This thread will list the current rules regarding the creation, maintenance and interaction of arcs. Please note that these rules are subject to change, and are open for discussion. Likewise, if any of you have suggestions for additional rules, or would like to discuss any of these rules, then please do so.

The rules are as follows:

-An arc must undergo inspection from at least two to three admins before it can be approved for the group. This will be done in the Arc Creator Thread (to be elaborated on later).

-Once it has passed inspection, is created, and has at least one thread open in the group, it is mandatory for a section for it to be posted in the Announcement Board Thread within 24 hours by the Arc Owner, signifying its current participants, events, as well as provide links to all relevant threads (in chronological order from when they were made) in the Arc.

-The Arc Owner will be expected to update the post in the Announcement Board every 168 hours (or one week), unless given a justified reason, which should be explained within the post.

-If the post in the Announcement Board for the Arc goes unedited after 168 hours without justified reason, then all threads pertaining to that Arc will be locked until it is updated. If after a 336 hours (or two weeks) the post has not been updated without justified reason, you run the risk of those relevant threads being deleted.

-If the original Arc Owner is no longer capable of running an Arc for whatever reason, then they or an admin may permit someone else to take his/her place.

-Once a character has entered into an Arc as a Main Character, that character may not be a Main Character in any other current Arcs, and will only be allowed to do so once the first Arc resolves. The exception to this rules are threads which have no Arc tied to them, such as common areas around the college and its premises, and weekly adventure threads, which may only be used as Arc threads if a majority of the admins deem it fit to do so.

-A character may leave an Arc any time they wish, and will be allowed to join a different Arc if they so choose. If a character wishes to rejoin an Arc they previously left, they must acquire permission from both the Arc Owner and at least one admin.

-Each user is permitted a stockpile of 5 main characters in one Arc, but no more. This means you can have a maximum of 5 Main Characters involved in one Arc at a time, the minimum being 0. This does not, however, include NPCs or one time appearance characters.

-If a character is tied to the same universe an Arc is, they automatically become an NPC unless specified otherwise.

-Any user is allowed to post as many threads as they wish so long as they pertain to an Arc that at least one of their characters is an Main Character in it. They must, however, meet the prerequisite guidelines of its respective Arc.

-The Arc Owner has final say on everything that happens in the Arc. However, everything that occurs within the Arc must keep to the rules of the group, if the Arc Owner is found not upholding the rules of the group, then they may receive repercussions from the group admins.

-Arcs may not affect preexisting arcs or threads in any way shape or form. The exception to this is if two Arc Makers agree to connect their Arcs, or the owner of the thread agrees to do so.

This is all I can think of for now, though there will be additional rules outlined in the Arc Creator thread. I'd figure I might as well throw this out there first before getting to work on that though.

2022287 okay

2022309
You don't have anything to add, or anything to say about these rules?

2022287 About other character's not allowed in any other arc. What if it's not an arc taking place outside the college? Or if the event's are spread apart. Also wouldn't other arcs effect other arcs? Another question who would update the post or such? Would an admin do so. Or the creator of the thread? What do we call arcs containing other arcs? Such as Enigma for example.

2022287 Would the Mortal Kombat thread be considered an Arch? If that's the case, I've already had more than three admins accept it, I already made rules and how everything works....

2022318 nope, I can't think of anything to change

2022389

What if it's not an arc taking place outside the college?

Doesn't matter, each character can only effect one arc at a time. This rule was made to keep things fair between users.

Also wouldn't other arcs effect other arcs?

No, arcs shouldn't have anything to do with any other arcs, only the characters in those arcs, and perhaps areas that only involve that Arc, which reminds me, I need to add another rule up there.

who would update the post or such?

The Arc Maker, look above, I'm adding to the rules as we speak.

What do we call arcs containing other arcs?

Those shouldn't exist, because its unfair to users who don't want to be a part of it, and just want to RP casually.

2022406
I'd consider it and Adventure thread for now, but regardless, its good to go as soon as you're ready and we're done with the reboot. Though these rules might change a bit in the next few seconds... Fair warning.

2022438
kk, just wanted to be sure...

