Macvarish (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} macvarish) wrote,@ 2008-01-04 22:49:00 |
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Rules/Guidelines
FIRST THINGS FIRST
A community runs on two things: dedicated mods and dedicated players.
We are pledging to you that as your mods, we will be dedicated, fair and firm. We want to create a fun & laid back game, and we also want to make sure we do our part to keep the community organized and running smoothly. The lines of communication are OPEN to us at all times. Utilize the Drop Box, IM us, or drop us an email!
We need YOU as players to be active, advertise for the community and have fun. Can you do this? We think you can!
THE PREMISE
We are a city-based, played-by roleplay community, set in the city of Chicago, Illinois! Right now, we are a diverse group of writers with an even more diverse group of characters! We DO allow your everyday, girl-next-door, Fed-Ex employee, or even the daughter of the mayor. That said, we WILL allow "faux-celebs" into the community, however, they should be realistic.
See "About Chicago" for more information on the city and culture, and to check out all the resources we offer for you! Please research using the links provided or ask one of your mods for help.
ACTIVITY & REMOVALS
Please see said list below, which outlines our expectations of activity:
It’s simple. A journal entry OR an AIM log OR a thread every 4 weeks.
- Threads Since we are a thread and AIM-based community, you will NEED to show activity in
chicagothread within the first 4 weeks of your acceptance & every 4 weeks thereafter! Do this by starting a thread or joining in one. Group threads count. They must be available to read so that we are aware that you are adhering to the guidelines.
- AIM Logs Since we are a thread and AIM-based community, you will NEED to show activity in
A note on posting AIM logs: Just a reminder, the content in AIM logs that are posted are not IC knowledge. If you want to post a scene but do not want it public to those in the comm, you CAN make it private to "macvarish", so only the mods can read. We've had many concerns about this and decided it would be best to make this an option. It will count toward activity.
- Character Journal Updates If you choose to update your character's journal, you can do it in whatever format you would like; third person, as a blog entry, etc. If you are not a Threading type of player, or you don’t wish to post AIM logs, you may now post an update in your character’s journal. This DOES count as your 4 week activity. This must be a substantial entry, at least two decent paragraphs or more. Updated 5/30/2008 - One-liners, lyrics, videos and things of that nature will not be counted as a "substantial entry".
Activity in Sub-Comms We do allow posting of lyrics, someecards, jokes, one-liners, etc. but keep it to a minimum please and do not flood the friends page. Not only does this show that you are being interactive, but it is good for everyone!
While we are all for freedom of speech, "Tweak Says" updates/announcements need to be kept to a minimum and are highly discouraged. Want to post them? Put it under an lj-cut and please include something substantial in the update. We will warn you once about this.
POSTING VIDEOS
Due to IJ now allowing videos/music to be easily embedded in posts, we are asking that you now start posting ALL VIDEOS/MUSIC to the new video/youtube community,
In a nutshell, we gauge activity starting from the DAY you are accepted into the community. You have 4 weeks to adhere to the above guidelines to maintain your active status or you will be subject to removal, unannounced.
There are to be no exceptions to this rule.
HIATUS
Let's keep this simple. Everyone needs a break now and then, and things do happen unexpectedly in real life. If you need a hiatus, please let us know as soon as you think you may need one! We will grant you up to a 4 week hiatus. If we see you active in the community we will count your Hiatus as over.
Let us know by posting here: DROP BOX, or making a post in
REMOVALS Updated 5/30/2008 We do removals every 4 weeks. In the past we used to try to contact everyone on the removal list but with the size of the community, it's just not possible to do this any more. Please stay abreast on the removal dates. Usually we will start a week in advance, reminding everyone via the OOC community. The date is also listed at the top of the Taken/Held list.
As the date nears, you will see a letter R next to those being removed. A removal list MAY or MAY NOT be shown as well.
YOUR CHARACTER
- It is your character, but please keep them "real", meaning, please research how long it takes to become a doctor or professor at a university, and take into consideration what the other player wants if you are filling a storyline. Keep in mind ages for college students, graduate students, etc. If we notice something that is far-fetched or unrealistic, we will talk to you about it.
- Played-Bys Be creative, the PB can make or break the character. Choose wisely! NO DECEASED celebrities allowed out of respect. Updated 7/9/2008There is a FIVE (5) character limit.
We do allow ONE change of PB per character PER MONTH. Please let the mods know, however, in advance. Updated 6/2/2008: Played-by restrictions are few, as long as you use creativity. The only restrictions we have is if the person is deceased or an "original". Just because they have a MySpace or Facebook doesn't mean they would want their likeness used as a PB. Originals that do not regularly feature themselves in somewhat of a fandom are unfair choices, only because the individual has not "willingly" thrown themselves into the public eye. To clarify, scene queens and kings that DO put themselves out there will be accepted. See a Mod for further details. :]- Biography You need a substantial history and biography on your character, posted to your journal, to be approved. 15 or more "Quick Facts" or "Bullet Points" are also acceptable.
