February 2017 Announcements.
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What's New
Addressing the Survey
The survey has been open for a month, so Kyros has chosen to address several things from it!
NPC Purge
All of the NPC's have been completely purged from the NPC category. If you wish to have your NPC's restored, please post in this thread.
FAQ Additions
We've made some additions and changes to the FAQ. You can find all the update FAQ additions linked below!
I want to restart my character. What do I do?
How do I upgrade my powers/How do I get a new power?
If I have two characters that share a body, do I have to create two different applications?
How do you handle magic items?
What category does my character go into?
Can I play an OC from another series or fandom?
How do I archive a character/How do I get a character back?
Claims Revamp
In the past, the claims forum had multiple different threads for you to post in to get on the lists... now, all you have to do is post in One thread!
Police Plotter
In addition to the Crime Tracker, the Manta Carlos Police Department now has its own plotter for all your cop needs! We've also made some clarifications and changes to the way that police ranks work, so check out the mcpd plotter for all the info.
New Gossip Thread
If your character has ever done something that might spread gossip in the world of the Manta Carlos Islands, you should consider posting it in the Gossip thread! This is a new totally optional plotting feature that you can use to spread rumors about your character, potentially opening up plots that come up because someone elses character heard the gossip!
New Locations Forum
Have you ever wanted to write up a description of your characters house, dorm, or some sort of landmark that they frequently visit? We have a place to store all of those now! Feel free to post unique player-made and character-relevant locations in the Locations forum.
New Healthcare Lore
Our esteemed loremaster @Kait has written up a new page on the wiki about the Healthcare System on the Manta Carlos Islands!
Birthday Alert
If you've ever felt bad about forgetting someone's birthday, you don't have to worry about that anymore! We now have a feature that will make a notice popup on the day of members birthdays, that will also redirect you to the Birthday thread so you can wish them well!
Art reminder
We want to remind all members that the rules do not allow artwork of OC's to be used for character either on their apps, the forums or the ICC. We allow fanart and concept art only.
February Events
Every year we like to host an IC Valentines exchange! Characters can send their gifts or words of love either anonymously or with their name, and on Valentine's Day they will be delivered! You can Sign Up for your character to participate any time before the 14th, and then we will post them up for everyone to see on V-Day!
This Valentine's Day, the Manta Carlos Islands is offering a free week-long Love Cruise from Feb 8-15 for all Islanders out there and one for the weekend from Feb 11-12 especially for the students! The S.S. Loveboat is a deluxe cruise ship with stunning accommodations, from bars, clubs, swimming pools, gaming rooms, and servants to answer your beck and call. There's couples everything — couples dancing, couples massage, couples rooms. It's the perfect getaway for lovers hoping to unwind, celebrate their love, or if it's been a while, rekindle that special spark that helped them fall in love in the first place.
<3
What's New
Addressing the Survey
The survey has been open for a month, so Kyros has chosen to address several things from it!
NPC Purge
All of the NPC's have been completely purged from the NPC category. If you wish to have your NPC's restored, please post in this thread.
FAQ Additions
We've made some additions and changes to the FAQ. You can find all the update FAQ additions linked below!
I want to restart my character. What do I do?
How do I upgrade my powers/How do I get a new power?
If I have two characters that share a body, do I have to create two different applications?
How do you handle magic items?
What category does my character go into?
Can I play an OC from another series or fandom?
How do I archive a character/How do I get a character back?
Claims Revamp
In the past, the claims forum had multiple different threads for you to post in to get on the lists... now, all you have to do is post in One thread!
Police Plotter
In addition to the Crime Tracker, the Manta Carlos Police Department now has its own plotter for all your cop needs! We've also made some clarifications and changes to the way that police ranks work, so check out the mcpd plotter for all the info.
New Gossip Thread
If your character has ever done something that might spread gossip in the world of the Manta Carlos Islands, you should consider posting it in the Gossip thread! This is a new totally optional plotting feature that you can use to spread rumors about your character, potentially opening up plots that come up because someone elses character heard the gossip!
New Locations Forum
Have you ever wanted to write up a description of your characters house, dorm, or some sort of landmark that they frequently visit? We have a place to store all of those now! Feel free to post unique player-made and character-relevant locations in the Locations forum.
