Community:Zelda Universe Community

This article or section is out of date.

It needs to be updated to be accurate with information available at the present time.

This page is a collection of the miscellaneous content which has made itself a name throughout the Zelda Universe community.

Distribution of Power in the Community

On the Zelda Universe forums, a group of members known as moderators (mods) possess power and responsibility greater than those of regular members. Their main purpose is to reinforce the rules and improve the community. They act as police officers, jury and, to an extend, judges in their respective areas.

The following positions are arranged based on ascending power. An up-to-date list can be seen here.

Forum Moderators

ZU's Forum Mod banner.

Each forum moderator (or "Forum Mod") takes care of one or more subforums from the wider spectrum of forums (Zelda, Community, Creative Corner, Clans HQ and Battle Area). They have the least amount of power, but the most say on how a forum is run. They possess the most fundamental abilities, namely the ability to edit, delete, move, and lock any thread inside their specific forums and the ability to warn or ban any member based on actions in the forum.

Current Forum Mods

• Ameera Mae Laramie (Virtual Character Reality)
• Astarael (Serious Discussion)
• Buu (Artwork, Competitions and Collaborations, General Chit-Chat)
• Caleb (Graphics Design, New Members Board)
• Conde (Entertainment Media)
• Golddron Sex (Community Central, General Chit-Chat)
• mrfohlin (General Gaming)
• Mattocks (Community Central)
• Nesi (General Chit-Chat, The Din Clan)
• Ruki (Virtual Character Reality)
• SacredSturgeon (The People's Republic of Nayru)
• tnf (The Farore Clan)
• Ysionris (Serious Discussion)

Section Moderators

ZU's Section Mod banner.

Section Moderators (or "Section Mods") possess the same powers as Forum Mods, but have power over complete sections, namely the Zelda, Community, Creativity Corner, or the Battle Arena. Section moderators are also occasionally given a forum outside of their section to moderate, if interest is shown.

Current Section Mods

• 1984 (Zelda)
• AzraelBlack (Serious Discussion, Community, The Farore Clan)
• Ciroton (Role Play Guild)
• Eternal Legend (Zelda)
• insaney (General Gaming, Role Play Guild, The People's Republic of Nayru)
• Sabbo (Role Play Guild)
• SCIENTIST Jwal (Zelda)
• Shrub (Role Play Guild)
• Silver (Community, Sitely, The Din Clan)
• Uzuki Cheverie (Zelda, New Member's Board, Fun and Games)
• Strawberry (Zelda, Competitions and Collaborations, Graphics Design, Fun and Games)

Super Moderators

ZU's Super Mod banner.

Super Moderators (or "Super Mods") possess the same abilities as section moderators, but exercise control over the entire forums, being able to modify any thread in the community. They also have limited admin control panel access; the ability to change names, add or remove a user's usergroups, and blocking/allowing a user to see a forum, plus others.

Current Super Mods

• Florina
• Gamzee
• gargoyle
• Panique

Administrators

ZU's Admin banner.

The Administrators (or "Admins") of Zelda Universe are one of the most vital parts of the community. The administrators are those select few users who show their extreme dedication to the site and/or the forums and go that extra step to ensure the site is kept in order.

Administrators have the same powers as super moderators, which are editing, deleting, moving, and locking threads, as well as warning and banning any members who break the Rules of ZU. They also have the ability to alter any aspect of the forums, including layout, user names, bandwidth settings, IP bans, etc.

Current Administrators

• Avalanchemike
• Liah
• Willow-chan
• Xeno

Code Wizards

File:Code Wizard (ZU).gif

ZU's Code Wizard banner.

Code Wizards have the exact same abilities as admins but are not responsible for forum-related tasks. Instead, they fix bugs, add new features and do general coding for the forum. This user group was created by Jason on July 29, 2010 and shares a similarly-schemed banner with administrators due to their equal powers. The group is loosely connected to the main site staff.

Current Code Wizards

• Aniday
• Vero

Guardian

The Guardian usergroup is a special group created by former webmaster Tohopekaliga. It is the equivalent of a webmaster, just with a different banner, different colored name, and a different focus, on simply repairing issues with the site, while also focusing on the forums, too.

