Rules
The rules exist to help the further enjoyment of all players involved in the game. All these rules are based on common sense and some of them are pretty basic 'not to do's' which you may already have seen in other RPG's. This list is by no means complete and can be modified whenever the moderator(s) feel it's needed, according to the situations presented in game. Players who do not obey to one or more rules will receive a warning. The continual breaking of rules will result in immediate expulsion. Same goes for repeated but not consecutive rule breaking. If you cannot comply with this set of rules then you can't remain in the game.
If a mod pulls you up for rule breaking, you are not under any circumstances to harass them. Mods give up their free time to make this game better for everyone. They do NOT deserve to be hassled because you the player has not gotten your own way. Any harassment aimed at Mods will result in your immediate banning.
Remember though that the first rule of all is to simply HAVE FUN. Never forget it.
General Rules
1 - No bashing, flaming, insulting or condescending remarks made towards the other players or the moderator(s). One warning will be issued before mandatory unsubscription. Please, remember this rule. Always respect your fellow players. If you have anything against another player do NOT take it on-list. The moderator(s) can serve as mediator(s) if anything is amiss between two or more players, so please do not hesitate in asking for help if you are angry at something. Just don't take it to the list. This does not mean that you may abuse another player from this game off list because they are not doing what you want them to do in game-play. The Mods will not hesitate to ban people who get out of control.
2 - No advertisement, please. There are list which are used specifically for advertising RPG's and any other kind of advertisement is pretty much useless, unnecessary and unwanted. Remember that. Anyone who subscribes and advertises another RPG on here will be immediately banned, and their email address will be passed on to other game moderators.
3 - Please warn the moderator(s) beforehand if you are going to be unable to post for any prolonged period of time. I know most of you may have more to do than sitting at your computer writing posts but please warn the moderator(s) if you can't possible post for any extended period of time (vacations for example).
4 - If a player does not post for a week, a warning will be issued. After two weeks, your characters will be put on hold. If a player goes missing for a whole month, the characters will be taken away for adoption - or to be deleted, in case the character is new and didn't get into any storyline.
5 - Characters are subject to moderator approval and should follow the general character guidelines. If you're having trouble creating characters, or giving depth to them, contact a moderator. Requests for teachers or Others (pre-made characters played as NPC's until they are adopted by a player) must be accompanied by a sample post. The mods will not even consider letting you take on another character unless all of your posting is up to date.
6 - When making your character profile, you'll be asked for a character picture. Please, use real people photos, not drawings or anime. If you're having trouble finding one, you could always ask one of the mods for help.
7- You are requested to try and play *two* characters, a male and a female. You have the possibility of playing a teacher though, in case you don't want a student character. A note though: teachers are *pre-made* characters. They will usually be thought as NPC's unless a player takes them permanently as one of their characters.
8 - The moderator(s) of the game has/have the final say on characters, situations and other aspects of the game. Disrespect will NOT be tolerated. Any complaints, criticisms and such will be taken OFF list. Suggestions and inquiries can be addressed through private email OFF the list. If a player cannot comply with the moderator(s) final word in a situation the player will be unsubscribed.
9 - The moderators of Gardner High do not want to be bothered with complaints about your characters not getting their own way. Gardner High is a *game*. Completely fictional. Sometimes, your character won't get what you wanted, and other characters may not react to your character the way you wanted. In Gardner High, some characters might be mean to your characters for no good reason. Again, we remind you that it is a game. Some characters, are just plain nasty, and it doesn't mean their players are like that as well. It's not a personal attack against you, it's just the way the game plays out. If you can't deal with that, then don't play, because you won't be able to handle the game like that. Any complaints directed at a mod of this manner, will result in a warning. If you re-offend, you will be asked to leave the game.
10 - You are expected to post frequently, at least twice a week unless circumstances prevent you from occasionally doing so. If you do not post during a particular story, your character will be considered out of the scene and you may be removed if your inactivity continues unexcused. Please, *always* warn if you are going to be unable to post. It will prevent many headaches to all. If your character is important to a particular storyline and it's not being used, the moderator(s) or the player(s) involved in the scene will be allowed to take it over until the scene is wrapped up.
11 - Please answer this post, and make a point of stating that you have completely read and understood all of the rules. If you didn't understand something, then please ask that mod what it means. Basically this lets us know that you have actually read the rules, and read them properly. We're not evil nasty people here at Gardner High. We have rules to make sure everybody can enjoy the game. Knowing the rules here, is the best way to ensure that you can enjoy Gardner too!
12 - If a player abandons the game or is unsubscribed by any reason, its character(s) will remain in the game and will become NPC's, unless there is someone to adopt them.
