Info Guide

[wrmods]

Thank you for your interest in witchesreign! This guide is intended to be a basic resource for someone looking into the game for the first time. Hopefully it will get some of the obvious questions out of the way for you.

COMMUNITIES

witchesreign: the main RP community
concoursec: the logs community
concourseooc: the ooc community

POSTING FORMAT

Entries posted to the main community should be in what is colloquially referred to as "comment spam", or "bracket RP" -- that is to say a relaxed, brief style of roleplay. See an example post here.

For prose, or "third-person style" writing (though what person you decide to write in is entirely up to you), players post to concoursec: the logs community. Here players may post a completed log that they played out together over e-mail or a messenger service, as well as post open logs and invite others to play that way. See an example post here.

THE BBS

Each student, staff, or faculty member of Balamb Garden is issued their own laptop, which among many other features has access to the Garden BBS (Bulletin board system). Characters automatically have a log-in (their student ID) and password generated for them in the database upon enrollment. See an example BBS post here.

Aside from text, of course, computers in Balamb have webcam capabilities, so characters may make video or audio posts to the forum as well. However, only the initial poster will be able to attach a video message; replies to the post may have embedded audio but not video.

Accidental video posts cannot happen. We apologize for any inconvenience it may cause, but both the hardware and software make it impossible. In addition, viewing a video post or listening to an audio post requires that the character actually click the attached link, as it doesn't autoplay or anything of the like.

As for replying to a BBS post, players are encouraged to tag their replies' subject lines denoting it as Action should the log take a turn for face-to-face. This is to promote ease of communication between players and to try and prevent misunderstandings as to which medium the characters are communicating in. In addition, many characters prefer to use a different font to indicate their character has typed a message.

The BBS system supports private messaging; characters can send direct private messages to each other. Outside of this functionality, no thread, post or interaction in the forum may be considered "filtered" or locked. It's a public forum, so anything said on it is visible to the general computer-using public.

Outside of Garden, there is no global communications system – no cellular phones, no Internet or equivalent, not even radios or broadcast communications except in rare instances. Devices like this don’t function properly; something interferes with communication. Communicating long distance is handled in majority by delivery chocobos and/or by hand by means of train or boat.

For more information regarding computers in Balamb or how the BBS system works IC-ly, please look here.

TAG SYSTEM

We like to keep things neat and easy to find. When posting to any of the comms, please adhere to the tag and post format:

witchesreign: canon: character name and *post type: action for action posts, *post type: pm for private messages, or *post type: bbs for BBS posts
concoursec: canon: character name and post format:
<b>Characters:</b> <b>Location:</b> <b>Rating:</b> <b>Open/Closed/Finished:</b> <b>Summary:</b> <cut>
concourseooc: [intro], [drop], [hiatus], [memes], and [plot] are all self-explanatory!

Only the mod staff can create tags. We attempt to do so wherever we see one needed, but if you still need one for your character, please contact us and let us know.

CHARACTERS

We accept fandom, fandom AU, characters from previous RPs that wish to keep their memories and OC characters. Everyone is welcome! However, we do have a few policies:

• We are generally looking for altered-history AUs: characters that have altered pasts or canons that don't affect the core of their personality and don't drastically change their appearance. If your only AU element is one that changes a physical element in the character but nothing else, it most likely won't be accepted. (In other words: no genderswap AUs, no "catboy"/"catgirl" AUs, etc.)
  
• No cross-fandom AUs (excluding FFVIII). We apologize but we feel that judging cross-fandom applications is too difficult considering the way it may affect future applicants from the AU fandom in question.
  
• AUs tailored to the FFVIII universe are encouraged.
  
• No triples! Only one AU version of a character is allowed at the time. This means we allow double versions of a character- an OU and an AU. However, anyone looking to apply a double should ask the player of the first version of the character already in-game to make sure they don't mind.
  
• Characters apped with memories from another game will be considered OU (unless they were OCs or AUs to begin with).
  
• If you're unsure if your AU would be accepted, feel free to inquire. We're more than happy to answer your questions and work with an applicant on policies.

You may apply as a SeeD Cadet (student), a SeeD, a faculty member or a staff member. Essentially, you can apply as whatever you want. However, there are limitations.

• Students:
  
  • Must be (or appear to be) ages 5-25. At the age of 26, anyone that hasn't graduated will be kicked out of Garden. However! Since most characters arriving here won't be carrying reams of legal identification documents, it is feasible to get away with lying about age if it would be in character for them to do so.
    
    Additionally, potential SeeD Cadets that wish to gain admittance to Garden's SeeD program but don't meet certain requirements such as age may speak to Headmaster Cid. The Headmaster is notoriously soft-hearted and will let almost anyone that makes a good case in.
  
  
• SeeD:
  
  • Must either have an alternate history within the FFVIII world, or have a year's handwaved history within the FFVIII world graduating the SeeD program to apply into the game as a SeeD.
    
  • Characters may attain SeeDship after passing the exam normally during the course of gameplay.
  
  
• Faculty:
  
  • Instructor: The same requirements as a SeeD; in addition, if a current SeeD wishes to become an Instructor, they must be trained for and pass an exam for their instructor's licence. If they are teaching a class not currently on the syllabus, they must supply a syllabus for it and teach a trial class for a trimester as part of their evaluation.

• Staff:
  
  • Characters may serve a civilian role in the Garden (e.g. janitor, uniform design and maintenance, IT specialist) without needing to complete any classes.

Other useful links:
[ FAQ · Rules · Premise · Setting ]
[ Applications · Reserves · Wanted · Taken · Dropped/Hiatus ]

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