Please note that there have been numerous minor clarifications and revisions in this year's rules.
Here is how it works:
1. WHO CAN PLAY: The game is open to all comers. Typically, only forum regulars and amateur writers tend to play, but professionals who wish to join the fun are always welcome. All participants should be aware that this is a free public forum, and entries made here are not subject to any form of copyright protection, either overt or implied.
2. COMMENTS: Any and all comments (by participants and spectators alike) regarding arena posts should be made here, in the commentaryr thread, rather than in the arena thread. Compliments, catcalls, cheerleading, critiques, elaborations and cogent commentary by any and all are welcome, and help to fuel the fun. You don't have to play in order to be a vocal spectator.
3. CONTINUITY: A given post (a metaphorical 'serve' in a game of literary volleyball if you will) must end in mid-story, and the next person to post picks up approximately where the previous post left off, using their new genre style (see Rule 4 below) - after that, plot wise, all bets are off. You can steer the story wherever you wish, being as conservative, or as crazy as you desire. The actual changeover between posts may either an approximate continuation of events in the new genre, or a direct mid-sentence transition, briefly continuing the previous poster's genre prior to switching to your new genre selection.
4. GENRE HOPPING: Just to make things interesting, each new post must switch to a different fiction genre style (i.e., Sci-Fi, Horror, Gumshoe Mystery, Romance, Fantasy, Juvenile, Comedy, Anime/Cartoon, Superheroes, etc.). Imitations and parodies of well-known authors are also encouraged, as are changes in writer perspective (3rd person, 1st person, etc.), or experimental storytelling formats. You must announce that genre at the top of your post, before actually beginning. Also, to avoid confusion or misinterpretion, we ask that if you have fictionalized versions of real life people make appearances in your tales, please alter the name spelling slightly to make it extra obvious to any onlookers that your usage is fictional.
5. TURNS: Participants are not normally allowed to respond to their own posts - after you post, you must wait for at least 1 other person to post before posting again. We have some subrules that modify this, during busy stretches, and prolonged lulls ...
- (a) BUSY INTERVALS: During stretches when the thread is popular and activity levels are high, we prevent crossed posts by using a 'token key' system - if the thread appears open, and waiting for a response, simply post "OK, MY TURN" in the game thread as a placeholder ... after that, you have up to TWO HOURS to make your post. The token will automatically expire after the two hours are up, and the the thread will once again be thrown open to all comers who wish to declare it's THEIR turn.
(b) SLOW INTERVALS: If a minimum of 2 days pass with no other posts made to the game thread, people are allowed (and encouraged) to respond to their own post (while observing the requisite change in genre) in order to help keep things moving along.
6. EFFORT: Don’t trivialize - put a little effort into making your post interesting, entertaining, and skillful, otherwise there's no point in playing. Be as funny, or as serious as you like. The whole point is to have a little mutual fun bouncing around a constantly evolving plot - like a crowd with a beach ball. If you need it, please make use of a grammar and spellchecker before clicking 'submit'.
7. LENGTH: There is no minimum or maximum length for any given post - however, people are encouraged to limit themselves to whatever they can write in under 1 hour ... 2 hours maximum. Remember that quality is valued more than quantity and/or frequency.
8. RATING: Please remember that this is a public forum open to people of all ages - which means that young teens can view this area if they wish. Accordingly, participants are asked to limit their contributions to G & PG-13 content. Some modest lattitude in the direction of R is permissible, provided people carefully exercise restraint, and discretion, but be advised that forum moderators & admins can, and will, at their discretion, quarantine any content that's clearly a strong R or NC-17.
9. DISCLAIMER: All original content posted to this thread is considered the property of the Internet Book Database of Fiction (IBDoF), and is not copyrightable or reprintable without the written permission of the site owners. IBDoF also has the right but not the obligation to monitor, edit or remove any content for any reason. IBDoF takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any content posted by users or any third parties. Users are not to post material previously copyrighted by others without the direct permission of the content's originator ... any such material will be promptly removed when discovered or reported, out of respect for the intellectual properties rights of it's originator.
10. ARCHIVES: For historical archival purposes, below are links to all previous volleyball threads to date, in reverse chronological order. Each year's volleyball match will be locked for posterity at the conclusion of play ... however, their associated commentary thread(s) will be left perpetually unlocked so that passers by can continue to post comments, and compliments, on past contributions, in real time, rather than being forced to hunt around for were to place them:
- Volleyball 2009 << Current Match
Volleyball 2008 - Commentary (3 pages)
Volleyball 2008 (1 page)
Volleyball 2007 - Commentary (1 page)
Volleyball 2007 (1 page)
Volleyball 2006 - Commentary (4 pages)
Volleyball 2006 (1 page)
Volleyball 2005 – Commentary (17 pages)
Volleyball 2005(3 pages)
Volleyball 2004 - commentary (27 pgs)
Volleyball 2004 (5 pgs)
Volleyball 2003 - commentary(10 pgs)
Volleyball 2003 (5 pgs)
