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»What if I have a problem with another player? If you're having difficulty dealing with another player, we encourage you to try to work the issue out with them first. It's possible that the problem is just a misunderstanding, or that they didn't realize they did something wrong. However, we understand that some people are not open to change, and that some people are just plain inconsiderate or deliberately mean. There may also be some problems that, because of the nature of the issue, you can't deal with it by yourself. In situations like that, the moderators are here to help. Contact a moderator directly, or by posting on the mod contact page to get assistance with the problem, and a moderator would be happy to help mediate or issue a warning if necessary. Lost Realm has a zero tolerance policy for bullying and wanking. A player who has a pattern of making the game less fun for other players, either through their OOC misbehaviour, or IC god moding, info-modding, or anything else, can be banned without warning if the moderators feel the behaviour is serious enough to warrant it. For less serious concerns, Lost Realm has a three-strike policy. If it's necessary for the moderators to issue three warnings, even if they are for different problems, you will likely be asked to leave the game. This policy is not meant to be oppressive or mean. The name of the game is fun - if this game is not fun for people, then there's no point in doing it. It has to be fun for the mods, and fun for the players. This is not a job, it's a game. Players who don't make things fun, who cause a lot of emotional strife and disturbance for others, who make people uncomfortable, are not welcome here. »How do we deal with adult content? If your post is likely to contain adult content, including violence, sex, or disturbing themes, please keep your warnings updated. Use both in text warnings and DW settings. We don't have an age limit at Lost Realm, but we do understand that people will want to explore difficult topics and that violence and sex will happen. It is everyone's individual responsibility to be sensible about these things. Please be sensitive to other people and communicate with one another to ensure that everyone involved is having fun. If you do find yourself in a situation where you feel uncomfortable, we encourage you to communicate openly with your fellow players about it and try to come to some resolution. The moderators are here to assist you in that, and are happy to mediate when necessary. »Is there a game wide how's my driving meme? Is it mandatory? Yes, there will be one every other month, but it is not mandatory for any individual player. It will always include a mod HMD meant for input on how the game is being run. We also encourage people to maintain a personal HMD and to be open to feedback. If a player avoids HMDs but you feel the need to give them feedback, the moderators are available to pass on concrit if there's no other safe way to contact them. Conversely, the moderators frown on using HMDs to bully people who simply have a different interpretation of a character. Just because you disagree with a person's interpretation, doesn't make you perfect. Please keep this in mind when giving feedback and concentrate on giving specific examples and useful constructive criticism. »What kinds of characters are allowed at Lost Realm? For fandom characters, we allow any kind of character from any published canon, including but not limited to movies, television shows, books, comics and webcomics. There must be enough canon for the character to provide some kind of background and personality, or it will be considered a canon OC or AU character and judged accordingly during the application. We allow AU versions of canon characters, including imported characters from other DWRP (or similar) games; and we do allow AUs that are also game imports. We also allow original characters. The short and dirty of character limits are: two of each character, one OU and one AU; five characters per player; two characters per fandom per player. Please see the application page for further details. Characters must have near-human intelligence, but do not have to be human-shaped. Animals, robots, and tentacle monsters are more than welcome! »What powers are my characters allowed to have? Characters retain all powers that they canonly have. For characters whose powers are not clearly explained in canon, we trust that players will use common sense and not go too wild with the headcanon. The only power cap is as follows: All teleportation and dimension hopping, as well as summoning powers will be limited. It will be impossible to reach any dimension outside of the Lost Realm, either to summon things from outside the universe, or to travel there. However, teleportation or summoning within the confines of the Lost Realm city and surrounding environs are certainly permitted. »Does my game import count as OU or AU? This is really decided on a case by case basis. A general rule of thumb is that if your potential castmates would find your character's personality strange or unusual, they will count as AU. Slighter, smaller changes to the character due to game development are more common, and mean they will stay as OU despite being an import. While reading through your app we may disagree with your assessment of which one they belong under, and count them accordingly. In general, they are far more likely to count as OU than as AU if that's what you originally apped them as. They only become AU if they would not be recognizable to their castmates, personality wise. Please keep this in mind. »What does my malleable protagonist count as? A malleable protagonist in this case would be Shepard from Mass Effect, the Warden from Dragon Age, and so on. As long as they are made within the confines of their presented canon, they will count as OU. Again, the rule of thumb is whether your