RULES

1. Character limit.

Crossover does not have a character limit, but we do ask you to keep it realistic. Some people can be more active than other players, but we will keep tabs on the activity of your characters. It is not fair to someone that might want to play the character you have and you've only updated with that character once in the past two months. As such, please keep your own activity level in mind when applying for more than two characters, as that will be a factor in the acceptance of your application.

However, we do have various limits on types of characters for the time being. Right now, we are only allowing characters from the DC and Marvel Universes. Sorry. There are so many possibilities under that umbrella, that letting in the Indie comics right now would just be silly. I'm sorry if you have a distinct desire to play Battle Pope, and even if you write the most beautiful application we've ever seen, it is not going to change the fact that we're focusing on DC and Marvel right now. If you do want to play someone from an Indie Comic, please email the mods first at crossoverrpgmods@gmail.com


2. Activity.

We require that characters make some sign of activity (a log, a journal post, or a whole lot of comments) at least once a week. There will be regular activity checks, and if characters fall inactive, then we'll send the player a warning. However, to avoid falling into a cycle where characters only post after they've been warned, players will only be warned twice. The third time, the character will be marked as available for applications and the original player will not be able to apply for that character for a week after that character is removed from the game.

Of course, we realize that real life can get busy. So long as you post a hiatus notice, you won't be penalized for having midterms, or moving, or whatever.


3. Adult content.

All logs should have a brief summary that includes a rating (based on MPAA movie ratings). Really, stuff shouldn't go beyond R. If sex happens, we recommend that you use a fade-to-black (FTB), and if you want to write it out and post it, post it somewhere other than the game. Otherwise, just be mindful that not everyone is comfortable with sex, drugs, and swearing, so if you write something that contains a lot of it, put it under an lj-cut and make note of the content.


4. IC/OOC.

This is a game. That's all it is. You may certainly become very attached to your characters and experience a range of emotions on their behalf, but at the end of the day, they are fictional. It's important to be mindful of this distinction, and to keep in mind that OOC knowledge is just that: OOC. Just because you know that Spiderman has insecurities doesn't mean your character knows about them or should play upon them. In the same vein, just because someone else's character is mean to your character doesn't mean that the other character's player is a jerk. The player is probably a very nice person, and you shouldn't judge them based upon IC interaction.

For that matter, characters do not automatically know each other or what comic they come from, unless they come across that information from each other or in the journals somehow. Remember to check for the status in someone's profile if you're uncertain how public that knowledge might be.


5. Consent (don't want no twinks).

Consent is an integral part of RP, and it is essential that any sort of action that could have major physical or emotional consequences on others be discussed and authorized beforehand. There are some things that people just don't want their characters to have to deal with, and forcing such things on them is simply not cool. All it takes is a quick email or IM to the player to get it worked out. Otherwise, it can cause OOC Drama, and we are totally trying to avoid that. Speaking of...


6. Drama.

People, this is a game, and is not to be taken too seriously. We here at Crossover have a VERY low tolerance for OOC drama (though are known to indulge often IC) and ask that you please leave it at the door. If there is some issue between players, we ask that it does not spill over into gameland (you are not, after all, required to deal with each other directly). If you feel you cannot hold your tongues and demand mediation, then seek out mod intervention before having it out on the comms or dropping characters unnecessarily.


7. Minor plot.

As far as we're concerned, our playerbase is generally awesome and produces tons and tons of fun RP, crack, and drama, and your character is your character to do with what you wish. However, we do ask that if something verges on a little bit too cracktastic or dramatic that you run those plot points by the mods first. This includes topics like rape, terminal illness, murder, other sorts of death, etc. Generally we're cool with what you want to do, we'd just like to make sure we know if there is anything SUPER MAJOR going on with your character that we should be aware of.


8. Major plot.

The official stance amongst people in RP land is 'Plot = WIN'. We are no exceptions to this rule. If you have any ideas for plot that involves the greater theme and game community, we would love to hear about it! ^_^ However, we do ask that you submit it to us to look over before putting it into play, just to make sure it doesn't conflict with anything that we might be planning. Send an email to us with any ideas that you have to crossoverrpgmods@gmail.com.

Rules lovingly taken from the modly types over at Fairly Tales. We thought it to be a good set of rules to live by, and we love you all very much!



FAQ

1. Where does this game take place?

We're in New York, for the most part. You can be from where ever you want, but the main people are stationed in New York. Cliche, yes, but easy enough. HQ is there, at *insert fictional location here probably near Central Park*

2. How do the journals work?

They're computer journals on a secure server. And really, if someone hacked in and saw a bunch of people talking like they were superheroes, they'd probably think that they were crazy, or role-playing, soooooo.... Nevertheless, it's like IJ, or LJ, or sites like that. Your first name appears next to your entry, but not your comic or anything like that, in the hopes that it will still give people some privacy.

You can lock the entries to certain people as long as you know them. For example: [Emily/Arthur/Brian] would lock to those people on the system (or any sort of filter like that, which you want to use). [Filtered to: Aquaman] would not work, unless you knew for certain which person was Aquaman, since the system doesn't know which person is which comic character. You have to be able to assign it to certain people in the system, and comic character names are not in the list. Make sense?

Also, the system does have the ability to filter replies to certain people only. Some people don't want to have others see their conversations, that fine. Just filter the replies.

3) What characters can I play?

Anything from the printed DC or Marvel Universes. It doesn't have to be one of the biggies, unless you want it to be, but we are sticking to DC and Marvel for the time being. Don't ask to play someone from Dark Horse or whatever. Just don't. Not now. I understand the pull to want to play those Indie label characters but for the time being, we are only taking applications for DC or Marvel. That still leaves a plethora of characters available to you. A plethora.

4) Why are you two so magnificent?

This article from BBC News and World Report might be able to help!

5) What history do I go by with the character I want to play?

Honestly, that is going to be up to you. We understand that the comic industry likes to take a history and completely overwrite it, and pretend like the other one didn't happen. Honestly, it is up to you how much you do or do not want to acknowledge of it. After all, you can remember things differently than someone else. All we ask is that you stick to comic books, and not the cartoons or movies.

6) What happens with comic books that are still coming out that involve my character?

Look up at #5. If you want to play off that your character knows about it, and has some strange running commentary in their head as it is happening, then so be it. If you don't want to worry about that, dont. It is that simple.

7) I really wanted to play Superman, but you bastards killed him. :/ WTF WTF~

Woah. Woah. Alright, look, the way it works is that their memories get transferred into you, some sort of reincarnation or whatever. Superman is still out there, brand new again, he just has to be found. Someone is more than welcome to play him. We aren't going to stop that. Just, what plot we do have should be stuck to, okay? :D

8) Is there a way to tell if you're around another person that has a comic character in them?

You mean like, spidey-sense? SURE. WHY NOT? Again, it is up to you how you want your character to react to meeting another person like them. A cold chill, goosebumps, your left pinky toe starts to ache... whatever. Is it stronger when you're around someone from your comic? Maybe a little bit? Nothing major, but enough to figure out who you're supposed to be meeting in a wide group of people. :P

9) Who knows who my character really is?

There is a process. Generally the people that head up the two divisions are in charge of discovering who you are, testing you, documenting it, and blah blah blah paperwork things like that. Superman deemed Mister Fantastic to head up the Marvel side of things, and he took care of DC, though he was training Wonder Woman to take his place should anything happen to him. So, technically, Mister Fantastic and Wonder Woman know exactly who every one is, but they aren't going around telling anyone.