Post by Gardevoir Master on Jun 13, 2006 10:12:17 GMT -8
WELCOME, ONE AND ALL, TO POKÉMON: SPECIAL OPERATIONS!
Yes, yes. Welcome to PokéOps, the Pokémon RP that puts the power in the hands of you, the player. Major decisions, like player banning and rules changes, are handled democratically and decided by all the players of Pokémon: Special Operations. The administration is here purely to carry out the will of the people. Glory to the Proletariat!
You don't have to play if you don't want to. You can join simply to chat with the players. If you are here to chat or advertise, then please refrain from posting in The World area. The Cable Club should be capable of handling all your socializing needs. If it isn't, just let me know and I'll see what I can do. You only need to create a character if you are playing.
If you are here to play, head on over to the Characters section and write up a Character Sheet. Please be sure to follow the guidelines and follow the rules of the game. Your character can be anything you want, from a mere Pokémon trainer, to a member of Team Rocket, a wild Pokémon, a Police Officer, anything. Well, within reason. We can't allow god-moding, after all.
So... Whatever you're here to do, have fun and enjoy your PokéOps experience. At least, until you're banned for spamming and god-moding. ^_^ Kidding, kidding! Just fooling around. *Death glare*
Credit for the basis of this game goes to Dreadite of the newsgroup alt.games.nintendo.Pok?mon, for this game is based on his PokéWars! FAQ. PokéWars!, ostensibly, is based on Otaku Wars, which used to run in alt.fan.sailor-moon. Both are "interactive fan-fiction," which, as far as I'm concerned, is just a fancy term meaning, "an RPG (role-playing game) where the goal is to interact with other players rather than trying to defeat them." PokéOps is such a game, so let’s all get along and pretend we're Pokémon Trainers. ^_^
If you think you need more guidance than these rules can provide feel free to ask questions. You can send a PM to me or other staff members, and there’s also the Guest Discussion forum and the Shoutbox at the bottom of every page if you prefer to be less discrete.
How to Create a PokéOps Character
Are you ready to join the exciting world of PokéOps? Yeah, like I care. First thing you need to do is go to the Characters section. This is where we will be keeping all the character sheets. You may have up to four characters, and they all must be posted in the same thread. If you have four and you want to make another character, you must first retire an existing character. This involves a formal declaration and the role-playing of your character leaving play in some way. This can involve dieing, finding a nice play to settle down and retire, or simply wandering off, never to be seen again.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. A Character Sheet should detail all the necessary information other people need to know about your character. Below is what I believe to be the least amount of necessary information for a basic, no-frills human character. If there is more to your character than is asked for, like if they're a non-human entity or if they have superhuman powers or unique training methods or unique tools, be sure to include that as well. Once you start playing with your character, their Character Sheet is binding. In other words, if it's not in their character sheet, that character doesn't have it. The only legal way to add things to a Character Sheet once you've started playing that character is to show that character earning, learning, discovering or otherwise acquiring the new thing. I don't want to see you suddenly declare, "Oh, by the way, I'm god and I can do this and this and this," just out of the blue without having written how this happened. An extreme example, but I hope you got the point.
Name: You gotta be somebody, right?
Appearance: What your character looks like
Personality: What your character is like, as a person
Objectives: What your character's goals are
Bio: What your character was up to before appearing in the game
Pokémon: What Pokémon your character has. Each should probably have the following information:
Species (Name): Which Pokémon it is (and it's name, if it has one)
Gender: Male, Female, Non-Binary (may depend on Pokémon's species)
Nature: One word to describe the Pokémon's personality
Ability: A passive effect triggered by certain conditions (depends on species)
Moves: The techniques this Pokémon knows, preferably the top four most used or important ones.
Held Item: The item it is holding, if anything.
Your character may have up to six Pokémon on it's belt, but it may have as many as it can catch in storage. Each Pokémon should know up to about four moves, but that's merely a suggestion. It may know several more techniques, but don't go crazy. It shouldn't know every possible attack, or know techniques it obviously can't learn.
While you can only have up to four characters in your thread, you can create any number of minor non-player characters (NPCs) without creating a Character Sheet for them. When I say minor, I mean minor. Any character your character interacts with for a brief period of time, like a taxi driver, a gym leader, or a wild Pokémon, does not need a full-fledged character sheet. Or a partially-fledged one, for that matter. An NPC is generally used for one area or event. If you're going to be using this character regularly and in important capacities, you might want to consider giving it a Character Sheet.
