[Question] How dark of a history is allowed?

[Solana]

I'm thinking about transferring here from another RP site, on account of the only active admin there always seems to have a stick up his... *Ahem*.

ANYWAY, how dark of a history is a RP character allowed to have?

I'd like to bring in an OC I already have made up elsewhere if possible, so I'd like to know if certain details are allowed here.

She is essentially an ex-soldier from a land (Neighpal) that has been at war for 500 years.

Found alone by a band of soldiers, she was raised with a military lifestyle, and officially joined the day she received her cutie mark.

Growing weary after many years of this, she left her homeland, and eventually boarded an airship bound for equestria,  and it's at this point the RP'ing would begin.

 

That is the basic boiled down version of her history.  Would something like that be allowed, or is this too dark, or would break some other rule?

 

Given a few episodes, MLP has shown that war does happen in equestria, however rare it may be.  Who knows how often it happens in other lands?

[Rosewind]

Your OC would be just fine in our Free for All area. We have other RP sections, but those are designed around traditional FiM canon with expanded lore.

[Solana]

And lets say I wanted to get her aproved for either WoE or CC (The least strict of the two, I forget which)  How far away from acceptance is she?

I mean, would getting her accepted be as simple as changing a few small details, or would it require nearly a full re-write of her history, changing who she is?

[DerpRavener]

She would never make it into WoE, where I think royal guards are the only remotely combat-focused characters allowed.

I've seen career soldiers make it into CC, though one has to be a little careful with it.  As described the tone of the character sounds probably acceptable, although details of her history could potentially push her into not-allowed territory.  I couldn't say without seeing the full character.

 

To elaborate on something Rose said, I think the bigger issue is this: CC (and WoE) have sets of approved nations, areas and cities which are largely based on the show although with details added or modified either where details were missing or where some site-specific stories have added to the setting.  To make sure those sections remain consistent, players are limited in what they can add to the setting to small things (such as less known organizations or structures), and I'm fairly sure there is no such place as Neighpal in the site lore.

You can take a look at the site lore pages and see if there's anyplace else that you think could work for your character, though I don't believe any of them has been in a state of constant war, so that may require some serious modifications to the character.

[Solana]

Ok, I think I get it now.  In order to get her into WoE i'd have to change her history to the point that she wouldn't be herself anymore, as her experiences helped shape who she is, but it's POSSIBLE for it to work in CC.

 

I suppose I could always post it in the applications there, and see how it works out, and if it doesn't, i'll settle for free-for-all.

 

BTW, if one of the main problems is that there isn't a place called Neighpal, and none of the existing places match the description, could I just substitute the word "Neighpal" for simply saying "Her Homeland" and describe it as being very far away?  In her original character sheet (on the site i'm leaving), she wandered by foot for 2 months before even hearing of Equestria, and when boarding the airship, it was still a 3 week journey to reach canterlot. So there is some distance between them.

 

I'm assuming that the word "Equestria" is referring to either a nation or continent rather than the name of their world.  I've always considered it the name of the nation, and "Equus" being the name of the planet, but I'm aware that this is completely Fannon, and MAY not be how things work here..

[Lyipheoryia]

I believe Equestria is referred to as a country, especially how they talked about "visiting Saddle Arabia" as a foreign embassy journey in one of the episodes.  It has strong references that Equestria is based after USA. 

[DerpRavener]

I've always taken Equestria to either refer to the nation or to the continent.

 

The idea of referencing a mysterious, faraway land...it's an interesting approach, although I think the problem goes a little farther than just name.  You'd still be inventing or implying a place which has been in a state of war for 500 years, which you could try, but I'm not sure it would be acceptable.  That idea might be dependent on the character's past never being a significant part of a roleplay.

 

My question is this: does it specifically have to be a place with 500 years of war, or could it just be a place with a combative history?  Also, does it have to be a nation specifically, or could it be a group or organization?  If the former is not a strict requirement, you might be able to find something that works in either griffon lands (Aquella I think it is) or in Maretonia.  Alternately, she could be a member of an active mercenary group, or even military (I'm assuming you wouldn't want Royal Guard for this, but another nation's military might work) which could still work with her desire to retire from fighting.

[SteelEagle]

I believe Equestria is referred to as a country, especially how they talked about "visiting Saudi Arabia" as a foreign embassy journey in one of the episodes.  It has strong references that Equestria is based after USA. 

It was Saddle Arabia. Saudi Arabia has never been mentioned.

Hey there Solana! Lemme put my two cents in here as a mod:

Neighpal would have to go. No such place in our RP setting. Saying her homeland would also not work.

500 years of war- Since this is inventing lore for a nation we don't have, no.

Combat focused character is fine for CC. For WoE, we don't have a blanket ban on such concepts but the way you're imaging this character would make the character far better suited to CC.

Suggestion time. If you want combative places, here are some ideas:

Whitescar- Viking caribou live here. They are combative by nature, and there is even a civil war ongoing!

Maretonia- Ancient land where the three types of ponies really don't get along. More than a few skirmishes!

Badlands- There isn't much of a nation here, but some vagabond ponies could be out there. Surrounded by changelings, the land of the griffons, tribal ponies, and even some nomadic caribou, definitely some combative potential

[Solana]

My question is this: does it specifically have to be a place with 500 years of war, or could it just be a place with a combative history?  Also, does it have to be a nation specifically, or could it be a group or organization?

 

I suppose it doesn't have to be a place with specifically 500 years of war, however most of her personal history is centered around it.

Her history, in short, is she was found alone as a foal by a group of soldiers.  Unable to find her parents, this particular group of soldiers raised her as their own.

