Post by leda / carolina on Jan 22, 2019 23:11:35 GMT
There are three factors staff consider when looking over whether or not someone's character here is acceptable.
1. APPEARANCE
Of course appearance. Your character should only have genetically possible colors, nothing unrealistic. The same goes for markings, but we do allow those to vary a little more for the sake of originality. Your character shouldn't have tattoos, I understand some people do tattoo their dogs but we don't want to open that window here. Your character should generally look like a real canine, however, we do allow them to have any eye color, again for the sake of originality.
Side bangs, glowing eyes, real edgy stuff isn't allowed here, and are better suited for more semi/unrealistic wolf packs.
Your character can have items, if they hold an attachment or reasoning for that item. If your character is wearing a gold swaggy chain, that's fine, as long as they got it from their owner or something.
Here's some guides regarding colors and markings.
And here is a guide on properly sizing your character
That really covers it for appearance, just try to have them generally look realistic. Keep in mind your character cannot look like/be an albino, as albinos have health issues that would render them incapable of surviving out in the desert.
2. BREEDS
Breeds are important. Although it's great to try to shoot for something unique, everyone tries to do that. So in turn, once rare breeds have become almost a norm, to an unrealistic degree. However, we don't typically believe in putting bans on creative ideas, and so we haven't banned any breeds. Rather, we do encourage these ones:
heelers
pitbulls
labs
german shepherds
golden retrievers
chihuahuas
general mutts
not really a breed but packborn dogs
We do not allow poodle breeds for the simple reason that their fur would get fatally matted. People with poodle OCs tend to RP them as cute or pretty mary sue's, and to be quite honest, these characters are ravaging through dirt and hot weather. Their fur will cut off circulation, and it won't stop growing, they'll surely die.
Please keep in mind for people seeking a half wolf or half coyote character, that you need to have a normal mutt first, or at least a mutt that is a lower percentile of wolf/coyote (25% or less). We do not allow people to have their first character be a hybrid, just to keep ratios realistic and to let you learn of lore and stuff before you have a character of that sort.
3. BACKSTORY
You are NOT required to come up with an in depth backstory. If you want to be vague and say your character escaped from their home then found the pack, that's totally acceptable. But some people like to write histories, and so we will provide info on that.
I cannot stress enough that these are just normal dogs, y'all, and so their upbringing should somehow show that. No dogs who came from another dimension, no dogs who are leaders of a latin edgy wolf pack, they're literally just dogs.
Here are some possible backstory examples that you're welcome to toy with. Remember that you are not required to have a long and in depth back story, you can be vague as long as the vagueness implies realism, so don't go fretting about doing research and writing a whole heckin' story!
- Packborn. You can easily say your dog is packborn and their parents passed away, or their parents are NPCs, or you can look for someone to play their family. Keep in mind packborns may be unlikely in El Estrago, which is a very newly formed pack currently.
- Rio Rancho/Corrales/Jemez Springs/Albuquerque. These locations in New Mexico are also closest to Highway 550, all having direct roads connecting to it. Corrales and Rio Rancho are about a two hour drive from around where the RP is set. Jemez Springs is maybe an hour drive. You can ask Leda for information on these locations or simply google them/use google maps. Dogs younger than one year, or disabled dogs are recommended to have originated from one of the nearby areas, because they wouldn't realistically be able to travel cross country. That brings us to our next possible backstory
- If playing a dog of harsh disability (elderly, blindness, deafness, missing limbs, breathing issues primarily), or a dog younger than one year, we do have rules on the realism of them actually making it on their own and making it to the pack. For either of the above listed, they must either come from one of the nearby locations listed, or they must have travelled with a family member/companion they met before or during their journey. This is just so that they had additional protection and additional means of locating food and water that they may have had trouble finding on their own. Said family member or companion could have passed away right before their arrival at the pack, or they can be an NPC/your own character, or you can adopt them out to other users in the RP.
- Other backstories include : cattle guardians, guard dogs, fight dogs, puppy mill dogs, sled dogs, hunting dogs, police dogs, family pet, street born and raised by other strays before hearing about stories of LS/EE, kicked from their home and forced to wander until they find the pack, an imported dog who was scared and stressed and booked it, racing dogs, show dogs. If your dog is being brought up by abuse, please be gentle with the details of it while also showing realism. With backstories, they should still be inspired by real life instances that could happen to a dog, not anything unrealistic or not plausible.
Again, this is all assuming you want to go in depth with their history. The only reason we've made such in depth guidelines here is because of some issues on people still not fully understanding that these are just normal dogs, and our role play is based around just showing their comprehension and belief of the world around them.
