IC Accounts - should include a note dictating what the username is or clarifying that we don't care. Not mentioning it is kinda like wait what should it be then?

I wish there was a way to make these more concise but I'm not sure there is. There's not really a bunch of fluff. But the bullet points have so much text in them and with the lack of spaces between bullets and the big chunk that some of them are, it's visually overwhelming. It's also overwhelming how a single bullet can jampack all this info in it, it makes the reader feel like they can't absorb it fast enough, get lost, and get frustrated. Great way to lose potential members. We'll have to look into ways to shorten it.. maybe break it into more bullets and add spaces between them, too.. what's more overwhelming, a long list of shorter bullets or only a few bullets but with a big bite of text in each?

HAH I love that the top of COnduct is "Yo, we're fucking rated R, bitches." Great immediate first impression. Also a great way to drive off the prudes.

"Unsure what yours qualifies as? Message the head Administrator!" PSHHH nah man, message AN Administrator.

"This means you are free to roleplay explicit scenes but remember this is not pornography," Wouldn't that be "literotica" or something?

"Sexually explicit threads must have a warning in their thread title for those who do not wish to read rated R content." What's the warning? Should we just make a forum-wide label instead? I hate taking up space in titles for this and it seems more professional and clean to have a label instead. NEW: officially a site-wide label called "Explicit" that should have any "rated R" content labeled, namely violence and sex. Contact admin or inquisitions to ask if your interactions qualify. Better safe than sorry; we want to be welcoming to all members and not everyone will want rated R content. You do not need to label PG-13 content or nontraditional "triggers."

"We also have Potions, made by Alchemists, which can have similar effects." Do we?

"Derogatory expletives will not be allowed in excess IC." Should probably rephrase, as this may be too strict sounding. I mean they can't be calling every horse they see a CENSOREDWORD. Derogatory expletives are allowed in moderation IC, maybe.

"While region can allot for different interpretations of a word's meaning, if it is considered derogative to anyone anywhere, then it is censored. To inquire whether a particular word or phrase is allowed, message the Head Administrator. To suggest a word be censored that is not already, also message the Head Administrator." This seems like it'll make everyone scared to curse because "anyone anywhere"? Reeeephrase or maybe even remove this entirely. Two full bullets on it really make sit seem super strict and it's not. We don't want to offend someone with a mentally disabled brother or who is gay or something, true, but no one's gonna get flipped out on for a few "retards" here and there or saying Eskimo (which is offensive to INuits) or midget (which is offensive to little people) and all that. Besides, we're rated R. There's a bit too much focus on limiting cursing for a rated R site.

I love how it's like "uhhh you can have sex but like.. no porn. And you can curse but like.. no offending. VIOLENCE IS FREERANGE GO FUCK EACH OTHER UP."

"OOC discussion is basically unrestricted but shouldn't cross that line we all are aware of." hahaha such professional rules and then suddenly it's like I pop out of a bush and start talking all casual and shit. Wtf, man. Continuity, man, have you ever heard of it?!

"Sexual innuendo is one thing, sexual harassment or explicit stories are another. Please avoid making other members uncomfortable whenever possible.

• Topics on violence and alcohol are allowed but should be kept brief and vague.

• Conversations regarding drugs or anything illegal are not generally allowed. " Again... this sounds way stricter to me than it should be... it sounds more like a PG-13 forum. Bleeech. Adult this shit up.

"Common sense reigns. If it seems disrespectful to someone, avoid it. Better to say nothing than have to say sorry later on." Like wow Brady you speak so good wow all the wow great wow. Maybe, y'know, make this sound less like explosive diarrhea.

The way that every tab gets longer and longer has this sort of defeating feeling to the reader that might drive people off.... it's like they finally get through a tab and they wipe their brow and go to tackle the next one and see it's even bigger and they just AHOIB H:SHGF:OISEHR

"You must make at least 1 IC post a month with each character. If you fail to do so, the character(s) deemed inactive will be archived and their IC Account disabled. If this happens, you can remake the character by requesting the account be enabled and posting the biography for re-acceptance, but if the same character is repeatedly archived for inactivity, you may be denied." I like and dislike. I HATE inactive characters, but to put this in the main rules immediately puts a sense of pressure on the reader and they start worrying they can't handle 1 post a month or what if they lose muse or what if they're busy one month and they might decide it's not even worth it. We could make this rule phrased gentler or remove it entirely and let activity checks fulfill this rule without us having to state it. If we have monthly or bimonthly activity checks where you have to provide a link to at least one IC post made with the character since the last AC, this rule will technically be in effect without us having readers read it and get all turned off.

