Application Guidelines

[damned_info]

Application Guidelines Application Process How to Apply After you've looked through the damned_institute guideline pages, the Application FAQ, and have decided that this RP is a good fit for you, fill out the regular character application. We strongly suggest that you do this ahead of time so that you can fill it out to the best of your ability and prevent yourself from experiencing undue stress; we also urge you to ask the mods any questions you might have before you start your application rather than after you finish it. When to Apply Applications are always open unless otherwise stated in the damned_institute userinfo! Where to Apply We process our applications through e-mail. In order to submit your application, please do the following: • Format an e-mail with a subject line containing BOTH your character's FULL NAME and the your character's SERIES. Failure to do so risks getting your application lost in our inbox. • Copy-paste your application into the body of the email or attach it as a document. While it's easier for us to read from the body of the e-mail, we prefer whichever way that best allows you to keep proper paragraph formatting, bolds, and italics. For text attachments, please only use .rtf, .txt, .html, or .doc; under no circumstances send your application as a zip. • Attach one or more official illustrations/photographs of your character for us to reference. (The ideal is one picture of your character's face and one full-body picture. We prefer that you don't use fanart unless it is supplementary or the only option available.) Once you have completed all of the above, send your application to: damned.mods[at]gmail[dot]com Check for your app on our applications post and you're done! Application Review Response Time Applications are generally reviewed in the order that we received them and results will be e-mailed out as they become available. The app-review process can take as long as a month depending on how many apps we get and what RL obligations we encounter, so please understand the work it takes. We greatly appreciate your patience. Response Types There are generally four possible e-mails that you can get in response to your application. Acceptance Your application adequately meets our standards in all areas and doesn't display any problems that need to be worked out before you can begin playing. Rejection Your application does not adequately meet our standards in one or more areas and we therefore do not feel comfortable with allowing your character into the game at this time. It is our policy to always explain our objective reasons for our decision in every rejection e-mail we send. Acceptance with Power Problems Your application adequately meets our standards in all areas, but we aren't comfortable with the amount of power you're suggesting your character keep and/or the lack of detail you've given the power/limiting sections. Although your character is officially accepted, you must revise/clarify these sections according to our specifications and work out your character's powers with us before you can begin playing. Revision Request While most of your application adequately meets our standards, we cannot feel comfortable accepting it unless we see one or more of the sections revised and/or expanded. Should you choose to do the revisions, we will review them and then decide whether to send you a definite acceptance or rejection. There are other possibilities for e-mails we might send, but the above four are by far the most common. Re-Applying If your application for a character is rejected, you may re-apply for that same character once. If your application for that character is rejected a second time, we will no longer accept any more applications for that particular character from you, although you are welcome to app a different character each cycle no matter how many times you are rejected. Application F.A.Q. Where do I reserve a character? While it's not exactly a reserve, we do have a page where you can say that you are intending to apply as a character. That claim will generally last for three weeks, and will be renewable if need be. The claim page is also where you can challenge an intended (or received) application. Look at the page itself for more details. All received/intended applications are listed here. Am I allowed to edit my application after I've sent it in? Anyone is welcome to send in a new version of their application for any reason at all up until the end of the week; however, be aware that if you send in a new version of your application, the old one will be deleted and you will be pushed back to the bottom of our reading pile. If the edit is a matter of something you forgot to put in your app – for example, the picture(s) of your character, or if you forgot to fill out a section, etc. – please resend the full app with the attachments and/or added information instead of sending the additional stuff in a separate e-mail. Failure to do so may lead to extra time in sorting out your application. My character's series has multiple canons. Do I have to pick just one or can I mix and match? If your character is from a series that has more than one canon (e.g. animeverse and mangaverse; bookverse and filmverse; etc.), with differing events, you must choose only one canon and then let us know which one it is in your application. For the sake of keeping canonical information consistent between characters from the same "verse," so to speak, we do not allow any amalgation of canons unless, for example, a character's past has been revealed in the manga, but not the anime so far, and you would like to use the information provided in the manga even if your character is from the animeverse. Also keep in mind that if, for example, everyone else from your character's series so far at Landel's is from one canon, your character is still perfectly welcome to be from a different canon. (If, in your character's series, there isn't any real difference between the plots of its canons, just make a note of it in your app and don't worry about this.) What if I want to apply for... ...more than one character? You may only apply for one character every month. In other words, one month after the date on which you get a response for your application, you will be able to send in another. However, the standard amount of characters a player may have is four, and if you feel you can apply for more, you may petition us to