In Character- RPG Community

IN CHARACTER ROLE-PLAYING GAME

Welcome to In Character, a web site you may well have ventured onto through a fantasy journal on DeadJournal.com or a wrestling fan fiction site. So what is this all about? The aim of this site is to explain what pro-wrestling RPGs (Role-Playing Games) are, how to join and the rules of the game. We also hope to CLEARLY explain to fans and the public that our journals are just a bit of harmless fun. =)

[LATEST IN PLAY & ADOPT LIST HERE]

What is In Character, and what are RPGs?

In Character is an online community based on It's Scripted- a community on Live Journal. It is a role playing game for wrestling fans. Fans can choose a wrestler to become and start a journal for them on DeadJournal.com. They can record a wrestler's thoughts, opinions, personal events and start storylines of their own with other In Character members. It's kind of like writing fan fiction for your favorite wrestler, but basing it on their day and interacting with other members. Your true identity must not be mentioned on your journal, as you are playing a character and must join in the game. Members never post up out of character entries, they are continually role-playing whether they are writing a journal entry, replying to an email or messaging another member of the community.

If you have to say something "out of character" to ask a question, clarify something or ask to start a storyline you enclose your words like this [I'm out of character here]. Never post up entries on your journal that are O.O.C, only use this for AIM or emailing unless authorized by the administrators.

In Character is not an e-fed, members do not arrange matches with eachother. We base our journal entries on WWE/ECW/WCW etc storylines and the REAL life of the wrestlers. Although members are encouraged to interact and start their own storylines we try to keep things as realsitic and true to the real characters in question.

The Rules Of The Game:

Make sure you read the following rules before attempting to join as a member of In Character's RPG. It will be of great benefit to you, your future character and ensures we don't get too many headaches! :) It might seem harsh and a lot of information to take in, but RPGs are not a joke, and if you don't follow the rules then we won't add you as a member/will remove you for good. For more information on creating a journal please visit Dead Journal for help, thank you.

1: You must choose a character that is not already in play i.e: you need to check the
Adopt A Wrestler page to see who is available and who is already a member. Obviously there cannot be more than one Dwayne Johnson or Amy Dumas, that would be ridiculous! Your character MUST be a real wrestler from a real federation, we do not accept pretend wrestlers.This is not an efed!

2: You need to create a journal on www.deadjournal.com for your wrestler. Do NOT include ANY personal information/details about yourself on the journal; you must create the biography, icon, entries for your wrestler only, not yourself! You MUST VISIBLY state on your deadjournal bio that you are NOT associated with the WWE or any wrestlers, we can't add anyone who doesn't make it clear they are only a part of role play. Where you are asked to enter a web site you MUST enter the address of THIS site; http://in-character.cjb.net as this contains our disclaimer. If this isn't done correctly we will not make you a member.

3: You MUST add www.deadjournal.com/community/in_character to your friends list as soon as you create your journal. It is a very good idea to contact us before you start a journal and let us know. You MUST also add everyone who is a member of In Character's Community to your friends list in order to join in the game. After 3-4 weeks of being a member and following the rules you will be added as a community member and enabled to post on the main community board.

4: Make sure you set up an email account for your wrestler and if possible get an AOL Instant Messenger screen name for them. This is so that other players can contact you and start storylines, and if we need to contact you about anything we have to have an email address at the least. It makes life very difficult if users do not put up contact info, and excludes you from involvement. It is a requirement that users can contact you, but please do not use your own personal email address or screen name as this reveals your true identity and ruins the whole role-playing game!

5: NEVER post O.O.C (Out Of Character) notes, information etc on your journal unless the administrators have authorized you to do so. Again, when you join the community you become a wrestler and must not reveal your true identity to other players on In Character; this spoils the entire game. Please also avoid posting up irrelevant things such as quiz results, pictures or anything else that falls into that catagory. It slows the loading of pages and does not fit in with the idea of RPGs.

6: Understand the Superstar/Diva you are making the journal for, you need to read up on them before making a journal and make sure you keep up to date with news and events in their real life. After all, you want people to find your journal convincing, not a blatent lie. Try to be accurate and don't be insulting or use your journal to humiliate a certain character/s. Just use the facts you know about the star and add lib, write what you think the person would be feeling/doing in real life and try to interact with other characters. Try to make sure, within reason, that you know what show your star is on and what matches they are fighting.

7: Try to be friendly and interact with other members, don't exclude people! Everyone should make an effort to speak to each other, no matter what, don't be pretentious or snappy. Things can go the other way too; try not to harass anyone, just keep it cool. Starting storylines is important, so make use of email and AIM to contact other members. Do NOT copy material from other journals/RPGs or add members from other groups to your friends list that do not belong in our community!

