Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Feb 16, 2009 20:15:31 GMT -5
This is an important list of things to do / keep in mind while filling out your application. Even senior members should check this list while filling out a new application or adding to an old one.
Okay, now for the next part...the application.
Please DO NOT enter your RANK into your title! Why? This creates confusion if another member is searching for a specific name. Throw in a title and they might not find you!
(don't worry, I've done that, so I'm speaking from experience)
Faction: Republic, Sith, or Mandalorian.
Department: Army, Navy, Special Ops.
Rank: This is where the handy dandy US ranking link comes into play! Army and Special Ops will have the same ranks (US Army), and the Navy will use the US Navy ranking system. This goes for all three Factions. ALSO, one cannot reach the rank of Brigadier General/Rear Admiral until age 35 at the youngest (note: that means the absolute bottom limit, not "I'm 35, now I can be a general/admiral"), and this will be under strict consideration of your history.
Name: Simple enough.
Race: The one thing that all of your bio revolves around. Everything from stats and history, to name and appearance. If you've not figured out everything you can about your race your application just won't mesh like it's supposed to, making you put in much more effort than is needed because of modifications. This is where Wookieepedia comes in handy! Use it to get info on what kind of name you should have, how your appearance will be, average height, weight, ect. EVERYTHING REVOLVES AROUND THIS! MADALORIAN IS NOT A RACE.
Age: Yet another factor that your whole application will revolve around. Don't take this lightly! The older your character the longer your history will need to be. Also, Stats like height, weight, strength, what he/she had learned will also be affected by this. The younger the character, the lower the stats will be.
Height: measurements should be in feet and inches
Weight: Should be in pounds
And because I know we have a few people who are used to using the metric system, here's a converter for height and weight.
Birth place: Please make sure that this coincides with your character's race. It doesn't make much sense for a Selkath to be born somewhere other than Manaan. If they are, the reasoning should be put into the bio.
Appearance: This should have a written description. If you want a picture as well, that's fine, but I would also like a written description including any identifying features the character might have. (ie: scars, birthmarks, tattoos, an extra finger, ect.) It should also include hair color and eye color.
Personality: Alright, this is, as you can imagine, for you to describe your character's personality. Please, to the best of your ability, try to give us a good description. A character with a nice, thought out personality is so much more interesting than one who only has one thing going for them. And, you'll find that taking some time to put some thought into their goals and what drives them will usually help you play the character better IC, so put some thought into it.
Attributes: Be reasonable with these. No character is good at everything, and a weaknesses add just as much to a character as strengths do. The more time that is devoted to one area, the less time can be devoted to others. If you're gonna be really awesome in one area, then it should be balanced out in others.
Physical Strength: 1 - 10
Intelligence: 1 - 10
Speed: 1 – 10
Leadership: 1 - 10
Unarmed: 1 - 10
Melee Weapons: 1 - 10
Ranged Weapons: 1 – 10
{Added by Rugs-
Here's a breakdown of how stats are generally judged:
Learned Attributes
---
This (7) and up needs a sufficient amount of support in bio. The higher the number, the better it has to be explained. If it cannot be explained satisfactorily, you will be asked to expand upon it in the bio or to bring it down.
---
Physical Attributes
All physical stats are scaled against an adult Human male that's in reasonably good physical condition.
---
This (7) and up needs a sufficient amount of support in bio. The higher the number, the better it has to be explained. If it cannot be explained satisfactorily, you will be asked to expand upon it in the bio or to bring it down.
---
It should be noted that the increase between stat levels gets higher as the score increases. The difference between a 7 and an 8 is much larger than the difference between a 1 and a 2. As such, stats get weighed more and more heavily as they get up, and the amount of time it takes to increase between them gets longer and longer.
~Rugs}
Bio: PLEASE BE CORRECT! This is a writing forum, obviously, so start showing off your writing skills here. It is highly recommended that you copy and paste the entire application into a word processor to fill it out. We are not here to check your spelling and grammar, but we will hold you responsible for it. If you don't follow the basic rules of writing we WILL ask you to correct your problems and WILL NOT approve you until you do.
PLEASE BE ACCURATE! There is nothing more frustrating for a moderator than to have to repeat the same things over and over, so I'll state it here: READ THE PLOT. There IS a time line for this site, you should know it and keep this in mind while writing your history. Remember our history (as a site) is your history (as a character), and so obviously the site history will effect your history. What does that mean? It means don't use weapons that don't exist yet. Don't visit planets that haven't been discovered or have been destroyed. Don't refer to events that haven't happened yet, or events that are so far in the past that your character wouldn't have lived through them (unless of course they learned them in school).
PLEASE KEEP YOUR TENSE! We write in 3rd person past here. What does this mean? "He said, she said, they said" it's something we're all used to reading and writing in, but sometimes we slip up...even myself. So before you finish your bio and RP sample, be sure to read over your draft and make sure that your tense is correct! You'd be surprised what taking a break then coming back and reading your own draft does! I find that the best way to catch my own mistakes before anyone else does...try it!
