General Rules

[Ash]

: Overview :
These rules are the basis of this site. They are fairly standard- the same rules one would expect from a role-play forum. Below you will find a quick summary of these rules; However, be sure to read and understand the full breakdown so you may better follow them.

[/font][/font][li]Obey the Staff[/li]- If you disagree with them, PM me

[li]Be Polite & Courteous[/li]- Do not be rude
- When in doubt, follow that old saying:
    ~ "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

[li]Absolutely no Flaming or Bashing[/li]- Again, refer to the previous quote.

[li]No God Modding or Power Playing[/li]- You may only control your characters
- Keep your Characters' limits and abilities reasonable

[li]Semi-Literate to Advanced Role-Play
- All RP posts should be 1 Paragraph / 5 Sentences, minimum[/li][/ul]

        - RP posts can be as long as desired otherwise
        - Occasionally writing short posts is alright; do not make it a habit

• Role-Play posts are in Third Person, Past Tense
  - Never use first or second person for RP posts
  

        - Never use future tense for RP posts

        - Present Tense is alright in some situations
            ~ Be very careful with this though!

• Keep Role-Play Posts 'In Character'
  - If you must add an 'Out of Character' comment, clearly identify it
  

        - This rule applies in reverse, non-RP posts should generally be OoC

• No Double Posting
  - This applies almost anywhere on the forum
  

        - In Certain boards, double posting is acceptable
            ~ Refer to each board's rules for this

• No SPAM
  - "Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages"
  

        - Generally, you should not make any 1 word posts
        - Do not ignore a thread's topic when posting

• This Forum is PG-13
  - No explicit sexual content
  

        - No 'Out of Character' Cursing whatsoever
        - Keep 'In Character' cursing to a minimum
            ~ Absolutely no MF, GD, SoB, FU, period

• Do not use Images without Permission
  - 'Official' or 'Free to Use' images are alright
  

        - NEVER claim someone else's art as your own
        - Give credit for images if required
        - When in doubt, simply don't use the image!
        - Laokia images may be used on LAOKIA ONLY
            ~ Contact the staff for any additional permissions

• Failure to follow the rules will result in a Warning

[/font][/font]
- Breaking 'Zero Tolerance' rules will result in an instant ban
    ~ Severe Cursing, Sexual Content, Art Theft, Severe Flaming, Etc.
[/ul]

[Ash]

: General Rules :

Obey the Staff

This is fairly simple- when one of the Staff asks you to do something or to stop doing something, please listen to them unless a higher ranked Staff member nullifies the request. If you disagree, please remain polite but send me or another high ranking Staff member a message. And if you disagree with one of us, then I apologize but stand by my decision.



Be Polite ; No Flaming

Again, a fairly straightforward and simple rule. However, sometimes it seems to be a difficult one to follow. If things seem to be leading to an argument, please just stop communicating! There is really no need to allow a conversation to grow so far out of control. It is better not to talk than it is to start an argument. Flaming is never allowed- there is no reason or call for blatant disrespect, name calling, and just general nastiness. If you insist on being needlessly nasty, we insist that you leave, simple as that.



No God-Modding

God-Modding is giving a character an unfair advantage or ability that does not leave reasonable room for the other player to do anything or combat it. This particularly refers to making your characters 'god-like', unbeatable, unreasonably and unrealistically all-powerful, or even all-knowing, to where they know, understand, or realize more than they should. No character should be infallible. They must all have weaknesses to balance out their abilities, and only know what they would be able to realistically.

Example of God-Modding-
The Staryu started to grow for no reason, becoming three times as large as the Gyarados. The gem in it's center glowed brightly, and the starfish Pokemon unleashed a stream of bubbles that were harder than the strongest diamonds. The power was unbeatable, and each of the diamond-hard bubbles was as big as the Gyarados they zoomed toward!



No Power-Playing

Power-playing is controlling a character that you should not be able to control, a character that is not yours. You have control over the thoughts and actions of your characters, and your characters ONLY. Other players' characters, NPCs, or random generic characters may only be controled by the other player to whom the character belongs or by Staff. In extreme cases, this can also refer to guessing / assuming another character's next move or actions; sometimes mild assumptions are alright, but you must be careful with them. (For example, you may assume that if you and a friends' characters are handed pokeballs that their character will take theirs even if they have not posted doing so yet. But, in this it may be good practice to ask just in case if you are able.)

Example of Power-Playing-
Sydney was walking along the route, minding her own business, with only her Girafarig for company. Out of nowhere, a Skitty leaped onto the path in front of Sydney. The Skitty growled at the trainer, so she urged her Girafarig to fight. "Psybeam, now!" she commanded. The Girafarig obeyed, and unleashed a beam of psychic energy at the Skitty. The attack scored a critical hit, and the lower leveled normal-type fainted immediately.



Semi-Literate to Advanced RP

This role-play is meant to be fairly literate. No, you do not have to be the best roleplayer or writer to join- but you must have a basic knowledge of grammar and English. Everyone makes typos and many people have difficulty spelling- this is what spell check is for! Having some mistakes in your posts is alright, but if your posts are very difficult to read or understand you may not be allowed to roleplay here. I apologize, but there are some more relaxed RPs out there you could try!

Now, we do not have a word count here. However, we still have a minimum post length to follow- 5 sentences, or a paragraph. This is fairly easy, you can find some trivial things to write about and fill that space, be they your character's thoughts, their surroundings, or even the weather. There is no limit to how long your posts can be- but, be warned, sometimes extremely long posts can lead to reluctant mods. Still, there are those that prefer responding to lengthy posts!

