The Gamemakers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gamemakers) wrote2012-02-25 12:27 am
gamemakers) wrote2012-02-25 12:27 am
➳ applications [open] ┈┈・
Our Policies.
➳All applications will remained screened until accepted.
➳If your application is accepted, your application will be unscreened so prospective players can get an idea of what the mods are looking for in an application. We highly encourage all prospective players to browse through the accepted apps. Some examples of what we're looking for:
A hero
An obscure character
An OC
A Panem AU
➳ONLY accepted applications will be unscreened.
➳Please, DO NOT link us to your application; we prefer you post the full app in this page's comments. Multiple comments if you must. Thank you!
➳Applications will be judged on a first come, first served basis. However, the mods reserve the right to prioritize the acceptance of later-submitted completed applications over incomplete applications or applications needing revisions.
➳Offworlder applications must have a reserve. No exceptions. Offworlder reserves are currently OPEN.
The following includes all information we are looking to see from applicants. Please refer to this when filling out your application. We will ask for revisions if anything is missing.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
OUT of CHARACTER
Name: Your name
Other characters: Any other characters you play here?
IN CHARACTER
Name: Character's name
Alias: Character's alias(es) if applicable
Fandom: Fandom of origin
Canon point/AU: Where in their story you plan to take them from?
**If you are apping a canon Hunger Games Character your canon point is automatically set to just after the 74th Annual Hunger Games.
Journal:
userPB: Play-by. The actor or character you are using in icons.
Age: Your character's apparent, physical, spiritual, and/or mental age(s). Just put all that apply.
History: Links are preferred, however if you are apping an OC or AU, or the character doesn't have much history, feel free to elaborate on their world and life.
Presentation: What's the outside like? Their personality? How do they present themselves to the world? This section, along with motivation, should be the meat and potatoes of your app, with at least 2-3 paragraphs.
Motivations: And what's going on on the inside?
SETTING
Shuffle Information: The Game's system of war works based on a shuffle. This means that your offworld character may be changed over several times over the course of the war, from the Capitol's side to the Rebellion's. Remember that all new offworlders will start on the Capitol's side. Your character should have a reason to work for both.
For the sake of being thorough, we further ask that Panem AUs also provide this information in case of any future decisions on the player's part. Panem AUs will start on whatever side they are apped to.
Rebellion Role: How will they work in the war? A propoganda icon? A soldier? A nurse?
Rebellion Motivations: Give at least one reason your character would serve the Rebellion. This could involve being forced, brainwashed, blackmailed, and so on if you wish.
Capitol Role: How will they work in the war? A propoganda icon? A soldier? A nurse?
Capitol Motivations: Give at least one reason your character would serve the Capitol. This could involve being forced, brainwashed, blackmailed, and so on if you wish.
Preferred side: Is there something that would be preferred ICly or OOCly? Note that while those Rebebllion preferring will continue being shuffled, those who prefer the Capitol may stay on the side of the Capitol.
SAMPLES
First Person Thread: An example of a first person post, at least 200 words minimum. Feel free to use introspection and scene setting if your character is not chatty. Please use one of the two following prompts:
For Offworlders: After your first death in battle, you have been chosen to serve as propoganda for the Rebellion or the Capitol. It was violent, messy, and unexpected and just as suddenly, people are asking for you to be their voice.
All you have to do is talk into the device you've been provided to record your feelings and leave your mark in the war. It is quite clear you won't be left alone until you make that recording. Let everyone see what this war really means, they say.
All of Panem is watching.
For Panem OCs and AUs: Most of those from the Capitol have been kept in the Dark about the war. As much as can be, anyway, with those propos going. Now, you've been chosen to do one of them yourself. Unlike the offworlders, this place is your world. It may just be might just be your home that soldiers choose to take the fight next.
You've been given the chance to make your feelings and leave your mark in the war. More than anything, it's your chance to try and halt rebels or inspire them further. What of your home? Why should any of the soldiers listen to you? Saying one thing or another may very well lead you into a trap.