2022389
Also, an event doesn't necessarily need to be tied to an Arc if it's just a one time deal, like if the college were to have a dance, then these rules wouldn't apply to that thread.

2022570
Why?

2022637

Sharp Shot, Due to past relation to the Vampony army and Bloodclaw
Kote, due to relation to the Diamond Dog Collar
Card, due to relation to Gear
Beta, due to relation to the local armies.

These characters haven't participated in any threads pertaining to that Arc, at least not yet. So they don't count.

And yeah, there's no way a full on assault is ever going to happen at the college, anyone who thinks that can get it out of their head right now. And just saying, there is a very high probability that a good portion of... Whoever those guys are's mission will fail.

2022439 I think in some case's arcs affect arcs. It's doesn't make sense that they wouldn't. Per say theirs an arc about some pony planning a party to be held in the auditorium. And the auditorium is under construction in another arc. Then those would have to interact. I believe every arc should connect in a way. That way there's continuity. Plus I don't think there should be multiple villains(Actually I'm gonna post a thread about this). 2022663 I don't want a full out assault. But it's more than plausible. Of course it should be approved by two to three admins and done well. Of course not every event would be tied to arcs. But the point of Enigma is to be everywhere. But not the main focus of the thread in question. They might be random one scene political problems or one scene suspicious students. There are then two head agents. But several minor agents. Who are one scene wonders. But they won't take the spotlight in other arcs. Just behind the scene. I'm actually some what proud of this monster I've created. Also once again I find that character's can't be in multiple arcs to be flawed. I mean why must they be restricted like that?

2022853
Okay, that first example wouldn't qualify as an arc, as it would only require one or two thread to be done.

Arcs shouldn't have to be connected in any way at all, unless the Arc Makers explicitly want them to. Will add addendum to that rule.

And Enigma should either have a major part of a thread, or no part at all. It shouldn't be everywhere. It just gets annoying and pointless, and the way RP is going to work won't allow for it, as it's going to be turned based, to an extent.

And the reason that rule is like that is because it's unfair to users who only have one or two characters.

2022679
Just watch your back, is all I can say.

2022918 So there's a rule that's unfair to characters with one to two characters? That doesn't sound right

2022987
You know what I mean. Don't argue semantics with me.

2022987
And it's so users can't influence every damn thing that goes on in the college. We're all lucky I didn't put a limit on stockpiles in general, which I still might do.

2023063 Who ever said who could put stockpiles any way?? Hmm I think we should have a majority of admins approve of this and every decision and rule.

2023117

Please note that these rules are subject to change, and are open for discussion. Likewise, if any of you have suggestions for additional rules, or would like to discuss any of these rules, then please do so.

No one besides you and Epsilon are complaining, considering neither of you are admins, and Melkor, Silvy and Midnight have yet to post on this thread. Not to mention, these rules already have approval of three admins. So by that logic I'd only need one of them to approve this for it to be a thing.

2022287

Lets see:

There will be times when not much happens in an arc thread for 36 hours. Very little will probably happen in the Silver Cross thread this weekend, for example, as Ukiah will be gone, and both Nautilus and Wave are major characters in the current thread for that arc.

The entry for the arc in the announcement thread should include links to each thread in the arc, in chronological order.

Only one arc per character seems unnecessarily restrictive. Do we really want the headmistress to only be able to appear in one thread, for example? Of course, characters should not appear in more then one location at once without an in-rp reason. One could travel from one to another and back, though.

Likewise, only three characters per arc will cause problems. As I recall, C&S is running Sebastian, Cielia, Avery, Ukyo, Maylene, Agares, Finnian, Geothe, Webster, Wilde, and Keats in the Silver Cross arc, and probably has more I'm not thinking of. And the first four, at least, are major characters.

2023117>>2022679

2024645
Admittedly, that time limit could probably be pushed up a bit. I just said 36 as an example because I hadn't actually decided on a good enough time limit yet. Perhaps it should be every five days? I mean, if an arc hasn't made any progress in that time then something is most certainly wrong.

in chronological order

I'd assume that be the case anyways, but I'll add that up there just in case.

