RULES;; ooc information for the masses
[RULES] ✖ [ FAQ]
Out of Character Requirements & Etiquette
✖ Stay in-character! Fairly self-explanatory! We do ask that you keep your characters as true to canon as possible. Of course, different people always have different interpretations of the source canon, and no one will nitpick on differences in viewpoints. On top of that, there is always character development and changes over the course to time! We simply ask that the players approach it in a realistic manner and give any dramatic shifts time to happen.
✖ The game is panfandom! That means that virtually any character is playable! With a few rare exceptions. We do not allow applications for original characters at the moment, and due to world mechanics there is a restriction on characters who are based on or analogues of real-world people. Because all traces of source canon vanish upon a character's arrival, any single character with an effect on world history is banned. This includes leaders, inventors, and your neighbour from down the street (as well as yourself and your friends, for obvious canonless reasons). There are more details and examples, which can be found in our Applications FAQ!
✖ Stay active! Activity requirements are on a monthly basis and fairly relaxed. If an Activity Check is failed one month it can be made up for with increased activity the next - however, failing the second chance will get you autodropped, so it's better to be safe than sorry. For full details on how the activity works here, read this post!
✖ The character limit is five! For now, the maximum number of characters anyone can play is five. If an established player in the game passes activity check with all their characters the month beforehand, they may apply one one extra character, and so on until we get worried and stage an intervention they feel they can manage no more. We currently have no limit on how many characters can be played from the same canon by one player, though we do ask applicants to use their judgment as to whether the characters in question would be likely to interact. Because that brings us to…
✖ No selfthreading! You're here to play with other people, not yourself hurr hurr! Solo logs and canonized drabbles are, in fact, acceptable, but in-game interactions should be with other players (even if you play your own canonmate!). Selfthreads will not count towards activity and if we catch you doing too many, you may be reprimanded.
✖ No God-moding! This goes for controlling other characters without the player's permission, as well as speaking for them in a way that locks the player into a certain response. If your character is going to do anything that affects another, contact that player! We're all pretty friendly, so just clear things with your fellow game members before you (accidentally or otherwise) limit their options.
✖ No Infomodding! Always remember, information learned out of character cannot be applied in character. Your character should not know things like how their new acquaintance dies in the Bad End of their source canon just because you do, and by no means should know what is going on inside the game without clues. All the fun of mystery plots would be ruined!
✖ No Fourth-Walling! This is somewhat misleading, because fourth-walling is permitted. However, we do ask that you try to keep it to a minimum and always check in with the player you're doing it to. Some players think it's funny, some don't want to deal with the effect it would have on their character. And remember, there is always the possibility of too much of a good thing.
✖ Be nice to each other! It should go without saying, but we at Cape & Cowl want to foster a warm and fuzzy welcoming environment to all players. Offensive material and pervasively poor attitudes will be frowned upon. Furthermore, while the four Cape & Cowl communities are our primary jurisdiction, the moderators are responsible for our player's comfort, and will do our best to resolve disputes between players that happen in chat. That said, if there is an issue off-comm (such as on the Infamous Anonymous Meme), we will do our level best to mediate, but there's only so much we can do. Apart from asking you to be mature adults, which hopefully we won't have to!
✖ Remember that In-character is not Out of Character! Just because you don't necessarily get along with another player does not give you permission to be rude to them with your characters. Likewise, just because a character has been rude to yours does not mean you should take offense and assume the player is out to get you. A character's personality and feelings are not the same as the player's. We expect our playerbase to be respectful to each other even while the characters might be ripping each other to shreds!
✖ Talk to the moderators! If you have any questions or problems, your friendly neighbourhood mods are always happy to help! The all-purpose complaints/issues post is located here, with screened comments and IP logging off. All of the current modstaff has contact information listed here if you need to talk to anyone individually. Means for contact include AIM, email, and private screened inbox posts on livejournal. We will always do whatever we can to help as soon as possible. With six mods in total, it can be a little difficult to get everyone's input, so we thank you for your patience with any delay.