The camera is rolling. All of Panem is watching.
Prose: 200 word minimum. To mimic the style of the game, please write your third person sample based on the following prompt:
A bomb has just gone off in the middle of the battlefield. You're blown back by the blast but when you manage to get up, you find you were one of the lucky ones. People have been left dead and injured all around you, some of them Peacekeepers, some of them Districters, some offworlders, each could be on any given side.
You've still got your weapon-- even if it wasn't really a weapon before the bomb found you. It's broken, but the jagged edge of it could still bring about a painful death. You also know where the nearest make-shift hospital happens to be. That's not all though. You also happen to know the bomb that just went off will do so again. And so you've got a choice:
You can save yourself. You can be merciful. Or you can discard mercy all together and attempt to enact vengeance, removing the chance of a quick and painless death.
Your team watches from a distance, too far to do anything but wait and see what you'll do. Even the little things can make a difference in war. What sort of difference do you intend to make?
Additional information: Questions specifically for certain character types. Feel free to delete if it does not apply to your character type. Please answer all that do (For example, a past victor AU would answer both their question, and the past victory question)
Past victor: Please describe your character's Arena, and their relationship with the Capitol since.
Hunger Games AU and OC: What is your reasoning for the Capitol to drag your canon doppelganger into the war if they app in? What district is your character from? How do they feel about home?
Fifth or greater character: If this character is your fifth, sixth, or further character concurrently in the Games, including Disposable PCs in the count, please prove here that you have AC or are on track do do so by the next Activity Check (at least 150 credits for each character)
Blank Application Form.
For your convenience! Copy/paste as you need. Fill this out, then submit it in the comments! We hope to hear from you soon!
The Disposable PC mechanic is our way of trying to encourage people to populate the game with some pro-Capitol or one-shot PCs, since many upcoming plots will require at least a few. Capitol Disposables can be played continuously, while District Disposables can be played in one District Liberation for as long as that Liberation runs. ICly, this is anywhere from a day to two week, OOCly Liberations are active for a week with backdating. After the Liberation, the character may be killed or left behind to keep living in the District. The goal is to allow the players to have somewhat more control over the Capitol plots and/or make the District Liberations more lively, take some NPC duties off the mods, and create a more immersive Panem, without burdening the players with significant extra play duties.
The Disposable PC mechanic is such:
1. Players with at least one other active character in the game can app a Disposable PC, either pro-Capitol or as a one-shot District Disposable, under this mechanic. While 'active' obviously requires passing AC, the mods reserve the right to decline an app from a player who is 'inactive' in that they only pass AC by technicalities, have a strike on their record, or have a documented history of thread-dropping or holding up plots.
2. Capitol Disposable PCs must be pro-Capitol. District Disposables do no have to be pro-Capitol but should make sense for their respective District. For example, someone from the strongly pro-Capitol District 2 should be aware they're fighting on their own if they aren't pro-Capitol.
3. Disposable PCs do not earn credits for the people tagging them or for themselves. Capitol Disposable PCs earn AC by doing at least one open post per AC cycle (so about one every two months) and simply commenting to mid-cycle check-ins to show they are still present in the game. You can also tag around with them. The goal is to have them be a visible presence in the game but not a significant burden on the player’s time, as many players cited lack of time as a reason that they didn’t app a pro-Capitol PC.
District Disposables have no AC requirement as they do not last for a long period of time. You are allowed to backtag with District Disposables, but you may not start anything new with a District Disposable PC outside of their given District Liberation.
4. Disposable PCs can be OCs or Panem AUs.
5. Capitol Disposable PC apps will include a basic outline of what goal the player has for the character (prison? killed as a martyr? karma houdini?). That section of the app will be kept screened so the player and mods can surprise other players.
Appers of District Disposable PCs should be aware that the order and content of District visits is kept secret. Try to avoid detailing events that may contradict future mod posts (ie: having a hand in setting events, even ones depicted in the films or books, into motion as things may play out differently in the Games). Focus on the Character's personal story.
