What are EXP Points?

Everyone here will tell you that EXP points are what it is all about. You gain EXP Points (Which is short for Experience Points) by creating a storygame, rating someone else’s storygame, getting your storygame featured, getting your storygame on the front page, winning duels, getting your ideas in the FWW (Feature Wishing Well), and a few other ways that I will also discuss. I will go over all these concepts in the following paragraphs. But first, why try to gain EXP Points?

EXP points are rewards for doing good things for the site. You are able to spend these points however you would like. Eventually you will be able to turn in points to gain cool merchandise with the site logo on it. You can then wear the cool stuff to work or school with you. You would be the talk of the lunchroom if you showed up using a site thermos. (In the future we just might have this available to you.) However, if those things do not appeal to you then you can hang on to your EXP points for show. Trust me, lots of people will be talking about EXP points where ever you go on this site. Now, how to gain points…

Let’s start with the simplest way to gain points. You create an account on the site and you will automatically gain 15 EXP points. That's all you have to do. This will allow you to start dueling with others, begin stocking your points to catch up with people like march5th00. He has like a kagillian billion points. You don't have to do anything to gain 15 points on his total. Good job!!!

Creating a storygame will give you 3 pts (only for your first 3 storygames). Publishing a storygame gets you 10 (no limit) points. You are rewarded for just putting forth an effort to make a storygame. Doesn’t that rock! I will encourage you to look at this link  (http://chooseyourstory.com/forums/message.asp?MessageId=438) to see the do's and don’ts of creating a storygame. Don’t worry, it’s not a long list. Just 10 points to making good storygames consistently. This is the best way to add to the site as well. Everyone is always looking for new storygames to play. Mind you, creating a storygame and publishing a storygame are different. You can create a storygame and never publish it and therefore lose out on the 10 points for getting it published.   Remember this though: If an admin has to delete or unpublish your game because it's innappropriate, incomplete or just plain dumb, you will LOSE 15 points!

Rating someone else's storygame will give you 1 point for every storygame you rate. That’s all you have to do. Play a storygame and get rewarded for it. You will have to play someone's storygame until you reach a Dead End Link or the You Win Link before you can rate it. But once you get there you will know. It will list 8 different levels to rate the storygame as. 1 is the lowest level you can rate a storygame as and 8 of course is the highest. Here is the best part, you will get the points no matter what you rate the storygame. While you can rate storygames a 1 and still get points, it’s best to remember a few things. Here is another list of things to think about when rating storygames from other people ( http://chooseyourstory.com/forums/message.asp?MessageId=1110).

Getting your storygame featured is very hard to do. However, don’t think that you have to go and make an advanced storygame to do so. My first storygame was featured and it was with the simple editor. If you want to know about storygame making you will need to find the appropriate articles for that. Or you can PM Solostrike, he would love to help you. Getting your storygame featured sounds a bit hard. But in reality there are ways of accomplishing your goal here. First, just write about what you know. Whether it be school, work, friends, or fantasy. It is all here at the site. Play some storygames around the site before you venture into making your own. This will give you an idea of what people like and don’t like. However, once you get featured it is well worth the effort you put into it. You will gain 100 points for doing this.

The FWW (Feature Wishing Well) is a hidden jewel on the site. Here you get to wish and pray and ask and demand that certain features be added to the site. If the EXP gods (alex and march) hear your pleas, you will be given points (anywhere between 1-20 points. Depending on the idea) for your idea being accepted. Look on the forums to see what has been asked for and what has been accepted or declined. The gods are angered if you ask for something that has already been denied. lol

Duels are a very fun and instantaneous way to gain points. However, it is the fastest way to lose points as well. At this point I believe it is the only way to lose points. However, if you gain the ability to overcome your opponent you can win 1-10 points per duel. There are 2 types of duels on the site at this time. Toggle and RPS (Rock, Paper, Scissors). They are primitive but at the very same time very helpful at building your EXP Points stock pile. Toggle will allow you to gain up to 5 points per duel while RPS is for up to 10 points.

Your birthday can even get you points. Your birthday comes around and you gain 15 points. Just for being born. Isn't that a nice gift from the EXP gods? You don’t have to do anything but celebrate birthdays. So, unless you are going through a mid life crisis you should be proud when your birthday comes next year.

One of the best gifts from the EXP gods is getting your newly finished storygame on the front page of the site. Reports from an undisclosed source say that some points have reached upwards of 500 points!!! All at once!!! Wouldn’t that be great? Well, I wont deny that this is the most difficult thing to accomplish. You will need to really put forth an effort and develope a story that is thought out, has good grammar, and enveloping. There is but a few people on this site that has earned this honor. But, everyone has the potential to make it happen for them.

Now, this article was written at the end of '05. Therefore, many other opportunities will arise that will allow you to gain more points. Feel free to ask on the forums or go looking for your own opportunities to come up. If you have any questions about this article feel free to PM me, Fleshnblood_78. I will help as much as I can. Good luck, and have fun. Your creation awaits!