✖ Three strikes and you're out! Cape & Cowl works on the classic three chances system, where you get two warnings before you will be banned. You will always be informed personally when you receive a strike. A good way to get a strike is to break any of the above rules, and a good way not to get any is to keep a cool head and be polite to your fellow players!
Depending on the severity of the infraction, we may also assign a smaller punishment such as a forced hiatus for a short period of time or prohibition from participating in a mod-run plot. During these hiatuses, you are not allowed to post to either community and will have to backdate any interactions once you return. Again, we will always inform you when we place a player on this.
There is almost no way to be banned without warning. There are a few special cases that earn an immediate ban: lying to the moderators (about identity or conflict with another player), harassing your fellow players, repeatedly failing to lock posts with content requiring a filter, or trying to get around a more minor punishment. Once banned from the game, you will not be re-admitted in the future.
✖ Everyone is allowed a chance! Cape & Cowl is an equal-opportunity trainwreck, and allows applications from any and all players. Yes, even ones who have a reputation outside of the game for being troublesome. We believe that unless given a chance to prove themselves, no one can grow! However. Depending on the past actions of the player and the moderator's personal experience, they reserve the right to give a player with a reputation one or two strikes upon entry. All that to say, everybody gets a chance here, but if you've offended too many people in the past you're on thin ice.
Out of Character Mechanics & Formatting
✖ The game works in real time! This means for that each day that passes in the real world, a day passes within the game. If the current date is February 29th, that's the date in the game's world, too! If you miss an event or post that's date-specific for whatever reason, you're encouraged to backdate or forwarddate your character's response! This is done simply by noting on the post or comment that within the game's canon, the interactions going on happened at a specified time - be it three days ago or tomorrow morning!
✖ First person posts in the Main community, third person in the Logs community! Posts and comments made in the Main Community should be made in a first-person format, as though the character themselves is speaking (or writing, you get the gist!). Entries and comments in the Logs Community should be made in third person format, be it past or present tense. If you're having trouble with the difference, just remember that the first is the style for a conversation, and the second is the style for a novel!
✖ Specify the post/comment type! This is actually recommended, not required. The default format of the community is text. This means that if you don't specify what kind of post your character is making, it will be assumed that the post is in text. There are three kinds of posts supported by the Network: text, audio, and video. Text posts are like classic livejournal posts, audio posts are voice posts, and video posts have embedded video files. Comment threads work the same way, though with voice and video comments you can assume that the conversation is 'live' and not an embedded file.
✖ One post per character per day! Because of the sheer size of the game, we ask (firmly) that players limit themselves to one post by the same character per day. This is to prevent spam (especially during plots) and to encourage players to comment to already existing posts. The mods are, however, flexible on this and in the case of a fast moving player-driven plot will allow more than one as long as you talk to them. Just think before you post!
✖ Tag your entries! Although the community is set up so that members cannot create new tags, when your character is accepted and you post to the Taken List you will be asked to specify what tag you want them to have. A mod will make it when the membership request is accepted and you can tag your entries with it! The Logs community has open tag creation to allow people to tag into existing entries, so just make the same tag for your character that you have in the Main community. Tagging your entries is politely demanded because, essentially, it makes everyone's lives easier. The moderators doing Activity Check, your castmates trying to catch up, and the folks to just want to check in and watch you play! In addition, please tag entries that have more than one character in the body of the post with the tag for each of them.
✖ Posts cannot be ICly filtered to no more than eight people! Because the Grinbitch decreed it so, posts made on the network cannot be filtered to more than eight people and no fewer than two. There is no such thing as a 'Villains' filter. If your character doesn't want sketchy people seeing their post, they have to chose which few to filter from and cannot just label the post as filtered from the 'most wanted' list or something similar. There are a very few rare exceptions to this, but you must speak to the mods about it. The only current ones in existence are the Coalition, Detective and Police Force filters. Filters are only granted to character groups that are in themselves lager than eight people, have an in character need for privacy, and contain at least one canon hacker or techopath. Certain members of the X-Men cast have also been given permission to filter to more than eight characters because they are so fucking huge one of the elder characters is a technology whiz.
