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02: Application Appreciation
Sep. 1st, 2012 10:29 amWhen I made this blog, applications were one of the main topics I wanted to talk about. Applications are something a lot of roleplayers struggle with, and yet it's one of the very few parts of roleplaying that you can't really get rid of. A lot of it boils down to patience and not really understanding the true purpose of an application, so I wanted to clear that up.
Before I get the to the subject at hand, I want to take a moment to remind everyone that this blog is full of my personal opinions. These are what I look for when I roleplay and mod. I do not speak for all players or mods, and it is entirely possible that your particular mods will want something entirely different from you. As with everything I say, use this post as more of a guideline than a set of rules.
To start with, you need to remember that an application is vital to playing in a game for one simple reason: it helps the mods understand your character. You need to go into this assuming that the mods are canon-blind (IE they don't know anything about your canon and everything you say is the only thing they know about it) and that you have to spell out all the important parts of both the canon and the character for them. Use your judgement for what is and isn't needed, but it's a good idea to err on the side of caution with an application. An application is literally you telling the mods "I would be good at roleplaying this character, and these are the reasons why." Take your time, and make your app shine.
Moving on to the app itself, there are a few general things that fit into most of the sections of an application. The biggest one is how well the app fits together. Make sure your sample touches on what is mentioned in your personality. Make sure to mention how your character's strengths and weaknesses affect their personality. Most importantly, if any changes have to be made for the game (IE aging up, being stuck somewhere for a set amount of time, power limitations, etc.), come out and say how they affect your character's personality, and show those changes in the sample. Go ahead and list power restrictions in the strengths and weaknesses section. These are just some examples, but you get the idea. The more your app agrees with itself, the better it looks, and the more likely it is to be accepted.
Another point I can't stress enough is to read the game information. Read it, and keep it open in tabs while you write your app. No two games are the same, and faqs will often address questions you have while writing an app. I remember once I had an app sent back for revisions because I forgot to mention one important detail in the sample. It was a very silly mistake, and if I had kept the faq open and double-checked my app I would have caught it.
Now, let's get into the individual sections.
Basic information:
This includes things like player information and character information. This is usually a small block of a few questions that can be answered in a few words each. I highly doubt any of you need help with this part, but here's a couple small things that really help. If your canon has multiple names, either list them all or go with the one the canon is known the best by. It needs to be something I can google to find more information on. If it's a series, list the general name of the series, or the name of the first book/movie/whatever in the series.
History:
In the game I mod at, we only ask for a history link. Truthfully, I only skim this part most of the time. The only time I really do in-depth reading is when it's a canon without a resource to link to (a really small fandom with no wiki page, OC apps, etc.) or when I have questions about the canon itself that the other sections don't answer. Your goal should be to fill out the other sections thoroughly enough that I shouldn't have to read this section.
If you do have to write out your history section, try to limit the history information to things directly related to your character. This section isn't as important as others, so keep it to things that are absolutely needed for your character. General world information is good if it's important to your character. Also, filling it out in chronological order helps.
Personality:
Do NOT skimp on this section. This is one of the two I judge the most, and a decently-written personality section can be the different between an acceptance and a revision request. Calling back to my previous post, make this section as long as necessary to convey the important parts of your character. Too long, and it's hard to get through. Too short, and it's hard to tell if you have a grasp on your character.
Also, when writing the personality section, be sure to show, not tell. I've had many players write out a comprehensive guide of what happened to their character, stopping every so often to say "this shows that my character is [insert trait here]." This is a very messy way to write it, and I will usually ask for a revision if a player writes an app this way. Instead of writing this section chronologically, group it so that each paragraph covers a different part of the character's personality. Say "My character is [insert trait here]. He shows this in canon by [inset examples here]." Remember that the focus is on who the character is, not what they have done in canon.
Powers/strengths/weaknesses:
This section is pretty easy to do. I can count on one hand the number of apps I have rejected based on this section. In general, just remember to write this part out in paragraphs, not as a list. Be thorough when listing powers, and give explanations of what those powers do.
For weaknesses, be sure to include real weaknesses, not strengths-disguised-as-weaknesses. A good baseline is if the weakness is likely to be exploited within the game, mention it. If not, then it's not really a weakness worth mentioning. A perfect example of this is "My character trusts everyone so he is easily taken advantage of." It sounds like a weakness, sure, but in reality it will probably not be exploited in most RPs. Even though your character is trusting to a fault, he or she will likely have other people watching out for their best interests, so exploiting their tendency to trust everyone is hard to do. Likewise, something like "he is a really bad driver" for a game with no cars is not a good weakness to list, since it will never come up.
Sample:
Now, my game only requires one prose sample, but I know other games require a network sample too. Regardless of how many samples you have to write, keep this golden rule in mind: display the traits you described in the personality section. If your character is a very charitable person, write a sample showing how they helped other people. If your character likes to laugh at the pain of others, show that. If they're sarcastic, show that.
