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I've been thinking about the "No OC angenis are allowed to have domains" rule. I think that it ought to be changed to allow OC angenis to have domains. Why? Because it's suuuuuuch a gray area, and there is no real need for it.

For example... say you get an angeni, great! It has a domain. After you get your angeni, you decide you want other pets based off that angeni so you collect it in some other shops. The rules say that if you base your angeni off pre-existing pets it counts as an OC so can't have a domain... but what if you get other pets based off your angeni after the angeni already has a domain? Does it lose a domain, simply because you love the character so much you want to play it elsewhere? Or is it a loophole that allows you to collect pets so long as you get the angeni first?

I think a lot of us would agree here that our soquili become our OCs. We spend a lot of time thinking up backgrounds and personalities. I don't see the distinction between one type of OC and another.

For copy-righted character cosplays, sure. I understand that they don't get domains. It's a simple enough rule and easy to understand and police. I just think that allowing OC angenis to have domains would clear up a ton of confusion and eliminate a rule that doesn't really help the soq community at all.

Potential ways/reasons that the current rule could be confusing:
- What if you create an angeni, get a domain, and then get pets based off that angeni? What then?
- What if you're questing for an angeni with a domain but are gifted a soq or another pet based off that design by a friend? Can you not get your domain then?

Where does the OC end and the soquili begin?

xD; I was a total Soq newbie, and didn't even know what domains were when I customed my Angeni. Since he wasn't initially supposed to even be an Angeni, I was thrown for a loop. I think clearing up things with domains is a sweet idea.

Very confusing if they are different things but I couldn't tell you what the difference is...

@ Nymph/Faid: See? See? XD It's confusing!

I think there are likely people out there who thought their soqs had domains but actually don't...

Speaking as an owner who's customed 3 Angenis, I do believe that Theme and Domain are the same thing.
Winston's "Theme" is the 'King of Hearts' and has been claimed in the Master Cosplay, Theme and Reserved Cosplays thread. On his cert is says: Theme, instead of Domain.

While with, say, Akari's cert says Domain and is claimed in the thread as well.

-Lol isn't the clearest speaker, but you get what I mean?-
I believe that its all in the custom form when you fill it out. If you didn't list your Soquili as having a Domain, they didn't get one.
edit: Also, I believe that if you won your's in an event, that unless they weren't specifically said to have a domain, they wouldn't receive one either. That's just a guess though from what I've seen.

Taken from the Custom form for the Angeni's:


I can see this as being confusing. xD

Ahh, yeah, that is confusing... looks like Domain was supposed to be Temper there.

I'd definitely love to see certs for Angeni with themes/domains be more consistent -- I've seen some where it's on the stat part of the cert itself, and some where the theme/domain is only listed on the bottom of the cert... seems like an easy way to miss what's taken and what's not.

I agree that the terms Theme and Domain are very confusing. C:

I have my own interpretation of Theme and Domain that I'll probably bring up with the staff again. I don't remember what went on in the meeting when I said it originally.

It'll give an example to be explain my interpretation.

Domain (what they control/their abilities/etc)
Mobbu's domain is fire. She controls fire and anything fire related and can essentially never get burned, get hot, and could LIVE surrounded by fire and in volcanoes. Etc you get the idea.

Theme (what the soq looks like/inspired by/etc)
Mobbu's theme is fire. She is fire inspired so is colored with fiery colors. Possibly having fire mutations and fire inspired edits/coloring/hair/etc. She does NOT control fire. She just was inspired by it.

Examples

Now you could have the Domain and Theme be the same.
Mobbu's Domain and Theme are both fire. She not only looks fiery themed in terms of edits and colors but she controls it as well.

Example with combining the two with them being different
Mobbu has a Fire Domain but has an Earth Theme. She is colored with earthy colors and has earthy edits/patterns/etc but she has a fire domain so she controls fire/etc.

Now for an example that's not elements. XD
Mobbu has a Domain of Aquatic Fish. She lives amongst the fish, can breath underwater and can talk to fish. She is also able to swim for long periods of time without getting tired. Mobbu might have a theme of coral. Thus she is colored like coral and have coral inspired edits. C: Or she might have a theme of the beach or sand, and would be colored accordingly.

And something completely silly
Mobbu's Domain is Hazardous materials but her Theme is Canadian Geese. She is colored like a good with goose edits/etc but controls hazardous materials such as acid.


In my opinion Domain and Theme should not be considered the same nor should they have to relate to one another. :3