Welcome to .hack//DIVERGENCE, Please read before anything else!

I know this looks like a lot of reading, but it's just the basics of how to get in, and shouldn't take you more than five-ten minutes - and without what you see here, you can't do anything else on the board! So, please take a few moments to read through what you see here.

What is Divergence?
.Hack//Divergence is a forum-based RPG based on the popular .Hack games/anime series. There is no game system, no program, no files, or anything else that you need to download to play. You just create a character that you have imagined and post story segments to 'play', making things up as you go along. If you need some examples, feel free to look around the subplots boards to get an idea of how this works. Timeline-wise, Divergence is an alternate version of the .Hack video games which takes place after the games before the events in .hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet, somewhere within that four year time period.

Joining

In order to join, you must…

A ) Register as a member of the board.
B ) Post a registration under Character Registration.
C ) Have created a legal character, explained below.

Registering at the board

In order to register for the board, you see the Divergence logo on top then you see the Invision logo below it, and then two light blue bars below the Invision logo. On the second light blue bar, you see “Welcome, Guest”, then Log In and then Register. Click on Register and follow the instructions; soon after, you'll get an Email to validate your account. Click the link, then you're ready for the next step...

Registering a Character

In order to begin questing, you must register a character under the Character Registration forum, which is under the Server Announcements. The following information will need to be filled out before a mod will look at it.

1. Name of Character in The World-
2. Name of Real World Player-
3. Age- (For both)
4. Class- (See Below)
5. Eye color- (The World Character)
6. Hair color- (The World Character)
7. Height- (The World Character)
8. Clothing- (The World Character) You can add an image if you want, but it does not negate the need for a physical description!
9. Personality- (For both, if different)
10.Weapon/Armor and Skills-
11. A writing sample on how you found the world. Not on how you found divergence. This is a fictional story.

The most important part of registration is your story. Your story will allow the mods to determine your writing ability. It must be about how you got “The World” as a real game. You can’t mention .hack or Divergence in your story, otherwise, you’ll be asked to rewrite that part. Your story must be of decent length.

It must be at least one full page in Word. If you need some reference for how your story is supposed to be written, look at some of the locked character registrations. Locked registrations normally signify people who have been let in.

About the Classes

There are nine classes in The World. They are Blademaster, Long arm, Wavemaster, Heavy Axe, Heavy Blade, Twin Blade, Fist Fighter, Archer, and the Whipmaster. They are explained in more detail below.

Heavy Classes:
BLADEMASTER - Wielding a one-handed sword, Blademasters are able to use even the heaviest gear, yet still wield reasonable magical power.
HEAVY AXE - Veritable tanks, these warriors use axe and pole arm weapons to crush their opponents with overwhelming force; they are weak in magic, but may wear even the heaviest armor, and carry the strongest defense.
HEAVY BLADE - A variant blade class, they wield a two-handed sword or a katana and have more power and physical defense than a blademaster, but correspondingly less magical ability. Their giant blades almost never miss.

Medium Classes:
LONG ARM - Fast and agile, these warriors have a greater reach for their weapons compared to the other classes, backed with some magic to defeat their opponents from afar. Perhaps the most balanced of classes.
TWIN BLADE - Another variant blade class, these warriors use a pair of light swords, relying on their speed and skill more than strength to defeat their enemies. They have better magic than blademasters, but are more fragile.
FIST FIGHTER – This class uses their bodies as their weapons, giving them the widest variety of attack abilities, and making them the least predictable of all classes. The fist fighter class is off-limits until you become level 17. When you become a fist fighter, you lose two levels and start off with the basic level 15 weapon, Fist Guards. You can keep any previous weapons that you held and any light or medium armor. Any heavy classes that don’t have the necessary armor must be traded in armor for level 7 medium armor.

Light Classes:
WAVEMASTER - The most powerful magic-users, wavemasters can use only limited weaponry and gear, but can cast spells more effectively and often than any other class. They are also the only class with all six elements at their natural disposal.
ARCHER - This class is the only class that doesn't have a short range attack. The snipers of The World, they used bow and arrows as their main attack, charging their weapon with a variety of elements. Each arrow cost 1 SP. The class is off-limits until you're level 17. You lose two levels and given the basic level 15 weapon, Steel Dragon Crossbow. You keep any previous weapons that you held and any light armor. Any medium or heavy classes that don't have the necessary armor must be tradeded in armor for level 6 light armor.
WHIPMASTER - This class uses a 12 foot whip to attack enemies from afar, binding them and hitting them with status effects before they have a chance to attack in return. The class is off-limits until you're level 12. You lose two levels and given the basic level 10 weapon, Rose Whip. You keep your previous weapons that you held and any light armor. Any medium or heavy classes that don't have the necessary armor must be traded in armor for level 6 light armor.


