If a mod pulls you up for rule breaking, you are not under any circumstances to harass them. Mods give up their free time to make this game better for everyone. They do NOT deserve to be hassled because you the player has not gotten your own way. Any harassment aimed at Mods will result in your immediate banning.

Remember though that the first rule of all is to simply HAVE FUN. Never forget it.

-SPECIAL NOTICE-

Members Poaching is under no way shape or form tolerated by the owners of Richmond High RPG. Those who join Richmond High to source members for their own groups will find themselves banned, blacklisted, and reported to the RPWA. No exceptions will be made. In turn, all profiles and descriptions on the Richmond High Site are the property of Richmond High and their creators. Anyone who steals the intellectual property of any owner or member of Richmond High will not only find themselves reported to The RPWA, but an official complaint will be made against you to Yahoo!

Though were sorry to say that this is even something that has to be noted on here, we need for people to understand that people may not have multiple ID's on Richmond High RPG. Richmond is more than a Role-playing game - It is a place where people come to chat to each other on the OOC board and people misrepresenting themselves in this way can be hurtful to the other members of the game (even if you are trying to do it to get around certain rules or to try and enhance your own storylines - Ask yourself first how you would feel if somebody deceived you in this way?). Members caught with multiple handles (and we do have ways of finding these things out) will immediately be banned from RH RPG and will not be welcomed back.

-GENERAL RULES-

1 - No bashing, flaming, insulting or condescending remarks made towards the other players or the moderator(s). One warning will be issued before mandatory unsubscription. Please, remember this rule. Always respect your fellow players. If you have anything against another player do NOT take it on-list. The moderator(s) can serve as mediator(s) if anything is amiss between two or more players, so please do not hesitate in asking for help if you are angry at something. Just don't take it to the list. This does not mean that you may abuse another player from this game off list because they are not doing what you want them to do in game-play. The Mods will not hesitate to ban people who get out of control.

2 - No advertisements, please. There are list which are used specifically for advertising RPG's and any other kind of advertisement is pretty much useless, unnecessary and unwanted. Remember that. Anyone who subscribes and advertises another RPG on here will be immediately banned, and their email address will be passed on to other game moderators.

3 - Please warn the moderator(s) beforehand if you are going to be unable to post for any prolonged period of time. I know most of you may have more to do than sitting at your computer writing posts but please warn the moderator(s) if you can't possible post for any extended period of time (vacations for example).

4 - If a player does not post for a week, a warning will be issued. After two weeks, your characters will be put on hold. If a player goes missing for a whole month, the characters will be taken away for adoption - or to be deleted, in case the character is new and didn't get into any storyline.

5 - Characters are subject to moderator approval and should follow the general character guidelines. If you're having trouble creating characters, or giving depth to them, contact a moderator. Requests for teachers or Others (pre-made characters played as NPC's until they are adopted by a player) must be accompanied by a sample post. The mods will not even consider letting you take on another character unless all of your posting is up to date.

6 - When making your character profile, you'll be asked for a character picture. Please, use real 'celebrity' photos, not drawings or anime. If you're having trouble finding one, you could always ask one of the mods for help. Please also try to use characters who have a suitable number of images available if you wish to have your characters featured in fanart and game graphics. If we cannot find photos your character will not be featured.

7- When starting you may request or submit up to two characters (Preferably one male and one female, or two males.). Requests for more characters will not be considered until you have been an active member for the period of one month. The same rule applies to current members. No more than two submissions/character requests per month. You need to be able to show that you have the ability to be active for all characters that you have. You also have the possibility of playing a teacher, in case you don't want a student character. A note though: teachers are *pre-made* characters. They will usually be thought as NPC's unless a player takes them permanently as one of their characters.

8 - The moderator(s) of the game has/have the final say on characters, situations and other aspects of the game. Disrespect will NOT be tolerated. Any complaints, criticisms and such will be taken OFF list. Suggestions and inquiries can be addressed through private email OFF the list. If a player cannot comply with the moderator(s) final word in a situation the player will be unsubscribed.