do so. (More details below.) ...more than one character from the same series? You may only have up to two characters from the same series, and they cannot be people who would interact on a regular basis (e.g. one person shouldn’t be taking both Fred Weasley and George Weasley, but taking Fred Weasley and Albus Dumbledore would be okay). If we feel you're breaking this rule by taking two characters who would have to interact more than once in a long while with each other, it will put your app in jeopardy and we might have to break the bad news to you that we'll have to reject it on that basis. To avoid this, please ask us first if you're unsure as to whether your characters are too closely related or not. ...an original character? We do not allow original characters. Our rationale for this is that there isn't any sort of characterization standard or background that we can be sure will be held true to in either an application or in actual RP, which makes it very hard for us to judge OC applications, especially if we aren't familiar with a player's writing and characterization ability. Sorry! ...a character that someone dropped? You may apply for that character like you would any other, and if you are accepted, the character will enter the game as though they had never been there before. They will have no memories of anything the old player's version went through, though be aware that some other characters might recognize them as the old version and be confused when they realize your character doesn't "remember" anything from their previous stint in the Institute. ...a character that I dropped? You may either apply for that character just like you did before, in which case they will start with a clean slate, or, if you want them to retain their memories from their time in the RP, you may revise your application to include the development they have gone through so far at Landel's Institute. This means editing the history section, making up new samples that account for their previous Landel's memories, and possibly editing the personality and scope/psych questions if need be. Either way, please understand that regardless of any previous claims you have had, we will judge your aptitude based on your application alone, and if your re-application has any competition, it will not be given any higher priority than the other player's. ...a non-human character? All characters must look more-or-less human; however, your character doesn't need to be technically human. If your character could fairly easily pass for human, they can stay as is; however, a character who clearly looks like robot, has big fur all over, runs around on four legs, etc., would have to be stuck in a human body equivalent of their true form. ...an alternate version of a character in the RP? Our opinion on this issue varies very widely according to the context of each character's series, so you must double-check with us whether or not we'd be okay taking an app for the character you have a mind. If you don't ask for our opinion beforehand and send in an app anyway, there's a chance it could be rejected off the bat, and we'd hate to have people waste time on an app that we can't accept. (Some examples of alternate versions: Alphonse Elric vs. Alfons Heiderich; Sha Gojyo vs. Kenren Taisho; Xehanort's Heartless (Ansem) vs. Xemnas, Squall Leonhart vs. Kingdom Hearts' Leon; manga version vs. anime version.) ...an extremely young character? We do not allow in any characters 9 years old and under due to the graphic violence inherent to this RP. Additionally, if your character is between the ages of 10 and 13, you're still not completely out of the woods; the last question on the app specifically asks that if you're apping a character in that age range, you must give extremely good justification for why they could be allowed into a setting of such an older age-appropriateness, although be assured that we know that there are exceptions to the rule and we will gauge each application on a case-by-case basis. If you're applying for a character who's basically an adult stuck in a child's body or if you're applying for a character who has technically only lived a short amount of years but who still has the mentality of adult, you don't need to worry about these regulations. Extra Characters Petitioning If you currently have four characters or more and would like to formally request the right to apply for another character, please send us a letter with your reasoning as to why you are deserving of and capable of playing more than four characters. Tell us why you're interested in playing this new character and why you feel they'd be a good fit for you and for Landel's Damned; also include links to the most recent posts for each of your current characters. Letter Criteria • Interpretation of your character. We have to be admittedly subjective since we want to keep the number of extra characters small, so if we immediately see issues with your character in the letter (for example: if you seem to describe them in an OOC way, or if they seem too similar to a character you already have) we may use that as a basis to deny you the privilege to apply. • Description of your character. If your character clearly seems like they'd be a dubious fit for the setting (for example: they're a carefree young kid or someone without much of a canon basis for apping) and/or you can't sufficiently justify why you feel they'd be a good fit in the setting, we may also use that as a basis to deny your privilege to apply. • Detail. While we're not asking for anything as in-depth as an actual application, we do expect you to explain your character and your motivations for applying as them very carefully and thoughtfully. Player Criteria • Activity. As mentioned before, you must be currently active and up-to-date with all your characters. • Writing quality and level of IC characterization in your current characters. If we notice a trend of writing that's not up to standards or recognize OOCness, it will greatly affect your chances of being chosen. • Current number of extra characters. For the sake of fairness, we want to give those players who have four characters priority over those who have five or more. HOWEVER, if those who only have four characters fail to meet the standards above or if we don't have very many people asking for extra characters, we can allow those with five characters or more who meet the standards to have additional characters as well.