General Information
But how do I get a character, you ask? Easy! You fill out an application and we look it over and either approve or deny or ask for revisions. Applications allow us to make sure the characters fit into the world view here, the powers make sense and that everyone can have a fair and enjoyable experience here.
As far as length, we don't have a set requirement beyond writing enough to explain your character to us. If it's too short, we'll ask for more. If it's too long, we'll send it back and ask you to trim it down before we even read it, so beware being overly verbose. Once upon a time, an app wizard once said, "Your application should be like a woman's skirt. Long enough to be decent, but short enough to be interesting." I don't remember who said it, but it's very wise.
Grammar, spelling and the like are pretty important, although we're not after perfection. If it's too garbled to understand, we'll ask it be rewritten.
We will try to look at all apps within 3 days of hitting +apply and give you a reply. We will send an @mail if it's going to be longer, just to let you know we haven't forgotten you. If it, for some reason, goes beyond 5 days and you haven't gotten an @mail from a wizard, feel free to page or @mail us with a polite inquiry as to its status. We will do the best we can to keep the turnarounds quick and to keep you informed if that's not possible.
If you need help with a concept or have any questions about the app process or your character idea, let us know! Also, the OOC lounge is a good place for basic concept brainstorming. Feel free to check for Adoptables and speak to the character they're connected to, if you wish!
For the curious, there are some Sample Applications available.
Note: We require players to app an OC first and play actively for 3 months before considering an FC. Please see the FC's page for more information.
Important Note
Sending in an application means you have read, understand and agree to the Policies this game runs under.
Importing Characters
We all understand the appeal of your go to character. That one character that you seem to have played on every game. It's like the comfortable worn bathrobe that you curl up with on a Sunday morning.
Please leave that character outside your connection screen.
Here at Sin City, we are heartily encouraging players to create brand new characters. We spent 5 solid months, selecting this theme, building it and tailoring it so that it was something new and fresh and different from what it's predecessors had offered. We put a great deal of effort into making Sin City a unique place with which you could prop your feet up, pretend to be someone else for a few hours and relax.
As such, we are asking you to extend the same courtesy to us. We know that for some players, the character generation process can be an ungainly and horrifying process. Importing your tried and true is a solution to that. Not here. For that, we guide you towards the adoptables page and urge you to consider one of those.
That said, Staff has not played on every game that every player has been. We can't tell at a glance - usually, if it's an import or not. And, if you really seriously want to bring in an import, then you need to work with us. You need to tailor the history to the game. You need to choose a different PB, perchance change the ability. Alter the character significantly.
Do note, if you +apply, and we catch that it's a dupe/import/carbon copy, we will kick the app back to you and request that it be changed, or denied in it's entirety. We may not have played on every other game, but if you are tossing your app in ten minutes after you've created the bit, you can bet that we have a pretty good hunch that it's a dupe.
Obviously, there's a flaw to this all. We're expecting you to use the honor system. If you manage to get a dupe past us - it's almost happened - Then, you got one past us. But know that we will be unhappy staff if we find out and shame on you. And know that we'll be looking at your alt apps very closely from that point forward.
Application Form
Name: Full name.
Age: This should always be over 18 unless you've expressly gotten wizard approval for an underage character.
Gender: Male or Female
Gene Status: Advanced for those with abilities or Mundane for those without.
Profession: What exactly is it that you do around here anyway?
Alignment: Good, Evil, Grey Area, Lawful Good, Chaotic Neutral, etc.
Affiliation: What organization are you a part of, if any?
PB: Who is your played by actor/actress/model/etc.
Background: Your history prior to the moment your step out on grid. We want to know what's happened to them, the big events of their lives, the moments that had a hand in shaping who they are today. This doesn't have to include every little detail, but should be enough to give us an idea of who they are and what they've been through. It doesn't even have to start at birth. Just so long as you cover all the important bits. Be sure to include things like… when they got their abilities, how they feel about them, major events like family/friends dying or jail time and important points like marriage, divorce, abuse or whatever things might have impacted them. Be sure to read over the timeline and include things that they experienced from there, if any. We expect you to play to what you wrote here and not add in important points after the fact. Give it some good thought. (Inconsequential things, of course, can be thrown about, or connections to other PCs once you chat with other players.)
