Original Post: Ember, April 20, 2013
This was going to be the next monthly meow, but I have something else I want to talk about them and this makes more sense as just a normal: the rules. I know you probably like some of them (people can't randomly kill your characters without your consent) and some you probably hate (character limit). So now I explain why I have them, how they've changed over time and what rules I may end up having.
1. No foul language-
This one is fairly straight forward, seeing as the Warriors series is writen mainly for 8-12 year olds this site based off of it should be appropriate for this group. Curseing isn't needed, it doesn't fit into the RP, they shouldn't be used around kids, etc. I usually don't have much trouble enforceing this one,
2. Members are allowed 12 characters, they must be cats. (Moderators have 15, Administrators 20, site owners 25)
This rule shifts around the most as we get more members or lose them. This rule originally sat at 7 for everyone, this wasn’t a good system because 1. It gave the people in charge as much control as everyone else. This may sound like a good thing at first, but in reality it just made NOTHING happen because everyone was constantly trying to take the plot in a different direction and cancel out everyone else’s plot. 2. People who worked on the site got nothing out of it, they generally weren’t given much respect for it and I wanted to thank them for helping me in a way that they would actually really enjoy. 3. There were more clans, the site started out with just one clan (Moon Clan) and as there were more clans 7 cats just wasn’t enough to work with anymore. As that shifted more towards everyone having the same plot in mind and working together to make that happen, the character limits changed to reword those who worked on the site, who stayed active, and overall just gave people enough characters so that they could actually help the plot.
3. No killing without permission of the owner of the character you are killing.
This is my favorite rule for two reasons, 1. I’ve never had to enforece it and 2. It keeps everyone happy. This was the first rule ever written, and I shouldn’t have to explain why.
4. You may only role-play your characters.
This one is also fairly obvious, your characters belong to you and if everyone could just play them as they wanted you’d be rather angry about it. I’ve never had many problems with this one.
5. No double posting unless the post above you is over 3 hours old.
This rule has changed a few times, overall it’s gotten less strict. I first introduced it right before the battle with Bone Clan (In early 2010, for reference) and it has had some serious problems. It’s become more loose over time, but boy do I have some stories to tell…which is why I will make those present (Warpath, Dawnstar, I’m looking at YOU) to post the stories in the comments.
6. All posts must be relevant.
This is just to keep the pages for actual RPing, pages and PMs are used for members talking to other members about nonRPing things. I have a bit of trouble with this too, especially with new members who aren’t used to the site yet.
7. There can be NO pictures in your signature (icons, dragoncave, ect.) signatures must be under font size.
See #10
8. Respect moderators administrators and site owners, the consequences will be dire if you don't!
Do I even need to say anything? This website isn’t built of chaos, sometimes we do need people to do what we say to keep everything running smoothly and to keep everything fair and friendly.
9. There can be only one in the same clan with the same beginning of the name, if two cats in different clans have the same first name the last parts of their names must be very different (No Moonfur and Moonpelt, but Moonfur and Moonshadow are okay. Leaders must have different names to avoid confusion.
This is simple as well; it’s changed a bit (before you couldn’t have the same prefix independent of clan) but probably won’t be changing again.
10. All posts must be in the normal color
We had some trouble a while ago with members posting in garish colors, it was distracting and ruined the flow of the site, bringing too much attention to them and distracting from the point: we work TOGETHER to make the plot.
Rules I have consitered, and may still, put up:
Leaders, deputies and Medicine Cats must remain active.
Pros: No leader syndrome, less awkwardly filled positions, reward for active members
Cons: hard to enforce (a person could just say they are having personal problems, it’s a bit sad but we have no idea if they are just making that up or not. If they’re not they shouldn’t be removed from their post, if they are making it up we have no idea that they are and just have to assume they aren’t.) difficult to draw the line with what is active and what isn’t.
My notes: when a person with a position of power can't stay active any more, I just have to hope they will step down. Sometimes I do have to make a leader a warrior or demote a deputy or medicine cat, I hate doing it but I can't just keep an inactive cat in an important position. So, if you are in a position of power and haven't been/can't stay active just tell me! I won't get mad at you, I will be happy that you did :).
No clan can be twice, or more, the size of any other. If a clan grows too large no characters will be allowed in it until it shrinks or the others grow.
Pros: keeps the game balanced, keeps new members from having characters only in one clan, and keeps the power fluid.
Cons: too much control over the game, takes away freedom from members, may not even help the game, trouble to keep up with, hard to enforce.
My notes: I probably won’t make this a rule, if things get too out of control (1:6 or something greater than that, for instance) I may put in a similar rule. For now I will just encourage people to make characters in smaller clans and discourage new characters in large clans. So “Hey people! Dawn Clan is tiny again! And Night Clan is waaayyyyy too big! Work on that, eh?)
Any ideas for new rules you would like to see or old rules you think should be removed?
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