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by Frontinus Sempronius based on the original Guide to Ancient Sites by Archimedes Leonidas |
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by Frontinus Sempronius based on the original Guide to Ancient Sites by Archimedes Leonidas |
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Greetings, new citizen! Welcome to Ancient Worlds!
AncientWorlds is a unique Internet community. It is difficult to describe AW - it is mixture of Ancient History, discussion boards, fantasy role-playing and on-line gaming. The whole mixture becomes a thoroughly engrossing and completely enjoyable community experience. Welcome to one of the most intriguing communities on the Internet! I hope that you find this "Beginner's Guide" helpful as you navigate around! |
A Beginner's Guide - Why?
Well, if you're reading this, then chances are that you've already logged in as a new member of Ancient Worlds. I don't need to tell you how confusing this place can seem to the uninitiated! Cities, avatars, fora, SPQR, oikoi - it can be a little intimidating for most beginners! I cannot remember how first ran across AncientWorlds but Archimedes found AncientSites whilst searching Yahoo and Excite for the terms "Ancient History." Having landed in the AncientSites front page, both he and I were overwhelmed with the number of things going on. Obviously this was some kind of Ancient History Internet community; kind of like Tripod in togas, right? I could handle this. I registered to see more. I was unprepared for what was to happen next. The days that followed found me drawn ever deeper into the mystery and intrigue of "AncientSites." And now AncientSites has been followed by this site Ancient Worlds - an even better experience than its predecessor. Building on the original guide, I have attempted to condense most of what I have learned into this new Guide so that you, dear reader, can get the most enjoyment of this site right away.
At this time I will state for the record that I am not an employee of Ancient Worlds. I am active at the site (check out my Domus to see what I do) but his Guide is not an official publication, rather a compilation of some of the things which Archimedes and I have learned and are happy to share with newcomers. Although I will do my best to answer questions, I will tell you that you should address your questions directly to the Ancient Worlds administrators: your key contacts are the Scribes (any of the Scribes and not just the ones for your City) but there is absolutely no reason why you should not ask and discuss points with the demigods and cyberdeities.
This Beginner's Guide has been organised in the following manner:
Logging into
Ancient Worlds
Setting Up Your
Home Page
Patrons
Communications
Console - "People Panel"
Getting
Started on the Boards
Coming Home
Telegrams
Some
Background
Okay,
So What Else?
Exploring the Unknown
Conclusion, Credits and Contacts
Telling others about the Guide
Life starts for your character when you first register a name and log in. You must first pick the city in which you wish to reside, and then a fictitious "family name" (last name) from a pull down menu. Next, you type in your fictitious first name. You register your correct email address with AncientWorlds, but this is used only by the administration and is invisible to all users. A password is immediately sent via email. If you have not already registered, you can do so at the Registrations Page.
When you log back onto AW with your new password, you are considered a "Dayling." A Dayling is someone on their very first day. During this time, you will be focused on moving into your new home page, typing in a little description about your character, and exploring the site.
Your character is immediately upgraded to "Novice" upon the next day's log in. The Novice class lasts for 30 days of logging in. After 30 days, your character then upgrades to "Citizen." The rank of "Citizen" is as far as your character can progress without actually subscribing to AS. To reach the next level, "Patron," and enjoy the extensive benefits of this class, you are required to become a financially supportive member of AncientWorlds. Patron costs range from $4.95 per month to $180 for an annual subscription as Millennium Patron. After Patrons, there are Scribes Demigods and Cybergods - these represent Ancient Worlds administrative team.
AW Links:
One of the first things each new member must do is to set up their home page. AncientWorlds gives everyone an allocation of web space on their server free. For Citizens it is .25MB. The new member proceeds to their home page ("domus" in Latin, "oikos" in Greek with corresponding terms for the other Cities) and chooses a visual icon for their character, called an "avatar." The home page includes an Entrance, a Courtyard, a Library, and a Study. You can access each of these "rooms" by using the Navigation Bar at the top of the Domus page. For example, if you click on "Courtyard," you will be taken to your courtyard. Each of these four pages can be customized to the user's liking, using HTML tags, jpgs, and gifs. In my opinion, the Home Page capability of AW is clearly one of the best features of the site. This allows the creation of very complex and robust pages, limited only by the user's creativity and proficiency in HTML. Needless to say, if you pay money to become a Patron, you can get up to 10 MB of server space instead of the .25MB allocated to Citizens. Additionally, Patrons also get an extra room, called the "Private Garden."
