Staffing Applications, what kind do you use and why

[Khaleesi 4]

Do you use applications on your site?

Yes and no

 

If not, why not?

I use apps but I keep them hidden so only staff can see them.

 

If not, what is the strength in going appless?

 

If yes, what kind?

Traditional/Freeform

 

What does that application include? How is it used on your site?

Application

After sending the app to an admin or mod, we review it and send a PM as far as it's status. Once we have an accepted app, we (@)everyone on discord and post a little introductory blurb about the character but that's all.

 

What, in your opinion, is the strength of your application type?

It is not the strength of our app 'type' per say but how we got about it, the hiding it from other non-staff members. I believe this is a good approach because no one knows anything about anyone until they roleplay together or plot with each other. I feel it opens up the site for more character to character interactions as well as a sense of actual reality. No one meets someone and knows the details of their life. It is unexpected ad exciting this way esp if the character is a liar , manipulator or otherwise criminal.   

[jordan 23]

Do you use applications on your site?

Yes

 

If yes, what kind?

I use a mixture of traditional and freeform. 

 

What does that application include? How is it used on your site?

The application is set up to be an easy app, something that gives the basics about your character and to make sure they fit with in the world. It also provides a place to store power descriptions and weaknesses. I allow for bullet points or paragraph form to fill out the information. This gives people a more control in what they give. Link

 

What, in your opinion, is the strength of your application type?

I like the idea of everything being organized. I like the tabs and having notes on personality in one place and history in another. It allows for people to quickly glance at bullet points or at small paragraphs to get a good understand of a character for plotting. The history is more for admins to see how they connect and work together with the board. I find it useful and helpful when using so many different species on the board.

[Muse 121]

On 10/25/2018 at 6:35 AM, Kit the Human said:

Do you use applications on your site?

Yes

 

If yes, what kind?

I suppose our application is traditional: it's a character sheet that must be reviewed and approved.

 

What does that application include? How is it used on your site?

A character sheet must have a complete profile (race, birthday, birthplace, occupation, etc), a FC, personality, backstory, skills, inventory and goals. We are a mechanics-lite system with a bit of structure but are rather casual about it at the same time. It's somewhat hard to explain.

 

A character sheet is both an introduction to the character as well as a work in progress: players can update their character's skills, goals, history, location, etc. any time as their character progresses through their stories. It's not meant to be a static application but a dynamic record of a character's growth and change throughout the "game."

 

What, in your opinion, is the strength of your application type?

I like having an in-depth application that challenges players to really dig into their characters from the very beginning, giving them a firm foundation for coming up with their story arc ideas (for themselves and/or with other players). Having a bit of mechanics allows for a player to set goals and make visible progress as well as resolve conflict or determine levels of strength for different situations, be it player v player conflict, player v NPC conflict, or just a strange adventure gone wrong. I often find that open-ended games leave me, personally, lost as a player without any goals, but I also find that mechanics-heavy games lead to powergaming. I hope that I've found a middle ground and/or something completely different with my style of application/character sheet.

 

I want to make sure a player has taken the time to really consider why they are playing the character they are playing, and I think that an in-depth character sheet allows for that, with the approval process being just being an agreement that they're ready to play, as I usually don't find a lot of finished character sheets that need much editing or changes to fit into the story on my site.

 

I know it's not like that elsewhere, and I fully expect to have to deal with those things eventually ... 😉

 

Edited January 17, 2019 by Muse

[Lilythe 12]

So my co-admin Josie makes all our codes for our apps. We like that the doHTML makes everything uniform and pretty. 

 

Beyond that, the content of the app has a "fill in" section and a "bio" section. The bio is meant to be fairly freeform, because all we really care about is seeing that there's a consistent character idea that doesn't break the canon rules we set. Beyond that the shipper is also included there, and that's again, to see that there's a consistent idea formed. This is largely because we have experience with writers on sites we were previously part of not keeping consistent and throwing monkey wrenches into our personal plots with them and agreed it was a pet peeve of ours. The thing is that we don't require a specific length, so we hope that's enough that makes our writers feel like they don't have to do a million and one things.

[Guest Bekah]

On 10/25/2018 at 11:35 AM, Kit the Human said:

N/ADo you use applications on your site?

Yes

 

If not, why not?

N/A

 

If not, what is the strength in going appless?

N/A

 

If yes, what kind?

Interview and Freeform

 

What does that application include? How is it used on your site?

We use an interview style application in the hopes of finding out everything that we need to know about a character. A lot of people have said that this type of application really helps them to develop their characters. Applications are refered back to when plotting with other members and characters.

 

Interview Application

 

What, in your opinion, is the strength of your application type?

I think our application type allows members to develop their characters as they wish, but it gives members a springboard of sorts to really develop their characters backstory before they join the rest of our characters. 

 

[Snickerdoodle 51]

Do you use applications on your site?

Yes?

 

If yes, what kind?

Traditional, I suppose, and it doubles as the character profile

 

What does that application include? How is it used on your site?

