Rules
Feb 14, 2008 13:43:05 GMT -5
Post by Principal Vale on Feb 14, 2008 13:43:05 GMT -5
MAIN RULES •
01 This is a literate to advanced site. If you can't form sentences, speak in chat speak, or have horrible grammar, this is probably not the best RP site for you. Doesn't mean you can't try it out, but be aware that you will be warned if what you write doesn't follow this rule. Also, it has to be written from a third person perspective - that includes all types of posts (event, regular, phone) and applications •
02 You need to be at least sixteen years old to sign up on this site. This rule doesn't affect people who have signed up before it was made, but from now on (February 24th 2009), every member who sign up will have to be at least sixteen years old. If we have any doubt as to you lying about your age, we reserve the right to refuse your application •
03 About pregnancies... Don't forget your characters are teenagers. Yes, unplanned pregnancies do occur to young girls, but not to dozens of them in the same school, during the same year. If you want your character to get knocked up, PM me first, I don't want several pregnant teens running around the school. Also, children are not allowed in the Academy, so even if your character get pregnant, be aware that their baby will have to be sent somewhere else to live (with their parents, or adopted) •
04 I want at least two paragraphs per post. Not oversized crazy paragraphs (unless you're up to it, then sky's the limit, but be aware that your response might be shorter), but I don't want one liners. I don't care if you ramble during a whole paragraph, just give people at least one thing to reply to. Also, a paragraph is not constituted of two or three short sentences thrown in together. That's two lines, at the most. You can read this thread to compare the length. Be sure to read the second post. Also, if you have to bold your post to reach the limit, it doesn't count as though you've reached it. If I have to go around and unbold posts, I will •
05 No overly-dramatic stuff - it's okay if your character was in an abusive relationship a year ago. I just don't want the ex-boyfriend then stalking your character and trying to kill her. Need to know for the application --we're spiffy--. If it starts getting too bad, you will get a warning, and I really don't want to go further than that •
06 You must have an avatar and signature, which means you have to have a PB. The signature doesn't have to be a work of art, it can simply be two or three icons merged together. Also, no stretching the page please - signatures will have a maximum of 250hx450w. We also ask you to please put your character's talent as his personal text •
07 No fighting with other members when in OOC on this site. If you have a problem with someone bring it up with me, or deal with it somewhere else •
08 You have to audition, even if I know you and what you are capable of doing with RPing. It's only fair to other members. The only posts you'll see going directly to the Accepted Characters are the Admin's (Amber and Marie) •
0901 If you plan on going into a topic that already has a couple of people in it, it'd be nice to send a PM to the person who started the topic asking if you can join. Not everyone likes having multiple people in one post. Also, when you do have a thread going on with several people in it, wait for everybody to post before you post again. If you and your buddy are online and RPing in a thread with someone you don't know, it's not a reason to post without waiting for that person •
0902 Most people make threads for someone specifically, and when doing so, mark their post with the name of the person it is for. If it's not your character, do not post in there. Same goes if the thread has been marked as closed •
10 If you get tired with this site but don't want to leave your character hanging and get the morbid idea of killing them off, you will have to PM me first. I don't want people dying all around, and if I don't give the autorization, you are not allowed to kill them off. If you want to leave the site, I am not keeping you from doing so, but you'll have to find another way to make your character disappear, there's no need to mess up the whole site's mood with it (because obviously, if a character dies, others will most likely be affected by it). And if you think this is a stupid rule, keep in mind that I can delete your unallowed death post as often as you decide to make it •
11 Plotting threads are an obligation, not an option - you have to make them before you start posting and you will be warned if you do not. They don't have to be fancy or anything, but it makes it that much easier to everybody to know whether they're wasting their time trying to hook up their character with someone that's already promised to someone else, and things as such. If you are not sure of how to make your plotting thread exactly, don't be afraid to ask for help. Nobody bites on this site •
12 When making your application, your sample post has to reach the limit that is asked for the site. If you can't manage it there, chances are you won't manage it either when you get to real posting, which means I'll need to send warnings and start deleting your posts if you don't get them to the correct length. That's not fun for you, nor for me •
CHARACTER RULES •
0101 You characters have to be between the ages of 15-18 (Freshman: 15, Sophomore: 16, Junior: 17 and Senior: 18). We know those ages are off, but we started with them, got used to them, and when the question of fixing them arose, we decided it would be better to keep them that way because of things that had already happened and other details. Of course, There could be a few exception to the rule (for example, if the character's birthday is in September or October, and so even though they're a Sophomore, they are 15 at the start of the year but turning 16, or if the student flunked a year as a kid and so is older than the others) but PM me first •