Cash Box
While setting up a home page, you may notice in your Study that you have a "Cash Box." Each day you log in, the AncientWorlds treasury credits your account with "sestertcii," the Roman unit of currency. These operate like Pepsi points - save these up and you will be able to apply them to the cost of joining Groups and, in due course, to other benefits. You will want to note that the daily credit increases for each day within each week when you log in: in short if you log in every day in each week the amount you receive is substantially increased. Patrons get more!
Avatars & Images
Members can pick their personal avatar from amongst a selection provided by Ancient Worlds. In addition, there are some members that offer "downloadable avatars" that you can use instead of the stock selection provided. Most people are very finicky about their avatars, because they are visual representations of their characters. Each member, including you, actually has two avatars - a large version and a smaller identical version. The large avatar is displayed on your Entrance Page. The small avatar accompanies your messages and mail. (This becomes more important if you choose to upload your own. You will need to edit your images in a PaintShop-type program to fit certain size requirements.) Please note, however, that it is strictly taboo to steal someone else's avatar from their home page and use it for your own. Don't ever do this!
You will notice that each of the four "rooms" of your home - the Entrance, Courtyard, Library, and Study - each contain an image of a doorway, or a courtyard, etc. Ancient Worlds allows you to change these by uploading your own images, usually jpegs or gifs. Again, these images have to meet certain size requirements. Be sure to visit some of the Patron pages to really get a feel of what you can do!
Message Board
Additionally, users have a personal Message Board at their home page as well. This allows other users to leave messages for you, similar to the dry-erase marker boards that are so common today. "Hey! I came to visit you! Where were you? : )" Oftentimes, people will leave messages that start with, "I came over here to your house, but you were not home..." Once in a while, people will leave virtual gifts for each other for visiting their home, such as a small plate of figs, or some flowers, or perhaps some candy. Feel free to do the same when visiting someone else! Visiting and leaving messages are part of what makes Ancient Worlds a special community.
Editing Your Home Page
Editing your home page is relatively easy. If you are logged on then when you come to your home you will see Edit buttons on the various pages and a list of various edit options at the bottom of these pages.
Each of the Edit buttons allows you to edit or change various PArts of your home pages. You can create your Welcome Statement using any combination of HTML commands. Simply click on the "Edit" tag, and the screen will refresh will a free-form text entry box. Now you can enter your Welcoming Message. (I encourage you to look at some of the Patron homes to see how much creativity you can exercise!) You can also change your avatar and your Entrance page image.
You can continue the editing operation in each of the rooms in your home. Proceed into your Courtyard, Library and Study, and edit the messages there, as well. You can also upload new images if you choose. You do not need to Edit your pages in any particular order, and there is no limit on the amount of times you can Edit your home. (In fact, some people will spend hours tweaking, adjusting, and improving their pages!) When you are finished, stand back and enjoy your creative talent.
Selecting an Avatar
When you first visit your home page, you will see a "stock" avatar image. After you click on "Edit Avatar" you can pick and choose from among a selection of male or female avatar images. After you choose one, your home page will be updated with your new avatar.
"Select an Avatar" also allows you to upload your own images to your home page. It is outside the scope of this introductory Beginner's Guide to go into detail about HTML or uploading images. For further study, I recommend:
Arachne's Web
"Arachne's Web" is a Group dedicated to HTML and editing web pages. I should declare an interest here as one of the administrators of the Group but it was through Ancient Sites and Arachne there that I learned about coding, web pages and similar matters. I am sure that you too will find many helpful threads here, including tips and tricks for the beginner as well as experts. Take my advice, and spend some time looking through this board. Any question you have has probably been addressed and answered here! And to get you off to a flying start there is now an Arachne's Web FAQ site which has some basic information readily accessible.Avatar Avenue
More resources from Arachne's Web focused on Avatars for your home.
