by Banjooie » Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:49 am
Alright. Let me just paste the characters newsfiles to make life simpler.
--== News Characters ====================================================--
        While it would be nice to allow characters from every game here at
Videoland, we have to have some restrictions for our own sanity's sake,
and for the sake of the theme. We've tried to be as thorough as possible
with these rules, but if you have any questions, please ask. We're
agreeable people here.
        After each entry, there will be examples of what is allowed and
what is not allowed.
                        DISALLOWED CHARACTER CONCEPTS
        - No characters who are based directly off of real, historical or
modern people. This means no characters from sports games, or games
based on some event from history. This doesn't count for highly
fictionalized people, or obvious parodies.
        NOT ALLOWED:        Stalin (Command & Conquer: Red Alert)
                        Dale Earnhardt (NASCAR Thunder)
        ALLOWED:        Dracula (CastleVania) - An undead Vlad Tepes
                        Master D (Bionic Commando) - Hitler's clone
        - No characters are allowed from games based on other media.
This includes characters from books, movies, television shows, and
comics. Again, there is a small amount of leeway here for characters
who are far removed from their original source.
        NOT ALLOWED:        The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Comics)
                        Frodo Baggins (Books)
                        Darth Vader (Movies)
                        Captain Kirk (Television)
        ALLOWED:        Dracula (CastleVania) - Far removed from the
                        original source material.
                        Aya Brea (Parasite Eve) - Though the series
                        was based on a book, Aya and her cast are
                        wholly made for a game.
        - No characters from Massively Multiplayer Online games. All
characters are based off of established game characters, and as
EverQuest and similar games are player-based, they don't really work
here. However, games with a significant single player mode are allowed,
but only for characters unique to that mode.
        NOT ALLOWED:        Firiona Vie (EverQuest)
                        Cid of Bastok (Final Fantasy XI)
        ALLOWED:        Sil'fer (Phantasy Star Online)
                        Deckard Cain (Diablo)
        - Characters with player-set names and personalities are not
allowed. There are some important exceptions to this, such as the cast of
Final Fantasy, as they have gained fame under their class names alone,
but for the most part they're simply not allowed. The majority of
exceptions to this are characters who have an acceptable name that can
be used, but they should be rare.
        NOT ALLOWED:        The Hero of Skate Or Die
                        Custom Player (Any Sports Game)
        ALLOWED:        Knight, Ninja, Master, Red Wizard, Black Wizard,
                        White Wizard (Final Fantasy)
                        The Hero Of Spielburg (Quest for Glory)
                        At (Rogue)
                        Afgncaap (Zork)
        - No characters from adult videogames. This is a PG-13-rated
MUSH, and were' not here to TS, yiff, cyber, or whatever.
        NOT ALLOWED:        Any character from a Hentai Game
                        General Custer (Custer's Revenge)
        ALLOWED:        Larry Laffer (Leisure Suit Larry) - This is the
                        lone exception, and will only ever be awarded to
                        an experienced player whom the staff trust.
        - A character that died in-game but before the events of the game
begin, or in the game's opening, may not be applied for. If they die
during the events of the game, they are fair game.
        NOT ALLOWED:        Maria Robotnik (Sonic Adventure 2)
                        Madonna (Final Fantasy 6)
                        Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7)
                        Nero Landale (Phantasy Star)
        ALLOWED:        Nei (Phatasy Star 2)
                        Aeris Gainsborough (Final Fantasy 7)
                        Dr. Edward Roivas (Eternal Darkness) - His younger
                        self is a playable character before his death.
        - Characters must be from officially released games. The general
rule is thus - if you could go to any Electronics Boutique (or similar
gaming store) in the country and buy it at some point, then it's fair.
No free/shareware characters unless officially released at some point.
        NOT ALLOWED:        Characters from Japanese doujin games
                        Characters from pure shareware/freeware games
                        Thale (Neophyte)
        ALLOWED:        At (Rogue) - This game was actually available at
                        one point for commercial purchase.
        - Characters must have an in-game name. You can't apply for a
nameless villager from some town, but you can app for a minor creature
by its race name.
        NOT ALLOWED:        Conerian Villager (Final Fantasy)
                        Sims (SimCity)
        ALLOWED:        Little Goomba (Super Mario Bros.)
                        Black Marble (Marble Madness)
        - Completely nonsentient characters cannot be applied for. They
must have at least a modicum of intelligence to be applied for.
        NOT ALLOWED:        Diamond Weapon (Final Fantasy 7)
                        Octorok (The Legend of Zelda)
        ALLOWED:        WarMech (Final Fantasy)
                        Queen Metroid (Metroid 2)
        - Narrator characters cannot be applied for. However, voiceover
characters, or characters who have a presence only as a radio message,
are appable.
