Frequently Asked Questions
When does this rpg start?
Essex Academy will begin on August 23rd for professors and August 30th for students.
1. Where is the Academy located?
Essex Academy for the Gifted sits on one-hundred acres of rolling fields and woodlands in Salem Center- a hamlet at the east end of Titicus Reservoir in North Salem Westchester County, New York, fifty-seven miles north east of New York City. The campus, which is bordered by Putnam County, New York, with the east town of Salem bordering Connecticut, offers a spectacular view of the Titicus Reservoir. The campus is in a secluded location to allow students to learn without outside distractions.
With on one-hundred acres of woodlands, the grounds are an ample space for outdoor recreation, containing academic buildings equipped with the latest technology and athletic facilities rivaling those of any prep school in the world. Outside facilities include a football field, a soccer field, one baseball diamond, one softball field, two all weather tennis courts, several walking and cycling trails, several riding trails, stables, a track, an Olympic sized outdoor pool, one outdoor basketball court, and a picnic area.
2. Why are characters unavailable at this time mean? Can I still apply for them?
Characters that play an important role to the Essex Academy story line, are listed 'unavailable at this time' as they have pre-created subplots to help further the game. If you wish to apply for one of these characters when they become available, please e-mail the moderators before sending in the application to view the subplots before hand.
3. Can I apply for character's under the moderator's control?
No; they are mod controlled for a reason.
4. Do you accept original characters?
Essex Academy does not accept original characters. There are many solid, canon characters found within the allocated Universes to choose from.
5. Can I apply as Lady Death? Evil Ernie? Witchblade? Fathom? Dawn? Sylar? Peter Petrelli?
No. Essex Academy is strictly a DC and Marvel role playing game.
6. What about characters created for television shows only?
No. There is plenty of characters within the DC and Marvel Universes to choose from.
7. Do you have any writing hints or tips?
When writing Sample Rp's, make sure to avoid the following using other characters in 50% of your dialog. Remember, you can only make your character talk, move and think. If you power-play in a sample rp, the moderators will assume you to do so in the actual game.
Be descriptive. Tell us every little thing a person would see if they were watching your character move and speak. The more details, the more real your character will seem. Think about the setting where your role play is taking place. Where are you? Describe the people around you wherever you are.. What types of people hang out in the bar, rec room, etc.
Choose a tense to write in and stick with it; either present or past, not both. Separate your writing into paragraphs. A single long paragraph with no breaks is really hard on the eyes. Also, you might think about varying your sentences a bit too. Try to alternate between long descriptive sentences and shorter ones to help make a paragraph smoother to read.
If you have typing errors or have difficulty spelling, you might want to consider running your post through a spell checker so that it gives the best impression of your character and makes it less difficult to misunderstand a post or action by your character.
8. Can I jump into any post?
Players are welcome to join any free standing, open threads; in fact it is encouraged. Keep in mind that if a post already has a reply, contact your fellow members asking if they mind your character joining the thread.
9. Can I post/respond to a thread if I’m in a still active in another one?
Essex Academy does not restrict a player to only one thread. We ask only that you pay careful attention to the timeline as well as any character detail. Characters cannot exist in two places at once nor can they receive a severe wound in an older thread and be completely healed in the next thread.
10. How does the journal system work? When did my character receive it?
All residents at Essex Academy receive an interconnected online journal courtesy of Stark Enterprises. These journals can house whatever you're character desires: deep thoughts, ramblings, homework assignments, quizzes, etc. Everyone can read your entries, unless it's marked as private or to a particular group/person. In order to make an entry private, put that section of the post behind an LJ-cut (example, remove the stars, <*lj-cut text=“Private or Private to whoever...*”>Message.<*/*lj-cut>).
11. Can people read what's striked through on journal entries? Like this?
Yes. Since the character's journals interconnect through an online journal system, the strike out code is just an html tool to play with. If you don't want other characters to read what you have to say, use the private feature.
