Colors of Remnant

Approvals: Character Creation and How to Get Approved!
Edited: 05/02/2021

So you fancy yourself a Huntsman, eh? Read on to find out how to have your character approved for Roleplay on the site!

If you haven't already looked at the article explaining how this site works, you can find it here: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=10
[PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE CREATING YOUR CHARACTER APPLICATION!]

Character applications are important for the quality control of this community. They are how we differentiate between somebody who is serious about the Roleplay, and people who are not; this isn't to say that a great deal of effort is required for you to have a character approved, however! Rather, this mechanism serves as a way for the community to gauge whether or not your character adheres to the rules, the flavor of the RWBY canon, and whether or not somebody understands the fundamentals of Roleplay.

If you ever have any doubts about your character prior to posting it for review here, please contact a Community Mentor ahead of time! They will be more than willing to work with you on completing your character and getting them ready for approval! There is also a channel for discussing your character with the rest of the community in our Discord, look for the #character-discussion channel in the Character Discussion section of the chat!

In order for your character to be approved, you must first fill out the Character Profile Fields in your personal account profile. You can find the link to edit it in the upper right corner of any page, simply click on your account name and select "User Control Panel" from the dropdown menu. Then, navigate to the Profile tab, where you will find all the required fields for you to fill out. You must fill out each and every field in order to be approved, unless otherwise stated in the description of the fields. (i.e. "if left blank") Please check to make sure you have filled in all of the fields before you submit your profile for approval! In the event you are missing something accidentally, somebody will most likely let you know in their feedback in your Approvals thread.

When you have filled out your profile fields to your liking, it's time to submit your character for approval!

All you have to do is create a topic in the Approvals forum. Please make sure that you use the name of your character for the title of the topic! You will also need to make your post a poll, with two options for voters: Yes and No. All approvals here are voted on by the community, and as long as you have an approved character, you are allowed to vote on other's profiles as well.

In order to be approved, you must secure the majority of at least 3 votes total. That means that two "yes" answers and one "no" answer is still allowed; you will be approved in this case. Every member who votes on your application is required to leave you a post containing feedback so that, in the event they voted "no", you understand why and can seek to make a correction to your character's profile before submitting for a second try. There are no limits to the amount of times you can submit a character for approval. It is recommended, however, that you save a copy of all the feedback you receive from members, for if you submit a character three times or more, your old approval threads will be deleted to keep the board from becoming cluttered. After the outcome of an Approval attempt is determined, the thread will be locked and moved to the Approvals Archives section of the board.

Please allow people adequate time to see your post and offer their votes and suggestions. We are aware that sometimes voting slows down during some periods, so if your vote has taken more than 5 days to reach a conclusion, please don't hesitate to contact the Community Leaders or Staff, as we can help to expedite your Approval in the event that others can't get around to voting currently. You may also post a link to your profile in the #voting section of the Discord at any point to help get the word out.

In the body of your post, you may include answers to these optional questions if you so choose, in order for people to get a better feel for you as a person:

1. Are you 18 or older? We want to know if anyone is under 18 years of age. Being under 18 will not bar you from participating in our community. Rather, this will allow us to gauge who is acting inappropriately toward minors.

2. Do you have past experience with collaborative writing or roleplay, and if so, roughly how much? You can be brief. This is intended to help us provide useful feedback in your approval.

3. You may include an optional (SHORT!) Roleplay sample for people to read that gives a feel for your character in writing.

In the event that your character has not reached a conclusion on their vote, an Admin or Community Leader may attempt to raise awareness of your post and get more people to vote for you. If this takes longer, an Admin or Leader may potentially make a decision to approve or not approve your character, with a full explanation as to why, whether it's a yes or a no based on the feedback you have received from others. The best practice if your vote is taking longer than expected is to raise awareness of this issue with the Staff, CLs, or in the #voting channel on the Discord. It is our goal to see that every character gets the attention it deserves from the community!

Approvals: How Voting Works
Edited: 05/02/2021

For all of you with at least one approved character, you are allowed to vote on other characters in this forum under the assumption that you are capable of following the rules and presenting a character that was deemed adhering to the spirit and expectations in this community.

Everyone who can vote is entitled to only one vote per person. Voting on multiple different accounts is not allowed, and you will be severely punished by having your right to vote revoked if you are caught breaking this rule. If you suspect somebody of stuffing votes, notify an Admin or Community Leader immediately.

