A Guide to the Town of Odyssey

Are you new in town? Unfamiliar with what to do first? Pop in and take a look at several helpful guides to get you settled into your new home! You'll also find Mayoral announcements to keep you abreast of the latest developments!
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Shadowpaw
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A Guide to the Town of Odyssey

Post by Shadowpaw »

Earning Money
Earning money is the key component that sets this board apart from other message boards. And there are several different ways to earn cash here. You can post messages, get jobs, open a bank account, sell user created items, and win raffles! Below is a detailed explanation of each possibility:

Posting Messages
Rather than reward people by simply upping their post count, the Town of Odyssey actually pays you for your posts! The breakdown of pay is as follows:

Starting a new thread: $1.50
Replying to an existing thread: $1.00
Each word in your post: $0.02
Maximum that can be earned for one post: $20

So, as you can see, starting a thread that gets a good discussion going will earn you a lot more than your average post.

Spam Prevention
The system that pays you is a "dumb system". It will take a look at the last 4 hours and count how many posts you have made. If you have posted more than 30 posts in this time period, it will not pay you, even if you never received payment for those posts. For example, you post 30 posts in an hour and thus have reached your limit. The following hour you post another 30 messages and do not receive payment (as to be expected). 3 hours later you go to post again, thinking your 4 hour time limit is up. Even thought it has been 4 hours since you stopped receiving money, it doesn't take this into account. It simply sees you have posted 30 posts within the past 4 hours and will not pay you a cent. Unfortunately there is no way around this. The payment has been modified to accomodate people (substantially increased from 30 posts/24 hours) and I feel 30 posts every 4 hours is reasonable (if not pretty excessive).

Getting an Avatar and Signature
A lot of people like to personalize their accounts with unique avatars and signatures! To purchase your avatar and signature privileges, using your ToO funds, go to the Shop and select the Odyssey Specialty Shop. You will then be able to make your purchases! Avatar privileges are $25 and sig privileges are $150. These are both one-time fees - you do not have to pay each time you change the image within your avatar or signature. The size limit for avatars is 100 x 100 and for sigs is 400 x 100.


Bank Accounts
Is money burning a hole in your pocket and you would like a safe place to store it away and earn interest? Visit the Vault, open a bank account, and deposit however much money you'd like.


Crestwood Avenue
Do you like creating avatars? Perhaps signature images? Or maybe you've got a collection of lego videos you want to share with the world? Well if you'd like, you are more than welcome to open a store in "Crestwood Avenue". Simply create a new thread, title it whatever the name of your store is, and list the items or services you are offering to the citizens of the town of Odyssey. Members can donate money into your account (being sure to clearly indicate what they would like from you in the "message body" of a donation), and you can reply with a link to the item they have purchased. There are two rules to keep in mind however:

1) The first thread you create in Crestwood is free
2) Every additional thread is $75 (payable to Catspaw)

Aside from these rules, you're more than welcome to sell whatever you'd like at whatever price you want provided the item is a real item or service. And your shop can sell any number of different goods, so don't feel limited to any one particular item. However, if you would like to close your shop and open another, please contact a member of the Mayoral Staff to delete your thread before you go about starting a new one.

Odyssey 105 Raffles
If you click on "Contests", you'll notice Odyssey 105 holds a weekly raffle for the people of the Town of Odyssey. A ticket can be purchased for $15 and everyone who buys a ticket will be entered into a random draw that will be held every 7 days. The winner of the draw will receive all of the money from ticket sales, so the more people who enter the raffle, the bigger the prize!



Running for Office
The administration on this board is elected, a position that is possible for everyone to attain! Every four months, an election is held, and the citizens vote in the people they feel are best suited to lead them. The rules are as follows:

1) You cannot run alone. You must pick a running mate who will be appointed the Chief of Police and who will also be granted administrative abilities to govern the town of Odyssey to the best of their ability.

2) You must pay the non-refundable entry fee (different for each election). As this figure is high, even for our richest citizens, you will need to receive financial support from other members of the community. If you cannot receive enough support from the members of the community to contribute to your campaign, you will not be eligible to run.

3) The elected administration will hold power for a period of 4 months before a new election is set to take place. The mayoral staff may only serve as administrators for up to a maximum of 4 terms.

Being an administrator allows for users to decide what rules this board will have, make important decisions regarding improvements and renovations, help monitor the site to keep it clean and safe, and appoint a team of moderators to govern different sections of the board. There are many responsibilities that come with being an administrator.



Factions
So what are factions? Well, the simple definition is that they are groups that members can join to band together for a common purpose. Currently the two default groups are "The Bones of Wrath" and "The Israelites", headed up by Rodney Rathbone and Jason Whittaker respectively. The process for joining a faction is simple, just click on "Factions" at the top, select the group you would like to join, and request membership. Whenever the group leader gets a chance, they will assess your qualifications and either accept or deny your request.

Membership in a group will automatically activate a private forum for you and your fellow gang members to chat. This board is your faction's own private discussion board and can be used for whatever purposes your group deems necessary. Factions will also be allowed to elect their own leaders, who will be given moderator privileges over that private forum as well as the ability to decide who is and who isn't allowed to join.

Citizens of Odyssey are also given the ability to create their own factions. However, there are two requirements a new group must meet before being recognized as an official faction. The requirements are as follows:

1) Your group must have at least 5 members willing to sign up
2) Your group must pay a faction creation fee of $5,000

It is also important to understand that if your group has less than 5 members for longer than two weeks, your group will be disbanded. The only factions immune to such a rule are the two default factions: "The Bones of Wrath" and "The Israelites". Also, members can be in up to a maximum of five factions at any point in time, but only one of either "The Bones of Wrath" or "The Israelites".

So what purpose do the factions serve? That is up to your group to decide. Perhaps the direction you group takes is that of a political party seeking mayoral privileges. As a group it would be easier to finance an individual's campaign and winning an election would ensure the needs of the party are always met. A group could also take on the form of fan clubs, debate teams, or perhaps you and your friends simply want a private discussion board that is off-limits to the rest of the citizens. There is plenty of freedom to decide exactly what you and your faction are going to accomplish.



Subscription Based Content!
No two people are the same and while the Town of Odyssey is designed to facilitate many different types of discussions, there are many categories of discussions that are of little interest to other people. Many factions have open membership and are created for people with similar interests or hobbies to get together and talk about those interests. These are private boards, visible only to those who are in the faction, which limits the number of uninteresting topics overwhelming members who have no interest in the discussions. These private boards also help categorize similar posts into one place, so that it is easier to find topics that interest you.

Below is a list of the open-member factions that may appeal to you:

First Church of Odyssey
Description: At the First Church of Odyssey you'll find different ways of expressing your beliefs, finding prayer support or being encouraged through regular devotionals.

Inventor's Corner
Description: Showcase your creations! Art, Fanfiction, Poetry, Movies, Audio, it all goes in here!

OBC-Channel 24
Description: For the readers of OBC-Channel 24!

Campbell College Debate Society
Moderators: Ayn Rand - CCDS moderators are subject to change every four month term.
Description: The faction for those who love to debate!

The Gamers Clan
Description: The gamers clan - devoted to nothing but video games. Whether it be PC, console, or handheld... Come join the fun and hang out with the gamers of the Town of Odyssey!
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