6. Capitol Disposable PCs cannot be Stylists or Escorts. They may be Mentors. They can be previously dropped Capitol characters so long as they no longer fill a Stylist or Escort role. You can drop a PC and turn them into a Disposable PC with mod consent. This does not require a separate application but does require a PM to the mods so everyone's on the same page.
8. If a Disposable PC is dropped, the player implicitly gives the mods permission to use that character in future plots for endgame.
Additionally, players who app Disposable PCs must be aware that the mods reserve the right to skip PC involvement in any given District Liberation if time becomes an issue nearing endgame, which may mean your District Disposable character goes un-used. We will look to see if there are alternate ways for them to be utilized but can't guarantee anything.
9. If a player enjoys playing their Disposable PC, they can upgrade them to an actual PC through a streamlined app process. To do so, please see the upgrades section of this page.
The following is a list of potential positions a Capitol Disposable PC can hold, but it is by no means exhaustive. If you have an idea not on this list, feel free to contact the mods or put in an app. The mods are going to be affirmatively trying to get non-Staff PCs more involved with the Offworlders.
- Former Sponsor
- Propoganda Director
- Restaurant owner/waiter/bartender for the Training Center Cafe
- Training Center Avox handler
- Training Center EMT or medical staff
- On-site counselor for Mentors
- Auditor
- Tech support, including for Offworlder info chips
- Offworlder interviewer (can also help co-write Panem Nightly)
- Paparazzi
- Certain ministers of Snow’s cabinet
- Stylist assistant
- Peacekeepers
- Muttation engineers (genetic engineers)
- Other scientists working in the Capitol
- Young Capitol children or fans (can interact in TYP and in parties)
- Party/Tower Decorators
And some examples for District Disposables:
- The family of a Mentor
- The family of one of the Arena NPCs
- An AU of another character you've been wanting to play
- A totally new OC
- A Hunger Games Canon Mentor (I.E. Enobaria)
The application looks like this:
OUT of CHARACTER
Name: Your name
Other characters: What other character(s) do you play here?
IN CHARACTER
Name: Character's name
Alias: Character's alias(es) if applicable
Fandom: Fandom of origin if AU
Journal: What's your character journal?
PB: Play-by. The actor or character you are using in icons.
Age: Your character's physical age.
History: Give us a paragraph or two about your character’s life in the Capitol.
Presentation: What's the outside like? Their personality? How do they present themselves to the world? This section, along with motivation, should be the meat and potatoes of your app, with about 2-3 paragraphs per section.
Motivations: And what's going on on the inside?
Plans (Capitol Disposables only): Please post this section of the app in a separate comment. What would you like to happen to your character in endgame? Execution, arrest, martyrdom, karma houdini? Let us know here. The mods will work with you to make this happen.
Allegiances (District Disposables only): What side is this character going to be on?
Please allow the mods at least one week to decide on your app before contacting us.
Disposable PCs may be upgraded to a full character. However, if a player wishes to to do this, they may resubmit their original application with the following additional sections:
Token: If your character were to be put in the Arena, what would their Token be?
Thread Sample: A link to a thread with at least ten comments by the character being apped. Must be in-game - memes, PSLs, TDMs and museboxes do not count.
Activity: With your non-Disposable PC character, have you made at least 150 credits this cycle?
HTML for original app is above.
HTML for additional sections:
OFFWORLDER RESERVES ARE OPEN.
Panem!AU and Hunger Games canon characters are being accepted and may be apped at anytime, with or without a reserve. Disposable PCs can be apped at any time and require no reserve.
Offworlder applications must have a reserve. No exceptions. Offworlder reserves are currently OPEN.
-MASTER NAVIGATION-
the batter :: off :: tribute, reserved
Name: Isen
Other characters: n/a
IN CHARACTER
Name: The Batter
Alias: n/a
Fandom: Off
Canon point/AU: After the Judge special ending
Journal:
PB: Art by tumblr user
Age: It's very difficult to tell from the in game art and story, and no official age is given, but the Batter at least appears to be early-mid thirties at best.
