[The Common Sense Rules.]

[oGolem]

Okay, folks. Gonna try an' keep it simple here.

Read Or Die. These are the rules for this subforum, though adhering to them elsewhere makes Golem a Happy Mankey.

1. First and foremost, BE LITERATE. Or at least semi-literate. This means no chat/1337 speak. Please. Please for the love of Mew, don't. Also: please refrain from one-liners. Try your best to avoid them.

Neth

There's nothing more annoying than typing out three paragraphs and getting back "'Yeah,' he said."

Be active. After about one month of nothing from you, we'll scrub your charactars and settings, and you start over. If you know you need to be away for a while, let us know in the Hiatus thread--that way, we can just lock your stuff while you're gone if you're running anything, and we'll not punish you. Prior warning is cool, mmkay?

2. OOC threads belong in the Discussion. If it's just a random comment, any posts you do make OCC that's in an IC area should be in ((these)), and brief.

3. Obviously, cussing and cursing is allowed. Just don't be stupid about it. Else you get smacked in the face.

4. Play nice. If we see you acting snobbish and superior, we will not think twice about, kicking you out. For other things we don't like to see, like powerplaying, see the second post of this thread.

5. You can have as many characters as you want, as long as you can keep them all active and posting.

6. DO NOT MAKE YOUR OWN GYM. As for cities: If you 'make a city', provide the following: At least a brief history to start, a fairly detailed description of life and the layout of the town, and the general attitudes of the people there. If you make a town, you're also required to play the NPCs in it: At least the Jennies, Joys, mart people, and so forth. If you fail to do so through two warnings, your city will be locked and/or deleted.

7. Be realistic, please. Oak never looks into a young trainer's eyes, and says: "You know what? Screw regulations! Let's give you an ALAKAZAAM as your first pokemon, because you make me cream my shorts!"
I like shorts. They're comfy and easy to wear.
8. You are NOT related to Canon Characatars. If you want to play a canon charactar, get your butt over to the Canon Claims thread, read the rules about doing so, and think about it carefully before you try it. Canon folks are NOT in love with you/in any form of relationship with you. Exceptions will be made on a case by case basis, with mod approval--if they're being played properly.

Neth, while helping me work on these rules

So if you have a GOOD reason for that relationship, we may let it slide, but no fondling Ashy boy because you want to know if he screams out "I choose you Pikachu!" at climax.

9. Legendaries are off limits unless otherwise stated. Many of the members see the Legendaries as somewhat untouchable. Be they deities, spirits, or just uncooperative, they are singular in nature. They are definately not going to be owned by every Ash, Gary, and Oak. So if you're seen with one or even imply that you have one, there better be a DAMN good reason for it.

10. Move OOC disagreements to the Chatter thread, or private messages. Remember: Drama belongs IN good roleplay, not ABOUT good roleplay.

11. On Format: avoid quote chains. A good rule of thumb regarding quotes is to have no more than two quotes at once. So, Quote a quote, then reply. Please do not use ANY dicerolling--it makes Neth want to burn things, and she always exerts her displeasure in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. And last but not least, don't use fancy post styles--scroll, whisper, shout, so on.

12. If your RP starts to get hot and heavy, please move it to the PMs. We
don't wanna see your character and someone else's character practically going at it.

12+1. WE ARE NOT YOUR PLOT BUNNIES. You are allowed to post topics, here--so do eeet. Complaints about there not being topics are stupid, as it's because YOU HAVE NOT MADE THEM YET.

Remember, there are those that make a forum and those who give it content. They are not always the same.  

[oGolem]

And now, some specific examples of stuff we do not condone. (Thank neth for the examples. I'm too distracted to parody asshattery at the moment.)

Godmode

"Hi my name is David, I have all the pokemon and Mew!"

No, you don't have jackshit. Mew wants nothing to do with your sorry a**. Thank you, come again.

Powerplayer

"Anna looked over at Sally. She knew she was uncomforable, having to face her Squirtle against an Arcanine, but Anna was going to give her a break."

That's powerplaying. You're making the other character think and react. Not welcome here.

Campy Batman Defence

"Lewis cheered as his Goldeen's Bubblebeam slammed into Lewis's Flygon."
"Ah, but he hadn't noticed that Greg's Flygon had flown into the air! The attack missed! "

Telling your pokemon to dodge is something is fine. Having your pokemon succeed flawlessly every time is not. Furthermore, not every attack will connect. Consider things like levitation and flash fire, and the following guideline: If it makes no sense whatsoever that you would be able to dodge an attack, then you can't dodge the attack. If it makes no sense that an attack would connect, then it does not.  

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

Update Note~

And while these rules are obviously for Pokémon RPs, they can also apply to other RPs. They're just universal rules with Pokémon examples, so now you have no excuses for breaking any of them. :]