Now, obviously you won't be able to cover everything you list in the personality section. It's very rare for a sample to be able to touch on all the emotions of one person in one moment. Just try to focus on the most important and most readily visible traits you can. Remember that the people who are reading your app will probably be canon-blind, so they are really relying on the personality section to get a feel for the character. If your sample directly contradicts what is in the personality section, it will be rejected. This goes doubly so for OCs, since we don't have any canon to check if we are unsure.
One of the best apps I ever read was for an energetic, sporty girl whose sample was entirely focused on trying to get the NPCs of the game to do morning exercises. It did an amazing job of showing how energetic she was and how she just rolled with the punches, which were both things the apper had mentioned in the personality section. Even better, the apper had used information from the setting of the game in her sample, which showed us that she had done her homework and read all the game info before apping. While that is in no way required in most games, it certainly makes you look like you know what you are doing.
Other sections:
Some games require things that I've never seen before, so this is a catch-all section for everything I haven't covered yet. Whatever the game might ask of you, try to look at examples of apps if you can and fill out those sections how the mods want you to. Ultimately the app is meant to make them feel satisfied that you know what you're doing, so just go with what they want. Most apps will directly state what they want, and if you have questions you can always go ask the mods too.
Post-app-writing:
When you have finished writing your app, and everything is filled in, you need to go back and re-read everything you've written. Make sure the sections all agree with each other. Spell-check and grammar-check your app. I'm going to do another post about this later, so I'll be brief here, but I can say that I have rejected apps for being impossible to read. Check your homonyms, check for words that are misspelled into other words (so you don't end up writing an app about the angle Castiel, for example) make sure you don't have sentence fragments or grammar issues that make your app hard to read, and so forth. Take your time to polish and app and make it something you are proud of. And if you're not sure of you can catch your own mistakes, or if you have an issue that makes it difficult to do so, ask around for someone to give it a once-over for you and help you with that part.
This is an especially important step to me, because it shows how much dedication you have to both your character and roleplaying as a craft. It takes time and effort to write an app, and if you're willing to take your time to make it impeccable then that shows me that you have the patience to do something right the first time. Turning in an app full of spelling errors, tense changes, and confusing sentences just tells me you're not willing to put in the effort, which doesn't convince me that you'll do well in my game.
Just be smart about your app. Read the resources offered to you, and ask questions if you're not sure. Take your time, and you'll do fine.
Practice:
For practice today, go read the application faq and general faq for whatever game you're in. Re-familiarize yourself with information you might not have read since you apped in the first time. Now go look at one of your apps and see how well your application followed those guidelines.
Before I get the to the subject at hand, I want to take a moment to remind everyone that this blog is full of my personal opinions. These are what I look for when I roleplay and mod. I do not speak for all players or mods, and it is entirely possible that your particular mods will want something entirely different from you. As with everything I say, use this post as more of a guideline than a set of rules.
To start with, you need to remember that an application is vital to playing in a game for one simple reason: it helps the mods understand your character. You need to go into this assuming that the mods are canon-blind (IE they don't know anything about your canon and everything you say is the only thing they know about it) and that you have to spell out all the important parts of both the canon and the character for them. Use your judgement for what is and isn't needed, but it's a good idea to err on the side of caution with an application. An application is literally you telling the mods "I would be good at roleplaying this character, and these are the reasons why." Take your time, and make your app shine.
Moving on to the app itself, there are a few general things that fit into most of the sections of an application. The biggest one is how well the app fits together. Make sure your sample touches on what is mentioned in your personality. Make sure to mention how your character's strengths and weaknesses affect their personality. Most importantly, if any changes have to be made for the game (IE aging up, being stuck somewhere for a set amount of time, power limitations, etc.), come out and say how they affect your character's personality, and show those changes in the sample. Go ahead and list power restrictions in the strengths and weaknesses section. These are just some examples, but you get the idea. The more your app agrees with itself, the better it looks, and the more likely it is to be accepted.
Another point I can't stress enough is to read the game information. Read it, and keep it open in tabs while you write your app. No two games are the same, and faqs will often address questions you have while writing an app. I remember once I had an app sent back for revisions because I forgot to mention one important detail in the sample. It was a very silly mistake, and if I had kept the faq open and double-checked my app I would have caught it.
Now, let's get into the individual sections.
Basic information:
This includes things like player information and character information. This is usually a small block of a few questions that can be answered in a few words each. I highly doubt any of you need help with this part, but here's a couple small things that really help. If your canon has multiple names, either list them all or go with the one the canon is known the best by. It needs to be something I can google to find more information on. If it's a series, list the general name of the series, or the name of the first book/movie/whatever in the series.
History:
In the game I mod at, we only ask for a history link. Truthfully, I only skim this part most of the time. The only time I really do in-depth reading is when it's a canon without a resource to link to (a really small fandom with no wiki page, OC apps, etc.) or when I have questions about the canon itself that the other sections don't answer. Your goal should be to fill out the other sections thoroughly enough that I shouldn't have to read this section.