Restrictions:
Your character can not be an important character from the show or video games. This means Ash, Gary, Misty, Brock, Lillie, Hau, Gladion, Jessie, James, their Meowth, Professors Oak, Sycamore, Kukui, any existing Gym Leader, Champion, or member of any Elite Four, any evil Team leader, or any other character of major importance to the story of the video games or show. You can be somehow related to them, but you can't directly contradict anything from the games or show.
Speaking of contradicting the games or show, the Kanto Gym Leaders will be the same ones from Let’s Go: Pikachu and Let’s Go: Eevee. That means Brock in Pewter, Misty in Cerulean, Surge in Vermilion, Erika in Celedon, Sabrina in Saffron, Koga in Fuscia, Blaine in Cinnabar, and Giovanni in Viridian. Brock (as gym leader) may be substituted by his father, Flint (you remember that episode, right?). Similarly, Misty may be substituted with her sisters and Clemont by Clem-bot. Team Rocket is still lurking in the shadows, but they don't have much presence outside of Kanto and Johto. Instead of the Elite Four challenge, there will be an annual tournament in whichever regions have players to participate in them. The Elite Four will still exist, of course, but they have to participate in the tournaments just like we do.
Your Pokémon can not be of a Legendary or Mythical species, or be Totems. This includes Zapdos, Moltres, Articuno, Mewtwo, Mew, Raikou, Suicune, Entei, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Registeel, Regirock, Regice, Regigigas, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Latias, Latios, Jirachi, Deoxys, Uxie, Azelf, Mesprit, Dialga, Palkia, Manaphy, Phione, Shaymin, Darkrai, Cresselia, Heatran, Cobalion, Virizion, Terrakion, Keldeo, Victini, Tornadus, Thundurus, Landorus, Zekrom, Reshiram, Kyurem, Meloetta, Genesect, Diancie, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde (including cells and cores), Hoopa, Volcanion, Magearna, Type: Null, Sylvally, Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini, Tapu Bulu, Cosmog, Cosmoem, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, Marshadow, Zeraora, Ash-Greninja, Meltan, and Arceus. It can be Arcanine, which I only mention because it's apparently also known as "The Legendary Pokémon." (look it up if you don't believe me) These beings are rare, too rare to be on just any trainer's team. Granted, there is evidence that there may be more than one of these beings in existence, but that doesn't mean any of you are worthy to possess one. Not even I am worthy, and I'm writing these rules!
These Pokémon CANNOT be captured, cannot be your trainer, cannot be cloned or killed, you cannot get their babies... well, you get the idea. You can write about them in your stories, of course, but they're unique. This rule applies for all the characters in PokéOps. For example, Celedon City Gym Leader Erika can't have Celebi as a pet.
Ultra-Beasts are similarly restricted. They may be common in Ultra Space, but not in the Pokémon world. You may only catch Ultra Beasts in Ultra Space, which is already nearly impossible to get into. Any Ultra Beasts caught outside of Ultra Space will be immediately confiscated by Interpol. It is also illegal to sell, breed, or trade for Ultra Beasts.
Mega Stones aren’t as restricted. However, they are difficult to find and expensive to buy. As such, your character is unlikely to have more than one, if any. In the event your character acquires more than one, you may only equip one of them to their Pokémon. (Only one may activate per battle, anyway)
Notice that I failed to mention Missingno.. This does not indicate it is a Pokémon available for capture. It's not on the list because it's simply not a Pokémon. It is a video game glitch and, if it is to appear at all, should be treated a rip in the space-time continuum and a serious threat to all existence.
This brings me to the second restriction on Pokémon: You cannot create new ones. C'mon, people! You have over eight hundred to choose from. That's practically one Pokémon for every day for about two years and two and a half months! You don't need to make more Pokémon. Let the good folks at Game Freak handle that. Just take what they've given you, say "Thank you, kind sirs," and make the best of it.
This means you also cannot hybridize Pokémon. While you can breed two Pokémon of different species, the offspring will usually be the same species as the mother. (Some exceptions apply, but only when dealing with logical pairings of male-only and female-only species) There can be cosmetic, behavioral, and technique differences, but that's about it. You can create a being that is part Pokémon and part some other creature, like a minoTauros (half Tauros, half human), but they don't count as real Pokémon. They can use Pokémon techniques and abilities, but they are not Pokémon. They cannot be successfully captured or stored in PokéBalls (not without ripping them apart at the genetic level, at least, which is often fatal) and the Pokémon League will ban them from tournament use. They can be trainers and coordinators and whatnot, but not Pokémon.
