InsaneJournal

We reserve the right to alter these guidelines at any time for whatever reason. Members will be notified of changes via oldwestmod.


USEFUL TERMS
BACKDATE/BACKTRACK = Things that take place in the past. After the active date in the game.
CLOSED/LOCKED = Referring to posts/scenes, you would "lock" a scene to a certain person you want to play with. No one else is allowed and should not reply.
IC = In Character
LOGS = Scenes played out in any form of messenger; AIM, YIM, MSN, etc
MUN = Player
NPC = Non-Played Character
OC = Original Character
OOC = Out Of Character
OPEN = Referring to posts/scenes, "open" means anyone in the approximate location can reply
PB = Played By, Portrayed By

Last updated August 13, 2008


♦ Respect EVERYONE and DO NOT GODMOD. Do not bring OOC drama into the game, and please be considerate of your fellow players. DO NOT move their characters around without permission; this is called godmodding and will not be tolerated. If you have a problem with a player, handle it privately. If the problem persists, consult a Mod.

♦ Research is your friend. There will be people that speak other languages. In these instances, please bold the dialogue that is spoken in a language other than English. There's no need to worry about translating tricky dialogues. ;)

♦ Players will not be required but are certainly welcome to create TIMELINE PAGES for their characters. If you need help figuring out how to use your PBWiki page, consult a Mod.

♦ Please do not skip too far ahead with the dates of your scenes. Try to stay at a steady pace where everyone can at least be in the same week. Also, characters may appear in more than one scene, as long as those scenes are not happening at the same time.
=> Please try not to backdate your scene to the beginning of the current month if everyone else is already at the end of that month. Scenes like these will ONLY be considered as flashback scenes.
=> Characters are more than welcome to travel to areas outside of New Shelby. The town is simply the main base for the game.

♦ Primarily this is a thread-based game, but if you would like to play out scenes through messenger, you are welcome to do so, and then post the log in the community later.

♦ This game is for original characters only. PBs must be real actors/musicians. No two original characters may have the same PB, unless by some chance they're identical twins. When selecting a PB for your character, please make sure that person can be taken seriously in this type of game. (By non-serious, we mean people like Britney Spears and Joel Madden)

♦ For now, there will be a character limit of five per person.

♦ You must have a separate journal for each character you play. They are used for posting in the main RP community (third-person storybook format), the OOC community, and character's personal journal entries.

♦ Characters may have sex, get married, have children, and get divorced. Slash and incest will be allowed as well, but please keep both realistic. Higher-rated posts should be placed under an LJ-cut with a proper warning at the top of the post. If we see that players are abusing this allowance, we will restrict it. Don't be a pointless whore getting pregnant (and having a misscarriage), married and divorced every other day.

♦ Character deaths will be allowed, to keep things interesting. DO NOT kill other characters without permission OR randomly kill your character without just cause. A character's death must have Mod consent and the consent of all parties involved.

♦ This should be at the top of every initial post in the main community:
Who: Your character and who you're tagging
Where: Where is this scene taking place? Be specific.
When: When is this scene taking place? Include the date (Month, day and year) and the time of day.
Status: Is the scene Complete or Incomplete? Generally newly posted scenes will be listed as Incomplete. As soon as your scene is finished, please edit your post to label it as Complete.
Please place all initial posts behind an lj-cut. If you don't know how to do one, check the IJ FAQ.

♦ The TAG FEATURE will be used to organize entries. The option is set to where players can set their own Tags, so please do so. A character's Tag is generally their first and last name, but if they usually go by an alias, that's fine, too. Please keep up with your Tag; if you join a scene, be sure to edit your Tag into the Tag list of that post.
=> If you choose to do a scene that is backdated a few months or years from the in-game date, that's fine. Please include the !flashback Tag along with your character's name. (ie, !flashback, character name)

♦ It won’t be expected that you to write a novel with each reply you post, but try to put a little thought into your response. Please also try to use Spell-Check. It's a simple thing to do and it helps everyone understand exactly what your character is saying. Also, please no Netspeak, such as "U R GR8."

♦ There isn't going to be any strict guideline as to how frequently you have to post, but active characters are more fun to play with. Post as often as you can. However, if it's been one month or more and there's been no response from you, your character(s) may be removed from the game, with or without notifying you. It's your responsibility to keep up with your activity in this game.

♦ Activity Checks will be posted every month, as a means of keeping up with individual character activity. Players will be expected to respond to the monthly checks, or possibly face removal from the game.

♦ If you know ahead of time that you will be on vacation or otherwise unable to post for a week, please post a notice in the OOC community. Additionally, if you are unable to post for an extended period of time (or you simply need a short break from the game), please request a hiatus. If you must drop a character for whatever reason, please let us know here.