hypothetical castmates would consider your character a stranger, or someone they know. As long as it's the latter, it's OU. But you should remember to include a history section for them despite being technically canon. »Will my non-human character become human on arrival? No, not at all. All characters are exactly as they are in canon. »What if my character is extremely large or extremely small? Extremely large characters who will have difficulty fitting themselves into buildings (or the cave that contains the city) will be issued an amulet that allows them to adjust their size between human size and their natural size. Extremely small characters can get an amulet, as well, if they wish. »What sort of fandom OCs do you accept? We are very strict on fandom OCs. We will not dismiss them out of hand, but we do not intend to accept any that have a strong connection to a canon character, in any circumstance. This places a burden on the canon characters' players that they should not be expected to shoulder. Fandom OCs we would be willing to accept would be those set in the existing canon universe, but who are not part of canon events. A good example of this would be in expansive universes such as World of Warcraft, one of the D&D campaigns, and so on. If you are uncertain whether yours would qualify, feel free to ask us below before applying. In many cases we may accept a character as a regular OC where we would not as a fandom OC, so you should consider rewriting your character in that context. »Where do I post? We have several communities here: ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small} lostrealm: For in-person logs.lostnetwork: For network posts over the city internet.lostmail: For IC inboxes so that characters can contact each other privately through their communicators.lostplayers: For OOC posts of all sorts!»How do I format posts? There is a sticky post at the top of the logs community with the format for log posts. You're more than welcome to use either action tags or prose at Lost Realm. Please consider the preferences of your fellow players. It's also permissible for threads on the network community to turn into in-person logs. »How do I tag my entries? Each character will have a personal tag with their name. OU and AU versions will be specified as well, so that multiple versions of characters can be differentiated. For example, Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might be tagged as tmnt: raphael (ou) if canon, and tmnt: raphael (au) if AU. These tags will be re-used if the character is dropped and then picked up by someone else. Original characters follow the original: character name format. Fandom OCs will be marked as (oc), such as series: character name (oc). These tags will not be made by the mods-- tag creation is open to all members. Be conscientious and don't make multiples of tags for the same characters; check before tagging an entry to see if the tag already exists. Please tag all posts that your characters posts on in both the log and the network community with their personal tag. We don't differentiate between who is the original poster and who tags into a post. This just helps everyone to find posts for activity check and such later on. »How do characters access the network? Each character will have a communicator issued to them, which looks a lot like a hand mirror, with a matching stylus attached. It works through a combination of magic and technology, and is capable of text, voice and video communication. The stylus is used to write the text. It can be set to work through voice activated commands, and the mirror also functions rather like a touchpad, so that when the stylus is used, options will appear as little keys that can be touched to activate different functions. Please note that skilled characters are allowed to write apps (either by using magic or tech) which can then be shared through the network. Feel free to upgrade and alter your communicator! If you're not sure if you're allowed to make it do something, please ask the mods or comment here. »Can network posts be locked/filtered and can they be hacked? When you want to filter or lock a network post, specify whether it's being locked magically or with technology. Because the communicator works with a mix of magic and tech, both can be used as ways of altering the programming or creating locks when posting. The ability to filter and hack is dependent upon the character's ability to create and hack locks of different types. For example, a witch might have the ability to create magical barriers, and use a spell to lock a post, but a hacker like Sollux Captor from Homestuck might use his abilities to filter. Whether or not the filter can be hacked also depends on the skills of the character. Sollux probably wouldn't be able to defeat a magical lock, but could break any technological lock with ease, while the witch from a world with no tech might have no trouble breaking magical locks, but be unable to contend with a lock created by technology. Please keep this in mind when determining whether or not you wish to hack a post. You should also, out of courtesy, discuss with the OP whether or not you should hack a particular post, before you do it. OPs shouldn't be unreasonable about giving that permission, but it's always best to communicate prior to hacking a locked post. When filtering, you should include the following either in the header or in the subject line of the comment: [MAGIC/TECH filter to NAME OF CHARACTER(S)]. Note that in rare cases a character may have the ability to use a combination of magic and technology to lock posts. Government officials use such locks, and as such government memos are extremely difficult to hack. One would need comparable skills in both magic and technology to hack such a lock. »What if my character wants to be anonymous on the network? The anonymous function is available and not easily hacked, so feel free. If they'd like a secondary email