An exception to this is Bond Phenomena. While Ash-Greninja is banned, Battle Bond is not, nor is it limited to Greninja. A Pokémon that has been raised with utmost trust and love, has been pushed to its limit, and evolves to its final stage mid-battle may have the Battle Bond ability instead of any ability it’s supposed to have. When they use this ability, they become a “<Trainer Name>-<Pokémon Name>.” For instance, if Joey has a Raticate with Battle Bond, it can become a “Joey-Raticate.” Visually, the Battle Bond form is mostly a recolor of the normal form that matches their trainer, plus a symbol made of Type-energy on their back. Their power levels rival a Mega Evolution’s, and until mastered will completely exhaust both trainer and Pokémon is short order. Battle Bond will not work for another trainer. Each character is allowed one Battle Bond Pokémon, and it may not use a Mega Stone as doing both at once is too dangerous.
Which reminds me of our next character restriction: No super-powerful, omnipotent, or know-it-all characters, Pokémon, or equipment. The most powerful Pokémon are Mew, Mewtwo, Deoxys, and Arceus, and the most powerful human psychic is Saffron City Gym Leader Sabrina. If you are even CLOSE to matching their level of power, you're too powerful and I must kill you for the sake of humanity. Well, okay, I won't kill you, but disciplinary action may be taken, and I hate being forced to perform disciplinary action.
Conduct
There are rules to this game and there is a code of conduct on this board. Defying any of them will get you in trouble. Some rules have already be outlined above and elsewhere on this board, but I think it's a good idea to expand a bit further.
The PokéOps board is a public area and, considering that the subject is Pokémon, it stands to reason that there may be children present. We will expect you to act as though you were in such an area. This means you should keep your RPs, behavior and language PG, PG-13 at most. I believe that would be TV-14 for television ratings and, I guess, E according to the ESRB video-game-rating scale. Avoid being pornographic, keep swearing to a minimum, and don't use graphic levels of gore and violence. Let's try to remain family-friendly, shall we? (And be sure to call me out when I do this. I once wrote a character app so saucy it almost got an entire forum deleted. I’m not even joking.)
Try to get along with everyone else. The idea is to interact and have fun. If you want to go off on your own and write solo stories while ignoring everyone else, I suggest going to FanFiction.net or MediaMiner.org. Remember when I mentioned this was an "interactive fan-fiction" game? If you're not going to interact, why are you even here? If you want to chat and post your solo fanfics, I believe there's room somewhere in the Fan Gallery.
No god-moding. I already mentioned that you cannot have characters or gear that are omnipotent, invincible, and all-knowing, but you don't have to be a god to god-mode. This involves doing anything major to other people's characters without their permission - like killing them, moving them great distances, or stealing their stuff - or it can be something as simple as being undefeatable. You're not playing this game to win, remember. The game itself has no goals but the ones you choose to seek. Being undefeatable is no great challenge, and god-moding can just receive god-moding in return. Did you really just stab your opponent in the heart, or did she use Shadow-Clone Jutsu to distract you while she snuck up behind you?
God-moding has no real advantage, but it is a good way to tick people off. I suggest you try to avoid doing it. If you are in a battle situation, you might want to contact the other participants to see what their plans are. The board's private messaging system should be adequate, but you can always check for other means of contact if you deem it necessary. This can give you a better idea of how to proceed.
Also, be sure to give everyone a fair chance to respond. I've seen people charge through interactions in ways that leave others in the dust, and I've seen others take several days to respond. Both can really cheese people off. If you think someone is taking far too long, especially if they're playing a major role in the interaction, try to discuss this impediment with them. Try to understand their situation, or at least get permission, before leaving them behind.
Disciplinary Action
Back in PokéWars! and OtakuWars!, the worst others can do is ignore you if they don't like what you're doing. Well, I suppose there are worse things they can do, but I'm pretty sure those require access to you, your computer, or both. PokéOps, though, has an Administrator with full access to the board's functions. I can, and will, prevent you from posting if it is deemed necessary. Fortunately for you, I'm not in charge of that deeming.