History: OFF Wiki, and The Batter's wiki page.
In general, OFF is a difficult story to explain. The story takes place in a strange and almost nonsensical world - lakes and rivers are made of plastic or meat rather than water, and so on - but the main plot is driven by the Batter's desire and self-made mission to purify the world of spectres and phantoms, with a cat named the Judge assisting as his guide. The Batter travels to each of the world's individual zones to destroy supposed evil spectres, solving puzzles and battling increasingly strange creatures until reaching the end.
As a side note, characters in OFF constantly break the fourth wall, speaking directly to the player rather frequently. Zacharie, the item merchant, fully acknowledges the fact that they are all characters in a video game and converses with the player instead of the Batter. The Judge calls the player out in the final battle for allowing all this destruction to their home world. And the Batter himself speaks to the player to help solve puzzles and other instances throughout the story, while explaining to others that he is being lead on his quest by the player. While it's a major part of the game, it's more for the player's reaction to in game events rather than the characters conversing with the player on a regular basis.
Presentation: When the player is first introduced to the Batter, he seems like any other gaming protagonist. He's here to save the world, just point him in the right direction. At first, he comes off as quite standoffish, blunt and even a bit rude to those he meets on his journey. He tends not to speak more than is necessary when being asked questions, sticking to simple yes or no answers, but he can be particularly wordy when it comes to discussing his mission ("Show yourselves, corrupted children! I am the voice of forgiveness that'll eliminate your calamitous forms.") But, if all he has to say about you is that you're an idiot, he won't hesitate to do so.
If nothing else, the Batter is incredibly determined and focused on his mission. He tends not to let himself get distracted by trivial things, and isn't one to seek out forms of pleasure or entertainment. Sure, he takes a ride on a roller coaster, but it's only to take a picture that's required to pass to the next area. He also stumbles upon a comic book later on, but after attempting to read through it, he decides that it's stupid and refuses to pick it up again. He's not exactly a barrel of monkeys here.
As the story progresses, the player starts to notice a few things that are - well, off, about the Batter. His cold, blunt starts to take on a different meaning after several particularly dark instances that seem unlikely for such a noble and valiant hero. While in the beginning, the Batter was helping the Elsens by defeating the phantoms and purifying their lands so they can be safe, things take a dark turn when battles commence after something so trivial as solving puzzles, and the Batter fights and defeats previously innocent citizens. The Batter also encounters a giant Elsen in a subway, but it refuses to fight during battle, and only calls for help. Returning to previous, purified zones show them to be not freed and full of life, but pale and dead and empty. And the Batter changes from a saintly, divine hero to an utter monster in the end, both literally and figuratively.
It all starts with the introduction of little Hugo. Hugo is a young child, and the creator of both the Batter and the Queen guardian, Vader Eloha. After an unknown event destroyed their world, Hugo and the other guardians started rebuilding their world from scratch, each of them taking charge over specific zones and elements. Through various texts revealed in the game's final chapter, it's said that Hugo was unable to find his parents, and so the Batter and Eloha were created in their stead, representing the parental figures he no longer had in this world. It's possible that the Batter was inspired by characters in a comic book Hugo once had.
Once, they might have been a happy family. Eloha reveals as much in her battle with the Batter, using phrases such as "would you like some coffee, dear?" and "go tidy your bedroom." The Batter may have once been a suitable father figure to Hugo, as it is evident that there was once a strong bond between the three of them. But it's all for naught in the end, when the Batter eventually confronts little Hugo, and the battle between a grown armed man and a defenseless child is the hardest to watch. It's only after the Batter kills poor Hugo that the player finally realizes that the Batter is not at all who he seems to be.
It is possible that, in a new environment, bits and pieces of the person the Batter used to be can shine through. He can be a very protective, caring individual for those he can bring himself to trust. He was created with stern but loving father instincts in mind, the type of firm paternal figure that a young child would imagine a father to be, and as such the Batter has potential to develop those same characteristics, if the right opportunity presents itself. But the Batter feels no remorse or guilt for his actions, and his will be a hard shell to crack to get to that warm parental center that once was.
