Rules
The Rules of this Game are like the "Terms and Conditions". If you submit an app, that's your agreement to follow them.
General Rules
- At the current time, players can have 15 total characters.
- As the game grows, the character limit may be revisited.
- Appropriate CharactersThere are no limitation on number of character's allowed per fandom. We are also not limited characters with canon "connections". Meaning you technically can play someone and their canon love interest, but we're not really sure why you would.
- Villains are allowed in the game, but we we are not accepting any characters whose major arcs involve committing rape or domestic (intimate partner or family) violence. This includes, but is not limited to: Anakin Skywalker, Hank Pym (616), Kilgrave, The Joker, Christian Grey, etc.
- Minor Characters, as in characters who only appear in a very limited capacity in their canon are allowed in the game. (For example, next-gen Harry Potter characters) but their apps will be subject to more scrutiny.
- Canon Bumping. Is permitted in this game and covered in the FAQ.
- Activity is what keeps a game moving along. But since this is a small game moving at a slow pace and we want to allow people to write what they want at whatever speed they choose, there will be no formal activity checks. However, try to let characters go if they aren't working for you.
- No one can predict others' potential triggers, and even the best intentioned players can accidentally trigger someone. If you do, no one assumes it was intentional and having it brought to your attention is not meant as a personal attack. However, we want to foster a safe environment for our players and will respond quickly to posts with potentially triggering content.
As a general rule, please avoid the use of derogatory real-word slurs when your characters are mad at other characters or in any kind of conflict. By real-world, we mean that fictional "slurs" (Mudblood, Mutie, or Toaster) are fine, but (female) gendered/promiscuity insults, sexual orientation based or racially based insults are strictly prohibited and it's an offense that will result in removal from the game if it becomes a repetitive problem.
Please pro-actively tag & cut anything related to sexual assault, child/domestic abuse, mental health issues, self-harm, drug/alcohol abuse, hate speech, or miscarriage/abortion.
By 'Mental health issues' we are referring specifically to behavioral disorders: disassociative disorder, PTSD and related conditions, eating disorders, discussions of clinical diagnosis, abuse in the health care system, medication misuse, anxiety attacks, etc. We're not referring to any neurodivergent characters. However, we will scrutinize the apps of these characters for clear research, care and thought.
Similarly, we expect that any character who has triggering content in their personalities/histories have those triggers mentioned at the top of the app. We also want to express that it is important to include information about triggering aspects of the character that may come up in game in the application. We need to know beforehand if a character struggles with addiction, PTSD or is the survivor of assault or abuse, etc. If it is absent from the app, the mods must be contacted prior to plotlines or network posts which explicitly engage with the content. Applications are meant to give the mods some idea of what kind of character is coming into the game, and we need want to make sure the material is going to be handled sensitively before we feel comfortable permitting it.
Triggers can be complicated, if someone asks that you label and tag something, please comply.
Homosexuality and cursing are not something that needs to be pre-warned. We're all adults and neither are shameful, scandalous, or inappropriate. Tagging them at such can seem trivializing.
Player Behavior
- Don't act like an idiot toward others.
- Keep OOC feelings separate from IC.: Do not take your OOC frustrations out on characters (or characters of players) you don't like. We don't care if it's IC or OOCly. We're not going to tolerate it and will give one warning. If you can't say something nice, don't say it. That's not to say you can't have character conflict, but we suggest that if there is hostility, you should contact the other player(s) involved before or shortly after you jump into the fray. Better to err on the side of caution. RP conflict is great; player attacks are not.
Always give your fellow players the benefit of the doubt--context gets lost in the mix sometimes with online text. And what you interpret as an insult may have been meant as a joke, compliment, or benignly on the other player's end. Before assuming they dislike you / are upset with you / are plotting against you in a weird way, touch base and ask for clarification.
If it is not clear to you what a character just said, it is better to touch base OOCly for clarification before ICly pointing that out. Sometimes vagueness / grammatical / diction is an intentional IC choice, Sometimes it's fatigue/intoxication/autocorrect/a mistake OOCly and pointing that out ICly is a dick move
- Leaving anonymous comments is bullying. If we find out that someone in this game is leaving other players rude anonymous comments or goading others into doing so, they will be removed.
- Don't Godmode (controlling any character which isn't your own or within your right to control) - this includes metagaming (or having your character be privy to more information than they would have ICly). If in doubt, err on the side of having your character know less rather than more.
