ArmageddonMUD Application Approval Criteria

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These are the guidelines that the application reviewers use. If you feel a mistake has been made with your character's rejection and would like it re-examined, please mail mud with the details.

Directions for Application Reviewers:
As a rule of thumb, avoid the phenomenon where the player becomes discouraged because they fix one thing, send it in, get it rejected for another reason, fix and resend, get rejected again, etc. We have the web editor, and it is perfectly okay to edit a player's app in order to fix small things like typos, missing keywords, odd punctuation, "a" instead of "the", etcetera. If a player seems to be consistently using the reviewers to fix things rather than running the app through a spell or grammar checker, feel free to bounce the app back to her or him for revision.

If you reject an application, please include all the reasons for rejection, and not simply the first one. It may seem like a waste of time to provide a lot of useful rejection information on a bad app but it isn't a waste if the person is going to have to apply six more times before they get it right.

Don't approve your own character apps.

Common Issues In Apps and What To Do :

Adjectives:

• Action adjectives (ex. serene, silent).
  Behavior words are not good -- but sometimes allowable if they can be changed to something like "the serene-looking". Check with the player before making such a change. Facial expressions like "unsmiling" and other terms that can lead to sentences like "The unsmiling woman smiles at ~someguy. " should be discouraged. Okay to reject on this ground.
• Changeable adjectives (ex. clean-shaven, dirty).
  Changeable words, such as "dirty" or "cleanshaven" are perfectly fine. Let the player know that they would need to submit a description change request to change this. Use common sense - something like "the freshly-bathed, naked man" would be worth rejecting. Okay to reject on this ground when it reaches that level.
• Double color adjectives (ex. honey-haired, sky-eyed).
  Some things are a different color on Zalanthas. If you need to edit these, do so, but let the player know why.
• Inappropriate adjectives (ex: steely-eyed, frost-haired).
  Do not reject someone for adjectives like "steel" or "icy" on the grounds that these are unknown in Zalanthas. The majority of the people reading the description will originate on our own planet and will know what steel and ice are.
• Misleading adjectives (ex: ethereal, luminous).
  Do not reject someone for adjectives that seem to imply magical states unless you are convinced that it will cause a terrible, terrible problem that will immediately lead to the player's death. Some players like a touch of poetic license: "floating-haired", for example, can be viewed as an example of this as opposed to implying that the person's hair is visibly levitating. Check with a HL+ before rejecting on these grounds.
• Obscure adjectives (ex: nigrescent, gracile, etc).
  Obscure words are okay if a) the word is used correctly and b) the main description provides some clue to the meaning of the word. Okay to reject if criteria are not met.
• Subjective adjectives (ex: handsome, beautiful).
  Words such as "handsome" or "alluring" force a particular point of view on the reader. What is alluring to an elf may be considered repulsive to a human. In the short description there is no context to back up the assertion. When encountering "the lithe, alluring female" the reader should not be forced to read the description, only to find that this is an elf, and indeed they would not find this person alluring. Subjective words such as "handsome" or "alluring" are allowable in the main desc if they have the description to back them up. Okay to reject if criteria are not met.
• Zalanthan adjectives (ex: baobab-haired, Lirathu-eyed).
  Unless someone has found something incredibly obscure to use in their description, they should generally be encouraged to use Zalanthan adjectives and comparisons. It is all right for them to have tattoos of anakores or shiks, even if they do not live in those creatures' hunting grounds. When someone is using these words, make sure they are hyphenated and capitalized according to the style sheet. Check with a HL+ before rejecting on these grounds.

Age:
People should not be running child characters, which is why we don't allow boy, girl, child, etc. If a description seems to be misrepresenting a character's age, please check with the player. Ages should not be spelled out in the description other than in broad terms: "This male appears to be 22 years" is unacceptable, for example.

