Metallinauts' Friendly Testing Tips

Hello to all new test recipients! Let me be the first to welcome you to the Extra Solar Union of Systems! I am glad that you have expressed an interest in joining our hallowed ranks. The road to membership may or may not be easy (depending on how well you write). We show no favor on those who know people in the alliance over those who have discovered us through sheer chance. I know that three tests may seem a bit staggering and you can plainly see that not all who apply get in. So I have compiled a list of friendly hints that are not only useful for the testing process, but for future RPing that you might take part in. If you follow these tips, I am able to safely say that barring extreme circumstance, you will receive a passing grade and be granted membership into our ranks.

Metallinauts' Tips:

• Use spelling and grammar checking before posting. It is incredibly easy to copy the test/role play into a word processor and then hit F7 to aid in proof reading the role play. Spelling and grammar are large parts of the testing process. Not only will this aid you in having others clearly understanding the post you made, but you will look damn good to other Role Players out there with professional quality posts.
  
  
• Be original! Yes that plot line may have looked really cool on SG-1/Star Trek/Battlestar Galactica/Star Wars/Outlaw Star/etc. So leave it there. By all means be inspired by it, but for the love of God, please do not spew verbatim to me the plot line or story arch of some work of fiction. I can right now rewrite all of Star Trek:First Contact but use my own nation and characters; that doesn't mean it will be entertaining or thought provoking. So please please please please keep that in mind.
  
  
• NO CLICHES!!!!! I know you are tempted to have the antagonist die by works wrought from his own hand. Sometimes that is a great way to end a story, however for the rest of the time it is BORING. We RP to be ENTERTAINED. Not to see the same thing over and over in every RP in FTdom.
  
  
• Use a thesaurus and a dictionary. These can be your friend, possibly your best friend. Nobody anywhere likes to read the same few words recycled through 8 screens of text.
  
  
• Dialogue, I am sure that your Uber-Super-Mega-Ultra-Giga-Hyper Coreship-Battledreadnought-Carrier is bad ass and has like a bajillion and a half weapons that kill stuff in a nasty and cool way. Let me just say that no matter how awesome it is, no matter how much killing it can get done, is it ever necessary to describe the ship and it's abilities in more than a few lines. Other than that it is boring. What I want is character interaction, I want morals to be questioned, I want comment on the current state of affairs in our world set in the abstract realm of the future, I want to be intrigued and care about your characters and want to be genuinely interested in where they have been, where they are going and how they get there. So please, leave the e-peen show of your bad ass dreadnoughts for Wikipedia articles.
  
  
• Contact myself or another tester. We are seasoned RPers. I myself have been RPing for 4 and half years now. So have the other testers or any other members, we are more than happy to help you flesh out your characters or ideas. So don't be shy.