If you do have to write out your history section, try to limit the history information to things directly related to your character. This section isn't as important as others, so keep it to things that are absolutely needed for your character. General world information is good if it's important to your character. Also, filling it out in chronological order helps.
Personality:
Do NOT skimp on this section. This is one of the two I judge the most, and a decently-written personality section can be the different between an acceptance and a revision request. Calling back to my previous post, make this section as long as necessary to convey the important parts of your character. Too long, and it's hard to get through. Too short, and it's hard to tell if you have a grasp on your character.
Also, when writing the personality section, be sure to show, not tell. I've had many players write out a comprehensive guide of what happened to their character, stopping every so often to say "this shows that my character is [insert trait here]." This is a very messy way to write it, and I will usually ask for a revision if a player writes an app this way. Instead of writing this section chronologically, group it so that each paragraph covers a different part of the character's personality. Say "My character is [insert trait here]. He shows this in canon by [inset examples here]." Remember that the focus is on who the character is, not what they have done in canon.
Powers/strengths/weaknesses:
This section is pretty easy to do. I can count on one hand the number of apps I have rejected based on this section. In general, just remember to write this part out in paragraphs, not as a list. Be thorough when listing powers, and give explanations of what those powers do.
For weaknesses, be sure to include real weaknesses, not strengths-disguised-as-weaknesses. A good baseline is if the weakness is likely to be exploited within the game, mention it. If not, then it's not really a weakness worth mentioning. A perfect example of this is "My character trusts everyone so he is easily taken advantage of." It sounds like a weakness, sure, but in reality it will probably not be exploited in most RPs. Even though your character is trusting to a fault, he or she will likely have other people watching out for their best interests, so exploiting their tendency to trust everyone is hard to do. Likewise, something like "he is a really bad driver" for a game with no cars is not a good weakness to list, since it will never come up.
Sample:
Now, my game only requires one prose sample, but I know other games require a network sample too. Regardless of how many samples you have to write, keep this golden rule in mind: display the traits you described in the personality section. If your character is a very charitable person, write a sample showing how they helped other people. If your character likes to laugh at the pain of others, show that. If they're sarcastic, show that.
Now, obviously you won't be able to cover everything you list in the personality section. It's very rare for a sample to be able to touch on all the emotions of one person in one moment. Just try to focus on the most important and most readily visible traits you can. Remember that the people who are reading your app will probably be canon-blind, so they are really relying on the personality section to get a feel for the character. If your sample directly contradicts what is in the personality section, it will be rejected. This goes doubly so for OCs, since we don't have any canon to check if we are unsure.
One of the best apps I ever read was for an energetic, sporty girl whose sample was entirely focused on trying to get the NPCs of the game to do morning exercises. It did an amazing job of showing how energetic she was and how she just rolled with the punches, which were both things the apper had mentioned in the personality section. Even better, the apper had used information from the setting of the game in her sample, which showed us that she had done her homework and read all the game info before apping. While that is in no way required in most games, it certainly makes you look like you know what you are doing.
Other sections:
Some games require things that I've never seen before, so this is a catch-all section for everything I haven't covered yet. Whatever the game might ask of you, try to look at examples of apps if you can and fill out those sections how the mods want you to. Ultimately the app is meant to make them feel satisfied that you know what you're doing, so just go with what they want. Most apps will directly state what they want, and if you have questions you can always go ask the mods too.
Post-app-writing:
When you have finished writing your app, and everything is filled in, you need to go back and re-read everything you've written. Make sure the sections all agree with each other. Spell-check and grammar-check your app. I'm going to do another post about this later, so I'll be brief here, but I can say that I have rejected apps for being impossible to read. Check your homonyms, check for words that are misspelled into other words (so you don't end up writing an app about the angle Castiel, for example) make sure you don't have sentence fragments or grammar issues that make your app hard to read, and so forth. Take your time to polish and app and make it something you are proud of. And if you're not sure of you can catch your own mistakes, or if you have an issue that makes it difficult to do so, ask around for someone to give it a once-over for you and help you with that part.
This is an especially important step to me, because it shows how much dedication you have to both your character and roleplaying as a craft. It takes time and effort to write an app, and if you're willing to take your time to make it impeccable then that shows me that you have the patience to do something right the first time. Turning in an app full of spelling errors, tense changes, and confusing sentences just tells me you're not willing to put in the effort, which doesn't convince me that you'll do well in my game.
Just be smart about your app. Read the resources offered to you, and ask questions if you're not sure. Take your time, and you'll do fine.
Practice:
For practice today, go read the application faq and general faq for whatever game you're in. Re-familiarize yourself with information you might not have read since you apped in the first time. Now go look at one of your apps and see how well your application followed those guidelines.
