Singularity App Team (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
singdemimods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
singularityooc2011-12-27 02:35 pm
singdemimods) wrote in singularityooc2011-12-27 02:35 pm
Entry tags:
Information: Applications
| APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED |
RESERVES ARE CLOSED |
app and character limits |
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Players may app up to two characters at a time, and can play up to a maximum of five. Moderators reserve the right to restrict how many characters a current player may apply for if it appears they are having difficulty maintaining activity with their existing characters. While not an absolutely immutable rule, before a player applies for further characters, we would like to see one post a month from all their characters already in the game or regular commenting on other characters' posts. This is not an AC requirement and no one will be removed from the game for not meeting it. It is a guideline to help ensure that our players can keep up with their character load. Since we accept AU characters and characters with CR from other games, we have a restriction on how many copies of a character can be in the game at a time before they become unavailable. As such, only one canon, one AU, and one other game CR AU will be accepted, for a total of three different versions. In the case of malleable protagonists, we allow three different versions. That could be three "canon" versions, or two canon and a CR AU, or any other combination. This is still the same effective cap in number as for other character types, but includes a little flexibility about how we define AUs for the purposes of the game, since any two Couriers or Grey Wardens can be very different, yet equally canonical. When applications are open, a mod will reply with acceptance, rejection, or request for revisions as soon as possible. Please note that the mods and app team make a strong effort to respond to apps in the order received, but the mods may appear to skip over some apps depending on their familiarity with the canon or because of ongoing discussion amongst the team. Some apps are easier calls than others, but no app is ignored. If you would like to know the status of your application at any time, please ask a mod. If apps are closed, stated in the status block at the top of this page, reserves will open here. |
what is appable |
For the most part, any character is appable, provided the player can demonstrate the ability to play them. Singularity accepts characters from all media, with a few exceptions:
Occasionally, a rapidly-developing canon like Homestuck or Red vs Blue may throw plot curveballs. For well-established characters, this is not usually a problem, but minor characters may be substantially altered by new information. While not strictly banned, if your character is likely to be affected by revelations in the near future, we ask that you hold off on an application until the story arc is resolved. |
original characters |
| Original characters are welcome, but only from existing players. This might seem unfair, but Singularity is primarily a fandom game, and we'd like to see how a player performs with someone else's character before playing their own. OC apps are given closer scrutiny than fandom apps, because we are essentially serving as editors in their case. Fandom characters have already been through the editorial process, and have been vetted for inconsistencies and implausibility. (Some more successfully than others, but we work with what we have.) |
playing closely-related characters |
| As a rule, a single player is not allowed to app two closely-associated characters. These would be siblings, lovers, close companions or rivals, etc., regardless of whether one is canon and one is AU. An exception is made for characters who naturally "go together." For example, 3 and 4 from 9, or Doc infected with O'Malley from Red vs Blue (since O'Malley has a different personality inside Doc than inside someone else). Players don't have to app pairs like these together, but they have the option. The selfcest rule ("please keep playing with yourself in public to a respectable minimum") applies here, so if the pair you want to app would spend most of their time talking to each other rather than to other characters, they're not necessarily a good fit under this rule. It depends on how much you'd prefer to explore their relationship versus how much you'd like to develop other relationships. Additionally, both characters will count toward your character limit, so please app wisely. Another exception: characters with multiple personalities, whether perfectly healthy and functional or resulting from a psychological condition like Dissociative Identity Disorder can arrive with those personalities intact, and will count as only one character, regardless of how many identities they have. |
playing physically-incompatible characters |
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Characters that are physically incompatible with the human-scaled, O2 environment of the station may be converted to a more compatible state--for instance, Na'vi from Avatar would be able to breathe oxygen, and Omega Supreme from Transformers might find himself only as tall as Optimus Prime. Characters without independent bodies (for example, the AI Cortana from Halo) have the option of being inserted into a mechanical body, some sort of mobile platform, or in an immobile platform that interfaces directly with the network. They can always switch out to another body later. If you are planning on apping an implanted AI character that is likely to attempt to take over the entire network, please run your ideas by the mods. If you have a character with attributes not covered here and are not sure how they might live in Singularity, please visit the Contact page to speak to a mod or app team member. |
