Profile Restrictions and Suggestions

[chanpuru]

It has come to the staff's attention over the last few days that A LOT of the newer profiles lack original concepts. Most profiles are simply- cliches. All of the information was somehow distorted from some other concept which sucked to begin with. I'm not going to bash anyone, and point out names because you already know who you are. If profiles don't start getting better as far as quality goes, some of the Administrators are gonna get a little cranky. We all know what kind of site that makes.

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Names]
We've already said it in the rules, but I have to reiterate. NO NAMES THAT DON'T EVEN BEGIN TO SOUND JAPANESE. If you wanna be really accurate as far as the name goes: check the kana.


Ages and Ranks/Positions]
Some people don't seem to get that ranks have a tweaked dependency on age. No, it's not all about age. But it does lean on age just a little bit. Next person to register a character who's 4-years-old and in the Ninja Academy is gonna get personally pwned by myself. I mean that.

Children usually enter the Academy at the age of eight. Entering later is acceptable. From there, children become Genin at age twelve. Eleven would be acceptable in certain situations. Later is fine as well. The only way to get to Genin before that is if you're registering a character meant to be a genius (ie. A Lord or Kage), or if your character actually RPs getting to Genin earlier. Genin become Chunin at the age of fourteen or fifteen. Later is also acceptable. Becoming a Jōnin doesn't have a defined limit. Jōnin means Elite Ninja. So to obtain a Jōnin, your profile need to be of exceptionally good, if not Elite in itself.

ANBU, Oinin, and Iryō-nin aren't ranks. Anyone who told you so is a little loony. There is no real limit on being those. HOWEVER! You must be at least a Chunin to obtain those positions. Genin could train toward those positions if they please.


Village Hopping]
No more of it. If I see another profile that somehow has the character move from Kumo to Kiri, I'll have to slap you sideways. Only way I, or any other staff is allowing this is if the said profile is... destructively phenomenal, to the point where if the English Prime Minister read it, he'll issue orders to sends nukes at America. Or it just makes a great deal of sense. :3


Mission Count]
It's an annoyance. Genin aren't going on B rank missions unless it is properly explained in the history (which should correspond with a village history, or canon history), as to why Genin are going on such missions. Twenty-year-olds aren't going on seven million missions. Reduce the number to coincide with your age and rank. No more comparing your mission to canon characters. Kakashi is a double Elite. An Elite Jōnin. You... well, you're you. Differentiate, buddy.


Simple Stuff]
Some more stuff is ticking at the staff. Some people on the site don't know how to manage the differences between weight and height. Yes, it is true. If I were 5'3", I won't be 85. lbs. Not unless you mention that character being malnourished. At which point, Ninja Life won't be very healthy. Tall character's aren't light either. Their bones are heavy. And unless you're bones reflect those of birds, you're gonna weigh quite a bit. To find a good balance, look up BMIs.

In addition to that, you might want to be checking your grammar and spelling. Proboards has a spelling check built into it. Microsoft Word has a grammar check. If for someone reason you need something else, you can use this site. It comes loaded with spell check, grammar check, and even a thesaurus. Use it.

Histories]
Wow, this is by far the most frustrating of all the things we review. A lot of people are loading their histories with fluff, and hoping it'll earn them points on this site. I understand some people feel the need to detail just about everything (I myself go into dramatic detail in my profiles, but all the things I describe add to the character's personality, jutsu, or his/her storyline). There is a limit. I don't want you to go senseless on Thesaurus.com, look up seven synonyms for village, and post them all in one sentence. It gets old. Not saying you should dumb it down. But... we aren't interested about one day in your character's lives. It's not even like the profile's histories are that interesting either. Some are dramatically long, and hold little literary quality. Others do, and are flat out boring. When writing a history, tie in things that interest those from Japan, as well as the village you're coming from. Describe your family life and some of the endeavors your character has overcome. That SHOULD suffice.

On the other side of the extreme, some people are writing little mediocre paragraphs and expecting to be some ubergodomgipwnusidwaiz. It doesn't fly here. Only what I'd accept a profile that is two paragraphs is in an Academy Student. And even do, that is an absolute minimum.

Also, next person to have a character who is abused physically (the issue with this one is rape), and not have any sort of consequence of such is going to get wtfpwn't by Yours Truly. It is honestly ridiculous. Redonkulous, if you will. Some people just might be a little sensitive on the subject. And it makes them even more sensitive if you just throw it in there to not be a Mary Sue or a Larry Stu. You want your character to be abused? Okay, fine. But make it make sense and actually effect the character if you want that character to be approved.


Formatting]
Look, I'm all for creativity, but these overly formatted profiles are not gonna fly. It makes the admin's job harder when they are looking for the basics. If you are gonna change the format, do not change the order of the headings. We made it the way we did for a reason. Yes, we let it slide before this message, but it's not happening anymore. Fix it.


Overpowering]
Yeah, I've been reading through the profiles, and the jutsu, etc. What is really starting to grind my gears is the amount of people applying for uber characters or jutsu based on solely... nothing. It's becoming a problem. If we continue to allow it, and suddenly cut it off further along the way, members will complain that it is unfair. Which it would be. So to keep everything fair, and within everyone's reach, no one will be allowed to apply for overpowering jutsu or characters off the bat. I don't think I need to tell anyone what overpowering is. It's fairly obvious. You can't run around making characters who destroy complete villages, make after-images when they move, etc., based on a history alone without being the rank of a Village Leader, or it is pre-planned and approved by ALL the staff members. To those do wish to obtain powerful characters, etc., you need to actually do something significant through RP. This doesn't mean running into random threads, killings people. You could survive a major event, accomplish a fair amount of missions, wow your village leaders, etc. Use your imaginations.


Nukenin and Relatives]
There seems to be a common trend among the many profiles that have been coming in. This trend is starting to become annoying, and completely redundant. Sure, being a ninja has its dangers, but I find it incredibly hard to believe that your characters are going to be the very last of their family. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but if you're going to go about that road I want a decent explanation for it. It's getting rather annoying to read that some random Nukenin appeared and killed them for seemingly no reason.

Which brings me to my next point. Not all Nukenin are evil. They are criminals, yes, but not all criminals are bloodthirsty murderers. Normally, they will attempt to keep a low profile, or just attempt to live a normal life without rules. An example of this would be Zabuza [ yes, Zabuza ]. He fled his village and became a mercenary, essentially doing the exact same thing he would in Kirigakure minus the rules. My point is this: Don't kill off your relatives because you're too lazy to do that section of the profile, and if you do at least make it original.

Using Hiragana, Katakana or Kanji]
If you're gonna use Japanese characters such as the ones above, please, PLEASE, I IMPLORE YOU-- know what it means. Do not go around slinging "長門門" which is "chef gate gate" all over the place because you want to make your profile look cool. Be forewarned, we do notice things like that.

Character Images]
If you're gonna use someone else's character art for your own character, be sure to check their requirements of usage. For example, if they say to credit it... I say it would be best that you actually did so. We won't snitch or anything, but we're not going to claim any sort of responsibility. ¬______¬

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Disregard this thread? Fine. Look below.

You're the cameraman. Think it out.

[Team Rasenden | Administrators]

This'll be edited as more profile issues arise.

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Update -- Amendments added to main post.

[LIVEnSPIRALS]

Update
- New Ammendment added.

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Update concerning "Hiragana, Katakana or Kanji" added.

[chanpuru]

Update concerning "Character Images" has been added.

[chanpuru]

Update concerning "Simple Stuff" has been edited to reflect growing concerns about grammar and spelling errors.