Post by Silverback on Nov 28, 2004 6:53:01 GMT
SUBMITTING A BIO
Once you know what character you want to play, you'll need to create a Character Bio application for that character and post it in our Character Bio Submissions forum. For existing Marvel characters, you may simply copy and paste a bio from another X-Men website to use as your submitted bio to save you time (if you do strictly copy and paste, please site your source). Some sites with some very excellent bios are MarvelDirectory.com and X-Fan's Cerebro Files.
Submitting your bio in the manner we've outlined below will make it easier to review your character and grant approval or offer suggestions for improvement. We prefer this approach since we can clearly see exactly who and what the character is. Alternate means of submitting your bio sometimes tends to provide us with information we don't need and could lack the info we require, not only making your application process longer but also making it look like you neglected to properly read our rules. We don't like that.
So let's outline the vital parts of the Character Bio application that we expect every applicant to use if they're serious about joining our RPG:
Code Name: The code name of your character should be the Subject of your post in the Character Bio Submission forum as well as the first piece of information in your bio. For canon X-Men characters, the code name should be obvious (if there isn't one, use the name of the character). For original characters, the code name should both be original and also reflect the character's powers. For example, a short fat man with mind control powers should not be called Stretch.
Real Name: It's important to include the real name of your character in your bio so that other players know how to refer to your character. If your character has an unusual name, a foreign name, or doesn't know their name, these should be adequately explained in the history. If your character is Caucasian but has a Japanese name, we need to know why.
Height, Weight, Eye Color, Hair Color: All four of these are important in constructing a mental image of your character, and should be included. Most of the sources we've provided for canon character bios include this information for canons.
We will not accept characters with abnormal eye color unless a legitimate reason is given. Thus, your character cannot have black eyes or red eyes just because it's cool, nor will we allow it to be power related unless their power deals with some kind of energy effect that could potentially make that change.
Age: The age of your character, specifically for original characters, is VERY important. Characters of different ages see the world from a different light. A 14-year-old character will not have the same maturity or logic as a 21-year-old character. Thus, we expect bios to properly represent this.
Place of Birth and Known Relatives (major ones):
Group Affiliation: This is probably the most forgotten category, but also one of the most important. Your answer in this category determines where you want your character to go in terms of teams.
Powers: This is the heart of the mutant character bio. We expect to see detailed descriptions of powers, not just "Can fire beams from hands" or something as short. We also request that characters be limited to one major power and, if necessary, one minor but related power. For instance, a character can't apply for the powers of super strength, speed, agility, reaction time, and telepathy. That's just way too much. But if you apply for a telepath and want another minor power, it would probably be best to make that power mental or mind related as well.
History: The biggest thing we want here is DETAIL! This is the meat of your character, and it tells us about this person and is really the deciding factor as to why we should accept him or her. A character without true conflict and drama in their life is uninteresting. Why should we accept a character who has done so little with their previous life to only deserve three or four sentences? Take this opportunity to tell us everything about your character, but also review other guidelines we've made available about plots and situations not to include.
Player Name and Player Contact Info: This is important because we want to know (1) what to call you as a player and (2) how to get ahold of you if we need to. This doesn't have to be your real name. It can be a nickname you like going by. But we do require some kind of name as well as an e-mail, AIM, MSN, etc etc to contact you through.
SAMPLE ROLEPLAYS: The RPG requires applicants to submit a sample roleplay when applying for a character. Please realize that your approval for a character is based solely on the information you provide. Therefore, the more information you give to use about the character and you as a player, the easier it will be for us to make our decision. If you type up an average bio with little description and a sample roleplay with many spelling/grammar errors, it will be harder for us to feel the work you're going to submit if you were to be approved would be of good quality. By submitting a sample RP that demonstrates both your skills as a writer as well as your knowledge of the character, it will make our job of approving you that much easier. It's best for your sample roleplay to be a decent size in length, a couple paragraphs on average. It should give us a good idea as to how you'll be playing the character you're applying for, as well as if you have a good grasp on that character. Thoughts of the character and speech is recommended to make sure you're a good fit with this particular role.
So please be aware that sample roleplays are REQUIRED along with character bios! What we're looking for from applicants is...
1) Mastery of proper spelling and grammar
2) Good flow in type (sentences and paragraphs that make sense and are logically put together)
3) Mastery of the Personality/Behavior/Unique Characteristics of the character you're applying for (this is IMPORTANT!)
4) Positive attitude regarding any requests about your bio
Once again, the more information you give us, the more we'll know when evaluating your submission. And again, sample roleplays tell us quite a bit more about you as a player that a simple bio might not be able to, and drastically speed the acceptance process up, which is why we've chosen to have our applicants include them in their submitted bios.
APPLYING FOR MORE THAN ONE CHARACTER
We've recently established a new role stating that new members are not permitted to apply for more than one character when they first join the board. We've done this for a number of reasons. First, it's hard to tell whether a new member plans to be active or is going to drop the game in a matter of days. We don't want a member taking up three characters upon joining if they're going to become inactive soon, and thus close those characters off for other new members who might join.
Secondly, we'd like new members to apply for only one character at first because we'd like to evaluate your work with that character before approving you for a second or third character as well. If, after a period of time where we can oversee your work, we find your work to be satisfactory, you may apply for a second character if you wish to do so. However, we can no longer allow new members to arrive and apply for three characters right off the bat.
So without further adieu, the form....
