Lessons From Past Lives (The Rules)

THE SITE RULES

Here at Eyes Open we're pretty easy to get along with. We always do our best to help everyone out and we don't ask for much. Just follow the rules and feel free to ask for assistance anytime you need it. That's what admins are for!

1) Treat Others as You Would Like to be Treated. That means no name-calling, dissing, or otherwise bullying a member or guest OOC. If you have a concern, let a staff member know and we will handle it properly.

2) Honesty is the Best Policy. Do not attempt to impersonate members of this or any site. Also, do not steal from us or any other site. Everything original on Eyes Open belongs to us. Do not use any of it without permission. Period. And on that note...

3) Give Credit Where Credit is Due. If given permission to use anything from Eyes Open, you are required to disclose its creators and link back here. Also, we require the use of faceclaims so that people can look up the existing character and appreciate its artists and creators. This is non-negotiable.

4) Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Well. Whether it be your application bio or your day-to-day posts, make it worth reading. You're writing it for a reason, so put your all into it. You'll be more proud of yourself for it and your readers will appreciate the effort.

5) You're Only Human. Granted, possibly a human with the ability to manipulate nature, but still a human nonetheless. So we don't want to see any God-like characters with earthbending skills "better than Toph's" or firebenders with blue flames or any other color that is trying to rival Azula's, etc. This is not to say your character cannot be proficient, or even legendary. As long as we don't have multiple people attempting to be "the world's greatest waterbender". It gets old. Just be unique and don't rip off or spin off what has already been done. Which leads us to...

6) To Thine Own Self Be True. There are a fair amount of previously written stories, ideas, and characters set in the World of Avatar. Yet when compared to the limitlessness of the imagination, there is no question that you should be able to think of a unique character and history. This means not making Aang 2.0 and certainly under no circumstances making a character that is descended from copyrighted characters. We do not want a dozen sub-plots and family trees that don't mix with each other because multiple people keep doing their own story of how Katara had an affair with Zuko and there's a long-lost descendant worthy of the throne blah, blah, blah. It gets messy, it doesn't make sense, and to be quite frank, it's lazy. Write a fan-fiction and get it out of your system. Then spend some extra time and create an original back story for your character that does not rip off of someone else's character development.

7) Patience is a Virtue. Remember that we live in a busy world and at times it may be difficult to keep to a regular posting schedule. But don't fret! If you're waiting on someone, feel free to post somewhere else in the meantime. Need a staff member's approval? One of us will be available to help you within a very reasonable amount of time. Until then, get acquainted with the boards, play some forum games, and get to know your fellow members in the cbox.

8) It's Not the Size That Counts, It's What You Do With It. Okay, maybe size does count here. Please try to make your posts an average of two or more paragraphs long. It'll give your fellow roleplayers more to work with and in turn give you more to write about as well.

9) All's Well That Ends Well. Thank you ahead of time for your cooperation on these matters. Remember, if you have any questions or concerns about the rules or anything else related to the site, please ask a staff member. Even a well-informed site member would be happy to help. We all had to start somewhere and that's how you learn!

Have a great time everyone and welcome to Eyes Open!

-- Marley and Alice