9 - The moderators of Richmond High do not want to be bothered with complaints about your characters not getting their own way. Richmond High is a *game*. Completely fictional. Sometimes, your character won't get what you wanted, and other characters may not react to your character the way you wanted. In Richmond High, some characters might be mean to your characters for no good reason. Again, we remind you that it is a game. Some characters, are just plain nasty, and it doesn't mean their players are like that as well. It's not a personal attack against you, it's just the way the game plays out. If you can't deal with that, then don't play, because you won't be able to handle the game like that. Any complaints directed at a mod of this manner, will result in a warning. If you re-offend, you will be asked to leave the game.

10 - You are expected to post frequently, at least every second day unless circumstances prevent you from occasionally doing so. If you do not post during a particular story, your character will be considered out of the scene and you may be removed if your inactivity continues unexcused. Please, *always* warn if you are going to be unable to post. It will prevent many headaches to all. If your character is important to a particular storyline and it's not being used, the moderator(s) or the player(s) involved in the scene will be allowed to take it over until the scene is wrapped up.

11 - Please email the Mods, and make a point of stating that you have completely read and understood all of the rules. If you didn't understand something, then please ask that mod what it means. Basically this lets us know that you have actually read the rules, and read them properly. We're not evil nasty people here at Richmond High. We have rules to make sure everybody can enjoy the game. Knowing the rules here, is the best way to ensure that you can enjoy Richmond too!

12 - If a player abandons the game or is unsubscribed by any reason, its character(s) will remain in the game and will become NPC's, unless there is someone to adopt them.

13 - Any Out of Character message should be sent to the OOC board. Keep in mind that the same rules that apply to the Richmond RPG, will apply to the Richmond OOC board. Always remember to respect your fellow players. OOC's on list tend to clog up storyline, and make it hard for people to find their threads. It is a requirement of Richmond High RPG that you be a member of the OOC group.

14 - The list will be PG friendly, which means that anything graphical will be taken OFF list. This excludes kissing scenes and some profanity (who doesn't say it nowadays) but use common sense to choose what is acceptable or not. There will be a maximum rating of PG-15 on the list. We are searching for mature players so you should know what are the boundaries of this rating. Mods will be watching for this, and will tell you if you are taking it too far. But you are not children, and should not need a babysitter. You should know whether or not the post is appropriate for the general group or not.

-CHARACTER CREATION GUIDELINES-

Though we welcome creativity in every form – there are some things that we would like you to keep in mind when creating a character for this game. They will help you to achieve character approval, and will help to try and maintain a balance here at Richmond High.

Any character submission that breaches any of these guidelines will not be given the courtesy of an email that details where you need to make improvements. We will automatically reject your profile and you will be expected to make the required changes before resubmitting. Those that repeatedly submit profiles without having the minimum requirements in terms of detail (as explained in the Character Creation Sheet) and do not adhere to the guidelines detailed in these rules will be removed from the group.

1.) First things first. The Richmond High RPG is no longer accepting characters who are brand new to the school, or the town of Ridgefield. That does not mean that we are not accepting character applications, only that any character submitted must have it stated that they have been at Richmond High School since the beginning of their Senior Year. Though you may consider this to be limiting, we feel that given that we are already over half way through Senior Year, it is unrealistic that a Senior would transfer into a new school. To help you understand what has happened at Richmond High prior to your joining, we have created the Richmond High Timeline. By creating an established character you will also open yourself up to having established friendships within the game. Feel free, once your profile has been approved, to contact members or the OOC Board in regards to character connections.

2). Please make the effort to read through bio’s on the site to try and ensure that you are not creating a character that is a carbon copy of one already being played in the game. If you have a character idea, and are unsure of whether it has been done (Or in some cases overdone) please email the owners of Richmond High RPG and ask them for advise. The Owners & Moderators of Richmond High do reserve the right to reject a character submission if we feel that it will overshadow another character within the game. It is important that we protect the creativity and concepts of everyone, and we in turn hope that you will understand.

