(last updated: 06/23/21)Submitting an application can be one of the most tense experiences a player can have at MotM--after all, a character application is oftentimes the culmination of days of hard work and toil. An application, depending on the queue, how complex it is and what it's for, can take anywhere from five hours to five days to review and process, so you can save on time by making sure you avoid several common mistakes. Luckily, we're here to help with a handful of tips to make sure your application process is as painless as possible.
CONCISE IS NICE
Stay short, clear and to the point. Remember, you only need enough text to get your point across, no matter whether your character is a schoolboy in the kendo club or a genetically altered clone prince of kung-fu. We're looking for information on what your character can do, how and why they can do it, what they're going to do with it, and why you as a player want to do all that. Anything else is going to add days and review cycles to your application needlessly.
This is the most important tip we can give: It's not about investing the minimum amount of effort, but making sure you're not clouding your own message. An application can be written just as poorly in fifty kilobytes of text as it can in five. Additionally, application review is not exactly a first-come-first-served process. Staff isn't typically in the business of skimming apps, so longer and more involved apps will oftentimes require longer and more involved review. As a result, smaller apps will tend to get processed first. Give detail where detail is needed, and no where else. Don't worry, if we need to know more, we'll ask, and that's not a bad thing!
READ THE DIRECTIONS
So you got an application response! Cool, if it doesn't have a password in it, it probably just means we want more information or some changes made. In the case of changes needing to be made, it's very important to read and follow the instructions provided. They've likely been provided with oversight and discussion with multiple staffers. We typically can't make exceptions for rules based on concept; exemptions are already built into most of the review responses we provide automatically based on your concept, so trying to track down a staffer and talk to them to explain why you need a proton accelerator chakra cannon at R2 typically only results in confusion. :)
FOLLOW THE FORMAT
Nothing will gum up the works faster than an app that doesn't include all of the details, is in an improper format, or doesn't account for things laid out in the basic application. For the type of character you're considering, read all of the instructions included with the application at time of apping, as many common errors in applying are accounted for in them. Send an e-mail to the motmadmin@gmail.com account, using the required subject line and in a plain text format, using the format that the appropriate application lays out.
DON'T BITE OFF TOO MUCH
Specifically when applying for an OC or an Homage OC, the thing to keep in mind is that you're applying for a character at the beginning of their journey, not at the end. Don't apply for too many specialty feats (see Fighting Feats), or feats that are outside of a character's range in the requested ratio. Feats are typically points of interest for characters who want to evolve into them, not as marquee points to differentiate one original character from the rest.
KEEP IT CLEAN
While MotM does present a diverse choice of characters and accomodates a vast range of play styles, your app should reflect the overall theme of the game: which is anime-style martial arts. If your character is a homocidal maniac, that's perfectly cool and themely, but you have to stay within the realms of good taste. That means we typically don't want to read in graphic detail how you ripped out your sensei's left eye when you were 17, and definitely nobody wants to hear about what you did with the skull afterwards. Refer to Restricted for more information about this.
DESIGN CREATIVELY
While simplicity and being concise is greatly preferred in applications, a truly satisfying character design is one that is overall a joy for administration and players alike to read and get excited about. Don't get hung up on mechanics--while that design using that cool ability everybody's talking about might sound like a great idea in a vaccuum, don't overcomplicate your concept just to play with a new toy or to take advantage of what's currently seen as a strong mechanic. Mechanics change over time, but your concept will always stay the same--a good concept justifies a mechanic, not the other way around, and many a concept has crashed and burned for being too strongly attached to some mechanic or another.