- Communication is extremely important! As a player you are expected to communicate with other players in your character's interaction group and with players also involved in plots that you have signed up for. Also for any plot that might effect their character's status ICly or impact future plots they may already have lined up. The prefered means of communication are email, gchat, and discord. If you don't have someone's contact you can leave comments on their app, but routinely communicating through dropboxes can read kind of antisocial. For the mod account, we have an email address, a dropbox, and the FAQ. Please don't PM us.
- If you receive a moderator email concerning a problem, please have the courtesy to respond to it.
If the email is regarding an accidental trigger warning related event, the appropriate response is to acknowledge it, apologize to the people hurt inadvertantly, and be more mindful in the future. Triggering happens, and no one thinks it was intentional, nor is the email meant to imply as much. However, it is a serious matter and fosters a stronger sense of community if everyone is involved in this dialogue.
If it is regarding a matter such as plagiarism, bullying, or something similar, failure to respond to a moderator email within 72 hours will constitute grounds for removal from the game.
FAQ
GENERAL QUESTIONS
- Are all fandoms open?: Yes. We know that some games restrict characters from creators who don't like fanfiction. This is just not one of those games. Some characters are restricted, as mentioned in the rules, but all fandoms are open.
- What date is this game set in? The date is not important. The game will not be moving in real time. The first characters in an "H" classification set the canon point for that fandom, but there's some wiggle room for everyone else.
- I wanted to play another version of a character in game. Is that allowed? Yes. Just ask the player and make sure they're cool with it.
- Can I play the a malleable protagonist (i.e. customizeable lead character from many RPGs)? Yes! But your castmates do not have to be from your universe. For example, if your (Dragon Age) Inquisitor shipped with Dorian Pavus in the game, but the Dorian Pavus who is in the game already wrote him as having shipped with Iron Bull, it'll just be considered two different inquisitor universes
- How does canon bumping work? H world characters cannot canon bump, everyone else can just ask at the dropbox.
- My character is an alien/animated. Do I use video game/cartoon pictures for them?
Sure! You can use whatever you want as icons.
- What do I do if my PB is already taken by another character? It doesn't matter
Section2b
Information2b
Section2c
Information2c
World Classifications
Inspired by games like , which were set in the MCU and used the tesseract to explain how characters from fictional worlds and other versions of variety came into being, and television shows like Counterpart which involve spies meeting their alternate reality duplicate, Empire City is a game that wants to allow for the kind of in-game plotting that a universe specific game permits, while also letting more than one fandom have that kind of opportunity.
If it sounds a little confusing, we're sorry. Hopefully reading though this page will help clarify what the different classifications of worlds mean and how we expect everything to fit together.
All fandoms will get a world classification letter. Each classification comes with it's own benefits, handicaps and rules.:
CLASS A ("Away"): Any universe that doesn't fit in F/H/P classifications because of the nature of the fandom or because it's an alternative universe (Agents of SHIELD, Sherlock, Marvel Comics, Star Trek: TOS) is considered an "Away" world. Characters from Away Worlds can canon puncture F/H/P worlds if they'd have access to that knowledge. They get items from home, they're also supplied rooms and an allowance in New York.
CLASS F ("Future"): Some universes may fit as "future" versions of the current universe being brought back to the past. (Think Cable, in every X-Men property ever). These characters aren't canon puncturable - except by Class A universes which know their canon, may have alternate Class A counterparts, They get items from home, they're also supplied rooms and an allowance in New York. They can also sometimes canon puncture Class H/P worlds, as those happened in their past.
CLASS H ("Home"): Fandoms that take place in the modern day in NYC, or which have characters which could reasonably relocate themselves to New York can be considered "Home" universes. Home universe characters must all be from the same canon point. They have their own residences in one of the boroughs of NYC. They cannot be canon punctured, but can have "away" counterparts.
CLASS P ("Past"): Characters who've died in the canon of "Home" universes as well as characters from historical fiction sources which make sense as a part of the "Home" universe are considered Class P. These characters cannot be canon punctured. Can have "Away" alternatives, will be given residences and items from home.
So basically, it's "Past/Present/Future" for one timeline, as well as characters from alternate/different worlds also being permitted in game. This will, as mentioned, make canon puncturing a little complicated, so for the most part just err on the side of "don't do it." if you are from H/F/P classes.
It's up to the first players from a particular Canon what "Class" a world is given. And we're willing to be pretty flexible. For example, Some fandoms which might fit as Class H but rely heavily on pop culture references, ("Big Bang Theory") might work better as Class A worlds, so they can canon puncture with more ease.
CLASS A
Information2b
Section2c
Information2c
CLASS F
CLASS H
CLASS P
Section4
Information4
