What are the unwritten rules for the character apps?

[Sunpelt]

I’ve been looking through apps and... there seem to be a lot of unspoken rules. I’m not blaming anyone for it- they probably have just slipped through the cracks at some point or another but can I have a list of what I can’t do that isn’t written down? I don’t want to cause anymore trouble for the staff than absolutely necessary.

[Sloth]

As far as ‘unwritten rules go’ staff try to be as consistent as possible when it comes to checking applications. It’s hard for us to write down every little detail without overwhelming everyone completely by a ‘masterlist’ most people aren’t going to read or even look out. It’s easier for staff as a whole to fix small things in the app itself, especially given how each application checker does things slightly differently than the next. We all try our hardest to provide a quick and painless process for checking applications and if we ask you to change something it’s because we have agreed as staff that it is something that needs changing.

I hope our members understand we don’t do this out of malicious intent or to hold up the roleplaying process by asking you to change something in your application; most occasions of ‘unwritten’ rules stems from something new that we encounter or small details that don’t warrant clogging up the general application page with. In all honesty it’s easier for staff to ask someone to change their app than make a staff member sit down and go through all the apps just to make a master list that will again; likely not be looked at by many people.

[Sunpelt]

If you think there’s too many to fit in a master list, that’s fine- you definitely have more knowledge about this than me. Again, I’m not trying to accuse anyone but sometimes the rules would affect actual rp but aren’t really written here- the kit abuse being the biggest one I can think of, though the inability to use names of ancestors that are mentioned in apps for a new cat is another big one (like how I can’t have a cat named Rowanrose because it’s been mentioned as an ancestor but it’s not really written anywhere that I can’t use it). There seems to be a lot of confusion around some other things- the max word count for histories is a big one with one staff member mentioning that they wouldn’t accept an app with 501 words in the history and another saying their limit was 530.

I know you guys are trying your best to be consistent- and I seriously appreciate that you guys have a lot of stuff to check, I’m just trying to figure out what to avoid in my apps so that you guys don’t have to do any more work than necessary.

[Sloth]

The kitten abuse rule was decided due to the fact the clans would not allow anyone to abuse someone at such a young age without stepping in and stopping it. You will also see that it has indeed been added to the rules as well as the FAQ some time ago. here if you are interested in updating yourself

As for the ancestors, when the site first reopened this thread was made where it states ancestors could be mentioned in histories. Names mentioned in histories are off limits to use because they are (usually) adoptable characters. In the ancestors case, if the character is named as an ancestor in someone’s history than it can’t be used as a playable character. In Rowanrose’s case, the name is listed both here as well as here.

As for the word count the application explicitly states 500 word count, some application checkers are more loose on this rule than others. The best bet would be to stick to as close to 500 as possible to avoid any issues with going over on words. However if it really is causing confusion for people, I will make sure all app checkers know not to accept anything over 500 words to make it fair if that’s what people would rather we do.

[Sunpelt]

Apologies for not seeing it added to the rules, but there was never an official announcement about the rule, so I wasn’t aware it had been added to the rules. Again. I’m not trying to accuse anyone. I’m not trying to argue the rule- it makes sense to me. All I want to do is make sure I’m understanding everything. Again, I’m not trying to be mean or accusatory- it’s just that you have always posted what rules have been added or what faq things have been added and there wasn’t an announcement for either of them. I don’t usually look at the rules unless there’s an announcement that something has changed. (Also I really hate to say this but the FAQ doesn’t have anything about kit abuse on it)

I know that the ancestor was mentioned and that they can be mentioned- but since Rowanrose wasn’t on the used name list or an ancestor list I had no idea that I was unable to use that name. All I want to do is make sure I’m not doing anything that would hinder the process. Maybe the ancestor names could be placed on the used name list to help make sure people know which names are taken by ancestors? I don’t know, but I truly think that something should be made to make sure that neither the staff nor the members have to dig through all the applications to make sure an ancestor wasn’t named.

If you think that’s the best way to handle it, I’d support making absolutely sure no histories go over 500 words. All I want to do is understand the limits- and with each staff member saying they have a different limit it is somewhat difficult to understand.

Please please please understand I’m not trying to criticize you or the way the site is run. I just wish to understand things better.

[Mal]

The lack of announcement is on me. I did mean to post one but my life exploded and it slipped my mind. I apologize. I'll make certain to make announcements sooner.

I'd be happy to pm you Sunpelt and anyone else interested to discuss this further. Or if there is enough interest with other members I can write something up.

[Mal]

Ooomg it isn't on the FAQ -_- I worked on that... I can't believe I didn't save it. Expect that soon along with an announcement.