apping from alternate universes or timelines |
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Singularity accepts multiples of all characters, but only one "canon"/original universe (OU) version of anyone. All others have to be alternate universe (AU). The least complicated AUs are the canon AUs, like the Kingdom Hearts versions of Square Enix characters or the various Commanders Shepard from Mass Effect. "Canon AU" is something of a misnomer; malleable protagonists and canons with multiple continuities are equally canonical and the apps are judged as such, but any duplicates are considered AUs for game bookkeeping purposes, such as community tags and caps on the number of multiples. Player-made AUs are also appable. However, this doesn't mean that any given player-created AU is going to be a good match for the game. You should be able to explain convincingly why your version of the character fits and will be playable while remaining recognizably a canon character. For instance, Commander Shepard can plausibly be male or female because the setting of Mass Effect is gender-egalitarian and the story does not change more than superficially with the player's choice of gender for their Shepard. On the other hand, an AU where Commander Shepard was not human--say, a turian--would require the plot of the Mass Effect games to be entirely rewritten because it would change everything about the background and motivations of the character, and would make no sense without substantially altering the sociopolitics of the universe. A case where gender would matter is for a Disney princess like Ariel from The Little Mermaid or Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Because of the gender roles assumed by the setting and the major effect this would have on the character's relationships and the story itself, it goes beyond the scope of an RP character to simply do a gender change. Players may find it easier to app AUs from a point in the timeline soon after one key event from after the story is well underway is altered. This is not a rule, but a guideline; it both gives the character a substantial canon grounding and keeps them from having drifted too far--for example, Luke Skywalker from the beginning of The Return of the Jedi if he had accepted Darth Vader's offer at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. It is a challenge, but not an insurmountable one, to explain why Luke would have chosen differently in the AU, and how the change would have affected his character in the few weeks since. Star Wars would still be recognizable as Star Wars, and Luke as Luke. However, an AU where Luke and Leia were raised by Vader fundamentally alters the premise of the story; the plot of the Star Wars trilogy would be entirely different in a universe where Leia hadn't grown up on Alderaan as the adopted child of a Rebel leader and Luke had never been a farmer on Tatooine or met Ben Kenobi. The idea, while compelling, is material better suited for a fanfic than RP, where you as writer control not only your character, but other characters' reactions to them, and have the opportunity to set the stage for the reader and guide their expectations. RP is a collaborative exercise for creating and exploring stories jointly, and intricate AUs are a bad vehicle for this. Mods and app team members do reserve the right to reject or ask for revisions on an AU app if that app includes AU information that does not seem to make sense for the character/canon being apped. If you are trying to AU a children's movie into an unnecessarily dark scenario with cannibalism and murder and what have you, or you've turned a serious, philosophically-inclined canon with adult themes into a lighthearted slapstick AU universe, you may be asked to change the AU to fit the canon better, or have your application rejected entirely if the mods can't see how the AU could be made acceptable. Keep in mind that canonmates and gamemates in general will be directly affected by your AU, and not everyone may be comfortable with what you've chosen. Signing up your character's canon friends to interact with someone from a world either substantially more horrifying or substantially sillier than their own is not particularly considerate to their existing players, or to any who may app in the future. As a rule of thumb, the more extreme an AU is, the harder it will be for castmates to interact with, and a good AU for the game should not deliberately put castmates off from interacting. Plausibility and interaction dynamics are especially important in AU applications. An individual player is not allowed to app two versions of the same characters, no matter how distinct the AUs may be. If you are at all unsure whether an AU concept is suitable or not for the game, visit the Contact page to discuss it with a mod or app team member. |
apping from other game canons |
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Singularity considers game-canon RP characters as acceptable AUs. If you would like to app a character you've played in another game with their memories intact, just include all relevant character development under Setting, Personality, and the AU justification section. It's not terribly important how you organize it as long as all the relevant information is provided and reads logically. It's especially helpful if you can provide links to CR charts, threads and screencaps that help to illustrate how your character has changed. Characters with CR imported from other games come with a few restrictions:
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other guidelines |
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Players are expected to familiarize themselves with all of the game's information pages (linked at the bottom of each info page or from the Index) before playing. If anything is unclear, use the Contact & FAQ page to answer any questions prior to apping. Serial apping, character squatting, and other activity issues can result in a warning, a strike, or the boot. Lying on the application in any capacity is grounds for expulsion. The same goes for plagiarism. After you submit your app, the mods will evaluate it and come back with one of three responses: ACCEPTED (sometimes ACCEPTED + NOTE, usually used to clarify power restrictions or other details that aren't significant enough to require revisions), DECLINED, or REVISIONS. Instructions for any necessary revisions will be included in the response. Apps posted during closed periods will be left until the next app round. Likewise, revisions submitted after the 72-hour window do not result in an automatic rejection, but will not be judged until the next round. |
to apply |
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The application is divided into four parts: Player Information, Character Information, OC/AU Justification, and Samples. There is no upper limit on the length of apps. |
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Player InformationYour Nickname: OOC Journal: A sock is fine, and if you don't have one, that's fine, too. Under 18? Singularity does not have an age limit; this is just for reference. Please be honest. Lying about your age is grounds for expulsion from the game. Email/IM/Plurk: Characters Played at Singularity: |
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Character InformationName: Personal name - family name, aka Western order. Name of Canon: If apping an OC, just put "original." Canon/AU/Other Game CR: If playing CRAU, please describe the game setting from which your character is arriving. Reference: Links to a wikia page, fansite, scanlations, etc. For obscure characters without a lot of information available, the more references the better. For OCs, a link to any place containing an applicable run-down of their story is helpful. Canon Point: Please don't just say "end of S4, E26." "Right after he finds out his mother's dead at the end of S4, E26" is much easier to understand for those not canon-familiar. Setting: Provide a description of your character’s setting as if you were explaining it to someone who is not familiar with the canon. The focus of this section should be details and mechanics of the universe that shape your character’s role and motivations. Main points to cover include time period, physical location, factions and organizations, and major entities that have caused the canon universe to exist in the state from which your character will be taken. Please note that we are not asking for a plot summary or a history writeup; we are interested in seeing your understanding of your character’s canon and how your character fits into that world. If you are importing a character from another game, please describe the game’s setting; a brief overview with a link to the game’s setting page (if available) is fine. Please describe how your character has developed in that game in the AU section below. Personality: Describe your character's personality. This would include their outlook, motivations, general experiences, and anything you feel necessary in order to communicate who they are as a person. Referencing events in their canon to support your interpretation is encouraged, but please don't provide a plot summary without analysis. For characters with little canon information, this section is especially important. Without much canon to fall back on, we need to see that you've thought out the character in a consistent way that's well-supported by whatever information is available. Minor characters almost invariably require extrapolation from pure canon to become fully-realized; this is the section where you should lay out that extrapolation. Abilities, Weaknesses, and Power Limitations: Outline your character’s skillset and weaknesses; we are looking for a description of things your character can do that set it apart from others, as well as ways your character can be defeated. If your character has any abilities that are potentially game-breaking, please suggest reasonable limitations that you think would keep your character playable without challenging the integrity of the game. As a rule of thumb, abilities that would significantly damage the station’s structure, instantly kill another character, or are generally uncounterable should be limited; drastic actions against another character require OOC permission regardless of nerfing. Additionally, powers such as teleportation and telepathy will be restricted to the zone the character currently occupies. The moderators reserve the right to tweak abilities as necessary. Inventory: Provide a list of your character’s starting inventory; these should be items they have with them only at the point of canon from which they are taken. Additional items can be requested from the Junkyard later in gameplay. As with powers, if your character normally carries an item of highly destructive or game-breaking potential, it will either come through the Rift damaged or removed entirely. Appearance: This is most relevant for characters who do not have a canon appearance, or who are altered when brought to Sacrosanct. If using a PB, please provide the name and a link to a photo in addition to a description. Characters without bodies may be given them, or some other kind of mobile platform. Characters with unconventional appearances, like the tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell or some of the more out-there Transformers designs also benefit from having a visual aid. Age: If there is no definitive canon age, a justified estimate is acceptable. |