Hopefully this helps in creating an appropriate character for the RP; in general, just shoot for a nice real dog.
1. APPEARANCE
Of course appearance. Your character should only have genetically possible colors, nothing unrealistic. The same goes for markings, but we do allow those to vary a little more for the sake of originality. Your character shouldn't have tattoos, I understand some people do tattoo their dogs but we don't want to open that window here. Your character should generally look like a real canine, however, we do allow them to have any eye color, again for the sake of originality.
Side bangs, glowing eyes, real edgy stuff isn't allowed here, and are better suited for more semi/unrealistic wolf packs.
Your character can have items, if they hold an attachment or reasoning for that item. If your character is wearing a gold swaggy chain, that's fine, as long as they got it from their owner or something.
Here's some guides regarding colors and markings.
And here is a guide on properly sizing your character
That really covers it for appearance, just try to have them generally look realistic. Keep in mind your character cannot look like/be an albino, as albinos have health issues that would render them incapable of surviving out in the desert.
2. BREEDS
Breeds are important. Although it's great to try to shoot for something unique, everyone tries to do that. So in turn, once rare breeds have become almost a norm, to an unrealistic degree. However, we don't typically believe in putting bans on creative ideas, and so we haven't banned any breeds. Rather, we do encourage these ones:
heelers
pitbulls
labs
german shepherds
golden retrievers
chihuahuas
general mutts
not really a breed but packborn dogs
We do not allow poodle breeds for the simple reason that their fur would get fatally matted. People with poodle OCs tend to RP them as cute or pretty mary sue's, and to be quite honest, these characters are ravaging through dirt and hot weather. Their fur will cut off circulation, and it won't stop growing, they'll surely die.
Please keep in mind for people seeking a half wolf or half coyote character, that you need to have a normal mutt first, or at least a mutt that is a lower percentile of wolf/coyote (25% or less). We do not allow people to have their first character be a hybrid, just to keep ratios realistic and to let you learn of lore and stuff before you have a character of that sort.
3. BACKSTORY
You are NOT required to come up with an in depth backstory. If you want to be vague and say your character escaped from their home then found the pack, that's totally acceptable. But some people like to write histories, and so we will provide info on that.
I cannot stress enough that these are just normal dogs, y'all, and so their upbringing should somehow show that. No dogs who came from another dimension, no dogs who are leaders of a latin edgy wolf pack, they're literally just dogs.
Here are some possible backstory examples that you're welcome to toy with. Remember that you are not required to have a long and in depth back story, you can be vague as long as the vagueness implies realism, so don't go fretting about doing research and writing a whole heckin' story!
- Packborn. You can easily say your dog is packborn and their parents passed away, or their parents are NPCs, or you can look for someone to play their family. Keep in mind packborns may be unlikely in El Estrago, which is a very newly formed pack currently.
- Rio Rancho/Corrales/Jemez Springs/Albuquerque. These locations in New Mexico are also closest to Highway 550, all having direct roads connecting to it. Corrales and Rio Rancho are about a two hour drive from around where the RP is set. Jemez Springs is maybe an hour drive. You can ask Leda for information on these locations or simply google them/use google maps. Dogs younger than one year, or disabled dogs are recommended to have originated from one of the nearby areas, because they wouldn't realistically be able to travel cross country. That brings us to our next possible backstory
- If playing a dog of harsh disability (elderly, blindness, deafness, missing limbs, breathing issues primarily), or a dog younger than one year, we do have rules on the realism of them actually making it on their own and making it to the pack. For either of the above listed, they must either come from one of the nearby locations listed, or they must have travelled with a family member/companion they met before or during their journey. This is just so that they had additional protection and additional means of locating food and water that they may have had trouble finding on their own. Said family member or companion could have passed away right before their arrival at the pack, or they can be an NPC/your own character, or you can adopt them out to other users in the RP.
- Other backstories include : cattle guardians, guard dogs, fight dogs, puppy mill dogs, sled dogs, hunting dogs, police dogs, family pet, street born and raised by other strays before hearing about stories of LS/EE, kicked from their home and forced to wander until they find the pack, an imported dog who was scared and stressed and booked it, racing dogs, show dogs. If your dog is being brought up by abuse, please be gentle with the details of it while also showing realism. With backstories, they should still be inspired by real life instances that could happen to a dog, not anything unrealistic or not plausible.
Again, this is all assuming you want to go in depth with their history. The only reason we've made such in depth guidelines here is because of some issues on people still not fully understanding that these are just normal dogs, and our role play is based around just showing their comprehension and belief of the world around them.
Hopefully this helps in creating an appropriate character for the RP; in general, just shoot for a nice real dog.