If you break the rules, you will first be warned. If you are warned, it is your responsibility to fix the offense. This may involve deleting or editing posts, or writing another post that reverses the action you took in the offending one(s).
If you continue to break the rules too often, we will take action. A poll will be started concerning whether or not you will be banned from the board. If you're not voted off the board, you better thank your lucky stars and shape up. I cannot guarantee that you will be able to survive another poll. Losing this election will expel you from the board and the game permanently.
Nice things to do.
No one-liners. They suck.
Seriously, though. Don't post single-line posts, especially in the RP. Include as much detail as you can in the story. And if you want to add more to a thread and no one has posted in it since your last post for about a week, don't just reply to the thread again. Instead, hit the Edit button at the top of your post to edit it. The end result looks much better.
Use proper spelling and grammar. At the very least, I want you using capital letters and periods where necessary, and avoid chat-speak and unnecessary punctuation. None of this "LOL I M D GR8EST U ALL SUCK!!!!!!!" junk. Writing in narrative format is good, too, and you can use www.spellcheck.net if you have no other means of checking your spelling.
If you think you need more guidance than these rules can provide feel free to ask questions. You can send a PM to me or other staff members, and there’s also the Guest Discussion forum and the Shoutbox at the bottom of every page if you prefer to be less discrete.
Play as someone from the Pokémon World. Seems like a no-brainer, but there are people out there (myself included) who like to be "original" and bring in characters from other game worlds. This is fine, but isn't suggested since they don't really fit with the theme or world. If you want to play those sorts of characters, you should probably go to another board. Sure, it might be cool to have that giant super-robot or an intergalactic starship, but what use is it in Hoenn?
Don't use HTML or BB Code in your posts. Not the Story posts, at least. Trust me, it can get irritating. You can have some in your signature, but don't go overboard, and keep images to a respectable size.
Bathe every once in a while. Sure, we can't smell you, but it's a good habit to get into.
Post often. Especially in the The Story if you're playing. Things can get dull real quick if no one plays.
Have a sense of humor. If you can't take a joke, get out of the kitchen. Or something like that. What I mean is, don't take everything so seriously. It's only a game, after all.
Well, that's all I have to say. I'll see you at the Plateau.
-- Chet Weaver, a.k.a. Gardevoir Master
Yes, yes. Welcome to PokéOps, the Pokémon RP that puts the power in the hands of you, the player. Major decisions, like player banning and rules changes, are handled democratically and decided by all the players of Pokémon: Special Operations. The administration is here purely to carry out the will of the people. Glory to the Proletariat!
You don't have to play if you don't want to. You can join simply to chat with the players. If you are here to chat or advertise, then please refrain from posting in The World area. The Cable Club should be capable of handling all your socializing needs. If it isn't, just let me know and I'll see what I can do. You only need to create a character if you are playing.
If you are here to play, head on over to the Characters section and write up a Character Sheet. Please be sure to follow the guidelines and follow the rules of the game. Your character can be anything you want, from a mere Pokémon trainer, to a member of Team Rocket, a wild Pokémon, a Police Officer, anything. Well, within reason. We can't allow god-moding, after all.
So... Whatever you're here to do, have fun and enjoy your PokéOps experience. At least, until you're banned for spamming and god-moding. ^_^ Kidding, kidding! Just fooling around. *Death glare*
Credit for the basis of this game goes to Dreadite of the newsgroup alt.games.nintendo.Pok?mon, for this game is based on his PokéWars! FAQ. PokéWars!, ostensibly, is based on Otaku Wars, which used to run in alt.fan.sailor-moon. Both are "interactive fan-fiction," which, as far as I'm concerned, is just a fancy term meaning, "an RPG (role-playing game) where the goal is to interact with other players rather than trying to defeat them." PokéOps is such a game, so let’s all get along and pretend we're Pokémon Trainers. ^_^
If you think you need more guidance than these rules can provide feel free to ask questions. You can send a PM to me or other staff members, and there’s also the Guest Discussion forum and the Shoutbox at the bottom of every page if you prefer to be less discrete.