"You will never be forced into an Occupation, they are only for monetary gain, prestige, and other incentives." Cut it off at "OCcupation" because it otherwise starts to bring down the worth of Occupations and isn't really necessary to convey the idea. The point is it's not mandatory. But it's extremely encouraged and useful, soo

"You can mix and match so the same Character(s) run multiple Establishments or only a single type." AHA I KNEW IT. Akira was going to run a stable in Morrene for Talen and Talen was going to run an Inn in Faewin for Akira. They were going to be small and just for each other's guilds. I don't think we should do this idea anymore--too much of a monopoly--but it was the original idea and why this rule was modified the way it is.

"the information of which you can find in their rule threads." Well that shit sounds weird

"Your characters age 1 Alcrystan year every 6 real months, as there are 4 seasons that last 2 months each.

• You are responsible for keeping their age updated in their Account's Profile and Tracker if they have one. Their age in the Account Registry will be updated by staff each month. Their biography will retain the age they were original made at.

• Remember it takes 2 Alcrystan years to equal 1 Earthen year. You may not exceed the species' lifespan without administrative approval." NO. NO. FUCK THIS. REMOVE THSI SHIT. I AM NOT MAKING TALEN OLD YOU CAN'T MAKE ME NO.

"Anything that has a cooldown or depends on a time restraint (i.e. crops, some IC Interactive boards) uses Central Standard Time." Is... is this relevant? A cooldown would be, like, "4 hours" which works for any timezone, right? Maybe just say "Time is assumed Central Standard Time" or something more generic like that in case it does come up.

"you can only powerplay if you can devise a situation that there is no other outcome to." Make that "where there is no other outcome possible" or something.

"Powerplay is controlling another character. For example, instead of "she stabbed the knife into his arm" you would need to put something like "she stabbed the knife forward, hoping to sink into his arm." This leaves room for the character to react how their roleplayer wishes rather than assuming the blow will land." Make it clear the example is how to /avoid/ powerplay..

"Your characters cannot have or act upon any knowledge they did not receive IC or through appropriate means, such as Morrene's Oracle or the IC Newsletter.

• They cannot gather any information that is not readily available to them, such as another character's thoughts, history, or emotions, rumors, events, and organizations." This rule is a pretty big deal and it's kind of short, small, and at the bottom. If it is so outshadowed by the surrounding rules, it won't be remembered, and then it won't be a strictly followed rule. Unrealistic insight is a huge problem if it gets rampant on Alcryst. Imagine people knowing about the Black Cloaks magically or knowing Talen's completely manipulating them or someone's a spy or any other such undercover thing. This site is built on "prove why you know it" or "prove you can do it" and unrealistic insight is the ultimate downfall to it. Soo... bring the rule up higher and make it a bit bigger, even if fluff has to be added, to make sure it has the weight it needs?

"Horses and Humans cannot communicate unless 1 or both are gifted with the correct Power, including nonverbal communication such as a Horse learning how to write." MOTHERFUCKER BE CONSISTENT ARE YOU SPELLING THE WORDS OUT OR PUTTING THE NUMBER, HUH?! PICK ONE AND FOLLOW IT ACROSS THE ENTIRE GODDAMN SITE YOU MONKEY

"
• Once a month, 3 characters will be chosen to experience a random event.

• This might have a positive or negative outcome. Staff will post in one of their threads giving them the event, such as a meteor impact, a sudden sickness, a stat upgrade, etc. They will also send a PM to the IC and OOC Account of the recipient and Tag them in the random event post.

