Rules & Info.
Edited 16 April, 2010: Please see the revised section "Keep It Work-Safe" and the new sections "On Trauma Triggers," and "Don't Get Us ToS'd, Don't Be A Jerk." These rules are effective immediately.
Above all else, have fun! And if you have any questions, you can post them here or send dressingroommod a private message as stated above. The comments on this post will be purged every so often after questions have been answered.
- Interaction
- Try to avoid wank if at all possible. We understand that characters are going to clash, but don't let it get personal. If things get too heated, one of the mods will step in and do their best to break things up.
- More than one character is, of course, allowed. We are not going to regulate the number of Rons in the community, or anything like that. Characters encountering each other, and flipping out over all the differences between them is half the fun. But again, no personal attacks on characterization. Harry saying "I WOULD NEVER DATE DRACO, OH MY GOD, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" is in fact different from a player saying "HARRY WOULD NEVER DATE DRACO, OH MY GOD, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" Simply put, absolutely no "my portrayal of X Character is better than your portrayal of X Character." Just don't do it. Anyone who does that will get the Seal of Hey You're A Real Douche Bag.
- OCs of any sort are allowed. OCs within fandom games, or OCs within all-original games, they are all more than welcomed here. I would recommend introducing and elaborating on the origin of your character a bit, because of course we won't automatically recognize them like fandom characters, but that is up to you.
- Do not be an asshole to the OCs. I can understand that some people may not like original characters, especially OCs in a fandom setting, but keep it to yourself, please. If an OC is breaking any of the above rules, they will be punished in the same way a fandom character would, and you are welcomed and encouraged to report any bad behavior, but absolutely no flinging around of the word "mary-sue" or attacking OCs simply because they are OCs. On the same vein, OCs, don't be jerks to the fandom folk. Do not whine about how original role play is far superior, or what have you. Everyone is equal here, so embrace the hippie love. Embrace it or die.
- Try to avoid wank if at all possible. We understand that characters are going to clash, but don't let it get personal. If things get too heated, one of the mods will step in and do their best to break things up.
- On Trauma Triggers
- This deserves a section of its own. We fully recognize that triggers are personal and can be highly varied. There is simply no way, in a community so large and fast-paced, dealing with such a wide range of characters and situations, to completely avoid the possibility of inadvertently triggering someone. However, overtly traumatic material, that is depictions or mentions of excessive, graphic violence or injury, sexual or otherwise, will not be tolerated -- this includes self injury and eating disorders, two very common triggers that many people should already be considerate of. To be quite frank, while it is within the rights of any player to include something like rape in their character's overarching plot in TDR, treat it with some fucking sensitivity. Be aware that it happens to real people, ones who without a doubt take part in the community, keep that in your mind at all times when writing about it. Sensationalized, fetishized or outright insensitive depictions of any type of violence will get your post deleted and a warning from the mods. In short, do not be an asshole.
- A good rule of thumb is that if you're making a post that you can be reasonably certain contains triggering material (or, hell, even if you're just worried it might), put it under a lj-cut. These are as welcome in TDR as they are anywhere else, and we will certainly applaud you for taking the initiative.
- Remember, if there is something in TDR that you have a problem with, bring it to our attention. While we cannot always swing the mod hammer over everything, even the smallest complaints give us a better understanding of the players we're representing. If there is something that we can do about an issue without ruining the spirit of TDR, we'll do it. Don't be afraid that you're going to get someone banned -- this particular rule is so diverse in nature that you should expect us to address issues with it with exactly as much sensitivity as we expect from you.
- A good rule of thumb is that if you're making a post that you can be reasonably certain contains triggering material (or, hell, even if you're just worried it might), put it under a lj-cut. These are as welcome in TDR as they are anywhere else, and we will certainly applaud you for taking the initiative.
- This deserves a section of its own. We fully recognize that triggers are personal and can be highly varied. There is simply no way, in a community so large and fast-paced, dealing with such a wide range of characters and situations, to completely avoid the possibility of inadvertently triggering someone. However, overtly traumatic material, that is depictions or mentions of excessive, graphic violence or injury, sexual or otherwise, will not be tolerated -- this includes self injury and eating disorders, two very common triggers that many people should already be considerate of. To be quite frank, while it is within the rights of any player to include something like rape in their character's overarching plot in TDR, treat it with some fucking sensitivity. Be aware that it happens to real people, ones who without a doubt take part in the community, keep that in your mind at all times when writing about it. Sensationalized, fetishized or outright insensitive depictions of any type of violence will get your post deleted and a warning from the mods. In short, do not be an asshole.
- Posting
- If posting with your character journal, you are welcome to talk as yourself or your character. If your game is slow, and your character wants to socialize, that's cool! If you're stuck on what you think, say, Sirius Black's reaction would be to James Potter, I don't know, spontaneously combusting, and want to ask fellow Siriuses, that's cool too. Third person, first person, second person, no person, whatevs! It's up to you.
- You do not have to be an RPG character to post or comment either, no. If you'd just like to talk to certain RPG characters as yourself, that is fine.
- Your character does not have to be a member of an rpg to join. If you have random, unattached character journals lying around, they are totally welcome.
- If your character was part of a game that has ended, died out, exploded, whatever, you may still join and post.
