Character Adoption

Character adoption is the claiming of abandoned characters or factions in the Star Army setting.

The new list of adoptable characters is here: Adoptable Characters

Star Army has been running since 2002. As members come and go due to life issues, they have left behind a large quantity of characters who sit around untouched and neglected. For this reason, Star Army has started to allow for the adoption of these unused characters.

In general, character adoption is “first come, first serve.” There are some limitations, which are designed to protect players (both the creators and the adopters).

Characters become adoptable:

1. If their player has said the character is adoptable or up for grabs.
2. If a player is inactive: Hasn't logged into the forums for over 1 calendar year.

If the character's player is still active, you need to get permission from the player to adopt their unused character. Characters who are a background fixture of the setting (e.g. heads of state) are not adoptable and characters with high ranks need permission from the appropriate faction manager.

To adopt a character, post that you're going to adopt the character in the New Character Biographies forum.

As of 2016, the standard character template has been updated to explicitly say whether or not the character can be adopted after the player has been gone for a year.

If the character biography does not indicate whether or not the character can be adopted, a staff member will attempt to contact the character's old owner to get a yes or no answer. If the owner does not reply within 1 week (starting at when the staff member attempts to contact the creator), and no one has a legitimate objection within a week, staff can transfer ownership of the character to you.

Note: If the player hasn't logged on to the forums in more than three years, the contact attempt and waiting period can be skipped at the site admin's discretion, in order to avoid bothering people with unwanted emails.

Legitimate reasons for your adoption being declined include:

1. The player is known by the community or a friend to be involuntarily unable to log in (due to medical issues, military deployment, etc) and is expected to return.
2. The original player can cancel the adoption of the character he created if he/she shows up and posts an objection. If this happens, the original player is obligated to start actually using that character. Open RP is a good place to use plotless characters.
3. Alternatively, the player can update the character's biography page to opt out of adoption permanently.
4. Some other player or GM has already announced prior plans for a character and can show proof of that. Note: Player plans take priority over GM plans.

If you adopt a character, you are expected to use and maintain that character. Failure to update the character or use them in RP in a reasonable timeframe could nullify the adoption. The guidelines for this are a week for wiki updates (which don't necessarily have to be finished) and a month for using them in RP (non-plot RP counts).

Don't want your character to get adopted after you leave? No problem. Players can opt out of adoption or assign an active friend as caretaker of that character by putting a note in the OOC section of their biography that acts as a “will.” You can also will your character to his/her faction for use as an NPC.

As of 2016, the character template asks if you want the character to be adoptable after you're gone for a year. To opt out, answer “NO” to this question. In 2020, all old characters who do not specify that they are not adoptable will be assumed to be adoptable.

⚠️ Characters who are not available for adoption or GM use may be pruned from the wiki for de-cluttering purposes if they're no longer used and are not necessary to keep for historical purposes. These characters can still be restored later from old revisions if needed.

If you have neither opted out nor objected when given the chance, and your character has been adopted, the character is recognized as belonging to the person who claimed the character. If you want the character back, it is up to them to decide whether they want to return the character. They are under no obligation to do so, so don't ask the staff to force them. Adoptions do not affect your right to use the character on other sites and in other works, or to make a very similar character.

Hi $USER,

You're receiving this email because someone wants to adopt your old Star Army RPG character under the site's character adoption policy, which can be found here: http://stararmy.com/wiki/doku.php?id=guide:adoption . Character adoption helps old characters continue their stories and development by transferring them to an active player.

You can find the adoption proposal thread here: http://stararmy.com/roleplay-forum/index.php?threads/character-adoption-radm-aurelia-solomon.14632/

• If you approve of this adoption, please post your agreement in the thread. This helps expedite the process.
• If you do not approve and wish to play the character again, please visit the thread to post your objection.
• If you do not respond within 1 week, the character adoption will proceed automatically.

Thanks for reading and we hope to hear from you,

Respectfully,

Star.Army Community