Uptime on Discord

Through the use of Discord roles, GMs are able to determine whether or not a player is able to read old messages in a channel they have just joined. As players will be moving between physical location channels during uptime, this will be relevant whenever moving to a new location, even if it is a location that you have been in at a previous point in time.

As mystery is a core theme of Emporium, players are expected not to read back physical location channel histories, since this could result in them reading past interactions that they were not a part of and may lead to metagaming. However, we recognise that players may have difficulty recalling information from past interactions that they were a part of, and as it is possible to obtain this information in a digital format, we are keen not to create an access barrier around it. For ease of access, channel histories are by default available to read for any player who has access to a given channel, but we strongly suggest that players turn this permission off using the !toggle command for the most immersive experience of the game. To use the !toggle command, simply type “!toggle” (without quotation marks) in the text box of the relevant channel, and press send as you would for a normal message. If you do need to check something within a channel's history, you can view it at any time by using the !toggle command again. OC channels and non-physical location channel histories will be unaffected by this command.

During uptime, player movement is represented by switching between physical location channels. This may be done by a GM changing your location role (and hence which channels you have the permission to see) or by a player using the !warp command to move between locations at will. To do this, type “!warp <location>” (without quotation marks, and replacing <location> with the name of the place you wish to warp to) in your current channel and press send, as you would for a normal message. A list of valid locations will be available to view at all times on the Discord server. You will then lose access to the channel you had been in, and gain access to the channel for the location you have warped to.

In-universe, warping is the metaphysical ability for Entities within Emporium to instantaneously teleport anywhere within the Warp Zone at will. The Warp Zone is defined as the shop floor, excluding the Administration Offices (8. on the map) and the Warehouses.

Some locations may be marked as Restricted Access Areas. These represent locations that are made for employees to use, and that Emporium asks customers to stay out of. In practice, customers are perfectly able to warp into these areas (and players are welcome to do so if their character would like to) but should be aware that they are breaking store rules - unless, of course, they have been specifically invited by an employee.

At the top of the channel sidebar you will find a list of OC channels. Their intended functions have been detailed below:

• oc-announcements: GMs may use this channel to post OC announcements directed at the entire playerbase, such as time-in and time-out, or any reports on technical difficulties
• oc-game-introduction: This channel will be used by GMs to introduce the game to players at the start of session one
• oc-tech-support: A place for players to alert GMs to any technical difficulties they may be able to resolve, e.g. any issues in a bot's behaviour. Such issues may also be raised privately in player-GM channels
• oc-info: Quick reference for information such as session times, Discord conventions, and safety calls
• oc-guide-to-bots: Quick reference for the bots operating in the Emporium server and how to interact with them
• oc-location-reference: Quick reference for locations, intended to make the OC experience of warping easier. You may assume that the floorplan provided is IC knowledge.
• oc-general-chat: A place to communicate with GMs and players out of character.
• oc-quotes: A place to note down anything amusing or noteworthy that a player or GM has said within the server for posterity
• oc-shitposting: A place to post memes and shitposts related to Emporium.
• oc-bot-commands: A place to post bot commands such as !warp and !map if you would prefer not to do so in your player-GM channel for whatever reason. We recommend you mute this channel by right-clicking the name and selecting “Mute Channel > Until I turn it back on”, and ask that players don't read each other's bot commands in order to metagame!

The channels under this category heading represent communication with Albert, the Implement at the head of Emporium. In-character, every aisle is equipped with an interface by which they can be reached.

• ic-rules: A list of in-character rules that apply in the store. While employees and customers are expected to follow the store rules, players may choose for their characters to break them.
• ic-announcements: This channel represents Emporium's PA systems, over which Albert (or others) may speak from time to time. For accessibility reasons, all announcements made over the PA system will be represented over text channels by transcripts, and optionally by audio recordings.
• ask-albert: Albert encourages you to ask them any questions you may have! Please bear in mind that, depending on the nature of your question, GMs may take some time to respond.

The Collective Consciousness is a psychic network that operates throughout the entirety of Emporium. The Collective Consciousness is represented over Discord by three distinct channels, two of which have slow-mode enabled at different rates, such that the frequency players at which can post messages in them is restricted. Unlike physical location channels, these are available for all players to read and write in at any time.

The Emporium Discord server features a vast array of physical location channels. As a general rule, only one of these should be visible to an individual player at any given time, as Entities are not able to manifest omnipresently in Emporium.

You can move between most location channels within the shop floor by warping. Any locations that cannot be accessed in this manner will be accessible with the help of a GM, and may be discovered and explored by players over the course of uptime.

Entities with the Psychic Anchor quirk may establish psychic connections to other characters. If such a connection is made between a PC and an NPC, it may be easier for GMs to represent it via existing player-GM channels, but if it is made between two or more PCs, a private channel will be created for them to communicate in.

