(!) RULES & GUIDELINES

[KuroNeko]

RULES

Just as the world of Melodia, which has laws and restrictions that each of its citizens - be they human, elf, or elemental - try their best to follow, the online community of Mistrals of Melody does as well.

Now, a law-breaking character in an RP can often times be fun and interesting - but a rule-breaker in a forum is something we'd all like to avoid being, as they're never fun and often bring down the community for everyone.

However, just like the real world or the world of Melodia, the forum is a real place filled with real people, and not even the greatest Seer can foresee exactly what can happen; especially in the world of Melodia, where anything under the sun could occur. Therefore, the rules of our forum aren't quite concrete and are subject to change when needed (Worry not, even if so much as a letter is changed on this page, you will be informed through the News posts).

What does this mean? That I can change the Rules on a whim? Not at all. If a situation arises in a roleplay and I find it more fitting to add or change a rule, I will do so. All this means is that the rules are not 100% set in stone, but that doesn't mean you should not follow them closely.

-- You must read these, or you cannot participate in any Roleplays. --

General Rules

• Generally, no swearing or coarse language unless in an [R] RP. Be aware that everyone else on this forum is a real person too, and don't forget to respect them.
  
• IC (In Character) posts should always be in the Roleplaying category. OOC (Out of Character) posts everywhere else.
  
• Don't post porn or otherwise inappropriate stuff. Ever. It'll be deleted, and you'll be banned temporarily.
  
• If you choose to have a signature other than a Character Sig, the dimensions must not be greater than 150x500.
  

Character-Making Rules

• When creating a character, use the character creation form! Remember to read the Character guidelines as well.
  
• You can create a total of FIVE (5) characters for now. Five character slots is plenty!
  
• Though you may have 5 characters, only 3 of these 5 can be in one RP at a time. If you want to be part of 5 different RPs, each character can join an RP. If you want 2 characters in one RP, and 3 in 3 seperate RPs, you can do that too.
  
• Regarding [OF] RPs, any characters currently involved in one cannot take part in other RPs. If your Character is in an [OF]RP, they will have to leave it if they want to join another one. However, a character outside an [OF]RP can join as many regular RPs as they want.
  
• Each RP takes place in its own kind of dimensional pocket. Unless its an [OF] RP, nothing you do in that RP will effect the rest of the world. If you burn down a forest in one RP, don't expect it to still be there in the next.
  
• All characters must be original. So no, you can't be Naruto or Sephiroth, sorry. Creativity and imagination is an important part of roleplaying~
  
• If you decide to post art to represent your character, please write who made the picture. If you don't know, CLEARLY state that it is not by you.
  
• No Mary-Sues, please. A Mary-Sue is a character who is perfect in everyway and perfectly flawless. Try to make your characters as believable and real as possible! ^^

Roleplaying Rules

• Please READ the first post in every RP. This should be pretty basic, since the first post will always have the introduction/specifics about the RP, and it is mandatory.
  
• No one-liner posts. Try to add some detail to your post and really paint a picture with it.
  
• You control YOUR character(s), that's it. Don't try and control other peoples' characters, they aren't yours.
  
• Try not to doublepost, which means posting twice in a row in the same topic.
  
• Good grammar is always appreciated! There is a spell check button, too, if you need it. Typos or misspellings aren't against the rules, but IM-chat is. (ex: u r so kewl lol plz dont keel me u sux lawl)
  
• Posts should be in third person most of the time. (ex: Kuro walked through the town as he steadily ate an apple. NOT: I walked through the town while steadily eating an apple.)
  
• When entering an RP, try to be pretty good about it - read up on what's happening and what's happened in the past, and try to join serenely, not by disrupting the entire RP. If you don't want to read pages and pages of an RP, ask one of its members to summarize it for you, or simply join RPs early on.
  
• Immaturity is looked down upon. If your character gets hit by a monster, don't whine about it.
  
• Similarly, don't make your character invincible (See Mary-Sue rule). Your character can't always dodge attacks!
  
• Read this guide on Roleplaying NPCs & Support characters if that is something you plan to do.
  
• Try to have fun and make it enjoyable for everyone. A long, well-written RP can be a really fun adventure, so try to stick to the rules and enjoy roleplaying with others! ^__^
  

ONCE YOU'VE READ THE RULES...

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Send this code to me in PMs so I know you have :3
A8O0I4
^ Doing so will also earn you a quick 25 Meles.

[KuroNeko]

WIPES

What is a Wipe?

Every time someone posts, it's always an action or a reaction to someone else's post, and that's how roleplays work. But when the character you're interacting with cannot reply because their user is taking a break from the forums or has simply disappeared, it leads to sticky situations.

When it involves a single user doing this, it can usually be evaded with a bit of crafty thinking (i.e., katy's character Aura in Amethia at Arms - when katy had disappeared from the forums for a period of time, Aura was decidedly made unconscious due to the lack of air in Perron Caves and then left at Kyimara City). This didn't cause any major problems and all was well.

However, when several members have suddenly disappeared, such as after a period of down-time for the forum, it can be rather hard getting an RP going again with all of these interactions halted and characters being unable to reply until the person they were interacting with replies.

This is where wipes come in. A Wipe is nothing more than a device to get the RP moving along - it has no in-story explanation and it isn't mentioned - it simply wipes the slate of the RP and allows it to continue with whichever members are still around and with newer members joining.

It is, more or less, a skip in time that ends all interactions users were previously having, and "starts over". For example, in the first instance a Wipe was necessary, Page 41 of Amethia at Arms, there were many interactions happening during the group's stay at Kyimara Tavern, but due to the forum undergoing a period of inactivity, many members were not too quick to return. Thus, the events of that night were "wiped" and the RP started again on the next morning, with whichever active characters still around continuing on the journey and the inactive characters staying behind at the Inn, but being given the choice to "catch up" with the main group once their user had returned.

Does this mean that the events of that night never happened? No. It will just require some crafty thinking from now on when referencing that night.

Sometimes a Wipe is simply necessary to get an RP moving again, as if we had not done this, we would have been stuck waiting on characters who don't even post here anymore and the RP would have come to a screeching halt.

On that note, Wipes will hopefully not be commonplace, but sometimes an RP does jam up and needs the "cleansing" to continue.

As always, PM me with any questions you may have.