Post by Mod Doc. on Sept 16, 2015 19:22:06 GMT
Please discuss the following guide within the rules of conduct here on TFG. We're trying to make it fun for all while addressing the issues that have come up with this topic. Thank you.
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Blatant rip offs will NOT be tolerated.
EDIT ***
This includes things like names, places, and events taken directly from another work of fiction without even trying to alter it to fit within the TF universe. For events, simply changing the place of occurance to Cybertron and names of people does not count as re-writing them to fit. You're getting into copy-write and trademark territory here and while this whole RP could be considered a work of creative fanfiction, we really don't want to risk getting involved in a suit of some kind. That, and OCs are called Original Characters for a reason. If you want to bring in a certain kind of character into the RP, see the following for a guide on how to do so.
*** END EDIT
Now, there are many combinations of tropes that are used across the board in many forms of fiction. Inspiration can be drawn from favorite characters and reformatted to be a new character. But to create a character that's clearly from a different fiction entirely and simply give a tie-in event breaks the immersion of this being a Transformers RP world. Thus, history wise, your characters cannot have events that are clearly of those other fictions. This site's main purpose is Transformers. And while not all Tranformers canon fit within the story we chose (thus is why they are banned), your character's history should still be able to fit within some form of Transformers canon that meshes with our own. So, when writing your characters and their history, ask yourself: Would this make sense within the Transformer's canon stories? Another way to think of it: Is this a show that the humans of TFG watch? If so, then it's a no go. Yes, this is a bit subjective, but we're here to help you.
As for things like vehicle designs, there are some awesome vehicle designs out there in other fiction. If you really like a design that's clearly a Batmobile, KITT, a Mad Max car, etc, you can easily mention something like your character saw it when they arrived to earth and really liked the design. Humans are creative little creatures, there's nothing saying that the humans in TFG don't have shows of other fiction and the props to go with 'em.
And speaking of props, these rules apply to technology, gadgets, and weapons as well. If you're giving an OC any of these, they should be primarily Cybertronian- inspired by another fiction, maybe, but it must clearly be Cybertronian in origin. If you really want your tech to do something like in a show, give some background as to why your character has/invented such a device. It may not be able to work exactly like in that other fiction, but we might be able to help you get something close. But this is no guarantee.
I'll pull a bit from the LARP side of things to help explain the reasoning for this: different worlds/dimensions have different world laws. These determine if there is any magic, what kinds of tech can function (steam, electric, metaphysical-based), if people can come back from the dead, etc. Things that don't fit within the world laws either don't work, or function slightly differently. Our RP world has it's own rules of what will work and what doesn't. Please respect that we are trying to make this site a fun but fair place for all to RP with the giant robots we all know and love. Not everyone likes/knows about other fiction.
You can take my character Chiro, for an example for how to take tropes and turn them into your own character. She's mostly inspired from Bones from Star Trek and Ratchet, with a bit of Shockwave and the typical 'Team Mom' in her. Yes, I have pulled a few famous quotes here and there, but I also made sure they fit the character as something she would actually say and tailored the quotes to fit the situation.
TLDR: If you really, really want to do a crossover of Transformers and some other fiction, we have the AU boards for that.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blatant rip offs will NOT be tolerated.
EDIT ***
This includes things like names, places, and events taken directly from another work of fiction without even trying to alter it to fit within the TF universe. For events, simply changing the place of occurance to Cybertron and names of people does not count as re-writing them to fit. You're getting into copy-write and trademark territory here and while this whole RP could be considered a work of creative fanfiction, we really don't want to risk getting involved in a suit of some kind. That, and OCs are called Original Characters for a reason. If you want to bring in a certain kind of character into the RP, see the following for a guide on how to do so.
*** END EDIT
Now, there are many combinations of tropes that are used across the board in many forms of fiction. Inspiration can be drawn from favorite characters and reformatted to be a new character. But to create a character that's clearly from a different fiction entirely and simply give a tie-in event breaks the immersion of this being a Transformers RP world. Thus, history wise, your characters cannot have events that are clearly of those other fictions. This site's main purpose is Transformers. And while not all Tranformers canon fit within the story we chose (thus is why they are banned), your character's history should still be able to fit within some form of Transformers canon that meshes with our own. So, when writing your characters and their history, ask yourself: Would this make sense within the Transformer's canon stories? Another way to think of it: Is this a show that the humans of TFG watch? If so, then it's a no go. Yes, this is a bit subjective, but we're here to help you.
As for things like vehicle designs, there are some awesome vehicle designs out there in other fiction. If you really like a design that's clearly a Batmobile, KITT, a Mad Max car, etc, you can easily mention something like your character saw it when they arrived to earth and really liked the design. Humans are creative little creatures, there's nothing saying that the humans in TFG don't have shows of other fiction and the props to go with 'em.
And speaking of props, these rules apply to technology, gadgets, and weapons as well. If you're giving an OC any of these, they should be primarily Cybertronian- inspired by another fiction, maybe, but it must clearly be Cybertronian in origin. If you really want your tech to do something like in a show, give some background as to why your character has/invented such a device. It may not be able to work exactly like in that other fiction, but we might be able to help you get something close. But this is no guarantee.
I'll pull a bit from the LARP side of things to help explain the reasoning for this: different worlds/dimensions have different world laws. These determine if there is any magic, what kinds of tech can function (steam, electric, metaphysical-based), if people can come back from the dead, etc. Things that don't fit within the world laws either don't work, or function slightly differently. Our RP world has it's own rules of what will work and what doesn't. Please respect that we are trying to make this site a fun but fair place for all to RP with the giant robots we all know and love. Not everyone likes/knows about other fiction.
You can take my character Chiro, for an example for how to take tropes and turn them into your own character. She's mostly inspired from Bones from Star Trek and Ratchet, with a bit of Shockwave and the typical 'Team Mom' in her. Yes, I have pulled a few famous quotes here and there, but I also made sure they fit the character as something she would actually say and tailored the quotes to fit the situation.
TLDR: If you really, really want to do a crossover of Transformers and some other fiction, we have the AU boards for that.