~RULES

[*ADMINISTRATOR]

BOARD
RULES

GENERAL BOARD RULES

If you end up joining, you are asked to make your display name your character's first and last name, with a middle name if you'd like. Please do not include any fancy symbols or punctuation. Things like playa6468810 are not acceptable.

We do allow the mention of sex, drugs, violence, and other mature and obscene situations. However, in the case of actual sex scenes, we would like you to simply fade to black. It's just a move to keep members who dislike the sight of such situations from being offended and such. If you'd like to carry out sexual situations -- if you absolutely MUST -- put a warning in the title.

Here you may have as many characters as you wish, but please only create as many as you can handle. We expect you to be active on every one of your characters. This means don't overload yourself with too many for you to handle. Also, try to even out the genders, because we don't want an abnormally large amount of females or males as opposed to a pretty even amount.

We ask that you try to be as active as possible. We aren't going to say you should post every single day, but at least try to give us two in-character posts a week. That is not mandatory, but it would be nice. If you are going to be gone for an extended period of time, lasting a week or more, please post it in the absences board. I don't feel the need to implement it, but if there is enough inactivity, I will be having activity checks every few weeks or so. Inactive members will be warned at first, and if they remain inactive they will be suspended for a week. After that, it's deletion.

While we would love for you to adopt a canon, we also accept originals. You are allowed to reserve a canon for one week, and the same goes for a face claim, unless a member of the staff states otherwise. Canons are on a first come, first serve basis, but if the time comes when more than one person is competing for a single canon, we will wait until all applications are complete before choosing which we prefer. Please don't be disheartened if you don't get the canon you want; it's not necessarily that we don't like you, your writing style, or anything of that sort. We just probably don't think you fit with that role as well as another does.

If your female character has sex with Gary down yonder, they are only allowed to become pregnant if it is approved by the staff.

Do not post on any boards other than the chat board until you have been accepted.

There is to be absolutely no prejudice or discrimination of any kind out of character. This is pretty self explanatory. If it is seen you will be warned on the first offense. On the second offense your account will be suspended for a month, and if it continues it will be banned, no questions asked. And when you're banned, it's not just your account, it's your IP, people. That means, if you have multiple accounts, you lose them all.

There will be absolutely no stretching of the boards! Avatars can be no bigger than 125x150 (widthxheight), and signatures may be no larger than 600x400. And please, no nudity in those two images, because some people don't want to see that sort of thing. Also, try to have them relate to your character in some form, though this, too, is not mandatory.

We know no one's perfect, but please try to use correct punctuation, grammar, and spelling. This is really important. We'll overlook a few mistakes here and there, but don't make a habit out of it. On the OOC boards and C-box light chatspeak like 'lol, lmao, brb' and so on are acceptable if not abused.

IN CHARACTER RULES

This should already be known, but there will be no god-moding or powerplaying at all. I'm not going to go into much more detail with this. However, if you are unsure as to what is meant by this, please PM a member of the staff and they will happily answer any questions you may have.

You are expected to post in third person past tense when in character. No "I go to the store and pick up some apples, then go home". Yes I know, it's a lovely example, so sue me.

We aren't really going to set up specific rules as to how long a post should be, but please try to be as detailed as possible. We ask that you have around two somewhat lengthy paragraphs, though you will not be reprimanded if this does not happen. Make sure to put more emphasis on actions than thoughts in most cases! This makes it easier for your fellow roleplayers to respond, because the other characters can't read your character's mind. TARZAN is handsome, TARZAN is strong.Quality over quantity, methinks. We like short meaningful posts more than lengthy pointless ones, those just get old sometimes.

We know some characters are racist bigots, so racism, prejudice, and discrimination are allowed to an extent in character. Do not overdo it! If a member of the staff sees you getting a little carried away we will give you a warning, telling you to tone it down to a lower, less insulting level. And if a member asks you to tone it down as well, please do so.

[*ADMINISTRATOR]

BOARD
BELIEFS

No member should feel in any way intimidated by the staff and other members of the board. Bittersweet Dreams strives to maintain an open, friendly game, in which all players – from new, to older members – are welcome to join without fear of discrimination based on age, nationality, gender or role-play experience.

All applications should be given an equal chance to improve, and never outright insulted or rejected. While we may ask for improvements, usually along the lines of there being more detail needed, they are not permitted to completely reject an application. Whether the application is improved is solely the decision of the player, but no negative comments (from neither Admin nor players) will be tolerated.

The board should retain a strong community feel, with users posting not only in In-Character sections, but also indulging in conversation with other users in the Out Of Character areas of the board. Although it isn't mandatory for a user to post in these areas, they have been provided as a chance for users to meet each other and develop friendships with people from other corners of the world. This goes from the Administrators of the board, to the very newest members

No one should be afraid to contact a staff member at any time, for any reason. Even the smallest questions are welcome to be answered via Private Message, by whatever staff member you choose. Bittersweet Dreams prides itself on being one of the few boards around with staff members who are easily approachable, and.. honestly, maybe even a bit psycho sometimes. Of course it's a "good psycho"!

The older members should encourage new or inexperienced members to improve their posting skills, always in a positive way. All members are encouraged (though not forced, of course) to write guides on character development, post development and grammar to be posted in the Out Of Character Section.

Never, ever should a user be subjected to open flaming on any and all of the boards. All complaints are to be conducted privately through private messages and directed straight to an administrator, who will then proceed to out a strategy to deal with the issue. There is no excuse for posting a complaint about another member on a public forum, and will not be tolerated.

The rules written should be designed to fit the goals of Bittersweet Dreams, as a place to develop writing skills, and above all, have fun. The rules should not be unreasonable, or too terribly difficult to follow. Staff enforcement of these rules should be as the law – the player is innocent until proven guilty in all situations.

I cases where staff member(s) are called to solve a problem, or must enforce the rules of the board, assigned staff member(s) will be unbiased and allow each side a chance to clearly explain their reasonings. All staff should carry out the warning process as written, and talk things over carefully before punishment arises. Warning PMs should never accuse, but state what the player's wrongdoings may be and what the consequences shall be for a repeat performance.



The beliefs of this board will be upheld not only by the Administrators and Moderators of Bittersweet Dreams, but also by each and every member. The smooth running of the boards falls not only into the hands of those who do the behind the scenes work, but also to those who use it. Careful adherence to the rules and ideals of this board will make it possible for all members to play with little worry, while also making things easier for the staff themselves.