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 Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:32 pm
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Fourth Stage Characters: Princes, Princesses, Royal Knights, and General Kings and Queens
Fourth stage characters are very rare promotions that are given to characters (and players) who have gone above and beyond to earn the stage. A character at the fourth stage has potential metaplot-level influence over the game as well as new RP perks and combat advantages. These characters come with a lot of responsibility and are not given out lightly. Unlike other characters, they do not have growth requirements that ensure your character will reach this stage. They can only be earned through nomination and will be selected by the staff when a player has earned them.
Players can nominate anyone for fourth stage consideration, but a few things should be taken into account:
Only third stage characters will be considered by staff for fourth stage.
Once a character reaches third stage, they become ICly eligible for fourth stage. No character will be considered prior to third stage because before that point in time they have not had the opportunity to grow effectively. Before they can be considered for meta-game power, they must display that they can effectively use their expected powers! If your character has lost a stage through side swapping, they must re-earn the stage to be considered.
Players may only have one fourth stage character and cannot rehome them.
At this point in time, there are too few fourth stage characters to consider giving multiples to a single player. In the nature of fairness, players can have one fourth stage character. Because player participation and activity is a requirement of earning one, a fourth stage character cannot be rehomed to another player.
Players must have an up to date journal of their character and must have an RP log posted.
In order for staff to determine if a player or character should earn fourth stage, there needs to be a clear log of their RP history! If a character's journal is empty or if they do not have an RP log that can be easily accessed, it is impossible to consider them for fourth stage. There needs to be a clear record of what they have been involved in and what they are doing!
Fourth stage characters are limited and you are not guaranteed to ever earn a fourth stage.
There are no set number of slots to fill for fourth stage characters, but they are very rare and this is a competitive stage. Everyone should expect that their character's growth ends at third stage. Fourth stage is an extra staff-awarded stage that is meant to reward active players and characters. We want to introduce more into gameplay and will do our best to see a steady flow of them enter the game, but you should not play your character with the sole intention of earning fourth stage.
There are no concrete requirements to earn fourth stage.
But we do have a list of guidelines that staff considers when considering new fourth stage characters! These are not a checklist or a set of requirements to fulfill, but they are guidelines for what staff looks for when discussing new fourth stage nominations. There are too many types of characters and variables to take into consideration for us to have a singular list, so please know that we consider all nominations and look at every character/player with an open mind.
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:33 pm
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Guidelines For Earning A Fourth Stage
ACTIVITY
First and foremost, you must be actively roleplaying in the shop! If your character isn't around then they wouldn't be entrusted with more power or responsibility. While you don't necessarily have to have a dozen sessions open at any given time, you should still be a fairly constant presence in the RP portion of the guild. Simply put, your character's story should not end once they hit third stage and you should continue to be active with them. If you are only roleplaying the character once every few months and there are a lot of gaps in their story, it may be hard to clearly identify why they need more power. Fourth stage isn't always about obtaining a leadership position--it's about rewarding a character who has worked hard and a player who has put in the effort to continue to develop them once they reach third stage.
COURTESY
Players who have metagamed, godmoded, or displayed inappropriate RP behavior may have a difficult time meeting this requirement; to earn fourth stage you need to be courteous to your RP partners and respect the rules of the shop. You should not use your character to force plot events or to bully others. Being respectful, considerate, and willing to roleplay with others is important!
INITIATIVE
You don't need to wait around for cool stuff to happen with your character if you have a way to make the cool stuff happen yourself! Good things come to those who have proposed and executed interesting plots, or otherwise demonstrated that they have goals for their character they are trying to achieve. If your character has a clear purpose they are trying to reach, this will boost their viability for fourth stage. Fourth stage power should not be an 'end game' goal, but rather a platform by which to help your character further achieve their goals. Once you earn this stage, you will be expected to find some way for your character to utilize their newfound power and continue their plots with it. Taking initiative does not mean your expected to regularly run full shop scale events, but you need to be able to come up with plots that help reveal why your character is a good candidate for more power. You might be more comfortable running one on one RPs--and this is fine! As long as you take the opportunity to drive your character's story and progression forward and keep working towards their goals, this counts as taking initiative!
INCLUSIVENESS
This game has an enormous volume of different characters. You don't have to play with everyone, but you have to be willing to roleplay with more than just a small group of friends. Being able to interact with a large number of characters likely means that your character has made some sort of impact on their lives, development, or the general state of the shop. While you don't have to roleplay with everyone, or even get along with everyone, it is important to consider that if you have a fourth stage character you will likely be asked to be involved in player plots for many reasons, so we like to see people that have a character who can get along with others.
PRACTICALITY
A major factor in considering fourth stage is the practicality of such, both ICly and OOCly. ICly, your character must have a reason to reach fourth stage; this needs to be something that is clear and appears in roleplay and isn't just handwaved. Your roleplays will need to be able to track progression and show how the character could reasonably have worked their way to need new power as well as help figure out what they are going to do with it once they have it. There are several important things to consider for this aspect:
What has your character accomplished that justifies them earning this much power?
What is your character doing that justifies them requiring this much power?
