Lease Agreement
You are expected to read this entire page before you apply. Application for the game fandom_towers is considered acknowledgment that you have read and understood these policies. If you have questions, post them in the comments here. Thank you.
The Game
What is this?
This is an interactive RPG embracing all fandoms that have been either written or produced. The character you play can be taken from any point in his or her timeline, including before and after the storylines presented in their actual canon.
What's the premise?
Welcome to the pinnacle of modern living; we have living arrangements to suit any budget, from penthouse suites to basement hovels. Your neighbors are all other characters from many different fandoms. You can choose to be an antisocial hermit or the most popular resident in the building. What you do with your time is up to you. Just make sure the rent is paid (relatively) on time. How you raise the money to do so . . . well, we'll leave that to you.
Can things happen to my character without my consent?
No. This game is consent-based. That means nothing can happen to your character without your approval as a player. Likewise, you may not do something that affects another character without their consent. If you find yourself developing a problem with something another character is doing, please attempt to speak to the player about it and see if it can be resolved in-game. If it can’t be resolved between the players, please contact an administrator. There will be a laundry room for people to post up when a plot is afoot so that you may opt to have your character elsewhere when said plot goes down. There will be NO mass plotting that will forced on all players; if a plot will affect more then five players you MUST contact a moderator and post it up on the laundry room bulletin board.
What is the age limit of players?
We are not accepting anyone under the real-life age of 16 as a player, period. Sorry. There are too many liability issues that we are not prepared or willing to deal with. We rely on player integrity. We’ll take your word that you’re of age; however, if we find out you aren’t, you will be removed from the game and your character will be banned from the comms.
Can I play a character who is under 18?
Yes. But keep in mind, underage characters are to be subject to the same restrictions as real-life underage people. Any inappropriate behavior regarding an underage character will result in getting your character removed from the game.
Do I have to interact with other people if I don't want to?
Interaction is not mandatory. However, it is highly recommended. This is an interactive game, and there's little point to joining in a game with others if you're not going to interact with them. If you post in the Towers journal ( ) or the Town journal ( ) you should be willing to interact with whomever may comment back to your post. If you're trying to communicate with a specific character, be aware that if you're in public, anyone can comment to you. Handle this situation in character. Do not hurt people's feelings.
Can we include mature content in our entries?
Mature content is allowed. However, we ask that you use NWS (Not Work-Safe) tags and LJ-cuts on entries that contain graphic violence or sexual content and move those threads into the characters apartments. Profanity is acceptable, but let's not go all Tarantino with it . . . unless, of course, your character is from a Tarantino film, in which case, just go with it. :)
Can we make posts friends-only or private?
You can pretend to make posts private or only viewable to certain other characters, but not actually change the settings of your journal. All major things your character does should be available to everyone, unless for storyline reasons you're keeping something secret to be revealed at a later time.
How do we discuss upcoming storylines? What is acceptable in terms of plot?
The Laundry Room is an OOC journal created specifically for plotting purposes. Please use this community to let your fellow players know what you're planning to do and when you're planning to do it so the players can have some time to prepare how their characters will react to it - or to sit it out, if they choose not to interact. If you want to have your character blow up a part of the Towers, have him/her blow up a single apartment, NOT the whole complex. That way, you're not throwing the entire game into upheaval. Most anything goes in terms of plot. However, please note, some subjects that might come into play may offend some people. We are aware that serious subject matter (i.e., rape, suicide, male-on-female violence, etc.) may make for compelling drama, but please run any potentially controversial storylines (and their eventual conclusions) by the moderators so we can approve them and make sure that no one is offended. The mods have the right to veto any plot for any reason; however, we will not do so out of spite or personal vendetta. We just want to make sure everyone's okay with what's going on.
If I have a conflict with another player, how do I handle it?
Sometimes things happen. People get angry. If this happens, please try to deal with it IC-ly, but if that isn’t possible, please talk to the other players and try to come to an amicable resolution to the problem before bringing it to the moderators. It is never to late to talk about something OOC-ly. However, if you screw up and Bad Stuff Happens, the longer you wait to talk to people, generally, the worse the situation gets. Please try to resolve things before they explode. We appreciate it.
If you bring something to the admins, the first question you will get will be “Have you talked to the other players?” If the answer is not “Yes, and here’s the log of what’s gone on so far", you will be directed to go talk to them. If you have talked to them and there is still no amicable resolution in sight, we will attempt to arbitrate one. If the players resist all methods of arbitration, the admins reserve the right to make a final judgment to determine what happens. Things will not be allowed to sit in limbo forever awaiting resolution.
IMPORTANT: Please be civil to your fellow players. You don’t have to like their characters. You don’t even have to like them. We do expect people to be reasonable and civil with one another OOC. If you can’t do that, you don’t belong here. Anyone who goes out of their way to be nasty to another player OOC will be asked to stop. If that fails, we reserve the right to take action on it, which may include asking one or both players to leave. This is a game, folks. It’s supposed to be fun. It’s not supposed to cause people RL trauma and distress and if it gets to the point where that’s happening, something is seriously wrong, and it will be fixed.
Keeping emails/IM chats etc.. is your friend if are on the bad side of a situation gone wrong. Remember it is a game, do not take out IG what your feeling OOG and the other way around. Characters run away from their players from time to time and we are all human, to simply remove your character from all interaction with someone who was their friend IG without giving IC reason causes distress and causes you to leave IC what your character should respond like.