• The same character cannot receive a random event within 2 consecutive months. A record will be kept in Clandestine for staff's reference." I feel like we came up with a better system for how this was going to work. I can't remember what it was, though! Uhh.. was it a dice roll, each member having a certain number assigned, and then a dice roll to determine the event it'd be... and you are immune the month following the month you got an event...? And the event can be GOOD or bad or even totally neutral.. can even be getting something instead of a "scene" happening.. and don't forget there's the "force an event on a person" item in Underground, which is sweet cuz yeah you're paying for a person to get an event (Great distraction, Black CLoaks!) but you can't guarantee it won't be an awesome event. It's like sending someone to Bowser in Mario Party. xD

"You could easily spend 6 hours entertaining yourself with our IC Interactive boards if necessary" this feels like a small exaggeration..

"
• If you use a mobile device to view Alcryst, switch to Desktop mode, do not use the Mobile App." Well maybe explain how to do that, fucker. Bottom of the damn site, far right. TELL THE PEOPLE.

"
• It is suggested that you use Google Chrome as your browser when viewing Alcryst.

• The site was coded and designed for Chrome, so therefore other browsers will not show you the site exactly as it was intended to look. It is very easy, and free, to download Chrome if you do not already have it installed.

• While you can use other browsers, your experience may be different based on them. Safari and Firefox seem to be generally similar with a few discrepancies in fonts and spacing but Internet Explorer is not compatible with our site in most ways, such as the basic functioning of codes/plugins. We beseech you to avoid Internet Explorer for these reasons, especially old versions of Internet Explorer." maybe just make this bullet a "dont' use internet exploerer" request instead of a "use chrome" request.

"Several of our more expensive IC items have an alternative, cheaper USD price." Not cheaper

"2) have already maxed out their $10 a month conversion and spent all their money so they cannot use that method to get an item they want, in which case they can purchase it with USD directly." It's a $2 a month conversion maximum, not 10... fix dat. Also that is phrased weird as hell.

"1 character of your choice showcased in the top image of the sidebar for 2 weeks" Make this at least a month. Between how rarely we'll get new premi members/how few we'll have and not wanting to put too much pressure on me, this needs to be a longer duration

"This benefit will allow you to personalize your signature area," make "As a premium member, you will be able to personalize this signature area..."

"You will be added to a monthly pool of candidates that are drawn only from Premium Members for a special Benefactor OTM Award which comes with a mystery item of high value each month along with the showcase of your name in our sidetable" And the award for BEST RUN-ON SENTENCE goes to THIS bullet! Geezus

"You will be given a custom icon underneath your account's display name created by Sky at your request instead of the default mask, spear, or horse. You can only receive 1 for every month you continue to subscribe, so after 4 months you could apply a custom icon to four accounts, and so on and so forth" Link sky's account instead of just saying her name. Probably explain better what this means, as it's a bit confusing. Is sky still okay with this commitment? Is this the only way to get a custom icon?

"A glow of your color choice will be added to your OOC Account's display name to indicate your Premium status" we need to verify we can still do this

I just realized there's this like.. lack of periods going on.. I get no periods on a fragment bullet point but these are clearly complete sentences and it's so OIHB"O:SOEIH

"This must be renewed the thirteen month," should be thirteenth month

" If it's sudden and unexpected, you get a three day grace period, but only for existing premium members." Wait what does it mean by existing premi members? Which premi members would this not apply to?


"On the 11th day of the month, the premi is canceled and the member must wait until the next cycle." must wait until the next cycle to re-subscribe, renew, some word like that. Specify that this is when their loyalty benefits would be affected because it's considered a new membership at this point

Loyalty benefits - can we come up with a 3-month one and a 1-year one?




should add information about the warning level for ooc accounts

throw in copyright disclaimers. for one thing, put in the "do not copy from us" disclaimer that's currently in the initial pop-up (and possibly have that same disclaimer in the registration page?) secondly, have the idea of an inherent copyright in anything roleplayers bring to alcryst. no idea can be copied identically by another without explicit permission from the original creator (so long as they are still present on the site and using their idea). be very careful with the wording here.


for npcs - "Can have relationships of sorts with npcs of own species (otherwise must have companion item) but can never encroach on companions or characters or be used as an advantage, only a plot stimulant."