Post by Admin Council on Oct 13, 2012 12:53:22 GMT -5
As mentioned in that other rules thread that you've certainly already read, right?, Set Me Free doesn't like to clutter up our RP with a lot of rules. This is a fun place for people to adventure and enjoy themselves, after all! Still, there's a few things we need to go over, just in case.
[li]RP QUALITY
Se Me Free is an intermediate roleplaying community with a general all-skill-levels Free Roleplay Zone attached to it, not the other way around. If you've done any significant roleplaying before you should have some grasp of what's expected quality wise -- if not, we'd suggest you browse through the Roleplay Training section for a while. True, we all have our off days, writer's block, and occasions where we just don't have the chance to post much -- these are understandable. What's not understandable is putting up a three-sentence post with ramshackle grammar that contributes barely anything to an RP thread.
In the interest of creative freedom Set Me Free doesn't have any minimum requirements for RP posts. Instead, simply know that a good RP post is typically no less than three good, healthy paragraphs long, can easily be read by anyone who's proficient with the English language, and doesn't look like it was drafted by a five year old.
[/li][li]RP STYLES
Roleplaying generally falls into three overall 'styles', with a handful of subsets: 'Open', 'Closed', and 'Hybrid'. Those styles are described in detail here. As a general rule, unless otherwise stated, the main Slayers RP on Set Me Free uses New School Hybrid style. RPs in the Free Roleplay Zone can use whichever style the RPers agree to, or whichever one the RP thread seems to favor. As the FRZ is a "no rules zone", adherence to any Style is not a requirement.
[/li][li]EQUIPMENT and LOOT
See the Guide to Loot. As a general rule, Set Me Free doesn't restrict what equipment a character can start with so long as it's fair, balanced, and makes sense. The amount of starting Loot, however, is limited to 1000 Gold or less (except for Nobles taking the Deep Pockets Trait during character creation).
PLEASE NOTE: It is the responsibility of every RPer to maintain at least one inventory thread tracking what their characters have earned in terms of Loot and equipment while adventuring. Staff will not do this for you. Journal threads, however, are entirely optional.
[/li][li]THE TIMELINE
See the Guide to the Timeline.
[/li][li]RULE OF COOL VS BELIEVABILITY
Set Me Free wants to put as few restrictions on RPers as we reasonably can while still maintaining balance. Thus, there will be times when both members and staff will call upon the famed 'Rule of Cool' rather than go into lengthy exposition to justify certain things. For example, the spell Ly Briem covers things and people (like Golden Dragon corpses) in ice. Say you're in a battle, be it with NPCs or another player, and somehow become encased in ice. The Rule of Cool would say "if you can make the audience believe it, having your frozen character burst free would be awesome". The key is balancing believability and awesomeness -- this example would work for, say, a beefy swordsman like Gourry or Zelgadis, but if Lina, Sylphiel, or Amelia did it everyone would be left scratching their heads saying "WTF just happened?" (Okay, so it'd work slightly better for Amelia, but still...)
As long as a character's actions are believable and reasonable based on their profile, Traits, and Abilities, all good. Cross the line of suspension of disbelief (or engage in either Sue-ism or straight-up godmodding) however, and people will call you on it. Possibly when you request Loot and AP after an adventure, possibly during a joint adventure with other RPers. Hopefully it doesn't get so bad that there's a complaint about it in the Community Discussion section, but if there is at that point the Council will get involved.
So, bottom line? Balance 'Cool' and 'Realism' properly, and all shall be well.
[/li][li]MEMBER RANKS
Set Me Free uses a simple three-step member promotion system: member, senior member, and veteran member. As explained in the Character Profile Template and Making a Character guide, rising through the member ranks unlocks extra AP for character creation and rarer character races. What's more, promotion is fairly simple and has great rewards.
Probationary members are members who have had their privileged restricted due to conduct that either (A) is in violation of one or more rules, (B) has seriously offended or harmed the community in some way, or (C) demonstrated abuse of the privileges of their member rank (for example, a veteran giving themselves AP without having done anything to earn it). Members on probation cannot make new characters and, depending on the terms of each specific probation, may be restricted in their use of one or more existing characters. The terms of each probation will be decided and announced by the Admin Council when the probation goes into effect. No member, regardless of position or role, is above probation -- the same rules apply to everyone, both community and staff alike. Probationary members can have their full privileges and position restored one of three ways: by a majority vote (with no fewer than 1/4 the forum population voting) in the Community Discussion section, by at least a 2/3 majority vote of the Admin Council, or by fulfilling the conditions of the probation. Majority vote in the Community Discussion can also be used to apply probation to any member or staff member provided that reasoning for the probation is made public with the request.
