Welcome

Rena

Veritas Falsus is a highly involved roleplaying game. It has plenty of background information, and attempts to create a feature rich, easily imaginable world, so players can immerse their characters within it. However, Veritas Falsus also demands a commitment from the players to the roleplay. In the end, the goal is to collectively tell an interesting story, and have a lot of fun in doing it.

As much as we would like to have no rules, we really couldn't run anything structured without them. That said, these are more guidelines than steadfast rules, and, provided the reason is good enough, we may make certain judgment calls that allow for exceptions.

As a disclaimer, the staff has the right to amend, modify, add, or remove rules as they see fit. You will always be asked to follow the latest version of the rules.

Conduct

Conduct here is important. Everyone here should be a mature individual. We wish to create an open community where everyone can participate freely and exchange their ideas without fear of rejection or ridicule. Thus, while you can express your disagreements with any individual idea, please make sure that you conduct these disagreements courteously and professionally. We do not want to see any personal attacks and insults. Likewise, we do not want to see any racism, sexism, ageism, or any other form of discriminatory behavior from any of the members.

We also request that you are active after joining. Nothing is more annoying than sorting out an application only to have that roleplayer ditch after approval. If you are having difficulty integrating, feel free to contact a staff member. We ask that all members be patient with developments. Likewise, if you must leave, we would greatly appreciate it if we received a notice from you, so we can write out your character from our plots and threads.

Registration

When registering, please sign up with your character's first and last name, properly punctuated and formatted. Each character will have a separate account. Also, please make sure that you use a working, active email. Your verification will be sent to this email, as well as any important updates pertaining to the RPG itself.

There is no expressed limit to how many characters and what kind of characters you can register, but we ask for courtesy and common sense. If you are already perpetually behind with the characters you have, you would be doing your threadmates a big disservice if you register more characters. Likewise, if the RPG has an overwhelming shortage of boys, it would not be a great idea to exacerbate this gender imbalance by making more girls. The same principle applies to other trends, such as affiliation, locations, age ranges, etc.

Rating

This board is unrated.

That's right. We neglect to rate this board. If you have a problem with it, we won't have a problem with telling you to move along, or use even more colorful language. While we do not curse like sailors, nor do we condone it, we have no issue with telling censorship to take a hike. We like giving players the freedom to write whatever the hell they please. If they want their character to swear like an angry frat boy, we'll let them do that. If they want their character to bang the entire remnant human population, we'll let them attempt that.

However, if you do choose to partake in anything that would make most grandmothers have a heart attack, please have the courtesy to offer a disclaimer for readers. Readers often are a captive audience, and it would be nice to give them a heads up if they do not want to read the gorier and more anatomical details.

The purpose of being unrated is to be an accurate and realistic reflection of a real world. We strive for immersion, and we are not afraid to tackle the sensitive issues, because they do happen. On the other hand, we ask for people to conduct this with the proper courtesy and artistry. Some of the issues are serious, and we do not want to see people trivializing them. Please give all the elements in your roleplay the proper gravity.

Application

Our application at VF is not a generic template. We ask that, if possible, you try not to recycle or reuse old applications, though we can understand if you feel the need to take a shortcut. Remember, that the primary purpose of these applications is to demonstrate and convey your understanding of the character through words. Thus, while pictures, lyrics, and graphics are certainly good complements, they are ultimately not necessary nor necessarily desired.

Due to the administrative team's experience with applications written in such a manner, we strongly discourage first person applications. We find that most players choose to execute this in a very clunky and unsatisfactory manner. If your application is written in first person, make sure to convey exactly how the first person application is conducted. Is it done via interview? Is it a written report? Please give us the context necessary for a quality first person application. Otherwise, just stick with third person.

Furthermore, we want to minimize any lists in the application process. We notice that many places have some arbitrary list of items for personality, likes, or dislikes. Lists are the lowest form of written communication; it is the easiest to learn, the least in-depth, and lacks all the important details in between. We do not wish to get into the hyper-specific, nor do we care about what arbitrary little things that your character may or may not like. Instead, we would much prefer if you delve a little deeper and define exactly what your characters and why he has enjoyment over this. Think like psychologists, not cavemen.

Posting

We at Veritas Falsus would greatly appreciate it if you used good spelling and grammar in your posts. Use spell check. Most word processors have an innate spell check, as do many browsers. You can also find spelling and grammar checks online. We ask that people keep in mind that your posts will be read by other people, so proper and effective usage of the language, punctuation, capitalization, and grammatical structure is essential.

While we are more lax with out of character discussion, we still prefer if you make a conscious effort to ensure the readability of your posts. Posts should be made in the proper place and relate to the topic. We don't mind (and even encourage) a little off topic discussion and banter, but we rather the topic get discussed in the meantime. For roleplaying, this means we expect the posts in the roleplay forum to be full, completed roleplay posts. No "I'll get back to this laters," no OOC only posts, no placeholders, et cetera.

As you may have noticed, we are an English speaking forum, and we would appreciate it if all of your posts were written in English. Should you post something other than English, it would be very courteous of you to offer a translation for any curious readers.

Also, as a personal peeve with several members of several members of the administration, we ask that you do not needlessly adorn posts or titles. We don't need to see icons whenever you make a new post, we do not want to see fancy decoration or formatting in thread titles (no double ampersands "&&" or random dashes or marks like ``). We prefer if you simply convey your threads and thoughts in plain English. If you focus on the beauty of the writing, the aesthetics will take care of itself.