        NOT ALLOWED:         The Gauntlet Narrator (Narrator)
                        Daravon (Final Fantasy Tactics)
                        Announcers (NBA Jam)
        ALLOWED:        Maurice Chavez (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)
                        Sumner (Gauntlet Legends)
                        Tidus (Final Fantasy X)
        - Randomly named characters from games cannot be applied for.
This mostly applies for strategy games, but groups with a sufficient
in-game presence can be allowed on a case-by-case basis. Ask the admin
if you're interested.
        NOT ALLOWED:        Muglio the Bangaa (Final Fantasy Tactics Advance)
        ALLOWED:        The Prinny Squad (Disgaea)
        - See News Gods, News Fantasy, News 'Mon, and News Megaman
        for game-specific restrictions.
                        ALLOWED CHARACTER CONCEPTS
        - Abstract characters can be applied for with an excellent app.
This does not extend to inanimate objects, but singular beings that could
be endowed with sentience in the Videoland setting.
        ALLOWED:        Left Pong Paddle (Pong)
                        Right Pong Paddle (Pong)
                        Pong Ball (Pong)
                        The Tetrads (Tetris)
        NOT ALLOWED:        Question Block (Super Mario Bros.)
                        Asteroid (Asteroids)
        - Minor characters can be applied for as a singular member of
their kind, or as a group of their kind. This goes for any kind of
character (usually villainous) that there are a lot of in a game.
        ALLOWED:        Koopa Troopa (A single faithful soldier of Bowser)
        ALSO ALLOWED:        Koopa Troopa (A group of Koopas serving Bowser)
        - Characters who are only named through an instruction booklet
can be applied for if they have some kind of in-game presence. In all
cases of this, permission from the admin must be obtained.
        EXAMPLE:        Drolta Tzuentes (CastleVania: Bloodlines)
                        Drolta created one of the game's bosses, which
                        bears her name, but only exists in the booklet.
        - Characters who are established twin-like groups, like the Ice
Climbers can be applied for as a single character, or as more than one
character, if neither of those examples already exist. The first one
applied for applies for all of that group, so if a whole group is apped,
you can't app for a single member.
        ALLOWED:        The Axem Rangers (Super Mario RPG)
                        Saturos & Menardi (Golden Sun)
                        The Lost Vikings (The Lost Vikings)
        ALSO ALLOWED:        Axem Red, Axem Black, Axem Pink, Axem Green
                        and Axem Yellow
        NOT ALLOWED:        Billy & Jimmy Lee (Double Dragon) - These two
                        characters must be apped separately.
        - As a corollary, characters who are firmly established as duos
cannot be applied for separately.
        EXAMPLE:        Blobert and his Boy (A Boy and his Blob)
                        Twinrova (The Legend of Zelda)
                        Lololo and Lalala (Kirby's Dreamland)
                        SPECIAL CHARACTER RULES
        - Characters from foreign-only games may only be applied for if
there is no American release scheduled. Otherwise, they can only be
applied for upon Stateside release.
        - Characters who change radically during a game may only be
applied for in a single form. For example, Cecil Harvey from Final
Fantasy 4 may be applied for as a Dark Knight or a Paladin, but not
both.
        - Older names take precedence over modern names. Princess
Toadstool is ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach is her first name.
Doctor Robotnik of the Sonic the Hedgehog games has Eggman as an insulting
nickname. The ship that assisted the Vic Viper in Life Force is the Road
British Space Destroyer.
        - Names for characters come from the English versions of a game if
such games are available.
        EXAMPLE:        Bartz, Reina, Faris/Salsa, Galuf, and Krile
                        (Final Fantasy 5)
        - IMMORTAL is a skill added to characters who cannot die by normal
means. This includes characters who won't die of old age, or characters
who are demons, angels, or other characters who won't die by normal means.
This also applies to characters who routinely rise from the dead by
explainable means.
        EXAMPLE:        Ganon, Morrigan Aensland
        - UNKILLABLE characters cannot die, either by plot fiat or actual
invulnerability. They can be knocked out, but nothing can actually
physically kill them.
        EXAMPLE:        Albedo Piasora, Guybrush Threepwood
        - INFINITE LIVES is a skill that implies your character can die
and come back for no readily explainable reason. Like an actual game
character, they have lives they can spend and they'll just come back.
        EXAMPLE:        The Hero of Spielburg, Mr. Game And Watch
===========================================================================
There you all are. That will answer all of your 'Can I play' questions, except to see if the char is taken.
Currently, for the record, there ARE no FFX chars, as Tidus, Rikku, and Paine all dropped a week or so back. If you really really want to check, log on as a guest and +finger the char, and then if they're there, ask. Just in case.