✖ NC-17 entries must be locked! Any logs that contain material unsuitable for children must be locked to community members. No exceptions. Failing to do this is against livejournal terms of service and can get the entire community shut down, so don't forget! If you're not sure whether your log classifies, see where it fits according to the MPAA. Or, just figure our whether you'd be able to show it to your grandmother. If the answer's no, lock that thing! Also, because of livejournal terms of service, logs of questionable content cannot involve characters that are legally minors. While there is an obvious grey area of realism towards the late teen years, the general rule is 18 and up.
✖ Give plot notification! Before (or during, if you want to break the news roughly) something big goes down, let the OOC community know, or link to an explanation in the main IC post. This is, of course, after any large plots have been approved by the mods. The Plot Post is where to go before starting any kind of event that includes more than three characters, or any character's death (even NPCs!).
Community Systems & Posting
✖ The Main community is for IC posts! It may sound obvious, but In Character posts are to be kept in the Main and Logs community, functioning as the analogue for the imPort network and the communal prose dumpster. Out of Character posts belong in the OOC community. This goes for plot notifications, hiatus notifications, permissions requests, player/character introductions and drops. Basically, if it has an effect on the game world, it goes in OOC! If it's not IC but does not directly impact the game, it belongs in the Spam community, your local source for all things hilarious and idiotic.
✖ Watch the OOC community! In the past, some players have watched the Spam community for their news instead of the OOC one. Please keep in mind that while Spam might be more wacky and fun, OOC is where the important game-relevant posts and moderator announcements are posted. While articipation in Spam is not required, knowing what's going on is generally appreciated, so OOC should take precedence.
✖ Tag your entries elsewhere, too! It's stricter in the Main community, but we do request that you tag your entries in OOC, so that we can keep track of things like hiatuses and drops. It also makes it much easier for players to find things like plot sign ups! Tags in the Spam community are a force of nature and have been almost completely given up on, so just… Do what you want over there, you can't possibly make things worse.
✖ There are no rules in the Spam community! Except that, well, there are. Due to huge numbers of memes that flood the community otherwise, there is currently a one meme per day rule. If there has already been a meme for the day, the mods will delete any new ones that get posted. This doesn't mean that we need one meme per day, it's just the maximum! Also, we firmly request that you limit yourselves to one post per day, barring two-part posts like Cry Wolf rounds and Dare Memes (so basically unless you're Elle).
✖ Lock sharing posts! While there is no issue taken with canon or music sharing (as long as it's in Spam!), you must lock your entries to community members. This is another one of those things that can get us shut down, so there are no exceptions. Unlocked posts containing copyrighted material will be asked to be locked, and if there is no response within 24 hours the moderators will delete it.
✖ Keep things kid-friendly! Like the IC communities, we ask that any content (be it textual or visual) that could be considered offensive, inappropriate or triggering be placed behind an lj-cut and labeled with a warning. Like sharing posts, the moderators will comment to request it be cut, but if there's no response within a few hours it will be deleted without warning. The moderators reserve their judgment as to what material would be widely offensive, but this hasn't been an issue in the past and hopefully will remain so.
✖ Ask the players, not the community! While community discussion is always greatly encouraged, if you have a question or a specific player or small group of players, please contact them individually. The Contact List contains all manner of ways to get in touch with a player, and is viewable to all members of OOC. If you have something to ask or tell a player or small group, contacting them off-comm is a good way to help us cut back on post spam and stay relevant. Likewise, if you have an issue with or question about the game, please use the above Mod Contact post or the FAQ instead of asking the community at large.
