Policy Discussion

[singularitymods.livejournal.com]

Some of Singularity's players have questions about the game policies on AU character applications. This post has been put up to allow players to approach the staff to ask questions, offer suggestions, and voice concerns regarding those policies. The moderators are also available via IM/PM [contact information] if any player does not feel comfortable discussing their concerns in public.

As of the end of this application round (August 15th), AU applications will be closed until this matter can be resolved. This ban on AU apps does not apply to the exceptions listed in the AU policies (malleable protagonists and canon AUs).

Comments

[barkstabbark]

I understand your point, and I do agree entirely, and that's the reason for "filing off the numbers" as Teal has put it. Aang wouldn't be the Last Jedi Master, maybe he'd still be called the Avatar and he just has different powers similar to Jedis, or his powers are the same and he's just in space. In a good AU, there would still be connections and similarities to canon so as not to make things too awkward with canon castmates. Maybe it's just Avatar in space with slightly more Fire Nation-built Death Stars!

The same could be said for any canon AU as well, ex. pretty much every comic ever with all those reboots and personality changes and etc. If someone played one version of Batman against a different version of Robin with differing personalities/backgrounds, would that be unfair as well?

I'd also like to point out now that I'm not trying to say AUs like mine and Zae's Elfen Lied/Homestuck thing should be the norm, because even I think that's a little too close to the second canon. I'm more for allowing AUs that use different settings, which can often be inspired by other canons, because there is pretty much a book/movie/game for everything. Avatar in space would be a cool AU. Aang the Last Jedi Master might be pushing it a bit too much, though.

[alaspooryork]

Avatar in Space would be a pretty cool AU, if done well. The problem as I see it would be that it's unfair to his castmates to expect them to accept Aang as their Aang and not someone with the same name who has a similar background--which is the whole point of AUs to me, to have someone be essentially the same no matter what you change in their background. Asking Zuko to accept that Aang was an Earthbender in his universe is probably easier for Zuko to swallow than it is to ask Zuko to accept Appa the Space Bison Ship, Aang from planet Air, etc.

Again, as I see it the problem is not with the AU concepts but from how appropriate it is to accept them into a game with people from a canon that's potentially vastly different.

Regarding Batman and Robin, which comes up as a natural example from something with so many versions of canons, well, it probably would be ridiculous for Christian Bale Batman to meet up with Adam West Batman's sidekick Robin--but I think it's a lot easier to keep a handle on what they can affect without outright banning any canons, which nobody wants.

[barkstabbark]

To be honest? I think wanting castmates to accept an AU character as the canon character would be a little silly. Wouldn't that make it more awkward if there was both an AU and a canon version? To use an example already in the game, we have our canon Karkat and our AU Karkat. They are clearly not the same person anymore, and if AU!Karkat apped in first I don't think the current cast would immediately accept him as "their Karkat," but as a different Karkat, or at least one set far enough in the future to not really be the one they remember. If we had an AU Karkat that acted exactly the same but was human, I still don't think his castmates would immediately accept him as a replacement for canon Karkat.

When a game allows AUs, sometimes you're going to accept AU characters that might turn off potential canon applicants. This is why there are also games that don't accept AUs. If someone isn't comfortable playing with AU characters, I'm not sure why they would join a game that accepts them. In some cases, yes, changes can be too extreme and it could turn out incredibly awkward for castmates. SpaceAang could be so wildly different his castmates wouldn't know how to react. He could also be from a well-written AU with more than enough parallels to break the ice and make it easier for everyone to understand eachother and all that.

Basically, what I keep saying: an AU app shouldn't be judged on the base concept, but on its execution.

[alaspooryork]

Coming from a canon where AUs and duplicates are more common than canon versions (Red vs. Blue), my experience has been different. We more or less have accepted everyone as being the "real" versions of the characters, only from different timelines (which is actually possible in the canon thanks to a certain character's ability to loop time and case multiple timelines; sound familiar?), and I'm just stating things as I see them from my point of view. If someone were to app a...say a Civil War Red vs. Blue character, they wouldn't have the same kind of intrinsic cast acceptance that I could see, and isn't interacting with an existing cast one of the main reasons people app from specific fandoms anyway? Regardless of how well-developed the Civil War Red vs. Blue AU was, it could still be very off-putting to existing cast members who didn't study the Civil War and have no idea what any of the specific terminology means--a problem they wouldn't have with an AU that sticks closely to canon.

[barkstabbark]

Well, when you're dealing with AUs there are obviously going to be times when canon characters don't understand things. I don't think that makes it impossible to interact with them. If an AU character used different terminology, it would only take explaining a few things and maybe a few silly threads before that got worked out. I don't think other muns would be expected to do much research on another character's canon either-- unless it's knowledge the canon character would have anyway, they wouldn't be expected to know those things.

When AUs are involved, there's going to be some confusion for canon characters, but that's just something that comes with AUs. It's an easily solved problem most of the time, and I think you're underestimating most canon characters' ability to interact with AUs. To use my own AU as an example, Jack's background is insanely different from Homestuck's canon, but everyone still recognizes him as the stab-happy asshole he is. I suppose I can't speak for everyone else, but I've yet to see or receive any complaints about him being difficult to interact with due to his differing background, and I haven't had the impression of such either. Once castmates got over the fact that he was squishy human Jack who likes beaches, they pretty much accepted that as Weird Alternate Universe Shit and moved on.

[alaspooryork]

On the one hand, that sort of acceptance does come easily for a canon like Homestuck or Red vs. Blue where Weird Alternate Timeline Shit is a valid explanation for things. This isn't, however, necessarily the case for Halo, Dead Space, Leverage, or many of the other canons represented in the game. And it would be unfair to allow wild AUs for some canons and not others--so I can see why the preference is to keep them fairly minor.

While it's fair to say that that's underestimating some casts' ability to accept an extreme AU castmate, it's also important to remember that not all casts or characters work the same way.