PMMF Introduction Thread For New Members

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Nuppiz
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PMMF Introduction Thread For New Members

Post by Nuppiz »

Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of the Perry McCarthy Memorial Forum! This subforum is the host to all of the fictional stuff on the GPRejects forum - virtual series, alternative championships, fictional driver careers and general game discussion (including non-racing games as well).

The PMMF is split into further four subforums; the first one is for "canon" series, the second one is for "non-canon" series, the third one is for alternative championships based on real results, fictional driver careers and general gaming discussion, and the fourth one is the archive for the whole PMMF to keep it tidy. Things might look a bit confusing at first, so here's a few guidelines to help you getting to know how the forum works.

  • Most of the series where people can enter teams and drivers do not require you to own any software - they are run by the series organiser using a computer/video game, scorinator, or even pen and paper to generate the results. The only series that require you to have certain software are those that require you to drive yourself and then post your time to be compared to others, such as Rejects of Gran Turismo. Topics in the third subforum (Black Stig Memorial Forum) usually do not require any input from other members, other than possible comments and questions.
  • You can enter any virtual series with a team, a driver/multiple drivers, or both (unless the series does not allow fictional drivers). Entering a team is harder due to the limited space in the series and requires more work - if the series already has a full quota of teams then your team might be relegated to a waiting list and can only enter the series when a sufficient amount of other teams have left the series. What exactly is required of you as a team owner depends on the series, but in general you have to make choices regarding the car, drivers and sometimes external suppliers (such as tyres) both at the start of the season as well as during it. Entering a driver is easier, and is usually the faster way to get into the universe. In either case, if you are involved in a series it would be nice if you commented on it at least every once in a while, even if there isn't anything to decide upon.
  • When entering a team, always tell the name and nationality of it. In some series you have to choose a car, while in others you have to pick a chassis and/or engine - do these as quickly as possible (preferrably in the same post where you enter the series) to improve your chances of getting the equipment you want. Most series have a template on what information you must provide on the first page. If the series supports custom liveries, please also state if you are going to do it yourself or, if you do not have the skills/software to do so, the general idea of how you want the livery to appear.
  • When entering a driver, enter at least his/her name and nationality. Age is preferred, and also a requirement in some of the series - for wiki purposes, you should provide a full date of birth. Backstory is optional, but generally writing at least something about the driver's background makes the driver more appealing to team owners. Avoid using names that could be considered offensive - it usually isn't funny at all and might give you a bad reputation.
  • In general, keep in mind that the forum's members are from all across the world and of various ages. In-character arguments are allowed, but personal insults and excessively strong language are discouraged and frowned upon.

About canon:
  • The line between canon and non-canon is somewhat blurry and canon characters and teams might appear in non-canon series. But in general canon (found in the Andrea Sassetti Memorial Forum, or ASMF for short) includes our version of Formula One, the ARWS, and many other series associated with it, either running in the same timeframe as ARWS or set in the past forming a historical background for the characters and organizations. Some series are exclusively reserved for fictional characters and teams, while some allow a mix of real-life and fictional characters and entities. A comprehensive list of what is and what is not canon can be found here.
  • The "present-day" canon series are actually running a few years ahead of real life due to taking less time to finish, and are generally a bit harder to enter due to attracting more interest from the members. Most of the present-day series are tied to the ARWS due to being a part of its superlicence requirements for drivers - you cannot enter a new driver directly into the ARWS, you have to make him/her work out a career in at least one of the feeder categories first, preferrably multiple to gather more experience. Historical series might be easier to enter, but they do not count towards getting a reject superlicence for your driver and are there purely to create more in-depth storylines to anything associated with the canon.
  • Non-canon series (found in the Black Stig Memorial Forum, or BSMF for short) might involve completely fictional drivers and teams, but many of them are based on alternative ways of running real-life series with fictional elements partially or completely removed. The only difference to canon series is that the results, characters and organisations are not mentioned in that universe at all, and most of the non-canon series aren't related to each other either. So if the canon universe is a single continuity, each non-canon series generally tends to form their own continuity and they rarely intertwine. For example there might be multiple F1 series running in the same era, but only one of them is considered canon and is found in the ASMF whereas all others are in the BSMF.

When starting a new series:
  • First, make sure that you know exactly what you are doing; do you have the sufficient software or other way to simulate the results, know how to use and modify it to your needs, think that there's enough interest on the forums towards your idea, and most importantly have the time needed to run the series? If the answer to any of these questions is "no" or "not sure", do not start a topic for it yet. Instead, use the PMMF Planning Thread to see if there is any interest, and perhaps get help for whatever problem you're having that is so far preventing you from running the series. If the idea sounds promising perhaps someone else will pick it up even if you can't do it yourself, but do not post multiple series ideas there with no intention of actually making any of them into reality.
  • Once you've actually started your series and start taking in entries, you are often asked if its canon or not. Reaching a canon status depends on the type of the series - if it's set in a timeframe where no other canon series have taken place in yet, is at least mildly realistic and allows fictional drivers and teams, it is usually considered canon right away. Making a series canon in the "present day" requires a bit more effort, and is usually discussed upon in the PMMF Canon Discussion Thread or ASMF Canon Council Topic before the final verdict. Having the series in present day canon also requires you to adhere you to a certain schedule, known as Reject World Series season, where incidents in one series can cause effects in another. If one of these series drags on for too long it might start holding up the others and cause retconning when something doesn't turn out as what was originally planned.

Last, but not least there's our own wiki: http://formularejects.com/wiki/Main_Page . It's a great tool for quickly finding data about the results and characters of all virtual series and some of the alternative championships. There's a lot of red links, so if you can help, please do so! At the moment members have to be approved by the wiki admins (Biscione or me) to give them editing rights - use the "request account" feature when registering for the wiki.
Eurosport broadcast for the 1990 Mexican GP prequalifying:
"The Life, it looked very lifeless yet again... in fact Bruno did one, slow lap"
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