Restrictions on Non-Standard Roles

[Icarus]

Folks,
I would like a moment to make a clarification in policy regarding character generation and characters that will be approved.

At alpha opening, we authorized a number of family groups to come IG. As we have progressed, we have noted that this does give certain access to folks continuing to role into those family groups after the death of previous characters. This we have permitted, up to now.

From this point forward, if your character does not comply with these listed roles, it will be rejected:

0RPP Human - New Settler:
You hail from some small settlement or another along the River Running between the small sawmill settlement of Utterby near the old Dwarf Road and Laketown on the Long Lake. In each town and village in between, heralds have been shouting for fresh blood to join the hard but profitable work hewing timber on the edge of Mirkwood. Men and women from all walks of life across the region have heard these calls, and in response to the promise of a fair wage for honest work they have boarded the recruiting barge that runs north and south along the River Running. You yourself signed up not long ago, and hopped upon the barge for Utterby, and now you have arrived, green and new. Maybe you cut wood back home, maybe you were a smith, or perhaps you were a spearman in some hunting band. Regardless, here you are. The only directive you have is to report for work and stay out of the drink until you've been settled, though on the trip down you heard tales of trouble in Utterby that may have given you second thoughts...

0RPP Goblin - "Voluntary" Labor:
Congratulations! You have been "volunteered" from whatever sad hole you emerged from to join the band of an old war-goblin named Striza in the Mountains of Mirkwood, near the eastern border of the forest. Your protestations of spiders, feral wargs, numerous other bands of hostile orcs, various bodily ills, flat feet, and other objections came to naught against the harsh whip of the caravan driver. You spent long months traveling from your old home, which may have been in the foothills of the Misty Mountains, the southern portions of Mirkwood, some sad cave along the borders of the forest, or really anywhere where sad and pitiful goblins call home. Now you have just arrived, likely as part of some small group, and now must find your place, or die trying. Welcome to the Vadok!

We anticipate having proper roles functional in the near future, but for the purposes of Alpha we need to focus our efforts. While the game may certainly seem very polished, this is simply because we kick arse and have awesome staff, but this does not mean we are in full open /yet/.

We appreciate your cooperation. As always, if you have non-standard requests, PM them in advance of creating your character for approval, such as in the case of education.
Best,
The SOI Staff

[Icarus]

After staff discussion, the following is now in effect:

- To be accepted as a relative, any added PCs need to be someone mentioned by name in the other person's background. No unnamed third cousins randomly showing up.

- All apps need to be standard, local Rhovanion people.

- Groups of relatives can be a max of three. Further expansion of a group requires Frigga's approva.

- No apping back into your family group once your original PC dies.

AS A NOTE:
Family PCs are held to a higher standard of segregated IC/OOC information. Abuse of this will result in nogains, rpp reductions, and trolls.

[Frigga]

We are expanding the basic 0 RPP to allow backgrounds from along the River Running all the way to Dorwinion, great wine basket of Rhovanion.

These backgrounds are opened up with the following knowledge:

The people of Dorwinion are a people of mixed heritages given the history of migrations up and down the River Running with the great wine trade to Laketown and the warfare with the Balchoth and the Harad who come from distant Rhûn beyond the inland Sea. From honey-skinned to swarthy, from brilliant blue to almond eyed, the variety in appearances of these Free People on the edge of a foreign and mostly unknown land tells their story in a way that the written word of Man has hardly remembered. Known for their skill at orchard and vine, they settle throughout Rhovanion and in Laketown to ply their knowledge or help with their people's great wine trade.

It has been rumored but never confirmed that Dormond, Utterby's Farming Overseer has Dorwinion heritage of some variety. Though given the nature of fish-tales amongst fishermen just as many have rumored his father is a Dwarf, but one look at the curious, single-browed, well-tanned man gives hint of something perhaps not "run of the mill" so the joke goes.

Given the importance of the wine trade between Dorwinion and the Wood Elves and Laketown's fees for processing the exchanges, little more thought is usually given to men of such appearance in other towns arriving to ply wine or their skills at orchard tending. When someone feels particularly inclined to question, however, it easy to test if one is a man of Dorwinion descent rather than a more foreign Rhunic visitor by checking if the person speaks Dalish, or will respond to a good Ongull joke. (The lack of facial piercings and/or tattoos and dressing in the typical Rhovanion style being the more obvious signs.)

Usually there's little more question beyond that, and the matter is considered settled, generally with a round of annoyed though good-natured questions on why the man didn't bring any wine with him.

[Frigga]

Before you submit a PC kept in your "stable" for play, please ensure they fall within the current guidelines as posted to this thread. If you aren't sure, please contact staff and ask.

If your background and/or PC concept was previously approved and stabled and/or sneaks past the watchful gaze of our lovely Guide squad (or even one of us staff ) but is revealed to not fall within the purview of current rules there's a fair chance they'll be set nologin until the matter is resolved to mitigate IG weirdness if a background or concept needs to be tweaked.

PS: Such nologin setting might also apply to PCs who are actively RPing or portraying unapproved skills/talents, or a PC not having a currently available skill yet overtly RPing mastery or extensive knowledge in it.

To clarify some points:

- At this point, there should be no "Hillman" applications. No inferring relation to a former or current PC or a vNPC Hillman. No inferring your PC is a past or present Hillman.

- People should not infer that their PCs possess magical powers. (Good, bad, or anything in between.) We are not currently supporting that with either roles or any sort of code. A certain sense of other-worldiness is fine, and we have at least one filled role designed with that in mind.

- Illiterate and uneducated PCs (IE, you didn't apply for and get Education and scripts approved and added to your PC) shouldn't imply they can read and/or are bastions of ancient and secret knowledge.

While I certain degree of boasting or even outright lying is acceptable as legitimate RP choice, inferring that your PC has code and/or craft backing that you don't is lying as much ICly as OOCly and gives an unfair impression to other players that you have staff support that you do not.

So, let's please not.