Current Guardians

• Jason (Owner of ZU)
• Tohopekaliga

Webmasters

File:Webmasterbanner.png

ZU's Webmaster banner.

The webmasters (or "webbies") of Zelda Universe are the most vital part of entire website. The webmasters are those select few who have access to the Zelda Universe web site and are able to edit all content of the web site. They also post news items and articles relating to Zelda. Webmasters are the highest on the power command of ZU.

Webmasters have the same powers as administrators but their focus is instead on the main site, rather than the forums, though they also pay much attention to the forums.

Current Webmasters

• Jason
• Cody
• Lysia
• The Missing Link
• Hombre de Mundo

Becoming a Moderator / Administrator / Webmaster

When the forum requires new staff, a discussion is carried out in the moderator boards to select members fit for the position. Members are usually recruited based on their activeness in a specific forum or section, as well as their leadership qualities and dedication displayed inside those forums or sections. Moderators can be promoted to higher ranks if they continue to show dedication and ability over the forums. Asking to become a staff member is frowned upon and will significantly lower any chances there were of becoming part of the staff.

Site Staff

ZU's Site Staff banner

Site Staff on Zelda Universe are people who have been selected to write news articles on the main site, make decisions about the website and fulfill other tasks that may arise. In the forum, these people receive a golden banner with the Hylian Crest printed on the left. They are the driving force behind the ever-changing main website.

An up-to-date list can be viewed here or here.

News Correspondents

News Correspondents are mainly responsible for scouring the internet and posting news about Zelda and Nintendo’s other major franchises on the front page. They also participate in the comments system, fueling friendly discussions and moderating it.

Current News Correspondents

• Bastian
• Jonah
• Michael (a.k.a. Linkachu)
• Medlii
• Panique

Content Writers

Content Writers are responsible for for much of the content on the website and perform tasks such as spotlighting fan music and creating and updating game guides and other information pages.

Current Content Writers

• Chesireson (a.k.a. TriforceLegacy)

Current The Missing Link Article Writers

• Doctor Whooves
• Hylian Dan
• Joshua
• The Missing Link

Graphic Artists

Graphic Artists help find the highest quality images and artwork to accompany the Content Writers’ guides and the News Correspondents’ posts. The also manage the image gallery and nearly all other artwork seen on the website.

Current Graphic Artists

• Eternal Legend

Zelda Universe Broadcasting Corporation (ZUBC) Cast

Casters of pods, bringers of video entertainment for the masses, and media wizards extraordinaire. Combining a passion for Zelda with a broad knowledge of today’s media landscape, the ZUBC handles everything media on Zelda Universe.

Current ZUCast Members

• Aniday (Head Editor)
• Cody (Zelda News Host)
• Cpiddy (Assistant Editor)
• EzloSpirit (Segment Host)
• Hombre de Mundo (Executive Producer/Host)
• humulos (Host)
• Mattocks (Host)
• Ochibi (Segment Host)
• Raptor Buddha (Segment Host)
• "Rosco Rhodes"/DIUM (Community News Host)

Becoming a Site Staff Member

Anyone can apply to become a staff member as they are not obligated to participate in the Zelda Universe forums. These people are selected for their prominent qualities that make them suitable for the job. Currently, members are being recruited to fill staff openings.

Community Groups

Members of the Zelda Universe Community may be placed in special groups by the moderators. Though their forum powers are on par with regular members, each group has varying responsibilities, ranging from arranging special events to teaching members. Members usually work together on a larger project and sometimes have access to special boards. They also receive banners to distinguish them from other members.

Regular members cannot see a list of users in these groups. However, Super Mods and those with higher powers can. If you wish to update the following lists, please contact a super mod.

B.A. Council

ZU's B.A. Council banner.

The B.A. (The Battle Arena) and The Escapists' Haven on Zelda Universe are run by the B.A. Council. The council decides all character approval guidelines and conducts approvals and runs BA-specific events, such as annual awards and tournaments. Some Councilors are also "teachers", working to improve members' writing abilities and role playing. They receive a gray banner with the Gerudo symbol.