Student Template

Faculty Template

Other Template

 

It includes basic information like age, birthday, hobbies, blood purity, wand details, family, playby, etc along with brief descriptions of personality and history. It is submitted through Google Drive (email is also an option if the applicant refuses to use Google products for whatever reason) so the admins and applicant (and whoever else they want input from) can collaborate on various things like what house they will get sorted into, which characters they might have connections to, and to address concerns or questions. Once it is approved, the player posts the finished product in the profile board for everyone to see. 

 

What, in your opinion, is the strength of your application type?

Players can give a little bit of insight into the character's personality and background (we only require one paragraph for personality and two for history) so that they have some wiggle room to develop their toon through playing, or they can go into as much detail as possible, detailing every event, big and small, from birth to their current age, if they want.  I like using Google Drive for the application process because it's collaborative and access can be restricted to whoever they want to see it (if they're working out connections to other characters with other players) - not just the player and admin. All without everyone on the board getting a sneak peek before the profile is complete. And they can also choose whether other people can edit, read, and/or comment, so collaborators can't just jump in and start adding stuff if the player doesn't want them to.

[In Red 16]

Do you use applications on your site?

Not exactly - we have a sorting quiz in order to be put in a house usergroup, which encompasses both IC and OOC.

 

If not, why not?

The site I admin is a HP site, we have a sorting quiz in place of an app but everyone is accepted. Once you're accepted you can choose to post a bio for others to read IF you are planning on RPing, and it can be as detailed or as sparse as you like. Not all our members RP as its a fandom/news site, not strictly an RPG site.

 

If not, what is the strength in going appless?

Its less intimidating to brand new RPers, equalizing for all ages (ours is an all ages forum, I believe the youngest person I have RP'd with was around 12, and the oldest in their 70s), and equalizing to those who don't have English as their native tongue. It also means you can basically jump right on in, and therefore prioritizes the RP experience itself over all the behind the scenes and housekeeping stuff. However, we DO have a newbie system much like here on the Initiative, where ten posts must be made in order to become a full member (and be able to access the sorting quiz) so that does help with weeding out certain types of people (and bots and the like for that matter).

 

What does that application include? How is it used on your site?

Instead of an application we do have a sorting quiz, you can take it in character, or take it as yourself, whatever you pick, your result is the usergroup that you'll end up in (and if you RP in the school you will have to RP in that house, at least initially).

 

What, in your opinion, is the strength of your application type?

Its EXCITING honestly! Think Pottermore except that our sorting quiz is hand-sorted (and has been for the last 16 years) so given the HP fandom, it basically manages to capture that same 'first year' excitement and newness from the books, which is appropriate to the type of site it is.  I think part of what makes this work is that on our site you have one ooc account, and list your characters in your profile. If there were sub-accounts for the RP characters, then this system would not work as well. 

 

edit: I feel like I should also add that we have hundreds of thousands of members so (while they are not all active) it would not be practical to trawl through RP apps in the traditional sense. Even the RP itself has numbered in its thousands, member-wise.  Nothing would ever get done if every individual character needed to be explicitly accepted prior to allowing them to play.

Edited January 19, 2019 by In Red
afterthought

[fruity20 19]

I tend to use more simple applications. nothing too fancy. it's really up to the user themselves if they wanna go in depth or be simple as long as they follow the character creation rules. 

[Huskerdust 625]

I don’t have an app because they were always my least favorite admin job (reading over apps and approving or denying). I found that when I did do apps, I never denied anybody. Because I just want to give everyone a chance and I’m not that terribly picky about the people who play on my site. As long as they’re not racist or an asshole, I’m cool with everybody. 

 

For me, the strength is not having to deny people or criticize their profiles. I never liked that anyway. Another strength is the ability for players to start writing as soon as they make a character account. No waiting around for staff to approve them. No sweating it out. 

[Gothic 307]

Do you use applications on your site?

Yes

 

If not, why not?

N/A

 

If not, what is the strength in going appless?

 

If yes, what kind?

Traditional

 

What does that application include? How is it used on your site?

Name, DOB, rank, occupation, personality, appearance, family (pretty important in Ancient Rome). History is another one. On the new site it will be either in paragraphs, timeline (year by year), or freeform in format. It also includes a picture of the character to act as a visual representation. Player name, preferred contact and timezone. 

 

We used to have an RP experience (in case they needed help), age, other characters, and I think there was something else but I can't remember specifically. 

 

What, in your opinion, is the strength of your application type?

The detail helps. With the timeline it shows they are aware of the past occurrences and are generally aware of what has happened. With the family, it shows a possibility of being able to post with other people, etc. 

 

A negative could be is that people see other people's applications (length wise) and assume their app -has- to be as long/detailed. 

[Morrigan 1,826]

I stopped using apps forever ago. I find plotters more useful but plotting chatrooms are also a ton of fun. "Who wants to play with XYZ!?" and then people ask the questions that they find relevant.

 

On my current site I will have to say yes and no. It's a none traditional RP site and technically has more than one RP each storyteller can choose to require or not require as much or as little of an app as they want in their RP. So it will depend on the person telling the story in their realm in how much information they require.