The Rules

[Gillian]

RULES

REGISTERING

All registrants must be approved by an admin, meaning that you must fill out the character application and wait for THREE approvals before posting anywhere else on the board or twitter. Key elements of our site are only visible to the roleplayers, and in order to protect that privacy from our twitter audience, we only allow roleplayers to register for our site. This is a roleplaying site, so please register with a CHARACTER name. Your username should be Characterfirstname Characterlastname. (ie, your name should be Carlisle Cullen. Not carlislecullen, or CARLISLE CULLEN.) Yes of course, it is fixable by the admins, but why make them change it if you can get it right in the first place? If you do want to change it just pm an //Tell// admin or moderator, and they will do it for you. We have both a twitter and forum game on this site. This may mean that when you apply, someone already has the name you want. In that case, you can add an underscore to your username. This site does have an application! This is not meant to terrorize our members, but to inspire. Be prepared for us to ask questions - it's only to help us know you and your character better. Once your application is posted, be patient. The staff will vote as soon as they can, and you need THREE approvals to start. Don't roleplay until you have all three. It's pretty simple and keeps the game nice and clean. Sounds easy enough, right?

WRITING

This is a literate site, and this extends to our Twitter-based character accounts. While we understand that everyone has a bad day, please use your spell check and grammar check to the best of your ability. A note about foreign languages; if you have a character that speaks a foreign language (ie, a language other than English), we expect that you have a passing knowledge of this language. This is also a literate forum roleplaying site, meaning a few paragraphs is the bare minimum here. When it comes to what a reply looks like we follow one rule: It's the rule of RECIPROCATION! Meaning, if someone spends two hours writing a 1700 word response, don't reply with one paragraph with no dialogue. Our minimum (MINIMUM!) posting requirement in the forum is 250 words, written in third person past tense. While we’re not going to drop every post into a word processor to count the words, do not challenge //me// us on this one. In order to properly set a scene and create a good setup, you need at least 250 words to work with. Disagree? Then, this forum is not for you.

CHARACTERS

We don't have a limit on how many characters you have, but we'd rather you have 1 or 2 great ones, as opposed to 5 or 6 barely active and under developed ones. Get the picture? Only take what you can handle. We are an exclusive roleplaying game. Feel free to have other Twitter accounts to play with other games. Feel free to play in as many games as you like. However, reserve one Twitter account for use exclusively with this game. No one is perfect, and neither are your characters. They can't all be the popular, partying, guy getting girl. Everyone has faults, and let those show! We do not accept or tolerate Mary Sue or Gary Stu characters. Unless it's a canon character, we do not accept relatives to our current characters without prior permission from the current character . Do not apply as someone's little sister without asking first. It will be an automatic denial. Do not Godmod characters; ie do not force another character to do or say anything without permission . This goes for applications, too. Don't say that Demetri found //a//you and brought you home unless you've actually talked to Demetri about this acquisition.

ACTIVITY

Please stay active! If you are going to be gone for longer than 3-4 days, please post in the In Absentia section. That way you don't just go MIA on us. If we see you NOT posting, the admins reserve the right to delete your unused characters. We require our Twitter Based canon and original characters to tweet, at minimum, 5 times a week. These can be done on the same day, if needed. We also want you to get involved in the game and don't get stuck only roleplaying with the same person. Every two weeks, we require that you have talked to TWO other characters. Branch out, talk to new people. It's fun, I promise, and only the vampires and wolves bite around here. We have two minor character options in the game. Sometimes, you need an extra person to help push along a plot, but you don't want to keep them around all the time. The two options are SUPPORTING and TEMPORARY. Supporting characters require an application, and there is no limit to how long they play in the game. These characters are only required to tweet once a week to stay active. Temporary characters do not require an application, and may only remain in the game for three weeks. There is no minimum tweet requirement for temporary characters. If you stop playing your character, you will be removed from the group and the role may or may not be reopened to another player. There are exceptions to this rule; if you have posted on the calendar that you will be absent for one reason or another, or if you have contacted an admin, you will be exempt. Characters will be held for two weeks after they are removed before we consider whether or not to reopen them to other roleplayers.

