Tips For Applying To Multiverse Crisis MUSH

These are some general tips to new applicants on how to best get a character at MCM. Keep in mind, for the most part, these are suggestions - but they're some of the most common problems with getting a character.

• Don't app a Union Last Chancer, Confederate Wraith, or an Unaffiliated, as your first character. This goes doubly so if your character idea is extremely off-the-wall. These characters may have a particularly difficult time getting RP, and although we've had many successes for these characters, they are usually done by players who already have existing alternate characters and know people here, and as such can get RP more easily. Also note that many of the more brutal types will fit in the Union, at least as an ally - while they are not kill-happy, they are also not good guys who will give long lectures on the sanctity of life when the correct action is to empty the clip in the bad guy's head.
• Be sure to talk to someone before applying for higher-level rank. Please do not assume that your character will automatically become a particular Union rank because they are a particular rank in another universe - Captain Picard, for instance, might well end up an Ensign here (that said, he'd still command the Enterprise). Ranks in organizations that are within the factions often have different ranking structures than the faction militaries themselves, so it is entirely possible to be a captain in your home universe and an ensign in the factions.
• Once the bug times have passed, don't be shy about asking about your application. If you wait forever and your app has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle - well, you really WILL end up waiting forever!
• Don't go seeking a PL 36+ as your first character. Unless your app is spectacular, you probably won't get it. Build up the admin's confidence in you first.
• Wikipedia, TV Tropes, etc. are quoted at your own peril. This does not mean we'll reject it, but we may very well want you to tell us what you think about the character, so you may well be asked to add to it. The history section is generally where you may want to do this - the personality section is much more likely to have things be picky. However, if you do include these sources, be sure to tell us you did. Plagarism (quoting sources without credit) may get your app rejected on the spot if caught.
• Don't bother to include pictures of the character. This is a text-only medium, and even if it weren't, what counts here is how well you portray the character and whether or not the character makes the MUSH a better place, both in-character and out-of-character. While you will not be penalized for including pictures, they also won't get you bonus points, and we might not even look at them.
• If the character you want to play has already been played before, talk to the cast, if there is one, to ask about any previous RP, if you can. If you want a "clean slate" you may need to spawn off another theme variation.
• TP Powers - that is, powers of extremely extraordinary potency - are not all they're cracked up to be. Also note that you cannot have conscious, voluntary control of a TP power. You cannot get away with getting a TP Power being restrained by a 'code of honor' or anything along those lines. That said, if you're desparate for a way for it to work, the Multiverse screwing with it (or a quirk in your home universe allowing it to work) may do the trick. Depending on the power, it might also be possible to have a lower-level version of the power for every day use and the full might of the power brought to bear in situations where it fits the TP Power rules.
• For ridiculously giant mecha (or other giant characters), consider having the mecha be scaled down upon entering the Multiverse. While the Balancing Effect will keep them from being overwhelmingly powerful to smaller opponents (at least those who put thought in how to handle the larger opponents), they also tend to be difficult in RP with smaller characters (keep in mind that 90%+ of characters, and their vehicles, are no larger than an average Transformer, and many of those that are larger can shrink or get out of a vehicle for smaller-scale RP).
• Don't get angry if, on a revision, new problems are pointed out that weren't caught the first time around. Quite often, during the voting or review process, new people may have a look at the app at every iteration and may catch things that are missed. Further, sometimes previous problems are large enough to make it difficult to see other problems.
• Read the questions! Glossing over the questions in the app will likely cause you to have to revise the application.
• If you have a particularly off-the-wall idea, consider talking to the admin and/or the fachead before you put in a huge amount of effort regarding it.
• Remember - for themeatic variations and canon breaking, while we allow a very wide lattitude, the more exotic it is, the more thought has to be put into it. Not just with your character, but how that character's world has changed, not to mention explanations of how things got there, and perhaps most importantly, how this remains balanced in the MUSH setting.