AW Links:
Patrons are the backbone of the Ancient World's community. They support the site and its activities by choosing to pay a subscription which entitles them to a number of benefits including the right to more disk space, more log-in pay, more Friends, more Groups and the right to write more messages, more grams (together with gram logs) and a private garden with its own chat room capability. They are often also the people who have the most developed homes and tend to be very active in the various Cities and Groups. They are the pool from which Scribes are drawn. Without them the site could not continue to exist.
When you have been here for a while and find that you want to become more involved and that the limitations of a what a Citizen can do are getting in the way, then please consider becoming a Patron. Ancient Worlds needs financial and active support and becoming a Patron is a way of achieving both of these.AW Links:
Communications Console - "ComPanel"
When you log in, you will notice a small Java-enabled registration console. This is called the "ComPanel (see example below)."
As you can see it is a long, skinny rectangular window that says, "Welcome..." with your log in name or a welcome to you as guest if you have not logged in. Most of the time, you will probably minimize this to get it out of your way. But be careful - don't close it! When you need it, the ComPanel can be extremely helpful. By clicking on your own name you can go to your own home (also called a "domus," or "oikos.") The ComPanel also shows you all the other visitors that are currently logged into Ancient Worlds. By clicking on one of their names, you can go and visit their home page or send them a telegram. Visiting other users' home pages is one of the most popular activities in Ancient Worlds. Make sure you go visit the pages of the Patrons. Since they are paying members with a substantial commitment to the site they tend to have more ornate and interesting homes, replete with fantastic art and animated avatars! AW Links:
Once you have moved in and set up house, it is time to get out onto the Bulletin Boards and announce yourself! Go out to the Bulletin Boards, and look for "AW Central" From this central Board you will find a dedicated discussion board called, "Welcoming Newcomers" Here you will find a thread called "Introductions" where you can open a new message and introduce yourself. Most messages go something like this: "Greetings, everyone! My name is Eridu Gilgamesh and I am a new resident of Babylon. I have heard so much about this place and I am excited to be here. I am majoring in Ancient History at USC. I look forward to talking to many of you. See ya!" You will also find at this Board an area devoted to Newbie help and other topics which may be of interest to newcomers.
As well as announcing yourself centrally, you will almost certainly find a Board in your City where you can also make your arrival known. This is your chance to start meeting some other members of AW who may have similar interests. You will also almost certainly find that your City has Welcoming Committee who will post a personal welcome at your home on your message board and give your some links and contacts. All of this is part of trying to make you feel part of the community here at Ancient Worlds. However, in posting at Boards do remember the discussion threads are sorted in descending chronological order, so the newest stuff is up top, and the oldest stuff is down the bottom. Start at the bottom and work backwards.
Next, you will want to spend some time "cruising the boards." You will find many interesting discussion groups and message threads to read. You will probably want to post a message or two to the free boards, and write down the names of the Special Groups that capture your interest. While reading the discussion boards, you will notice that the author's name is highlighted. By clicking on the author's name, you can proceed right to their home page to discover more about them. You can also leave a message for them at their home page!
Groups, Discussion Boards and Posting
By far the most popular activity in Ancient Worlds is participating in discussion boards. There are countless boards, representing countless topics. These boards are topic oriented threaded message conversations. For example, in the city of Rome, some of the groups you will find include:
It may be worth mentioning at this stage the various types of Boards and Groups which exist at Ancient Worlds. There are two kinds of discussion boards, Public and Special Interest Groups.