How to Create a PokéOps Character
Are you ready to join the exciting world of PokéOps? Yeah, like I care. First thing you need to do is go to the Characters section. This is where we will be keeping all the character sheets. You may have up to four characters, and they all must be posted in the same thread. If you have four and you want to make another character, you must first retire an existing character. This involves a formal declaration and the role-playing of your character leaving play in some way. This can involve dieing, finding a nice play to settle down and retire, or simply wandering off, never to be seen again.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. A Character Sheet should detail all the necessary information other people need to know about your character. Below is what I believe to be the least amount of necessary information for a basic, no-frills human character. If there is more to your character than is asked for, like if they're a non-human entity or if they have superhuman powers or unique training methods or unique tools, be sure to include that as well. Once you start playing with your character, their Character Sheet is binding. In other words, if it's not in their character sheet, that character doesn't have it. The only legal way to add things to a Character Sheet once you've started playing that character is to show that character earning, learning, discovering or otherwise acquiring the new thing. I don't want to see you suddenly declare, "Oh, by the way, I'm god and I can do this and this and this," just out of the blue without having written how this happened. An extreme example, but I hope you got the point.
Name: You gotta be somebody, right?
Appearance: What your character looks like
Personality: What your character is like, as a person
Objectives: What your character's goals are
Bio: What your character was up to before appearing in the game
Pokémon: What Pokémon your character has. Each should probably have the following information:
Species (Name): Which Pokémon it is (and it's name, if it has one)
Gender: Male, Female, Non-Binary (may depend on Pokémon's species)
Nature: One word to describe the Pokémon's personality
Ability: A passive effect triggered by certain conditions (depends on species)
Moves: The techniques this Pokémon knows, preferably the top four most used or important ones.
Held Item: The item it is holding, if anything.
Your character may have up to six Pokémon on it's belt, but it may have as many as it can catch in storage. Each Pokémon should know up to about four moves, but that's merely a suggestion. It may know several more techniques, but don't go crazy. It shouldn't know every possible attack, or know techniques it obviously can't learn.
While you can only have up to four characters in your thread, you can create any number of minor non-player characters (NPCs) without creating a Character Sheet for them. When I say minor, I mean minor. Any character your character interacts with for a brief period of time, like a taxi driver, a gym leader, or a wild Pokémon, does not need a full-fledged character sheet. Or a partially-fledged one, for that matter. An NPC is generally used for one area or event. If you're going to be using this character regularly and in important capacities, you might want to consider giving it a Character Sheet.
Restrictions:
Your character can not be an important character from the show or video games. This means Ash, Gary, Misty, Brock, Lillie, Hau, Gladion, Jessie, James, their Meowth, Professors Oak, Sycamore, Kukui, any existing Gym Leader, Champion, or member of any Elite Four, any evil Team leader, or any other character of major importance to the story of the video games or show. You can be somehow related to them, but you can't directly contradict anything from the games or show.
Speaking of contradicting the games or show, the Kanto Gym Leaders will be the same ones from Let’s Go: Pikachu and Let’s Go: Eevee. That means Brock in Pewter, Misty in Cerulean, Surge in Vermilion, Erika in Celedon, Sabrina in Saffron, Koga in Fuscia, Blaine in Cinnabar, and Giovanni in Viridian. Brock (as gym leader) may be substituted by his father, Flint (you remember that episode, right?). Similarly, Misty may be substituted with her sisters and Clemont by Clem-bot. Team Rocket is still lurking in the shadows, but they don't have much presence outside of Kanto and Johto. Instead of the Elite Four challenge, there will be an annual tournament in whichever regions have players to participate in them. The Elite Four will still exist, of course, but they have to participate in the tournaments just like we do.
Your Pokémon can not be of a Legendary or Mythical species, or be Totems. This includes Zapdos, Moltres, Articuno, Mewtwo, Mew, Raikou, Suicune, Entei, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Registeel, Regirock, Regice, Regigigas, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Latias, Latios, Jirachi, Deoxys, Uxie, Azelf, Mesprit, Dialga, Palkia, Manaphy, Phione, Shaymin, Darkrai, Cresselia, Heatran, Cobalion, Virizion, Terrakion, Keldeo, Victini, Tornadus, Thundurus, Landorus, Zekrom, Reshiram, Kyurem, Meloetta, Genesect, Diancie, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde (including cells and cores), Hoopa, Volcanion, Magearna, Type: Null, Sylvally, Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini, Tapu Bulu, Cosmog, Cosmoem, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, Marshadow, Zeraora, Ash-Greninja, Meltan, and Arceus. It can be Arcanine, which I only mention because it's apparently also known as "The Legendary Pokémon." (look it up if you don't believe me) These beings are rare, too rare to be on just any trainer's team. Granted, there is evidence that there may be more than one of these beings in existence, but that doesn't mean any of you are worthy to possess one. Not even I am worthy, and I'm writing these rules!
