What exactly is Wanderlust?
Wanderlust is a play-by-post (PBP) role playing game (RPG). It focuses mainly on wolves, humans and their dogsled teams. The scene is set on a fictional island off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada--which means, for those of you who never saw a map of the world, that the fictional island (Xanctsu Island) is situated in the Atlantic Ocean off Canada's eastern coast. That area was chosen because not only is the wilderness well preserved in Canada (and especially in the north), but the weather on Canada's eastern coast varies significantly from beautiful sunny, hot days in the summer to blizzards and hail storms in the winter.

What does play-by-post mean? And what is a role playing game?
A role playing game is a game where you create a character (or many characters) and post them as if you were writing a book. In their posts, you include as much or as little you wish to give away to your reader(s). You describe the scenery around them; you include their thoughts; you include their feelings and emotions; you can even include bits of their past wherever it fits in with the situation. Even a flashback works! You are the author. This is your character--so do as you wish with that character! Be creative! The more twists and turns you have in your plots or characters, the more entertaining things get!

Now for play-by-post. Different RPGs work in different ways. Some RPGs work through message boards (as Wanderlust does) and some go through e-mails... Some are even done on journals as a community! However, for the size that some RPGs can become, it is more convenient to have a play-by-post RPG, where all members (or visitors) of the site can read any post and (members) can reply to the posts!

Role playing games definitely help with your writing skills, and is a great way to meet interesting people!

How do I roleplay?
Well, before you get caught up in anything: look around! Have a look around the site and get a feel for things. Definitely be sure to read the rules and FAQ--they are essential to playing here! But aside from those, look through the packs and understand each pack, look through the members pages and see how many are in each place and, of course, do look at some posts! The best way to get a feel for an RPG is by far to look at the posts! Just browsing some recent posts can help you get an idea and feel for the flow of things! Also, introducing yourself on the OOC Board is always great! You get the chance to meet who may be your fellow RPers!

1. Character Creation
   If you like what you've seen, join! Creating a character can be as complicated or as simple as you make it. You can join a character with a lot of depth--a character you know inside and out--or you can join as a spontaneous just-thought-of-it-now kind of character and discover the character as your fellow role players do! Either way, character creation can be fun!
   
   A few questions to ponder when joining a character are:
   
   NAME: The simplest part! Do you want a common name? Do you want a unique name? Would you rather make up a name for your character? Does the name reflect your character in any way, or is the name ironic?
   
   AGE: Believe it or not, age does have a great significance when role playing as wolves or dogs. Is your character old, 7+? Is your character a yearling? Or is it in its prime (ages 2-6)?
   
   APPEARANCE: What are your character's strengths? What are your character's weaknesses? Does it have any scars? Disabilities? If it is a canine, what colour is its fur? What colour are its eyes?
   
   PERSONALITY: Who is your character? What kind of personality does it have? What makes it change moods? Is it always calm and rational? Is it fearless? Is it a coward? Does it enjoy the company of others, or does it prefer solidarity?
   
   HISTORY: Has your character suffered any traumatic experiences? Has s/he always lead a good life? What hardships has your character had to overcome to be where s/he is today? Does it have any remaining family? Was it close with its family?



2. Posting
   Once you have a character you're ready to post! Remember, you are basically writing a story with the help of others! So here are some things that we ask you be mindful of when posting your little creations!
   
   EFFORT: Please, put some effort into it! We are not, by any means, asking you to give us a post that could rival the Bible in length, but we are asking that you give us something that, at the very least, is reply-able. AVOID ONE-LINERS! If you give us some tiny post, how ever do you expect someone to reply?
   
   GRAMMAR / SPELLING: No internet lingo. No "ne1" or "4eva" crap. Write me something I could understand if I had never before used a computer or used MSN or AIM. Hell! Sometimes I even write my post our in a Word document because of the spell-check and grammar-check it provides. If you are notorious of typos and are a horrible speller, this may be something to look into. Of course, its no big deal for a few typos--we all do them!--but please don't give me a post that strains me to read and understand. And finally, DO NOT USE WORDS YOU LOOKED UP IN A THESAURUS. These are words that are usually not used in the right context, and it brings down the quality of the writing entirely. And as a great man once said, "If you can't explain it in plain English, you probably don't understand what you're talking about enough to be talking about it in the first place."
   
   AVOID MIND-READING: Though we realize that in a post, you are usually given the other character's feelings, emotions and thoughts, please try to base your character's reaction based on what s/he has been let to see by the other character. If a character thinks something, then your character will not know those thoughts. You may just see an emotion displayed by a look (posture, look in their eyes, etc.) You cannot read their thoughts, so please don't post with some massive reply that is really just a reply to what that character may have thought. There were reasons it was a thought and not said out loud ^__~
   
   AVOID MULTI-TASKING: Please! If you post in one place and want to leave, post an exiting post so that others who may read that post know you are gone! Do not post in two places at once!



3. Getting Noticed
   Getting noticed can sometimes be difficult, believe it or not! There are a few ways to get noticed:
   
   KNOW SOMEONE: Either know someone on the site beforehand, or post on the OOC Board and meet new people! With them, you can come up with your own plots and storylines and they can offer characters to help your's settle in and really just get into the swing of things!
   
   START ANEW: Who ever said it was bad to start a nice, new, fresh post?! The only problem with this is that others may ignore it if you don't give them enough to work with--or they are too busy. You must be careful when you are new to an RPG and you post a new, random post to introduce your character because sometimes people just don't notice. So... Make them! Write a message on the OOC Board and ask for a little bit of help--someone would be more than happy to offer a helping hand!
   
   JUMP RIGHT IN: If you see a post and you like it--and there's an oppertunity for you to throw your character into the mix--jump right in! Post a reply and let the good times role! Just try not to step on any toes! ^^;;