13 - Any Out of Character message sent to the list must have in the subject line OOC -
14 - The list will be PG friendly, which means that anything graphical will be taken OFF list. This excludes kissing scenes and some profanity (who doesn't say it nowadays) but use common sense to choose what is acceptable or not. There will be a maximum rating of PG-15 on the list. We are searching for mature players so you should know what are the boundaries of this rating. Mods will be watching for this, and will tell you if you are taking it too far. But you are not children, and should not need a babysitter. You should know whether or not the post is appropriate for the general group or not.
On Posting
1 - You may not control another player's character. If you are working on a scene and need input from another player, such as dialog, please email them privately OFF the list and then post the completed scene to the list when finished. This is commonly referred to as a 'Joint Post'. This will not only prevent a player from controlling characters that do not belong to him/her and will help when there are those back-and-forth dialogue scenes. It is much nicer to see an entire conversation in a post than various sentences in various posts, though you are not obligated to create 'Joint Posts' in this situation.
2 - 'One-liners' are not acceptable posts. If you need help in lengthening a scene please email the moderator(s) OFF list or a specific player whose character(s) your own(s) are currently in a scene with. Thus is created a 'Joint Post'. Remember that, even if your character does not have anything specific to say which thus warrants the 'one-line' possibility, the character still has thoughts and emotions or actions that he/she can do.
3 - Your characters do not possess psychic abilities. They cannot tell what the other characters in a post are thinking. Be careful when responding, because when you use your 'psychic abilities' when you post, people become annoyed, and then often don't feel like giving you a very descriptive response. New characters to the game (Characters that are new to the school) need to be especially aware of this. You do not know what is past at Gardner High, and you do not know all the other students. The only way to find out, is for your character to ask questions.
4 - Your character can not be in two places at once. If you are currently in a thread at the School Cafeteria during lunch, you can't also be in a thread at the Corner Cafe at the same time. Though we all wish that we could have the ability to be in more than one place at one time, we don't, so please try to be aware of this.
General Posting Guidelines
Style
Posts should be written in third person, past tense. Think of a novel. Write in such a style for this game is basically a novel written by many people, each one adding a part of the chapter. For example, if the player writes such as this: 'I was walking down the street and I stopped to look at the store…', then the player is using present tense. That is not acceptable. The proper way of writing would be: 'He was walking down the street and stopped to look at the store.' Such is the style your post should have.
Posts> Every post should have a single space separating paragraphs and dialogues from different characters, which means, always hit 'enter' once when changing paragraphs. It will make the reading a lot easier than having to read everything non-stop. This also means, be careful with the commas and other punctuation. But I hardly need to refer that. Also, when writing a post, make sure you check your grammar. It makes it easier for the player to read the posts and you can find a grammar checkers around, some even in your e-mail server. Occasional grammatical mistakes cannot be avoided, of course, but one thing is to have a misspelled word in a post, the other is have a post of misspelled words. You are required to at least post twice a week. I understand that you don't eat and breathe Internet everyday and you will be occupied with other things but try to post at least twice a week to keep the story moving. If by any chance you are incapable of following the minimum frequency for any reason, warn the moderator(s). In this case, the other player(s) with whom you are interacting can choose to move forward. If, in this case, you come back to find the story has changed, moved forward or even ended within the time you were gone (or in between the times you were able to check your mail and respond), the thread can still be continued as a backpost.Subject Line
Every post you send to the list should have at least the following in the subject line: day of the week, period (AM/PM) and the character(s) involved. If you want a particular character to reply to your post, you should write so in the subject line, as some people don't have the time to read every single message every time, and might miss your post. To do that, simply add tag and the name of the character. An example of a correct subject line would be: Mon AM – Kat, tag - Josh. You can also put tag - anyone. Tag can also be replaced by attn (attention).
If you are posting a message that is not In Character please put the appropriate description in the subject line. Out of Character messages should come with an OOC in the subject line.
Backposts
If there is a time change and you didn't finish the current thread, you can continue it as a backpost. Backposts should be tied up as quickly as possible. They are there to allow you to not cut a thread off, or to get through an important scene. They are not there for you to have your characters all over the place. The subject line should state: BACKPOST or BP.
Example: BP: Monday – Kat & Josh
Note
These rules will be posted on the FILES section of the Gardner High Yahoo! Group under the folder Game Files. If at any moment you need to re-read them or understand why you received a warning, or make sure that you are proceeding correctly, you can read the rules at this location. If you still have any questions you need answered, please e-mail the moderator(s). You will find a list of moderators and how to contact them in the database section of the Yahoo! site.If you have any questions, email the moderators CS or Martin
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