Do we really want the headmistress to only be able to appear in one thread, for example?

Main locations and side events aren't affected by these rules, as they aren't tied to any specific arc.

characters should not appear in more then one location at once without an in-rp reason.

This was basically what I was thinking, but very few ever give a reason besides "Hey, can I play with you guys too?" or "I was here allllll along..." Yet they never actually interact with any other character.

One could travel from one to another and back, though.

If that happened more often, then I'd be inclined to agree, but as it stands, next to no one actually does this, including me. Though, I'll attempt to try and change that in the reboot, and if everyone else does the same then that rule will most likely change.

As I recall, C&S is running Sebastian, Cielia, Avery, Ukyo, Maylene, Agares, Finnian, Geothe, Webster, Wilde, and Keats in the Silver Cross arc, and probably has more I'm not thinking of. And the first four, at least, are major characters.

I agree with you here, at least on the last part of it. However, I'm fairly certain that those other characters fall under this exception:

This does not, however, include NPCs or one time appearance characters.

Since they don't actually affect anything, and are sorta just there, I'd consider them NPCs at this point. Though that's sorta what I'm trying to avoid, just flooding a thread with all a user's characters, even though they have no real effect on the RP. Like at all.

For now, I'll bump up the number of characters to five, and see where we can go from there.

2025204

Main locations and side events aren't affected by these rules, as they aren't tied to any specific arc..

It's just, I could see, for example, if an arc involves having to defend the college, anypony in the college should be able to join the defense, even if they are in another thread. It's also possible a character may only be involved in one or two threads of an arc, and they are then locked out of participating in any other arcs, despite no longer being a part of the original arc they were in. (for example, every character that took Vikinga up on going to her coronation.)

Since they don't actually affect anything, and are sorta just there, I'd consider them NPCs at this point. Though that's sorta what I'm trying to avoid, just flooding a thread with all a user's characters, even though they have no real effect on the RP. Like at all.
For now, I'll bump up the number of characters to five, and see where we can go from there.

Well, the latter four are essentially npcs tied to the college, and the three before that are basically Phantomhive Manor npcs, I suppose. The main thing is just that if a location is central to an arc, all the pcs that come with that location are going to be in the arc, and that may very well be several characters belonging to the same person.

Hmm, perhaps we should have something in here for handling arcs that fizzle out, too.

--Silvy

2025274

if an arc involves having to defend the college

I'd tend to want to avoid Arcs like that. Though, if that were the case, then that event should be made public.

I think what might be able to fix this problem is identifying what characters and Arcs belong to what universe. For instance, if an Arc is made in a universe a character belongs to, then they automatically become NPCs unless specified otherwise.

2025336

It sounds like the phrasing you want may be "up to 5 major characters". If Scribble happens to fly in on an airship for a wedding, and leaves afterwards, for example, she is not a major character. Neither is someone that just happens to be living where all the action takes place, if they aren't much involved in it.

I do worry about scenarios where things important to someones character get destroyed in an arc, and they couldn't intervene because that character isn't allowed in the arc, even when it may be, say, their home, or where they work.

--Silvy

2025368
"Five Main Characters", I think that wording might be better.

Perhaps we should specify what is and isn't okay to do in an Arc then. Generally, I'd like it to focus on characters that are in the Arc, although specific situation that might also fit under the 'unless absolutely necessary' clause.

2025382

Yes, main rather then major sounds better. Make sure to change the section on participating in arcs to be that you can't be a "main character" in more then one arc, as well.

Also, 5 days is more than 60 hours. You may just want to make that a week, for convenience. Deleting the threads can be after two weeks, with a consensus of admins, since erasing the entire history of what happened in an arc is not something we'd want to do lightly.

And mainly, if an arc is set in a location, it should be either a location specific to the arc, one belonging to someone participating in the arc, or a common location, and nothing should be done in common locations in the arc that would permanently affect things outside of the arc without admin approval.

--Silvy

2025467
Sorry, just woke up and I wasn't really thinking. I'll go fix that right now

And mainly, if an arc is set in a location, it should be either a location specific to the arc, one belonging to someone participating in the arc, or a common location, and nothing should be done in common locations in the arc that would permanently affect things outside of the arc without admin approval.

