Project Multiverse is a setting built by all of its players. We are an RP-first community, so while we maintain a wiki for its ability to improve our roleplay, we do not wish for the wiki to be a major part of how we spend our time.

Adding content to a shared setting comes with a number of responsibilities:

• Accepting that your content will be used and interacted with by others, potentially in ways that you don't intend.
• Ensuring that your content is well-written and easy for others to understand.
• Ensuring that your content fits within the setting's themes (which are extremely broad).
• Ensuring that your content is not harmful to the rest of the community.
• Understanding that if you decide to remove your content at a later date that you are negatively influencing the player base.

It is crucial that everyone takes these responsibilities seriously. Content is allowed to define some expectations around who can or cannot use it, but in general anything that is on the wiki should be for everyone.

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.

IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By striking the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish.

https://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/.

While we're all influenced by a lot of things, it's important that we respect the original creators of any given piece of content. Do not copy, upload, or otherwise add anything that is not distinctly your own creation, for which you have all the rights, to our wiki or forums. It's the right thing to do and it avoids a lot of legal hassle that we'd prefer to avoid.

Anything found to be in violation of IP laws will be removed and the submitter will be warned. If sufficiently egregious, a ban may be issued, instead. All creators, whether they're part of our community or not, deserve to have their rights respected.

As Project Multiverse is a very broad setting - a space opera with technology, magic, and more - it can be expected that not all pieces of the setting fit with all of the other pieces.

While our universe is shared and all of the things found on this wiki do exist within it, they may not always interact with each other. For this reason, the content created by Nations or plots is on an Opt-In basis for other Nations and plots.

A simple example - if I want to make a starfighter that can blow up stars for a plot, that's fine. That starfighter cannot be used in places that other Nations/plots operate within without those groups Opting-In to it. If I decide to blow up a star belonging to an existing, non-Dedicated system, I should talk to people first since it may impact them.

This approach allows us to give our players a wide degree of creative freedom without negatively affecting the rest of the community.

Please keep in mind, however, that this means that your content may not be able to interact with anything other than itself.

Doing this on a content-by-content basis can be exhausting, so Nations tend to Opt-In to other Nations in their entirety. This means that Nations have a responsibility to keep their content reasonable so that we can avoid problems down the line.

Opting-In or -Out is not intended to be used as a weapon against other players. It is a tool for keeping our corners of the setting consistent with our visions for them and should not be abused.

We're here to tell stories, not argue about who or what is better. To put it simply: everything is just as good as everything else. The best warship ever made can still be shot down by a rust bucket. The biggest space station can be taken out by a single fighter.

Story drives what does and doesn't work. From one story to the next, things may change with the circumstances. What was the best in the story today might be the worst tomorrow.

If we all take a story-first approach, we'll have a lot more fun.

While we're very open about what is allowed in the setting, we have a few core rules to make the setting 'feel' the way we want it to.

• A Large Universe
  • It's important to our setting that it feels large. This makes exploring more meaningful, makes room for stories of all kinds, and creates a sense of distance that we don't believe is possible when travel and communication are instant.
  • At a minimum, it takes one in-character week to cross a square on the map using any form of FTL travel. (That's roughly one light year per day!)
    • For example, a pirate fleet attacks a system two squares away from the nearest military outpost. If the military outpost sent forces as soon as the pirates arrived, it would take them two weeks to arrive - plenty of time for the pirates to attack and get away.
  • At a minimum, it takes 3 in-character days to send a message across a square on the map using any form of FTL communication.
    • For example, within a single post you could send a message, receive it three squares away, send a message back, and read the contents. At least six days in character have taken place, but so long as some reasonable in-universe timeline is followed, there's no need to delay your posting.
  • These delays have no impact on how often you post. Simply make sure the story follows the rules.
  • The territory labeled the 'Hadal Chasm' on the map is an inherently dangerous place to travel with perils that no Nation's tech, magic, or otherwise can overcome. If you wish to travel within it, consult an admin for what happens.

These rules may be updated at any time. Any piece of the setting that doesn't follow the rules will conform to them as soon as changes are made.

For enemies, plot devices, and Unaligned Nations, GMs are allowed to bend these rules as necessary, so long as it doesn't provide power to characters or Nations with the intent to circumvent these rules unfairly. Exceptions to these rules may exist if they are beneficial to the setting's themes, as approved by the admins.

Lastly - just because guidelines exist doesn't mean that everything has to be as strong as possible. If you find yourself trying to make sure all of your things are right at the minimum/maximum values allowed, please consider if that's truly necessary for your content.

Some of our templates include a section at the bottom that outlines what the creator's wishes for that piece of content are. These wishes are in addition to the basic rights defined in the CC Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.

It is our intent to maintain a continuous, living universe that will last for a long time. That means that the content we create today become part of the universe's story. Should the creator of that content leave, the story should not be harmed.

With all of the above in mind, we allow our content creators to define some basic asks around how others can/can't use their content. As with our Opt-in rule, the creator's preferences may lead to other groups not wanting to use that content.

Ultimately, be kind. If you create something and many people use it, you are harming them if you remove it. If you want to use something that someone else has said not to, respect their wishes.

In the event that someone leaves the community and they have submitted content, we will do our best to respect their wishes on how to handle their content. While it would be preferable if the content were allowed to stay and flourish, and potentially be picked up by someone else to carry its torch, this is not always possible.

Content (including Nations and other large setting pieces) that is unmanaged will gradually go into decline. Their systems will be relinquished for others to claim, their technology/magic/etc withdrawn back into their home system, and so on until they are no longer an active piece of the setting.

If the content can be picked up by a new manager, that person/s will lead the content going forward.

Regardless, the stories that have been told using that content will remain unchanged.

Because of the way we handle content on Project Multiverse, there's no formal approval process by the admins necessary to add the majority of new content to the setting. Feel free to add to the wiki as necessary. The only exception is for major additions, such as a new Nation or universe-wide events, that may have widespread impacts.

If you want to add content to something managed by one or more other player/s, whether it be a Nation, a location, etc, consult the involved players first and share your ideas. Just like we allow Nations to Opt-In to other Nations, so to can Nations decide not to Opt-In to new content made for them. You'll save everyone a lot of headaches and drama if you talk it out first.

Should a piece of content be found to break any of our Setting Contribution Rules, it's your responsibility to correct it. If you can't, or are unwilling to, the content will be Opted-Out across the setting until such time as corrections are made.

Please take your time with submissions and ensure that they are enjoyable to read. This means good grammar, well-written, and so on. Others will read your content for months and years to come.

If a template doesn't exist for something you want to make, let someone know. Consistency in our articles will make things easy to read and search.