On Tuesday, March 31, 2009, a decision was made by the Moderators of Zelda Universe to disband the BA council. All of the council related duties were taken over by the moderators of The Escapists' Haven, which were Ciroton and Altamira at the time. This caused much outrage and generated a good deal of spam in the Village section of the Escapists' Haven. That led to a few bans and the creation of a few "revolution" accounts. It was later revealed that this was an April Fool's joke, and all bans, infractions, and warnings were lifted.

Current B.A. Council Members

• Altamira
• Ciroton
• Drammor
• Lioness
• Puck
• Quark
• Sabbo
• Sakume
• Shrub
• Stryder Aedernis
• Tohopekaliga

Additional Council members are elected by the current Councilors. Users are allowed to request to be councilors by contacting one of the current ones, but new Councilors are rare and must have shown lots of contributions to the Battle Arena.

Community Coordinators

ZU's Community Coordinators banner.

Community Coordinators on Zelda Universe are in charge of community events and projects within the community of Zelda Universe. They are given an orange banner with an encircled Triforce. As community coordinators come and go quite fast, listing them all here would be impractical.

If a member is running a big project or event for Zelda Universe, they may ask the webmaster for a Community Coordinator banner. This banner is lost once the community project is over.

Graphics Teachers

ZU's Graphics Teacher banner.

As of January 2010, the Graphics Teachers group has been disbanded. This may have been because the Graphics Schools teachers ran were rarely well-maintained and many teachers became inactive in their threads.

Graphics Teachers were a select few chosen to help teach members how to make sprites, signatures, avatars and any other form of computer graphic. Graphic Teachers usually had their own "Homerooms", where they made challenges for their "students" and helped them understand basic and complex graphic tools and programs. Graphics Teachers received a gray-green banner with the Sheikah symbol.

Patrons

ZU Patron Banner.

Patrons are people on Zelda Universe who donated money to the site. These generous donors receive a golden banner with a purple rupee.

These donations were first announced when Jason needed $2000 (USD) for the new "Temple" forum skin. Another way that people got the banner was when Jason needed money for a new server. Currently, money can be donated to the Bank of Hyrule, which runs contests for prizes such as Nintendo DSi units, copies of newly released Zelda games and video game accessories. So far, one contest for a DSi has been run with another contest for a pre-ordered, fully payed copy of Skyward Sword underway.

There are dozens of patrons at the moment, and as such, adding their names to one list would not be practical. However, we are grateful for their generous donations. To become a patron, a user must donate at least one American dollar's worth ($1) of cash to Jason by Paypal, then send a copy of the receipt that they received by email to Jason via private message (PM) on Zelda Universe.

Zelda Wiki Contributors

ZU's Zelda Wiki Contributor banner.

Zelda Wiki Contributors are people who have shown great dedication to the wiki and contributed to it. Contributors are given a light blue banner with an encircled Triforce.

The Zelda Wiki Contributor Banner was suggested to Jason by Melchizedek, who was given the idea by Axiomist. Jason needed a simple way to confirm that these users made as many edits as they claimed they did, so Matt suggested to have the Edit Count extension installed. The banner fluctuates between members so frequently an entire list would not be practical, but many do still possess the banner today.

A member can become a Contributor if (s)he:

• Has shown great dedication to contributing to the wiki.
• Has made a reasonable amount of edits.

This banner is handed out by the Zelda Universe staff under the supervision of the Zelda Wiki admins. Asking to become a Contributor will greatly reduce one's chances of receiving the banner and if the admins feel that a user will stop editing after receiving the banner, they will not hand it out. The banner is removed when the user stops contributing to the wiki.

Clans of the Goddesses

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Please see the relevant discussion on the article's talk page.

Template:Sources Members of Zelda Universe may join groups called "Clans" where they can participate in games and discussions. Although it is not mandatory, joining a clan is a common practice among Zelda Universe's members, partly due to the laid back, less strict atmosphere of the Clan Forums. There are three clans, namely the Din, Nayru and Farore clans. Analogous to the Goddesses the Clans are named after, Din stands for Power, Nayru for Wisdom and Farore for Courage and are represented by the colors red, blue and green respectively.

