Need help on writing a good application? These are the things we look at in them - good luck!
NOTE: The application doesn't replace the IC interview, it's just to give you a chance to think about your answers and advertise those things that your character maybe wouldn't talk about, but which will add interest as they come out later in RP.
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Plain English: Write properly (with capitalisation, spelling and punctuation), but try to avoid purple prose. Plain English is just as good as the complicated kind.
Character hooks: The more things you mention that make your character interesting and fun to play with, the better the impression you make. Also, we have a slight preference for non-belf characters.
Red flags: Certain types of characters have always quit the guild in a week or two, so we're reluctant to take them anymore. There are no impossible RP ideas, but if your char includes one of these topics, please go into a bit of detail on how you see it working with the guild!
- "Joining because needs the money" or "a quiet type who prefers his own company" - Is this something that can be overcome? No-one gets past Prospect without making friends IC, and a char who never initiates contact with others is almost guaranteed to fail at that.
- "No desire but to follow orders" - Why an outlaw company and not regular military?
- "Love for right and justice" - Really, why outlaws and not military?
- "Love for civilisation and comfort" - Why join a bunch of vagrant miscreants?
- "Spends a lot of time in <place>" (i.e., away from the company) - Why join a nomad company?
- Trouble taking orders from women, elves, corpses or trolls - Why join a company run by them?
Age limit: We realise 18 years of age is a poor indicator of maturity. It is, however, a legal milestone in EU legislation of what is appropriate speech to minors online. We're not an ERP guild, but (offscreen) sex and violence do feature prominently in the outlaw lifestyle. We won't accept underage players, because we won't make ourselves liable for what they might read in guild chat or role-play.
"I won't share background OOC, only in RP.": The OOC question about IC background is there for a couple of reasons.
- First, it shows that you have one and that it's lore correct: almost always the case, easily troubleshot if it isn't.
- Second, with very old characters, making a long story into short one is as important as the ability to write one at all -- it tells us you can also be brief, not just creative.
- Third and most importantly, it shows us
you trust us as players to differentiate between what
you tell us OOC and what your char will tell our chars later IC, and can do so yourself. We find that mutual goodwill, a strong sense of IC/OOC separation and a willingness to treat RP as something that can be discussed without it being ruined is core to keeping the guild drama free.