Backgrounds:
References to the following must be cleared with the appropriate immortal before they can be used: Blackwing, Tan Muark, Anyali or any of the noble houses or templarate orders. Players should not be making characters with an objective aimed at avenging their last character.
If there is a problem with chronology, i.e. they said they were born during the fall of Tuluk but their age means they would have been a year old at that time, it is allowable to edit the background or age. Please remember to drop them a note saying you've done it.
Players should feel some degree of freedom to be creative with their backgrounds, although not to the point of absurdity (bastard child of the Lord of Ash, Tek's cousin once removed, etc.)

Clans:
Making a character to play in a specific clan or clans should be approved by the appropriate immortals, who should have told the player to put a note to the effect of "Concept approved by X" in their background, preferably in the top line. (This does not mean reject them if it appears in the last line rather than the top.) It is better to take the stance that the player has mistakenly forgotten to include the "Approved by" text in their background when writing the rejection message. Write a friendly reminder like, "This concept/clan requires imm approval in the form of "Approved by X" in your background. Please apply again and include the name of the immortal sponsoring this concept. Thanks".

Keywords:
People should have, at a minimum, the words that are contained in their sdesc, with the obvious exception of "the". Sometimes people get confused and include a lot of unnecessary keywords, thinking that since they're mentioned in the main description, they should be included. Generally, simply edit these out. Half-elves are not required to have the keyword "half-elf" unless the description specifically references their race.

Main Descriptions:

• Descriptions need to be at least four lines long. The last line need not absolutely be a complete line in the case of new players, but remember that the app process tells them four complete lines.
• If they have behaviors in the description that are specific, such as 'his hand restlessly reaches for his dagger', they can be rejected but something like 'looks back at you' or 'is standing here' is allowable.
• Conditions that may change over the course of play, such as degree of dirtiness or grooming, are permissible.
• As with sdescs, Zalanthan references are fine unless they are obscure to the point where most players would not know the term.
• As always, use common sense, and try to be newbie friendly. Reading the section written for the players on descriptions in the introductory section of the webpage may be helpful here.

Mutations:
Mutations are okay as long as the player understands that mutations that require something outside the ordinary (additional height, infravision, magic resistance, etc) need to be submitted through the special application process and probably are not going to get okayed.

Names:
You can reject an application on the grounds of an unoriginal or outlandish name but the best rule of thumb for this would be "Would the name be jarring if you ran across it in a fantasy novel?" Familiar fantasy names, such as Frodo, Drizzt, Merlin, etc, should be rejected, but use common sense and consider whether the source is something most players would know, as opposed to only those versed in ancient Sumerian verse. Sometimes players use names taken from Dark Sun novels. This is okay unless they are actually trying to create versions of the book characters. Names from most mythos are okay until they're just plain jarring, like Buddha or Christ. Examples of names I would consider acceptable: Baldur, Garuda, Cuchalain. Use common sense.

New Players:
Many times new players submit unsuitable descriptions for one reason or another. It is highly encouraged, although not mandatory, to accommodate them by rewriting the description so they can try the game. If you do this, please include something in the acceptance note that says "I rewrote your description so you can try the game. If you like it and decide to make another character when this one dies, you may want to read through the docs at http://www.armageddon.org/intro/intro.html". Descriptions can be a skimpy four lines.

Nouns:
Guild-specific words like "warrior," "concubine," etc. should be rejected unless some special concept like "the dirty flearidden beggar" has been cleared ahead of time. The list of nouns that are okay and not okay is here.
Nouns should make sense - the 33 year-old male lad should be turned down unless his race considers 33 young.

Pronouns:
If a player uses "a" instead of "the", use the web editor to fix it.

Races:
See the note about keywords. We do not require half-elves to include the word "half-elf" as a keyword, but the description must contain some clue (subtle is okay) to the character's bloodline.
No hairy dwarves.

Overall, too much nitpicking alienates players, wastes their time and yours, and makes us look silly. Please try to avoid this. If you are uncertain about an application, leave it in the queue for someone else, or consult someone on the game about it. If you're feeling rushed for time, don't do applications, but leave them for someone who does have time to devote to them. We are and always have been about quality over quantity, and no one wants a rush job, especially when making a first impression on a new player.