- Journal and AIM Names Updated 5/18/2008!! - all Journal names and AIM Screen names are required to coordinate in some way. We would prefer the journal name/AIM screen name to have something to do with the character's first or last name, or a variation of, but it is not a requirement.
If you choose to be creative with your journal name, your AIM must match in some way.
The community has grown, and that means so has the AIM Buddy List, and it is very confusing to members who get an IM from someone with a name they have no idea who it belongs to.
Updated 5/27/2008 If you have more than one character in the game and want to "house" all of them under one screen name, please run it by the mod first. While we don't necessarily encourage this, we understand that multiple screen names are often hard to keep up with.- Icons Icons of your character are required upon application. Please make sure they are clear so members can tell whose entry they are reading. Updated 5/27/2008 Also, we will not police this, but please give credit where credit is due! If you notice someone has "stolen" your icons or graphics, contact the person via AIM, PM or comment in their journal. Most cases will be solved this way.
WRITING FORMATS All writing formats are accepted here (descriptive storybook, asterisks, first/third person, random IM scenes, etc.), but please make sure you ask the other player's writing preferences before you scene with them. Not everyone likes to RP in asterisks.
STORYLINES Drug addictions, pregnancy *, eating disorders, etc., may be played out but please do your research on any and all topics to make sure you are playing them as accurately as possible. We’re not here to tell you how to play your character, only to set guidelines within the community. Mature storylines (including ones of a darker nature) are accepted and encouraged. While they don’t have to be run by the mods, please make sure that all parties involved are warned and O.K. with the subject matter. Suicide is something very serious and if you want to attempt suicide with your character, you MUST run this by the person you are role-playing with beforehand. Be realistic, please.
STORYLINE COMMUNITY Amended 4/2/2008 Yes, we have an OOC Community. Yes, it sometimes works for storyline requests, but from now on, all sl requests must be made under a cut. We would rather you IM someone, PM them or leave a comment in their journal, or even an OOC note to a comment; however, we understand and have witnessed first-hand that sometimes requests have been successful. We do not want to have a million strict rules on this or deter you from creating new storylines. We just want everyone to try to be interactive and let nature take its course. You will be surprised what amazing storylines can come from just "going with the flow".
Non-members: If you are not a member of our community and want to join
IC/OOC We're not going to stretch out the definition of this rule because everyone should know IC and OOC do not mix. Keep them separate. If your character is a homophobe, that doesn’t mean the writer is! Some characters are immature, have a dislike for typos, or may have a foot fetish, but that’s life. If you feel you are being harassed OOC, please let a mod know as soon as possible. Don’t cross the line.
NOTE: Just because someone posted a scene or started a thread, that doesn't mean the information inside is "public knowledge". Please know that even if YOU read a scene, it doesn't mean your character knows about it, unless your character it told about it, of course.
DRAMA While we love to help you out, and are usually available for every one of you, if an issue or minor problem arises, we hope tiffs can be worked out amongst yourselves, don't go looking for a referee. However, if you start big OOC drama with anyone, it won't be looked kindly upon, and doing it habitually will more likely than not get you dropped from the game.
Drama happens in real life and it should happen IC here, we encourage dramatic stories, however, remember not to drag OOC issues IC and vice versa. Try to stay true to your character and their habits/beliefs and always stay IC. Just because you hate the played-by, doesn't mean you should hate the character or the writer. Separation is key!
MATURITY We like to think all of our players are mature and that you are here to have fun and "escape" real life issues. We all love to role-play, write and create. You joined a community because you wanted that "brotherhood/sisterhood", a place to house a beloved character, right? While we can never be the perfect community, which is unrealistic, we want to strive to be the best we can. Feel free to make your own entertainment, but don't spoil anyone else's. Just common courtesy.
GODMODDING Do we really need this rule? In case you do not know, godmodding is when you try to take control over characters that are not your own. If you want something to happen, run it by the other person. Godmodding is used like a "Get Out of Jail Free card" when things don't go the way a player wants. Rather than working with previously unfolded events, a player will godmod to get things going their way. THIS IS NOT TOLERATED! This is common sense and pretty much Rule #1 when rp'ing. 1 STRIKE AND YOU ARE OUT. Bottom line.
MISCELLANEOUS
Use an lj-cut for large images please! "Large images" would be anything over 300x300.
Do not pimp for other communities in this community! There are plenty of advertising comms for that.
We do adds every night promptly at 10:00pm EST, and will make a mod post updating when we've done so; so the best way to stay afloat in the game is to check
Disabling of Anonymous Comments is HIGHLY suggested to avoid anonymous harrassing.
Please remember to make every update, either in your journal or sub-community, FRIENDS ONLY!
No incest. No MPREG Just...no.
* Updated 5/27/2008 Pregnancy storylines are to be realistic and play out the full nine months. If you have any Q's about infertility, pregnancy, childbirth, contact a mod, we've been there.If there was something NOT covered here and you have a question, please contact us. ⇒ chicagoRPG@aim.com
⇒ chicagoRPG
CommunitiesThanks to the mods at
Rules are subject to change