Each clan has a separate forum for conversations between its members. A combined forum exists where every clan member can post and play games together. One of the popular events is the Clan Wars, a series of games, writing competitions and art competitions played by the clans in an attempt to control each others' "planets". Posts in the clan forums do not add to the user's post count due to the nature of the threads.

The Din Clan

ZU's Din Clan banner.

Also known as the Clan of Power, the Din Clan has a reputation for pyromania and a love of blowing stuff up. The fact that several of its members have been known to proclaim their apparent lack of sanity has added to this reputation, although there is some speculation that Nayrulian propaganda is at the heart of some of its notable aspects. However, many members of the Clan itself - commonly referred to as Dinnies - would be quick to belittle any efforts made by the "jellyfish," otherwise known as Clan Nayru.

The second defining characteristic of Clan Din is its friendly rivalry with the jellyfish. This rivalry stretches back far enough that few, if any, can remember its origins, or even if there was any origin as such - as far as most members are concerned, the two Clans clash simply because it's what they do.

Din is ruled over by Jodd, Silver and Panique, while past moderators have included the Great Lioness and her predecessor, Tristann Velorei.

The Nayru Clan

ZU's Nayru Clan banner.

The People's Republic of Nayru, also known as the Nayru Clan, the Imperium of Nayru, The Nayrulian Empire, or just Nayru for short, is known for its tight-knit yet welcoming community, friendly^{[citation needed]} rivalry with Din, and megalomaniac Clan mod (Emperor SacredSturgeon of Nayru), as well as being the Clan that all three of ZU's Webmasters are from. Nayru was known for a long time as "The Clan of Pervyness" or "the Pervy Clan", because sexual topics would often pop up, and Nayru's moderation when it comes to such topics is more liberal than that of the other two Clans. Nayru has cut back significantly on such topics in more recent times however, following complaints from members, though Nayru's moderation stance towards these topics is still more lenient than that of the other Clans.

Nayru contains many members that have been with the Clan for ages, and several of them hardly (if ever) leave the blessed grounds of the Imperium because they love their Clan so much. Despite being closely knit, the Children of the Empire are generally welcoming to both new members and visiting members that aren't from Nayru. For example, the Nayrulians generally regretted it when Site Staff members could no longer access Clans, because they enjoyed visits from such members as Rew.

Nayru has a proud history, having grown from a small group of rag-tag members to a full-fledged Empire. In its early days, it was looked over by various mods, including Lozzie (Now known as James), Jason, and Malony. Lady Miniblin the Great officially took over the reigns on August 28, 2005, and has been the beloved leader of the Clan for a long time, until finally stepping down on April 21, 2007, to the collective grief of the Clan. Her reign saw Nayru grow strong and proud and become an active and tight-knit community, and she will be remembered as a great mod and considered an awesome member by her former subjects. The next day heralded the announcement of who was to succeed her. Her legacy being impressive as it is, it was decided that she needed not one, but two successors, and these successors were SacredSturgeon and Awkin.

Nayru has, at various points, gone through rough spots, troubles, as well as periods of inactivity, but the dedication and spirit of its members have ensured that Nayru has always pulled through, and the Clan continues going strong to this very day. Nayru also seems to have the biggest variety and talent of digital artists. Current moderators include insaney, and SacredSturgeon.

The Farore Clan

ZU's Farore Clan banner.

The Farore Clan is known for holding popular/"cool" members. The Farore Clan has an environment of its own. It is not as different as Nayru, but also not as hot-headed as Din. Most of the members of this clan enjoy hanging out in the safety of the Utopia for many reasons, the main one being the many 'interesting' conversations that take place daily. Each year, the Farorians have been known to throw a party to celebrate Christmas, as well as many other occasions, such as this year, in which they threw a newbie party for all new Farore members. Of all the clans, you are most likely to find that Farore has the kindest members on ZU. They are a wonderful, friendly bunch, but do not be alarmed if you are greeted with something...well, alarming. Farorean/Farorians tend to be quite unpredictable. Of course, if you're a Dinnie visiting, you may not live long until you come face-to-face with Poe Black's flame thrower... Farore's moderators include Calliope and Maloe.

