FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
» APPLICATION AND CHARACTER CREATION «
Can I apply for an original character?
No. A significant part of the game's premise is that the characters involved are fictional in the world in which the project takes place, so that the project scientists can exploit a very shaky loophole in human rights laws. We will not be accepting original characters, ever; nor will we be accepting applications for real people. If the project staff or people from the outside world need to be involved in the game at any point, they will be NPC'd by mods.
How long will it be before my application is accepted/rejected?
Anywhere between immediately and a week or so, depending on how busy the mods are. Feel free to nudge us politely about apps if you feel it's been an unreasonably long time, as we are not superhuman organisation machines and sometimes forget things, but harrassing us isn't likely to put you in our good books.
How much should I write for my application?
As much as you feel you need to in order to impress us.
Is there an age limit on the characters, or can the characters be any age?
There is currently no age limit on characters, however we'd advise you not to apply someone under the age of 10.
Will my character have his/her outfit/weapons/&c. from canon?
No. Things characters will "keep" are as follows: personality, memories, plausibly human physical traits, tattoos, haircuts, piercings, scars. They will not have any weapons, super-powers, clothes, accessories, or outlandishly abnormal physical features (eg. extra appendages, horns &c.) that they may have had in canon.
I heard I can apply for an alternate version of a character that's already taken.
Yes. The teams of scientists working on creating the population of the City aren't especially organised and sometimes one of them will create a character without realising that another team did it already. If you're interested in playing a duplicate, don't hesitate to get in contact with a mod about it; there'll be a few things we'll want to discuss with you that'll probably vary significantly depending on what character you want and what you want to do with them.
Does that mean I can play high-school AU!Roxas/shinigami!Harry Potter/ninja!Jack Sparrow?
No. The only key differences are likely to come from the fact that they will be played by different people; the differences in characterisation that will inevitably ensue can be accounted for by human error on the part of the scientists who created them. The most that "AU" should be considered for a regular character is that sometimes the memory implant will go wrong - now and then, characters will have anything from little blips to large chunks missing from their memories, but again this should be rare, and its likelihood is not affected by whether or not the character is a duplicate.
If I've come to the game late, has my character arrived late, has he been there all the time or is it my choice?
He arrives when you want him to. The scientists are doing an on-going project: they will be making new characters throughout. Game Start was just when the 'first wave' were completed and sent into the City.
» GAME MECHANICS «
Is my character allowed to work out what's going on?
We actively encourage characters trying to work it out; there are gaping holes in the scientists' claims that cleverer characters are likely to spot. Please keep it realistic, though; your knowledge is not your character's own, and you should try to approach this with consideration for what your character can feasibly find out and what kinds of assumptions they'd make based on the information they already have, rather than having them make impossible leaps of logic in order to reach what you the player know to be the truth.
Can my character escape?
They can try.
If this is set years in the future, why are they only using characters from now or earlier?
Copyright issues.
Can my character kill people?
All characters have a chip implanted in their brain that will give them an electric shock if they attempt any kind of violence towards another character (with an exception for friendly sparring in the gyms). That aside, there are no handily slayable NPCs, and most people don't want their characters to die. If anyone honestly does want someone else to kill their character, please talk to a mod about it.
Can my character get pregnant?
No. The scientists don't want to introduce random variables, and the humans rights protesters would be all over it. As such, all characters are irreversibly sterile, although they don't know it.
My character's canonical first language is Japanese/Russian/Medieval French, so what happens when they can't understand all the characters who are speaking English?
In the world of counter-FEIT, English is a dead language anyway. Characters will be told, if they ask, that a bonus to the shifting process is that they've had a new, all-purpose language taught to them whilst in the inter-dimensional state. They'll be able to speak any other languages they spoke in their canon, but the language of the world outside the City will be programmed as their default and many may not even notice.
What do you mean by 'Generation'?
The current 'batch' of characters (AKA 'Third Generation') isn't the first to be placed within the city, but one of a series of prototypes. More will be revealed in-game.
What exactly is going on with the money system?
You have a 'key' (it resembles a USB drive) that plugs into all dispensers and machines requiring credit. There is no tangible money in the City - it is all handled through computers.
Is there any way that a character can get hold of books or paper?
Yes - The vending machines have a wide range of products on offer, and have catalogues for the residents to look through.
How does my character send and receive messages?
On the approval of your application, you are requested to create a post in your character's journal with the subject header and tag 'INBOX'. This will be in place for the entire game. To e-mail someone, you leave a message on their INBOX post, and vice versa to receive e-mails. The Centre (aka the modjournals) will also use this to notify your character of events or tasks. Example inbox post to be found here. You may reply either by leaving a message in the sender's inbox, or by replying to the message in your character's own.
How exactly does communication between characters work outside of the letter system with the inboxes and email?
You can go to their door and talk to them in person. There's notepaper available if you want to leave notes. They have a handheld device that links to email boxes and acts as a mobile phone of sorts. It's a fairly small, enclosed place, so long-distance communication isn't much of an issue.
Why is an in-character AIM account is so strongly recommended?
The laptop your character is provided with has a messaging client that basically operates like AIM. It means your character can chat with others. There's also an in-character AIM chatroom called 'citynet3' where you can go to talk with larger groups of people.
If you have any questions not addressed here, feel free to enquire directly to the mods (via AIM or the mod e-mail, counterfeitmods@googlemail.com) or in a comment to this post.
