The Purpose of The Nethernet

Despite the cool things you can do with bombing people and showing them awesome and interesting sites using DP cards and Portals, I think Missions and puzzles are probably the greatest part of The Nethernet.

        Here’s the basic set-up: a Mission is created by any player, usually a Pathmaker, who has something to show or teach people. It’s created by linking a number of Lightposts together, and I don’t believe there’s a maximum limit… You leave a message about the page connected to the Lightpost, explaining briefly why you brought them there. You click a button to go to the next post, or back to see one you just visited. You can stash puzzle crates to make people research the site you’ve led them to, and later (level 7 as a Pathmaker) you can create Puzzle Posts that require the player to answer a question correctly in order to proceed through the mission. I don’t think you should overuse them, but you can use them to highlight an important point. Out of a ten-part mission, make the last a Puzzle Post and ask something to check if they really paid attention.

        You can teach someone how to play a game, or their class, correctly - show them the game’s homepage, then the game’s page for that class, then maybe a post/guide on gamefaqs and some youtube videos of high-level PvP with helpful notes in it. You can show someone your top ten ultra-deathcore bands, although those missions never did very well because the people who made them were just advertising their favourite bands rather than trying to make an awesome mission.

        You could also tell a story with a Mission. Write up a story, use the Lightposts to guide them from page to page - don’t give them the option to change pages on the site, and don’t name it page1.html and page2.html. Add puzzle posts to make a point, add puzzle crates so they research interesting things you’ve mentioned.

        Some people will roleplay their Nethernet characters, and there’s a lot of cool things you can do with that too. You can be a vacant minded Seer, gleefully hopping through portals at the first site of a glowing blue vortex. Or you can be a righteous Vigilante, out for revenge. Maybe you’re a wise Pathmaker, eager to share your knowledge with others. I had an idea once where I’d make a number of puppet accounts and stage a big story on The Nethernet’s forums and through the game itself. I was going to make cryptic posts and riddles with various accounts, and use puzzle crates and more to lead (or confuse) people. I didn’t have the time back then, though, so maybe some day soon…

        Here’s the introduction mission for the game, to give you an idea of how to create a decent mission. Careful about switching tabs or taking Portals or otherwise losing track of the mission, because unfortunately the game isn’t perfect about picking up on these things… There are a number of missions created as part of a contest to teach the game to newer players showing the dos and don'ts of different classes, and those are also good to give you an idea of what you can do with the game.

        Remember the metaphorical reason behind using Lightposts for missions: you’re lighting a path through the dark reaches of the internet, illuminating a safe path to guide and enlighten.

        Edit: Start from here for a cool chain of Portals that recites the poem about the Jabberwocky from Alice in Wonderland.