rules

[CROAKY IS GRETCHEN WEINER?!]

THE BIG, BAD LIST OF RULES

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*read these BEFORE registering*

»general

-respect. This one should be common sense. Do not make any racist, sexist, homophobic, classist, etc. jokes or comments. Tone can be hard to judge on the internet, and even if you think you are talking in jest, your words can be misinterpreted. If you feel like you are being targeted, PM a staff member. Do not try to handle it yourself. The first time you break this rule, you will get a warning. The second time, you are banned.

-no stealing. Don't do it. I don't care if it is a graphic, a post, a template, a character application, if it is not yours, do not use without permission. If permission is granted, give credit. Honestly. The creator worked hard, and for you to steal from them is despicable. And don't think we won't find out, either. Your first infraction will result in an automatic ban.

-no chatspeak. Which means talking lyk dis!!1! Seriously, it's annoying and difficult to decipher. If you want people to read your posts, why write them basically in code? A little in the c-box, go ahead. But anything in the boards, especially the IC boards, should be written with the best grammar and spelling of your ability. Everyone makes mistakes, but we're not demanding anything huge. You are on the internet. Not sure how to spell a word? Look it up.

-stay active! So you register, and you make an application. It's accepted. Great! This means you have a commitment to the site. There is no set rule for post count, but here's a guideline:post IC at least twice a week. If that's impossible, post in the absence boards, detailing your leave. Another thing, if you can't handle all your characters, don't make them. Again, we're not going to tell you how many you must have. Some people have time for ten, others only for three. Please use your best judgement.

-don't pester. So you have a totally awesome cool thread thing going on with a fellow member. Has it been a few days since they replied? First, check the absence board. If they haven't up and left, you can remind them in the c-box or you can drop them a quick PM. It's possible that they might have forgotten. But after that initial reminder, drop it. Role-playing is something fun that they do on their spare time, and making it seem like an obligation takes the fun out of it.

-listen to staff. We aren't mean or unreasonable, but that doesn't mean you can question us. If you have a problem, feel free to alert us, but don't harass us. We have real lives, just like you do. Don't say or imply they don't know what they are doing. We're not going to side with you over them.

»roleplay

- your character. They are your babies. Treat them well, and make them real. Please no popular, smart, beautiful people walking around. But if they are, give them a dark secret, or a terrible temper. Make them believable! Get creative! Don't have their history be a sob story either. Seriously. That's boring. Come up with something more original.

- limits. We have vampires, part-veela, and werewolves here. Do not have more than two of each. Don't have two vampires and two werewolves. Stop being such a hog. Also, try to keep the ratio between your female characters your male characters close to one. Likewise, all your characters shouldn't be seventh years. Diversity is awesome, chicas.

- content. This is a PG-13 site. Swearing is allowed in character, but to a more limited extent OOC. If you're cussing at people, that breaks our r-e-s-p-e-c-t rule. About the sexy stuff: if clothes are coming off, fade to black as a general rule. Let's not break any proboards terms of service. Pregnancy is allowed, but PM an admin. Alcohol is allowed. Please only refer to hard drugs. Violence is violent. Blood is fine, internal organs squishing on the floor is not.

- word count. Your post should not have any less than 150 words. We all have our off days, but this is pretty generous. Likewise, do not post huge novels. We appreciate your zeal for writing, but if your post is longer than 2000 words, your thread-mates should be able to respectfully request that it be edited down. Also, if everyone else in the thread is posting 900 words, put in a little effort, because it's obvious they have. Don't shoot off a 300 word reply.

- try to keep it in third person, past tense. For the ease of everyone.

- do not godmod, or power-play. Godmodding is when your character is invincible and never loses. That doesn't seem fair, now does it? Power-playing is when you play the other character in the thread. It takes two (or more) to roleplay. Don't ruin our fun. NPC play is to some extent, allowed. This means you can make up the actions of groups of people (ex: He avoided the gaggle of first years) or (ex: The nurse handed him a bandaid). This is a privilege, not a right. Don't abuse it or we will take it away from you.

- post in the appropriate claims. If you want something, claim it! All of them can be found in the claims and extras category, or in the drop-down menu in the top left corner.

»graphics

just a quick note on these.

- always give credit if the work is not yours. No stealing.

- no nudity, or hard drug use.

- no playbys under thirteen years of age. If you need me to explain this, drop me a PM.

- signatures should not extend 500 X 300-ish pixels. If it stretches the board, we're going to complain. Avatars can go up to 150 X 200. We will ask you to fix your graphics if they mess everything up, for obvious reasons.

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these rules are croaky's, written for are you ready?
don't steal, or she will cut off your elbows.