Greetings good captain, and welcome to the TBG universe! Most likely, you stumbled upon TBG while surfing the web or know a friend who plays. If the latter is the case, you are already in better shape than if the former is the case, usually. I stumbled upon TBG and started out all by myself knowing no one, so I have experienced the isolation, mistakes, and setbacks that come with it.
Now that you have your ship, you may be thinking "What the heck do I do now?" We shall set that question aside for a moment, and address some other issues that are not in the rules that you need to know first.
The issues I am speaking of are the social issues of TBG. If you don't understand the social aspect of the game before you begin, I can guarantee you that your experience will be miserable, and you will probably drop out. This section is meant to inform you as to what to expect. If you find that you can't fit in with this social structure, it may be better to try another game. Either that, or you can stick with it and try to rock the boat. The choice is up to you. The social aspect of TBG has also spawned multiple conversation groups, the links to which can be found here.
Additionally, you can find the answers to frequently asked questions at the TBG FAQ website.
Customs/The way things are:
- It is expected that if you are the weaker ship in a pair, you will hail the larger ship. If you do not return hails sent to you, you may be attacked. I will explain how to hail later on.
- You have to read the Sub Space Times. There is no way around it. You will not be successful at this game if you don't. More on the Times later.
- You have to print out a copy of the rules. People get annoyed if you ask questions that are answered in the rules.
- Some players consider it cowardly to attack a peaceful player ship without notifying them of your intent first. If you do so, not only will you be branded a pirate, but a coward as well. That is, unless the ship you are attacking is unpopular or a pirate himself. In that case, it would be silly to broadcast your intentions. Piracy used to be frowned upon heavily, but is becoming more acceptable.
- Never release Evil unless you know what you are doing. More on Evil later.
- Most players are nice, but will use any excuse to attack another ship. Things as trivial as attacking another newbie will generally reap a violent response from any of their friends. So, if you are into piracy, make sure you are tough enough to beat most ships of your mass in a fight before you hoist the skull and cross-bones.
- Most players are nice. If you hail them to strike up a conversation, you may get something nice from them if they have modules to spare. Hail everyone in your system, as that is the quickest way to gain friends and allies.
- Surf the player web pages. These pages are an invaluable resource. A link to them can be found at the bottom of your turn form. Many players and organizations have resources. The most valuable is Feline Grace's trade routes guide. It is the single most important resource that any new ship can have, and is necessary if you wish to start out running. You can find the guide here. Other organizations or ships have laws or codes. These can also be found on the player pages.
Ok, if you can answer yes to any of the following questions, I can guarantee you that you are good TBG material:
- Am I willing to read the Times?
- Am I willing to hail other ships frequently?
If you answered no to any of these questions, you will be uninformed, lonely, or both. Being lonely is less damaging than being uninformed, but lonely ships usually drop out because the game simply isn't fun without someone to talk to about it.
