[DONE] Rules [edited]

[Dante]

OOC rules:

#001. We expect all of our members to act maturely and appropriately while Out Of Character. No harassing other members or unnecessary profanity of other vulgar language. If you do not abide by these limitations, you will be warned accordingly.

#002. Please do not talk in nothing but chatspeak while out of character. It's really hard to try to understand wh3n 50m30n3's 7lkn l1k 7hi5.

#003. If your character has some sort of grudge against another character, please don't carry it over into Out of Character.

#004. When posting an image within the boards, you must make sure that it complies with the ProBoards Terms of Service. This means that it must not hotlink, it must not contain sexual/racist references, it must not be a copyrighted image that you found and - as an addition to the TOS - should not stretch the boards. Any images that do stretch the boards will be resized automatically or reduced to a link, and any member found posting inappropriate images will be banned without hesitation and reported.

#005. If you're going to be absent, please LET US KNOW HERE! Posting in this thread will ensure that your account stays safe if there's an activity check.

#006. NO CHARACTERS WITH POWERS. If this roleplay is to be based off a modern day city, we have to have characters that are based off modern day people. Isn't it power enough that they can shapeshift? In shifted form (Animal form), your character can not have abnormalities like wings, huge fangs, odd colors, or unusual or detailed markings. Strangely-colored animals would not go unnoticed in a huge city such as Shelpey. Again, keep it realistic and as close to natural animals as possible.

#007. There's a MAXIMUM of 5 characters per member. Please take this into consideration when you are thinking about creating a new one.

#008. Pay close attention to the limited animal list. These animals are frequently over-used and therefore have to be limited in order to keep their numbers even. One member may only have the specified number of characters that can shift into a particular animal that's on the limited list. Read that thread >>>>>>HERE<<<<<<<

#009. When posting characters, please don't make multiple WIPs at the same time. Post one character at a time and wait for each one to be accepted before making another one. This means you give each character your focus and it also means the staff aren't overworked trying to accept several different characters all at the same time.

#010. When you join a roleplay, you are expected to post at least once a week in that thread. This is so that the roleplay can keep moving. You can post as many times within the week as you want - but the minimum number of posts we expect is one per thread every week. If there is a week where you are truly unable to post, please notify all the people in your thread before hand (as well as a member of staff through the PM system.)

If you can no longer keep up with a roleplay and wish to leave it, the best way of doing so would be to make a final post where your character officially leaves the roleplay.

Similarly, if you can no longer keep up with a character, you're free to have them involved in a roleplay where they end up leaving Shelpey Alley for good or, should you so want, end up dying.

Neither of these are necessary, and you can just notify roleplayers that you're leaving a thread or ask staff to move your character to the archives, but they are options that are available to you should you so want to use them.

#011. Don't set deadlines you can't keep. If you aren't able to post by 7:00PM your time, don't say that you will. Don't tell your fellow roleplayers that you will post "soon" and then three hours later you still haven't posted. This goes back to the things your mother teaches you: don't break your word. If you don't think you'll be able to finish a post by a certain time, don't tell everybody you will. It's misleading and disheartening.

#012. Please do not nag your fellow roleplayers in public to give you a reply. Send them a friendly PM reminding them it's their turn to post. This keeps it private and saves any ill feelings between members. If the reminders turn into constant spam, we ask that the member being spammed please notify staff.

IC Rules:

#001. This is a LITERATE roleplay. Please speak in FULL sentences, and try your best to post at least a good, full paragraph. However, there is no posting minimum, as we expect you to be able to understand that quality is more important than quantity.

#002. Be realistic while roleplaying. Take the time to develop your character and their relationships with others.

#003. This roleplay is set in the 21st century: look around you at any modern day city. See all the drug issues, rape cases, and illegal activities? They are all allowed on this site, just try to keep it in moderation and realistic.

#004. Swearing is allowed while IC.

#005. Fighting and arguments can break out at any time, and while this is allowed, we do not want to see it carry over to OOC. (see #3 of OOC rules)

#006. We expect that members are mature enough to know not to powerplay, autohit, and/or godmodel. If you don't know what any of these mean, read the following:

Powerplaying is where you take control of another person's character.

Autohitting is a term that's not often used by roleplayers, as it's really just a type of powerplaying. Simply, it's when you decide whether an attack on another character hits or not without giving the other person a chance to react.

Godmodding is when you make your character invincible or all-knowing.

#007. Because different roleplayers view the Shifting process differently, it can confuse many as to how Shifters actually change forms (and as to whether their clothes change with them or if they need to redress later.)