- Aedes Divi Iulii: Julius Caesar and His Times - "For discussion of the life of Gaius Julius Caesar, 100-44 BC, and Rome in his time"
- Ancient Mysteries - "There are many mysteries hidden behind the closed doors of history. In this group, we intend to unlock those doors and search for the truth behind the mystery"
- Imperium - "Ancient Roman socio-political role-playing game"
A public board tends to be described as a "Board". There are some of these created at site level and each City has its own public Boards as well. Visit AW Central to get a quick overview; if you look on the left hand side of the page you should see the main public boards with the AW boards at the top and the City public boards below them. The Special Interest Groups are called "Groups." and can be accessed via The Hall of the Groups of Ancient Worlds. As you will see from the Hall of the Groups of Ancient Worlds the Groups are divided into three categories: Academic Centres, Historical RR and RolePlay Groups. These categorisations are also used at City level in respect of the Groups there.
You are permitted to browse around and read postings from all of these areas. As a member of Ancient Worlds, you are permitted to participate in the Public Fora - you can post your own messages as well as reading them. Anyone can participate in the Public Boards of each city; however, you must become a member of the Special Interest Groups to gain authorship privileges.Choosing a group takes you to its main screen. From here, you are able to view a list of the members of the group, read the postings, or sign up to become a member. The message threads can be quite interesting and can take hours to go through. Unlike other messaging systems, however, AW does not "indent" threads - so sometimes, it can be a little difficult to follow.
To become a member, you need to apply to each group you're interested in. As a Novice, you will be limited to membership in only one board. So, obviously, most Novices spend a lot of time "shopping around" until they find the Special Group that most interests them. If you decide that you wish to leave a Group, there is an option allowing you to "Unsubscribe," freeing up a slot so you can go join something else. In order to Apply to a Group, a user would go to the main page for that Group, and towards the bottom of the screen click on "Apply." Usually the user is asked to give a brief statement as to why they wish to join the group. After a day or two, upon review by the Group Supervisors, the individual is either admitted or denied. If admitted, this means that the individual will not only be able to read the message threads of the Group, but they will now be able to post their own messages, thoughts, and ideas as well. They will also find the Group membership fee deducted from their cashbox at their home!
You will also notice against the names of Group members in the membership list the word "more" and against their name in posts the label saying "Group Profile". Both of these take you to a page which give details of the individual's Group membership activity including access to the various posts they have made. This can also be quite useful to you in terms of tracking your own activity within the Group.
Of course, I needn't tell you about all the legal mumbo-jumbo in the Ancient World's "Code of Conduct" about using profanity or obscenities, purposefully harassing other members, flaming people, or otherwise being objectionable. You should nonetheless make sure you read it since if somebody is misbehaving, they will get suspended or thrown off the site.
AW Links:
When you return to your own home page, you may discover that the parchment on the front page is "flapping."
By now you may have also noticed a couple of other features at your home. First, you can have a list of Friends. This enables you to have on the front page of your home a list of those members of Ancient Worlds whose homes you particularly like to visit. You will see that when you visit homes (when you are logged in yourself) that above each persons list of Friends is an option for you to add them as a friend. If you click on this they are then added to your list and, if you wish to visit them in future you can get quickly to their home by clicking their name in your list.
This means that someone has left you a message. Click on the flapping parchment to read your messages. The message engine also contains a calendar, so that you can look back and read messages from days or even weeks ago. Usually, in Ancient Worlds, it is customary to write at least the briefest of messages to those people who leave you a message or visit, thanking them for visiting your home. Also, you might want to click on their name and visit their own home as well. Each day you login to Ancient Worlds, you acquire more sestertii, the Roman unit of money used in Ancient Worlds. You can watch your cashbox account grow in your Study and you get an update each time you log in. A common question that beginners ask is, "Can I exchange sestertii with friends or other people I meet in Ancient Worlds?" For the time being, the answer is no. Ancient Worlds has not yet developed a "banking and exchange" system for its users.
The second feature is the Journal. This did not exist in Ancient Sites and enables you to write about anything you choose. Indeed, if you are a Patron you can have more than one Journal. Unlike Board entries, you can edit and change these since they are your personal editorial space at Ancient Worlds. There is also a facility for you to count how many people read your Journal and you can even check each day to see which logged in AW members stopeed by to read your words of wisdom.