12. Can people hack into personal journals?
Thanks to the researchers at Stark and Wayne Enterprises, the journals remain virtually hack free.
13. What is a NPC?
NPC stands for non-player character. NPC's are the ones who populate the fictional world of the game and can fill any role not occupied by a player character (PC) (such as bystanders, clerks, waiters, crowds, thugs, robbers, etc.). Players are given the opportunity to temporarily control these non-player characters for furthering story lines. From time to time, Sentinel's will also be NPC'ed.
14. What can I post in the OOC community?
Almost anything you would like: icon posts, introductions, plots, etc. Advertisements for other communities (including promoting another role play) will not be allowed. Posts in this community can be made public or friends only, depending on preference. Please be aware that all moderator posts will be made friends only.
15. What can I post in the main community?
Threads, logs, narratives, e-mails, notices and mod related news flashes all go in the main community. All posts are to be unlocked; no friends only posts here.
16. What is the plot of Essex Academy? How can I get active in plots and scenes?
The moderators have created various incidents and happenings to help further along the story. Expect your character to be involved in Registration Acts,the Sentinel Programs, division within the mutant population, the initiative, among the mundanity of school life (such as classes, clubs, sports) and teenage angst! All members are encouraged to create sub plots within the community. Please remember certain plots (such as pregnancies, murders, deaths, kidnapping, new power developments, etc) must be approved by the moderators.
17. For characters who never had codenames, do you have to create one?
All super powered beings must have a codename to protect their identity from the government registration act.
Codenames must be related to the character in some way.
18. What is a Hamlet?
In New York State, a hamlet is a populated area within a town that is not part of a village. The term "hamlet" is not defined under New York law (unlike cities, towns and villages), but is often used in the state's statutes to refer to well-known populated sections of towns that are not incorporated as villages.
A hamlet has no legal status (except in the Adirondack Park Agency's land-use classifications) and depends upon the town that contains it for municipal services and government. A hamlet could be described as the rural or suburban equivalent of a neighborhood in a city or village. The area of a hamlet may not be exactly defined and may simply be contained within the zip code of its post office, or may be defined by its school or fire district. Residents of a hamlet often identify themselves more closely with the hamlet than with the town. Some hamlets proximate to urban areas are sometimes continuous with their cities and appear to be neighborhoods, but they still are under the control of the town.
Hamlets are sometimes called unincorporated communities. In fact, some hamlets are former villages that have dissolved their incorporation (Old Forge in Herkimer County, Rosendale in Ulster County, and Andes in Delaware County, for example). Their land area, though, is within the jurisdiction of a town, which is considered a municipal corporation under state law. For census purposes, the area around a hamlet may be formally defined as a census-designated place, although most are not. A census location may have the same name as a hamlet, but the area defined by the U.S. Census Bureau may differ somewhat from the local understanding of the hamlet. This is because hamlets do not have fixed boundaries and area defined by the census is generally based on population density and may include a larger or smaller area than the local understanding of the hamlet.
Under common usage, most communities called hamlets above are actually known by most people as (unincorporated) village
19. Do homo sapiens (non powered beings) attend Essex?
Yes. In fact, homo sapiens make up the majority of the student body and faculty. However, in compliance with Salem Center’s Education Equality For All, Headmaster Essex hand selects a group of meta human students and teachers who are allowed to reap all the benefits Essex Academy has to offer.
20. Has Essex Academy been publicly ousted as a school for mutans and meta humans?
No. To the public, students and faculty, Essex Academy is a school for the highly gifted and intelligent individuals. This is the reason why...
ALL SUPERHERO IDENTITIES AND POWERS MUST BE KEPT SECRET AT ALL TIMES!!
21. Are there any superheros? Does the X-Men, Avengers, JLA exist?
No Super group extists. Superheroes, with the exception of Batman, Ironman, The Hulk, and Superman, have not been established.
22. I have more questions, but you don't have the answer on here. What do I do?
Feel free to ask your question here. It will be answered and added into this post.