Because for some the idea of needing to redress later is uncomfortable and awkward to roleplay, it is not a necessity to include this detail. However, you're also not banned from doing so. We just ask that you keep your fellow roleplayers in consideration when you roleplay with them.

Suggestions:

It is preferred that you use an active E-Mail in case of activity checks, which are the only times that we will ever E-Mail our members.

It is suggested to use the "Forever" option in the drop-down menu when you log it. This does not mean you will be logged in even when you're not on the computer. This just means you won't have to continuously log in every time you view our forum.

To save confusion, it would be appreciated if you could mark your roleplay threads as open or private. You can do this by either including the word "open" in brackets in your thread title or by specifying the name of the character(s) you would like in that thread.

For tips on creating your character, please take a look here for info.
For more information on how Shelpey Alley works, take a look at this thread.
For the list of animals, see the drop-down menu in the posting application form.

[.: T O K I :.]

#004. When posting an image within the boards, you must make sure that it complies with the ProBoards Terms of Service. This means that it must not hotlink, it must not contain sexual/racist references and - as an addition to the TOS - should not stretch the boards. Any images that do stretch the boards will be resized automatically or reduced to a link, and any member found posting inappropriate images will be banned without hesitation and reported.

We should probably mention something about copyrighted images too (ie: you can't just get a picture off of DA, Google, Flickr, etc...).

[Dante]

M'kay, added that.

[loresauce]

Additional rule:

Don't set deadlines you can't keep.
If you aren't able to post by 7:00PM your time, don't say that you will. Don't tell your fellow roleplayers that you will post "soon" and then three hours later you still haven't posted. This goes back to the things your mother teaches you: don't break your word. If you don't think you'll be able to finish a post by a certain time, don't tell everybody you will. It's misleading and disheartening.

[Dante]

Added word-for-word. I think that's a good rule to add.

[loresauce]

Hope you guys don't mind, I did previously discuss this with both of you anyways, but I added up the rule with regards to making one character at a time rather then spamming 50 different character WIPs. I added this as a new number 9 so that it's under the rules that pertain to character creation (the character limit and character powers) because it seems to help the rules flow. If you get what I mean. xP

[Zephyrus]

you should specify the rules regarding weapons in human and animal form. Guns, knives, bows. As well as armor plating, metal claws, spikes, harnesses, and other wear for shifted forms.

Also rules regarding if these above things can be hidden in this magic place where some shifters put their clothes when they change. And if possible, it kinda gives those that play the no clothes at a huge disadvantage, as when they unshift, they don't have an uzi, sword, knife, rope, climbing gear, insert useful item here, on them at the time they shift back.

[loresauce]

The rules regarding weapons can't be made and you've already inadvertently explained why in your own post.

Because we can't force people to shift in a certain way nor can we clarify it for the same reason, we can't clarify nor force people to do that with any weapons their character has on them. It is completely and utterly dependant on how the character shifts. There is no extra disadvantage for people who decide to shift realistically and need to redress themselves; they aren't about to shift into their naked human form in front of a bunch of people, leaving them even more defenceless then before.

[Zephyrus]

<sub>The rules regarding weapons can't be made and you've already inadvertently explained why in your own post.

Because we can't force people to shift in a certain way nor can we clarify it for the same reason, we can't clarify nor force people to do that with any weapons their character has on them. It is completely and utterly dependent on how the character shifts. There is no extra disadvantage for people who decide to shift realistically and need to redress themselves; they aren't about to shift into their naked human form in front of a bunch of people, leaving them even more defenseless then before.</sub>


I think we're having a bit of miscommunication, so I'll try and clarify what I meant.

I meant to ask for clarification for the existence, and ability to use weapons outside of your bare fists/natural abilities of your shifted animal. Do guns exist in shelpey alley? Are you allowed to purchase them and use them on other people? Obviously the need for permission to kill characters comes into play. I come from a fantasy style human roleplay, and I'm very much used to strict laws on guns and weapons in particular. It is my personal opinion that guns have to be used -very- responsibly. They quickly can make everyone act like neo in the matrix, dodging and deflecting bullets, or require the rules of "magic" and "powers" to balance their power. Guns are our primary weapon right now for a reason, they are easy to use, point, and shoot. And regulation on them I would recommend.

This of course begs the question, if guns are going to/are not going to be regulated, what about crossbows? Bombs? Chainsaws? Axes? Swords, traps, etc.

That is the first of my questions. The second was asking what the rules were for forging/creating/building contraptions, gear, harnesses, and other equipment to be carried or worn by your shifted form to increase offensive/defensive/other abilities.

