Reports

[Narana]

So I've seen reports mentioned in a variety of threads. Character reports, pk reports, etc. I was wondering what is usually included in them and if possible an example of how some of you choose to do them, as well as situations in which you do them.

Yes, I am pretty new. Playing my first character around here. 

[BadSkeelz]

Hi Narana,

Welcome to Arm!

As you've gathered, there's different kinds of reports we can send in to Staff. The request tool through the main website generally supplies templates for each one. Probably the most common one a player will submit is the "Character Report." This let's staff know what kind of plots and plans your character might be involved in. This is especially important when your plot would require Staff action, whether to complete or to respond to. Most characters only need a report every month or so. Leadership characters are typically expected to file weekly reports.

Interaction and Report

    Who, What, When, Where, Why and How: Provide a summary of what happened over the past month. If any particular description seems as though it could be (or might become) verbose, it may be better to put it in as a biography entry and reference it instead.
    Plots and Plans: Briefly describe what you plan to do next or in general.
    Questions, comments and/or staff needs: Ask any questions you might have, comment about previous reports and let the staff know what you currently need.

There is also the kind of character report called the "PK Report," short for "Player Kill report." This isn't a separate category in the request tool; I always just file them under Character report heading after wiping out the above template. A PK report should include:

The short description and (if available) name of the character you've killed
The circumstances of why, how and where you killed them.

You should try to get these filed as soon as possible after killing another PC. I file them when I'm not even sure the person I've killed is an PC or an NPC, just to be on the safe side. Staff can't be everywhere at once, and a PK report can help fill in the gaps.

All reports can and should be targeted at certain clans, to make sure the right staffer sees them as quickly as possible. For character reports, you'll want to select your own clan as well as CC any other clans mentioned in your Character report. If you're not in a clan, you can select "Unclanned" so the Indepndents staff team can be advised. For example, if my militia sergeant is planning a joint patrol with the T'zai Byn mercenary company and I'm writing up the report of my plans, I would direct my character report to the "Arm of the Dragon" clan and CC the "T'zai Byn."


As for length, it largely depends on the role. I can usually sum up my independent characters' activities in a paragraph or two. When I was playing a militia officer my character reports often ran more than a thousand words - note that this is rather long for a character report. Nowadays I would probably keep them shorter. My PK reports are rarely more than a couple sentences. The key thing is to tell Staff what they need to know about your characters' motivations, plans, and actions so they can react appropriately whenever you do something. If you see what appear to be another plot crossing your path, you should include that in a report as well.

Biographies are another tool we can use to record our characters' lives and doings at length, without the formality of a Character report. They might be a useful record-keeping and journal tool for you as well as another aid for Staff to know what's going on in your characters' heads.

[Barsook]

A side note about the bio tool, you can quickly title the bio by using bio add [title] then flesh it out on the web bio tool