======Emails======

When a user account is created, you'll also receive an email address of the form //yourcharactername@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com//. 

Any emails sent to that account will be automatically forwarded to the email address you provided on the character creation form, and if you send an email to an //xxxx@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com// email from your own email account, that email will appear to come from your character email.  Your personal email addresses will not be displayed, though your real name (as configured on your personal email) will be.

Only email addresses associated with a wiki account can send emails to //xxxx@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com// email addresses (aside from gm@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com, which anyone can email).  If you need to change your email address, you can do this via the "Update Profile" button in the top right of the wiki.

Any email sent to an //xxxx@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com// email will be automatically copied to the entire GM team - if you want to arrange things out-of-character, then it's best to ask whoever you are getting in touch with for an alternative means of contact.

The function of this is that this system allows you to have IC conversations outside of session without anyone else necessarily seeing them (except the GMs, of course: a copy of every email is sent to the GMs to allow us to keep tabs on what everyone is planning to do).

Roleplaying via email is optional - in general, plans should be made in session where possible, and emails used to iron out the details or to play out other roleplaying interactions.  While we appreciate plans can change if new information comes in during emails, please try to avoid situations where a player is at a disadvantage due to not engaging with emails.

The GM team will not refer to emails when processing turnsheets - your turnsheet should include all the information on what your character wishes to do, rather than relying on us having read an email thread which outlines a more detailed plan.  If you're doing something that specifically contradicts what you've said in emails, this can be useful to note - as this can help us resolve confusion when you are doing something that others do not expect you to be doing((i.e. to figure out if you're deliberately betraying them, stubbornly going ahead with a plan they dislike, or if there's been a miscommunication in planning.)).

In character emails should not be sent between the turnsheet deadline (23:59 on the Monday after session) and session, unless you cannot make session and there is information that your character needs to deliver to those who can attend. The bar on emailing after the turnsheet deadline is to prevent a situation where a player learns information which would completely change their actions, after they have submitted their turnsheet and too late to change it, and the bar on emailing between turnsheets and session is to push more roleplaying into the sessions. This applies even if you have been given an extension to the normal turnsheet deadline.

=====Example=====

Bob has signed up to play the game, his character is The Custardmancer.  He signs up with his normal email address, bob@example.com.

When his wiki account is created, he receives a username of the_custardmancer, with an associated email of the_custardmancer@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com.

He sends an email to another character, using their in-character email address of cuddlekins@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com.

The player of Cuddlekins receives an email as below:

> From: Bob Surname (the_custardmancer@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com)\\
> To: cuddlekins@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com\\
> Subject: Things\\
> Message: Hey remember those things we talked about in session? We should do stuff about them.

The GM team also receive a copy of that email.  Bob's normal email address is not revealed to Cuddlekins' player.

=====Email Etiquette=====

As a guideline, the default should be to send emails that make all the points you need to make at once - more like sending a letter than the start of a spoken conversation.  This means that people with less time to reply to emails do not miss out, because they can't devote time to a back-and-forth between the characters.  This is not a hard-and-fast rule, and there will be times when it makes sense to have a longer conversation as the discussion goes back and forth, or when both players are happy with a more conversational style of roleplay.

In character communication between sessions should be via email, rather than on other platforms such as discord - this helps the GM team to keep an eye on what's going on in the game (and can occasionally let us troubleshoot things if some information is spreading around the players which their characters would know to be false).

=====Emailing the GMs=====

The GM team can be emailed via gm@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com or by emailing their individual emails from an email address associated with a wiki account (e.g. gm_tamsin@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com).  As the GM team get a copy of every email sent on the system, we get a __lot__ of emails, so it is very useful if you tag any emails to GMs with [FAO GMs], [FAO GM Tamsin] or [FAO NPC Fluffikins] in the subject line - particularly if you are wanting to include an NPC in a group email thread.

As with anyone else, GMs are not required to respond to in character emails, and may be busy during the time between session and the turnsheet deadline - if you need to talk to an NPC, it is best to do this in session, by requesting that the NPC attend (which can be done via email before session, or at the GM desk).  We'll try to respond to OC admin questions or clarifying questions within 24 hours (though you may get a response from a different GM to the one you emailed).


=====Spam Filtering=====

It's fairly likely that spam filters will pick up in-game emails as spam((out IT officer is working on solutions for this)).

Therefore, we strongly recommend setting up filters in your email inbox to ensure that emails to or from a *@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com email address do not get sent to spam.  Since it is not possible for a non-game email address to send to an in-game email address, this should not result in you receiving any actual spam.

For similar reasons, it is not currently possible for Oxford University addresses (any address ending in .ox.ac.uk) to receive in-game emails, and there may be a delay((up to about half an hour, from previous experience)) in receiving emails for other email services.

====Setting up filters on Gmail====

In gmail, search for "(from:(*@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com) OR to:(*@nightknights.oxfordlarp.com))", and click the "advanced search" button.
{{:gmail_filter_tutorial_1.png}}

At the bottom of the dropdown that appears, click "create filter".((The fact that the search terms are coming up under "includes the words" rather than "to" and "from" doesn't matter here.))

{{:gmail_filter_tutorial_2.png}}

Then in the resulting list, check "Never Send it to Spam" - you may also want to create a label and skip the inbox, to direct game emails into a separate folder to your main emails.

{{:gmail_filter_tutorial_3.png}}

Then click "Create Filter"