SOTF Mini Advanced Rules

[Mini_Help]

Requesting Hero Cards

The handler of a rolled character may post one and only one time per thread in which they are rolled to request that their character be saved. They may post more than that to request death ideas, but staff would prefer that threads not be cluttered with repeated requests for saves, and in general it's fairly clear that a handler who has requested their character be saved still wants that unless they say otherwise. The only exception to this is if a handler is noting that they have selected a death idea and want no more PMs; in that case, they may toss in a quick "Would still love a save, though," as stating that the death is settled might imply otherwise.

Handlers may not start threads in other parts of the board requesting Heroes. They are not allowed to PM other handlers asking for Heroes. If you receive unsolicited PMs requesting Heroes, please report them to the staff. Handlers should not agitate for Heroes in the Discord channel.

A Hero request can take whatever form a handler desires, but any offers of recompense should be clearly in jest. Buying cards is against the spirit of Heroes and staff will do absolutely nothing to enforce any such deal, and will in fact remove any posts fishing for such a thing.

Violation of any of these rules will carry, at the least, a warning. Depending on severity of violation, handler history, etc., the consequences may be markedly more severe.

[Mini_Help]

Two Week Activity Timer

In most circumstances, staff requires at least a single post per character per two-week period. This time is technically measured as fourteen days to the minute from the time of a handler's last post, though in practice there is almost always a buffer of roughly a day appended to this, to account for differences in time zone, staff activity and availability, etc.

To be counted for purposes of maintaining activity, a post must be sufficiently long and detailed to show effort and engagement with the thread. The criteria that any post must meet are:

• The post must allow activity in the thread to continue unimpeded.
• The post must be fleshed out enough to allow other handlers and readers to understand what is happening in it.
• The post must come off as more than a simple attempt to dodge inactivity.

These are somewhat nebulous criteria, though staff is usually fairly liberal in their enforcement. Also, please note that if, for whatever reason, you wish to make a post consisting of a single word or something of the sort, that is absolutely allowed—it simply will not reset your character's activity counter, meaning you will still need to get a post that does fulfill the criteria up within fourteen days of your last criteria-fulfilling post.

Per the One-Shot rules, a second (or more) consecutive one-shot topic will not reset a character's activity timer.

"Placeholder" posts (posts which include only the promise of content to be added at a later date) will not be counted for activity unless they fulfill the criteria even in their incomplete state. This is true even if they are subsequently edited to be more fleshed out; staff do not necessarily go through double checking whether old posts have been edited or not.

If you are waiting for another handler but are approaching the fourteen day limit, staff strongly advises you to skip your thread partners and post anyways to remain active. Waiting on others is not an excuse for inactivity. In such instances, staff will be somewhat more lenient in judging the criteria; obviously, if you are forced to post twice in a row, your second post may end up somewhat minimal as little to nothing to react to has occurred.

[Mini_Help]

Inactivity and the Consequences Thereof

A character who is not posted with for over fourteen days becomes inactive. A handler will receive one warning of inactivity per version, which will take the form of a message from the staff notifying the handler that one or more of their characters are inactive. After a handler receives a warning, they immediately enter a one week (seven day) grace period in which none of their characters will be considered inactive, allowing them to catch up on posts.

An instance of inactivity following a warning will lead to a character being marked as terminally inactive. A terminally inactive character will, in most cases, be killed by staff through the Mini Help account. This may take the form of an accident, a fight, or basically anything else. Once a character has been declared terminally inactive, and once the staff have decided to kill the character, the initial handler has no further role in the proceedings. They will not be allowed to write the death themselves or control its direction in any fashion. If the character is already in a scene which is supposed to lead to their death, the staff may make an effort to carry on with the plan, but this is not their responsibility and the character may be killed in another fashion if it is more convenient.

In rare circumstances, terminally inactive characters may be placed up for adoption by other members, though on Mini this typically only happens to characters who become terminally inactive immediately at the start of a game. Characters given up for adoption become the sole property of their new handler.

A handler is always welcome to appeal notification of inactivity. Such appeals must occur within three days. During these three days, characters will not be auctioned for adoption, killed off, etc.

Appeals will definitely be granted for the following reasons:

• Staff error: Should an erroneous inactivity notification be sent, it will immediately be reversed and the handler will not be penalized in any fashion.

Please note that, as always, missing the appeal deadline will make you ineligible for an appeal even in the case of staff error unless you are correctly and completely listed as Away during the time in which the notification is sent.