8: If you need to speak to somebody O.O.C (Out Of Character) do not post it on your/their journals. Instead email them or use AIM and put anything you need to say O.O.C inside brackets like this:

[I wanted to ask if our characters can say they met up on Thursday? Is it ok?]

9: If you do NOT update you journal within 6 WEEKS it will be removed from the community and your character will be made available for adoption. This means your character will be made available for somebody else to start a journal for.

10: If you have any problems, please contact the administrators, we don't bite. We are here to sort out your queries!

IMPORTANT- The dos and don'ts list (just to make it totally clear):

Playing Your Character; The Dos and Don'ts:

Do:
Make an effort to read up on your character BEFORE starting a journal.
Make an effort to talk to other members/be friendly once you're in.
Base your character on true facts, not total make believe.
Try to respond to people's posts/emails/messages- It's rude to ignore them.
Make your journal look neat and tidy; try and watch your spelling and typing.
Add lib- it's fine to stick with what you know, but add a few extra things in and interact with other members to make things more interesting.
Ask our fantastic admin team if you need help. :)

Don't:
Be rude or unnecessarily abusive to other characters/members.
Use your journal to humiliate a character/s you don't like.
Make friends with only a couple of characters/members and ignore everyone else.
Harass somebody for them to be your friend/partner in the RPG.
Make everything up; you must base your journal on what the character is doing in real life/WWE storylines at the very least.
Be deliberately disrespectful and pushy with other people.
Make out of character (O.O.C) entries on your journal visible!
Copy material from other journals or RPGs.
Hotlink to pictures from official sites such as WWE or any wrestler's website, fansite etc- bandwith theft is ILLEGAL!

F.A.Qs:

How can I join and what should I do?

First you must check if the wrestler you want to make a journal for isn't already being played by another person on In Character. We can only have on Dwayne Johnson and one Amy Dumas, otherwise it would ruin the whole thing! Check who is up for adoption here (that means you can start a journal for them as nobody else has made one). Please contact the administrators when you have set up your journal to let us know.

You must link back to this disclaimer on your biography and make it clear you are part of a RPG and not the real Superstar (we don't want to get sued!). You must add In Character to your friends list and add every other member to your friends list who is a part of our RPG. You need an icon of your Superstar/Diva for your journal, a short bio, and contact information. Make sure you have an email account set up for the person you are playing (please do not use your real one and disclose any personal details about yourself)at the very least, so that we/other members can contact you. It is also a VERY good idea to get AIM, seeing as most storylines are discussed and started on there where you can chat in and out of character with other In Character members.

When will I become a member of the In Character community and be able to post on the main board?

We currently wait 3-4 weeks before we allow users to post up on the main community board by joining them as a member. This is to ensure that users are genuine and serious about being a part of our RPG.

How should I make my character?

You should base your character on what true facts you know about them in their real life. Playing a character as they appear on TV only is not always appropriate, and often causes confusion/conflict with other characters. Keep your journal in good taste, have fun, but do not drastically alter the personality of the person you are playing! Take what facts you know about them; their schedule, work, family, friends and hobbies and elaborate on them. Try to choose a character you like/know well as then your journal will be much more believable to others, which is what the game is about.

Should I play along with what's happening in the WWE shows?

You should know when you character is at a taping of RAW/Smackdown! or at a house show. Try to check news sites regularly for information and to keep your character's journal believable. As for the actual events in the shows, it totally depends on how you are playing your character as to whether it will be relevant. For instance winning/losing titles, important matches and storylines would probably be very important to the character in real life, so don't just miss things out.

I want my character to be gay/bi/straight/married/divorced etc but they aren't in real life. Is that okay?

Initially, yes, but please make this clear to other characters or in your bio to avoid confusion/conflict with other players who's characters may be involved in real life or WWE storylines. This avoids embarrassment to other members, and it should be common courtesy to make yourself clear. Please consider other characters carefully, even if they are not currently in In Character's RPG. They may well join up and be following real life/WWE storylines, so it is your responsibility to make sure they understand the situation. For instance, if for the sake of the game you want your character to be single when they are infact married, this is fine, but make it known on your bio page that in this game you have divorced your character. Then, members who join up can see this straight away and should understand the situation.

How do I get a storyline going with another character on In Character?

We strongly suggest that all members make use of AOL Instant Messenger or similar programs, and of course e-mail other In Character members with out of character (o.o.c) notes/suggestions for future storylines. It is always better to contact the person you want to start a storyline with first, do not assume they want to play along with everything you say. If a member contacts you, or you contact them, be polite and discuss things in an adult fashion. Do not argue with people if they disagree with your suggestions, come up with other ideas, reach a compromise or if things cannot be resolved move on to something else and try and work with different characters.

Why isn't a certain character acting like their WWE character?

