the rules (plus some guidelines)

[Forte]

Hello and welcome to Spectrum. You've found the single most important thread on the forum and the first one that any member or prospective member should read: the rules thread. Every forum must have one, and the rules must be observed at all times. Please and thank you. :)

So, without further ado, I give you...

THE RULES.


NO-BRAINERS

• Respect everyone on the forum. The staff work hard to make this site pretty, welcoming and fun. The other members are all here for the same thing you are: to have a good time. Please be nice.
  

[Forte]

IMAGES

• Signatures and images in posts may be no wider than 538 pixels, so as not to stretch the forum. They will be resized if they are wider than this. They can be as tall as you wish (although the prettiest signatures tend to be wider than they are tall).
  
• You MUST NOT post or otherwise use images that you do not have permission to use. Legal action can be taken by the owner of the images against anyone who does this or the site they post said images on. If you do not have permission to use a picture you found online somewhere but want to anyway, post the link to the image rather than re-host it.
  
• If you wish to modify an image to use as a character reference, you can find images that the public are allowed to use on deviantArt ("Resources & Stock Images" > "Stock Images") and Flickr ("Advanced search" > "Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content" and "Find content to modify, adapt, or build upon").
  
• For character references that you have not edited, you can post a link to a photo as long as it is connected to the artist. Such as, a deviation page on deviantArt or a photo hosted on Flickr.
  

[Forte]

CHARACTERS

• Yes, there is a character form, and yes, it is required that you fill one out for each of your characters. That being said, it does not include things like personality and history, since some roleplayers don't even know that much about their character when creating it. Getting to know your character is half the fun, am I right?
  
• Please do not edit the form in any way. Do not remove the bold tags, combine fields, or change the names of the fields. This is so that the staff can more efficiently read your post to make sure there's no issue with your character.
  
• All fields listed in the form are required. If the field is not applicable (your character has no mutations or magic), state so, don't just leave it blank. You can always go back and give your character these attributes.
  
• Add any and all extra fields or comments below the form.
  
• You do not have to wait for your character to be accepted before you start playing.
  
• Only submit one character per thread.
  
• If your character is a work in progress, indicate so in the title.
  
• When your character's profile is finished, name the thread after it and it only. Just the character's name. If you don't the title will be changed anyway, so just do it.
  
• A staff member will accept your profile unless there's a problem, in which case they will contact you about it.
  
• Your character may have any mutations or extra appendages such as wings and horns, any colors, any markings and any kind of magical ability you desire.
  
• Due to the magic that permeates the Valley, your character's appearance and abilities should, in theory, spontaneously change once in a while. This is not required, but encouraged, and you are fully in control of what happens to your own characters.
  
• A character without any abnormal qualities is actually a minority in the world of Spectrum. These characters are either immune to all Valley Magic, and will not physically change at all throughout their lives and will not develop magical abilities, or they originate outside the valley, and will develop some magical characteristics.
  
• It is up to the member to refrain from abusing their character's magic. If your super-powerful character kills someone else's character and I get a complaint, your character will be deleted and further action taken if necessary.
  
• Your characters are only allowed to have objects that are made by humans in real life (jewelry, for example) if you buy them from the store with "rainbows", which are granted each time you post, and can be gifted to you by the admin for certain actions, such as advertising for the site. E.g., if you haven't made any posts yet then you cannot create a wolf with an earring or an amulet.
  
• Characters that have no character (personality) flaws are called "Mary-Sues" and are discouraged. The most interesting characters are those that have some kind of flaw.
  
• Characters of all sexual orientations are allowed.
  
• Companions (a non-canine animal that travels with your character) are not allowed until you buy them from the store as a non-wolf character. There are a few more restrictions placed upon them:
  
  • They cannot be human.
    
  • They cannot be animals that are human-bred. This means no domestic cats or dogs, etc.
  
  
• You must submit a separate character sheet for companions.
  
• You may have as many characters as you want. There is no need for you to make multiple accounts.
  
• For now, members are allowed to play only one pack leaders at one time. This is so that all members have a reasonable chance of being able to play this role. However, if you are a particularly active and contributory member with an interesting idea for a new pack, feel free to approach the admin with a polite request, or give another member's character the pack leader role.
  
• No aging rule for characters is enforced, although members are encouraged to age their characters anyway on their own initiative.
  

[Forte]

SETTING and POSTING

• Spectrum is set in a large, hidden valley deep in a vast expanse of mountains. The wolves here and their environment are influenced by strong magic, the source of which appears to be a piece of a large meteorite near the center of the valley. Humans are not present. Read more about Spectrum's setting here.
  
• All levels of writers are welcome at Spectrum, from the total newb to the 10-year veteran. Everyone is encouraged to roleplay with all other levels, either to improve one's own writing or to improve someone else's.
  