You start out with Level 1 equipment. It consists of one weapon and four pieces of armor. The level 1 armor is the same for all classes. The starting armor is listed below.

Head – Bandanna (Repth)
Arm – Wristbands (Juk Rom)
Body – Leather Coat (Gan Zot)
Feet – Sandals

Your starting level 1 weapon will depend on what class you choose. The level 1 weapons for each class are listed below.

Blademaster:
Basic Sword (Cross Slash)
Brave Sword (Crack Beat)

LongArm:
Bronze Spear (Triple Doom)
Iron Spear (Repulse Cage)

Wavemaster:
Cypress Wand (Rue Rom)
Iron Rod (Gan Rom)
Nautilus Rod (Gan Don)

Heavy Axeman:
Golden Axe
Hatchet (Axel Pain)
Short Swing (Triple Wield)
Silver Axe

Heavy Blade:
Adventurer (Death Bringer)
Steel Blade (Calamity)
Zero Sword (Hayabusa)
Kikuichimonji (Hayabusa)

Twin Blade:
Amateur Blades (Saber Dance)
Kai (Saber Dance)
Steel Blades (Tiger Claws)

When you list your weapon and armor in your registration, make sure to pair up your equipment’s skills with the proper piece. Some equipment will not have skills. More on skills will be talked about later.

Making your character legal.

There are some things you can’t do with your character.

1. You can’t use a character name from any .hack series. Duplicate character names just aren't allowed inside the game.
2. You can’t mention characters from any .hack series in your story; vague references to hearing about the legends are okay, but, you cannot know any of them. This is especially true because it's generally assumed we're on the American server here, and those players are on the Japanese ones.
3. You can’t begin with any items/equipment that’s higher than level 1. At all times, you can only use equipment equal to or lower than your level. I know that wasn't how it worked inside the Infection series of games, but it's how we do things here.
4. You can’t have more than one weapon to start out with. You'll buy or earn more later, don't worry.
5. You can’t have hacked powers or even be in a coma - this is a trait only available to a few people, in what we call Main Plot. Right now, you’re a normal player in the World.
6. Your character must be legal within the game. Minor oddities in appearance might be easily achievable through the normal character designer, but major aspects - such as missing limbs, elf ears, or animal features beyond slitted eyes - would have to be hacked in via an outside editor. These are illegal within The World, and while allowed on Divergence, they have real consequences within the game, such as being chased by the Administration in character. Please consider this carefully before doing it just to make your character look cool.

After you fill out all of the information required for your character registration, post it in the Character Registration forum and wait for a mod to look at it. They will post if you are accepted or if you need some adjustments. Do as the mods ask and only post after them when you’ve made the changes to your story. Do not double post trying to get their attention. Please be patient when you're waiting for a mod to check your registration - spamming a thread asking for a mod to check your registration will just delay your registration, not help it.


So that's all you need to know for now. If you have any more questions, go check out The Ultimate Divergence FAQ. Still got questions? Ask an Admin, Moderator, or even a regular member, via the PM system. Once you're done reading this, though, please post in reply to this post! You can say anything you want in it, from telling us hello and a little bit about yourself, to just saying "yeah, I read it", but if you don't reply here, you'll be unable to post anywhere else!

From there, go post your Registration, and as soon as you've got the OK of a Mod or Senior Member, go post it in the Profiles area... then go on your way!

Welcome to Divergence everyone.

(And old members, feel free to say hi back, babble on, or do anything else you'd like here!)

I had something witty to say, but Sekai suggested I'd get labeled as something called a troll... :(

I can haz post time naow?

Welcome to the board Guinea Pig!!!

I mean...congratulations on being our first member to join with the new approval system. Go ahead and work on your registration, you should be able to post in the area now.

I look forward to seeing your work.

I think it's about time things got a little heavier, don't you?

This looks interesting. Maybe it'll be better than C.C. Corp? =3

I'm truly excited to start my registration. ^_^ I hope to be a great addition to the board!

Ooh... I love how organized this is. x3 This place lookz fun. ;D

Let's see if I can stick with divvy this time lol. It got alot bigger and more organized lol. Nice post Lyra.

ummm....rar?

So many new members, not to mention all of them being talented in writing. ^_^

So yeah, I'm Shenny. I've been gone on vacation for a week, but now I'm back in action! Kind of...

But yes, welcome! *offers cookies*

Click. Boop. Beep.

Ello people i am here.

Blargh honk blargh blargh?!?!


:woot:

Seems pretty straight forward. I'm glad I read it before jumping into things and am now ready to register my toon into The World.

Wow, thanks for posting this. I'm sure that I would've had no idea what to do otherwise. @.@

Thanks again for the help, Lyra. I did read the post before hand, but I missed the part where I have to post here, lol. Hello everyone, I am Yuu, nice to meet you all! ^^

Um, hi. I'm Venus, Dien's new second account. Activate, plsthx?