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Canon, Plotting and Character Development
Canon:
I haven't read any/much DC comics.
Terrific! A virgin brain! The more important questions are:
Can I work well with others, including working out disagreements?
Do I enjoy or think I'd enjoy epic, comic-book style stories?
Do I have some patience to be able to wait for others to get their stories going so I can weave my own in?
Am I willing to listen to others giving feedback to me on how I am playing the character and offer that feedback in return?
Can I work with what others have written before me, just like any other serial writer?
If the answers to the above are “yes,” then you will likely do fine. We can always find you canon sources if you want to read up on someone.
I have a lot of canon knowledge and this doesn't look like my comics.
If you have been reading in the last 10 years, then you may have a point. The last DC comics crisis moment we are taking from is the '90's story of Zero Hour. Through the 2000's we kept most, but not all, the stories written up through Sue Dibny's death in Identity Crisis. After that, there just became less and less we wanted to use of the main DC comics storyline because our characters evolved differently. A full account of the canon cut-offs can be found on the front page of our wiki.
Are you going to do anything for the big reboot?
Probably not or only in passing. We have 7 years of story to draw from and no lack of story ideas waiting in queue. While this is not a universally held opinion, the reboot generally doesn't hold much interest for the vast majority of our player base. We like this world, in part because we've placed a lot of man hours and emotional investment into it.
7 years of canon? That's scary! Aren't you due for a Crisis and a Reboot?
Believe it or not, 7 years of storytelling isn't that extreme; Impressive, maybe, but not extreme. Due to the tag system and the wiki, character moments are easy to find and do not require someone to go out and buy comics. Not much as ever happened here “just because,” and therefore the evolution of the characters has a logic and documentation to it. If you take a weekend, you'll probably be able to read everything you would ever want to know about the majority of the characters out here. If you want the short version, other players are more than happy to help.
Also, you really don't need 75 years of Superman comics to play Superman. You need to know his powers, who's around him and what he's been up to recently. If you want to read 75 years of Superman and draw from that large knowledge base – go nuts. We're here to help.
We're also a little different because we believe canon creates more story potential than it drains away. If you want to do something different, there is generally a way to get it done. It just might take a few stories to pull off – and it may require the cooperation of other people. Crisis moments never seem to clear things up the way they are advertised because it's never ends up being a full change of canon or a changing of the guards.
If you are of the “tl;dr” (too long; didn't read) school, a game filled to the brim with avid readers and focused plots might not be a good fit.
Why is the canon for an RPG so important to upkeep?
Not only is canon where the characters have been and what they have experienced, but it is where we, as the players, have been with them. Yes, it's corny, but that creative process should be respected even in a fan-made product. Near the beginning of this game, we were honored to have two service members stationed in Baghdad in our player roster. What they were doing was brutal and dangerous. While they both, thankfully, made it home, their work from that time was some of the only outlets they had to channel that very real ugly into something powerful and hopeful. Others of us have or have had health scares and other crisis moments. In those time, we, as a community, keep coming back to the fact a part of them created what you read here. Editing those contributions out for the sake of convenience seems damn tacky when there are other ways to get things done.
How do canon and OC’s work?
Original characters are part of the story and therefore have in-game canon and effects that can become very important. When they leave the game, they are irreplaceable. Should you leave, the admin need to know how you would like to work your character out of the story (retirement, death, etc.). While your preference will be noted and respected the admin have final say on how a character is dealt out of the continuity. It is easier to work a character out of the meta-story if they are not involved in a plot.
( Plotting and Working with Others )
( Character Development )
Canon:
I haven't read any/much DC comics.
Terrific! A virgin brain! The more important questions are:
Can I work well with others, including working out disagreements?
Do I enjoy or think I'd enjoy epic, comic-book style stories?
Do I have some patience to be able to wait for others to get their stories going so I can weave my own in?
Am I willing to listen to others giving feedback to me on how I am playing the character and offer that feedback in return?
Can I work with what others have written before me, just like any other serial writer?
If the answers to the above are “yes,” then you will likely do fine. We can always find you canon sources if you want to read up on someone.
I have a lot of canon knowledge and this doesn't look like my comics.
If you have been reading in the last 10 years, then you may have a point. The last DC comics crisis moment we are taking from is the '90's story of Zero Hour. Through the 2000's we kept most, but not all, the stories written up through Sue Dibny's death in Identity Crisis. After that, there just became less and less we wanted to use of the main DC comics storyline because our characters evolved differently. A full account of the canon cut-offs can be found on the front page of our wiki.
Are you going to do anything for the big reboot?
Probably not or only in passing. We have 7 years of story to draw from and no lack of story ideas waiting in queue. While this is not a universally held opinion, the reboot generally doesn't hold much interest for the vast majority of our player base. We like this world, in part because we've placed a lot of man hours and emotional investment into it.
7 years of canon? That's scary! Aren't you due for a Crisis and a Reboot?
Believe it or not, 7 years of storytelling isn't that extreme; Impressive, maybe, but not extreme. Due to the tag system and the wiki, character moments are easy to find and do not require someone to go out and buy comics. Not much as ever happened here “just because,” and therefore the evolution of the characters has a logic and documentation to it. If you take a weekend, you'll probably be able to read everything you would ever want to know about the majority of the characters out here. If you want the short version, other players are more than happy to help.
Also, you really don't need 75 years of Superman comics to play Superman. You need to know his powers, who's around him and what he's been up to recently. If you want to read 75 years of Superman and draw from that large knowledge base – go nuts. We're here to help.
We're also a little different because we believe canon creates more story potential than it drains away. If you want to do something different, there is generally a way to get it done. It just might take a few stories to pull off – and it may require the cooperation of other people. Crisis moments never seem to clear things up the way they are advertised because it's never ends up being a full change of canon or a changing of the guards.
If you are of the “tl;dr” (too long; didn't read) school, a game filled to the brim with avid readers and focused plots might not be a good fit.
Why is the canon for an RPG so important to upkeep?
Not only is canon where the characters have been and what they have experienced, but it is where we, as the players, have been with them. Yes, it's corny, but that creative process should be respected even in a fan-made product. Near the beginning of this game, we were honored to have two service members stationed in Baghdad in our player roster. What they were doing was brutal and dangerous. While they both, thankfully, made it home, their work from that time was some of the only outlets they had to channel that very real ugly into something powerful and hopeful. Others of us have or have had health scares and other crisis moments. In those time, we, as a community, keep coming back to the fact a part of them created what you read here. Editing those contributions out for the sake of convenience seems damn tacky when there are other ways to get things done.
How do canon and OC’s work?
Original characters are part of the story and therefore have in-game canon and effects that can become very important. When they leave the game, they are irreplaceable. Should you leave, the admin need to know how you would like to work your character out of the story (retirement, death, etc.). While your preference will be noted and respected the admin have final say on how a character is dealt out of the continuity. It is easier to work a character out of the meta-story if they are not involved in a plot.
( Plotting and Working with Others )
( Character Development )