• There is no minimum post length, although one-liners are discouraged. Use the senses to lengthen your posts: What does your character see, hear, smell, taste, feel, what are they thinking? This should get you several decent-length sentences, and actions should at least double that.
  
• Correct grammar and spelling are musts. Posts without these elements are looked down upon. There is a built-in spell check that everyone should use before posting, or, alternatively, you can compose your post in a browser or word processor that automatically checks spelling/grammar. Quotation marks around dialogue are also encouraged, or some other format such as bold text in order to differentiate between speech and regular text. Keep in mind that italicized text is usually reserved for thought.
  
• Power-playing is not allowed. This means that YOU cannot control someone ELSE's character. This often happens in fights. In this context it means that you cannot say if your attack landed (without the other player's permission). In other contexts it means you cannot control the actions of another's character.
  
• God-modding is when your character is unrealistically stronger, faster or otherwise physically superior to someone else's character. Usually it isn't allowed, but due to Spectrum's allowance of magic as well as normal characters, god-modding is allowed within reason.
  
• Use any tenses you want.
  
• There aren't really any seasons in the valley. Each area has its own unique climate that does not change throughout the year.
  
• Liquid time is allowed. Your character is allowed to be in more than one thread at a time, although these threads can sometimes conflict.
  
• If it's not a human, it's not extinct, and it's native to North America, you may include that animal in your post. Eagles, trout, etc. are allowed, but saber-toothed cats are not, llamas are not, elephants are not. You can control both prey and predators but realistic play is encouraged (e.g., a lone wolf would not be able to take down a healthy bull caribou and an inexperienced pup would not be able to fend off a bear).
  
• At any time it is possible that your thread will be interrupted by MOTHER NATURE and your characters will have to deal with any number of unpredictable events. It could be a bear attack. It could be a flash flood. It could be the appearance of a rainbow. If you wish to exclude Mother Nature from your thread, add "[No MN]" in the title or something along those lines.

[Forte]

PACKS

• There is a limit of seven pack territories in the valley.
  
• Each territory is located in one of the boards named after the cardinal directions.
  
• Territories are not usually very large thanks to the abundance of prey in the Valley, but some sub-climates are harsh. Territories in these locations are larger.
  
• There is a special board for creating a new pack. It is located here. There is also a simple form to fill out.
  
• At least three wolves must apply for a new territory together for it to be granted.
  
• If a pack leader becomes inactive (does not log in for more than a month, or post for two), any still-active members with characters in that pack will be awarded the opportunity to have their character take over the territory, either by OOC agreement between the members who want the position, or IC conflict between the characters.
  
• If there are no such members, the threads in the territory's boards will be archived and the territory will be put up for claim.
  
• Any empty territories can be claimed by two or more wolves without having to fill out the aforementioned form.
  
• If an empty territory is not claimed within one month, it will be deleted, and a new territory will take its place once someone applies for it.
  
• Groups of wolves without a territories are allowed, but are not formally considered packs.

[Forte]

REPRODUCTION

[/u]

• NO graphic breeding. This would violate ProBoards' Terms of Service. When the time comes, the thread must fade out and then back in once the deed is done.
  
• Since there are no set seasons at Spectrum, breeding may occur whenever.
  
• No need to be graphic with the whelping either.
  
• Whelping can occur at any time.
  
• Since no passage-of-time rules are enforced, whelping may occur as soon after breeding as the players wish, although a character giving birth on the day the breeding happened without any kind of time skip is looked down upon.
  
• The players of the parents may choose the physical appearances of the pups.
  
• PUPS NEED THEIR OWN PROFILES SUBMITTED in the "New Characters" board AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER THEY ARE BORN. It hardly takes any time at all. Please do not submit the profiles of a whole litter in one post. One wolf per post.
  

[/blockquote]

[Forte]

FIGHTING

• Not too graphic, although this rule is more lenient.
  
• NO POWER-PLAYING unless the owner of the character agrees.
  
• Having your fight moderated by a staff member is optional.
  

[Forte]

ARCHIVING

archiving

• Once your thread is finished please add something like
  "[finished]" or "[fin]" to the title of the first post so that a staff member may archive it.
  
• Inactive threads not following the rule above will be archived once they fall to the second page on the board.
  

[Forte]

ACTIVITY

activity

• Members are expected to maintain a reasonable level of activity. This means posting a couple times a week or more. We're pretty lenient about activity, though.
  
• Members have one month after they join to create a character. If this doesn't happen, their account is deleted.
  
• Members who have made no IC posts will have their account deleted two weeks after their most recent character's creation.
  

[Forte]

CONCLUSION

blah blah

• Thank you for reading the rules all the way through! If you made it this far, send a PM to Forte for 10 free rainbows!
  
• Direct all questions to literally anyone on the site, 'cause everyone here is awesome and will be happy to help you out.
  
• And, of course, all glory to the Hypnotoad.