- Just about the only rule about posting here is that it have something to do with RPG! That's really it.
- You may post specifically for the purpose of talking to another character (Ginny, for example, could update with "OI HARRY, YOU GREAT BLOODY TWIT WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE ME ON A PROPER DATE?" with the Harry from her game in mind), but you cannot force other characters not to comment. Any post made is free game!
- This community is not to be used as a message board. Which means you would not post to say "hey, I'm not going to be around for X Reason so X Character isn't going to be playing in X Game for a while!" or anything similar.
- This community is also not a place to whine about your rpg, fellow characters, or anyone for that matter. You are more than welcome to post if you're having problems with characterization, or about a problem your character is having with another character (if it's relevant i.e. "Ron and Harry are fighting, and Harry's player and I don't know what to do get them talking again! Here's the situation ... any ideas?"), but not problems you as a player are having with another player, a moderator, or a game.
- No advertising of other communities, no matter how relevant, without first contacting the mods and getting expressed permission.
- If posting with your character journal, you are welcome to talk as yourself or your character. If your game is slow, and your character wants to socialize, that's cool! If you're stuck on what you think, say, Sirius Black's reaction would be to James Potter, I don't know, spontaneously combusting, and want to ask fellow Siriuses, that's cool too. Third person, first person, second person, no person, whatevs! It's up to you.
- Keep It Work-Safe
- Exactly what it says on the tin. This is the new label under which the no-smut rule lives, expanded to include violence, gore, and anything else that could potentially get someone in trouble while browsing at work, either in the body of the entry or your character icons. This is not because we endorse browsing TDR at work (we don't), but rather meant to be treated as a general barometer for what is appropriate for this community. If your boss reading it over your shoulder would lead to more than some raised eyebrows in the metaphoric break room, rethink before you post it. Simple as that.
- You're welcome to link to adult posts in other communities with clear warnings, but keep all interactions in this community work-safe. If you go ahead and write smut anyway, or anything else that falls under the umbrella of "not safe for work," the post/thread will be deleted as soon as one of us sees it, and you will be warned and put on an observation list. Because if you do it again, you will be banned.
- If you see someone breaking the work-safe rule, please alert the mods via PM immediately so we can take care of the situation.
- You're welcome to link to adult posts in other communities with clear warnings, but keep all interactions in this community work-safe. If you go ahead and write smut anyway, or anything else that falls under the umbrella of "not safe for work," the post/thread will be deleted as soon as one of us sees it, and you will be warned and put on an observation list. Because if you do it again, you will be banned.
- Exactly what it says on the tin. This is the new label under which the no-smut rule lives, expanded to include violence, gore, and anything else that could potentially get someone in trouble while browsing at work, either in the body of the entry or your character icons. This is not because we endorse browsing TDR at work (we don't), but rather meant to be treated as a general barometer for what is appropriate for this community. If your boss reading it over your shoulder would lead to more than some raised eyebrows in the metaphoric break room, rethink before you post it. Simple as that.
- Don't Get Us ToS'd, Don't Be A Jerk
- Our main duty as mods is to keep the community online. If we feel someone is endangering the community as a whole with their behavior, we reserve the right to delete their posts, warn them about it, and if it comes to it, ban their character journal. This is entirely at the discretion of the mods. Those who flout the rules and do not heed warnings and correct their behavior will be banned. End of.
- Banning
- Other things that will get you banned:
- Inciting any sort of personal fight with anyone else. Again, characters may clash, but it should not step over the line of in-character interaction. Furthermore, playing a character with an antagonistic personality is not a free pass to be rude or harass another player. If you believe someone else is being excessively rude to you, send us a private message and we will step in. If, after a warning, the person in question persists, they will be banned.
- Making an excessively wanky post attacking any other players, characters, games, ships, portrayals of your character, etc. You get a warning and the post will be deleted. If you do it again, you will be banned.
- Posting excessively triggersome material or anything that could get the community ToS'd. One warning and any repeat performances, or breaking of any other rules, will get you banned.
- Breaking the work-safe rule. Again, one warning and any repeat performances, or breaking of any other rules, will get you banned.
- Inciting any sort of personal fight with anyone else. Again, characters may clash, but it should not step over the line of in-character interaction. Furthermore, playing a character with an antagonistic personality is not a free pass to be rude or harass another player. If you believe someone else is being excessively rude to you, send us a private message and we will step in. If, after a warning, the person in question persists, they will be banned.
- If one of your characters is banned:
- No, we will not un-ban you.
- There's no way we can keep track of who plays whom, we're totally aware of this. If one of your characters is banned, there's no way that we can keep you from playing with any other characters you have in the community. Go ahead and go on playing with the characters that have not been banned, or create a new one, if you like, but, obviously, if you pull the same stunt that got your first character banned, the next one will be banned as well.
- No, we will not un-ban you.
- Other things that will get you banned:
- Reporting Rule-Breaking
- If you catch someone breaking the rules, you may post about it here, where all comments are screened or send dressingroommod a private message. The mods will absolutely keep all reports of rule-breaking confidential, but if you would like to submit your complaint anonymously, you can make an anonymous comment on this post.
Above all else, have fun! And if you have any questions, you can post them here or send dressingroommod a private message as stated above. The comments on this post will be purged every so often after questions have been answered.