New Healthcare Lore
Our esteemed loremaster @Kait has written up a new page on the wiki about the Healthcare System on the Manta Carlos Islands!
Birthday Alert
If you've ever felt bad about forgetting someone's birthday, you don't have to worry about that anymore! We now have a feature that will make a notice popup on the day of members birthdays, that will also redirect you to the Birthday thread so you can wish them well!
Art reminder
We want to remind all members that the rules do not allow artwork of OC's to be used for character either on their apps, the forums or the ICC. We allow fanart and concept art only.
February Events
Every year we like to host an IC Valentines exchange! Characters can send their gifts or words of love either anonymously or with their name, and on Valentine's Day they will be delivered! You can Sign Up for your character to participate any time before the 14th, and then we will post them up for everyone to see on V-Day!
This Valentine's Day, the Manta Carlos Islands is offering a free week-long Love Cruise from Feb 8-15 for all Islanders out there and one for the weekend from Feb 11-12 especially for the students! The S.S. Loveboat is a deluxe cruise ship with stunning accommodations, from bars, clubs, swimming pools, gaming rooms, and servants to answer your beck and call. There's couples everything — couples dancing, couples massage, couples rooms. It's the perfect getaway for lovers hoping to unwind, celebrate their love, or if it's been a while, rekindle that special spark that helped them fall in love in the first place.
The Elections are coming! The Second Term of the Student Council Elections will run from the 15th-25th of February. We've done a revamp of the system, so be sure to thoroughly familiarize yourself before you start to get involved!
Contests
Spotlights Revamp
As the result of some excellent feedback from the survey this month, the Spotlights have received a revamp! Thread spotlight, always difficult to nominate for, has changed form to become the plot spotlight, which will highlight the very best plots happening on Starlight Academy! We've also heard complaints about nomination downtime, and have changed the timing on threads so that nominations will always be available to members, rather than only being up for half the month.
We've also gone out of our way to make spotlights nicer to win. Winners can now PM Kyros to claim a special (non-staff) cbox name color, will be granted a special banner, and will have a more prominent section in the monthly announcements!
You can read all about the system as it stands in the Complete Guide to Contests.
Spotlights
Congratulations to our Spotlight Winners!
Member: @Boop
Character: Fatima Danvers
Thread: I tried, I'm sorry
@Boop, formerly known as BoopDeBoop has already become a major part of the SA community. Despite having joined only two months ago, Boop already has four major characters and more plots then anyone can count. They've jumped into contests and events, filled multiple want ads, and been a constant presence in the cbox. Congratulations Boop!
And not far off from Boop winning member of the month, they've also taken home character of the month for Fatima Danvers! Fatima is a horseman of the apocolypse representing Famine, and was created to fulfill a want ad. Even so, they've gone well past the original short summary, establishing themselves as a major character over more than a dozen different threads. Congratulations Fatima, and congratulations again to Boop!
Malara and Noli, both wonderful characters from @Kathinja and @Kadakism, show their most sensitive sides in the incredibly heavy break-up thread "I tried, I'm sorry.". We see these characters' vulnerable sides as well as character development in action in this heartbreaking thread that is just... so full of intense emotions and feelings. The feel are too stronk! Props to you two!
Submit your February Spotlight Nominations by February 15th. Voting begins on February 15th and continues until February 28th.
Fresh Start Contest Winners
The Fresh Start contest had a great turnout, with a whopping 36 eligible threads being completed, along with 36 new threads getting started as well! We'd like to congratulate @Foxy, our clear winner with a whopping 26 points! We'd also like to congratulate @Heart and @Kait, our tying runners up who haven't previously won a general contest before! You are both eligible for the Contest Winner medal.
AU Contest: Soulmates
The AU contest has come around again, and this time it comes with a theme suiting the month: Soulmates! Soulmates are a tried and true trope throughout fiction, and now they're coming to Manta Carlos... in AU form! Soulmate AUs are based on the concept of every person having their own 'soul mate' who they are uniquely destined to be with. Often this connection is indicated by some kind of soul mark, or some other physical connection that helps soulmates find each other. You can read more about the AU contest, and about the requirements here.