Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 10, 2008 12:19:40 GMT -5
The FAQ has been updated by that stellar Wiki-updater, Hook. The full FAQ can be found on the wiki, however, the changes are also listed below.
Question 1.1, the list of allowed continuities, has been updated to include Animated.
I won't cut and paste the entire entry. Below IDW Beast Wars and above Devil's Due WWII:
Question 1.6 added.
Question 2.6.2, the over-applied for skills list, has been clarified with an example added.
Below the list itself is the following note:
Please be aware that this addition does not represent a policy change. We have been bouncing back applications for not citing the sources on over-applied skills for months now. However, we've come to the conclusion that the previous wording was not clear enough.
Below that is our example, cut and pasted from the Rodimus Prime application, of the sort of justifications we're looking for, especially when applying for an over-apped skill at a particularly high level.
The Penis Question is now numbered 3.5.
Just in case, you know, you get down to 3.4 and then panic because it's not talking about penis anymore.
A new question 3.4 has been added.
Question 1.1, the list of allowed continuities, has been updated to include Animated.
I won't cut and paste the entire entry. Below IDW Beast Wars and above Devil's Due WWII:
Animated - The Autobots are primarily civilians who can just about handle human super-villains. Except for the ones who've designed themselves to go up against the Autobots. The Decepticons are mucho-powerful compared to the Autobots.
Question 1.6 added.
1.6 Can I apply for a character just revealed in the episode/comic issue that came out today? Can my pull-point be today's episode?
No. The pull-point for any character from an ongoing series must have been publicly available for at least a month, whether you're talking comic book or cartoon. Further, since spoilers are inherent in the introduction of any new character, a character cannot be applied for until at least a month after their introduction in their base series. We feel that a month is sufficient time for those concerned about being spoilered to get caught up on the material.
No. The pull-point for any character from an ongoing series must have been publicly available for at least a month, whether you're talking comic book or cartoon. Further, since spoilers are inherent in the introduction of any new character, a character cannot be applied for until at least a month after their introduction in their base series. We feel that a month is sufficient time for those concerned about being spoilered to get caught up on the material.
Question 2.6.2, the over-applied for skills list, has been clarified with an example added.
Below the list itself is the following note:
If your character possesses a skill on this list, you will be required to provide justifications as to why they have it. If they are a canonical character, you will have to cite examples of the character using that skill in canon
Please be aware that this addition does not represent a policy change. We have been bouncing back applications for not citing the sources on over-applied skills for months now. However, we've come to the conclusion that the previous wording was not clear enough.
Below that is our example, cut and pasted from the Rodimus Prime application, of the sort of justifications we're looking for, especially when applying for an over-apped skill at a particularly high level.
This skill list is from the application for Marvel Rodimus Prime. (Please note that he appeared in only five arcs in the entire Marvel UK run of the Transformers comic. These were the levels of justification required to grant a character with relatively little facetime these levels of skills.):
Tactics - Pinnacle (Write-up notes his ability as a tactician; 114 Wanted Galvatron Dead or Alive 2: Very intelligent ambush is pulled off; Fire on High 1: organizes the hit and run tactics against Galvatron that successfully relieves him of his time device and keeps him distracted while it's rebuilt by Wreck-Gar; Head Hunt 2: Leads Death's Head into an ambush, forcing him to give up his hunt.; Time Wars: Organizes Autobots and Decepticons from two time periods, once more employing hit and run tactics against Galvatron and Megatron.)
Strategy - Excellent (Has to organize campaigns, lead the Autobots; Head Hunt 1 : Has successfully stale-mated Shockwave in a guerilla conflict; Legacy of Unicron 3 : can easily predict that the attack being made is abnormal for Shockwave; Aspects of Evil (inferred) : Less than a year after the forced withdrawal from Cybertron in 2009, has successfully regained an Autobot foothold on the planet)
Leadership - Excellent (Wanted: Galvatron Dead or Alive, and... many others. - Is apparently considered essential to have on Cybertron, else the Autobots face a loss of the war; Fire on High 1 - Can get a Junkion to talk normally; Time Wars: Commands multiple groups of Autobots on the battlefield)
Engineering - Good (Good enough to reassemble Kup in not the best of circumstances (Movie); also familiar enough with the workings of an interstellar craft to know just where to sabotage it in such a way that it would carry the crew to the destination and crash, killing most but leaving Unicron-him to wreck havoc (The Void-White Fire arc); Capable of hotwiring a spaceship built by an alien, unfamiliar species (Kup's Story); Capable of breaking into a spacecraft's navigational system and resetting the destination (Kup's Story); Successfully bypasses security systems designed by Kup (Kup's Story) and Kup and Red Alert (The Void-White Fire arc))
Pilot - Good (Successfully pilots an unfamiliar, alien built spaceship (Kup's Story); Assists Kup in piloting duties in the movie)
Fast Talk - Average (Does a convincing job of pretending to be genuinely in trouble, and that Kup and Blurr are really dead (114 Wanted Galvatron Dead or Alive 2); convinces Death's Head (who had sworn revenge on him over the lost Galvatron contract, anyway) to give up his commission against him and accept one for Scourge and Cyclonus instead (Head Hunt 2); The acting portion of his mimicry job convinces Galvatron that he has really killed Starscream (Target: 2006))
Voice Mimicry - Average (Mimicked Starscream well enough to fool Galvatron (Target: 2006))
Ventriloquism - Amateur (Rodimus appears to know the skill, but supplements it with bi-pass vocal circuitry and an echo cell; it seems apparent that knowledge of how to do this is not common, as Hot Rod mentions having regularly fooled Kup with this trick (Space Pirates)
Tactics - Pinnacle (Write-up notes his ability as a tactician; 114 Wanted Galvatron Dead or Alive 2: Very intelligent ambush is pulled off; Fire on High 1: organizes the hit and run tactics against Galvatron that successfully relieves him of his time device and keeps him distracted while it's rebuilt by Wreck-Gar; Head Hunt 2: Leads Death's Head into an ambush, forcing him to give up his hunt.; Time Wars: Organizes Autobots and Decepticons from two time periods, once more employing hit and run tactics against Galvatron and Megatron.)
