Overview of the approval system

[Kritch Telsmas]

The purpose of designing a character using an application is so that A, the staff can give you a tier for distributing your stats, and B, so that other members can learn more about your character without asking, which can get very annoying and repetitive.

When creating a character, you must create a New Topic. The Title of the Topic should be, in this order, "Name, Race (*STATUS GOES HERE*)". The Status of your application will, for the most part, be "W.I.P", or Work In Progress, meaning that you are still editing the character. When you are ready to be approved, your must change the status of the application to "Complete" or something akin to that. The reason this format exists is so that Staff Members and other Members can easily look through the Topics to find out whose is complete and who still has work to do, without opening every single one.

Now, as for your application. You do not need to use any Template found on Siltrine: Game of Worlds. These are a guideline of what we look for, and to make it easier for new members who are not used to forum applications. You may use Templates from any other site so long as you give the website it originally came from at the bottom of your application. As Siltrine has the potential for being a massive cross-over forum, all Templates are valid so long as they are comparable to those found on Siltrine.

When you are being graded, frequently called "grading", the Staff Member in charge will read through your application in its entirety, which means some applications may take a couple days to review. This is to give you the best grade possible that you deserve. Things that Staff will look for that negatively effect your grade are: spelling, grammar, punctuation, and detail. Length of the application does matter, but if its all useless information (called "Fluff"), it will not count and may actually lower your grade.

Speaking of grades, this is how you'll get your first stats. Every grade, or "Tier", gives you points to use for your stats before you even begin Roleplaying. These freebies establish your baseline of what you're capable of. Obviously, higher Tiers reward more points for your stats, as well as all previous points from lower Tiers.

The Tiers, in order, are: Inept, Novice, Apprentice, Assistant, Graduate, Veteran, Master, Grandmaster, Ascended and finally Godhead. These ten Tiers give a general sense of your character's prowess and ability. To give an example for the differences between each successive Tier, we will use the example of magic.

An Inept would be somebody who has no magic, or very little magic. The Novice would be somebody who has magic, but does not know how to use it. The Apprentice is the Novice while being taught how to use magic. The Assistant would be the Apprentice who is good enough to help the teacher. The Graduate, therefore, would be the one who would most likely be teaching. The difference between the Graduate and the Veteran would be like comparing a high school teacher with a college or university professor. The Master, then, would  be a world renown genius of magic. The Grandmaster is the leading expert in magic. However, the Ascended is somebody whose magic goes beyond what others of their time would think possible; they're literally ahead of their time. The Godhead, though, is one whose magic is so great that they are essentially a god themselves for all intents and purposes.

As you can see, as your Tier gets higher, the gap between them grows wider and wider. This is why, with very few exceptions, no applications will receive a Veteran or higher Tier from the application process. To achieve these higher Tiers, you must earn the rank through your Roleplaying, by proving your character deserves the next Tier, and you must request the advancement. Unless you are extremely exceptional, Staff Members will not ask you if you'd like to advance in Tier. For advancement from Master to Grandmaster, at least 2 Staff Members must approve the advancement. For Grandmaster to Ascended, a minimum of 3 Staff Members, including one Admin, must approve. To obtain Godhead status, the vote must be unanimous among all Staff Members on Siltrine.