✖ HAVE SOME FUCKING FUN!
Out of Character Requirements & Etiquette
✖ Stay in-character! Fairly self-explanatory! We do ask that you keep your characters as true to canon as possible. Of course, different people always have different interpretations of the source canon, and no one will nitpick on differences in viewpoints. On top of that, there is always character development and changes over the course to time! We simply ask that the players approach it in a realistic manner and give any dramatic shifts time to happen.
✖ The game is panfandom! That means that virtually any character is playable! With a few rare exceptions. We do not allow applications for original characters at the moment, and due to world mechanics there is a restriction on characters who are based on or analogues of real-world people. Because all traces of source canon vanish upon a character's arrival, any single character with an effect on world history is banned. This includes leaders, inventors, and your neighbour from down the street (as well as yourself and your friends, for obvious canonless reasons). There are more details and examples, which can be found in our Applications FAQ!
✖ Stay active! Activity requirements are on a monthly basis and fairly relaxed. If an Activity Check is failed one month it can be made up for with increased activity the next - however, failing the second chance will get you autodropped, so it's better to be safe than sorry. For full details on how the activity works here, read this post!
✖ The character limit is five! For now, the maximum number of characters anyone can play is five. If an established player in the game passes activity check with all their characters the month beforehand, they may apply one one extra character, and so on until we get worried and stage an intervention they feel they can manage no more. We currently have no limit on how many characters can be played from the same canon by one player, though we do ask applicants to use their judgment as to whether the characters in question would be likely to interact. Because that brings us to…
✖ No selfthreading! You're here to play with other people, not yourself hurr hurr! Solo logs and canonized drabbles are, in fact, acceptable, but in-game interactions should be with other players (even if you play your own canonmate!). Selfthreads will not count towards activity and if we catch you doing too many, you may be reprimanded.
✖ No God-moding! This goes for controlling other characters without the player's permission, as well as speaking for them in a way that locks the player into a certain response. If your character is going to do anything that affects another, contact that player! We're all pretty friendly, so just clear things with your fellow game members before you (accidentally or otherwise) limit their options.
✖ No Infomodding! Always remember, information learned out of character cannot be applied in character. Your character should not know things like how their new acquaintance dies in the Bad End of their source canon just because you do, and by no means should know what is going on inside the game without clues. All the fun of mystery plots would be ruined!
✖ No Fourth-Walling! This is somewhat misleading, because fourth-walling is permitted. However, we do ask that you try to keep it to a minimum and always check in with the player you're doing it to. Some players think it's funny, some don't want to deal with the effect it would have on their character. And remember, there is always the possibility of too much of a good thing.
✖ Be nice to each other! It should go without saying, but we at Cape & Cowl want to foster a warm and fuzzy welcoming environment to all players. Offensive material and pervasively poor attitudes will be frowned upon. Furthermore, while the four Cape & Cowl communities are our primary jurisdiction, the moderators are responsible for our player's comfort, and will do our best to resolve disputes between players that happen in chat. That said, if there is an issue off-comm (such as on the Infamous Anonymous Meme), we will do our level best to mediate, but there's only so much we can do. Apart from asking you to be mature adults, which hopefully we won't have to!
✖ Remember that In-character is not Out of Character! Just because you don't necessarily get along with another player does not give you permission to be rude to them with your characters. Likewise, just because a character has been rude to yours does not mean you should take offense and assume the player is out to get you. A character's personality and feelings are not the same as the player's. We expect our playerbase to be respectful to each other even while the characters might be ripping each other to shreds!
✖ Talk to the moderators! If you have any questions or problems, your friendly neighbourhood mods are always happy to help! The all-purpose complaints/issues post is located here, with screened comments and IP logging off. All of the current modstaff has contact information listed here if you need to talk to anyone individually. Means for contact include AIM, email, and private screened inbox posts on livejournal. We will always do whatever we can to help as soon as possible. With six mods in total, it can be a little difficult to get everyone's input, so we thank you for your patience with any delay.