PLEASE BE DETAILED! As Squee likes to say "details details details!" Really, she's right. It's all about the details. What was your character's home life like? What were their parents like? Did they have a crush in school that effected how they act? Were they the school bully, or the one being bullied? Did they run from point A to point B or did they walk? All of these things give us insight into your character and how they will react to things in the RP as well as telling us how things happened around them in their past! The more details the better off you are!
PLEASE USE COMMON SENSE! Yes, Star Wars is set in a fictional universe, and yes, some things happen there that don't happen in real life, but please, please, PLEASE use some common sense when you write your bio. Don't tell us how your 10 year old beat some seasoned war veteran in a fist fight, because you will be asked to change it. And don't tell us about how you're character that's never been trained in some form of combat suddenly beats someone that's practiced it their entire lives. That'll be asked to changed, too. You can have fun (as the next point says), but don't get too carried away.
PLEASE HAVE FUN! This isn't a time line and it isn't a history report. Tell us a story about your character if you like! Make us want to read your character's story so we know where they came from! This CAN and SHOULD be done with minimal quotations....remember this isn't your RP sample....but it can be done in an interesting way most of the time. This isn't to say that writing your bio like a history book is wrong, it isn't, but try to have a little fun also. If it's interesting for you to write, it's interesting for us to read. ^_^
RP Sample: this MUST be a sample of how you will RP THIS character. DO NOT use a sample from another site or another character on this site.
- Have you read our site plot? No? Here's the link: Site Plot in Announcements
- Have you checked out one or two of the 'accepted profiles' for the section? These give you a good feeling for how your profile should look and feel during in order to be accepted.
- Have you taken the time to find all the information you need about the cannon Star Wars universe? If not here's one of THE most useful sites around. Learn it's url or bookmark for swift access, but here's the link for now: Wookieepedia
- Have you bothered to think about your rank? The SWU military is based upon the ranking system of the US military (specifically the Army and Navy ranks), so here's yet another helpful link: US Military Ranks
Okay, now for the next part...the application.
Please DO NOT enter your RANK into your title! Why? This creates confusion if another member is searching for a specific name. Throw in a title and they might not find you!
(don't worry, I've done that, so I'm speaking from experience)Faction: Republic, Sith, or Mandalorian.
Department: Army, Navy, Special Ops.
Rank: This is where the handy dandy US ranking link comes into play! Army and Special Ops will have the same ranks (US Army), and the Navy will use the US Navy ranking system. This goes for all three Factions. ALSO, one cannot reach the rank of Brigadier General/Rear Admiral until age 35 at the youngest (note: that means the absolute bottom limit, not "I'm 35, now I can be a general/admiral"), and this will be under strict consideration of your history.
Name: Simple enough.
Race: The one thing that all of your bio revolves around. Everything from stats and history, to name and appearance. If you've not figured out everything you can about your race your application just won't mesh like it's supposed to, making you put in much more effort than is needed because of modifications. This is where Wookieepedia comes in handy! Use it to get info on what kind of name you should have, how your appearance will be, average height, weight, ect. EVERYTHING REVOLVES AROUND THIS! MADALORIAN IS NOT A RACE.
Age: Yet another factor that your whole application will revolve around. Don't take this lightly! The older your character the longer your history will need to be. Also, Stats like height, weight, strength, what he/she had learned will also be affected by this. The younger the character, the lower the stats will be.
Height: measurements should be in feet and inches
Weight: Should be in pounds
And because I know we have a few people who are used to using the metric system, here's a converter for height and weight.
Birth place: Please make sure that this coincides with your character's race. It doesn't make much sense for a Selkath to be born somewhere other than Manaan. If they are, the reasoning should be put into the bio.
Appearance: This should have a written description. If you want a picture as well, that's fine, but I would also like a written description including any identifying features the character might have. (ie: scars, birthmarks, tattoos, an extra finger, ect.) It should also include hair color and eye color.
Personality: Alright, this is, as you can imagine, for you to describe your character's personality. Please, to the best of your ability, try to give us a good description. A character with a nice, thought out personality is so much more interesting than one who only has one thing going for them. And, you'll find that taking some time to put some thought into their goals and what drives them will usually help you play the character better IC, so put some thought into it.
Attributes: Be reasonable with these. No character is good at everything, and a weaknesses add just as much to a character as strengths do. The more time that is devoted to one area, the less time can be devoted to others. If you're gonna be really awesome in one area, then it should be balanced out in others.
Physical Strength: 1 - 10
Intelligence: 1 - 10
Speed: 1 – 10
Leadership: 1 - 10
Unarmed: 1 - 10
Melee Weapons: 1 - 10
Ranged Weapons: 1 – 10
{Added by Rugs-
Here's a breakdown of how stats are generally judged:
Learned Attributes
- 0-1 No experience
- 2-3 No experience with a small degree of natural ability, or very little training
- 4 Below Average- Has had some training or instruction, but below average, due to a lack of extensive training or a lack of aptitude
- 5 Average among those with training
- 6 Above average. Shows a substantial amount of training and experience, and a good aptitude for a skill. Still requires some sort of backing up
---
This (7) and up needs a sufficient amount of support in bio. The higher the number, the better it has to be explained. If it cannot be explained satisfactorily, you will be asked to expand upon it in the bio or to bring it down.
