influxmod | influx > rules and procedures

RULES

The rules for Influx are relatively simple, and very standard. They are applied on a case-by-case basis, with smaller or accidental violations earning warnings, and more grievous violations resulting in an instant removal from the game.

● Don't be a jerk. This is a hobby and we're all here to have fun. If your behavior is making the OOC atmosphere toxic and sapping the enjoyment of your fellow players or the moderator, there will be consequences. This includes godmoding or infomodding, serious blurring of the IC/OOC line, and other typical rules of roleplaying. The mod reserves the right to refuse applications or reserves based on a demonstrated history of toxic behavior.

● Keep it in character. Development happens, but it must be natural and progress in a way that fits your character. If your character's personality has fundamentally changed, especially without reason, since your application was written, you will be asked to take a week hiatus in order to canon review and will be on probation until the problem has cleared up.

● Please warn for graphic content and put it under a cut. Sexual content is more than welcome (and somewhat encouraged by the setting) but please lock it to community members only.

Please contact the moderator if you feel these rules are being broken, and every effort will be made to help you. Your mod's goal, at the end of the day, is for everyone to be having fun.

PROCEDURES

MOD AVAILABILITY
● To avoid burnout, your mod will have 'hours of operation' just like any job would! Hours of operation will vary depending on the mod's real life responsibilities, but availability will generally happen at least once a day to avoid making players wait too long on sensitive subjects. The mod will announce availability opening and closing on the mod plurk:

in_flux. Any responses or quick answers outside of these hours of operations should be considered a bonus, not an expectation.

CHARACTER LIMIT
● Influx is meant to be a smaller game, focused on character development. To facilitate this, the overall character limit will be 100 characters, with a limit of three characters per player.

APPLICATIONS
● Apps are mail in and and, starting in November 2014, will open for the last week of each month. Once 100 characters are actively in play, apps will be closed until characters are dropped or AC swept to make room and will then be on the regular app cycle. Applications are judged by the mod and an application helper.

ACTIVITY CHECK
● The AC at Influx will be based on content rather than comment count, and will be permanently judged on a case-by-case basis. Activity is considered to be any kind of engaged participation in the game, whether related to CR and character interactions, the game's plot and events, or player plot, as opposed to contentless spam-style comments.

The AC is intended to be easy to to meet.

Here are a few examples of AC that might be submitted and whether they would be acceptable:

> Jack chatted idly with Jill about how pretty the park is today. (Mod would request additional AC information - example is missing character thought process or more than superficial interaction with the setting.)

> Jack chatted with Jill about how pretty the park is, and they wondered about how the environment is maintained with the storm overhead. (Acceptable - example shows character thought processes and interaction with game mechanics.)

> Jack chatted with Jill about how pretty the park is, and they wondered about how the environment is maintained with the storm overhead - again, in a different thread. (Mod would request another AC sample - example shows that characters have not done anything new over the month.)

> Jill went for a walk. (Mod would request additional AC information - example is missing character thought process or more than superficial interaction with the setting.)

> Jill went for a walk, and met John for the first time. OR Jill went for a walk, and found a hidden cabinet in the back of the police station and there was some ammo for her favorite gun inside. Sweet! - (Acceptable - examples show reaching out for new CR and interaction with the setting, respectively.)

> Jack and Jill had an argument about household chores, but for the first time agreed to disagree instead of coming to blows. (Acceptable - example shows CR development.)

> Jill unleashed an army of tribbles on the compound during amp-up, and everyone had to spend a week figuring out how to stop them. Jill hid in her dorm for the duration to avoid punishment. (Aceptable - player may not have extensively tagged in the event, but provided activities for other players to engage with.)

Activity check will be open for the last week of the month, and will consist of a request for what your character has done in-game for the month, a link to some evidence of the stated activity, and a request for what you hope to have them do in the next month. Evidence of activity will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Characters applied for within two weeks before the opening of activity check will be excused from that month's AC, though they will need to check in. A check-in includes the character's acceptance date, and links to their information submissions to the taken characters and player contact lists for their first AC.

Consideration will be given for slower months, whether it's because of real life circumstances such as holidays or illness, or in-game circumstances such as events that don't go over well, regardless of hiatus.

APPABLE CHARACTERS
● Influx will be accepting any character from any published media with a few caveats:
> a significant portion of the canon must be released
> the canon must have been released for at least one month prior to the application
> the canon does not have to be in English but there must be a significant English information resource
> the character must have enough canon information and appearances that headcanon comprises less than half of the application, including personality
> for player-controlled main characters from games like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, or Persona, personality must be consistent and explained in the context of the choices your character has made in the game; characters with romance-building options must be apped as if they have not pursued any relationship in their canon to avoid making potential applicants of the NPCs uncomfortable

Canon AUs or clones will be allowed providing a significant difference from the 'original' can be demonstrated. Non-canon AUs are not appable.

Original characters are appable but the application process is extremely stringent for them.

BIOS COMMUNITY
● Influx Bios is a community meant to house short bios for characters in the game, something like an ongoing CR meme. Each player accepted to the game should have a short bio filled out with both IC details that might come in handy for fellow players and OOC Player Preferences. Communication on these entries is encouraged, as is editing of the entry to include new and changing information about the character as development happens in-game, and new player preferences.

CR MEME
● To facilitate specific CR and scenario requests with more visibility than the bio comm allows for, a CR meme will also be posted every month on the Friday of the fourth week.

POWERS + ITEMS
● Powers will not be limited, with one exception: travel out of the dimension Anchor is located in will be blocked by the weapon's effects, whether with an item or on one's own. This will not block summons.

Likewise, character inventories including weapons and devices that would constitute a power (such as Iron Man's suit) will generally be allowed, though keep in mind that storage space is at a minimum and your characters' items must remain in their dormitory. Items do not have to have been on your character's person when they came to Anchor, but every item they bring must be on the initial application. New items from home can only be added via canon updates.

Please be advised that any attempt to use abilities or items to circumvent the OOC rules will result in the nullification of or confiscation of that ability or item. Any attempt to use powers or items to circumvent IC rules should be brought to the mod, and may actually be allowed on a case-by-case basis. Sneaky dealing can sometimes lead to interesting plot twists, but please remember that no means no.

TIME RATIO
● Influx's time will pass with a ratio of two days in real life to one day in game.

HIATUS AND DROP
● Because there are limited character slots in Influx, please use the drop post as soon as you have decided you no longer have interest in a character. The maximum hiatus time is one month except in special cases that must be brought to the mod in advance. Hiatuses of two weeks or more within a month will exempt you from that month's activity check - abuse of this policy to character squat will not be tolerated.

TAGGING ENTRIES
● Tagging is not required but preferred. Tags should be in the format of "canon: character name" for the log community, "entry: canon: character" top-level posts in the main community, and "reply: canon: character name" for replies to entries on the main community. Characters are responsible for their own tags only, though philanthropic helping-hand taggers are more than welcome.

HMD
● HMD will be posted with the AC every month, and is mandatory. Anonymous commenting will not be enabled on the HMD since there is no way to verify that anonymous comments are from people within the game, with the caveat that the first rule of Influx will be strictly enforced both for people receiving and giving critique. Players may link to an anon-enabled HMD on their own journal at their own discretion.

FOURTH-WALLING
● Fourth-walling should be avoided, even if the character canonically knows another canon. How to work around canon fourth-walling knowledge is left up to player discretion.

CANON UPDATES
● Characters can be canon updated once in every six-month span that they are in game. Canon updates can be requested here.

[code credit to

tookthestars]