Appeals will probably be granted for the following reasons:

• Serious and unforeseen real life circumstance: Should some sort of disaster befall you, your appeal will most likely be granted. Real life always comes first, and the staff understands and respects this.
• Technical failure: Should your technology fail without warning, preventing you from accessing the site, you probably have valid grounds to appeal.

Note that it is far preferable for you to, if at all possible, post as Away in the above circumstances. Appeals are a last recourse, and by relying on them you may lose a character due to missing the appeal deadline. Also, multiple appeals will be viewed with increasing skepticism, so it is in your interests to not have a history of them. Finally, note that staff will do a bit of research in these instances. Specifically, if you have often been logged into the site/chat, or have been posting at all, during the time immediately preceding your notification, the staff will be much less likely to grant your appeal given that that means you had plenty of time and ability to mark yourself as Away.

Appeals will not be granted for the following reasons:

• Failure to realize inactivity: Inactivity always occurs after fourteen days without a post. No staff member has the authority to grant extensions on activity under any circumstances. This means that it should not be difficult to track when you owe a post.
• Delays caused by other handlers: As above, inactivity kicks in when it does. Violating post order for activity reasons is valid and highly recommended.
• Repeat offenses: Staff will be, at the very least, skeptical of multiple appeals on any grounds aside from staff error. In all cases, it is far better to mark yourself as Away, as doing so allows other handlers to plan around your absence.

If an appeal is granted, a handler will receive forty-eight hours from the moment of granting to post. Away posts made during this period will not be honored. It will likely prove advantageous to prepare a post even as the appeal is being processed, though you should never post until your appeal has been granted. The only exception is in the case of staff error; should that occur, the handler will be allotted forty-eight hours or their actual remaining time, whichever is greater.

Inactivity warnings are given out in sweeps, which may be conducted at any time. Historically, this has often been a daily process, but in practice it sometimes becomes more of a weekly one, depending on level of staff availability. All characters are treated by the same standards when a sweep occurs, but from time to time characters may escape being noted inactive by falling into the cracks between sweeps. If that's the case for you, you got lucky. That said, you should never rely on such luck, especially when there are ample ways to avoid the situation in the first place.

[Mini_Help]

The Away Thread

If you are going to be unable to post for a time, please put up a notice in the current Away thread, found in the Roleplaying Discussion board. Any time you are logged as Away will not be counted against you for activity, within certain limits; this means that in most circumstances your inactivity deadline will be (fourteen days + [number of days marked Away]).

Also, please note the following rules with regards to inactivity:

• If a handler has not posted "away" for the entirety of one calendar month, then they must post at least once per character in said month to be considered active.
• One-day inactivity notices do not count towards the inactivity timer, as they are not considered to be significant enough to prevent posting.
• Any given handler cannot post as "Away"' for more than four weeks of any six week period, barring severe real-life extenuating circumstances (being in the hospital or another country without internet access, say, as opposed to being busy with schoolwork). Away notices exceeding this cap will be ignored and the inactivity timer will continue.
• While we do not typically police chat or non-RP activity while a handler is Away, in certain circumstances it may be cause for an Away to be nullified. This specifically applies to cases where either the Away is obviously resolved (if you post Away due to a total lack of internet, say, and then are online for hours a day every day) or cases where an Away is particularly long-term (if you're gone for over two weeks but have time to be hanging around for hours a day, you can probably find time to dash out a post, even if it's not a masterpiece).
  
  We do not, however, require you to sequester yourself or limit your community engagement during Aways as part of the process. We're aware that the community can be an important support network and don't want to limit access to that, and we're aware that sometimes circumstances are such that someone can engage with others but not write for whatever reason. We only consider cancelling Aways in instances of abuse or significant game detriment—it hasn't happened in well over half a decade, and we don't expect it to happen anytime soon.
• If you are Away but find yourself with time to dash off a post, feel free to do so! If you're still Away and the spare time is a one-time thing, just PM any staffer to let them know, and your Away notice will not be cancelled. It would be absurd to punish handlers for being responsible above and beyond the call of duty, especially since it's something we love to see.

To keep things easy on staff, and to make tracking inactivity simpler, we require that everyone in the thread follow the template below when posting Away. If you do not do so, your Away post may not be counted, and you may not receive any extra time against inactivity. Also, note that staff failing to understand an inaccurately-posted Away is not "staff error" when it comes to appeals.

This is not the thread to post that your activity will be reduced, as doing so clutters it up and makes it harder for staff to track. If you're just leaving a courtesy note, please do so in the reduced activity thread.

