advice regarding the medium itself.

Among important threads in this section are the introductory thread of the board, which explains it's usage and instructions, and The Writers' Pad which is a hub for general discussion of the board and it's content.

Role Play Guild
The Role Play Guild section is where all activities in the forum regarding role playing are handled, from actual events to the creation and verification of role-playing resources like character profiles and worlds.

The Role Play Guild also features The Archives, a sub-board that contains all past content from the section that is now outdated.

Role Play Discussion
The Role Play Discussion board is the main location for matters related to the section, be it general discussion, instructions and actual events.

Important threads in this board include the introductory thread of the section, which serves to give the basics for the Role Playing Guild in general, as well as it's boards, the thread for rules and regulations, the thread for questions and feedback and finally, the Out of Character thread, which serves as the hub for general discussion about the board.

The Role Play Discussion board also houses the Events Hall which is a sub-board meant for the running of events like awards and other community games centered around the Role Play Guild's activities.

Tales of Characters
The Tales of Characters board serves as the starting point and repository of character-based role plays; it is where users write new characters, find characters made by other users, as well as use them to start role plays.

There are several rules regarding character creation, and those are accounted for when verifying user-made characters. This is done by the Approvers, who might or might not be Moderators of the section, and who take it upon themselves for each character to be valid for role play.

Important threads to notice are the Intra-Dimensional Meetup Comittee, which is made for the moderators of the section to match new role players into role plays with others, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Dome which serves as an introduction to the role play tool known as the "Dome", where characters can interact with each other on a gap between dimensions, and The Fissure which serves as an introduction to another role-playing tool, the Fissure, which has an alternative means for characters to interact with each other, namely, being a tear in space that takes them to alternate worlds.

The Tales of Characters board features 2 sub-boards, Characters & Resources, which is where all content regarding new characters, as well as character approval, takes place. Important threads on this sub-board include the Character Profile Creation and Approval Manual, which serves as rules and guidelines for character creation and it's approval process; the Character Adoption Thread, where users who do not have characters can "adopt" pre-existing ones, and The Character Directory, where approved characters are listed and organized.

The other sub-board is known as Solo Adventures, where users can utilize their own characters to have lone role plays. The Character Fiction Policy thread serves as the main area for rules and guidelines in this sub-board.

Tales of Worlds
The Tales of Worlds board is also for usage in role play, in a different manner; here, Dungeon Masters write settings, or use pre-existing, unoriginal settings, and role players must write characters for usage in that particular game. Alternatively, players can also bring in their own characters depending on the rules.