3). Rich, Beautiful, Popular, Liked By All, Friends with Everyone – When combinations of these words or saying appear in profiles – it is very likely that you are creating a ‘Mary Sue’. Not only are these characters frowned upon – but they are not allowed in Richmond High. All characters, like people, should have flaws. Quirks that define who they are. Nobody is perfect – and therefore, perfect characters will not get the green light to be played. Avoid using terms like 'The nicest/sweetest/most likable person you will ever meet. - Automatic Rejection.

4). High School Student characters are not  permitted to live on their own in the town of Ridgefield. ‘Student Housing’ is available for students – but only with the approval of an Owner. Please do not ask for them to be living on their own in an apartment or house – as the answer will be no.- Automatic Rejection.

5). Due to the current game time, Richmond High RPG is no longer accepting Exchange Students into the game.. - Automatic Rejection for multiple exchange students.

6). Characters can not be all powerful, or come from all powerful families. Please – we do not want to see anymore Children that have parents who are Movie Stars, Famous Authors, Models etc – which also means that students may not be Movie Stars, Models, Singers etc. They can aspire to be, but they are not World Famous. We will also not accept any character that is in any way connected with royalty or the mafia. (Unless otherwise stated in their bios – which will have been approved by the owners of the game) Those wishing to have anything of this nature must request approval from the Mods before submitting their bio.- Automatic Rejection.

7).When creating a character you must seek the approval of the players of other characters before making them friends. You can not assume that they will fit into that social circle. It is advised that friendships are developed with game-play. - Automatic Rejection if approval has not been given - we will check with current players.

8). Male to Female Ratio – Keep in mind that it is very difficult to keep the number of male students up in any RPG (High School or otherwise) If we the owners feel that you have too many female characters, and you try to submit another one – then the profile will be rejected – regardless of quality. (Anyone with less than a 3:1 ratio will NOT be permitted to submit or request another female character. To Play 4-6 female characters you should have at LEAST two male characters that you actively play). - Automatic Rejection.

9). Last but not least – Detail, Detail, Detail. Only fully detailed bio’s will be approved by the owners of Richmond High. When we ask for at least one paragraph to be written, we mean at the very least. Remember a paragraph consists of at least 5 sentences, nothing less.- Automatic Rejection for not adhering to the Character Creation Sheet Guidelines.

10).- Though Richmond High does not have a strict policy on character limits, we do reserve the right to reject profile submissions if we feel that you are playing too many characters. By this, we are trying to prevent any one player from becoming 'too powerful' within the game. Whether intentional or not, a player with a large number of characters has the ability to manipulate storyline in their favor and could impact the overall enjoyment of the game for other players.

-ON POSTING-

1 - You may not control another player's character. If you are working on a scene and need input from another player, such as dialog, please email them privately OFF the list and then post the completed scene to the list when finished. This is commonly referred to as a 'Joint Post'. This will not only prevent a player from controlling characters that do not belong to him/her and will help when there are those back-and-forth dialogue scenes. It is much nicer to see an entire conversation in a post than various sentences in various posts, though you are not obligated to create 'Joint Posts' in this situation.

2 - 'One-liners' are not acceptable posts. All players are expected to post a minimum of three paragraphs every time they post to the RPG Board. Remember that, even if your character does not have anything specific to say which thus warrants the 'one-line' possibility, the character still has thoughts and emotions or actions that he/she can do.

3 - Your characters do not possess psychic abilities. They cannot tell what the other characters in a post are thinking. Be careful when responding, because when you use your 'psychic abilities' when you post, people become annoyed, and then often don't feel like giving you a very descriptive response. New characters to the game (Characters that are new to the school) need to be especially aware of this. You do not know what is past at Richmond High, and you do not know all the other students. The only way to find out, is for your character to ask questions.

4 - Your character can not be in two places at once. If you are currently in a thread at the School Cafeteria during lunch, you can't also be in a thread at Othello's at the same time. Though we all wish that we could have the ability to be in more than one place at one time, we don't, so please try to be aware of this.

