After the recent batch of auditions there were a number of issues that came up, and more often than not they were the same for everyone. So now me and my buddy Chuck (
<--- Chuck) are working together to bring you this tutorial on what it is the staff looks for in an audition. Basically, a list of Dos and Don'ts.
Now that the boring ass intro is out of the way... Lets Get Started!
Standard Audition
Spelling and Grammar:This is so easy to take care of it isn't even funny.
...
No really. It isn't.
You got two choices here.
*bes a game show host*
Chuck? Tell them their choices!
:
Thanks Chuck.
Just an fyi in case you missed the memo, the consequences of spelling/grammar issues is moderation preview.
Huh? Who? What?Yes you heard me correctly.
Moderation Preview. I.E. all of your posts will have to be approved by a staff member until you do improve. It's not fun.
Originality:This is the big one and the area where most people lose points in this part of the audition. I don't think I'll be needing Chuck for this one. I'm the creative genius afterall - and he's just a nerd.
I joke! I kid!
...
Kinda.
Anywho! The best advice I can give you here is don't go with the first thing that comes to mind unless you really do believe it to be ingenius. Chances are, someone has already done it and possibly done it better. Try to approach the scenario from a different and unique way. If it helps any, try to remember that everyone likes a good twist.
This also goes for selecting your scenario. Don't pick the easiest one. Why? Because everyone probably does that one (actually I can guarantee you everyone does that very same audition) and the mods are already a little put off by the choice.
Is it biased? Yes. Is it fair? No. Does it happen? Yes.
So do us all a favor and don't do it! Be different! Be bold!
Fighting Audition
Writing Technique:This is a weird category, I admit. To be honest, most mods use it as a catchall to take off points that don't seem to fit anywhere else.
Write clear and concise responses here. When you are doing a battle you really do sacrifice a bit of creativity (a bit, not all; we don't want blandness) because that tends to lead to godmodding - aka metagaming. Which brings me to probably the single biggest problem in the RP world...
Metagaming:Make sure what you are saying makes sense and that you describe it well enough that other people get it. Hmm, hold on... Chuck!
:
Thanks buddy. But I think I can take it from here.
Questions should be answered fully. Don't just go find the subhead that you need for the answers because sometimes there are other examples or more to the answer that can be found elsewhere. And some mods - namely, me - are nitpickers and will take off half points for missing pieces of information.
You should use your character in your auditions. This is mostly for returning players who needed to reaudition. We want to see your characters react to a situation; not for you to create a character that will react to a situation the way you want them to. Why? Because you won't be able to do the latter in an actual RP.
Also, you need to fight in your fighting audition. There is a reason why the fight scenarios exist. Do not run away or use powers. Powers are a copp out because it's a lot harder to metagame with them, so mods do take off points for that. If you don't fight, mods take away a point per category in that section. This means you are already on the brink of failing. Not a good place to be.Well I do believe that covers it. I hope this little tutorial helps you pass the audition. Until then, Chuck and I are out!
Chuck! Lets go! Our work here is done... I hope.