Strategy - Excellent (Has to organize campaigns, lead the Autobots; Head Hunt 1 : Has successfully stale-mated Shockwave in a guerilla conflict; Legacy of Unicron 3 : can easily predict that the attack being made is abnormal for Shockwave; Aspects of Evil (inferred) : Less than a year after the forced withdrawal from Cybertron in 2009, has successfully regained an Autobot foothold on the planet)
Leadership - Excellent (Wanted: Galvatron Dead or Alive, and... many others. - Is apparently considered essential to have on Cybertron, else the Autobots face a loss of the war; Fire on High 1 - Can get a Junkion to talk normally; Time Wars: Commands multiple groups of Autobots on the battlefield)
Engineering - Good (Good enough to reassemble Kup in not the best of circumstances (Movie); also familiar enough with the workings of an interstellar craft to know just where to sabotage it in such a way that it would carry the crew to the destination and crash, killing most but leaving Unicron-him to wreck havoc (The Void-White Fire arc); Capable of hotwiring a spaceship built by an alien, unfamiliar species (Kup's Story); Capable of breaking into a spacecraft's navigational system and resetting the destination (Kup's Story); Successfully bypasses security systems designed by Kup (Kup's Story) and Kup and Red Alert (The Void-White Fire arc))
Pilot - Good (Successfully pilots an unfamiliar, alien built spaceship (Kup's Story); Assists Kup in piloting duties in the movie)
Fast Talk - Average (Does a convincing job of pretending to be genuinely in trouble, and that Kup and Blurr are really dead (114 Wanted Galvatron Dead or Alive 2); convinces Death's Head (who had sworn revenge on him over the lost Galvatron contract, anyway) to give up his commission against him and accept one for Scourge and Cyclonus instead (Head Hunt 2); The acting portion of his mimicry job convinces Galvatron that he has really killed Starscream (Target: 2006))
Voice Mimicry - Average (Mimicked Starscream well enough to fool Galvatron (Target: 2006))
Ventriloquism - Amateur (Rodimus appears to know the skill, but supplements it with bi-pass vocal circuitry and an echo cell; it seems apparent that knowledge of how to do this is not common, as Hot Rod mentions having regularly fooled Kup with this trick (Space Pirates)
The Penis Question is now numbered 3.5.
Just in case, you know, you get down to 3.4 and then panic because it's not talking about penis anymore.
A new question 3.4 has been added.
3.4 What kind of stats can my Animated Autobot be reasonably expected to have accepted? What about my Animated Decepticon?
Viewers of the new Animated series have probably noticed by now the big power difference between the Autobots and the Decepticons, even between the Elite Guard and the Decepticons. As the Autobots in this series, unlike the Autobots in other serieses where there are Autobots, are either civilians or peace-time soldiers, they get the short end of the power levels stick.
Animated Autobots should be in the low to low-average range of power levels. There will no doubt be exceptions from the canon, but original character exceptions are highly unlikely to be granted.
Animated Decepticons, as active military personnel, should run from average to high-powered. High-powered Animated Decepticons should not be standard for original characters, even if the majority of the canonical ones are.
Viewers of the new Animated series have probably noticed by now the big power difference between the Autobots and the Decepticons, even between the Elite Guard and the Decepticons. As the Autobots in this series, unlike the Autobots in other serieses where there are Autobots, are either civilians or peace-time soldiers, they get the short end of the power levels stick.
Animated Autobots should be in the low to low-average range of power levels. There will no doubt be exceptions from the canon, but original character exceptions are highly unlikely to be granted.
Animated Decepticons, as active military personnel, should run from average to high-powered. High-powered Animated Decepticons should not be standard for original characters, even if the majority of the canonical ones are.