Hopefully probation will never have to be applied to anyone on Set Me Free, but this "member rank" must exist as a necessary evil and as a means of potential restoration before banning is ever considered for any member.[/ul]
[/li][/ul]
[li]RP QUALITY
Se Me Free is an intermediate roleplaying community with a general all-skill-levels Free Roleplay Zone attached to it, not the other way around. If you've done any significant roleplaying before you should have some grasp of what's expected quality wise -- if not, we'd suggest you browse through the Roleplay Training section for a while. True, we all have our off days, writer's block, and occasions where we just don't have the chance to post much -- these are understandable. What's not understandable is putting up a three-sentence post with ramshackle grammar that contributes barely anything to an RP thread.
In the interest of creative freedom Set Me Free doesn't have any minimum requirements for RP posts. Instead, simply know that a good RP post is typically no less than three good, healthy paragraphs long, can easily be read by anyone who's proficient with the English language, and doesn't look like it was drafted by a five year old.
[/li][li]RP STYLES
Roleplaying generally falls into three overall 'styles', with a handful of subsets: 'Open', 'Closed', and 'Hybrid'. Those styles are described in detail here. As a general rule, unless otherwise stated, the main Slayers RP on Set Me Free uses New School Hybrid style. RPs in the Free Roleplay Zone can use whichever style the RPers agree to, or whichever one the RP thread seems to favor. As the FRZ is a "no rules zone", adherence to any Style is not a requirement.
[/li][li]EQUIPMENT and LOOT
See the Guide to Loot. As a general rule, Set Me Free doesn't restrict what equipment a character can start with so long as it's fair, balanced, and makes sense. The amount of starting Loot, however, is limited to 1000 Gold or less (except for Nobles taking the Deep Pockets Trait during character creation).
PLEASE NOTE: It is the responsibility of every RPer to maintain at least one inventory thread tracking what their characters have earned in terms of Loot and equipment while adventuring. Staff will not do this for you. Journal threads, however, are entirely optional.
[/li][li]THE TIMELINE
See the Guide to the Timeline.
[/li][li]RULE OF COOL VS BELIEVABILITY
Set Me Free wants to put as few restrictions on RPers as we reasonably can while still maintaining balance. Thus, there will be times when both members and staff will call upon the famed 'Rule of Cool' rather than go into lengthy exposition to justify certain things. For example, the spell Ly Briem covers things and people (like Golden Dragon corpses) in ice. Say you're in a battle, be it with NPCs or another player, and somehow become encased in ice. The Rule of Cool would say "if you can make the audience believe it, having your frozen character burst free would be awesome". The key is balancing believability and awesomeness -- this example would work for, say, a beefy swordsman like Gourry or Zelgadis, but if Lina, Sylphiel, or Amelia did it everyone would be left scratching their heads saying "WTF just happened?" (Okay, so it'd work slightly better for Amelia, but still...)
As long as a character's actions are believable and reasonable based on their profile, Traits, and Abilities, all good. Cross the line of suspension of disbelief (or engage in either Sue-ism or straight-up godmodding) however, and people will call you on it. Possibly when you request Loot and AP after an adventure, possibly during a joint adventure with other RPers. Hopefully it doesn't get so bad that there's a complaint about it in the Community Discussion section, but if there is at that point the Council will get involved.
So, bottom line? Balance 'Cool' and 'Realism' properly, and all shall be well.
[/li][li]MEMBER RANKS
Set Me Free uses a simple three-step member promotion system: member, senior member, and veteran member. As explained in the Character Profile Template and Making a Character guide, rising through the member ranks unlocks extra AP for character creation and rarer character races. What's more, promotion is fairly simple and has great rewards.
Probationary members are members who have had their privileged restricted due to conduct that either (A) is in violation of one or more rules, (B) has seriously offended or harmed the community in some way, or (C) demonstrated abuse of the privileges of their member rank (for example, a veteran giving themselves AP without having done anything to earn it). Members on probation cannot make new characters and, depending on the terms of each specific probation, may be restricted in their use of one or more existing characters. The terms of each probation will be decided and announced by the Admin Council when the probation goes into effect. No member, regardless of position or role, is above probation -- the same rules apply to everyone, both community and staff alike. Probationary members can have their full privileges and position restored one of three ways: by a majority vote (with no fewer than 1/4 the forum population voting) in the Community Discussion section, by at least a 2/3 majority vote of the Admin Council, or by fulfilling the conditions of the probation. Majority vote in the Community Discussion can also be used to apply probation to any member or staff member provided that reasoning for the probation is made public with the request.
Hopefully probation will never have to be applied to anyone on Set Me Free, but this "member rank" must exist as a necessary evil and as a means of potential restoration before banning is ever considered for any member.[/ul]
[/li][/ul]