✖ Three strikes and you're out! Cape & Cowl works on the classic three chances system, where you get two warnings before you will be banned. You will always be informed personally when you receive a strike. A good way to get a strike is to break any of the above rules, and a good way not to get any is to keep a cool head and be polite to your fellow players!
Depending on the severity of the infraction, we may also assign a smaller punishment such as a forced hiatus for a short period of time or prohibition from participating in a mod-run plot. During these hiatuses, you are not allowed to post to either community and will have to backdate any interactions once you return. Again, we will always inform you when we place a player on this.
There is almost no way to be banned without warning. There are a few special cases that earn an immediate ban: lying to the moderators (about identity or conflict with another player), harassing your fellow players, repeatedly failing to lock posts with content requiring a filter, or trying to get around a more minor punishment. Once banned from the game, you will not be re-admitted in the future.
✖ Everyone is allowed a chance! Cape & Cowl is an equal-opportunity trainwreck, and allows applications from any and all players. Yes, even ones who have a reputation outside of the game for being troublesome. We believe that unless given a chance to prove themselves, no one can grow! However. Depending on the past actions of the player and the moderator's personal experience, they reserve the right to give a player with a reputation one or two strikes upon entry. All that to say, everybody gets a chance here, but if you've offended too many people in the past you're on thin ice.
Out of Character Mechanics & Formatting
✖ The game works in real time! This means for that each day that passes in the real world, a day passes within the game. If the current date is February 29th, that's the date in the game's world, too! If you miss an event or post that's date-specific for whatever reason, you're encouraged to backdate or forwarddate your character's response! This is done simply by noting on the post or comment that within the game's canon, the interactions going on happened at a specified time - be it three days ago or tomorrow morning!
✖ First person posts in the Main community, third person in the Logs community! Posts and comments made in the Main Community should be made in a first-person format, as though the character themselves is speaking (or writing, you get the gist!). Entries and comments in the Logs Community should be made in third person format, be it past or present tense. If you're having trouble with the difference, just remember that the first is the style for a conversation, and the second is the style for a novel!
✖ Specify the post/comment type! This is actually recommended, not required. The default format of the community is text. This means that if you don't specify what kind of post your character is making, it will be assumed that the post is in text. There are three kinds of posts supported by the Network: text, audio, and video. Text posts are like classic livejournal posts, audio posts are voice posts, and video posts have embedded video files. Comment threads work the same way, though with voice and video comments you can assume that the conversation is 'live' and not an embedded file.
✖ One post per character per day! Because of the sheer size of the game, we ask (firmly) that players limit themselves to one post by the same character per day. This is to prevent spam (especially during plots) and to encourage players to comment to already existing posts. The mods are, however, flexible on this and in the case of a fast moving player-driven plot will allow more than one as long as you talk to them. Just think before you post!
✖ Tag your entries! Although the community is set up so that members cannot create new tags, when your character is accepted and you post to the Taken List you will be asked to specify what tag you want them to have. A mod will make it when the membership request is accepted and you can tag your entries with it! The Logs community has open tag creation to allow people to tag into existing entries, so just make the same tag for your character that you have in the Main community. Tagging your entries is politely demanded because, essentially, it makes everyone's lives easier. The moderators doing Activity Check, your castmates trying to catch up, and the folks to just want to check in and watch you play! In addition, please tag entries that have more than one character in the body of the post with the tag for each of them.
✖ Posts cannot be ICly filtered to no more than eight people! Because the Grinbitch decreed it so, posts made on the network cannot be filtered to more than eight people and no fewer than two. There is no such thing as a 'Villains' filter. If your character doesn't want sketchy people seeing their post, they have to chose which few to filter from and cannot just label the post as filtered from the 'most wanted' list or something similar. There are a very few rare exceptions to this, but you must speak to the mods about it. The only current ones in existence are the Coalition, Detective and Police Force filters. Filters are only granted to character groups that are in themselves lager than eight people, have an in character need for privacy, and contain at least one canon hacker or techopath. Certain members of the X-Men cast have also been given permission to filter to more than eight characters because they are so fucking huge one of the elder characters is a technology whiz.
