FurMorphed Role Play Rules (RPR)
1. Autoing
This is one of the cardinal sins of RPing. Autoing means controlling another RPers character and is forbidden, since it would allow you to steer said character into situations which the character's creater might not desire.
There are however, two exceptions to this rule. The first exception is that you have been permitted to auto by the RPer who created the character.
The second exception is that the action is minor and heavily impedes your post had you not written it. An example would be giving an object to another character. You don't need to stop your post half way through and wait for the other RPer to accept the object if it can be assumed that the character would naturally accept it.
2. Godmoding
Another cardinal sin. Godmoding is the act of making your character into a god of sorts - immensely powerful. This is fiction, but in order to keep the story fair to all RPers, you must refrain from making your character unrealistically powerful. For example, if you and the other RPers need to scale a 50 foot wall and nobody has a grappling hook, you shouldn't be able to make your character use his superpowers to jump to the top of the wall.
(That is not to say you can't have superpowers - It is perfectly alright to make an RP about people with superpowers, but they must be balanced.)
3. Post length
Sometimes, there's just no way around a short post, but for the great majority of your posts, try to write a lot. Some RPers write several word document pages worth of text in a single post. It is understandable that someone who isn't used to RPing or writing in general, won't be able to create such an extensive post, but do as much as you can. The story is only as good as you make it and there is a lot you could be writing about - what people are doing, what they are saying, how they look, what's going on around them etc...
If your post is short, the next person has nothing to go on if they need to base their post on yours. This is especially important if you've just started the RP. Introductory posts must hint at a plot, introduce settings, character types, etc, and when possible, also provide a good back story. If these things are not present, other RPers will have a hard time jumping into the story and starting to write.
The general guideline is to try to write at least one average sized paragraph per post. Any post that is extremely short (only one or two sentences) should be expanded lest they be deleted.
4. Take notice!
RPs tend to get quite long and tedious to read, but do your utmost to read through the other RPers' posts. It is very easy for the story to pass you by, and skimming the text often isn't good enough. The main problem caused by not reading others' posts (apart from the fact that you'll miss a great story) is that your post will be full of errors from missing plot points you haven't read, and you'll risk causing a lot of confusion.
5. Third person, past tense
Always write in third person, past tense. There is a reason the majority of literary works are written in that way. It flows the best and it is the easiest to follow.
This rule is slightly more lenient than the rest; If the RPers agree to write in a different person and tense, it's alright, but only under the condition that all RPers follow the same person/tense. Mixing tenses and perspectives is very messy to look at and can cause the text to be difficult to read.
6. Grammar
Use proper grammar and spelling. No internet acronyms such as LOL and no 1337speak such as replacing 'what' with 'wut' or 'you' with 'u'. Also, for god's sake, punctuate.
You are all mature enough and grown up enough to speak and write in a proper language. The posting quality drops immensely by the appearance of bad language, so don't do it. If you aren't fluent with English there will be some leniency, but there is no excuse for bad spelling. Firefox has a built in spell checker and if you use IE you can copy paste from word. It's a small inconvenience that improves the RP a lot.
On that same note - After writing a post, read through it. You'll no doubt find sentences you don't like which you will want to improve upon, or things that are unclear and need editing.
7. OOC & BIC
When writing an RP, all text must be about the story - no idle off topic chatter may occur. If you feel you want to say something out of context, mark the beginning of your post with the tag 'OOC', which stands for 'Out of Character'. When you finish, add the tag 'BIC', which stands for 'Back in Character'.
Please remember though; you are writing an RP, and not chatting, so don't go into deep conversations that are bigger than the RP post. Just keep the OOC tag for comments or small discussions about the RP - where the story is heading, what the other guy meant by saying what he said in his post, asking if you can auto a small bit of another character etc...
8. Paragraphs
It is generally recommended that you keep your paragraphs short. Cut your paragraphs in two or three smaller parts. People will be reading your posts on a computer screen, and if you've ever had experience with reading long passages on a screen, you'll know it can get quite tiring. Breaking up the text into relatively small segments makes it much easier to read.
9. FMA
Standard posting rules as per the FMA apply in the RPs - for example, this means no swearing.
10. Character sheet
Character sheets are available for your convenience. You should fill one out before any main character joins an RP
11. Inactivity
RPers who have been inactive for more than 14 days without notifying the other participants in an RP, will loose the right to their character. This means that the other RPers may do as they wish with it (erase it, auto it, etc).
If you plan on leaving an RP for longer than 14 days, let the other participants know, and possibly plan for your character to leave the storyline during your time away, so that the character doesn't simply disappear without a trace.
Also, if you know you'll be absent for any time period, please avoid getting your character into situations that prohibit the other RPers from continuing the story until you've posted again.
12. Reporting posts
If a post is sub-par, and thus is breaking one of the above stated rules, please report the post to the mod team. The post will be examined, and if it is indeed sub-par, the poster will be notified and advised to improve the post. If the quality remains low, the post may be deleted.
The FurMorphed Agreement (FMA)