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OC/AU JustificationIf AU, how is your version different from canon, and how will that come across? AU versions need to make sense; please provide a justification for your AU and how it impacts your characterization, taking into consideration our AU guidelines noted above. If OC, did you run your character through a Mary Sue litmus test? Here's one, for reference: http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm And another: http://www.ponylandpress.com/ms-test.html And what did you score? There is no hard and fast score for rejection. It's just one factor we'll be looking at in regards to your application as a whole. |
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SamplesLog Sample: 200 words minimum. The setting can be their transition from their canon setting to Sacrosanct, a purely canon setting, or anything else, as long as it shows how you will be playing them in the game. If you would like, you can use a sample thread or log in place of a log sample, but please clear it with a mod first. Please write your sample to focus on your character's thoughts and motivations, rather than as a miniature fanfiction featuring multiple other characters. It's fine if other characters feature, but the majority of the sample should involve insight into your character. We have gotten some very good fic-like samples, but this section isn't just a test of your writing ability; we would like you to demonstrate understanding of the character, as well, sort of the "show" to the personality section's "tell." Network Sample: Describe your character's first experience using the station's network. It can be text, voice, video, hologram, or game; intentional or accidental. Keep in mind that "the device turned on by itself!" just doesn't happen here. |
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| Fill out the following application and submit it below: | ||
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thank you for your interest in Singularity please contact the mods or app team with any questions |
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| Welcome to Sacrosanct. Please watch your step: |
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game index mod contact - player contact - faq setting - maps & locations - gameplay - NPCs - history - plot archive taken - applications - reserves - hiatus & drop character requests - plot requests - missions - deaths - calendar |
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singularityrpg (network) - singularitylogs (logs community)singularityooc (OOC community) - singularityderp (crack and memes community)
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REVISIONS
More information in setting regarding Project Freelancer and the UNSC. Specifically, a greater understanding of the details surrounding the war and the formation of Project Freelancer is necessary for a complete view of the setting, regardless of how much was revealed after the canon point.
More in-depth personality section regarding Maine's motivations and how he relates to his teammates.
Additionally, please provide a reference link for Maine.
Please reply with the needed information within 72 hours! Thank you in advance.
Revisions!
Setting (note: I went ahead and used the setting section from my earlier Carolina app): It is the 26th century. Mankind has flourished and prospered, discovering interstellar travel, and expanding their territories to include colony planets in distant star systems. As the colonies expanded, however, so did the desire of independent rule, and a building civil war looked about ready to tear down the thriving civilization.
In the middle of the insurrection, however, an even larger threat made itself known; the Covenant –a collection of alien races -- were bent on wiping out humanity as they see it to be a blasphemy to their religion. While this drew attention and focus, it did little to convince those leading the insurrection to halt their actions. Although not necessarily the extinction-level threat that was the Covenant, Insurrectionist activities were responsible for millions of human deaths, through attacks on major city and space ports.
While the United Nations Space Command and Office of Naval Intelligence were the greatest fighting forces in the military that fought against the Covenant and the Insurrections, there were several non-sanctioned and secretly-operated projects and programs intent on finding, as Agent Washington put it, “the magic bullet to stop the war.” Dr. Halsey’s and Colonel Ackerson’s respective Spartan programs were the most notable of these.
Project Freelancer was also one of these more mysterious projects. The director of the project – Dr. Leonard Church – had a collection of specialized, elite agents, code-named after each of the forty nine states of the United States of America (although it is never mentioned how, it is implied that something happened to the state of Florida). His method to train these soldiers was to set up an elaborate 'fake war' between so-called 'Red and Blue Armies' (made up of soldiers who just weren't quite cut for active duty in the UNSC) and pit his Freelancer Agents against them. Outside of the training programs, they were sent on much more dangerous, much more real operations. Sometimes, they were expected to take on numbers of about 100:1. They worked in variable team sizes, utilizing their individual specialities.