The various ways you can vote are important. Keep in mind that each vote has an intended purpose behind it.

A "yes" vote says that, after all is said and done, you think that this person's character is ready to enter the Roleplay, whether or not they act on any additional feedback you have provided. A "yes" is the ultimate green light, giving somebody the go-ahead to engage in the Community. However, even a "yes" vote is a great place to provide helpful tips for the writer and give them a good idea of where their character can grow in the future.

An "abstained" vote (casting no vote at all but still providing feedback) is a way of saying that you believe this character isn't quite ready to enter the Roleplay yet, but if they make the necessary changes that you have outlined for them in your feedback, you will change your vote to "yes". This is like a yellow light, a way of asking somebody to reconsider parts of their character to improve them before they enter the Roleplay. Abstaining is a useful tool to help the character's owner receive and apply feedback before making the jump to Roleplay, to help ensure that they have reached a basic level of potential that will benefit them in the long run.

A "no" vote is the red light. This vote means that you believe that this person's character is not suitable for joining the Roleplay, and your reasons for providing feedback need to be heeded in their entirety before this person resubmits their application in another Approvals thread. The "no" vote is the most basic form of quality control, and is intended to only be used to discourage characters which do not take the rules into account, are not serious attempts to create a proper character which fits the canon of RWBY, which has clearly been submitted as a joke or meme, or that a character clearly shows a distinct lack of effort put into their profile. A "no" vote is more than just a no - it's a vehement no, and should be used sparingly.

When casting your vote, do not forget to vote on the poll within the thread as well as leaving your decision (yes/no/abstain) and an explanation as to how you reached that conclusion as a reply in the thread.

If you are caught casting a vote without providing a reason why, you will be asked to submit a reply containing your explanation to your vote, or else your vote will be revoked or discounted.

Please do not show bias toward individuals for any reason, if you are found in violation of this agreement enough times, your right to vote may be revoked by the community. Like all things, revoking somebody's right to vote will itself be a majority vote.

If you feel that somebody is acting with bias toward you or another person's character, please contact an Admin or Community Leader as soon as possible. We want this to be as fair of a process as possible.

Voting is a privilege, one that counts on your ability to show that you've thoroughly read the person's profile and have considered whatever angles you think are relevant to the discussion of their approval.

Your opinion is treasured, which is why it is mandatory that you explain why you've come to the conclusion you did.

If for some reason a vote ends in a tie, the tie will most often go to the character in question. Two "yes" and two "no" votes for example is still a "yes" in our book, however Community Leaders or Admins responsible for this breaking of a tie may decide to lean in favor of the "no" vote if adequate reasons are given to deny a profile. This is yet another reason why it's important that you explain your vote!

Happy Hunting!

Approvals: Character "Snapshots" and Extended Profiles

Newcomers and veteran Roleplayers alike in our community have a lot of leeway and freedom in how they approach filling out their characters’ profiles. To help provide structure to this process as well as improve the efficiency of our approval system, we have some new guidelines we'd like to make newcomers and veterans aware of.

The main profile you fill out as part of your process of seeking approval is what we have been calling a "Snapshot" of your character. When you fill out your profile, you should aim to make it detailed, clear, and consistent. You should also aim to make it concise when you can; a good profile should aim to give people details to work with while still respecting their time and attention span. You can leave some room open for interpretation, and perhaps even mystery. Selecting only the things that people should know about your character at a glance is the key to setting up a proper "Snapshot". This will often be a person's first impression of your work, so do your best to not only write something you will enjoy, but that someone else will also enjoy reading.

We expect members to naturally make changes to their characters over time as they are roleplayed and developed. Your "Snapshot" profile does not need to be perfect, and you can edit it or make changes to it later. Whenever you make major changes, keep in mind that you should aim to inform other writers who may be impacted by the changes you make to your work.

These character "Snapshots" are intended to give readers a quick and easy look at the most important details to your character. However, in addition to the standard profile, writers are also encouraged to make what we call an Extended Profile. Extended Profiles serve to give writers a creative outlet where they can share fun facts, interesting details, and all kinds of extra details that might not normally fit on your character's "Snapshot". Please note that Extended Profiles do not have any bearing on your approval process. They are entirely optional but highly recommended for anyone that wants to get really immersed in their Roleplay! You can learn more about Extended Profiles and how we normally recommend setting them up here: viewtopic.php?f=39&t=121