siren's pull; application guide
APPLICATION GUIDE
This is a guide on applying for Siren's Pull. It'll help to give you an idea of how we look at apps, what we like to see in an application, and where to put your focus. We hope this helps you get a good idea of where to place your focus.
Keep in mind: even if a section of the app isn't judged as harshly as another section, please be sure to put effort into your overall writing, spelling, and grammar in other sections of the application.
Player Information
This section is just to give us an idea of who you are. It's pretty basic. Just a note: You may ask for this part of your application to be screened when you apply if you don't want your information available to the public.
General Character Information
The most important section in here is the section on a character's NV form. Make sure it's functional and makes sense for the character if it isn't a typical cell phone type device. If it's a very unusual type of NV that isn't electronic or "normal" in some other way, make sure to explain how it will function for your character, in a clear enough way that someone not familiar with your canon will understand.
Character Abilities
The abilities section is really important - we need to know what kind of abilities your character has so we can gauge how to deal with them in the context of the game. If your character has a good and well explained Wikipedia or informational article, we can definitely accept that, but make sure to clarify anything that might not make sense to someone who doesn't know your canon.
This section is especially important if you are giving your character a dormant ability. We like dormant abilities that are interesting, fit the character's personality, and are well checked and balanced. Make sure to include drawbacks as well as benefits, and try to avoid abilities that may end up "godmodding" other characters unless you're willing to keep on top of a permissions post or do a lot of OOC communication with fellow players.
A note on weapons: Most weapons can be brought to Siren's Pull with your character, even if it seems like a lot of firepower. If you worry that it may be too much, feel free to list the things you'd like and include a question about whether it's okay. We'll answer you when we reply to your application. For characters who rely on weapons more than abilities, please keep in mind that, since a weapons arsenal could change while your character is in the City, if they acquire or have a large selection of weapons, we'd like to know about it.
Character History
While character history is pretty important for character development, it isn't our main focus in the application process. History can be important if certain events have particularly influenced your character, but we're looking for something more personalized to your character than the series in general.
We do accept a Wikipedia or other informational link for the History section. You're perfectly able to post a link to a relevant and complete outside informational source rather than explaining your character's history in detail.
If your character is an import from another game, the conditional aspect of the history is crucial. We want to know what's happened to your character and how it may affect development. It's very important to make this part as filled out as possible, since it isn't exactly canon information and can only be double-checked by looking at your previous game.
Character Personality
This is the part we pay probably the closest attention to. This is the focus of the application - we want to see how well you understand your character. We want to understand your character, both flaws and good points, and we want to understand why the character would be a good addition to the game. Feel free to include as much detail as you'd like, flesh your character out. Particularly if you've used the informational link option for the History section, expand on how events in the character's life have affected them and changed them. While we don't want a dissertation-length essay, we really want a rounded and complete idea of WHO your character is, as a person.
Please keep in mind that your application is being judged on how well you understand your character and focus on your character rather than canonmates. Adding too much focus on canonmates will keep the app team from being certain that you'll know how to handle the character apart from those other characters - make sure that the core of your application is solely about your character, your character's motivations, and what makes your character tick. If canonmates are very important to your character, feel free to mention it, but don't make it the focus of the application.
If your character is an import from another game, the conditional section here is also very crucial. We want to understand what has changed about your character's personality based on their experiences in the previous game. We will be checking this section over very carefully to make sure that the character's basic personality traits are still similar to their canon self. While we do understand the massive amounts of development that can happen in roleplaying games, we want to make sure the character is still recognizable as themselves, and that the changes make sense. Be very clear.
The appearance section is just for reference. Please avoid purple prose. In most instances, simply linking us to an image of your character is more than fine - but please don't insert an actual image into the application. Just link it.
Writing Samples
Another very very important aspect of the application. We'll be looking at your writing samples to make sure that you have a good understanding of the character in a more practical sense. The samples should match up to how you've explained the character's personality and give us a good idea of how they'll function in the game.
While these samples are required to be set in the City of Siren's Port, they definitely don't have to be an "introduction" post, if you feel that choosing some other random scenario would better showcase your character.
We understand that less verbal characters may not have a lot of dialogue in the first person sample. Be sure to give us some idea of how your character will be using his or her NV in the game, though. We don't require that you give us a whole bunch of dialogue when that much talking would be OOC for your character, but give us some other things, such as actions, expressions, or gestures when writing this sample.
First Person Sample should be written in the form of an entry on the NV, either in text, voice, video, or hologram form. Examples of entries can be found on the main community sirenspull .
Third Person Sample should be written in the form of a prose, paragraph style piece of writing that gives us a glance inside your character's head and gives us an idea how they think and act on their own. Please avoid action tags, and please avoid making other characters into NPCs - we'd like a sample of how you will write a log entry, not a mini fanfiction.
Hopefully this will help potential applicants!
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