» APPLICATION AND CHARACTER CREATION «
Can I apply for an original character?
No. A significant part of the game's premise is that the characters involved are fictional in the world in which the project takes place, so that the project scientists can exploit a very shaky loophole in human rights laws. We will not be accepting original characters, ever; nor will we be accepting applications for real people. If the project staff or people from the outside world need to be involved in the game at any point, they will be NPC'd by mods.
How long will it be before my application is accepted/rejected?
Anywhere between immediately and a week or so, depending on how busy the mods are. Feel free to nudge us politely about apps if you feel it's been an unreasonably long time, as we are not superhuman organisation machines and sometimes forget things, but harrassing us isn't likely to put you in our good books.
How much should I write for my application?
As much as you feel you need to in order to impress us.
Is there an age limit on the characters, or can the characters be any age?
There is currently no age limit on characters, however we'd advise you not to apply someone under the age of 10.
Will my character have his/her outfit/weapons/&c. from canon?
No. Things characters will "keep" are as follows: personality, memories, plausibly human physical traits, tattoos, haircuts, piercings, scars. They will not have any weapons, super-powers, clothes, accessories, or outlandishly abnormal physical features (eg. extra appendages, horns &c.) that they may have had in canon.
I heard I can apply for an alternate version of a character that's already taken.
Yes. The teams of scientists working on creating the population of the City aren't especially organised and sometimes one of them will create a character without realising that another team did it already. If you're interested in playing a duplicate, don't hesitate to get in contact with a mod about it; there'll be a few things we'll want to discuss with you that'll probably vary significantly depending on what character you want and what you want to do with them.
Does that mean I can play high-school AU!Roxas/shinigami!Harry Potter/ninja!Jack Sparrow?
No. The only key differences are likely to come from the fact that they will be played by different people; the differences in characterisation that will inevitably ensue can be accounted for by human error on the part of the scientists who created them. The most that "AU" should be considered for a regular character is that sometimes the memory implant will go wrong - now and then, characters will have anything from little blips to large chunks missing from their memories, but again this should be rare, and its likelihood is not affected by whether or not the character is a duplicate.
If I've come to the game late, has my character arrived late, has he been there all the time or is it my choice?
He arrives when you want him to. The scientists are doing an on-going project: they will be making new characters throughout. Game Start was just when the 'first wave' were completed and sent into the City.
» GAME MECHANICS «
Is my character allowed to work out what's going on?
We actively encourage characters trying to work it out; there are gaping holes in the scientists' claims that cleverer characters are likely to spot. Please keep it realistic, though; your knowledge is not your character's own, and you should try to approach this with consideration for what your character can feasibly find out and what kinds of assumptions they'd make based on the information they already have, rather than having them make impossible leaps of logic in order to reach what you the player know to be the truth.
Can my character escape?
They can try.
If this is set years in the future, why are they only using characters from now or earlier?
Copyright issues.
Can my character kill people?
All characters have a chip implanted in their brain that will give them an electric shock if they attempt any kind of violence towards another character (with an exception for friendly sparring in the gyms). That aside, there are no handily slayable NPCs, and most people don't want their characters to die. If anyone honestly does want someone else to kill their character, please talk to a mod about it.
Can my character get pregnant?
No. The scientists don't want to introduce random variables, and the humans rights protesters would be all over it. As such, all characters are irreversibly sterile, although they don't know it.
My character's canonical first language is Japanese/Russian/Medieval French, so what happens when they can't understand all the characters who are speaking English?
In the world of counter-FEIT, English is a dead language anyway. Characters will be told, if they ask, that a bonus to the shifting process is that they've had a new, all-purpose language taught to them whilst in the inter-dimensional state. They'll be able to speak any other languages they spoke in their canon, but the language of the world outside the City will be programmed as their default and many may not even notice.
What do you mean by 'Generation'?
The current 'batch' of characters (AKA 'Third Generation') isn't the first to be placed within the city, but one of a series of prototypes. More will be revealed in-game.
What exactly is going on with the money system?
You have a 'key' (it resembles a USB drive) that plugs into all dispensers and machines requiring credit. There is no tangible money in the City - it is all handled through computers.
Is there any way that a character can get hold of books or paper?
Yes - The vending machines have a wide range of products on offer, and have catalogues for the residents to look through.
How does my character send and receive messages?
On the approval of your application, you are requested to create a post in your character's journal with the subject header and tag 'INBOX'. This will be in place for the entire game. To e-mail someone, you leave a message on their INBOX post, and vice versa to receive e-mails. The Centre (aka the modjournals) will also use this to notify your character of events or tasks. Example inbox post to be found here. You may reply either by leaving a message in the sender's inbox, or by replying to the message in your character's own.
How exactly does communication between characters work outside of the letter system with the inboxes and email?
You can go to their door and talk to them in person. There's notepaper available if you want to leave notes. They have a handheld device that links to email boxes and acts as a mobile phone of sorts. It's a fairly small, enclosed place, so long-distance communication isn't much of an issue.
Why is an in-character AIM account is so strongly recommended?
The laptop your character is provided with has a messaging client that basically operates like AIM. It means your character can chat with others. There's also an in-character AIM chatroom called 'citynet3' where you can go to talk with larger groups of people.
If you have any questions not addressed here, feel free to enquire directly to the mods (via AIM or the mod e-mail, counterfeitmods@googlemail.com) or in a comment to this post.