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Special: 1x1 Interest Check Standards Explained

First, enjoy this video:

Some of you may have noticed that the mods have put up new standards in the 1x1 section regarding the advertising mature-content RP's, that's because we realized that saying "Keep it tasteful" isn't really providing any sort of guidance and that people are still running into problems (and that brings the mods into it sometimes) when people misunderstand whether or not an RP involves explicit mature content or not. Some people have even been jumping into interest checks to say, "That's not allowed here!" when, well, yeah, it is. So we need to clarify; yes, you're allowed to advertise for mature content RP, which is to say the explicitly sexual if that's you're thing. We are not nannies or babysitters or arbitrators of morality, but at the same time, there are a couple hitches.

We do have concerns about not running afoul of Google Adsense and also want it all kept tasteful, so we've crafted these guidelines so that everyone knows what RP's are going to involve written-out boinking and which do not. So far, people have been very good about adhereing to this common code for 'hello sailor!' so we've hopefully been able to reduce the confusion around here. By tagging your RP with [Mature/18+/Adult] or something along those lines (using those words) and avoiding the words 'smut' or 'cybersex' or even going into some listing of specific acts like it's a talent agency website for adult movie stars (listing their do's and don't's) and inviting interested parties to inquire within, we all have a common-ground way of knowing what RP's are going to have explicit content -- just stamp it with that. Contrairwise, the lack of that marker means that the person isn't interested and if you absolutely must have explicit content in your RP, you can pass over said partner's interest check. They shouldn't have to say, "No, I don't want to do that" and argue about it after they're into an RP. You guys should have that conversation up front and it all be understood.

All these conversations need to be held in PM, incidentally, especially as you guys decide to discuss details and specific red light/green light acts, but that's no surprise -- the RP's themselves cannot appear in public threads on the Guild either and have to go off-site. (for lulz, google docs)

So what are the mods doing with this besides giving themselves some more work? Well, standardizing the signal for 'it's an explicit RP' so that people can be clear going in, which avoids awkward misunderstandings, but also to clear up the very vague 'keep it tasteful' comment from a while back -- it's not fair to ask people to just wing it on their own judgment, so the mods drew the line for people.

Also, remember that the Guild obeys federal law in the United States (where we're based -- because again, we don't want the site to get in trouble) so that means that if the content breaks that, they're going to shut it down and ban the users.

As a conclusion, the Guild is trying to say that we're regulating explicit 1x1's and how they're advertised out of a concern for the well-being of the Guild and not any personal sense of prudishness. Most of the rules have to do with preventing harassment of our members, making it a safe environment for roleplayers and to keep the site from being shut down for some reason. Above all, however, the mods want to thank you guys for being helpful on this. They appreciate the effort.

At Large In the Guild Community Challenge

- One of the notable artists in our community, Brand, has started a community challenge for artists on the Guild, similar to the old Artist of the Month Challenge. In his words, however, it differs: "I've been considering for some time now starting up a kind of monthly community art project, something like a Monthly challenge kind of deal. Not so much a competition, but more like each month there could be some kind of guidelines, like create a piece of art utilizing a certain color pallete, make a landscape, or draw/paint/create your interpretation of a reference image. Once again, this won't be a competition, but an environment where we can just have fun and admire eachother's work. Then we could store everyones work in the first page, kind of like a public gallery." We definitely endorse the initiative and applaud the passion for trying to help improve the community -- kudos!

The Conversation: Feminist Roleplaying

twelveobin asks how other players bring in certain beliefs that the writer holds into their characters, which sets off a debate about how to integrate a belief (such as feminism) into a setting where that belief is not mainstream and the cultural/social mores are against it.

Up and Coming

Interest checks are often the first stage in recruiting players for an RP, and a really good one can net you a lot of applicants. These are some of the interest checks that caught our attention recently. Best of all, they're looking for players!

Notable Interest Checks [+]

Current and Cool

Roleplays on this list have already started (but may still be recruiting, please consult the GM) and also caught our attention; the hard work the GM and players put in to setting up the RP, writing their sheets and hashing out the details have paid off and now they're writing their in-character (IC) posts.

Notable Roleplays [+]

On Display

- Art: Community Challenge #1 - Brand has started the first Community Challenge for artwork in the Gallery section: "Create a piece of artwork that in someway incorporates the element of age within it. It could be a statue overgrown with wildlife, a home weathered from years of abandonment, or say a portrait of an elderly person. You can use a reference from online, or go out and take your own! Your finished piece should convey to the viewer a sense of time long past. Feel free to get abstract or surreal if you wish, so long as you stick with the theme." We look forward to the submissions and will update on further community challenges.

About RPGN

RPGN is produced by a volunteer staff of pretentious, talentless TV celebrity chefs with the goal of bringing Guild members current and useful information about goings-on in our community. We are always accepting suggestions on categories and content. We're particularly interested in displaying people's artwork as a banner (and will fully credit it and link your gallery -- woo). For more information, feel free to PM RPGN.

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