Welcome to Heroes of Creation!
Below you will find the answers to many questions that may arise for those who have never been here before, or have never played in an online Exalted chat at all.
What is Exalted? Exalted, as written, is a tabletop roleplaying game that is at least passingly similar to Dungeons and Dragons. In it, you create and play a heroic character who has been chosen and empowered by a god as a champion to serve his or her ends in the world, which is known as Creation. At its core, Exalted is an epic game of over-the-top action that mixes themes from kung fu theatre, anime, and ancient mythology.
Where can I find the Exalted Corebook? You can find Exalted books at most local game stores. You can also find everything you need on .pdf here: White Wolf's Exalted Page.
I've never been in a Digichat before, and I don't know what to do. Digichat is a very simple, user-friendly chat environment. The purple name in the user list is yours; black names belong to other players, and blue names are Storytellers. Occasionally you may see a green name pop up in the chat window-- this is a Storyteller in invisible mode. The Settings button can be used to fill out your profile and change your icon. The four buttons at the top right of the tabs in order from left to right can call up user profiles (the i), send private messages (the quote bubble), mark a person so you can follow their posts better (the flag), and ignore someone so you don't have to see their posts (the slashed ear). Everything else should be fairly simple to pick up.
How does a chat-based game differ from tabletop? Unlike a tabletop game that contains one storyteller and a handful of players that gather around a table with pencils and paper and dice once a week, a chat-based game is open 24/7. Dozens and more players can log in their characters and play at any time. A staff of several storytellers works together to run storylines for characters at various different times, sometimes planned and sometimes spur-of-the-moment. We use an electronic diceroller that everyone can access, and we keep character records on their own forum. While this can be confusing and even a little overwhelming at first, everyone here is quite friendly and we encourage you to get involved and make friends without fear.
How is this different from an MMORPG? The root of the difference is that this game is entirely text-based, and contains no real graphics. This allows for a far greater flexibility. A friend of mine once said that when in a popular MMO he was told for the 100th time to gather X item from Y creature to turn into person Z, his soul died. Rest assured that such creative desolation will never happen here. In Heroes of Creation, your character can take on a life of his own, can define his own goals and work toward them, and if he's brave enough, smart enough, and lucky enough, can even change the face of the world. Exalted characters are meant to shatter the bounds of what Is to make way for what Could Be; in this game, you are able and even encouraged to do just that. And better yet, you'll never have to pay to play here.
What does "Moderated" mean? A moderated game is not freeform, and follows certain rules. Before you can play, you must make a character by the creation rules for its type, using the Create Character page, and then log into the chat and wait for a Storyteller to approve your character by sanctioning it. While you are waiting for approval, you can not play, and must remain in the Entryway or another OOC (Out of Character) room. We ask that you do not use an icon other than the X (Nu) until you are sanctioned for play. Changes to the sheet thereafter are done exclusively by Storytellers, and you can post requests for experience point expenditures and other things in a thread on the forum, using your character's name. Actions taken against the environment, NPCs (Non-Player characters) and other PCs (Player Characters) can be unrolled if everyone present agrees, but otherwise must be rolled. A player has the right to call in a Storyteller to moderate a scene at any time.
Hopefully, this should be all you need to go in and play. If you have any further questions, please feel free to bring them up in chat or on the forums, or email them to admin@heroesofcreation.com.