These Pokémon CANNOT be captured, cannot be your trainer, cannot be cloned or killed, you cannot get their babies... well, you get the idea. You can write about them in your stories, of course, but they're unique. This rule applies for all the characters in PokéOps. For example, Celedon City Gym Leader Erika can't have Celebi as a pet.
Ultra-Beasts are similarly restricted. They may be common in Ultra Space, but not in the Pokémon world. You may only catch Ultra Beasts in Ultra Space, which is already nearly impossible to get into. Any Ultra Beasts caught outside of Ultra Space will be immediately confiscated by Interpol. It is also illegal to sell, breed, or trade for Ultra Beasts.
Mega Stones aren’t as restricted. However, they are difficult to find and expensive to buy. As such, your character is unlikely to have more than one, if any. In the event your character acquires more than one, you may only equip one of them to their Pokémon. (Only one may activate per battle, anyway)
Notice that I failed to mention Missingno.. This does not indicate it is a Pokémon available for capture. It's not on the list because it's simply not a Pokémon. It is a video game glitch and, if it is to appear at all, should be treated a rip in the space-time continuum and a serious threat to all existence.
This brings me to the second restriction on Pokémon: You cannot create new ones. C'mon, people! You have over eight hundred to choose from. That's practically one Pokémon for every day for about two years and two and a half months! You don't need to make more Pokémon. Let the good folks at Game Freak handle that. Just take what they've given you, say "Thank you, kind sirs," and make the best of it.
This means you also cannot hybridize Pokémon. While you can breed two Pokémon of different species, the offspring will usually be the same species as the mother. (Some exceptions apply, but only when dealing with logical pairings of male-only and female-only species) There can be cosmetic, behavioral, and technique differences, but that's about it. You can create a being that is part Pokémon and part some other creature, like a minoTauros (half Tauros, half human), but they don't count as real Pokémon. They can use Pokémon techniques and abilities, but they are not Pokémon. They cannot be successfully captured or stored in PokéBalls (not without ripping them apart at the genetic level, at least, which is often fatal) and the Pokémon League will ban them from tournament use. They can be trainers and coordinators and whatnot, but not Pokémon.
An exception to this is Bond Phenomena. While Ash-Greninja is banned, Battle Bond is not, nor is it limited to Greninja. A Pokémon that has been raised with utmost trust and love, has been pushed to its limit, and evolves to its final stage mid-battle may have the Battle Bond ability instead of any ability it’s supposed to have. When they use this ability, they become a “<Trainer Name>-<Pokémon Name>.” For instance, if Joey has a Raticate with Battle Bond, it can become a “Joey-Raticate.” Visually, the Battle Bond form is mostly a recolor of the normal form that matches their trainer, plus a symbol made of Type-energy on their back. Their power levels rival a Mega Evolution’s, and until mastered will completely exhaust both trainer and Pokémon is short order. Battle Bond will not work for another trainer. Each character is allowed one Battle Bond Pokémon, and it may not use a Mega Stone as doing both at once is too dangerous.
Which reminds me of our next character restriction: No super-powerful, omnipotent, or know-it-all characters, Pokémon, or equipment. The most powerful Pokémon are Mew, Mewtwo, Deoxys, and Arceus, and the most powerful human psychic is Saffron City Gym Leader Sabrina. If you are even CLOSE to matching their level of power, you're too powerful and I must kill you for the sake of humanity. Well, okay, I won't kill you, but disciplinary action may be taken, and I hate being forced to perform disciplinary action.
Conduct
There are rules to this game and there is a code of conduct on this board. Defying any of them will get you in trouble. Some rules have already be outlined above and elsewhere on this board, but I think it's a good idea to expand a bit further.
The PokéOps board is a public area and, considering that the subject is Pokémon, it stands to reason that there may be children present. We will expect you to act as though you were in such an area. This means you should keep your RPs, behavior and language PG, PG-13 at most. I believe that would be TV-14 for television ratings and, I guess, E according to the ESRB video-game-rating scale. Avoid being pornographic, keep swearing to a minimum, and don't use graphic levels of gore and violence. Let's try to remain family-friendly, shall we? (And be sure to call me out when I do this. I once wrote a character app so saucy it almost got an entire forum deleted. I’m not even joking.)