PLOTTING

Characters should make sure to post plots in each of their member threads. These threads are for communicating with members of a particular character group. Every plot //tale// that you’re thinking about, need suggestions on, are currently running etc needs to be posted in your group’s forum so that other members of your team know what’s going on. We don’t need to see everything; (we doubt your team cares that Jake and Nessa are going for milkshakes), but if it’s going to affect something major about the way your team interacts (ie. A fight, conflict, breakup, one-night-stand, vampire leaving their coven, etc) you NEED to post it here. You’re not asking for permission to run your plot, but you’re letting your teammates know what to expect so they’re not completely blindsided by the transitions.

RATING

This site is rated M, because in life you never know what's gonna happen. This does NOT mean excessive violence, swearing or sex. Swearing is allowed but don't make it a second language. Since Rosetta stone doesn't offer it, we don't consider it a language, okay? If there's gonna be sex, mark the thread with a [M] or [mature] just so those reading responses are expecting. For Twitter-based accounts, add an [M] or [Mature] to your character’s One Line Bio. If you want to fade to black, sure do that. It's not mandatory, but don't make it so graphic that this becomes a porn site.

RESPECT

We are all about respect here in the Olympic Coven. Respect your admin and moderator teams. They’ve earned their titles, and their say is final. Respect this site. Do not steal our content, including our characters and plots. Respect your fellow roleplayers. We have zero tolerance for hateful, racist, sexist, homophobic speech, or any form of discrimination based on age, sex, religion, gender, or sexual preference. Respect your roleplaying game. Do not tarnish our image by bickering with other roleplaying games. Respect the rules of your game. They’re here for a reason, and we promise you that it’s not just to annoy you. Respect the characters and the universe of this game. Don’t act outside of the limitations of your character. In general, two warnings will be given for violations of the rules before any final action is taken. We understand that everyone makes mistakes and forgets certain elements of the plot. Accidents happen, we’re all human (and vampire, and shapeshifter). However, we figure that by the third time, you’re probably not making an honest mistake any longer, and likely shouldn’t continue as a member of the group. There are certain situations where a member may be asked to leave immediately without //of// warning. These are cases of extreme disregard for the rest of the members of the game; hateful or hurtful actions, theft, threats etc. Before a member is removed from the group, all admins will meet and must agree to the decision.

MOST IMPORTANTLY
Have fun! Roleplaying is an awesome possum activity so just have fun. And as long as you follow these rules, we see no reason why you won't have fun! Enjoy!
this set of rules was made by THE GUILTY ONE also known as riley of CAUTION Modified by the admins and moderators of the OC.

[Gillian]

APPLICATIONS 101
Before you fill out your application, we wanted to give you a few tips and tricks that will help you to be successful. No sense in taking the time to fill out an application if it doesn’t stand a chance of being accepted, right? So, here’s a few steps to help you on your journey.

SPELLING AND GRAMMAR COUNTS

This is a literate role-playing game, meaning we expect every player, whether they play on Twitter or in the Forum, to have a good grasp on the English language. We understand that not everyone is a strong speller, and punctuation plagues even the best of us some days. That’s fine, that’s why they invented programs to help us. Locate one using your favorite internet browser, or pull the dictionary off of your bookshelf, and use it to its fullest extent. We also expect that you put the same care into your roleplaying, so bookmark that site or keep that dictionary close – you’ll be using often if accepted!

THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS... OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

Call us crazy, but we’re all bibliophiles. We love to read, and the more details you include on your application, the happier your admins are. We love to see well-thought-out, well-planned characters. By the time you’re finished with your application, you should know your character nearly as well as yourself. A few short sentences and generic bullet points won’t cut it here. Show us exactly what your character can bring to this game; bring them to life, make them real, not just a shallow 2-D character.

