Rules and Regulations

The Admins of Avatar: After the Fall (A:ATF) would like to thank you for your interest in our site and hope you stick around to be part of the fun. However, like any community endeavor, rules are needed to maintain the smooth operation and continued stability of the site. Please read these rules carefully and abide by them at all times.

OOC Rules:
1) SITE LANGUAGE: A:ATF is an ENGLISH forum. We allow a smattering of other languages as accents, but we do not allow any other language to be widely used. We want everyone to understand each other here and appreciate your sticking to this language.

2) SITE RATING: A:ATF is designed to allow everyone to have as much freedom with their characters as possible. We do not restrict action or language unless excessive. Anything above one or two curses in a sentence is not acceptable. And anything involving graphic description of sex or gore is unacceptable. [See: Posting below...]

3) CONDUCT: RPing is about community and one's relationship to that community. As such, anyone who shows a repeated disregard for that community will not be tolerated. Insulting, flaming, or being otherwise unnecessarily rude to your fellow RPers and you will receive a strike. These 'he started, she started' games will not protect you either. If five people are screaming at each other in the chat box or in posts for no reason, then they're all getting strikes. Three of these and you're out on your ass. (< Example of appropriate French.) [See: God-Modding below...]

4) ADMIN AUTHORITY: Admins are the protectors of the site and as such should be treated with respect. As chief admin, I do not give the authority lightly. Those who have it have proven to me that they are capable of wielding it responsibly. If an admin tells you to do or change something, you will follow directions. If you argue, the admin in question will give you either a warning or a strike. Warnings are not permanent marks. Strikes are. As with rule 3, three strikes and you're out.

PROVISION: Just because they have proven they are capable of being responsible doesn't mean they always are. If you see an admin abusing his/her power anywhere on the site, you are to inform me immediately via PM (take a screenshot if it's in the chat box.) If it's me acting up, please speak to the designated deputy chief admin.

5) ADVERTISEMENT: Advertising your own site is allowed. However, there are specific places for these advertisements to go. You will find the Advertisement thread in the OOC section of the site.

NOTE: No porn or other graphic material. When I say you're allowed to advertise, I mean you're allowed to advertise other RPs.

6) SPAMMING: Don't. Strikes. They happen.

IC and Character Creation Rules:
1) MARY SUE, GARY STU: For those of you who don't know what a Mary Sue is, these are characters who do not have a shred of originality and are cliched into oblivion. Generally speaking, Mary Sues and Gary Stus tend to be drawn directly off of some other character in popular fiction. This place is about exploring and exercising your creative side, not ripping off someone else's. If you can't do better than a half-cocked rip-off, then please don't inflict yourself upon us.

2) OVERPOWERED CHARACTERS: Aren't allowed. Let me be clear here -- there are some very talented and powerful people in the world of Avatar. However, no one is good enough to wipe out an army alone or strong enough to throw a Fire Nation ship or fast enough to outrun a speeding bullet. We're looking for real, relatable characters, not an endless stream of freakishly powerful demigods. Believe me when I tell you that all the admins on this site are seasoned RPers or, at the very least, extremely good ones. We can smell an OP character a mile away. For more information, refer to the character templates pages in the Characters board.

3) GOD-MODDING: Also known as Uninspired Idiot Happy Hour, is completely unacceptable and ridiculous. For those who don't know, this is the act of controlling other people's characters to give yourself the upper hand. YOU do not decide if your attacks hit or the kiss you're trying to steal lands. They do. And, of course, vice versa. This is a subset of the Conduct rule and has the same striking rules. Controlling other people's characters without their permission is insulting and selfish. Don't do it.

3.5) METAGAMING: Acting on information your character doesn't have. It doesn't get much more / FAIL than this. Don't do it ever. Just because you have the information doesn't mean your character does. Although you control the character, you are still separate from the character. They are another individual entirely. Treat them as such.

4) MAJOR EVENTS: Are not shaped wholly by individuals. They are shaped by groups of individuals and, as such, are not left to the decisions of one character. Major shifts in site-wide plots and/or political relationships are decided by the approval of the admins, not random regular members. Understand that your IC authority does not give you the power to do just anything you want with whatever supposed resources you have at your disposal. You have control over your character, and your character ALONE. You can play with NPCs if you want, but you will not got off on some half-cocked campaign tearing across the IC world on a whim. If you want to start a major, site-wide plot, you better get everyone from the highest admin to the lowest newbie on board first.

4) LOCALIZATION: Your character is not everywhere at once. Make sure you are able to explain the CHAIN of events. If you have your character at two places in the exact same point of time, it creates confusion and begs many a question. Please maintain a timeline for your character in your character sheet.

5) MURDER: Is murder. It doesn't matter if you're talking about a fictional human being. It's still murder. I'll make this simple: Don't kill other people's characters without permission.

NOTE: Don't kill off accounts on a regular basis just because. If you start a character, keep them going until the best thing you can do with the character is kill them.

6) POSTING: In character posts should be at least 100 words long. Remember that every post is the set up for the next. Give whoever you're working with on the thread in question some breathing room and something to work with.

CONTENT CONTINUED: "F YOU, YOU F-ING F-ER!" is not a sentence worth putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys.) There are very few people here that wouldn't know what's involved in sex, or wouldn't have a pretty good idea of what kind of gruesome stuff happens when someone gets gutted. You can get your point across without resorting to excessive foul language and graphic detail. While we accept materials that might fit squarely between PG-13 and R, we ask that you try to limit the graphic detail.

7) MULTIPLE CHARACTERS: Yes, please. We encourage you to explore the world fully. It's hard to do so with just one character. However, please do not inundate us with character accounts. Make one character at a time and get the character off the ground before moving on to the next one.

If there is any confusion about these rules or any questions concerning them, they may be directed to any administrator, myself included, or may be inquired about in the chat box at the bottom of the site. Thank you.