What will your character do with this power?
What can they do to help the development of other characters or to further plots within the shop? What can they contribute to their faction?
Realistically, not every character will be applicable for fourth stage. Some characters may be too reckless, too dangerous, too disloyal, or just have other considerations that would prevent them from earning or needing more power. This is nothing personal, but if a Senshi has slipped into a murderous rage and will kill anyone who crosses paths with them, this is not the best example of a fourth stage character; they are too powerful to be easily stopped and would be difficult to RP with. If it is difficult or impossible to work with or interact with a character it will be hard to justify them needing more power; the goal is that these characters will have a positive influence on the story in some way. People should want to interact with your character, not feel like they need to avoid them.
OOCly, not all characters are eligible for fourth stage. If a character is not guaranteed three stages, they cannot grow into a fourth stage character. For example, youma and Mauvians are not eligible for fourth stage.
Characters who have side swapped, even multiple times, are eligible for fourth stage provided they have reached third stage again; while these characters can earn fourth stage, they will need to work harder to prove they deserve it.
FLEXIBILITY
You might not be able to get exactly what you want all of the time, even with a fourth stage character. You will need to be adaptable both for your own plots and meta plots you may be involved in. We will never try to force your character into a position that doesn't make IC sense, but if you are involved in large scale events or other player plots, you need to be willing to work with them and adapt to make sure your character's presence and abilities make sense.
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Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 5:20 pm
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FAQ
Are there RP requirements for reaching this stage like there are for reaching second and third stage?
No; unlike the other guaranteed stages, fourth stage is not guaranteed and so does not have milestones that your character must reach in order to be eligible. Your character should have at least six months experience as a third stage before they can be considered for fourth stage, but there are no minimum roleplay requirements.
How can a double or multiple side swapped characters be eligible for fourth?
While these characters have very damaged starseeds ICly, through extensive plotting it would be possible for their starseed to recover enough to sustain so much energy. In order to earn fourth stage, they will need to work much harder than other characters to earn fourth stage. Characters who have not swapped sides, or even characters who have only side swapped once, will have a much easier time earning fourth stage, but the most important thing is for these characters to show loyalty to the faction. If there is a risk that they might try to side swap in the future, it is likely that they won't be considered for fourth.
Can my fourth stage ever side swap?
While this may be ICly possible, it is something staff would very seriously have to consider. Fourth stage is a reward that factors in the character's loyalty to their faction and grants them additional power based on what they've done within that faction. If a fourth stage were to side swap, they would not start their tenure in their new faction as a fourth stage. They would be locked from that power for a period of time, until they were able to concretely prove loyalty and find a new role in the faction. While we will not say no to plots like these, we will warn that anyone who attempts them will wind up needing to work extra hard during the plot approval stage as well as while trying to reestablish that their character should retain their powers. This is expected to take a significant amount of time, so if anyone pursues this plot they should not expect their character to regain fourth stage for the side swapped faction for at least six months.
Can I rehome my fourth stage character?
No; characters are given the rank of fourth stage both as a reward for IC prowess and because the player OOCly proved that they were capable of the responsibility. You cannot rehome a fourth stage character.
Can I ever get rid of my fourth stage to earn the stage for a different character?
While possible, this is extremely unlikely. In order to get rid of an existing fourth stage you would likely need to undergo a plot that permanently strips them of this power or kill them. While these can make for very interesting plot aspects, because of the rarity and work required to obtain a fourth stage it would be unfair to allow a player who has earned it to cycle through characters to earn a new fourth stage without giving other players the chance to earn it. While it is a possibility in the future that we may consider allowing a player to earn multiple fourths, this is not something we are even remotely considering at present. There are too few fourths in play for this to be an option presently and we may never reach a point where it would be acceptable to consider allowing a player to earn multiples, even if only one is in play at a time. A player who has earned fourth should expect that they will never receive another one.
Do I have to be on staff to earn a fourth stage character?
No; being on staff does not guarantee you for fourth stage nor does it make you more eligible than any other player. However, it is worth noting that many of the OOC guidelines for earning fourth stage are also things we consider for hiring staff. Even if you are on staff you still need to meet all OOC and IC guidelines to earn the stage. Simply put, you do not need to be on staff, nor do you ever have to have any expectation to be on staff to earn fourth stage. You simply need to be an active, positive influence in the shop and meet the above guidelines.
What factions are ineligible for fourth stage?
Any faction that does not have three stages is ineligible for fourth stage. Youma and Mauvian cannot earn fourth stage, but presently every other questable faction can. Our shop already has Senshi, Knights, Dark Mirror Senshi and Negaverse agents that have reached fourth stage; technically, corrupted senshi can also reach fourth stage. Under the right circumstances a Chibi Senshi could reach fourth stage, but their art would depict them as a child and if they age out they would need to acquire new powered art or be stuck with their old art. We do not want to exclude our chibi players from earning the stage, but this may be harder for a young child to earn given the maturity required to set and achieve goals like other factions.
How do you get art for your fourth stage character? How do you get alternate art?