THIS ISN'T COLLEGE, BUT THERE IS HOMEWORK. DO IT.
We know you’re new, and we LOVE having new people join our group. Keeps things fresh and interesting. However, do a little bit of homework on our game. Life has moved on beyond the end of Breaking Dawn, and circumstances have changed. Get to know the world you’re stepping into; check out the blogs, and our Olympic Coven Universe section to try to catch up.

IS YOUR CHARACTER A FAMILY MEMBER OR CLOSE PERSONAL FRIEND OF A CURRENT CHARACTER?

Unless the admins have been informed in advance BY THE CURRENT CHARACTER to expect your application, it will not be approved. This game has been running for nearly two years, and many of our roleplayers have been with the game from day one. Throwing a friend or family member into the mix who should have been here all along just confuses the game and everyone involved. If you’ve already spoken to the current character and the two of you have developed a plausible explanation for your absence and a believable way to integrate you into their life, that’s wonderful. Tell that current character to talk to an admin, and then go ahead and apply. Otherwise, don’t.

IS YOUR CHARACTER A HALF-ANYTHING? HALF-WOLF, HALF-VAMPIRE, HALF-EAGLE?
Sorry. We don’t accept the half breeds, with the exception of Renesmee Cullen, Nahuel, Huilen, and the three unnamed sisters. We’re not even sure how a half-wolf or half-eagle would work out, anyway. Aren’t they already half-human, half animal? There are plenty of games out there that accept half-breeds. We just aren’t one of them.

A LESSON IN MARY SUE

MARY SUES NEED NOT APPLY

No they don’t. Your admins have been roleplaying for a long time, and Mary Sues are easy to sniff out from a mile away. If we suspect that your character is going to be a Mary Sue, or the male counterpart, Gary Stu, we’ll deny them straight off. If somehow you make it into the game, and then shift gears and wander into Mary Sue/Gary Stu territory, you’ll start receiving warnings. Mary Sues/Gary Stus tend to ruin the game for everyone else, and we get tired of them fairly quickly. Not sure what a Mary Sue is? Wikipedia: Mary Sue We’ve also taken the opportunity to ask our members what defines a Mary Sue/Gary Stu in their eyes. Our players, after all, set the tone for the game, and their opinion counts when it comes to accepting new characters. Here’s what they had to say: “Mary Sues have no other purpose than to get a boyfriend. All they want to do is hook up with Jake or Edward, or have one of the wolves imprint on them.” “Mary Sues are typically always clumsy, always hurting themselves, and always expecting people to rescue them or feel bad for them.” “Mary Sues are compliment seekers. “I’m not pretty!” (Don’t say that, you’re gorgeous.) “I can’t do anything right.” (Oh, of course you do, you’re perfect!) “Mary Sues typically have “unique” and “unrealistic” names. Think nouns or colors, not names. Or names that are hauntingly similar to the puppetmaster’s real names. Or tomboy names.” “Mary Sues put all of their details into their appearance, either trying too hard to prove how pretty they are, or how UNpretty they are.” “Mary Sues take a day to fall in love. A week at most. And they want to get married after a month.” “Everyone loves a Mary Sue, everyone adores them, wants to date them, wants to be them, or is jealous of them.” “Mary Sues have an unspeakably tragic past that they “can’t speak of”, and yet they run around telling everyone every detail within just a few minutes of meeting them. It’s as though they want everyone to feel sorry for them and pity them for having these unrealistic histories, when all it does is push characters away and keep people from wanting to roleplay with them.” A special thank you to the members of the Olympic Coven RPG who took time out of their day to message us with their thoughts. Okay, so, you’re pretty clear on what a Mary Sue/Gary Stu is at this point, right? So, don’t do it. There are other games that are built upon seeing how many Mary Sue’s can inhabit the same universe. If that’s what you’re looking for, this game is not for you. For further research, you can also take the Mary Sue Litmus Test here: The Original Mary Sue Litmus Test