The Characters
What is acceptable in terms of character?
There will only be one of each character allowed. First come, first served. Your character should start with the established plot of his/her fandom. Once s/he gets to Fandom Towers, please feel free to follow any story path you wish. However, please keep in mind that you're playing a person. People do not change personalities overnight. Of course, occasional uncharacteristic behavior is allowed, as people tend to change moods on occasion. However, an abrupt and permanent change in character behavior that is completely different from the initial character without something to cause such a change is discouraged. If you want to play your character, it seems silly to drastically change his/her personality.
Since not everyone will know all the fandoms in play here, we'd appreciate if your first post and your biography on your user info page contain a brief history of who your character is and what their canon history is, and where they diverge from it. If your character has multiple canon histories (i.e., X-Men), please specify which one you're using as your canon. If you're a crossover character from Fandom High, you may incorporate the events from FH as your canon history but please let us know what that history is. Please try to do all of this IC.
Character powers and abilities should be taken from canon. The powers and abilities should be detailed in your application, along with any you expect to acquire from canon in game. Your characters current, RP’d abilities should be listed in your character info page. If your character does not have powers coming into the game, you cannot magically have them acquire powers unless you have an IG reason to do so, i.e. Dr. House cannot suddenly developed the magical abilities of Phoebe Halliwell, who has been doing magic for several years. If your character would like to learn to do magic, your character must LEARN the magic and they will NOT instantly be able to do any spell put before them, unless your character knows magic in his/her canon.
Can my character enter a plot with another fandom?
Cross-fandom plots are allowed and encouraged, if they are done with someone from the fandom you're wanting to cross over into, i.e., if Paige wants to go into Diagon Alley, she may only do so with a character from the Harry Potter fandom.
How does the city work?
The city is a fully functional, fully developed metropolis. Create the buildings and businesses you need, but keep the parameters of the city sketchy to allow for more to happen. If you would like to have your character run his/her own business, feel free; just make sure you post it in your user info. There can be police stations, hospitals, coffee shops, etc. Most will be worked by Non-Player Characters (NPCs) unless some PCs join the game who would fit those job descriptions and would like to work the businesses. You can report a crime to the police. The NPC police officers will then be moved into the game as PCs to investigate, or make an arrest, if needed. Same goes for NPC doctors; if they need to be played in a thread, they can be.
Can my character communicate with characters from my fandom who are not in Fandom Towers?
Writing a letter or calling a friend is totally acceptable as long as it is within reason. Having your character interact with a NPC for an extended period of time instead of playing with the PCs in the game is not acceptable. If you want to have your character go out of town, and want to involve a NPC from your fandom, that's fine. Example: PC Buffy travels to Sunnydale to meet NPC Spike for a weekend. Don't create journals for NPC characters just for the sake of having someone for you to interact with.
Can our characters get pregnant/have babies?
We’d prefer not. If you feel your character must be pregnant or have children, you MUST play that plot line until you no longer play at The Towers. That includes mentioning the child, being responsible for the child’s well-being, making sure the child has a babysitter while your character is doing other things. You cannot just disappear off to the islands for a vacation and leave your child unattended. They are with you always, and must always be cared for. So, bottom line: We discourage the whole baby thing, but if you want to go with it, hey, just be willing to play it out to the end.
If you are using a pregnancy for the sake of drama, i.e. a miscarriage, you MUST contact the moderators, post it up to the laundry board to warn other players and put warnings in any threads that will contain this plot point. The reason for this, as stated in the above topic on planning plots, is that some people may be sensitive to storylines containing this plot point. We must be considerate of our fellow players and their RL situations. You must be able to prove to the moderators that this plot point will help your character grow and change, and be able to present a thorough plan for the storyline. Creating drama just for the sake of drama will not be approved. All of the decisions in reference to this issue are final.
Do our characters need to pay rent?
The oh-so-funny-but-you-need-to-take-this-seriously catch to the game. The rent is due on the 25th of every month. A ‘drop box’ for the rent post will be made on that date. If you do not ‘pay’ your rent for three months your character will be evicted and your apartment locks changed, i.e., all privileges and posting access will be terminated. In the case of eviction, the character you were playing becomes available for anyone to play. You can resubmit an application during the next open house if you wish to rejoin The Tower, though your character may have already been snagged away. NOTE: You do not have to pay any money in real life; it's strictly IG that your character must pay the rent.
What if I want to leave the game?
If you no longer wish to play the game, please have your character 'move out'. You must post your intention to leave the game in the Laundry Room, and, RL situations allowing, try to wrap up your storylines with the other characters. If you wish to kill off your character, you may do so, or have another character do it for you (with his/her player's consent, of course). All we ask is that you leave the character's death open-ended, so they can be 'resurrected' if someone else wants to play them at a future date.
What if I want to play a character that has left the game or been evicted. Do I have to keep their established canon?
Long answer is No with a but, if you choose to play a character that has been in play at fandom-towers, you do not have to have to keep the former players canon concerning that character. However, other players in the game who wish to acknowledge your character with previous canon knowledge may do so but we ask that players keep that to a minimum to make the transition easier for everyone all around. If you want to use the previous canon that has been established for a plot point feel free to do so. Discussion is your friend, the Laundry Room is your friend, use it, it is friends locked to those in the game. If you want to play an already established character with little to no former canon, make a posting in the laundry and request that other players respect that. The players are pretty flexible when new players are reestablishing a character.