Most people try and make their journals true to the real life personality of the character they are doing. Sticking to things as they are on TV isn't always much fun and doesn't allow you to be very versatile with your character. Don't expect to see your favorite Superstar behaving as they are on RAW or Smackdown! only, they will most likely include other things in their journal. It's all for fun, please remember that, and characters are meant to make their own storylines up whilst including real facts.

How often should I update?

As often as possible, unless there are personal circumstances which do not allow you to do so (in which case you should contact the In Character admin team), or your character would be unable to to update because of circumstances in their own life. Think carefully about where they are and what they are doing at a said time.

Failure to update regularly will result in you being removed from the In Character community, and subsequently your character will be available for adoption by another person wishing to do a journal. We currently wait 6 weeks with no updates before we remove a journal from the community. There is always somebody who will want to take your character over.

Can I post up quiz results and pictures on my journal or in the community?

We ask that members refrain from posting unnecessary material which delays the loading of pages such as quiz results, pictures etc. If you really feel the need to include these in your journal then use the "lj cut tag" to place a link to any other material so that it is not showing up on your journal. To learn how to use this tag please refer to the Dead Journal FAQs section.

Your journals are all fake, that is so stupid, what's the point?

This is an RPG (role playing game), it's just a bit of fun! It's a way for people to interact with their favorite wrestling characters, meet new people and just relax a bit. Anyone who thinks this is intended to be taken literally needs to think again. If you hate the idea of RPGs do not take part, visit or harass those who do want to be a part of our community. Time wasters and malicious use of In Character will result in serious action against you. Don't make yourself look stupid, just leave out.

Is In Character anything to do with the WWE/Pro-Wrestling, do the wrestlers know about it?

In Character is in NO WAY endorsed, supported, affiliated or acknowledged by the WWE, it's counterparts, subsidiaries or sponsors. We accept no responsibility for the content of individual member's journals and in no way claim to be accurate or true to the nature of any individual/s associated with pro-wrestling sports.

Any copyright infringement is not knowingly intended. Again In Character holds no responsibility for member's journals or the content of them. This is not an official or profit making community. No real wrestlers are a part of this RPG, neither do we claim so.

You copied another RPG!

In Character, as are many other RPGs, is based on It's Scripted which is a community on Live Journal. We have full respect for other RPGs, but In Character has no involvement with other RPGs. We run our own storylines, and the point of starting a new RPG is so that new people can become their favorite characters and have fun. If anyone feels we have copied them, we apologize, but this RPG runs it's own yard. If you don't like it, keep out.

Why has my journal been removed as a member of In Character?

Failure to read and follow these rules and conditions will result in the removal of your journal from the In Character community. Please read and consider carefully what we put here before you start a journal. Failure to regularly update your journal will result in your character being made available for adoption by somebody else. We refuse to alter these rules under any circumstances, it might seem harsh or tough, but that's the bottom line and we rarely make exceptions.

DISCLAIMER:

As previously stated: In Character is in no way official and neither does it claim to be so. We have no contact with the real wrestlers and no offence is meant by the creation of our community. The journals are for entertainment purposes only and NO profit is gained.

All journals are the responsibility of their individual maintainers. WE DO NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILTY FOR THE CONTENT OF IC MEMBER'S JOURNALS. All journals must meet the terms and conditions requested by Dead Journal. Upon joining Dead Journal members are expected to be over 13 years of age. We accept no responsibility for children joining under this age or seeing content that is not suitable for them. It is the parent/s/guardian/s responsibilty to ensure what content they wish their child to see, not ours. If you have any complaints please report them to the Dead Journal abuse team. If we deem a journal unacceptable or recieve complaints we reserve the right to exclude them from the community or ask Dead Journal to remove them.

We refuse to get involved in personal disputes or issues of copyright infringement. It is your own responsibility to ensure your journal meets acceptable standards and contains your own original work. We require that your journal is of a high standard to meet that of our players. We reserve the right to exclude you from IC's community at ANY time.

The original idea for IC came from It's Scripted . IC is in no way connected to any other RPG and runs it's own storylines with it's own character's journals. Any user/s who plagiarize material will be removed from the IC community. We do not take responsibility for the actions of individual members!

Malicious use of the community and disregard to the rules and terms will result in the removal of users from IC. We reserve the right to refuse any journals we do not feel are in reasonable taste and delete/block members we do not wish to accept.

No offence, personal or otherwise, is intended in the creation of this community/web site.

We ask that visitors who disagree with the concept or content of IC show respect and do not try to abuse other people's hard work. If you have serious complaints the administrators are here to listen, but we refuse to alter our RPG. Please do NOT visit this site or the community if you object!

Upon joining the community members are bound by our rules and disclaimer. Please report abuse if you are aware of it.