RP Rules and Etiquette

A -lot- can go wrong in an RP with no rules... I've seen good RP's spiral down the drain really quickly when "that guy" comes in and runs amok, so use your brain, be courteous and remember that you aren't the only person in the RP.

Rules:

~Characters:
1* Please make a profile for every character.
2* Please make it very clear as of who you are using if you use multiple characters in the same RP. Using a different color for different characters is a good way to do this.
3* You are always welcome make a new RPC.
4* Any race is welcome.
5* Please try to avoid creating mary-sue characters (cliche', overly-talented, "I can do everything you can do better" or attention-hogging OC's. Characters like Sasuke, Goku, Sephiroth, Sailor Moon, Superman, etc. are mary-sue characters).
6* Please try to avoid creating carbon copy (e.g. looks just like sonic, but has a cape and katana) or son-of-a-gun (e.g. the long lost son of Sephiroth) characters.
7* If your character joins an RP in a time in history he/she is not from (e.g. a futuristic character in the Wild West), please try to adapt your character to the RP settings.
8* If a player wishes to change/update their character, he/she must notify the other players and must still be acceptable to the RP's creator.

~Courtesy:
1* Please notify the RP'ers if you wish to leave an RP or wish to join an RP that has already started.
2* Remember the basic RPG courtesy rules (be sensible and think of others as you would in the forums or on msn, etc.).
3* Do not try to take control of another player's character.
4* If the creator of an RP has any additional specifications, please respect him/her.
5* If the creator of an RP has a legitimate reason, he/she reserves the right to ask a player to leave (at least temporarily) if the creator and the majority of the other players agree on this action.
6* Flaming an RP is forbidden. If you don't like an RP, don't join. It's easy that way (You can make your own RP the way you like it).

~Posting:
1* PLEASE be at least semi-literate.
2* Please use the standard 3rd-person RP format (pretend you are reading/writing a book).
3* Try to avoid one-liners
4* No leet speak or shortened terms such as ur (for your), lol, txt... etc.
5* Please avoid using symbols such as ( ) * ~ - etc. as a way to show actions, and avoid ascii emotes for more literate or serious RPs.
6* If you would like to say something out-of-character, please use something like (( )) or OOC: to show the others that you would like to say something not pertaining to the RP.

~Actions:
1* No autohitting (You can throw a punch, but you cannot determine whether or not the punch lands)
2* No ridiculously long fights.
3* No mass destruction
4* No being able to randomly teleport to your goal.
5* You may only kill/badly wound other charaters if the character's player says you may.
6* No one may break/steal the weapon/item of another persons WITHOUT their permission.
7* If a person tries to hit you, you more than likely won't be able to dodge it every single time. Be considerate and realistic. Being un-hittable can be considered godmodding (explained below).

~Other:
1 (golden rule)*** Absolutely -NO- godmoding. (That includes somehow generating unworldly levels of power because your character's angry at somthing, being able to survive a direct nuclear blast, being an un-hittable dodge-master, killing people by poking them with a plastic spoon, etc.) This, sadly, has ruined many excellent RP's in the past.
2* Vehicles are allowed. However, use common sense on how you obtain a vehicle and keep in mind what kind of vehicles would be available in that area. (A tank randomly in the middle of a city isn't going to happen 99% of the time.)
3* No pets (dragons, apocalyptic machines of utter destruction, wolves, randomly exploding cats, talking jellybeans with smiley faces painted on, etc.) unless granted permission by the creator of the RP.
4* If you do not wish to create an OC/RPC for the RP, you may wait for an NPC (non-playable character) and take control of him/her as they come up along the story. (i.e. bartender, monster, guard etc.)
5* Try to keep non-original characters (i.e. already-made TV show/videogame characters) in their own 'universe' unless the RP's creator states otherwise. (Putting T-Bone and Razor in an RP with wizards, dragons and no technology whatsoever would be pretty awkward.)
6* If a player decides to use a non-OC, they are required to play in character.
7* Control your own characters. Power-Playing (taking control of another person's character) is often frowned upon. Let the owners control their character, and you control your own, unless it is a Non-OC.

If you have any suggestions for rules or want a rule to be brought into consideration for editing, please feel free to speak up.