Like for example, Kit is an electrical engineer. Could he build and wear a self made collar that could translate set chirps into human speech? Could he wear armor that he makes for himself? What about just decorative items, maybe a headset for a bird or cat.

I imagine that some of these are fine, but I find it important to set the line of where line is. Which very well might be, an overarching rule of we'll make new rules if we feel you're breaking one. Although GM's that have done that in the past tend to make a few unhappy players when suddenly their is a rule just against them and they have to retro change posts.


Finally I would disagree about the ruling about say
_{There is no extra disadvantage for people who decide to shift realistically and need to redress themselves; they aren't about to shift into their naked human form in front of a bunch of people, leaving them even more defenseless then before.}

I would say the ability to instantly blend into a crowd and be clothed is very much so an advantage. But I do agree that you really can't force people (underage especially) to roleplay things that make them feel uncomfortable. If it were me, I would follow something akin to the animorphs cannon, which was faced with the same conundrum. They couldn't have naked boys and girls running around in kids books -together-. So they made a ruling that tight clothing morphed with them, (bathing suits, wetsuits, leotards, etcetera). Or at least put down a ruling that you can't morph from animal form with anything b]other[/b] than clothing, EG so your animal would have to transport it. This would prevent things like, Bob is part of the assassins, he has an uzi, or a trap or a camera he turns into a small animal, sneaks into a location, changes back with all the gear he came with. Ready to do whatever he wants in the thieves' base . Vs the opposite if he did a naked shape shift, he is now in there, but is naked, has no equipment, no ability to blend in etc.

Finally, if you have medical procedures done, EG a bone is replaced, or a knee, or a limb is amputated. Does the equivalent bone in the shift replaced with the same equivalent. (Does a double amputee that shifts have all his limbs intact? What if he's a starfish? Can he grow those limbs back in starfish form and have them transfer over for miracle healing?)


I'm really sorry this post is so long. I just find a lot of your roleplay universe missing in details, and as they say, the devil is in the details. And while you may not need to answer these questions in the main rules thread etc. It would be nice to have an answer somewhere in an informative Know-All information everything you need to know about shifters post. Or something.

You can say we don't need that much detail; This isn't a problem so we won't touch it; Go away you're not a mod; etc. But I figured since I have a great deal of experience in long lasting role play servers, I would try and assist in whatever ways I feel I could. One of them being bringing things I have seen become decisive and debated issues brought to light so they can be nipped in the bud.


-Zephyrus

[.: T O K I :.]

Well, for one, SA is a modern role play. There are guns, weapons, rape, nakedness, etc... Underage or not, PB rules say you have to be 13+. If you can't handle nudity in writing, then it's the user's own fault for that. It's also against the rules for graphic material so there shouldn't be any detail on nudity anyway. The mentioning of clothes (with or without) wouldn't really have to be brought up either, but again as Lore said, it's mainly a personal preference. If you're not comfortable, don't write it (or if you are, it's always safe to ask the other member's too). We don't want to restrict the type of shifting though as we want to keep SA as much of a free-style as we can.

So: Yes there are weapons. Any matrix stuff would be god-moding anyway and the member would be given the appropriate consequences.

Could he build and wear a self made collar that could translate set chirps into human speech? Could he wear armor that he makes for himself? What about just decorative items, maybe a headset for a bird or cat.

No, there is no "magic healing" or anything. If you lose an arm in your shift form, you lose an arm in your regular form and vice versa. This includes small things like scrapes. The only magic in SA is the ability to shape shift.

As for your character building their own contraptions, that's fine as long that is truly what s/he does for a living. Thus being you can't have a character that's 15 and in school suddenly making their own armor and such. However, it's great that s/he wants to build a contraption that translates animal to human language, but I wouldn't say things like that are allowed. My reason being it hasn't happened in real life, thus we can't assume that it's actually possible.

(Post was written in a short time, anything I missed?)

[zephyrus]

yes, thanks for answering my curiosities/questions.

on a side note: awww no starfish shift super heal.

I do have two last questions: can shifters do fish/plants/trees?

[loresauce]

Since we have stated multiple times that shifting is ANIMAL FORMS ONLY[/u] and I said this to you myself through IM, you are free to assume plants and trees are not on the list of shifting abilities.

You can also read our rules where it says "animal form" multiple times, that might help give you a clue as to what you can and can not shift into.

Please don't bounce around staff members to give you answers you've already been given. It's rude.

[.: T O K I :.]

Microscopic and aquatic animals aren't allowed either. This prevents situations where shifters might randomly shift (if 24 hours is up, they're weak, etc.) on land. This excludes aquatic animals that can survive out of water such as seals.