account that isn't linked to their real name, you're welcome to add it to their IC inbox post and make up a commercial domain name for them. We've established one called TemperateMail already, such as codename@temperatemail.com, but you can make up another one if you like. »Can I post memes to the OOC comm? Yes, please go right ahead! We encourage this and love memes. The only exception is the HMD meme-- that is scheduled and posted by the mods on a regular basis. »What level of activity is required to stay in the game? Activity check will occur on a bimonthly basis, and all we will require is proof of activity in a few threads. Yes, that sounds ambiguous, but we're really pretty flexible! There is no hard and fast AC rule, but rest assured that if you have been playing, you will pass. Overall, AC is meant to sweep out characters that apped but never posted, and characters that have not posted anywhere in the previous month. As long as you have tagged somewhere, you are fine. In the future we may revise this to be stricter, but given the pace of the game as it stands, this is how it is. »What if I want to go on hiatus? You may hiatus for as long as you want, so long as you don't miss more than one activity check in a row. Effectively, this gives a two-month limit on hiatus. Hiatuses will be tracked by the moderators. If we see a pattern of a player constantly hiatusing just to avoid activity check, you may be banned from taking a hiatus. During a hiatus, the character can be canon updated if you wish, or you may simply say that they are hanging around in the city, not doing anything of great importance. »Am I allowed to playercest? Yes, you may. However, any threads where you are solely playercesting (i.e., the two characters in the thread are both played by the same mun and there aren't any other characters involved in the thread) may not be counted towards activity check. We're fine with playercesting so long as it's in moderation. This policy is not intended to discourage people from having their characters interact with one another when it's logical, but only to encourage people to play with others. »What if I want to canon update my character? You're more than welcome to send your character home for a period of time to update their canon. You don't need moderator permission to do this, however there is an IC explanation that should be taken into account. When a character becomes infected with the virus, if she stayed in Lost Realm, she would sicken and die, and possibly infect others. In order to avoid this, the government has instituted a policy - any foreigner who becomes infected is temporarily memory-blocked and sent home to recuperate. Away from Lost Realm, the character will likely recover. If the character recovers, they will be brought back to Lost Realm, and the memory block removed. In effect, they will have gone through some of their canon, before returning to Lost Realm, and as such, will have been canon updated. »What happens if a character is dropped? Like with canon updates, a character is dropped when they have become infected by the virus and must be sent home to recuperate. The difference is that it either takes longer for the character to recover, or the powers that be decide not to bring them back immediately, for whatever reason. If a dropped character is applied for again, they are brought back to the city without memories of their former time there. This is because it's actually a parallel version of the character, from a slightly different version of their universe, with subtle differences that are impossible to discover. Somewhere, in that character's universe, a coinflip landed differently. It's not considered to be an AU, because the character's entire life is exactly the same, but they are not the version that came to the city before, so they have no memory of it, and may be from a different timepoint. »What happens if a character is killed? A character who is killed in Lost Realm is immediately picked up by paramedics and rushed to an advanced hospital in the city. A combination of advanced technology, necromancy, and magical healing are used to bring the character back to life and repairing their injuries. The character will revive between one day and one week later, depending on the extent of their injuries, in a hospital bed. They will retain scarring and may experience temporary or permanent phantom pain from whatever injuries resulted in their death. If they lost a limb or major sense, the damage may be healed, but their lost limb or eyes, or whatnot, will not have regrown. They will also have forgotten their last month in the city. They will not remember anything of what happened in the month prior to their death, which may result in changes to their CR. It is up to the player whether they wish the character to remember their actual death, but they will not remember the circumstances that led up to them being killed. This policy is to try to provide some consequences to a character being killed, without making death permanent. We don't want death to become too cheapened, as often can happen in jamjar games where death isn't permanent. But we also don't want the consequences to be so severe that no character is ever permitted to wind up in a situation where death could occur. Note that resurrection does not work on characters or NPCs who have been infected by the virus, which is why the virus is such a serious problem for this world. There’s other reasons someone wouldn’t be resurrected, such as old age. It's also considered cruel to resurrect someone whose cause of death would make them crippled when alive again, such as losing both their legs, and of course anyone who has been beheaded cannot be resurrected like this. As such, characters killed through those methods may have to be completely reset and lose all in game memories to be resurrected. You probably want to contact us before doing this at all, as we may be able to find a loophole