Remember, when you are writing a post in the Role-Play, it is a given that you will be writing your character's actions and responses. Therefore it should be written rather like you would write a story- only instead of dealing with all the characters and events you are only writing about your character and what affects them personally. So you should not use action brackets (like *action* etc.) or acronyms.

Examples of Illiterate Posts-

• pidgey takled teh opponet. i was like way to go.
• *I laughed loudly* better luck next time *I then threw the Pokeball*
• Pidgey tackled u. I had to go to the B.R. so I said "brb" and left.

Role-Playing

Posts are to be kept in the third person, past tense. Never use first or second person or future tense; however, present tense is acceptable in some situations. If you prefer to RP using present tense, just remember to keep your posts in that tense! Generally though you are writing your characters' actions, and when someone else reads them they are usually taken as already done.

All posts within the Role-Play should be 'In Character'- meaning they should be written from your character's point of view and include only what they would see and know and do. Posts by other members and staff will be 'in character' as well, so remember that they have nothing to do with you personally.

If you would like to add an 'Out of Character' comment to your RP posts, you must clearly mark it as such! Keep it separate from the RP part of your post and label it 'OoC' or similar. The main focus of the RP areas is Role-playing, so if you make a habit of writing longer 'OoC' comments than your 'In Character' posts, you will be warned. Don't be afraid to leave an OoC comment though!



No SPAM / Double Posting

SPAM, or 'stupid pointlessly annoying messages', should be avoided. Basically, this refers to posts that are completely random and that do not go with the topic of the thread they are posted in at all. It can also mean one-word posts or overusing smilies or colors in your posts. If your post does nothing more than annoy people, then it can probably be considered SPAM. Don't do it.

Double posting is another thing to be avoided. In the RP the only instances where double posting is acceptable is when a mod wishes to separate their reply from the stats they are giving the user for a Pokemon their character receives, or if they cannot do the stats when they do the actual RP post. Still, it should not be done too often even in those cases! Outside of the RP, double posting is only acceptable in certain boards in which the rules (and common sense) allow for multi-posting. Some of these include the PC, Journals, Works, Character Profiles, and similar boards.



Forum is PG-13

This site is rated PG-13. As such, certain things should not be posted here!

Out of Character-
Be careful with controversial topics, such as religion, politics, and sexual orientation. Generally it is best to avoid these topics altogether. If they are to be discussed, it should only be done in the General Board OR carefully in your personal Journal. Such topics will be monitored heavily, so either avoid them or be very careful.

Racism is not allowed at all. Someone's place of birth or the color of their skin is really quite a trivial matter, particularly on an Internet forum where you cannot see each other anyway. Don't like a particular race? Seriously, no one cares- deal with it. In fact, on this site, displaying a racist attitude is considered flaming and is a zero-tolerance offense.

No explicit or crudely vague sexual content. You may discuss romance/love and crushes or relationships you may have. However, do not go into any details of an intimate nature. Really, it is not necessary.

No cursing- none. Zero. You may use pseudo-cursing, such as shiz, crap, crud, ratz, fudge, and similar things, but only for minor curse words or phrases. Do not do so excessively!

In Role-Play (AKA 'In Character)-
Again, be wary of controversial topics. You should not be using your character as a way to display your personal feelings on controversial issues. Just keep it reasonable and it should be fine.

Racism is allowed, in moderation. As stated above, do not use your character to show your own racist beliefs or feelings. If your character is excessively ugly (in this regard at least), well, they may not be allowed here. Be very careful when RPing racism.

No explicit sexual content. This is not a porno. Your characters are free to have romantic interests and even to pursue them- but do not go into any details in the role-play. It is not necessary.

Keep cursing to a minimum! Your characters are allowed to curse on occasion, but only milder phrases and not excessively. If you want a potty mouth character, use pseudo-cursing and censoring (IE askfksd or *****). Even so, keep it under control. Absolutely no use of the phrases GD, FU, MF, SoB, and such.



Art Theft

Art theft is not tolerated under any circumstances! Do not claim to have created or made something that you did not. Do not use something without having permission to do so. If asked or required to give visible credits for an image, do so. Really, this is not so difficult to follow.

You may use 'Official' images- such as official Pokemon art and Anime screenshots or official Images from other franchises. Stating that they are 'official' is optional, but good practice. You may also use 'Free to Use' images, so long as you follow whatever rules the creator may have regarding their use. Again, unless they require visible credits, putting them is optional but good practice.

Otherwise, you must ask permission from the creator to use the image. If you cannot request permission, then do not use it!

Laokia's Images (sprites, banners, backgrounds, concept art, etc) can be used on Laokia and only on Laokia! If you would like to use them somewhere or someway else, please request permission from the high-ranked Staff.



Warnings

We use Proboards' nifty Warning bar system. When the bar fills up, you will be banned. The amount a warning will fill the bar depends on the severity of the rule broken. Generally, we follow a "three strike, you're out" policy, however more severe rule infractions may fill the bar quite a bit or even result in an instant ban. For mild rule breaking, you may receive only a small warning as well, at least for the first offense. Arguing or complaining about a warning publicly or harassing the Staff will lead to more severe warnings or banning.

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And here is where I now choose to slip the secret word. This is the FIRST word. Got it? Pass. There! That's it! Yes, it DOES change every now and then. Whenever my insanity so chooses.Good luck with that!