So I registered. What now?!

THE BATTLES
Battle of the Bits is a place for battles of all shapes and sizes!! We love to create music and art and love to train our skills and love to have fun with lots of other people all around the planet (Earth)!!

Getting involved with battles is super easy!! There are two types of battles available:

MAJOR BATTLES
Major battles are colossal clashes between giants and titans, gods and demons, wars that will go down in history and change the shape of the world forever... This explanation a bit of a fabrication...

Major battles are ones that typically run for several weeks so that a lot of people have a chance to enter!! Major battles have a specific format which define what chips/tools can be used. Some battles have more than one format, which means you can submit an entry for each format if you wish!! (There is no requirement to).

There are three stages to a major battle. First is the submission period, in which time anybody can submit an original composition to any of the given formats (if there is a choice). Secondly comes the voting period, where you can score other people's tracks!! Finally, the results of the battle are publicised!!

Recurring competitions (such as Detroit and Winter/Summer Chip) are held annually. But there are also smaller battles all year round...

ONE-HOUR BATTLES
One-hour battles (OHB) are battles that last for one hour, surprisingly. Like major battles, OHBs also have an individual format, but unlike major battles an OHB includes a bitpack. This bitpack provides a set of samples that can be used in your composition and/or any additional rules/themes/restrictions; remember - no using outside sources (any sample not provided in the pack) and abide by the rules or you will be down-voted by your fellow competitors!!

OHBs are hosted by other members of BotB. You can host your own battles too!! But you need to submit three entries to other people's OHBs before you can make your own. For more information on OHBs, go to the Lyceum page.

Unlike major battles, OHBs are hosted rather spontaneously. But how can you ever know about new OHBs?? That leads me on to the next point...

BATTLE FORMATS
Battle of the Bits hosts battles in 44 formats. If you want to see all the formats battles are hosted in click meeeeee~

THE CHATS
You have undoubtedly seen BotB's forum - it's that long list of things on the front page!! The forum is great for posting comments on submisions, or for posting about feature requests and site bugs (puke's work is never done </3).

However, most of the general chit-chat is done in IRC!! BotB IRC is a great place to hang out. Don't be shy, come on by!! We are all very lovely people and we do not bite (but watch out for the dogs)!! We'll happily answer any questions you have!!

You can find the BotB IRC at:
irc.esper.net #botb
Alternatively, you can use the "Chats" link above!!

THE XP GRINDING
Indeed, BotB is an MMORPG in the making!!

By involving yourself in the community, you gain points!! And after you get a certain amount of points, you level up!! You all know how it works!!

There are points for many different classes - chipist points for chiptune creators, criticist points for the mass-voters, pixelist points for the artsy fartsy, and many more!! The number is always increasing!!

Leveling up may sound daunting, but it's actually really easy to jump up levels really quickly, so long as you get involved!! By leveling up, you get access to more features on BotB!!

THE MONEY
The official legal tender on BotB is the boon!! Boons are subdivided into one hundred nubs. Here are the current exchange rates for the boon:

_b1 = 489.37 USD
_b1 = 658.89 EUR
_b1 = 485.58 CAD
_b1 = 773.21 GBP

Except these values are all MADE UP (but in proportion). And you cannot actually exchange boons for real money (if we could, I think everyone here would be millionaires)!!

Boons are used for many transactions in BotB!! Unlike MMORPGs you cannot buy bigger weapons of mass destruction or some really tacky looking armour or anything like that yet, but you can make a deposit of _b250 to host your very own OHB!! Don't worry, you get your deposit back if three or more people compete in it!!

It costs two nubs (_b0.02) to liēk and hæїt other BotBr's posts. Yes, BotB has more post-emotion functionality than Facebook ever will!!

Also, if you are a CUTE LEVEL 7 or higher you can make a new article here on the Lyceum for _b33!!

You can also give boons to another BotBr!! Perhaps as a gift to your secret love interest... <3 <3 <3

You can earn boons in more ways than you can spend them (which is why they inflate so much). You earn boons by participating in OHBs and major battles and you get even more for winning them or placing high!! You also get boons when people listen to your songs or look at your pictures and download them!! So make more things and you'll be raking in the cash!!

THE MISCELLANEOUS THINGS (that are still important)
Who runs this joint??
puke7 does!! He is a very kind and thoughtful man who does a lot to keep this site running in his spare time!! So ALL THE HEARTS FOR PUKE!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Where can I upload my new song?
BotB does not have anywhere for uploading music you've done outside of a major compo or OHB, unfortunately. You could try dropping it in our chatroom, I'm sure someone would give it a listen!!

Can I create my own OHBs?
Yes!! Before you have the ability to host, you need to compete in three other OHBs!! After doing this, you need to make a _b250 deposit, which you will get back if three or more people submit - for this reason, it's best to chat in IRC first to see if people will compete to avoid losing your boons!!

What are the rules for OHBs?
1) No uploading songs created outside of the allotted hour!!
2) No using samples not in the bitpack when one is provided!!
3) Follow the rules/themes/restrictions in the bitpack when they are provided!!
4) No covers/remixes!! All submissions are to be your own original compositions!!
5) Submit songs in the correct format!! No NSFs in a S3XMODIT!!
6) Make sure you submit anonymously or we will hunt you down and steal all your animals!!!!!
7) Don't be a dick and go stealing other people's work and then submitting it as your own, that's just mean and you don't want to be a meanie, right? :(

Rules 4), 5), and 7) also apply to all major battles, also.

Can I get away with breaking the rules?
NO!!

What happens if I find a bug?
You should go to our feature requests and bugs forum and create a new thread!!

Can I exploit said bug for my own benefits?
NO!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you still have queries, check out the other pages in our fair Lyceum, or come to our chatroom and ask any one of us!!

Now get out there and make me proud!!