Handler: Your name goes here. Use your forum handle, so we can easily find you in the list.
Dates Away: Post the dates you are away for here (January 5 2011-February 7 2011, say). Please spell out the months, so we can tell what you mean; dd/mm/yy is not the standard in every country. Do not leave this open-ended; if you have to, estimate high and return early or renew as required.
Days Away: The total number of days away goes here. This saves you from staff math errors late at night. DO NOT give a range. Pick a single, specific number. If in doubt, estimate high and then come back early if you are able. If you give a range, staff will give you the lowest number you put in.
Reason for Away: Here is where you say why you're gone.
Characters: List your characters here.

After this, feel free to put whatever you want, but you must have this template completely filled out to be counted as away.

The code is:

Code: Select all

Handler:
Dates Away:
Days Away:
Reason for Away:
Characters: 

An example of a properly-posted Away is:

Handler: Mini_Help
Dates Away: April 1, 2023 - April 9, 2023
Days Away: 9
Reason for Away: I'm serving as an example and thus not allowed to post for nine days.
Characters: Brigadier-General Adams, Ritzy Daggers, Victor Danya

Do not edit any Away posts to adjust content. Do not edit posts to say you are back. Do not change your dates Away. If there's an issue or an update, make a new post for it, or staff won't find your changes and you may run into inactivity troubles. If you need to extend your Away for whatever reason, that is totally fine—just repost to cover the new dates (and only the new dates) that you will be Away.

Finally, a note on "babysitting." Babysitting was a practice in which handlers allowed others to write their characters while they were gone. This is still allowed (though heavily discouraged as it tends to produce unsatisfactory results), but the presence or absence of a babysitter has absolutely no effect on inactivity. You post yourself Away for however long you are Away for, and your inactivity dates are adjusted based on that. If you decide to have a babysitter, that's fine, but it is only to keep up your characters' momentum/keep things going with their threadmates. You personally are still responsible for posting with them by their adjusted inactivity date, and failure to do so will bear the usual results (inactivity).

The Away protocols may vary slightly when it comes to AUs.

The primary Away thread is the concern of Mini staff, and Mini staff handle determinations of validity of Away posts made to it, potential revocation of posts, etc. There are, however, instances in which AU staff may wish to handle these tasks in-house, and that's totally fine. We ask that, if AU staff want to directly handle Away enforcement, they state such at the beginning of the version (when character apps open) and make a specific Away thread for their game, laying out any differences in policy that may exist (which should not change during the game).

Generally speaking, if an AU chooses to use the primary Mini Away thread, the potential benefit is that it will work off the trust and confidence already established by staff in dealing with this process in a fair (and, if need be, confidential) fashion. The potential drawback is that Mini is traditionally very liberal with Away approvals; we will okay almost any reasonable request, including keeping the exact cause quiet if that's what a handler feels is necessary, and will only cancel Aways in clear cases of abuse of the system.

By running a version-specific Away thread, AU staff have complete control over whether or not a specific reason is valid, become the ones to whom any explanations should be directed, and may more aggressively enforce specific policies. The cost, however, is that handlers who are uncomfortable with discussing personal situations outside the established context of the core staff team or who disagree with aspects of the AU's specific rules or enforcement may choose to sit the version out, potentially lowering participation.

If not specifically stated otherwise at launch, AUs will default to using the primary Mini Away thread.

[Mini_Help]

Sandbox Inactivity

There is no enforcement of inactivity in Sandbox. If a handler is holding up your thread, we'd prefer you politely check in with them by PM, but you are free to skip them, leave the thread, or both. If a handler is behaving problematically in some fashion regarding Sandbox activity, please contact staff with details and we will work to resolve the situation promptly and fairly.

[Mini_Help]

SOTF Mini House Style

To keep the site easily readable and generally cohesive, staff requires that narratives be primarily written in third person past tense. If in doubt, that is always the right choice.

That said, we are an artistic community with a focus on creative writing. If you want to branch out a little (brief lapses into first person or present tense, say), there's no problem with that whatsoever unless it starts to cause comprehensibility issues. Posts shouldn't be entirely in first or second person or entirely in present or future tense as a matter of course, however.

Staff are more lenient about this when it comes to threads that do not involve other handlers (one-shots and the like), as they don't make the overall trajectory difficult to follow.

In threads outside the primary Sandbox/Game routine (say, World of TV threads), you can do whatever you want. Staff only enforces a house style for the sake of game cohesion, and we're just as excited as the members about seeing creativity that poses no threat to the overall game experience.