Farore generally has Pepsi everyday and members of the clan are nice to each other, but if you try to invade Farore, watch your back. Farore is fun loving and always active, with its RPG thread and a thread dedicated to spam. It is full of love and kindness - in the Utopia, Farorians like to share what they've been through. Farore holds very talented people, amusing people, caring people and all other sorts.

Joining and Leaving a Clan

Before joining a clan, members must meet two requirements:

• The user must have been a member of Zelda Universe for at least one month
• The user must have made a minimum of 50 posts in the forums

Once the conditions have been met, a member may send a Private Message (PM) to a super mod requesting the Clan Test. The mod will then send them the Clan Test, a questionnaire comprising of five multiple-choice questions, five short answer questions and three long answer questions. Depending on the member's response, the Super Mod will place them into a clan, giving them access to the clan forums and new banner. If the super mod feels the score is even between two clans, the member may be asked which clan they'd prefer to be in.

Members may request to be moved to another clan after spending at least three months in their current clan. Swapping is generally frowned upon and will only be permitted for good reasons, although the moderating team can deny any request. Members may switch more than once, but the swaps must generally be at least three months apart.

A member may request to be removed from the clans entirely, but like switching clans, to reenter, three months must pass.

Zelda Universe Broadcasting Corporation (ZUBC)

The ZUBC banner.

The Zelda Universe Broadcasting Corporation (or "ZUBC" for short) is a group comprised of dedicated staff that handles all distributed media on Zelda Universe. The group is primarily responsible for producing and releasing the ZUCast, ZU's monthly podcast. A separate team that includes a few members of the podcast staff creates, edits, and uploads videos for ZeldaUniverseTV, ZU's official YouTube channel.

History

ZUBC was originally concentrated within the podcast, called the "ZCast", short for "ZeldaCast". The idea of a podcast was initially brought up by Nolan MacDonald on the Zelda Universe forum, and was quickly supported by user Anime_Queen. The idea was approved by Jason Rappaport, the current owner of the website, and a pilot podcast was ordered. Initial staffing problems pushed the pilot back two months, confusing listeners as the community news was out of date. This problem also affected the second podcast, as a large scale reorganization took place within the podcast staff forums that prohibited the podcast from timely reporting news.

The team continued to be known as the ZCast until staff member Domanic Calleja devised that the podcast should be part of a larger media group. He jokingly referred to it as the 'ZUBC' (in homage to the British Broadcasting Corporation) which, to his great amusement, was accepted by Jason and Asia, becoming the site-wide identity of the team dedicated to creating both podcasts and all other forms of ZU-related media.

The ZUCast team is currently headed by Hombre de Mundo, while the ZUTV team is managed by Jason.

Zelda Universe Podcast

The current album artwork for ZUCast, produced by the ZUBC.

The Zelda Universe Podcast (or "ZUCast") was originally a single podcast which, by popular demand, catered towards the community aspects of the site. It had many short segments occassionally interrupted by editor's notes and rather poor transitions. The podcast was quickly criticized by members for its lack of Zelda-specific coverage and was eventually decided that the podcast would be split into two parts - "ZCast", the Zelda podcast, and "CCast", the community podcast. Both would be released simultaneously and downloadable separately to cater to listeners' preferences. Upon Anime_Queen's departure in early 2009, however, this idea was scrapped, and the ZUCast continues to be a single podcast to this day. At the same time the decision to continue a single ZUCast was made, it was also decided that, as a replacement compromise, the ZUCast would now be a lot more Zelda-related and a lot less community-related, about a 70-to-30 ratio. Following the departure of Liah from the ZUBC in February 2012, the "variety show" format established over the previous thirty-six episodes was changed to become more discussion-centric with a small group of hosts and guests discussing in depth a topic related to the Zelda series or Nintendo each episode; these discussions are occasionally interrupted by original-format podcast segments throughout a given episode.