Perspective plays a big part in OFF, as seen later on near the end of the game. After all the zones are purified, the Batter is then challenged to a final battle with the Judge. If the player chooses to play as the Batter, he will be victorious in the end and defeat the Judge, then step up to a switch and turn it off. But if the player chooses the Judge's side, through another point of view, the Batter is suddenly revealed to have been a monster-type creature, affectionately named "Bad Batter." Whether the Batter simply transformed at some point or he was the monster all along is left to interpretation, depending on how the player's perspective switches. The Judge does call the player out for their actions, continuing on playing the game and destroying their home world when they could have stopped at any time, saving them all from destruction - perhaps even saving the Batter himself from the terrible path he walks.
Or perhaps, the path he's forced to walk.
Something unknown happened to drive the Batter on his merciless quest for purification. Everything started out as a simple quest to save the world, though in the end it's all for naught. And the steady descent begins when the player is first assigned to the Batter to join him on his journey and guide the way.
Note: There are several mistranslations from the game's original French script. For the purposes of this application, we'll be relying mostly on the current English translation, as well as official confirmations from Mortis of significant details (i.e. the English translation calls Hugo the creation of Eloha and the Batter, but Mortis has explained that it's meant to be the other way around, giving the world's recreation plotline more backing.)
Setting: First and foremost, the Batter will have his connection with his player severed. Without having that guiding force behind his actions, the Batter will be able to experience what it's like to truly have a free will of his own, without having that same divine guidance he's recently been accustomed to. He will still have his drive to right wrongs and destroy impure beings, but without the familiar spectres and phantoms surrounding him, perhaps he won't be so determined to purify this world the same way. There's a chance he'll be able to open up more, realize there's a bit more to life than fighting and purification - before the whole shindig with the arenas and tributes thing starts to take hold. But he's still a fairly violent individual who will likely take to the arenas well, and consider it a chance to refine his skills and follow a higher authority once more.
It would also be super nifty if the Batter could get the chance to turn into Bad Batter during an arena sometime, too. Super nifty.
SAMPLES
First Person Thread:
[ That was … surprising.
He's fought whales before. Giant whales. Giant floating whales with teeth. Considering their grand scale, they rarely go unnoticed. But he's fought them before and he was victorious, so how did this one get the better of him here?
Also, whale innards smell dreadful.
But it's happened, and one can never lament on the past. Death is not an enjoyable experience - it certainly wasn't the first time, but at least he wasn't eaten by a surprise beast from the past. It's not an honourable death at all. It was a mistake on his part, and now look at where it's got him. Still alive … but a gruesome and embarrassing fate that all of Panem bore witness to. It is discouraging, to say the least.
He sits upright, removes his cap to rub at his forehead. He remembers what it feels like to be bitten in half, frowns, and then draws his attention to the recorder beeping away. Explain his feelings?
Unpleasant. [ he reaches for and picks up the device in his hand, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He stands up from the flat table, feeling a stiffness in his joints. ] And foul.
[ Though not truly in his nature to defy his higher authorities, there is an offense made and the words leave his lips without much care, his tone heavy with spite. ]
Next time, if I am to meet yet another unfortunate end, it will be in a spectacular battle with a valuable opponent, one worthy of my time. Not a cheap trick to entertain your audiences.
[ The device is dropped back onto the table, and he exits swiftly as soon as he is able. His next battle will be far more glorious, to whatever end. ]
Prose:
It's strange. After everything that happened, the last thing he was expecting was a second chance.
That's not to say that he failed. Far from it. His world was pure, all the phantoms and unholy souls destroyed. The zones had all become white as snow, just as they were meant to be. As they should be, regardless of his influence, but it wasn't his place to decide. His divine mission was completed, even if it did cost him everything in the end.