However, the very basis of Project Freelancer, apparently unknown to the Agents, was experimentation. Despite an emphasis on teamwork, there was a definite competitive bent to the program. One rather large element in this aspect was the ranking board, which kept an up to date roster of the top six Freelancers. Actions both on the field and in training could effect one’s status on the list, even if successful in execution. It was a strict system, with demotions immediate.
Sometimes Agents were put in missions ill-suited for them, if only to see how they'd react. During North and South Dakota's data retrieval mission, the Counselor expresses concern to the Director that 'this might not be the right team for the job', apparently concerned about South's brash, competitive nature that eventually did compromise the mission. The Director was unconcerned, mentioning that 'the system would determine the order'. He specifically put her in a position where failure was probable, and her actions dropped her a rank and had her pulled from the later mission to retrieve the Sarcophagus and the Briefcase.
The soldiers themselves were equipped with state of the art armor systems and armor enhancements (such as invisibility, sprint, and bubble shields, to name a few). The enhancements by themselves were tricky to manipulate. When Washington found out that North had used his equipment without a pipeline back to command, he reminded him 'you remember what happened to Utah in training? You could have been killed!'. Carolina's chameleon enhancement usually fell away moments after she started fighting.
Some believed they were fighting for the greater good, training in order to make a difference in the war. Others felt the ranking system was a process of elimination to weed out the less desirable soldiers, or as a selection process for something more. As time went on, the former seemed less accurate.
The Director had in his possession a Smart AI by the name of Alpha. He’d wanted to continue his experiments with AI programs for the soldiers to help them perform better and more aggressively, but was unable to get any other AI units, so instead he ‘got creative’ and had Alpha tortured and run through a series of stressful and traumatic scenarios in order to cause him to break and fragment. These fragmented pieces, usually core emotions, were then harvested and used as the AI intelligences for the soldiers. They embodied traits such as rage, deceit, logic, and creativity.
Much is not known yet exactly how the program progressed after this addition, except that things essentially fell apart. Carolina, who received two AIs, presumably died, South betrayed North (who died) and Washington (who nearly died) in order to procure an AI, and Maine went insane and started hunting them all down to collect all of them. It was also revealed later [chronologically] that the Director had ulterior motives in fragmenting the Alpha AI, cycling through the process numerous times trying to find Texas.
At some point, once things started coming to light, the Freelancers made an attempt to rescue the Alpha, but were unsuccessful. This prompted the Director to relocate Alpha to a more remote and secure area, disguising him as a simple ‘Blue’ soldier fighting against a team of Reds. These other soldiers had no idea Alpha was what he was -- because of the torture, he no longer remembered either, believing he was just a normal soldier stationed in a box canyon in the middle of nowhere.
Reference Link (note: this is thus far the only definitive RvB reference site that exists, but I don’t like linking it because it is filled with uncited headcanon and rampant inconsistencies): Maine ‘Meta’ Wiki entry
Personality: Maine is definitely motivated by the Ranking Board and the need for greater equipment and notoriety. During the impromptu training session against Texas, York implies that they had volunteered for the session, which would indicate a proactive drive to raise himself on the board. Maine’s actions in this session show he is not above possibly mortally wounding a teammate to get what he wants.
This is in contrast to how professionally he acts on the field. He works well in a team setting when it counts, following directions and not needlessly throwing himself into the forefront (such as what South Dakota did on the oil rig, risking the mission in an attempt to further herself). Although we don’t see the exchange where York (newly half-blind) takes over driving for Maine (who is a terrible driver), we do not get any sense of ill-will from either of them.
He also shows an amazing amount of respect for Carolina, whether this is because she is his superior or just because she is who she is, his instant reaction to take the bullet for her speaks to a deeply ingrained respect.
DECLINED
Based on reasons such as the following:
Insufficient analysis of the character's personality to justify him beyond a minor character appearance at the canon point from which he is taken, and no significant improvement with application revision.
We are afraid we cannot accept this application. You are encouraged to reapply in the next app round.