Some of the recurring segments and their hosts are highlighted below:

• Zelda News: Hosted by Cody, this segment covers recent news about the Legend of Zelda series.
• Community News:: Rosco Rhodes covers recent happenings in the ZU community.
• Cody's Rant: A segment in which Cody Davies rants about, well, just about anything he feels like!
• ZU Spotlight: (sometimes called "Community Spotlight") The podcast's hosts highlight the creative side (art, poetry, contests, and more) of the ZU community, as well as established ZU members. This segment is the revived version of a segment that originally aired in the second and third podcasts called "Beneath the ZU Spotlight."
• Zelda Theorizing: The ZUBC's resident Zelda Theorist, Hombre de Mundo, along with ZU Theorist humulos, discusses the deeper elements of the Zelda series, including the Zelda timeline.

Zelda Universe TV

Template:Sectstub

On January 23, 2010, the ZUBC, along with ZU webmasters Jason Rappaport and Cody Davies, started ZU's official YouTube channel, Zelda Universe TV (or "ZUTV"). Some examples of videos posted on ZUTV are the all-new video mailbags, complete official ZU visual walkthroughs, special site announcements, and more.

Members of the ZUBC

• Charlie Pidcock (Cpiddy): Assistant Editor (January 2011 - Present)
• Cody Davies (Cody): Zelda Newscaster/Segment Host/Former ZUCast Host "Cody Davies is Zelda Universe’s newest Webmaster, dabbling in a bit of everything. He has written content, provided news, coded code, found images, provided segments for the ZU Podcast and manages the site polls." (February 2008 - Present)
• Daniel Åkerman (Hombre de Mundo): Executive Producer/ZUCast Host/Former Segment Host (February 2008 - Present)
• Eric Biskin (EzloSpirit): Segment Host "I get to write and host my own little segments! Plus, I offer ideas and just generally help out the rest of the team in making the ZUCast as best it can be for all of you listeners! Although, I guess I'm partially just along for the ride. Don't tell anyone!" (March 2010 - Present)
• humulos: ZUCast Host/Former Segment Host (April 2011 - Present)
• Jordan Burnett (Aniday): Head Editor "I edit the ZU Cast and, on behalf of the ZUBC, I edit other things when people beg me. I also perform the occasional epic-movie-voice cameo in the Podcast." (March 2008 - Present)
• Matt Bowman (Mattocks): ZUCast Host "Awesome." (January 2010 - Present)
• Ochibi: Segment Host (December 2012 - Present)
• Power Shot: La Radionovela de los Zelda: Pasión de Otaku Creator/Former Segment Host (May 2008 - Present)
• Rosco Rhodes (DIUM): Community Newscaster "To tell it like it is." (March 2008 - Present)
• Wes (Raptor Buddha): Segment Host (December 2012 - Present)

Former ZUBC Staff Members

• Asia Alfasi (Anime_Queen): ZUBC Founder/Former Executive Producer "Content Manager, director, occasional base editor and slave driver - overseeing the whole production process from start to finish." (February 2008 - Early 2009)
• Avalanchemike: Former ZUCast Host (October 2010 - February 2012)
• Bret Lockerbie (Asci): Former ZUCast Host "Speaks on behalf of the Zelda Universe Community so that others may hear it." (February 2008 - December 2008)
• Connor Sullivan (Link/"Lunk"): Former ZUCast Host "I am that crazy guy with the microphone who does segments whenever they want me. I’m never paid, but so far, the pay is good." (February 2008 - March 2010)
• Domanic Calleja (Dom): Former Public Relations Correspondent "'Knock knock, delivery!' Dom is in charge of the outer image of the podcast. His job includes getting the podcast to you, the listeners, by updating the Headquarters page and posting threads on the forums. He also does a lot of the visual work, providing graphics and images for use with the podcast." (May 2009 - October 2010)
• Malia Ballenger (Liah): Former Executive Producer, ZUCast Host, and Graphic Artist "I pretend to do work so my name gets announced in the credits. It works." (March 2008 - February 2012)
• Margaret Gardner (Margar): Former Executive Producer, ZUCast Host, and Head Editor "Cracker of whips, bestower of knowledge, jack of all communications trades." (February 2008 - May 2011)
• Marten/Shikaino: Former Segment Host of "ZU Spotlight" (April 2010 - August 2010)
• Nathanial Rumphol-Janc: Former Zelda Newscaster (May 2009 - July 2010)
• Selah: Former Segment Host of "Beneath the ZU Spotlight" (March/April 2008 - May/June 2008)

Becoming involved with the ZUBC

Members may apply for permanent positions within the ZUBC. These members should possess several of the following skills:

• Proficiency with video editing software such as iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, etc.
• Proficiency with audio editing software such as Garageband, Logic Pro, Audacity, Sonar, ProTools, etc.
• A great television and/or radio personality that can attract and engage listeners and viewers
• The ability to work in one of the most tightly knit, productive teams on Zelda Universe
• Knowledge of running YouTube channels (uploading, organizing, and tagging videos properly, etc.)