0102 There is now a possibility to make accounts for your characters' parents. Before doing anything of the sort, refer yourself to this thread as to rules and regulations. Remember that this a boarding school based RPG still, and parents will not be the main focus, only an helpful addition to some situations •
02 Not everyone who attends Gordon Parks' Academy for the Arts is wealthy, and merely having money will not get you in - do remember that the Academy is in high demand, having just a bit of talent and average intelligence doesn't cut it. Don't make your characters as such to bring sympathy onto them. Your character can be poor and get scholarships, as long as they have the talent and smart, so try to be as diversified as possible •
03 I want details in your application - the numbers of words and paragraphs per section isn't only a decoration. If you are one word off, it will be asked that you add that missing word. And don't go thinking 'I can pull this off with a few words less, they won't notice'. I do count the words, every single time, even for old members who make a second or third or more account •
04 Your characters can't be flat, they need to have flaws. Nobody is perfect. But Gordon Parks' is NOT a reform school. So try to keep all kind of problems that would get a normal teenager in therapy out of it - we don't deny these are every day problems that many people have to go through, we just don't want them here (unnecessary drama makes us unhappy). If it is really important for your character's personality that they develop a really intense issue, PM me first. We accept from time to time, but rarely. Also, we only accept ORIGINAL characters. They can't be real celebrities, nor related to any celebrities •
05 You can have as many character as you want, but you HAVE to keep them all active. Of course, if you post and nobody answers to you, it is not your fault, but if your last post with one character dates to a month ago, you should consider giving it up. Accounts are not deleted, unless you delete it yourself, but once your character obtains an inactive status, its application is moved to the inactive section and the spot in the available characters list changes to Open. In order to get your character back to claimed, you need to post once •
06 When you do make several accounts, don't make them all at once. I want to see you can stick to the rules and keep your first character active for at least two weeks, and that means two weeks of posting, not two weeks of doing nothing but plotting and such. If you start making multiple accounts without following this rule, you'll have to pick all but one character to be deleted, or delete them yourself •
07 For those who plan on having indeed several accounts, you need to keep the genders balanced. Meaning, if your first character was a boy, the second will be a girl, and that works for the opposite as well. Also, do remember that if you keep making girls, they will be very lonely ones, unless they are lesbians. It's understandable if you want them to be in a relationship, but remember that other people want that too •
08 You character can't be into two talent classes. This doesn't mean he has to only be able to paint/dance/act/sing/whatever his talent is, he can still do whatever he wants in his free time, but if you take a look at the schedules, you'll see they don't have the time to follow two talent classes. If you write up two, you'll be asked to chose for one •
0901 The PB needs to be a celebrity - to keep it simple, an actor or a singer. We are not gonna accept myspace celebs or deviantart people, or anything else as such (in clear, no internet celebs). Also, we look up most of the people we don't know on google, so don't try to fool us. If the first link that comes up in the search is one of the two sites mentionned above or something of the sort, it'll be rejected •
0902 To be a bit more specific, here is a clear list of people we will reject. Celebrities that look like they belong more with the professors than the students (aka, if the PB is older than 30 years old, don't even try us - as afore mentioned, we check them out). Teenages whose celeb status was achieved by putting up a website with clothes designs and such, or who have a band or made movies that are only known online. Absolulely NO Suicide Girls, or porn stars. That's only common sense. We have accepted models in the past, but we no longer do. Finally: if a PB is rejected, it's rejected. You won't get it accepted by arguing and complaining, you'll only annoy us •
10 There is no changing your PB once the application has been accepted, so don't even bother asking, especially if you've had that PB for a while, even if you think you found a better one. Like the new PB you found? Make a new character with it, simple as that •
11 We understand that you want to make your characters as original as possible, but remember this is a High School RPG sites. If you are looking for a site with a surreal edge to it, with magic or anything of the sort, there are sites that are made specifically for that. We do ask for diversity, for imaginative characters, but there's a limit to everything. If your character would fit in shows like Charmed or Buffy, it is most likely that it will be refused •
Note: We reserve ourself the right to add new rules at any given moment. Sometimes we forget about something and we are only reminded of it when it happens, or sometimes it just seems to us that whatever happens and has to be put in here was too obvious to even state it, so we're sorry if it unconvenient for you, but it might still happen.
Also, there is a low tolerance to drugs. Sure, some teenagers smoke pot, but here we don't actually appreciate that kind of behavior, even in RPing. That view is shared by quite a few of our members as well.
Also, there is a low tolerance to drugs. Sure, some teenagers smoke pot, but here we don't actually appreciate that kind of behavior, even in RPing. That view is shared by quite a few of our members as well.