General FAQ (Including Info on Character Re-approvals)

[Arawn]

Refer to this thread for the most commonly asked questions by new users and their respective answers. If there’s a question missing you feel should be here or a given answer is too vague for you, send me a private message titled “FAQ” with your question.

- How much EXP do I need to reach level X? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26011&posted=1#post26011)
- Where can one read about the history of Althanas to get a better idea of the environments we are posting in? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26012&posted=1#post26012)
- When starting out, how many abilities can you have and at what power? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26013&posted=1#post26013)
- What is, generally, the wanted length of profiles, including and excluding the history? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26015&posted=1#post26015)
- What are the spell limitations on mages? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26016&posted=1#post26016)
- Do spells count as skills? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26017&posted=1#post26017)
- Is there a list of spells one can look through or does each character make their own? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26020&posted=1#post26020)
- How do battles take place? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26021&posted=1#post26021)
- Are profiles deleted if their owners are inactive for a while? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26022&posted=1#post26022)
- If there is one, what is the max level a character can achieve? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26023&posted=1#post26023)
- What are the abilities on a character registration that a person should be wary of or should use better wording when presenting? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26024&posted=1#post26024)
- Can I make my history very long to include my skills and items within it? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26025&posted=1#post26025)
- Once I post my profile, should I hit the 'Submit Thread for Judging' link at the bottom? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26027&posted=1#post26027)
- Is there any limit on how strong you may make your weapons as a level 0, like using titanium and mythril? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26028&posted=1#post26028)
- What is considered the proper etiquette for posting in someone else's thread? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26030&posted=1#post26030)
- How do I gain experience points? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26031&posted=1#post26031)
- How many threads can one character participate in at the same time? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26032&posted=1#post26032)
- What is the RoG’s stance on re-approvals? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26033&posted=1#post26033)
- Are my thread spoils instantly approved by the RoG moderators when I level up? ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=26034&posted=1#post26034)

[Arawn]

These are the EXP levels you need to achieve to get to each level:

Level 1
2,000

Level 2
5,000

Level 3
9,000

Level 4
14,000

Level 5
20,000

Level 6
27,000

Level 7
35,000

Level 8
44,000

Level 9
54,000

Level 10
65,000

Level 11
77,000

Level 12
90,000

Level 13
104,000

Level 14
119,000

Level 15
135,000

[Arawn]

The Timeline is a good place to start, but we’re aware that some things there are vague. Some regions have fairly detailed histories, Raiaera probably being the best example. You can find threads about the histories within the regions themselves, usually in the general forum, not in a sub-region.

[Arawn]

This question is both easy and difficult to answer at the same time. The main issue here is moderator discretion. An RoG moderator is given the leeway to approve characters based on their judgment, depending on what level you are. In theory, you could have anywhere between 1 and 10 abilities, but the more you have, the weaker they'd all have to be.

With swordplay and weapon ability, you can generally have average skill with one primary weapon (and less than average skill with secondary weaponry) if you have other abilities. It honestly depends on how many other skills you have, and how 'good' they are for battle use.

Say you have a healing spell that restores a portion of my energy. It can be used around 3 times per thread, let's say. Given the usefulness of that spell, you’d likely only be allowed to have below average skill in one weapon, and if you wanted more weapon skills they'd have to be lower. This is how we, as mods, would look at it. It's all about balance and moderator judgment.

However if you have no magic and just some small racial abilities, like slightly advanced hearing and smell, you could be awarded slightly above average skill in two different types of weaponry, or perhaps just one.

We're really pretty flexible. If you want to be specifically skilled in one area for some reason, an approvals moderator can work with you to limit your character's other abilities accordingly.

[Arawn]

Storyline information goes in the history. Length doesn't matter, but if you provide length just for the sake of providing length, it can be a pain for us to read through.

However, if you feel it's necessary to have a long profile, that's fine. Just make sure your skills and equipment are in plain view and easy to find at a glance. Provide enough information on your abilities so that they are understandable.

