Application Hints

[Administrator]

Application Hints

As 100m has grown more successful, we've started to get pickier about applications we accept. To help new players navigate the application process, here are some tips.

Please note: there are existing characters who violate these guidelines and have been "grandfathered" in. Just because an existing character does something doesn't mean we'll allow a new character who does it.


Showstoppers
Some things are practically guaranteed to cause a rejection:

• Movie-canon character inconsistent with canon
  "Consistency" here is in the eye of the admins.
  Note that we're more flexible about other-canon characters.
  
  
• OCs with powers that duplicate (or supercede) existing characters
  We're more likely to allow this for canon characters, but we still don't like it.
  
  
• Background inconsistent with site history
  This is X3 movieverse, plus on-site events since then.
  
  
• Asserting a relationship with an existing character without the handler's approval
  It's OK for your character to believe such a relationship exists, as long as it's plausible that they're just wrong.
  This includes OCs who should have been noticed but weren't -- for example, an OC healer who has "been at the Institute for the last several years" is out; they would have gotten involved in plotlines had they been there.
  
  
• Very limited RP potential
  For example, a character with such a hairtrigger temper that they attack everyone... or who, due to early childhood trauma or conditioning or whatever, wants to have sex with everyone they meet... or who is scared of everybody and hides all the time... etc. etc. etc.
  Yes, we have sex scenes, and combat scenes, and social scenes, and so forth, but mostly we enjoy variety.
  (Note: It's OK to have a character crippled like this if you intend to have them grow out of it as people interact with them.)
  
  
• Incoherent power/mutation descriptions.
  Be as clear as possible: what can they do? What are the limitations on that? Is it short-range? long-range? touch-only? line-of-sight? affects anybody/anywhere? How reliable is it? What protects against it? Do they have to concentrate on it, or is it something they can do casually? Does it exhaust them?
  If, on reading your power descriptions, we're confused, we'll probably reject the application.
  
  
• Skimpy personalities.
  We want to have an idea of what this person is like.
  If after reading your personality description, we don't feel like we know that, we'll probably reject the application.
  If after reading your personality description, we don't feel like you know that, we'll definitely reject the application.
  
  
• Vague background
  It's OK if your character hasn't done very much prior to the start of play.
  But if, after reading your app, we don't know what they have or haven't done, we'll probably reject the application.
  
  

Minuses
We might accept an app that has some -- even many! -- of these properties if it's otherwise impressive. But in general they lower your odds.

• Excessive offensive power-level
  If your power is such that you're going to mind-control, cripple, kill, or otherwise "own" other players' characters if a fight breaks out, without them having any plausible way of escaping, deflecting, resisting, dodging, etc. your attack, that's a problem.
  We may allow it, depending on the character and how you intend to play it... e.g., a character who can incinerate everything in a hundred-meter area but would never do that would probably be OK. A character who can mind-control anyone they want and enjoys humiliating them in public probably wouldn't, though we might allow it if you convince us you don't intend to make other players' lives miserable with it (e.g., if you're only intending to do so with NPCs or with player agreement). A character with a hair-trigger temper and the ability to kill with a touch is a real problem.
  
  
• Excessive defensive power-level
  If your power is such that you can't be hurt pretty much no matter what, that's a problem.
  We may allow it, depending on the character and how you intend to play it. A character like Diamond Lil whose invulnerability is part of their character arc would probably be OK; a character who is so powerful nothing can hurt them just because they're just so awesome probably wouldn't.
  
  
• Too many powers
  In general, 100m mutants should have either have one basic mutation (which can result in a lot of "powers," but related through a common mechanic) or a cluster of relatively minor mutations that are thematically related. Being able to do a lot of unrelated things is a strike against.
  Making up some handwavingly vague "basic mutation" to justify this, like "control over matter and energy", or "magic", or something, doesn't really help. We may allow it if you impress us, but we probably won't.
  
  
• Excessive effectiveness in general
  If our impression of that the character is either unrealistically competant given their background, or just too competant to be interesting, we're likely to reject it.
  Yes, this is entirely subjective. Evaluation is like that, sometimes.
  
  
• Cliched backgrounds
  In particular, the uber-traumatic background (parents murdered, tortured, yadda yadda yadda) has really been done to death. We're bored with it. Do something else.
  
  
• Being no fun to talk to.
  No, not every character has to be friendly/sociable/whatever. But most RP on this site is social; if your character is no fun to talk to you're likely to bore the other players.
  
  
• Poor spelling/grammar
  At a minimum, run your application through a spellchecker... if you can't be bothered to do that much, we're not interested.
  Even better, proofread it, or get someone else to do it. (No, we don't expect you to get all your posts proofread once you're accepted. But it's a strike against you on an application. It's an application - you're trying to impress us.)
  

Plusses
We won't necessarily accept an app that has these properties. But in general they increase your odds.

• Flaws that aren't crippling
  We like characters with weaknesses and flaws, but utterly crippled "pity me!" type characters get dull.
  
  
• Novel powers, especially if they combine well with existing powers
  
  
• Interesting background
  If it would be fun to talk to your character about things they've done or places they've been, that's a plus.
  Also, relationships: family, friends, lovers, wives, husbands, old jobs, etc.... help to give the impression that this person really does exist in the world.
  
  
• Non-generic appearance
  Not that we need a detailed description of every mole, but we'd like more than "Looks like your typical X".
  If you were directing someone to pick your character up at the airport, what would you say so s/he'd be recognized?
  
  
• Science-consistent powers
  So, OK, yes, at some point we just handwave away physics; this is not the real world.
  But the easier you make it for us to do so without wincing, the happier we'll be.
  Relatedly: if your power really just makes no physical sense, you will do better to just make that true IC and go with it, rather than try to fake it. For example, see Iceman's application -- his power violates the laws of thermodynamics, and that's just the way it is, and it confuses him too. We're more likely to accept that than an elaborate but flawed attempt to justify the power.
  
  
• Details in personality
  Little personal things generally make us happy. They can be anything... favorite ice cream flavor, the tendency to keep their shoelaces untied, never wearing blue, anything at all that makes the character unique. This doesn't substitute for actually having a personality, but it's a nice plus.
  
  
• Not being a teenager!
  We have a lot of teenagers on the site. This is fine, but some older characters would make us happy.
  
  

Miscellaneous

• Invitations to join the X-Men will only be issued IC, so no OC Xmen. (There are some Xmen who don't have players, though)
  
• Longstanding Institute students and faculty (as opposed to new arrivals) are fine, but it's best for them to be "returning from a leave of absence" or something like that so we don't have to suddenly pretend we've been hanging out with them for ages.
  
• Although the Brotherhood HQ is secret (so you can't just stumble across it, usually), Magneto recruits pretty actively... if you want to play a Brotherhood member, it's OK to assert that you were recruited unless there's some reason you wouldn't have been.
  
• The Hellfire Club is pretty open. At the moment there isn't much Hellfire Club RP going on, though.
  
• Unaffiliated characters tend to have a harder time finding opportunities for RP. Up to you if you want to be unaffiliated, but don't complain about it later.
  
• The yo-yo/fence-straddling thing with the Xmen and the BH has been done to death at this point. Do it if it's necessary... but be aware that it will simply make us dislike a subpar applic even more.
  
• This is a fairly slash-friendly site. If you can't deal with that in a respectful way, you probably don't want to join. It's fine for your characters to be disrespectful though.
  
  
  
  

Good luck! Most of all, we're looking for well-written applications, and to have fun.