Character Bio Submission Form
Code Name:
Real Name:
Height:
Weight:
Eyes:
Hair:
Age:
Place of Birth:
Known Relatives (major ones):
Group Affiliation:
Powers:
History:
Player Name:
Player Contact Info (e-mail, AIM, MSN, etc etc):
Sample Roleplay:
Statistics:
Thanks to Nicke Seiler of The Uncanny X-Men RPG
Once you know what character you want to play, you'll need to create a Character Bio application for that character and post it in our Character Bio Submissions forum. For existing Marvel characters, you may simply copy and paste a bio from another X-Men website to use as your submitted bio to save you time (if you do strictly copy and paste, please site your source). Some sites with some very excellent bios are MarvelDirectory.com and X-Fan's Cerebro Files.
Submitting your bio in the manner we've outlined below will make it easier to review your character and grant approval or offer suggestions for improvement. We prefer this approach since we can clearly see exactly who and what the character is. Alternate means of submitting your bio sometimes tends to provide us with information we don't need and could lack the info we require, not only making your application process longer but also making it look like you neglected to properly read our rules. We don't like that.
So let's outline the vital parts of the Character Bio application that we expect every applicant to use if they're serious about joining our RPG:
Code Name: The code name of your character should be the Subject of your post in the Character Bio Submission forum as well as the first piece of information in your bio. For canon X-Men characters, the code name should be obvious (if there isn't one, use the name of the character). For original characters, the code name should both be original and also reflect the character's powers. For example, a short fat man with mind control powers should not be called Stretch.
Real Name: It's important to include the real name of your character in your bio so that other players know how to refer to your character. If your character has an unusual name, a foreign name, or doesn't know their name, these should be adequately explained in the history. If your character is Caucasian but has a Japanese name, we need to know why.
Height, Weight, Eye Color, Hair Color: All four of these are important in constructing a mental image of your character, and should be included. Most of the sources we've provided for canon character bios include this information for canons.
We will not accept characters with abnormal eye color unless a legitimate reason is given. Thus, your character cannot have black eyes or red eyes just because it's cool, nor will we allow it to be power related unless their power deals with some kind of energy effect that could potentially make that change.
Age: The age of your character, specifically for original characters, is VERY important. Characters of different ages see the world from a different light. A 14-year-old character will not have the same maturity or logic as a 21-year-old character. Thus, we expect bios to properly represent this.
Place of Birth and Known Relatives (major ones):
Group Affiliation: This is probably the most forgotten category, but also one of the most important. Your answer in this category determines where you want your character to go in terms of teams.
Powers: This is the heart of the mutant character bio. We expect to see detailed descriptions of powers, not just "Can fire beams from hands" or something as short. We also request that characters be limited to one major power and, if necessary, one minor but related power. For instance, a character can't apply for the powers of super strength, speed, agility, reaction time, and telepathy. That's just way too much. But if you apply for a telepath and want another minor power, it would probably be best to make that power mental or mind related as well.
History: The biggest thing we want here is DETAIL! This is the meat of your character, and it tells us about this person and is really the deciding factor as to why we should accept him or her. A character without true conflict and drama in their life is uninteresting. Why should we accept a character who has done so little with their previous life to only deserve three or four sentences? Take this opportunity to tell us everything about your character, but also review other guidelines we've made available about plots and situations not to include.
Player Name and Player Contact Info: This is important because we want to know (1) what to call you as a player and (2) how to get ahold of you if we need to. This doesn't have to be your real name. It can be a nickname you like going by. But we do require some kind of name as well as an e-mail, AIM, MSN, etc etc to contact you through.
SAMPLE ROLEPLAYS: The RPG requires applicants to submit a sample roleplay when applying for a character. Please realize that your approval for a character is based solely on the information you provide. Therefore, the more information you give to use about the character and you as a player, the easier it will be for us to make our decision. If you type up an average bio with little description and a sample roleplay with many spelling/grammar errors, it will be harder for us to feel the work you're going to submit if you were to be approved would be of good quality. By submitting a sample RP that demonstrates both your skills as a writer as well as your knowledge of the character, it will make our job of approving you that much easier. It's best for your sample roleplay to be a decent size in length, a couple paragraphs on average. It should give us a good idea as to how you'll be playing the character you're applying for, as well as if you have a good grasp on that character. Thoughts of the character and speech is recommended to make sure you're a good fit with this particular role.
So please be aware that sample roleplays are REQUIRED along with character bios! What we're looking for from applicants is...
1) Mastery of proper spelling and grammar
2) Good flow in type (sentences and paragraphs that make sense and are logically put together)
3) Mastery of the Personality/Behavior/Unique Characteristics of the character you're applying for (this is IMPORTANT!)
4) Positive attitude regarding any requests about your bio
Once again, the more information you give us, the more we'll know when evaluating your submission. And again, sample roleplays tell us quite a bit more about you as a player that a simple bio might not be able to, and drastically speed the acceptance process up, which is why we've chosen to have our applicants include them in their submitted bios.
APPLYING FOR MORE THAN ONE CHARACTER
We've recently established a new role stating that new members are not permitted to apply for more than one character when they first join the board. We've done this for a number of reasons. First, it's hard to tell whether a new member plans to be active or is going to drop the game in a matter of days. We don't want a member taking up three characters upon joining if they're going to become inactive soon, and thus close those characters off for other new members who might join.
Secondly, we'd like new members to apply for only one character at first because we'd like to evaluate your work with that character before approving you for a second or third character as well. If, after a period of time where we can oversee your work, we find your work to be satisfactory, you may apply for a second character if you wish to do so. However, we can no longer allow new members to arrive and apply for three characters right off the bat.
So without further adieu, the form....
Character Bio Submission Form
Code Name:
Real Name:
Height:
Weight:
Eyes:
Hair:
Age:
Place of Birth:
Known Relatives (major ones):
Group Affiliation:
Powers:
History:
Player Name:
Player Contact Info (e-mail, AIM, MSN, etc etc):
Sample Roleplay:
Statistics:
Thanks to Nicke Seiler of The Uncanny X-Men RPG