AW Links:
At any time, you can use the ComPanel to send an Instant Message to someone. In AncientWorlds, IMs are called "telegrams." Unlike IMs, however, telegrams are rather primitive. First of all, they are not continuous threads, they are one-time posts. So, you cannot retrieve, review, or read what you said in a previous telegram. Secondly, telegrams do not stay open using the "send/respond" method that the AOL IMs utilize - once you send them, the box closes. This makes for a very disjointed and confusing way to communicate. And, in the situation where two or more people are telegramming you at once, it can be fairly unmanageable. Also, incoming telegrams have a button that allows you to "Go To" the sender's home page, but be careful - you cannot go back! If you accidentally "Go To" the author's domus/oikos before you finish reading the telegram, you're out of luck. The telegram is lost and its contents are permanently irretrievable. However, these restrictions only apply to non-Patrons. The Patron class, for their monetary support of the site, get a clearly superior version of the telegram software.
You also need to know that as a Dayling or Novice you are limited to 5 telegrams per day or as a Citizen to 10 per day. Once you reach your limit, you can send no more telegrams until the next day, which starts at Midnight Eastern Time. (By the way, time in Ancient Worlds is not based on UTC or Greenwich Mean Time, but on the Eastern Time Zone in the United States.) However, there is an exception if you are telegramming a Scribe or an AW cyber-deity. You can telegram them as much you want, they can receive all the telegrams you send them, but your own counter is still ticking. So realistically, the "10 telegram" limit is for all communications conducted between Daylings, Novices, and Citizens (and Patrons even though they have a higher limit). For example, you send 3 telegrams to another Novice. Later, you get into a telegram conversation with a Scribe, and you send 12 telegrams. The first seven of these put you up to your limit of 10 (3 + 7 = 10), and the next 5 didn't count because you were talking to a Scribe. You can continue telegram conversations with Scribes, however, you have reached your 10 telegram limit and are unable to telegram any other Daylings, Novices, or Citizens today.
The telegram feature of Ancient Sites was so restrictive that some users went out and obtained ICQ. ICQ is a real-time Internet Chat. Most users then ran ICQ in a separate, minimized window. The facility at Ancient Worlds is much the same but the situation is helped by the improved chat facilities that are being developed. Patrons have their own private chat facilities so, if you are speaking to them, doing so in their private gardens helps you get around the limit.
AW Links:
So what is AW, anyway? Ancient Sites was built as a companion site to the popular game "S.P.Q.R.," a Roman-style mystery whodunit PC game. In this vein, AS had something in common with Ultima On-Line, the fantasy role playing game. As many of you probably know, Ultima created an on-line Internet gaming community structured around their RPG. AncientSites had a lot of the S.P.Q.R. role players running around, yes - but that’s not all it was about.
AncientSites had seven cities you could join: Rome, Athens, Egypt, Babylon, Machu Picchu, Tara, and Nieuw Amsterdam. Additionally, there were on-line versions of games such as S.P.Q.R. and Acropolis, which also made you walk around the cities, looking for clues. The pictures were very beautiful, and after a while you really got a feeling for how "big" the virtual cities could be.
It has many of the old features but new ones as well. Development is continuing and the site how huge potential which depends to a great extent on how much participation and feedback there is.
But as you may also know, Ancient Sites could not survive. It tried to migrate into a different site called the Vines but that too did not not survive. Happily Jot Ariston set to work and has built this magnificent new site Ancient Worlds.
The good news is that the original game that sparked Ancient Sites is back on an even more stable platform. The SPQR Lives GamePage is your starting point for a tour of virtual Rome and the opportunity to have some fun by solving the mystery and saving Rome.
AW Links:
By now you will have gathered that Ancient World is mixed community with many acitivities going on, some serious and some pure fun. It is in truth a virtual community whose existence depends on the participation of its members, you and me.
Many of the threads in the discussion boards are not serious at all. Some of these boards have become free-form works of creativity, with all users participating in a virtual, fictitious discussion of fantasy and role playing. Some boards pretend to be fighting wars against the barbarians. Others pretend that they are writing fantasy stories or romances. Other boards are discussions of current events, politics, religion, or entertainment.