[Mini_Help]

Proofreading, Grammar, Etc.

Staff requests that all handlers proofread posts to the best of their ability prior to submitting them. We are aware that members have vastly different levels of familiarity with the intricacies of English grammar, especially given the large number of members for whom English is not a primary language, and we do not demand or expect perfection. We just ask that you do your best, so that your posts are as easy as possible for others to read and understand.

If there is ever truly a problem in this arena, staff will contact a handler to discuss it privately, but this has never happened in the site's history so you really shouldn't worry about it. Handlers are generally very good about helping each other out on this front.

[Mini_Help]

Excessive Formatting

Please do not use formatting that makes your posts excessively hard to read. Anything that stretches the width of the post window on a standard resolution laptop is an issue—this tends to come about from overuse of size tags or from writing extremely long strings of characters without any spaces.

Mini has many skins available to members, so please be aware that a color you use for text may end up difficult to read on other skins. If you must use text in colors outside the most typical primary and secondary ones, be aware that you are taking a risk.

On the whole, staff also requests that you carefully consider the use of nonstandard formatting. It is allowed, but the story can become very hard to follow when every post is a rainbow of colors aligned unusually. Moreover, such flourishes are generally not particularly well regarded by the site's readers.

[Mini_Help]

Realism and Acceptability of Character Actions

Much as Mini characters should be grounded high school students, their actions should be realistic to whichever universe they happen to be in. This means that the laws of physics apply, characters should be roughly as competent at given tasks as their profiles indicate, and so on.

Aside from that loose guideline, however, characters may do whatever you want them to, so long as it does not conflict with other rules. Staff are very hands-off in this respect. Your characters are yours, to do with as you please, and staff will only intervene in the event of clear unrealism or of some other sort of rule-breaking.

[Mini_Help]

Content Warnings

Staff requires certain threads to bear a content warning, to better allow handlers who prefer to avoid certain material to avoid it.

Generally speaking, content warnings for extreme violence are left up to handler discretion. SOTF Mini is a collection of very violent stories, though if you're going to have an especially graphic torture scene it may be worth providing warning for the squeamish. As a default, though, handlers can safely assume that there will be major violence going on in games.

Any sexual content that shows up directly in a post should be marked with a content warning. Characters referencing sex in casual fashion does not require a warning, but two characters getting into the nitty-gritty of their experiences would probably merit it. Anything sexual beyond a PG-13 rating or so should definitely bear a warning.

Instances of abuse fall outside the typical Mini violence spectrum and should be marked with a content warning accordingly. Particularly extreme drug content likely falls under the same umbrella, but is not particularly likely to meet the realism threshold anyways.

Content warnings are unnecessary for profanity, light drug usage, alcohol and tobacco usage, religious blasphemy, and so on.

If in doubt about whether a thread merits a warning, you should always feel free to consult staff or other members.

[Mini_Help]

Extreme Content

Certain subjects fall on the extreme edge of what we see on Mini, and are subject to extra scrutiny due to their potential to be mishandled or to cause harm or distress to members. If your character's story outside of the game is to feature any of the following, you must note it during character applications in their profile. We further strongly suggest that these subjects are treated with extreme caution or outright avoided, even in-game, unless you are totally sure you know what you're doing. We also suggest you be aware that even in such cases where you are confident, the community is likely to be cautious and lukewarm in its reactions.

• Abuse: Abuse, physical, emotional, sexual, and otherwise, is an issue unfortunately close to home for a number of members past and present. Dealing with abuse poorly can be greatly offensive, coming off as making light of situations that have caused serious distress and harm to members. Even handled well, abuse tends to make for uncomfortable, hard to read scenes that turn many members away.
• Inappropriate Sexual Relationships/Sexual Assault: Incest, relationships with major age gaps involving a minor, rape of all varieties, and other instances of sexual assault or harassment again lands tragically close to some of our members, and further rarely if ever offers value to a story of the sort told on Mini. Many of these topics run a great risk of being poorly handled tonally, and treated as in some fashion erotic or commonplace rather than horrific and aberrant. Tread extremely carefully if you must tread here at all. Ideally, don't.
• Extreme Violence Outside the Game: Violence is different in the context of a death game than in normal life. While somewhat less common a real life issue than the two preceding ones, major violence can quickly make a character come across as wholly unbelievable, and can again come off as disrespectful to those who actually suffer tragedies.