[Arawn]

There are no limitations when it comes to variety of magic. You can have elemental magic, summoning spells, enfeebling curses, etc. Pretty much anything you can think up can be made to be perfectly fair and fun at the same time.

[Arawn]

Spells count as skills, yes. As a mage you can understandably have more spells than a swordsman would, but a swordsman would be allowed more physical abilities.

[Arawn]

We don't have a list of spells you can choose from, everyone makes up their own.

[Arawn]

One can check out some battles in 'The Citadel' in 'Corone' to see how they work, if you like. Basically, you launch your attacks, but aren't allowed to say whether they hit your opponent or do any damage. Your opponent decides whether they get hit or manage to dodge, parry, etc.

The winner is decided by writing skill, not which character sustains less damage.

[Arawn]

If a profile is not approved and is inactive for two months, it is deleted, yes. But they can be recovered. It's encouraged to start a new one, however, as the character might no longer be fresh in your mind after a long period of inactivity without ever writing with him. Approved profiles are never deleted.

[Arawn]

Twenty, though it used to be fifty. To be honest, if someone gets to level 20 and wants to go higher, we probably won't stop them. However, just getting to that kind of level would take a lot of time, so we'll face the issue when we get to it.

[Arawn]

Anything that isn't straightforward, really. We suggest making some generic spells, like creating a light or something, more flexible so they'll have more than one way of being useful.

The clearer you are on an ability, the better. Carefully choosing your words will help anyone looking at your profile understand the abilities your character has.

[Arawn]

A very long, extended history is great. We love to see characters that are well thought out and obviously took some time to create. This shows us that you care about your character, care about your writing, and intend on spending some time using that character. At the same time we have a group of RoG Moderators who have to get to as many profiles as they can each day. In no way am I advocating that people strive to make shorter, less detailed profiles, but after finishing your profile, if you read it over and feel there are some things that are less important to your registration and could perhaps be brought out later in a quest/s, please take it into consideration.

A character's history is not one of the criteria for whether or not a character gets approved or not (The one exception being if you blatantly ripped off your story/character from someone else). So, for the ease of both the RoG Mod looking at your profile and for the sake of any future RP partners searching for your abilities, gear, skills, and so on, please have well defined sections containing these categories in your profile. There have been instances where people muddle up all the criteria for approval into an extremely long history and it makes it difficult on everyone. For that reason I'm going to instruct all the RoG mods from now on to request that you have clearly defined your skills, gear, abilities, and spells where they are easily identified and reviewed.

[Arawn]

The 'Submit Thread for Judging' link at the bottom of a post is not for character profiles. This link is only used for submitting completed quests or battles for judging. With profiles, you make the necessary edits as decided by the approval moderator, then simply post in your thread again to let us know you edited.

[Arawn]

Weapons and armor can be as strong as steel and no stronger when you are registering a new character. Iron is encouraged if you have a lot of skills or many pieces of equipment, because it's considered to be slightly less durable and heavier.

[Arawn]

Generally, you should only toss yourself in a quest or battle when the threads specify being "Open" somewhere. If there's no specification whatsoever, it's best to contact the thread leader before acting.

[Arawn]

When you finish an In-Character thread (battle or quest), someone will judge it and give you a score ranging from 1 to 100. At that point, you'll be given EXP based on the thread's score and length. In the case of battles, you get considerably more EXP for winning than for losing.

[Arawn]

You can be in as many threads as you like, but try not to spread yourself too thin or it'll be hard to keep up. Of course, this varies from person to person.

Find the right pace for you and try to stick with it.

[Arawn]

Regardless of whether a profile was approved in the past by staff, the current mods have the right to refuse the approval of any pre-approved profile unless the edits asked for are adhered to. What was okay on the old site may not be okay anymore.

[Arawn]

Items and abilities granted in quests are subject to review by the RoG. Just because a judge gave you an item or ability does not guarantee it will not be modified when updating a character profile.