Fourth stage art cannot be done on templates so when a player is nominated they will be contacted by the GMs to work with finding a shop artist to do a unique piece of art. The first piece of fourth stage art is free and is a reward to the player, but should the player decide they want an alternate piece of art, they will need to acquire a unique art slot. If a player prefers, they can commission MYO art (to follow MYO Guidelines) either to get the first piece of art or following alt art pieces of their fourth stage character. You can acquire alternate art of your character's third stage on templates after they have earned fourth stage!
How often will new fourth stages be given out?
There is no time frame for this; this is going to depend on shop need, player activity, and artist availability. In the past they have been given out between very long stretches of time, but this is not how the staff intends to proceed with releases moving forward.
How will I know if I've received fourth stage? What is the process for this?
If you have been approved for fourth stage, you will receive a PM from the shop mule, The Space Cauldron, indicating that your character has been nominated. At that point in time we will confirm that you want fourth stage for the character that has been nominated and we will then move into helping you establish a plot while working out the new powers or skill set for your fourth stage character. We will also help provide you with an artist to do your fourth stage art. You will work with staff to submit a plot that will cover what your character has been doing to warrant them earning the stage as well as cover why they need this power, and allude towards that they will do now that they have it. Once your plot is approved and the art is finished, you will proceed with the plot. The mule will officially drop the art along with an announcement about your character's rank up.
Can I nominate someone for fourth stage?
Yes! However, nominations are not guarantees that anyone will earn fourth stage. Nominations are important to the staff because they help us get a better feel for the playerbase and better understand who has had a positive impact both ICly and OOCly. A suggested form for nominating a character for fourth stage is below, however players may modify this or expand on this in whatever way they feel best presents their nomination. When submitting any nomination, we strongly encourage you to provide a well written argument for why you are nominating the character and player. This typically means a summary of what their character has been doing, why this is meaningful, and how you anticipate more power would benefit them in their faction. We also encourage you to discuss the player you are nominating and why you feel this would be a good choice for them. This is not a popularity contest; having multiple nominations will not guarantee that you will receive fourth stage, but it will help us better assess who is awarded fourth stage by giving us more things to consider when discussing nominations. There does not need to be a concern that your nomination is biased; we expect that it is easier to nominate yourself, your friends, or people you regularly roleplay with due to familiarity of them and their characters. Remember, this is a suggestion for consideration--not a guarantee that anyone will earn the stage. Before sending in any nominations, please double check that the character has been third stage for at least six months, that their journal is up to date (at least enough to let us follow their storylines), and please make sure that the player meets all, or at least most, of the criteria mentioned in the guidelines. Please make sure you send all nominations to the shop mule, The Space Cauldron!
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2020 3:24 pm
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Fourth Stage Nomination Form
This is a suggested form for submitting character nominations; players are free to deviate from the form and to add more things to their list for consideration or alter how it is written, however this is a general idea of what information we would like to have when considering a fourth stage nomination. Before nominating a character, please review all of the rules for fourth stage, as well as the guidelines and the FAQ! You can nominate anyone in the shop; while we do not guarantee that nominations will result in a fourth stage, the more information we have to consider when choosing fourth stages, the more likely characters you support will be considered. You can submit as many nominations as you like, including nominations for multiple characters you own if you feel that any of them are eligible candidates. You may even submit multiple nominations for the same character if time has passed and you feel they have continued to develop and grow since your last nomination, though we ask that you wait at least one month before sending in updated nominations.
A well written argument is fundamental for the consideration process; anyone can submit a nomination for fourth stage. This is not a popularity contest, and quality matters more than quantity, so please do your best to write well thought out nominations, and only submit for characters you would genuinely like to see reach fourth stage!
The Form:
[b]Character Nomination[/b]: (Player name and a link to the character; remember, the character must have an updated journal, must have been third stage for at least six months, and the player cannot already own a fourth stage character)
[b]Player Review[/b] : (Why do you feel like this player could be trusted with a fourth stage character? Are they an active roleplayer? Have they run interesting events? Have they been helpful OOCly, or generally have a good presence within the shop? This is your chance to spotlight the player who you feel should earn this rank--even if it is yourself!)
[b]What has this character been doing that would warrant more power?[/b] (What goals does the character have? Have they been actively pursuing a goal? Have they had significant impact on RPs or development? Have they been trying to recruit others to help them in their goal, or have they had any accomplishments that show them getting closer to and/or trying to reach their goal? If possible, linking to important RPs that help display some of the character's accomplishments and/or the groundwork or highlights of them attempting to reach their goal will help!)
[b]What do you think the character would do with more power?[/b]: (It is important than fourth stage characters don't stagnate and continue to have an active presence in the shop. How do you see more power aiding them in accomplishing their goals? How would reaching fourth stage impact the faction they serve in, or other factions? This may be easier to answer if the character is personally yours and you can imagine how being fourth stage would help them accomplish their goals. If you cannot imagine what a character would do with more power, it's all right to skip this part, but knowing that there is a long term plan for the character will help.)
[b]Additional Comments[/b]: (This is a good place to share any additional thoughts or arguments, or any other RPs that you feel are important to consider. You can share anything you want to support your argument for either the character or the player!)
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