If in any doubt whatsoever, avoid these issues. We strongly suggest, even if they seem totally fitting for an in-game storyline, some major soul-searching and consultation with staff and members of the community before enacting any plans.

[Mini_Help]

Godmodding

In the context of SOTF, godmodding, or "GMing," is controlling another handler's character, directly or indirectly. This is forbidden unless you are explicitly given permission to do so.

There are two main types of GMing, which will each be briefly discussed:

Active GMing: Active GMing is directly controlling somebody else's character. If you write that their character ran away, or attacked, or anything like that, when the other handler did not say anything about their character behaving in such fashion, that's active GMing.

Active GMing is easily identified and dealt with; any instances will need to be edited out, warnings may be issued depending on the situation, and the thread may then continue.

A good rule of thumb is that you can never state the results of actions your character takes against others. Your character can throw a punch, but it's up to the other handler whether or not it connects.

If you have a scene you feel would be improved by collaboration, just PM whoever you're working with and see if you can work something out. The worst case scenario is they decline and you're back where you started.

Passive GMing: Passive GMing is the slightly more insidious branch of GMing. Passive GMing is when you write such that another character is assumed, but not directly stated, to have behaved in a certain fashion. For example, if a character gives a ten-paragraph speech to someone holding them at gunpoint, that represents an assumption that the guy with the gun doesn't get fed up and pull the trigger. If a character sneaks up on another in the very first post in which they enter a thread, then hold their target hostage or attack from an advantageous position, there is again no chance to respond.

That's the big tell for Passive GMing: actions taking place with no chance to respond, or that paint the target into a corner.

It's totally fine for your character to give long speeches, or to try to sneak up and attack others. There just has to be room to respond. Give it a few posts, work in increments, and you should have no problem. Or, again, consult your thread partners.

---

Finally, a word on what is not GMing:

Attacking other characters is not GMing. It's also not GMing if you do so from an advantageous position, one that makes it hard for them to respond... if, that is, your character got to that position without GMing. If someone has their character hand yours a gun while they go to the bathroom and your character runs off with it, that's not GMing; that's your character making a tactical choice that may have consequences later, based on a situation the other handler willingly got their character into.

It's not your job to protect other people's characters from the consequences of their actions. It is your job to provide them opportunities to respond or change course before they pass the point of no return.

[Mini_Help]

Use of Staff-Created NPCs

Any NPCs created by staff (such as Brigadier-General Adams or his various techs in The Program, mentors and TV executives in SOTF-TV, and the assorted terrorists in SC) are unavailable for handler use unless explicitly stated otherwise. If a handler wishes to use one of these characters for some purpose (perhaps as part of a death post, or some sort of cut-away) they are welcome to make the request to staff, who will review it and then either grant or deny it.

Do not be surprised if such requests are typically denied. Generally speaking, NPCs exist for plot purposes and staff usually has specific roles in mind for them.

Handlers may not create substitute NPCs (heretofore unknown terrorists/techs/TV executives) without staff permission. Metaplot-relevant NPCs are the responsibility of the staff team.

[Mini_Help]

Procedure for Collar-Related Deaths

For any collar-related deaths besides Danger Zone detonation, please consult the staff at least three days prior to the death deadline for approval, including a draft and explanation of the desired death. Staff try to make sure that collar deaths are handled consistently, and wish to have enough time to provide handlers with guidance when it comes to representing collar-related deaths.

Danger zones are an exception because their mechanisms are constant: a ten minute timer of escalating beeps followed by detonation unless specified otherwise in the setting information of a given version.

[Mini_Help]

Large-Scale Area Changes/Destruction

If you wish to have your character take actions that would cause major and significant damage or change to an area, you must first secure permission from the staff team. Generally speaking, staff will weigh the plausibility of the changes/destruction alongside the likely reactions of those running the game and grant or deny permission accordingly.

For example, the executives of SOTF-TV allow a certain measure of destruction, but are liable to intervene if a student is ruing a location that makes for a good set piece or is key to the arena's functionality (either as setting for game or in whatever capacity it will serve once the game concludes). Danya and the SC terrorists, on the other hand, may take a much looser stance and allow destruction to play out as it will so long as there's no possibility of it being used to further escape, but in such situations would crack down quickly and brutally.

If causing a certain type of change or destruction would lead to a character's death, staff will inform a handler of this fact and allow them to change course. If a handler really really wants to have one of their characters die for the change, though, staff will usually be willing to let that happen.

Finally, in the unlikely event that for some reason an area change or destruction is problematic for out-of-character reasons, it will be disallowed by staff.