FAQ: For Returnbies

More and more these days, we get random people from the earlier history of the PPC wandering back in. Sometimes they just want to say hello, or plug their book; other times, they stick around. If that description fits you, hi! Nice to have you back. This FAQ is here to answer some of the questions you might have. It was primarily written by Huinesoron.

You guys are still here?!
I know, right? The PPC Community has been going strong ever since the Board was founded (if not before!), and we see no reason to stop now. We have a constant flow of new missions, with writers old and new following in the footsteps of Jay and Acacia; we have the same old long-winded discussions; we have badfics galore, games aplenty, and other things a... lotsof. Nowadays, we have a Chat and a Wiki, too, so there's even more ways to get your PPC fix.

Is [Insert Name Here] still around?
They might well be! Not everyone posts on the Board all the time, or spends all their time in the IRC. The best way to find out is to ask! It doesn't have to be a post of its own – tacking the question onto the end of an unrelated post should still let people see it.

Hey, what happened to Fill the Plothole/the Shipfest/the PPC Badfic Game/some other old tradition?
Quite likely, nothing. A lot of the old games and such still crop up occasionally – some of them are on an annual cycle these days. But if you remember something that seems to be truly dead – why not revive it? All it takes is a single post to start a thread, and the entertainment is always welcome.

I ran across a 'PPC Message Board', but it looked pretty empty...
That's known as the Other Board; it's our spam-shelter, and the hub for PPC role-plays. These are usually set up and announced on the Board, and linked to a thread on the Other Board; it's a way to keep huge megathreads from eating the Board.

I found some other forum that looks like it might be a PPC community site...
It's possible. We have a handful of these wandering around. The LiveJournal community is still technically active, but unused; there's a Facebook group which was set up by someone who's since left, and never used (because we prefer to know who has control of these things); there's a trial Board created by Tomash which has never been implemented. No doubt you can find more if you look.

Am I still allowed to write missions?
Provided you were allowed to before, yes! (This would've involved being granted Permission by a Permission Giver – if you were here way back in the day, that might have been as simple as emailling Miss Cam, or even Jay.) Be aware, though, that a lot might have changed since you were last writing. It's a good idea to check out the relevant department page here on the Wiki, and maybe look in the Complete List of PPC Fiction to see if they've got any recent missions out there.

Can I give out Permission?
Were you ever a Permission Giver? If not, we're afraid not! If you were, it'd be a good idea to familiarise yourself with the current system – it might have changed quite a bit since you were last here. It's also recommended that you take an active role in the community for a while before you start granting Permission – that way you know who everyone is, and everyone knows you.