But besides playing games, there are many scholars here participating on the discussion boards and building academic web sites. There are many History professors here creating a new kind of Ancient History reference world in cyberspace. Many of the Patron pages contain links to academic resources outside of AW. There are links to universities and history departments around the world. There are topics and discussions on current events in history, historical research, and antiquities. Ancient Worlds also acts a fraternal organization, with students, scholars, and armchair historians around the world participating in a cyberspace community of Ancient History. There is even Schola Lingvae Latinae, our own on line Latin School. In addition to this, of course, you have the people that are here simply to play SPQR, and the people who think that this is just another AOL. And just like AOL, Ancient Worlds is filled with fun people vs. snobs, and open discussion groups vs. private cliques. As you explore around, you will encounter all of the above. AW is an exciting mix of personalities - a real reflection of real life in many ways.
Some Great Ancient Worlds Resources Welcome to Ancient Worlds
This is the Official introduction to Ancient Worlds and its facilities. Many of the links above take you to the relevant part of this introduction.AW Central
This page is the gateway to everything currently happening at AW. It shows the latest posts and journal entries, links to the public discussion boards and carries the altest important announcements.The Official SiteMap
A key resource for helping you find out what is here and how to get to it.Acta Diurna
The official newspaper of Ancient Worlds including news, articles and poetry. One way of getting an overview of what is going on.The Chat Hall
This lets you know about the various chats going on both public and private.
What we have discussed in this Beginner's Guide is just the tip of the iceberg. These are just some of the most important items that will help you hit the ground running. However, there remain a number of items that I have purposefully left unexplained. I leave it to you to find these items and explore them. After all, why should I take away from the mystery? This is just to get you started. Good luck exploring Ancient Worlds.
Conclusion, Credits and Contacts
The original concept for this Guide came from an article written by Archimedes Leonidas for the Glaux Athenaion, the newspaper of Athens. It was developed by him into a Guide for new arrivals at Ancient Sites.
This new version for Ancient Worlds has been written by Frontinus Sempronius drawing very heavily on the original by Archimedes Leonidas. Archimedes is now able to spend less time at Ancient Worlds but gave me permission to update his Guide for Ancient Worlds. My thanks to him.
If you want to leave feedback or comments please leave them at the message board for Frontinus Sempronius (if you leave them for Archimedes he may not be able to get back to you). If you want to help others find their way around, please go to the next section and display the Guide banner.
Let me leave this guide with Archimedes' original comments from the Ancient Sites Guide. Just substitute Ancient Worlds for Ancient Sites and you will find the message is the same:
"I really enjoy the whole concept of AncientSites. I have met many interesting and fascinating people here. There are so many neat things about AS that work really well - the discussions, the home pages, and the "Ancient History" camaraderie shared by the members.AncientSites is not a place unto itself, but rather it is a process. It is not the destination - it is an organic, ever-evolving interplay of people, minds, thoughts, and ideas. AS is a dynamic organism, a fascinating community founded on an intriguing idea. I continue to be mesmerized by its elusive hypnotism - what is it about this place that makes me want to keep coming back? I trust that you, newbie Novices and Daylings, will continue to keep coming back, and grow in your knowledge and enjoyment of this unique Internet community.
I extend greetings to all of you. I hope you have enjoyed A Beginner's Guide to Ancient Sites."
Free Banner! and Telling Others About the Guide
If you found this Guide helpful, be sure to tell other Daylings and Novices. Make sure to send them here to the Home of Frontinus Sempronius, of Rome! I have created a banner that you can add to your page!
Just copy the following text. While in "Edit Mode," (described above) paste it into your Welcome Statement. I would suggest you place the banner towards the bottom, after all your other text.
<!-- BEGIN BEGINNER'S GUIDE BANNER-->
<center><A HREF="http://www.vulcantech.co.uk/~davidp/AWBeginguide/Beginners.html" ><img src="http://www.ancientworlds.net/aworlds_media/ibase_1/00/04/07/00040749_000.gif" ALT="Beginner's Guide to AW" BORDER=0 height=44 width=315></A></center>
<!-- END BEGINNER'S GUIDE BANNER -->