Finally, every player will have access to a private channel accessible only by them and the GM team. This channel will be presided over primarily by the GM assigned to you, who may ask that you tag them in your messages so that they will be notified (GMs have an extremely large number of channels to moderate!). This is a good place to…

• Ask GM questions that may otherwise get lost in an OC channel, or that you don't want other players to see.
• Roleplay private interactions between PCs and NPCs to eliminate the need for excess text channels.
• Use bot commands such as !warp and !map without spamming public channels or revealing where you are warping

If you attempt to use an Emporium bot and it encounters an error, it will notify the head GM in this channel.

On the user sidebar, you may notice some users with a 'BOT' icon. These are not players or GMs but Discord bots programmed to automate tasks within the server. Emporium will be making use of several Discord bots to enable a smoother and more interactive experience.

Some bots, such as PluralKit, which allows GMs to post under different aliases for different NPCs, are for GM use only, whereas others, such as the Emporium bots, which automate tasks like warping to free up GM time, may be used by players to interact with the game. The use of bots is designed to be intuitive and requires no prior knowledge as instructions will be provided on the Discord server. If, for whatever reason, you would prefer not to use a particular bot, please let your GM know, and they will be able to take over the bot's actions for you.

Commands are phrases you can type into a Discord channel to generate a response from a bot. Below are a list of all the most important ones for you to know, and what they do. More options may be listed under each bot's own headline. A full list of commands will be available for players to consult at any time on the Discord server.

• !map generates a map, either in text or image format, of the shop floor, indicating how many player characters are currently within each location
• !warp <location> takes you to whatever location channel you specified, provided that it is within the Warp Zone, and you are currently within the Warp Zone
• !toggle toggles your channel history permissions, so that you can easily switch between being able to read a channel's history when you enter it, or having it be a mystery

This is an OC bot written by the GM team to increase the accessibility of the game.

The !toggle command is used to toggle accessibility features. It can be entered into any channel on the server by any player at any time to edit their individual accessibility preferences, although we recommend using #oc-bot-commands or your GM channel to avoid clutter in public channels.

1. !toggle permissions toggles whether or not you are able to read physical location channel histories
2. !toggle map toggles your default map display preferences when using the Emporium Security Bot between plain text and visual

Simply typing !toggle will default to changing your channel history persmissions.

Another thing the accessibility bot is in charge of is providing plaintext transcripts for unicode characters. While we do not intend for zalgo text and unicode fonts to be a big feature during uptime on Discord, they may be used occasionally for stylistic effect. To aid in the readability of these messages, the Accessibility Assistant automatically scans incoming messages on the Discord server for zalgo or unicode characters it recognises, and will react to any messages containing them with a question mark emoji. If you press this question mark, the Accessibility Assistant will send you a direct message with an auto-generated plaintext version of the message's contents, and remove your reaction for purposes of anonymity. As this is handled by a bot, transcripts may be imperfect and the bot may not catch every relevant message, but we hope that it will make the player experience a bit more accessible, encourage players to get in touch with the head GM regarding any issues with the bot.

OC, this bot carries out the task of moving players between physical location channels. IC, this bot represents the Albert Interface.

You can type !warp <location>, where <location> is the name of the location you are warping to (e.g. kitchen, groceries) anywhere in the server to instantaneously move to said location. Your current location and desired destination must both be within the warp zone in order for this to work.

A full list of locations you can warp between will be available at all times on the Discord server.

OC, this bot handles commands relating to the map. IC, this bot represents the security systems governed by the Albert Interface.

You can type the !map command anywhere within the server to receive an update of every PC's current position on the map, provided that they are within the Warp Zone. The bot will post a message with the map in your GM channel so as not to create clutter in public channels, and ping you so that you can easily find it. IC, this is equivalent to your character connecting to the Albert Interface to view the shop map. While the map would IC display non-PC characters as well, this is not the case OC, and the map function is intended primarily to give players a quick overview of which channels they may want to warp to based on how much activity there seems to be in each of them.

By default, the !map command will generate a visual map, but you can change your individual preferences between visual and written formats by typing !toggle map anywhere at any time.

Alternatively, you can override your default format by writing !map text for a plaintext map and !map image for a visual map.

This is an OC bot used by the GM team to allow them to use multiple aliases for different NPCs. You can read more about PluralKit on their website.

All player-facing Discord bots have been written and tested primarily by our head GM, and are dependent on her internet connection. __If a bot goes offline temporarily, you will not be able to use its associated commands until it is back online. This is most likely due to Sophia's internet cutting out, and should be resolved as soon as it has been re-established. You should not assume that the Albert Interface or the Emporium Security have gone down IC if their associated OC bots are offline. If you notice any other issues with any of the Emporium bots, please tag Sophia in a message in #oc-tech-support to let her know, and she'll get back to you about it as soon as possible!

In the event that a bot is offline, or if a player is unable to use it for whatever reason, GMs will be able to move players between locations and toggle their channel history permissions in such an event. Of course, you can always ask a GM to provide a transcript for any zalgo text or unicode fonts, whether the accessibility assistant is currently offline, or has failed to transcribe a message accurately. Unfortunately, GMs will not be able to mimic the Emporium Security Bot's map functions, but they can tell you how many players are currently within a specified location channel. Finally, please be mindful that GMs are juggling many different things behind the scenes and may take a while to respond - we are here to help, but may need a moment!