5 - Please don't have your characters talk about your other characters all the time. It's annoying to be quite honest. It may not be the most terrible rule to break - but it does make it appear as if the entire game must revolve around your characters. In some situations - it is necessary (Your characters are siblings/friends/ex's) But we as owners have seen many a player do this, even if neither character should know each other.

6 - All players are expected to try and match the length of the post the written by the person you are posting to. We're not expecting it to be paragraph for paragraph, but if you want to respond to a  post that is long and detailed, then it is hoped that your reply would be  the same.

-GENERAL POSTING GUIDLINES-

STYLE -

Posts should be written in third person, past tense. Think of a novel. Write in such a style for this game is basically a novel written by many people, each one adding a part of the chapter. For example, if the player writes such as this: 'I was walking down the street and I stopped to look at the store…', then the player is using first person. Just the same as if you were to say: "I walk towards the shop. I stop and go in." This is using both first person, and present tense. That is not acceptable. The proper way of writing would be: 'He was walking down the street and stopped to look at the store.' Third person, and past tense. Such is the style your post should have.

Every post should have a single space separating paragraphs and dialogues from different characters, which means, always hit 'enter' once when changing paragraphs. It will make the reading a lot easier than having to read everything non-stop. This also means, be careful with the commas and other punctuation. But I hardly need to refer that.

Also, when writing a post, make sure you check your grammar. It makes it easier for the player to read the posts and you can find a grammar checkers around, some even in your e-mail server. Occasional grammatical mistakes cannot be avoided, of course, but one thing is to have a misspelled word in a post, the other is have a post of misspelled words.

You are required to at least post twice a week. I understand that you don't eat and breathe Internet everyday and you will be occupied with other things but try to post at least twice a week to keep the story moving. If by any chance you are incapable of following the minimum frequency for any reason, warn the moderator(s). In this case, the other player(s) with whom you are interacting can choose to move forward.

If, in this case, you come back to find the story has changed, moved forward or even ended within the time you were gone (or in between the times you were able to check your mail and respond), the thread can still be continued as a backpost.

SUBJECT LINE -

Every post you send to the list should have at least the following in the subject line: day of the week, period (AM/PM), where the character is, and the character(s) involved. If you want a particular character to reply to your post, you should write so in the subject line, as some people don't have the time to read every single message every time, and might miss your post. To do that, simply add 'attn' and the name of the character. An example of a correct subject line would be: Mon AM – Kat, attn - Josh. You can also put attn - anyone.

All OOC (Out Of Character Messages) Should be sent to the OOC board. Please do not write OOC's to the group list. When writing an OOC to the OOC Board - please do not reply to other posts with irrelevent information. If you have something to say - send it with a new subject line.

BACKPOSTS -

If there is a time change and you didn't finish the current thread, you can continue it as a backpost. Backposts should be tied up as quickly as possible. They are there to allow you to not cut a thread off, or to get through an important scene. They are not there for you to have your characters all over the place. The subject line should state: BACKPOST or BP.

Example: BP: Monday AM - The Commons– Kat & Josh

Backposts are there strictly for the purpose of wrapping up a thread. Do not start new storylines with them. Finish as quickly as you can without damaging any possible storyline. If need be - find an excuse to leave. Owners will be noting backposts, and calling people up for abusing the use of them.

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If you have any questions, email the moderator(s). All questions must be directed to the moderators of the game, and not to the players. They (The mods) are the only ones who can give you an accurate response. All players should refer any new players questions to a mod. This includes when it comes to character creation.


NOTE: These rules will be posted on the FILES section of the Richmond High Yahoo! Group under the folder Game Files. If at any moment you need to re-read them or understand why you received a warning, or make sure that you are proceeding correctly, you can read the rules at this location. If you still have any questions you need answered, please e-mail the moderator(s). You will find a list of moderators and how to contact them in the database section of the Yahoo! site.