March 2018 Announcements

March 2018 Announcements
The year is starting to warm up!




Application Improvement Month
AIM is here once again! We're encouraging players to update their character applications, and giving out vouchers for those who do. Check out the details here.

Events
National Adoption Week:
Coming to you for the first time, we have a new annual event from the 11th to the 18th.

National Adoption Week is a forum scenery event where the orphans and orphanages of Manta Carlos are given extra special attention. People are encouraged to volunteer at the orphanage, offer up some charity, and of course, begin the adoption process if they had been thinking about doing such. A small fair is held in the park with a low admissions fee (with the exception of the orphanages and their caretakers). All money is split among the different orphanages of Manta Carlos.

World Environmental Day:
From the end of the month at the 30th leading into the next month on the 1st, Starlight Academy has another new annual event, but this one is for ICC!

In celebration of World Environmental Day, people of all ages are encouraged to enjoy the wilderness and help clean up any messes found as they hike and explore on a weekend camping trip.

March Break:
From the 12th to the 25th all students are on their March break. Enjoy the freedom while it lasts!

Manta Carlos Print
The second edition of the in-character newspaper is now available for reading!

Rule Clarification
We've updated the Board Guidelines to make the birthday requirement a bit more clear:​

All players must register with their real birthday. Players are free to choose the option to hide this birthday once registered, but when registering it must be correct. If you registered with a birthday that is not your own, contact the admins immediately to have it corrected. If we find out that an underage roleplayer is lying about their age, they will receive an instant ban.​

This is not a rule change, just a clarification so that someone who registered incorrectly would know they have the option of contacting the staff.

Lore Addition
Ever wondered what the afterlife is like? I mean, everyone has, but at least on SA, we now have a wiki page that outlines how the afterlife generally is understood to work.

Contests and Spotlights
AU Contest:
The Alternate Universe Contest will be running from the 5th to the 15th. You'll discover the theme--and all the details--when the information is posted in the Contests Forum then!

Easter Egg Error Expedition:
This general contest has just wrapped up - it helped clear out several major typos or mistakes from around the site, as well as updating our known issues thread.

Thanks to @WorldDevourer (+10 Vouchers) and @Schrodinger's Cat (+2 vouchers)!

Spotlights:
And we have a new round of well-deserved spotlight winners!
​

@Kyrii has, since her first day at Starlight Academy, been an active and inviting member of the community. She is friendly, present, and plays a cast of colorful characters who she's not afraid to throw into plots. Not only is she around on the forums, but in the cbox, and ICC as well.

Tez Gann is @WorldDevourer's fourth character on the forum and one he's put a lot of work into. An Aztec Deity of Tezcatlipoca, he dreams of becoming a scout and has a lot of work ahead of him. A long-time scout-in-training, Tez makes frequent appearances in the ICC and is perhaps best known for his many tattoos and flirtatious nature.​

You can nominate for the next spotlights here.​

March Mini-Update
You thought we were done, didn't you?



We've got several rule updates coming your way, mostly aimed at relaxing and streamlining your experience on the site.


Voucher Cap
The voucher cap (previously 15) has been lifted entirely! There is now no longer any sort of cap on vouchers. Power vouchers can be gained indefinitely, but will be forfeit after a player is inactive for six months.

You can see your current power vouchers here.

NPC Rename
Non-playable characters, also known as NPCs, have been renamed for clarity. They're now known as Supporting Characters. We're updating terminology around the site, and you can find more details over here.​

Supporting Characters are characters primarily intended to support the development and growth of other characters. They do not have personal plots of their own, and their character development is not a focus. You can read more about supporting characters here. Supporting Characters always go in the Supporting Character forum, regardless of whether they're a student or otherwise.​

Non-Canon ICC
The non-canon ICC has been quiet as of late. It's received no activity outside of testing avatars and events over the last month, and with the ICC's renewal coming up, the decision has been made to cut the non-canon ICC entirely. The cost to maintain both ICCs at the same time is quite high, and with no activity, it's simply not worth it as it stands. It may return in the future, but rules, the FAQ, etc, have been updated to reflect this change.

Abolishing Companion System
The companion system was created specifically with the ICC in mind. It was created in order to accommodate characters who needed to be together, such as two characters with a psychic bond.

However, this system has gotten increasingly complex for very little reward. There are a lot of arbitrary limits (like only having two companions) which are serving to limit creativity.

So, we're abolishing companions, effective immediately. All companions have been slid into the Supporting Characters classification, and we encourage players to update their applications as part of AIM. We've now removed mentions of the companion system from their rules, but if you see any lying around (or posts referring to NPCs in their old form, or the non-canon ICC), please let us know.

To accommodate these characters, we've made one big change that we think people will be excited for:

ICC Rule Update
All players can now have up to three characters in the ICC at one time. There are no limits on who these characters can be. If you want to play a citizen and a student who are family, you can! If you play two parts of a ship, you can have them be in the ICC as well! This includes characters that were formerly companions, as well as characters who never were.

We feel this will expand player's options a great deal. Here's the new rule, for those curious:​

Players can play up to three characters at one time. Please be mindful of others, and don't just roleplay with yourself. If your characters are sitting off to the side, having a private conversation and not engaging with anyone else, the conversation should likely be happening in a personal thread on the site.​

March Mid-Month Update
Featuring a mini-survey!


Mini-Survey
We've got a short survey coming your way! If you click here, you'll be directed to a brief, one-question survey for you to give your input on what kind of content you're hoping for in the announcements. Basically: Do you like them short and to the point? Or do you want as much information as you can get? We'll be keeping the results in mind for next month's announcements.

Events and Contests

National Adoption Week is ongoing through Sunday, but players are encouraged to have their characters be involved in this event throughout the month. This is a scenery event (no main event thread) intended to give some background on the island.

Later this month we have two upcoming ICC events. On the 23rd - 25th, we have Virtual Reality: Superheroes AU taking place in connection to our currently running contest. On the 30th through the 1st of April, we have the World Environment Day Camping.

Connected to the above, the Superhero AU Contest is open through tomorrow night. Application Improvement Month is also ongoing through the rest of the month, encouraging players to get their applications up to date in exchange for vouchers.

As always, we have a new round of Spotlights going up for voting today, which you can find here.

Odds and Ends
We've updated the face claim FAQ to include more detail on fringe cases such as webcomics, AU versions of existing canons, and drawn images of real people. If you've ever been unsure if a character would work, this should have you covered.​