Rules

Welcome to OurFoodChain! Take part in our ever-expanding ecosystem by finding your niche and creating your own species to fill it. Does your organism have what it takes to survive?

How it works

You come up with and submit a viable species periodically.

You and other users can evolve from your species to derive new species.

Every once in a while, a natural event will occur as decided by the Natural Selection Staff. Will your species manage to adapt, or will it go extinct?

Getting started

Start by taking some time to get acquainted with the world. Check out #map to see a map of the world, or use the ?map command. The map is divided into several zones, each with its own unique characteristics that determine what kinds of organisms can live there. The ?zones command will list each zone with a short summary. If you want more details about a given zone, use ?zone <zone> (e.g. ?zone 12).

The bot will help you get all the info you need. Use ?help to see a full list of commands, and ?help <command> to get more info about a given command (e.g. ?help zones). For example, want to know what species currently live in Zone 12? Use ?zone 12 to see a list of species in that zone, and then ?info <species> to get more info about that species (e.g. ?info quattuorus). See #bot-how-to for more details, and check out #guides for additional documentation.

Submitting your species

So you've gotten familiar with the world, and now you have an idea for a new species. Before submitting it to one of the submission channels, make sure it meets the following criteria:

1.) It must build on (i.e. evolve from) a species that already exists in the world.

If you have an idea but you're not sure what to evolve it from, feel free to ask. Changes from the ancestor should be relatively minor-- Don't try to cram too many new features into a single submission! Take your time. Submissions that are deemed "too derived" are more likely to be rejected.

2.) It must have a genus.

Species are categorized by genus, which describe a set of characteristics for all species that fall under it. Species should be submitted under the ancestor's genus, but can be moved during review or by argument. For a list of genera, use ?genera, and use ?genus <genus> to get more information about a given genus (e.g. ?genus helix).

3.) Its species name must end in -us, -ensis, -a, or -i.

... Or something along those lines. There is not a strict naming convention, and you're encouraged to be creative, but try not too deviate too far from the naming style of existing species.

4.) It must be depicted thoroughly.

You don't have to be an artist, just do your best. If your species has multiple life stages or undergoes metamorphosis, depict all stages accordingly.

5.) It must be described thoroughly.

Describe your species as thoroughly and clearly as you can. Don't forget that other users may evolve their species from one of yours, and having a clear description to work with makes that easier.

6.) You must specify the Zone it lives in.

Generally, your species should start in one Zone, and it can spread to other Zones later (you can argue for this in #arguments). In rare cases it may start life in more than one Zone, but you'll have to make a strong argument for this in your submission. It can start in a different Zone from the ancestor (as always, you must explain). If its spread to the new Zone is highly unlikely, you will be subjected to sweepstakes dispersal rules where the outcome will be decided by dice roll. If this fails, you can resubmit later until it succeeds.

7.) It must be reasonable and viable.

Be fair, and take into consideration the overall context of the world in your submission. While you can have something as crazy as cauliflower a fire-breathing dragon if you want to, be sure to explain how the flames are fueled, how the creature avoids harm, etc (edit: Please stop making dragons. ).

8.) You can submit a maximum of 2 new species per day.

You can submit up to 2 new species per day, and a maximum of 8 species per week. Additionally, you may only have 1 species per review queue (i.e. submission channel) at a time-- This is to help prevent more active users from flooding out users who submit less frequently.

See Rules/Submission guidelines for more details.

Once you're sure all of the criteria has been met, submit your species to one of the submission channels. The channels are organized by kingdom (palaea, polyphtya, and musculata). If you're unsure which one your organism falls under, use the ?kingdom <kingdom> command for more information (e.g., ?kingdom palaea).

A member of the Natural Selection Staff will grill you on your submission to make sure you've put all the necessary thought into the viability of your organism. When your submission is approved, it will be officially added to the world, for you and others to derive their own organisms from. For more details, see the Newbie Guide.

Once your species is accepted, it is generally considered final. See Rules/Retcons for more details.

What happens next?

Natural events

Every once in a while, the Natural Selection Staff will decide on a natural event to occur. If this severely impacts your species, it might go extinct at the Staff's discretion (if you think it's unfair, take it to #arguments!). On the other hand, if this gives your species an upper hand, great! Use it to influence the future spread and evolution of your species.

Challenges

There will occasionally be challenges provided in the #challenge channel, which will require you to come up with a species that meets the challenge specifications. Species submitted to #challenge-submit will not count towards your daily species limit, but the catch is that only the most highly-voted species at the end of the challenge period will be accepted. If your species isn't selected for the challenge, you can still submit it later as one of your daily submissions under normal submission rules.

Arguments

You can use the #arguments channel to argue for things you think should happen (moving a species a new zone, having a species go extinct, etc.). Other users can discuss and vote on your argument, and at the end of the voting period, one of the Staff members will offer a final verdict. Arguments may fall under the given classes:

Range expansion (i.e. adding new zones to a species)
Taxonomic revisions (e.g., changing genus)
Dietary changes (e.g., adding new prey items)
Extinctions

You can make a maximum of two range expansion arguments per day (e.g. moving a species to a new zone), and one extinction argument per day. There is no limit to the number of taxonomy arguments you can make.

Community guidelines

We're pretty easygoing, and try to maintain an environment where users of all backgrounds can feel welcome. To that end, we have the following rules:

Bringing up and/or arguing about partisan or controversial topics should be avoided.
While you can provide feedback on submissions without being a member of the Natural Selection Staff, be constructive and helpful! Do not needlessly criticize other users' species and submissions.
- On that note, only the Natural Selection Staff can make you change anything about your submission-- You don't have to take the advice of other users.
Only facts about the world approved by the Natural Selection Staff are canon. You're free to have your own headcanons, but don't try to mislead other users.
Be nice.

Users violating these rules or otherwise inciting conflict will be muted, and repeat offenders will be kicked.