But instead of death, and the final rest he is so dearly owed, he is to be judged amongst a panel of strangers (all of them as impure and corrupt as the most fiendish of phantoms from his past, he just knows it,) and to be ranked among dozens of other strangers before being set loose in a last-man-standing arena. It's an unfamiliar thing: he doesn't recognize this world, and these people are unlike those he is familiar with. They are not Elsens, not guardians. In fact, that are too similar to his own form and stature, it's almost uncomfortable. He almost thinks to comment on it, to ask, what are you? But such is not his place.
He is appointed a new task, it seems. This new world is just as corrupt, swimming in evil and darkness, in need of a shining light to eradicate the unholy ones. The rules are a little different from what he is used to, but those he is set to battle against in these arenas are no more than spectres, and they will all fall just the same.
They wish to test his skill. He has his choice of weapons, but he only needs the quickest glance towards the provided selection to know which he is better suited to. The club isn't his bat (and he finds he misses the feel of it,) but it's close enough to prove his worth to these onlookers.
"So be it," he says firmly, practicing a few swings with the club, before planting his feet firmly and taking a ready stance. He tugs the tip of his cap down, narrowing his field of view to the select target ahead of him. There's a number of other targets surrounding him, and he'll make sure the room is covered in wood splinters and broken dummies before he's through.
If he is to be this world's holy saviour as well, then it will be done.
What is your character scored: I believe the Batter would score at least a 9, or somewhere in that area. In terms of physical strength the Batter is a very strong and skilled fighter, extremely brutal and aggressive in his methods - he beats his opponents to a pulp with a baseball bat, without feeling the slightest remorse for his actions, even if his victim is a small child. He's taken many lives, nearly wiping out the entire population of his home world, save for one stubborn cat. He's fought and defeated spectres of various sizes, ranging from small ghouls to giant whales in the sky. I only hesitate to score the Batter any higher because in game, he is accompanied by three Add Ons, floating white rings that assist him in battle and level up along with him, and he would presumably enter the Games without them. He also needs the player's assistance to solve some of the game's puzzles, so intellect level isn't quite genius status. But physically and mentally, the Batter can handle near anything the arena can throw at him.
Token: For a token, the Batter would like his photo from the zone 2 amusement park. He shoved a statue of Zacharie onto a roller coaster with him and went for a ride, so he could acquire the photo to fool the Elsen guarding the office into thinking he knows the park's owner, and gain access to the office. It's one of the very few instances the Batter can be seen having a little fun, for once.
Additional information: n/a
Revisions
You have 72 hours to get back to us with your revisions. We look forward to seeing them.
no subject
Motivations: First and foremost, the Batter is driven by his desire to purify his world, by fighting and destroying those he deems impure and unholy. He sees himself not as divine, but as someone chosen by divine authority to do God's work. No specific God is named, and the player is not considered God either, so the one that the Batter follows and preaches for is presumably a religious figure specific to their world.
The Batter makes it clear that he will complete this mission and nothing will stand in his way. He refuses to let himself be distracted for too long, and even when his opponents are helpless or seemingly innocent, if he considers them at all impure, he will make sure they are destroyed. It doesn't really seem like the Batter has much of a moral compass in that sense, as on the outside, he's not at all bothered by the countless innocents and close pseudo-family members he slaughters. But it's possible that he keeps his guilt hidden deep under the surface, simply because he knows he has no choice but to follow through on his God-given task.
It is likely that the Games will bring out a competitive streak in the Batter as well. He already sees himself as the strongest warrior from his world (and with good reason,) so being brought to a new world where everyone is competing for that same title will drive him to do the same. Originally, when defeated by the Judge, he takes it rather well only because he knows that he's completed his mission - his world is purified. But here in Panem, this isn't his world to purify, and instead his new task is to be the strongest fighter and be victorious in the arena. Being defeated here won't sit well with him, and he will be far more motivated to train harder and become stronger, and hold specific grudges against those who do him wrong.
Accepted!
Your score is: 9
Your district is: 2
Please head over to this post for information on your characters arrival and OOC instructions.
Congratulations, you have been selected for the Games. May the odds be ever in your favor.