faq

[enjoyers]

FAQ

On their own terms? Player-caused tragedy? Some characters are the type to simply want happiness for themselves no matter the cost. If your character would not have a problem taking happiness from others to ensure their own, then they can sign up normally. However, if your character, once in the game, would be opposed to harming others for their own happiness, you will have to create a non-canonical event that would make them participate. You may choose whatever will motivate them to participate in the game. RECOVERjoy promises to fix whatever has happened once one million joypoints have been gained by your character. By non-canon, we mean that if you are applying for Kotetsu from Tiger & Bunny, his motivation cannot be to bring his wife back to life as that is a canon event, but perhaps you choose to have his daughter die, and his motivation will be to bring her back to life. Why does it have to be player-caused? Can't we use a canon tragedy that would encourage them more? RECOVERjoy is unable to fix canon tragedies, as those are fated in a way. A player-caused tragedy is something that has gone wrong and made the world move off-track, meaning it is easier for RECOVERjoy to fix. We cannot allow canon tragedies, however there may be some exceptions, such as bad endings for a game with a set true ending. If I set a player-caused tragedy for my character, does everyone in that canon have to act like it happened? If I have a character die in my player-caused tragedy, will no one be able to app that character? No. Once the player-caused tragedy occurs, your character will be in an alternate world. Castmates will not be affected by what you choose as the tragedy. Wait, what happens if I have a character close to mine die as their motivation, but said character shows up in game? Should your character try to leave thinking their friend/family/lover will be back in their world, they will be informed by the RECOVERjoy spokesperson that they come from separate worlds and that person will not be alive on their world if they go back. They may live with the character in game, but there are punishments for characters who stop getting joypoints. Does the motivation have to be death? Not at all! It's just the easiest example. The only requirement we have is that it's enough to motivate them to participate. What if my character is dead in canon? You sure are obsessed with death. We ask that you take characters from before their death, unless there is some sort of afterlife in canon. If for some reason you can't take a character from before their death, contact a mod and we'll work it out with you. What if my character thinks they can participate, but it eventually gets to be too much for them? As we've mentioned, they're free to go home at any time. However, if they were not given a player-caused tragedy at the time of applying, you may choose one for them as they go home. They will have to pay a higher fee should they come back. What fandoms are acceptable? What about OCs? Fandoms OCs, AUs, canon AUs? Panfandom means we will accept any fandom! We also accept OCs and canon AUs, however fandom OCs and fandom-created AUs are not applicable. Can my character carry memories over from other RPs? No. My character is non-human, what happens to them? Your character will be humanized, unless they are already humanoid. Robots will become human. My character is human, but doesn't experience emotions for whatever reason. Do they win? So long as they can be inconvenienced, the joypoint transfer will work. How will my character arrive? Characters will wake up in their assigned rooms in Apartments I. They will receive a text from RECOVERjoy on their phone giving them a mission to make three (3) friends to earn 200 joypoints. RECOVERjoy will not be strict about this mission as there is no easy way to count who is a friend and who isn't, they only ask that characters get to know three other people and be on good terms with them. If they do not complete this within 24 hours, they will not receive the points. After they complete the mission or after 24 hours since they have received the text, they will receive another text from RECOVERjoy detailing how joypoints are earned. Enjoy! My character is blind, how will they read the texts and work their phones? Blind characters will have a voice command function on their phones. This means the phone will respond to voice commands, and will read out messages on texts and on the forum for them. How do joypoints work? How much is everything worth? Every character starts out with 0 joypoints. The company pays their 500 joypoints fee as a loan they will need to pay off before leaving. Joypoints are the city of Joywick's currency, so characters will also need to use their joypoints to buy food, housing, and their powers back. The only way to earn joypoints is to take them from someone else. Characters must cause another character to become sad, angry, or injured for the joypoint transfer to happen. Once a character reaches 1000000 points, their tragedy will be fixed, or so RECOVERjoy promises. Characters who go into further joypoint debt will not be able to afford food or other living expenses. A detailed explanation of the points may be found here. If every character starts out with zero joypoints, how will anyone make any? Will new joypoints be transferred into the system? There will be multiple events that introduce new joypoints into the system, and RECOVERjoy will be sending out missions to all characters biweekly that