forming a pack
all packs need at least one alpha and four other wolf-members.
You cannot own all five. That's boring. You need at least one more owner.
the alpha has to already be an alpha, on the alpha lineart, period.
If you do not have an Alpha, you must RP your way into one (6 RPs from Lone/Gamma, or 3 from Beta), or buy a rank upgrade as a custom. Since this thread is always open to apply for new packs, I will not make any exceptions for in-progress RPs.
at least three rps must be completed by the pack members within the past two months to achieve official pack status.
The Alpha must participate in at least one. If you're forming a large pack with a lot of different people, it's okay if they don't all participate (like…at all), but try to get as much participation as you can.
you can form a pack as if it has existed for a long time, or as if they are just now coming together.
pack names must be an (easy-to-read and pronounce) inuit word.
I don't know if I'm gonna keep this rule for sure or not, but I think it would be kinda cool. Google "Inuit dictionary" and the first two results are absolutely fantastic. A few suggested words to get you started: Kaniq (frost), Kalluk (thunder), Siku (ice), Tatkret (moon), Missuk (dew), Sanerk (dust), Tark (darkness), Aok (blood), and Kanosak (gold).
please create a 200x40 banner to represent your pack on the shop's front page.
This doesn't have to be complete before you apply, but get it done soon so we can represent! If you have a unique cert background, that would be a great start.
not all packs will be automatically accepted.
I may ask you to tweak a few things, develop a few more ideas, etc. I doubt I'll ever just...turn anyone down point blank, but don't automatically assume that just because you applied, you will automatically get a pack. Try to flesh out some awesome ideas first.
packs are welcome to choose a general area where they live on the map, but no section of a map will ever get "too full" for new packs to join.
themed packs are totally awesome, and I am going to HIGHLY encourage them.
A pack of wolves who worship the stars, believing that the stars are their ancestors, who all have "night-like" coloring; a pack of reavers and pirates who kidnap other wolves and keep them as indentured thralls; a pack where females rule and carry out all responsibilities, who only keep low-ranked males around for breeding purposes, and kick out all male pups once they reach adulthood; a pack of xenophobes who are unfortunately inbred and kinda crazy, but continue to practice brother-sister breeding to preserve their beautiful genes of silver hair and purple eyes (why, yes, I am a Game of Thrones fan, how did you know?). Long story short (too late), you can ignore some shop rules for the sake of an awesome pack with awesome roleplay potential.
when thinking up the religious views of your pack, check out the religion post here.
It details all the gods, goddesses, and known spirits of Nuna (as well as the basic structure of the wolves' belief system). So...yeah, read that.
you can choose your own unique pack-members-only background for the cert if you want!
Totally optional, but totally cool. I would suggest creating your own, hiring someone (not me lol) to make you one, or - as I did - finding a photo that is free-to-use (i.e. not just off google) and then applying a filter or two in Photoshop to make it look less photograph-ish. I used sxcDOThu, but you'll need an account; deviantART would also work (if you do use someone else's original art, you will need to abide by their rules for how they want it used). Since the thread is pretty black-and-white color-themed, I would suggest sticking with very subdued colors to keep everything looking all nice and homogenous (or just tweaking them on Photoshop). :3 Also, backgrounds should be sorta landscape-like: fields, forests, mountains, etc. No human structures should be visible. You are welcome to request the use any of the images founds in the RP subforums' rules posts (I have large, unedited versions saved)! The image needs to be at least 250x250. You must - I repeat must - have the image ready to go when you apply for a pack (if you want the unique pack cert); you cannot submit it later, because recerting all the pack wolves twice will make anyone doing certs rip their hair out.
active pack rules
packs get their very own subforum in the guild - free of charge - when granted official, active pack status.
packs should usually be accepting new members; no long-term freezes on new members joining.
Unless there's an RP-related reason, but even so, let's keep things reasonable.
active packs can drop below the required five member minimum for rp reasons.
However, try to keep your pack always growing, not shrinking.
packs can have whatever in character rules they want, and can be run however they want (again, in character).
You must follow all other shop rules as far as OOC conduct is concerned (basically, the golden rule of being respectful and treating other users like actual human beings). You want a crazy pack who sacrifice other wolves to please Igaluk? Cool. Self-righteous, power-hungry pack who only accept beautiful golden and/or red wolves into their pack? Sweet (but only if their pack motto is "Hear Me Roar!" ).
pack subforums must have the following three posts as separate announcements/stickies:
Member List - must be kept up to date.
Pack Information - all relevant information about your pack's history, spiritual beliefs, hierarchy and ranking systems, breeding info, IC and OOC owners, etc.
Joining - a post to include information on how to join, as well as an application (or whatever). You are welcome to impose rp requirements (etc.?) in order to join your pack, but keep them reasonable and purposeful (no stupidly impossible dice games just to be a jerk; but dice battles between potential and existing members…now that would be interesting!).
at least one rp must be completed by any pack member every other month.
Doesn't matter what the RP is about (can be for a breeding discount, joining roleplay, or to obtain a rank), but if 3 months goes by with no activity (and no excuse), the pack will be deemed inactive and the OOC owners will be PMed by the mule. If there is absolutely no activity (no one shows up in the thread to offer an explanation, no RPs, I hear zip-zilch-nada from you) for two more months (5 months total with no activity), the pack will be disbanded (though I suppose you could reapply for active pack status, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it).
applying for a pack
[b]Pack Name:[/b]
[b]OOC Owner(s):[/b]
[b]Alpha(s):[/b]
[b]Pack Members:[/b] (and Owners)
[b]Cert Background?[/b] (link to image, and, if permission is required, a link to you getting permission - such as a screenshot of a note on devART or something)
[b]Location:[/b] (optional; just mention where it would be on the map, and if you want any other packs to be your neighbors)
[b]Links to RPs:[/b]
[b]Pack's Theme?[/b] (not required, but totally awesome)
[b]Pack's History:[/b]
[b]Pack's Spiritual Beliefs:[/b]
[b]Pack's Ranking System:[/b]
[b]Extra Information:[/b]
[b]OOC Owner(s):[/b]
[b]Alpha(s):[/b]
[b]Pack Members:[/b] (and Owners)
[b]Cert Background?[/b] (link to image, and, if permission is required, a link to you getting permission - such as a screenshot of a note on devART or something)
[b]Location:[/b] (optional; just mention where it would be on the map, and if you want any other packs to be your neighbors)
[b]Links to RPs:[/b]
[b]Pack's Theme?[/b] (not required, but totally awesome)
[b]Pack's History:[/b]
[b]Pack's Spiritual Beliefs:[/b]
[b]Pack's Ranking System:[/b]
[b]Extra Information:[/b]