for you to avoid this consequence. »What happens when a character first arrives in Lost Realm? For all the detailed information for new arrivals, please see the acceptance page. You will also receive a link to this page when your application is accepted. »What is my character allowed to bring with them into the city? Characters will arrive in Darstone with whatever they have on their person at the time. Please be reasonable about this. We don't really mind if you want to bring your Gundam along, but it might not be able to get very far in the cave that contains the city. If your character has an animal companion or summonable creature, they are welcome to bring them along. Such companions should have sub-human intelligence and should not be appable in themselves. If you are not sure about whether a companion should be considered a separately-appable character or can be brought along, please ask. »How does time work in the game? One day in the real world equals one day in game, ergo, there is a 1:1 ratio for simplicity's sake. Backtagging is always welcome, though! »How does money work? There is a common currency in Lost Realm that everything works on. Upon arrival in the city, newcomers will receive a small stipend and can also get any currency they're carrying converted into the local currency. The stipend is enough for them to rent an apartment in the arrival district, and to live on for a time until they obtain employment. Money can be obtained from getting a job within the city. A huge variety of jobs are available and characters are welcome to get any kind of job they wish, or start their own business. Characters can also get money from doing quests. Generally speaking, money will be dealt with on the honour system and will not be tracked in any way. If you want your character to live in a palace, please make sure that they've done things to justify being able to afford something like that, but there's no need to keep track of every penny. »Is there a language barrier? All characters will be magically able to communicate in English upon their arrival in Lost Realm. If they speak another language already, such as Japanese, or Alternian, they will still be able to communicate in that language with other people who speak it, if they wish. »What will my character have to do from day to day? Characters can do whatever they wish, and we encourage people to come up with their own plots and things to do. They may open businesses, perform services for one another, get jobs, go to school, and sign up to do quests. If your character does something that you think the game at large should know about - such as blowing up a substantial part of the city (please don't do that... often) - please let the moderators know by posting to the news gathering post so it can go in the biweekly news post. »Are there any native humans? The answer to this is actually no. The only humans around are the player characters that arrive that are human. Try to keep this in mind when writing in NPCs (which you are very welcome and encouraged to do)! »What happens if my character commits a crime? Things that you would generally consider a crime everywhere (murder, torture, assault, harassment, and so forth,) if made aware of to the authorities, will result in them getting arrested. The locals are very much keeping watch on what the player characters are doing, and are subjecting them to the same-- in fact possibly stricter-- laws than what they impose on themselves. We definitely want to work with the player on what the IC consequences will be, including but not limited to jail time, and will try to keep it in line with the direction they want their character to go in. But please do be aware that your character can't run around having a crime spree without someone noticing. Bring it to our attention if you think the police should be involved. »What are quests? From time to time, the government, or other people in the city - sometimes NPCs and sometimes player characters - will have a service that needs to be performed and aren't able to accomplish it themselves. They will then post a quest on the quest board offering a reward for the completion of the task. Please follow that link and read there for full details. Characters with the necessary skills and desire to complete the quest, can claim the quest in the appropriate thread, and then perform the task and get the reward. »Why would my character want to do quests? Not only does a character receive some kind of immediate recompense for their time - which can range from money to goods to anything else you can think of - but characters who do a lot of quests will be building up their status within the city. The government hopes that all of the newcomers to the city will come to see themselves as a citizen of Darstone, in time. They want people to come to see the Realm as their home - even if it's only a second home - and to become invested in the wellbeing of the people and the city. The more quests you do, especially official government quests, the more likely it is that a character will be asked to perform more significant tasks within the city. They will gain trust and standing, and perhaps earn themselves a position within the government, themselves. Ultimately, the most integrated and trusted of new citizens will be allowed free access to the portals that are used to transport characters to and from the city. In short, they will be allowed to return home whenever they choose. It is the city's hope that such characters will by then be so invested in the city and their new friends here, that they won't simply go back to their own worlds and never return. That will, however, be up to them to decide. »Where is the quest board physically located? There is a physical board in the center of the marketplace where notices are posted, and there is also a copy of it available on the network, accessed by mirror. | ||||||||
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