will also give them new points. Characters are additionally able to take out a reasonable loan from RECOVERjoy if they don't comfortably have enough points, so long as they pay it back before they leave. And, while there is no official way offered by RECOVERjoy, if characters are somehow able to find a way to start businesses, they are free to. The rules mentioned an IC activity check, how does that work? RECOVERjoy wants to make sure everyone is participating in the game, and will be watching every player and keeping track. OOC, the mods will use your points page to make sure everything is in order. The company will check bimonthly to see if everyone is participating. If a character goes two months without gaining joypoints from at least three different people, the company will punish them. What are the punishments like? According to RECOVERjoy, they're not harsh at all! Joy Buzzers, as they're called, consist of losing all of their joypoints and an ability they have purchased or something of equal importance. However, if a character refuses to participate in the Joy Project altogether, they will be sent home. You've mentioned purchasing abilities, what does that mean? Characters arrive in Joywick powerless, but their abilities can be bought back from RECOVERjoy with a reasonable amount of joypoints. They may not purchase abilities that will make them invincible/immune to damage, however. Characters who did not have superhuman abilities to begin with may purchase powers from RECOVERjoy. See here for details. What can characters bring with them? They are free to pack what they like into a small suitcase or something similarly sized. They may also visit their world for a fee. They may not bring pets into Joywick, though. The only exception to this is Pokemon. Can a character from one world visit another character's world? For a fee. How are characters supposed to communicate? Is there a network? Upon their arrival, each character is given a JoyPhone. There is nothing magical about it; it is simply a smart phone. There's a special app where characters can ICly check their joypoint amounts, and personal texts and calls can be made to a character's IC inbox. RECOVERjoy has set up a website for the characters to use which can be accessed by a JoyPhone or computer. RECOVERjoy encourages making friends, so the website is something like a forum wherein characters may post text, voice, or video messages (only computers have the option for videos). Occasionally, missions will be posted by RECOVERjoy, so be sure to check often! The first mission every character will get is to make at least three friends, after which they will be rewarded with 200 joypoints from RECOVERjoy. Is there a language barrier? No. Everyone will understand the same language, one currently unknown. If the Joy Project runs on hurting others, why does RECOVERjoy care about friendliness? Well, you'll certainly get a lot more joypoints from hurting a friend than you will a stranger. How are drops and hiatuses explained? RECOVERjoy will occasionally send characters back home (free of charge) to reevaluate their home and motivation, as explanation for hiatuses. As for drops, some characters may choose to go home, and some may... disappear. You may choose what happens to them when you drop. What happens if my character dies? RECOVERjoy believes that dying and having the necessary amount of joypoints taken away is enough punishment. Characters who die will be gone for a day, and will wake up outside of the RECOVERjoy headquarters with a smiley face band aid on their cheek. My character is terminally ill, what will happen to them? RECOVERjoy will freeze it for them so long as they are in Joywick. What are the NPCs like? All NPCs, sans the employees of RECOVERjoy, are robots. Joypoints cannot be taken from them. My character is going to try to steal something from the NPCs! What will happen? They will be attacked immediately and thrown out of the shop. My character wants to start a business in Joywick! Can they? Unfortunately, as the only source of currency in Joywick are joypoints, characters will not be able to start a business. RECOVERjoy feels it takes away the point of the Joy Project. However, if characters are independently able to find a way to make a business work, they can go ahead! My character has enough joypoints to pay off their loan! What do they/I do? IC: they go to their joyPhone joypoints app and click the "Repay Loan" button. OOC: please comment to the points page. How should we tag our posts? Tag posts you make and posts you tag with your character's full name in western order. My character and another character made a deal to take joypoints from each other. Will it work? Joypoints rely on real emotions. If they are not truly feeling despair from the other person's actions, the joypoint transfer will not work. You mentioned an overarching plot, what's that about? Beyond the initial conflict of the joypoint system, characters may find clues and pieces about the RECOVERjoy Corporation's backstory and motive. Major events will be heavily reliant on players, and the game will run for exactly two years. I'm feeling uncomfortable with another player/something happening in-game. What do I do? Please contact the mods! We expect everyone to respect the feelings of their fellow players, and will take immediate action if any rules are broken. What's with all the orange? : ) Wait! What if you didn't answer my question? Ask in the comments below and a mod will answer you as soon as possible!