Actually, I've already posted a WIP character app in CC HERE if anyone would like to read over it, though with SteelEagles post, I'll likely have to change a few things.

 

Anyway, A 500 year war isn't necessary, BUT i think it's somewhat important that she is foreign, and that the place is in a state of constant conflict, though the actual name of the place she is originally from can go unsaid.

In any case, this is her history before arriving in Equestria.  I intend for my first RP with her to start off the moment she actually disembarks the airship, setting hoof for the first time in the great nation of Equestria.

 

I'm not sure if HERE is the best place to discuss her app, outside of the specific questions i've already asked, so if it isn't, feel free to message me, or start a topic somewhere it is acceptable.  BUT if here is fine with the admins, i'd like to hear from everyone.

[Rosewind]

I'm quite happy to see your questions about specific lore and limitations being fielded here. I've seen hundreds of OCs come through our roleplay, and I've seen a lot of people get frustrated trying to place their creation in a place where it's just not a good match for that specific RP environment. As long as you're willing to tweak your character and receive feedback, you'll not only produce a character that is fun for others to play with, but will enrich the RP and experience as a whole.

[Solana]

Actually, as for the frustration issue, i'm well aware of that, but one thing I LOVE about this site already is it DOES have a FFA area people can kill time at while they wait for acceptance.  The site i'm leaving has no such area, and i've seen apps sit for 2 weeks before an admin even LOOKS at it.  This place seems active enough to cut down the wait time, and people actually have something to do while they wait.  I think any frustration experienced here will be quite minimal in comparison.

 

I think I'm going to set her app status to [Ready] and see where the chips fall, so to speak.

I've removed details of the "500 year war" and just vaguely referenced the fact that she is from a far away land, and implied that it is a place of conflict.  MAYBE this will satisfy the rules for CC.  One way to find out.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Zeig]

Random fact: I'm already in love with your character solely because her name is Solana, a name that I've had an unhealthy fascination/appreciation/obsession with ever since Dragon Age: Origins.

*runs off to start a new Mage character*

[Lyipheoryia]

It was Saddle Arabia. Saudi Arabia has never been mentioned.

Hey there Solana! Lemme put my two cents in here as a mod:

Neighpal would have to go. No such place in our RP setting. Saying her homeland would also not work.

500 years of war- Since this is inventing lore for a nation we don't have, no.

Combat focused character is fine for CC. For WoE, we don't have a blanket ban on such concepts but the way you're imaging this character would make the character far better suited to CC.

Suggestion time. If you want combative places, here are some ideas:

Whitescar- Viking caribou live here. They are combative by nature, and there is even a civil war ongoing!

Maretonia- Ancient land where the three types of ponies really don't get along. More than a few skirmishes!

Badlands- There isn't much of a nation here, but some vagabond ponies could be out there. Surrounded by changelings, the land of the griffons, tribal ponies, and even some nomadic caribou, definitely some combative potential

Aye!  I bit a slip-up there  .  Fixed it .

[Solana]

Random fact: I'm already in love with your character solely because her name is Solana, a name that I've had an unhealthy fascination/appreciation/obsession with ever since Dragon Age: Origins.

Any similarities with other people, fictional or otherwise is entirely coincidental. =P

Thanks anyway though!  Regrettably, i've never played Dragon Age.

[Solana]

Random fact: I'm already in love with your character solely because her name is Solana, a name that I've had an unhealthy fascination/appreciation/obsession with ever since Dragon Age: Origins.

Any similarities with other people, fictional or otherwise is entirely coincidental. =P

Thanks anyway though!  Regrettably, i've never played Dragon Age.

 

[EDIT]

Is there a delete post option i'm missing?  I have rather crummy internet so multi posts like this tend to happen.

This isn't from me hitting the reply button multiple times.  This is my browser sending out the information, and when it doesn't get a timely response, it tries again, creating multiple posts.  I've seen this happen and my post appears 6 times in a row.

[Zeig]

Play Dragon Age: Origins now, thank me later. Amazing game - then again, I'm hugely biased to Bioware.

To my knowledge, only staff members can delete and hide posts. If you make an extra post like that, it's probably best to just delete the typing in one of the posts and state that it was an accidental double post.

[Solana]

Well the app is up and on it's way for a second look, so it looks like I've managed to tweak it enough to be acceptable while maintaining as much of her as possible.

I do have one more question regarding altering it after it has been accepted.

I'm not referring to total re-writes, just adding in a detail here, or removing something there.

I recall someone mentioning that it may need to be re-approved depending on the change.

Would this mean while waiting, the OC couldn't be used until approved again?

 

Would an acceptable work-around for the wait be to color any added text red, and anything intended to be removed, simply be marked with a strikethrough, and ensure anyone who views it knows that the red letters and anything that has a strikethrough knows these areas of the app aren't approved yet, and to only consider the rest of the app as a part of your character?  Only re-coloring the red text to black, and deletion of the struck through text after it has been re-approved?

Basically, rather than have to sit out of RPing for a while, the colored and struckthrough text would allow the character to remain in use, so long as until approved, the altered text isn't considered part of the app.

 

I don't have any changes in mind currently, but I imagine that this would come up eventually.

[Rosewind]

If it's minute details concerning your character I wouldn't worry about it. Big, big changes to your character would need another look before it can be re-approved.

 

You can play your "old version" of your character until the new one is approved. Roleplay is a flexible and fluid thing. Just keep in mind we have volunteers that are busy with the holidays that do the approving; we're also in the middle of combining and restructuring our roleplay at the start of the year, so you're coming in at an interesting time.