Try to get along with everyone else. The idea is to interact and have fun. If you want to go off on your own and write solo stories while ignoring everyone else, I suggest going to FanFiction.net or MediaMiner.org. Remember when I mentioned this was an "interactive fan-fiction" game? If you're not going to interact, why are you even here? If you want to chat and post your solo fanfics, I believe there's room somewhere in the Fan Gallery.
No god-moding. I already mentioned that you cannot have characters or gear that are omnipotent, invincible, and all-knowing, but you don't have to be a god to god-mode. This involves doing anything major to other people's characters without their permission - like killing them, moving them great distances, or stealing their stuff - or it can be something as simple as being undefeatable. You're not playing this game to win, remember. The game itself has no goals but the ones you choose to seek. Being undefeatable is no great challenge, and god-moding can just receive god-moding in return. Did you really just stab your opponent in the heart, or did she use Shadow-Clone Jutsu to distract you while she snuck up behind you?
God-moding has no real advantage, but it is a good way to tick people off. I suggest you try to avoid doing it. If you are in a battle situation, you might want to contact the other participants to see what their plans are. The board's private messaging system should be adequate, but you can always check for other means of contact if you deem it necessary. This can give you a better idea of how to proceed.
Also, be sure to give everyone a fair chance to respond. I've seen people charge through interactions in ways that leave others in the dust, and I've seen others take several days to respond. Both can really cheese people off. If you think someone is taking far too long, especially if they're playing a major role in the interaction, try to discuss this impediment with them. Try to understand their situation, or at least get permission, before leaving them behind.
Disciplinary Action
Back in PokéWars! and OtakuWars!, the worst others can do is ignore you if they don't like what you're doing. Well, I suppose there are worse things they can do, but I'm pretty sure those require access to you, your computer, or both. PokéOps, though, has an Administrator with full access to the board's functions. I can, and will, prevent you from posting if it is deemed necessary. Fortunately for you, I'm not in charge of that deeming.
If you break the rules, you will first be warned. If you are warned, it is your responsibility to fix the offense. This may involve deleting or editing posts, or writing another post that reverses the action you took in the offending one(s).
If you continue to break the rules too often, we will take action. A poll will be started concerning whether or not you will be banned from the board. If you're not voted off the board, you better thank your lucky stars and shape up. I cannot guarantee that you will be able to survive another poll. Losing this election will expel you from the board and the game permanently.
Nice things to do.
No one-liners. They suck.
Seriously, though. Don't post single-line posts, especially in the RP. Include as much detail as you can in the story. And if you want to add more to a thread and no one has posted in it since your last post for about a week, don't just reply to the thread again. Instead, hit the Edit button at the top of your post to edit it. The end result looks much better.
Use proper spelling and grammar. At the very least, I want you using capital letters and periods where necessary, and avoid chat-speak and unnecessary punctuation. None of this "LOL I M D GR8EST U ALL SUCK!!!!!!!" junk. Writing in narrative format is good, too, and you can use www.spellcheck.net if you have no other means of checking your spelling.
If you think you need more guidance than these rules can provide feel free to ask questions. You can send a PM to me or other staff members, and there’s also the Guest Discussion forum and the Shoutbox at the bottom of every page if you prefer to be less discrete.
Play as someone from the Pokémon World. Seems like a no-brainer, but there are people out there (myself included) who like to be "original" and bring in characters from other game worlds. This is fine, but isn't suggested since they don't really fit with the theme or world. If you want to play those sorts of characters, you should probably go to another board. Sure, it might be cool to have that giant super-robot or an intergalactic starship, but what use is it in Hoenn?
Don't use HTML or BB Code in your posts. Not the Story posts, at least. Trust me, it can get irritating. You can have some in your signature, but don't go overboard, and keep images to a respectable size.
Bathe every once in a while. Sure, we can't smell you, but it's a good habit to get into.
Post often. Especially in the The Story if you're playing. Things can get dull real quick if no one plays.
Have a sense of humor. If you can't take a joke, get out of the kitchen. Or something like that. What I mean is, don't take everything so seriously. It's only a game, after all.
Well, that's all I have to say. I'll see you at the Plateau.
-- Chet Weaver, a.k.a. Gardevoir Master