✖ NC-17 entries must be locked! Any logs that contain material unsuitable for children must be locked to community members. No exceptions. Failing to do this is against livejournal terms of service and can get the entire community shut down, so don't forget! If you're not sure whether your log classifies, see where it fits according to the MPAA. Or, just figure our whether you'd be able to show it to your grandmother. If the answer's no, lock that thing! Also, because of livejournal terms of service, logs of questionable content cannot involve characters that are legally minors. While there is an obvious grey area of realism towards the late teen years, the general rule is 18 and up.
✖ Give plot notification! Before (or during, if you want to break the news roughly) something big goes down, let the OOC community know, or link to an explanation in the main IC post. This is, of course, after any large plots have been approved by the mods. The Plot Post is where to go before starting any kind of event that includes more than three characters, or any character's death (even NPCs!).
Community Systems & Posting
✖ The Main community is for IC posts! It may sound obvious, but In Character posts are to be kept in the Main and Logs community, functioning as the analogue for the imPort network and the communal prose dumpster. Out of Character posts belong in the OOC community. This goes for plot notifications, hiatus notifications, permissions requests, player/character introductions and drops. Basically, if it has an effect on the game world, it goes in OOC! If it's not IC but does not directly impact the game, it belongs in the Spam community, your local source for all things hilarious and idiotic.
✖ Watch the OOC community! In the past, some players have watched the Spam community for their news instead of the OOC one. Please keep in mind that while Spam might be more wacky and fun, OOC is where the important game-relevant posts and moderator announcements are posted. While articipation in Spam is not required, knowing what's going on is generally appreciated, so OOC should take precedence.
✖ Tag your entries elsewhere, too! It's stricter in the Main community, but we do request that you tag your entries in OOC, so that we can keep track of things like hiatuses and drops. It also makes it much easier for players to find things like plot sign ups! Tags in the Spam community are a force of nature and have been almost completely given up on, so just… Do what you want over there, you can't possibly make things worse.
✖ There are no rules in the Spam community! Except that, well, there are. Due to huge numbers of memes that flood the community otherwise, there is currently a one meme per day rule. If there has already been a meme for the day, the mods will delete any new ones that get posted. This doesn't mean that we need one meme per day, it's just the maximum! Also, we firmly request that you limit yourselves to one post per day, barring two-part posts like Cry Wolf rounds and Dare Memes (so basically unless you're Elle).
✖ Lock sharing posts! While there is no issue taken with canon or music sharing (as long as it's in Spam!), you must lock your entries to community members. This is another one of those things that can get us shut down, so there are no exceptions. Unlocked posts containing copyrighted material will be asked to be locked, and if there is no response within 24 hours the moderators will delete it.
✖ Keep things kid-friendly! Like the IC communities, we ask that any content (be it textual or visual) that could be considered offensive, inappropriate or triggering be placed behind an lj-cut and labeled with a warning. Like sharing posts, the moderators will comment to request it be cut, but if there's no response within a few hours it will be deleted without warning. The moderators reserve their judgment as to what material would be widely offensive, but this hasn't been an issue in the past and hopefully will remain so.
✖ Ask the players, not the community! While community discussion is always greatly encouraged, if you have a question or a specific player or small group of players, please contact them individually. The Contact List contains all manner of ways to get in touch with a player, and is viewable to all members of OOC. If you have something to ask or tell a player or small group, contacting them off-comm is a good way to help us cut back on post spam and stay relevant. Likewise, if you have an issue with or question about the game, please use the above Mod Contact post or the FAQ instead of asking the community at large.
✖ HAVE SOME FUCKING FUN!