About what I had in mind. I'll get to changing this once I have more time.

2025479

Don't worry about it. I went to bed a few hours early, then woke up early, didn't feel tired and couldn't get back to sleep, so I'm surprised I can think straight. I'm probably going on four or five hours of sleep. I've got the day off, though, so I can always get more sleep later, though.

--Silvy

2025508
Alright, I've updated the rules a bit, though I left out the bit about Locations, as I think that might fit better in the Arc Creator Thread. In future threads, I'll establish more of what does and doesn't constitute an Arc, NPC, and MC, but what we have now looks fine. What do you think?

2027862

I'd still tweak the times a bit. Let's make 12 hours one day, and 5 days one week. One day, one week, and two weeks is easier to remember and check for, and the two extra days may be Sat. and Sun., which is one of the more likely times for people to check in.

The "justified reason" should probably be posted in the actual announcement post for the arc, as well.

Also, we should have provisions in there for a main character leaving an arc and joining another. There would, of course, have to be some sort of thread involving them leaving, but I don't really like having people be locked totally in if they decide that they aren't enjoying an arc.

--Silversmith Senna Spoon

2028017
Updated again, though I am a bit wary of characters leaving or joining Arcs, as that could very easily be something people might abuse. But the option of a user to opt out of an RP they don't like should always be open, and the same goes for Arcs. Perhaps it should go something like this: "Any character or user who no longer wishes to be in an Arc has the right to leave and join a different Arc, but that user or character will not be allowed back into the Arc if they choose to do this."

2028104

How about "Any character who wishes to no longer be in an arc has the right to leave, and can then join a different arc. However, they will not be allowed to rejoin the original arc without the permission of the arc maker."?

That way special circumstances can be taken into account.

Perhaps we should have provisions in there for passing control of an arc to someone other then the maker, too. Suppose the arc creator leaves the group, or just is too busy to keep running it?

--Silvy

2028170
That still sounds like it could very easily be abused. If that were a one time deal, or if they did rejoin and had to stay with it until the end, then that could work.

I think, if the circumstance was important enough, then simply notifying an admin or two of what happened should be enough to get them back in.

Perhaps we should have provisions in there for passing control of an arc to someone other then the maker, too.

That would definitely be better than just deleting all relevant threads, in any case. So long as someone's willing to pick up the slack of the last Arc Maker, What would we call them though, since they didn't technically 'make' the arc... Arc Inheritor? Arc Replacer?

2028256
We're still running over the rules, though there are already mines at the college. Not to mention, the only people who would be able to come and get those resources are residents of Knightstone who lived there beforehand, or students and members of staff. That could very easily just be a location anyways, and wouldn't necessarily need an Arc tied to it, since the idea is focused more on a location rather than a character. Keeping it untied to an Arc would also be much easier to handle.

2028238

We could always make it the approval of the arc owner and an admin, if you want to make it a bit more difficult to abuse.

Arc Owner is the main thing that comes to my mind at the moment as a title.

--Silversmith Senna Spoon

2028286
Alright, I'll change that, as well as change the title to Arc Owner. If there's nothing else you think needs changing, I'll notify everyone this section of the rules is complete.

2028298
Never was into Harry Potter, but the Back Story of the College is rather set in stone. It being ripped from its original dimension allows for most anyone who wishes to educate or become educated to enter, so long as they don't create a paradox or something. As for immigration, the premises of the college aren't a country, and are extremely dangerous. Although, a family of dragons moving into the College could very easily punch a hole into the mountain to make a new home... As well as create a new mine system... Hmm...

Regardless, communication outside of the premises is only possible by letter, sent though the carriage, and even then unless that character aims to become a student or a member of staff they won't be allowed in.

I'll have to do some reworking of the College lore though... Now that I think about it...

2028301

Well, it couldn't hurt to post it to the main group for feedback, but otherwise I think we're good, once you add in the part about being able to leave an arc, anyways.

--Silvy

2028382
Alright, I'll post this in the main group under the Admin Account.