NAVIGATION

Comments

[has_too_many_moles]

How realistic does the player based tragedy have to be?

[enjoyers]

You have free reign with it so long as it's enough to motivate your character!

[524]

i think it was mentioned, but since i'm not totally sure and i don't want to assume or interpret the answer falsely, using a canon tragedy isn't permissible under any circumstances, correct? even in a case where the tragedy persists throughout the course of the canon, and reversing said tragedy is a huge part of the character's motivation? or is it just a tragedy that occurred long before the starting point of the canon, such as the tiger & bunny example?

and, just for clarification, what about tragedies that haven't actually happened, but the character being applied for believes that they have? such as the faked death of a family member or something similar.

sorry about all the questions! i just want to be totally sure.

[enjoyers]

A canon tragedy is not acceptable, unfortunately. However, if the character believes a tragedy has happened when it hasn't, that would be perfectly fine.

Don't hesitate to ask for more clarification if needed!

[kingshizuchan]

For characters that have abilities that the average human doesn't, but isn't superhuman but instead conditioned and with natural and conceivable biological cause, do they hold onto it despite how strange the ability may be?

Asking because this character and another (Izaya) in the canon are normal humans and considered to have no abilities. Both have unusual parkour skill, however, and Shizuo has his abnormal strength. It's just explained with conditioning and some 'malfunction' with the adrenal gland.

[enjoyers]

Skills such as parkour are allowed to be kept, but abnormal strength is not, despite its biological cause. Our rule of thumb is "if a normal human could not reasonably do it, it will have to be regained" and a malfunction with the adrenal gland is too obscure.

[princessofjustice]

Do magical weapons count as abilities that would need to be regained? :|a

[enjoyers]

The weapons themselves are allowed to be brought into Joywick, but the magical ability will have to be regained.

[fishie]

If a character doesn't require food or sleep in their canon, is that something that would be allowed to be regained?

Similarly, if they're not invincible, but remarkably strong/fast/agile and can take a lot of damage, are those things that could be regained in portions as well? Would they ever be allowed to full strength, or would their abilities be capped at some point?

Would small physical characteristics that set an otherwise humanoid character apart from humans (e.g. non-human eyes, naturally black nails, fangs) need to be regained, or would they remain intact?

If two characters are bound to each other by a magical contract (which otherwise gives them no particular abilities or powers), is that something that would need to be regained, as well?

Aaaand lastly, I'm a little confused with regards to the 'no canon tragedies' rule. Mostly, it seems like it's going to tie a lot of people's hands. If a character has a major tragedy in canon (like his entire family dying), and we can't use that as a motivation for them to join the Joy Project, that basically forces us to come up with something worse than that. It wouldn't make any sense for a character with such a traumatic past to decide to join the Joy Project because his girlfriend broke up with him.

I guess what I'm asking is, what's the reason for banning canon tragedies as motivation for joining the project, and what would you recommend someone do in a situation like the one I described (where their character's canon tragedies are so great that it would be difficult to surpass them in terms of motivational trauma)?

[enjoyers]

1. It could be regained to a level in which they don't need near as much food or sleep as a normal human, but will still need it occasionally.

2. They would need to be regained in portions, but their full strength would be allowed.

3. They would remain in tact.

5. That would need to be regained. Though it gives them no particular abilities, this is to keep the "superhuman things need to be regained" rule equal.

6. We apologize for the inconvenience, however the "no canon tragedies" are part of a very important plot point. While I can't reveal it, RECOVERjoy is unable to fix canon tragedies due to them being fated in a way. The player-caused tragedies are things that have gone wrong in that plan, and are much more fixable.

As for our recommendation, you have complete free reign with the tragedy. You can go as crazy or illogical as you want with it if need be. If you can't think of anything else, though, RECOVERjoy's promise of happiness can be very vague. Perhaps your character thinks they've promised to fix the canon tragedy when they haven't, and that's their motivation. RECOVERjoy will not correct them.

If you don't think either of those would work, if we're given more details about the canon, we can try to help you!

[nzt]

With regards to character/canon availability: say someone were interested in applying for a character using a recently-released canon. Is there a waiting period as with a lot of panfandoms-- or because the open-date is still a few weeks off, would holding characters from recent canon be acceptable? Or is there another scenario I'm just not thinking of that is actually the case?

[enjoyers]

It depends on the canon. If it's a movie that has been recently released, there is no waiting period, just warn for spoilers appropriately. If it's an ongoing series that only has one episode/chapter out, we might want you to wait (but again, it depends on the canon. A children's show is less likely to have plot twists than something by Joss Whedon, so we'd be more lenient with it).

