InsaneJournal

1. Thou shalt not confuse in-character with out-of-character. How characters treat your character, and how your character treats others are a result of in-character development. It is not a result of your issues or relationships with other players outside of the game.

2. Thou shalt not use out-of-character information in-character, for that is a mortal sin. Spent allows its characters to lock posts to themselves, or others. We also allow for stricken text, like this. In the context of the game, your characters cannot read things locked away from them, or that are stricken. You also may not use information you know out-of-character in the game, because you are not your character.

3. Thou shalt not commit the sin of absurdity. Your characters should be realistic people - not supernatural witches, unreasonably perfect, or unduly tragic. People do not usually marry the week after they meet, pregnancies last nine months, and they certainly do not tell off their superiors at work without facing trouble. Know this. Remember this.

4. Thou must update every two weeks. We do not put a length limit upon our journal entries, but rest assured that mods are keenly aware of how often you log onto AIM, thread, and comment to others in addition to your updates. Those who are deemed inactive will be removed. Please note that this is not an invitation to update with one line only when you're at your two weeks. We expect you to be reasonable about your activity; chronic one-liners are the epitome of uncool.

5. Thou shalt use a spell checker, and proper grammar. Spent Magazine looks for top notch role players, and we will not allow you to post incomprehensibly. Your character may not be a great speller or writer, but this is an office, so some level of at least high school English is expected. Scenes and threads must be done using proper spelling, and grammar. This includes using the shift key.

6. Thou shalt not godmode, for thou aren't god. You may not dictate the behavior, words, and beliefs of other people's characters. You may not invent their back stories, or say what they do in your reply to a scene. You may not invent any detail that is not within your character's personal jurisdiction to invent.

7. Thou shalt not be a drama mongering idiot. This includes (but is not limited to) the following: fighting with the moderators, name-calling or flaming your fellow RPers, inventing ridiculous plots and then having a meltdown when they do not go your way, acting as though the internet is Serious Business, and generally acting insane about story lines, other players, and other characters. Also? Don't be a rude asshole. No one likes those.

8. Thou shalt not ruin game canon. This means that you don't delete entries when people weren't nice to you, you don't delete comments, you do not edit posts to do anything but fix typos or coding, and you do not private your entries so that other players cannot see them. The proper method for 'deleting' and 'privating' your entries/comments can be found in the guidelines.

9. Thou shalt not break internet etiquette. This includes the following: posting big spoilers for books/movies/tv shows ten minutes after they are released or aired, posting large, bandwidth heavy flash movies or players without a cut, having any said flash players set to 'auto-play' when opened, posting things that are not work-safe outside of a cut, and using ridiculous font sizes, colours, or faces in your entries, comments, or AIM conversations. Be courteous. It's nice.

10. Thou shalt have a sense of humour. Drama can (and often does) happen. Characters snark, fight, mock, tease, and gossip about each other. Your character is not required to appreciate any of these things, or even have a sense of humour. You, however, need one. People who become irrationally upset and flustered out-of-character tend to break any of the above rules in their upset. Don't. Laugh it off. Understand that in character =/= out of character. Besides, it's all more fun when everyone can have a laugh. If something is bugging you and you cannot get over it, go to rpvents or even IM a mod. We'll listen to you bitch, tell you that you're still a wonderful and unique snowflake, and never bring it up again. Promise.




Guidelines

Played-Bys: PBs need to be age appropriate (ie, within 5 years of your PB's actual age), and appropriate for the game. Spent Magazine is set in an OFFICE - so Suicide Girls and scene kids with eight different hair colours needn't apply. PBs must be CELEBRITIES, not your best friend who models on Myspace. Taken/Held PBs can be found HERE.

Jobs: We do not expect you to carry out your character's job. However, like with anything in roleplay, RESEARCH can be a good thing. If you have questions about your character's job, or need help finding information, ASK A MOD. All of the basic job information is found at THE MASTER LIST OF STAFF POSITIONS.

Activity: There is no such thing as being too ACTIVE. That said, be reasonable. Your character shouldn't update five times a day. Most normal people don't. Please BRANCH OUT and talk to lots of different people. Be sure your character knows the people in their DEPARTMENT. AIM activity and commenting to other people's posts are a MUST.

Storylines: The mods at Spent expect you to be MATURE enough to play out whatever storylines you create. That said, BIG STORYLINES must be APPROVED at THE STORYLINE APPROVAL POST. If you're not sure if your storyline needs approval, check there to see if it fits our criteria.

Removals: Characters will be REMOVED if they have not updated their journals in THREE WEEKS, regardless of other activity. If you are removed for journal inactivity, you can RE-APPLY with our shortened application form.

Hiatuses: If you need to take a HIATUS, comment HERE. Note that failure to return after your hiatus, or letting us know that you need a longer hiatus will lead to your REMOVAL. You can reapply through our RE-APPLICATION FORM.

Character Limits: Our current character limit is FOUR. If you want to go beyond four, they will be decided on a CASE-BY-CASE basis. Your other characters must be very active in order to pick up additional characters. To pick up at fifth character (or beyond), please ASK A MOD.

Setting: The game is set in NEW YORK, at the ROCKEFELLER CENTER. Do not make up details about the office that contradicts the set canon found in the office LAYOUT. It's very specific.

Conflicts: If you're having an OOC conflict with another RPer, CONTACT A MOD. Do not respond to baiting or escalate the situation. Do not delete comments.

Deleting: Do not DELETE or PRIVATE entries, comments, or logs. You may delete a comment if posted with the wrong account or to fix a spelling error. You must repost it properly. To 'delete' an entry as a character, STRIKE IT OUT, and then type in bold and capital letters at the top of the post 'THIS ENTRY HAS BEEN DELETED.' To 'delete' a comment, comment below the comment with 'THIS COMMENT WAS DELETED BY POSTER', or if someone commented in your journal, type, 'THIS COMMENT WAS DELETED BY JOURNAL OWNER.' To learn how to do this coding, see the TECHNICAL HELP PAGE.

LJ-Cuts: As it is stated in RULE NINE, please put your spoilers, flash movies/players, and large images behind an lj-cut tag. If you're not sure how to use an lj-cut, see the TECHNICAL HELP PAGE.

Post settings: To make a post private to your character, type PRIVATE in the subject. To lock it to or from particular people (individuals, departments, etc.), type LOCKED TO/FROM _________. Comments work much the same way. Please do NOT use information locked from your character IN-CHARACTER. That's crossing the OOC/IC line.

Hierarchy: Spent is based in an OFFICE. Therefore, there is SENIORITY. Your characters can and will be removed for behaving in a manner that is not conducive to the office setting. Translation? Know your character's SUPERIORS. Understand that the journals are for WORK, and that being an asshole might get your character FIRED.

Talking to the mods: Our moderator contact page is HERE. Do not hesitate to contact any of us if you have any questions or concerns. We try to be approachable. Keep in mind that the mods play characters in the game, and that OUR VIEWS are not the same as the ones that our CHARACTERS HOLD. If you've read all the way through these, highlight the hidden text below to learn what to put in our application.

Communities: officememos is the suggestion box (In-Character), thecubicle is the log/threading community (posting formats can be found in the USER INFO), spentooc is our out-of-character community, spentdev is our character development community, and spentlines is our storylines community. spentmagazine acts as a placeholder/index for the game.

Any other questions/concerns: ASK A MOD!

Where it says 'vent' in the application, please make up one rule that you think should apply in the game. There is no right or wrong answer, but do put some thought into it - it lets us know what kind of player you are.