Roleplaying

When roleplaying, we stress quality over quantity, and as such, we do not give a minimal length for your post. However, if we feel that your posts are simply lacking in detail, we may remind you that you need to put more effort and description into your posts. The idea, ultimately, is to be vivid and evocative. As play-by-post roleplayers and writers, all of you should know the basic axioms of writing, such as showing not telling, and active vs passive.

Also, remember that concision > quantity. If two posts express the exact same thing, the one that can do it with fewer words is, almost unilaterally, the better post. If you are a genius of the English language and can express in two sentences what the average person needs three pages, then feel free to post two masterstroke sentences per post.

However, by experience, I noticed that most players are not such ethereal wordsmiths. Thus, I ask that every player make a conscious effort to make their posts as vivid and clear as possible. We do not want paragraphs upon paragraphs of fluff and we despise needlessly long and overwrought posts, but we feel that—for the general population—people need a certain number of words to convey what they want accurately. Take however long you need, but do not take any shortcuts by skipping out on vividness and detail; we will call you out on that.

Characters

The typical rules are applied here with characters. We don't want to read about perfect characters with an impossible knack for getting out of all obstacles and solving every problem. We do not want to read character's that are wildly inconsistently written.

Unlike a lot of places, we aren't going to bring out the pyres as we witch hunt for "Sues!" We feel that any character design that is believable, consistent [within established laws of the universe], and well-executed can exist. Contrarily, we don't feel that everyone was created equal and just because someone is prettier, smarter, or more powerful than someone else, that that makes them a Mary Sue. That said, even our leniency and willingness to look at it on a case by case basis has limits. We do not want to see any character's that violate realm rules simply by his existence.

Basically, if your character design makes us go, "WTF?", we'll nix it. We won't nix it just because we're jealous of how good (s)he looks or how talented (s)he is. We don't really subscribe to the typical 'litmus tests' for a Sue, as we feel that it's all about the context and the manner in which the character is portrayed. In our case, we have turned many of the litmus test items upside down. For example, in our world, almost everyone has a tragic past in which they've lost family members and friends. For VF characters, it's all about how they dealt with these losses. Many people have powerful gifts, because these traits are advantageously selected after the pandemic, the fallout, and the aftermath.

Also, as a general disclaimer, in order to preserve the continuity of our world, we need players to keep their characters active. If a player is inactive for an extensive amount of time, we may have to take action with the player's character. This may include auto-ing him or her, writing him or her out of the RPG, or even killing the character outright. The staff reserves the right to cite continuity reasons for doing this to inactive characters.

Plot Pages (and other OOC gunk)

No.

Just no.

If you want to post those needlessly overcolored and pointlessly generic plot pages with all the pretty lyrics and blended colors, go somewhere else. This is not the site for you. We feel that relationships are always evolving, changing, and growing. We feel that the best way to encapsulate this is to dedicate a general thread, or mini-profile, for each character, and allow players to freely reply and develop relationships, chat, relax, and simply get to know the characters.

We find plot pages stifling, overwrought, and more effort than the return that you get from them. It's simply not something that we do here, and that is unlikely to change. As mentioned, if you insist on posting plot pages here at this website, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

This is also a general policy towards everything that is needlessly flashy and aesthetical. The emphasis here is on the writing, not on the extraneous junk.

Graphics and Models

You're welcome to represent your character with a model and create pretty graphics for him or her. You can feel free to post in the model list to let everyone know that you're using the character as a model. Remember, the models and graphics are only representations of your character; they are not literally what the character is like. The primary description of the character should still come from the written roleplay, not the fancy graphics and images.

While we don't anticipate many disputes to happen, if you feel you need to use a certain model that is currently taken, please talk to the person that currently has it claimed. The model list is not exclusive, and that person has to at least listen to your case. If necessary, a staff member may intervene. For the convenience of everyone, however, it is recommended that you take an unclaimed model.

Should you chose to use graphics (and we highly recommend that you do), you should keep to the size constraints. Avatars should not exceed 125x200 pixels in width and length, respectively. Likewise, signatures should not exceed 450 by 250 pixels in width and height respectively. We do not wish to see signatures that are vastly larger than the posts themselves, or signatures that stretch the board frames. You do not need 13 icons to represent your character (though if you cans squeeze them all in 450x250px, you can certainly have them).

In addition to the 450 by 250 pixels of space for images, you can have a few extra lines of text for whatever purpose you please. Feel free to link to other images in these lines of text if you cannot fit those images into the 450x250 space limit. We don't explicitly limit the amount of space you can have for text, but please be reasonable. Your signature is not the place to put a whole epic poem.

Storyteller-Led Threads

Veritas Falsus is fairly unique in that we have a game master position open for your convenience. We feel that many new members are often intimidated by the process of joining a new roleplay, and the game master can often create an introductory scenario for the new character, so that he or she is guided towards other characters in the RPG.

In these storyteller-led threads, the game master, usually a member of staff, will describe to you the situation and tell the story. You focus on your character's actions, thoughts, dialogue, and emotions. This will usually be done for major threads with plot relevance as well. Storyteller-led threads can serve as a 'choose your own adventure' type deal, where the storymaster creates the scenario, and the players react to it.

As we often use storyteller-led threads to introduce characters to each other. We will also be asking for volunteers who will allow themselves to be referenced by these characters. These volunteers can specify who their characters are and when and where others would be most likely to find them. Depending on the storyteller's judgment, they may guide a new character towards one of these volunteered characters, and thus form new relationships and inspire new threads.

The goal with storytellers is to create an interactive realm as well as bring players together. It does not replace freeform threads, and in fact, having conventional threads is essential for the full Veritas Falsus experience. But the storyteller-led threads attempt to enrich the dystopian world VF presents, and we hope you take advantage of it.

Legal

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