However, as the the opening date isn't for a few weeks, we feel it's safe to reserve the character.

[theboytwin]

Can a character's reason for joining be that they want to make people miserable and this seems like a great way to do it?

[enjoyers]

Characters will not know how joypoints are earned until they are involved in the game, but if they simply want to gain happiness for themselves, that's completely fine.

[cursedprincess]

How does death work in this game? Is it permanent, or is there a resurrection penalty system?

[enjoyers]

RECOVERjoy believes that dying and having the necessary amount of joypoints taken away is enough punishment. Characters who die will be gone for a day, and will wake up outside of the RECOVERjoy headquarters with a smiley face band aid on their cheek.

[bubbleteaqueen]

Regarding the repurchase of abilities, is it safe to assume that if my character was initially able to phase through solid matter, they would not be able to get it back ingame? Technically, they could phase through physical attacks if they knew they were being attacked, hence why I have a feeling that it can't be regained.

This actually sounds like a stupid question but I don't want to take any risks orz

[enjoyers]

They would not be able to regain it, unfortunately.

[(Anonymous)]

The example you give for a player-caused tragedy has me a bit confused. Like, Tiger's daughter is definitely a character that would have enough canon for someone to app her normally.

But, if your player caused tragedy had the character die does that mean another person won't be allowed to app them? Or would they still be allowed to app them except they would be from a different timeline/AU?

[(Anonymous)]

... Also, I'm sorry if this clarified anywhere and I missed it. I forgot to add that, ffff.

[(Anonymous)]

"Taking" Joypoints from someone (and joypoint transfer) is mentioned a lot, but they aren't literally taking someone else's joypoints, correct? Just receiving joypoints for hurting someone.

If they are actually taking away someone's joypoints, then won't no one have any due to the fact that everyone starts with 0? And also when joypoints go out of circulation due to buying things, if there is no grant of new joypoints into the system somehow, all joypoints would eventually run out.

[enjoyers]

They are actually taking away someone's joypoints. Every character receives a mission to gain three friends for 200 joypoints, and more missions will be given out biweekly for joypoints. We will also have events which transfer new joypoints into the system. Characters are additionally able to take out a reasonable loan from RECOVERjoy if they don't comfortably have enough points, so long as they pay it back before they leave. And, while there is no official way offered by RECOVERjoy, if characters are somehow able to find a way to start businesses, they are free to.

We realize it's something of a difficult system, but it was necessary to encourage competition.

[(Anonymous)]

Am I correct that if Character A took 150 points from Character B, and Character B only had 50 points, Character A would STILL gain the 150 points and Character B would be 100 points in debt?

Also, can joypoints be taken (unknowingly) during the first "Make 3 Friends" event? Say if a character is aggressive and purposefully hurts/upsets another character? Or does that only start after characters are informed on how points are gained?

Finally... In order to buy weapons, should players contact mods first to work out an appropriate price range?

Thanks!

[enjoyers]

1) Correct!

2) Joypoints can be taken right from the start of the game, just remember that characters will not realize this until the announcement is made.

3) We have added a weapons section to the points page! Any weapons that fall outside of the categories can be discussed with a moderator.

[ushishishi]

Quick question- my character uses knives as weapons, and would logically pack some in the suitcase he's allowed. They're normal, non-supernatural knives, but would they be allowed in since weapons have to be bought?

[enjoyers]

They would be allowed in.

[(Anonymous)]

How recent do sample threads have to be? And if we don't use the sample thread option then what's the word count limit for a written up sample?

[enjoyers]

Sample threads can be from any time.

If you do a written up sample, we'd like it to be in first person (or bracketed action) with at least eight sentences and a focus on the character's voice.

[(Anonymous)]

RE: Pokémon-- I know you said that they are allowed, but is there a limit to how many is allowed? Can the character bring their full party or will it only be limited to, say, two or three?

[enjoyers]

The character can bring their full party.

[fall]

Will it be possible to canon update characters?

[enjoyers]

Canon updates are not possible given the setting of the game.

[pneumonia]

I'm curious, is the Wretched Egg able to transform here? Of course without being able to use her powers (at least not the emotional ones.) Or is there going to be something special set up for Shiro like in Deadman Wonderland to control this side of her?

[enjoyers]

Yes, she will be able to transform here.

