All Gods are able to set up surgery SESSIONS and there are no restrictions on theme and content and times and who is and who is not allowed to join. It should not be solely considered a bug/balance gamesystem resource since ALL of Avalon's deities have the facility including city and guild patrons. The main import is a pre-agreed period of time, mutually scheduled, with certainty of attending and of receiving full attention.
Sessions are blocks of time set aside by one of the Gods, typically one responsible for important coding or gamesystem development. These sessions will be opened for public or specific "profession/player-type" requests and based on the requests, allocated (at which point they're known as CLAIMED). Claimed sessions guarantee a chunk of time - without distraction - spent focusing on the theme of the session and the issues brought up by those involved.
Syntax: SESSIONS
Shows you all session slots booked under your name, with surgery, theme, deity involved and date/time for the surgery and the session slot collaboration.
Syntax: SESSION REQUEST <session #> [<extra info e..g. friends to bring>].
The SESSION REQUEST command allows you to put your name or a nominated 'group' into the specified session slot for the surgery number designated. It is usual to "book" a session slot under your own name though you can include any others who're to be involved or may replace you or whom you may be nominating in the <extra info> notes. Do not request session slots casually since demand is often high and you must be certain of your need and your availability during the surgery's hours.
WARNING: taking a slot and having the request ratified to a firmly scheduled claim by whoever is running the session will remove it from public acesss (i..e. no more REQUESTS can be made). Nobody else will thereafter be able to take the session from you. Session requests are NOT the same as session claims: requests are made by many, then the presiding deity ratifies his/her choice among the requesting players. Then and only then is the session publicly scheduled and mutually time/date defined.
Syntax: SESSION RETRACT <session number> [<reason/explanation>].
Here is the reverse of the SESSION REQUEST or session claimed allocation (which is a ratified request, where the presiding deity has confirmed the session request and that the session is yours). SESSION RETRACT removes your request and removes you from involvement in the session, informing the presiding deity and others involved and - if apposite - re-opening the session for public viewing and new requests.
See HELP SURGERIES for an overview of the system as a whole and HELP THEMES for details on the themes and session restrictions/inclusions.
Also may want to peruse HELP BUGS and HELP CATEGORIES are both important helpfiles so you understand how the Avalon bugfile (and idea/suggestion/query contribution mechanism works).