Oh, and make sure to include if they know about the Advanced and when they learned about it, if so.
Resources: Money, education, property, contacts, any resource they might be able to tap as the game goes on. Do they know a guy who knows a guy who knows how to get illegal firearms? Put it in. Make sure this is supported by the Background.
Ability: What is your power? Be thorough here, too. Tell us what it is and what it can do, as well as its limitations. Things like duration, area of effect, drawbacks and mental blocks should be included where appropriate. Don't forget power specific things like… temperature, speed, strength, voltage, etc. Be specific. Be creative. Remember to keep it sane. And please read the abilities page and don't hesitate to ask us if you need guidance.
Also include how practiced the character is with the power. If they're young, or if the power is new, they should have sloppy control and less understanding of the power. If they've been using it for years, they can be better with it, but have less room for growth as the game goes on.
Make a note here if you're apping someone whose powers haven't manifested yet. If that's the case, you still have to write out a power explanation, you just will have an on-screen manifestation and start with extremely low control. So, with unmanifested characters, you can opt for the staff to pick a power for you, but be aware, you'll be stuck with whatever they dream up for you.
Skills: What other talents do you have? What hobbies are you good at? What things are you downright awful at? All non-power related things go here. Anything extreme should be supported by the Background (Black belt training? Leet hacking skills?) Any extras you want us to know about what your character can do should go here. Do they dance? Can they speak another language? Keep in mind age and relative believably here.
Support Characters: This is a spot for important people in your character's life. Family, close friends, people that are around who impact their lives. (Or not around and could impact their lives if they suddenly showed up.) This is a place for side characters you might NPC from time to time, like a wife or a roomate, and an explanation of who they are and what they can do. Tell us if you'd like any of them to be put up as Adoptable. If you want an official NPC for plot or possible plot, mention that. Please be aware that staff will use your official NPCs if there's use for them, and may use other characters from this list, too. For adoptables, you can choose if you want us to be able to use them for plot or not before they're apped.
RP Plans: If you have any specific goals or plans in mind, explain here. What do you see your character doing once they're on grid? Are you open to troublesome plot being thrown at them at random, for better or worse? Is there any specific trouble you'd like them to get thrown at them? What are some hooks you might be bringing to the grid?
Reapping and Application Alterations
Note: There is only one wizard at this time, please keep that in mind when reading the following.
This will happen. Most of the time, you won't get a rejection unless the idea is contrary to worldview in such a way that it would entirely need to be rewritten. Most of the time, if reworking is necessary, you'll get a list of needed adjustments from us, and then you'll need to edit your application sections to mirror those adjustments. Both of us will look over your app, so don't make these changes until you've gotten comments from both of us on your +job.
For sanity's sake, please don't @mail us with a description of the changes or put the specific changes or answers to questions we ask in the +job. Questions we have and adjustments we require will need to be explained in the +background, +skills, +ability and the like, whether you drop us a comment/@mail or not. So please, wait for our comments and then make the changes to the sections in the chargen rooms and put a comment on your job when that's done. If you have questions about our adjustments, then it's okay to add a comment or @mail us before you alter your app. But it is very confusing to read through one version of the app on the character bit, and then have to go to the comments or @mail to read a whole new version. Or to try to insert little changes into what we've just read. So please hold those until you've heard from us both after the initial app or any further revisions/questions you might have.
Plus, the second reviewer might just have other things for you to revise and all that work will just have to be adjusted. And that's adjustments on the adjustments and we'll all just go mad as a box of frogs.
So basically. After you hit +apply, both Humility and Wrath will add a comment. If you have questions or need clarifications on those comments add a +comment to the job and we'll clear things up. Once it's clear, or if you have no questions, alter your +background, +skills and the rest as needed, and add a +comment to the job. And then it starts over from the start.
As a note, when there get to be a lot of comments, we will close the job with a More Work tag. When that happens, you will have to hit +apply again to reopen the job. If there are questions when there is no job open, @mail both Wrath and Humility.