[(Anonymous)]

not sure if these have been asked/answered but,

a) is it possible for characters to fall in love and then one betrays another by either cheating on them, killing them, or breaking up with them in a cruel manner, and for the one doing these things to get joypoints? and if so how many?

b) how is the posting system? how will characters post their entries? text, action, video? also can characters meet up somewhere and set up a log for that?

c) say if a character from another world visits your character, how is that going to work out?

[enjoyers]

a) This would be possible! They would gain the appropriate amount of points based on the the chart (150 for murder, 10-75 depending on how much emotional trauma was caused) in addition to receiving the betray/kill a friend bonuses (30 for betrayal and 50 for murder).

b) How characters make entries depends on what they're using and where they're posting. The main community is the form--characters are given a smart phone they can use to make text and voice posts, but cannot post videos from these phones. If they buy a computer, they can also use video.

The logs community would be used for in-person interactions.

c) You are free to make a log set in the character's world and play that out, or you can assume it.

[(Anonymous)]

What if someone apps a vampire? Will they still crave blood? Or will that ability be removed?

Also what if my character has a weapon? Can they bring it? What can they bring? Clothing? Small personal iteams?

[enjoyers]

1) They would have human cravings until they bought their vampirism back. They would then crave blood.

2) Characters are allowed to bring a suitcase containing whatever they want--if it can fit in there or if they can reasonably carry it, it can come along.

[ex_surplus655]

A question about this part of the FAQ:

What can characters bring with them?

They are free to pack what they like into a small suitcase or something similarly sized. They may also visit their world for a fee. They may not bring pets into Joywick, though. The only exception to this is Pokemon.



The character I'm applying for does have an animal partner that enhances his abilities, and sometimes is used to help him fly. Would that be something he'd have to buy back, or could he actually bring the animal as it's more of a partner than a pet? Or would it still not be allowed at all?

[enjoyers]

If your character has his own abilities, then the animal partner would not be allowed at all. Pokemon are exceptions only because the trainers themselves do not have abilities.

[cosmicella]

Just a small weird question but I wanted to be sure.

I was wondering, does the humanization go as far as taking personal traits away from the character? I mean, this character I have has hair that can move depending on their emotion (ala icon I used here). It's not really... useful so much as a character trait due to Space Alien genetics.

Would she still have to buy that back as an ability if she wanted it?

[enjoyers]

That would not be taken from her, as she is human enough.

[ushishishi]

Within the meal bundles- does the food get delivered to them prepared, or is it food that has to be cooked?

[enjoyers]

It has to be cooked.

[(Anonymous)]

Is there a pharmacy/drugstore in joywick? There doesn't seem to be one listed in the setting list.

Also, what happens if a character attacks an NPC?

[enjoyers]

There is not.

As stated in the FAQ, the NPCs are robots so no joypoints can be gained from them. If attacked they will not respond.

[balzams]

In the setting it's mentioned that the games at the arcade are hard to win but it can be done. Is this based off of strategy or is it just luck? What's the likelihood of an average player winning a game?

Also, in one of the recently given missions it mentions winning at five arcade games. Does it have to be five different games or can it be the same game five times over?

[enjoyers]

1. There is a good bit of luck involved but a character who has more experience with video games has a higher chance than a character who doesn't. If a character without experience were to play, they would mostly be reliant on luck and would only have a 10% chance of winning.

2. It has to be five different games.

[ofgallifrey]

Is it possible for a character to purchase their original species back? Or even parts of being that species? Say a robot wanted to be metal again, or have circuits inside them, or say a Time Lord wanted his second heart... Would that be for sale in the Abilities Store, or would what's in the Abilities Store be limited to the specific abilities that come from being that species? As in, would Aigis from P3 be able to buy back her circuits, or just the ability to shoot bullets from her fingers? Would the Doctor be able to buy back his regeneration abilities, but not his inside physiology?

And what about the TARDIS? And for that matter, what about multiple Doctors, given that they're not the same regeneration?

[enjoyers]

So long as the character is humanoid (and not a robot), their species will not be taken away. A Time Lord could keep his second heart, though any superhuman powers associated with it would be taken away, if that makes sense. A robot could regain their species so long as they weren't immune to being harmed, and regeneration abilities would have to be dampened slightly so that it's not unfair.

The TARDIS could not be regained, but multiple incarnations of the Doctor would be allowed.