Members may also submit ideas and recordings for their own segments to the ZUBC for review and possible airing. Listeners of the podcast are encouraged to give feedback in order to improve the podcast. Both of these can be done by either contacting the ZUBC (zubc[at]zeldauniverse[dot]net) or by posting in the appropriate thread.

Zelda Universe Holiday Cards (ZUHC)

File:ZUHC logo.jpg

ZUHC logo

This article or section is out of date.

It needs to be updated to be accurate with information available at the present time.

The ZUHC is short for Zelda Universe Holiday Cards. The project is leaded by manger, Zien, and was made to help spread multi-holiday cheer throughout the year. The cards are drawn by ZU's very own members, and the designs are based off of suggestions made by other members.

History

The ZUHC was based off of another project, called the Humulation Army Holiday Cards (or "HAHC" for short). The project was introduced by Zien to ZU in October, 2008. The project was shut down because it got little to no support from other Humulation Army members. In November, 2008, Zien tried again, but this time made the project focus of Zelda Universe. Again, the thread got little to no support, so the project was shut down. Zien, now almost hopeless, came across the Plaza thread in ZU. He read it, and noticed that he could get support if he was to post there first. Margar, a forum mod, came across the thread, and was the first to support the project. Zien made many advertisements of member profiles, but only five replied back with support. Afterwards, Zien made the new ZUHC project thread in the community section, and the ZUHC HQ thread in the hidden Community Coordinators section. Later, Steve arrived to give the project support, and was made a ZUHC card designer. A little later, the team discovered it needed one last person, someone to color the card by using computer programs. Zien the picked Ŧim to join the team, and become the final ZUHC staffer.

Members of the ZUHC Staff

• Zien-Manager
• Margar-Co Manager/Card Desinger
• Steve-Card Designer
• Ŧim-Logo Maker/Card Colorer

Gallery

• ZUHC card1.jpg

  ZUHC Valentine's Day 09

Sections and Threads of Importance

Newbie's Guide to the Universe

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The Newbie's Guide to the Universe is an extensive guide to the rules and ways of the Zelda Universe forums. The name is play on the famous novel and book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The guide was written by Scott, when he was still known as Kokiri Kid. The guide mentions all the rules of Zelda Universe in an easier to read manner. The guide is located in the New Members Board of Zelda Universe.

Adoption

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Zelda Universe's adoption system, originally started by Lioness and currently located in the Adoption Lodge thread in the New Members Board, gives new members the opportunity to have a personal mentor and friend. These "adopters" give advice when their "adoptees" make mistakes, help them feel more comfortable being in a large forum if need be, answer their adoptees' questions (this is great if an adoptee is too shy to ask someone else), as well as be one of their first friends on ZU.

Becoming an adopter

To become an approved adopter on ZU, a user must fit all of the following criteria:

• The user have been a member of ZU for at least 3 months
• The user must have a minimum of 150 posts
• The user must have adequate conventions (spelling, punctuation, and grammar) throughout their posts
• The user's posts must be detailed and not spammy as they must set a good example for new members

Once the user is qualified to become an adopter, they may send a Private Message to Mattocks or Dog Dog 123 stating why they believe they would make a good adopter.

Conditions for Adopting

• Adopters are only able to adopt one newbie every two weeks. The exception to that is if there are many new members with no one offering adoption.
• Adopters may have a maximum of 2 newbies each.
• Adopters must help guide their adoptees and guard them from attacks.

A complete list of approved adopters can be found in the Adoption Lodge thread.