---
- 7 Very Good- Extensive training and experience. Shows a very strong aptitude. Beginning of the 'expert/master' levels of ability
- 8 Extremely Good- Shows a very high degree of natural aptitude and at least a decade of focused, dedicated training and experience. Usually not approved until the character is around 30 at the youngest.
- 9 Among the best in the Galaxy- Requires an extremely high level of natural aptitude, along with at least 15 to 20 years of focused, dedicated use and/or training in the area.
- 10 Perfect- Unallowed. Only there for reference. There are maybe one or two characters that have a ten, but they old, and are protected by the grandfather clause.
Physical Attributes
All physical stats are scaled against an adult Human male that's in reasonably good physical condition.
- 0-2 Very weak, or very slow. Not applicable for most species or most characters who are in good health
- 3- Still rather weak. Usually seen in children or individuals that are very ill or weakened for some other reason. May apply to some smaller species.
- 4- For Strength, average for Human or most near-human females. Below average speed; average for some of the larger, more lumbering races
- 5- Average speed and strength for an adult Human male in reasonably good physical condition.
- 6- Above average strength speed and strength for a human male. Females typically peak here. Most very healthy, very athletic individuals fit into this score.
For species that are somewhat stronger/faster than Humans, this would be an average score for an adult male in reasonably good physical condition.
---
This (7) and up needs a sufficient amount of support in bio. The higher the number, the better it has to be explained. If it cannot be explained satisfactorily, you will be asked to expand upon it in the bio or to bring it down.
---
- 7- For speed and strength, this is the peak for Humans and most near Humans, along with species that fit into that type of 'normal' range (like Twi'leks, Rodians, and so on). Strength is comparable to a professional bodybuilder; speed to an Olympic runner.
Slightly below average strength score for some of the stronger species.
- 8-9- For strength, this is where the stronger species like Togorians, Wookiees, Trandoshans, and so on usually fall. An 8 would be average, with a 9 being the peak. For speed, only the fastest species usually reach this.
- 10- Unallowed. Only available as a reference.
It should be noted that the increase between stat levels gets higher as the score increases. The difference between a 7 and an 8 is much larger than the difference between a 1 and a 2. As such, stats get weighed more and more heavily as they get up, and the amount of time it takes to increase between them gets longer and longer.
~Rugs}
Bio: PLEASE BE CORRECT! This is a writing forum, obviously, so start showing off your writing skills here. It is highly recommended that you copy and paste the entire application into a word processor to fill it out. We are not here to check your spelling and grammar, but we will hold you responsible for it. If you don't follow the basic rules of writing we WILL ask you to correct your problems and WILL NOT approve you until you do.
PLEASE BE ACCURATE! There is nothing more frustrating for a moderator than to have to repeat the same things over and over, so I'll state it here: READ THE PLOT. There IS a time line for this site, you should know it and keep this in mind while writing your history. Remember our history (as a site) is your history (as a character), and so obviously the site history will effect your history. What does that mean? It means don't use weapons that don't exist yet. Don't visit planets that haven't been discovered or have been destroyed. Don't refer to events that haven't happened yet, or events that are so far in the past that your character wouldn't have lived through them (unless of course they learned them in school).
PLEASE KEEP YOUR TENSE! We write in 3rd person past here. What does this mean? "He said, she said, they said" it's something we're all used to reading and writing in, but sometimes we slip up...even myself. So before you finish your bio and RP sample, be sure to read over your draft and make sure that your tense is correct! You'd be surprised what taking a break then coming back and reading your own draft does! I find that the best way to catch my own mistakes before anyone else does...try it!
PLEASE BE DETAILED! As Squee likes to say "details details details!" Really, she's right. It's all about the details. What was your character's home life like? What were their parents like? Did they have a crush in school that effected how they act? Were they the school bully, or the one being bullied? Did they run from point A to point B or did they walk? All of these things give us insight into your character and how they will react to things in the RP as well as telling us how things happened around them in their past! The more details the better off you are!
PLEASE USE COMMON SENSE! Yes, Star Wars is set in a fictional universe, and yes, some things happen there that don't happen in real life, but please, please, PLEASE use some common sense when you write your bio. Don't tell us how your 10 year old beat some seasoned war veteran in a fist fight, because you will be asked to change it. And don't tell us about how you're character that's never been trained in some form of combat suddenly beats someone that's practiced it their entire lives. That'll be asked to changed, too. You can have fun (as the next point says), but don't get too carried away.
PLEASE HAVE FUN! This isn't a time line and it isn't a history report. Tell us a story about your character if you like! Make us want to read your character's story so we know where they came from! This CAN and SHOULD be done with minimal quotations....remember this isn't your RP sample....but it can be done in an interesting way most of the time. This isn't to say that writing your bio like a history book is wrong, it isn't, but try to have a little fun also. If it's interesting for you to write, it's interesting for us to read. ^_^
RP Sample: this MUST be a sample of how you will RP THIS character. DO NOT use a sample from another site or another character on this site.