Rules Updates & Trick or Treat
After a few months of very good discussion amongst staff and our members, we've settled on updating several of our policies. We've outlined them below. Please note that we are still in the process of updating our library and FAQ to reflect these changes, but are working on that as quickly as we can.
2 Week Waiting Period & Free Pass System
Players are no longer required to wait 2 weeks between bringing in new characters to join the game. You may join as many characters as frequently as you wish. Likewise, should multiple characters go inactive, you are free to bring them back all at the same time and no longer have to keep track of when you've used a "free pass". However, we ask that you be honest with yourself and your RP partners - if you're frequently dropping multiple characters in an activity check, you probably shouldn't be playing that many characters at once.
Puppies
Now, characters as young as 8 months will be allowed to join the game. Puppies who go inactive before 8 months will be treated like any other character who goes inactive and will no longer be at risk of dying if they are not adopted within 2 weeks of going inactive. The parents are solely responsible for managing the activity requirements with their adopters - staff will no longer be notifying parents when their pups have gone inactive.
Adoptions
We ask that if there are any activity requirements attached to adopting a character, that the person putting the character up for adoption makes it clear in the application so all potential adoptees are aware of it. In the event that you need to take the character back, staff will ask for proof of the agreement. We suggest taking a screenshot when the adoption profile is posted.
Word Count Lowered
The site's word count has been lowered to 100 words. This is the minimum we expect from posts that wish to claim LP. Posts that are consistently shorter than 100 words will not be awarded LP.
Level of Knowledge about Relic Lore from Outside Wolves
Unless your character has a direct tie to Relic Lore (by knowing somebody who has lived here), they will only be allowed to know vague knowledge about the place prior to joining the game. We'll be updating the library to make this less ambiguous and clear to new players.
Gray Area with Powerplaying Rules
The rulebook has been updated to make it clear that while powerplaying isn't generally allowed, individuals may make exceptions. We ask that if you do allow your character to be powerplayed, that you indicate how and to what extent in your signature so others are aware.
Thread Completeness
We ask that to make it 100% clear for staff when we're checking for LP, that the last person in the thread please indicate with a note that the thread is complete. Whether that means putting a "Fade out" or literally putting "Thread Complete", doesn't matter to us, just make it clear so that if it's a situation where the conversation kind of fades out, but nobody physically leaves, we don't have to guess if the thread is done or not.
This is also a reminder that threads are not able to be claimed for LP until they have been archived.
PG-13 Rules
Threads with mature topics (including sexual topics or suggestions, violence and gore) should have the thread title marked with either {M} or {Mature}. We also ask that individual posts that include mature themes also include a marker at the top so that way if somebody clicks on the thread from the new post list, they get a warning that they might miss if they don't start at the top of the thread.
RoW has a very diverse community and the capacity for different mature topics varies greatly. We ask that you be sensitive to your fellow players and err on the side of over warning rather than not at all.
Wolf Subspecies
The guide will be updated to indicate that any subspecies of wolf is allowed so long as they could reasonably survive in Relic Lore and it makes sense for them to be here. This means that the Mexican wolf is allowed, while the Eurasian or Maned wolves are not.
Characters based on fictional works
This is not encouraged, but we will no longer be asking characters to change if we feel they follow too closely an existing character in other works.
Character Personalities & Disorders
We didn't bring this up for conversation, but this has been an issue that we've increasingly dealt with over the past year, so we're going to make this explicit in our rules going forward. We ask that if you want your character to have some kind of disorder or disability, whether physical or mental, that it be something that wolves can realistically have (ex. Wolves can't have synthesia).
We also ask that if you are going to play a character with a disorder or disability, that you be considerate and respectful of the fact that a disorder is not the sole trait of a character's personality. For example, a character with ADAH should not only have ADAH listed in their personality section. Conflating a disorder and personality is incredibly disrespectful to people who have those disorders in real life, so if that's the only part of your character that you've considered, we ask that you reconsider what the purpose of your character is.
Remove Negative LP Docks
Negative LP docks have all been removed. This means lone wolves will no longer be automatically deducted 20 LP every 2 weeks. We've also removed the Lone Wolf Tracker. Likewise the other few negative LP docks that existed were removed. All characters' LP have been recalculated with the negative LP removed.
Profile Fields
We've removed the den field and made the height, width, and length fields optional. In their place, we will be adding a "description" field in conjunction with physique. These will be things like "Bulky, Lean, Lanky, Chunky, etc." If you have a suggestion for these, please respond to this thread and let us know.
LP Updates
Staff are still discussing what LP changes will be made as a consequence of the changing word count. Until we announce any changes, the system will remain in place as is.
Pack Flexibility
There were a lot of suggestions made about how we can make packs more flexible. These changes are still in the process of being implemented in our library and the rank system, but can be considered to be in effect as of now.
- There can be two leaders of the same gender.
- Packs can exist and be created with only 1 leader.
- Pack leaders can assign roles at their own discretion.
- Packs can have their own custom roles. However, pack leaders are responsible for updating their pack library articles to reflect what these are and help to maintain a "translation", so all players can quickly see what the equivalent role might be in another pack.
What does this mean for rank challenges?
If a pack is led by 2 males, for example, and a subordinate wishes to challenge up, they may pick either leader to challenge. This applies in all packs, even in ones that are led by both a male and a female.
All of these changes are likely to have varying impacts on the game, and we appreciate your patience in their implementation and the discussion period, as well as your continued patience as we continue to make tweaks to smooth out any issues that might arise from these changes.
Trick or Treat
A Halloween tradition here at RoW, the infamous Trick or Treat bags are back. What kind of ghosts and ghouls will your character find lurking about Relic Lore this year? You decide by picking one of the 15 bags below. Inside each of them is a different random event - themed around either a trick or a treat. With only 15 bags, it is expected that some characters will receive the same random event, and we encourage you to take advantage of that opportunity and thread together - maybe with somebody new!
Unlike previous years, we won't be awarding a ribbon for the three threads completed first. But all threads completed will be eligible for Random Event LP, so long as they are started before November 1st.
When requesting, please make it clear who the bag is for.
Fall Festival!?
 #1 |  #2 |  #3 |
 #4 |  #5 |  #6 |
 #7 |  #8 |  #9 |
 #10 |  #11 |  #12 |
#13 | #14 | #15 |
When requesting your Bag, please use the following code, replacing the # sign with the number of the bag you want to choose. Upon submitting your post, your post will update with your assigned post prompt.
Code:
[bag=#]Note that the following code WILL NOT WORK. Do not include the # sign!
Code:
[bag=#1]
![[Image: treyah_by_loccian_love-dc7mu4q.png]](https://orig00.deviantart.net/b68e/f/2018/091/d/b/treyah_by_loccian_love-dc7mu4q.png)
![[Image: treyberossig_by_becuffin-dc8ufez.png]](https://orig00.deviantart.net/3532/f/2018/104/a/c/treyberossig_by_becuffin-dc8ufez.png)
![[Image: AplcUOC.png]](https://i.imgur.com/AplcUOC.png)
![[Image: ds_by_a_yellow_bird-dc337jk.png]](https://orig00.deviantart.net/b328/f/2018/044/7/8/ds_by_a_yellow_bird-dc337jk.png)