The Battle Arena

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The Battle Arena, formerly known as the Amphitheater and then as the Escapists' Haven, and before that as the Battle Arena, is the role-playing section of Zelda Universe. It often goes by "BA." It was revamped when the Temple skin was introduced to Zelda Universe on July 11, 2008. This revamp introduced the Village, which allowed for Out of Character threads to be made; something almost impossible to do before the revamp, with all the Out of Character threads being in the Battle Arena.

Characters

This is the forum where role-players make characters and submit them to the approval process. These characters will be used in all of the other forums in the Escapists' Haven excluding The Village. This forum includes the Character Fiction sub-forum, where role-players write stories about their characters without any interaction in the work with the readers.

The Crossroads

The role playing forums of the Escapists' Haven. This is where all role playing and battle threads are kept. For the longest time, battles and role playing threads were kept on separate forums. However, as part of an initiative to streamline and prune Zelda Universe of all unnecessary threads, the Battle Arena and the Crossroads were merged and bear the latter's name.

The Dome

In the continuity of the BA, the Dome is a sentient building that exists outside of space or time. In the context of the ZU forums, it serves as the community forums for the entire Battle Arena. Located within are all previous iterations of the Out of Character Thread, various member-developed initiatives, awards, tournaments, and all other community-oriented discussions. As well, the Dome is a place for BA members to submit their works for peer review, or engage in non-canonical (no effect on their characters) threads, including the In Character Thread.

The Box

It's a simple cardboard box that stores all material and discussions related to the BA Council and the running of the section itself. Of course, this is all academic as the Box does not exist. At all. It's simply a myth spread by the older members of the community.

The Village

The place where all the out of character discussion is held. The thread with the most activity in here is the "OOC thread". This used to be one of the very few non-Council created discussion threads (this incarnation was created by a Council member, although some past incarnations weren't).

This section no longer exists, as it was merged into The Dome following a site-wide campaign to eliminate unneeded forums.

The Out of Character Thread

The main thread of the Escapists' Haven is the Out of Character thread. This is one of the few non-council member created discussion threads, although most incarnations are made by council members. The oldest one found dates 08/23/2004 through 07/21/2005. The Out of Character thread is always in danger of having it's title changed, with one role player stating "It's part of the EH culture." Most of the Out of Character threads were posted in the Battle Arena before The Village was made. Now, since the Village is the only Escapists' Haven forum for out of character activity, it will be posted there.

Serious Discussion

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The Serious Discussion (or "SD") board, sometimes referred to as INTERNET: Serious Business (or "I:SB"), is a section dedicated to discussing serious topics such as current world happenings, politics, religion, alternative life styles, morals and the like. This board is the most heavily moderated section of the forums due to the nature of the topics in it.

The Serious Discussion board has some rough history after being created around June 2004. Despite the moderating efforts of Big Bro Davidia, people began flaming other users for their opinions. This led to some preaching their religion, insulting whole groups of people and generally being stupid.

The forum was closed in April 2005 and went under total reconstruction. It reopened temporarily between May 5th and about late May in 2005 when it was closed again. The Serious Discussion Board was finally brought back on August 17, 2005.

According to Big Bro Davidia's 2008 podcast rant, threads follow this general pattern:

• A question is asked or discussion of a topic begins (ex. Is atheism wrong?)
• The question is redefined to make it clearer (ex. Members may ask if the original poster meant "immoral" or "incorrect")
• People begin posting based on the topic's title rather than the content of the posts
• If a well-respected member posts, people with similar opinions would begin ganging up on a group of members, possibly the original poster
• A "councilor" tries to defuse the situation, usually by changing the topic or talking down the gang up members. At this point, the thread's topic may change to something else.

Zelda Encyclopedia

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Zelda Encyclopedia: This was the predecessor to the Zelda Universe Wiki, contained a fine array of data, but was limited in the information offered. Its listing went from Aches to Zora, and was a useful tool to so many Zelda Universe users, unfortunately its data was limited, and because of this the Zelda Wiki looks to be a major improvement as it will be constantly updated by site users.

External Links

• The Greatest Thread in ZU's History
• Zelda Universe
• Zelda Universe Forums
• Zelda Universe Staff Page
• Forum Staff Page