The purpose of this blog is to verify the quality of OCs, & allow users to make battles with approved OCs. Equally, its purpose is to help users make better OCs, helping them to be approved as well.
Procedure[]
Step 1: Comment with a link to your OC's profile blog, as well as a completed blog Death Battle with your OC.
Step 2: I will review your OC based on their profile & battle whenever I can get to it (I'm real busy).
Step 3: If your OC is approved, the OC & their fights can go on pages (so long as said fights only contain approved combatants). If a user's OC is not approved, they will be encouraged to improve their OC, & cannot post said OC again for a month.
Rules[]
- OC must have a Mary Sue Litmus Test Score below 40 (as per usual).
- Only post one OC at a time, one OC per user. You must wait for your current OC to be reviewed before posting another.
- If your OC is approved, they can have their own page, & battles with said OC can also have pages (unless that fight contains an OC that has not been approved, or a blacklisted combatant).
- If your OC is not approved, you will have to wait 1 month before posting that OC again. We recommend taking this time to try & improve your OC for their next review.
- When posting OCs outside of the 1-month grace period, make sure your posts are at least a week apart from each other. This is to keep users from spamming their OCs in the blog, & further encourages them to invest time in developing their OCs.
- Make sure all relevant information is on your OC's blog so they can be reviewed properly. If an OC is found to have different information after they've been approved, they may be accused of "lying" about their OC.
- Be respectful. We understand if you disagree with a review, but don’t throw a fit. If the review bothers you that much, message me on my wall & we can discuss it respectfully.
- Be patient. I’m a busy guy, & my reviews take time to write. Don’t go commenting or messaging me expecting that I get to your review faster. I’ll get to it when I can.
- DON'T DERAIL THE BLOG. It's specifically for the staff to verify the quality of OCs. If you want to talk about something else, or address a review in some way, do it on Message Walls, Discussions, or your own blog.
- FOLLOW ALL RULES. Anyone who posts their OC improperly will be informed of such, & will not receive a review until they've done as the rules instruct.
- The staff team withholds the right to remove any OCs that are drastically different from when they were approved. This is to keep dishonest users who "lied" about their OCs from using overpowered OCs in pages.
- If a user displays bad behavior concerning their OC &/or their review (harassment, disrespect, hostility, etc.), the staff team withhold the right to ban an OC from resubmission.
Guidelines & Tips[]
- To keep things a little neater, try to only post an OC once you're relatively confident in their quality. You wouldn't want to post your OC too early & end up having to wait a month if they aren't approved. You want to give yourself the best chance of success.
- Alternatively, if you can't think of ways to improve your OC, feel free to post their blog here for some tips & critiques. The review isn't just for qualifying OCs for pages, it's meant to help creators improve their OCs & writing capabilities.
- Don't rush to post your OC after the 1 month grace period is over. You are not required to post once the wait is over, you can take more time to improve your OC if you see fit (or if you're just having a lot of fun developing your character :D).
- The stronger the OC, the more scrutiny they'll be viewed under, as OP OCs are often the least thought out. Consider this before posting your OC.
- Don't underestimate the power of a good story. A backstory isn't just the explanation for a character's existence, it's an opportunity to build upon the universe the character resides in. Doing so can help to build upon your OC even more, & add depth to their character. Remember, characters are only as real as the world they live in.
- Try to contextualize your OC's feats & arsenal, as one issue with many OCs is baseless abilities & feats that make no sense.
- On the topic of abilities, I've seen many OCs that have Time Manipulation, a fairly powerful ability that not too many characters possess. In the case of Sonic the Hedgehog OCs, Time Manipulation makes sense, as several characters from that verse possess this ability. However, a more original character that has no reason to have Time Manipulation will be viewed under greater scrutiny.
- On the topic of feats, it's normal to see someone bust a city or a mountain. Feats like this won't be viewed with much scrutiny. However, some characters blow up entire universes or greater, putting them at a much greater strength level than most others. This is something that will be viewed under heavy scrutiny.
- Try to avoid fanon to canon scaling. If it's judged based on your own research of the canon, then it should be okay, but if all you're gonna say is "My character can beat Superman", then you're probably better off sticking to normal feats & scaling, as not everyone agrees on the same stats.
- For further info, imagine if you say "My character can beat Mario". Someone from VSBW would say your character is Galaxy level. Someone from CSaP might say your character is Hyperverse level. Those who know less about Mario might say he's Wall level or Large Town level. If you ask me, I'd say he's anywhere from Wall to Multiverse level. The discrepancy is so harsh that it's impossible to narrow it down unless it's based solely on your own research. It would help to list a feat alongside the scaling, for example, "My character can beat Mario, who can punt castles". Furthermore, you'll want some form of consistency in the character's actual feats to justify &/or support the scaling.
- When giving your characters weaknesses, try to make them relevant &/or balanced. Oftentimes, weaknesses boil down to "Overconfident", "Not very smart", or some other irrelevant trait. These weaknesses are fine on their own, but I tend to find fights where said weaknesses are never brought up, thus making them pointless. Just try to keep in mind that weaknesses exist for a reason, don't put them there just for the sake of it.
- Once your OC is approved, try not to edit their stats too much. While it is normal to make changes here & there to an OC (or even completely reboot them), we don't want to encourage users to alter their OC after being approved, as this could lead to balanced OCs becoming OP.
OCs Approved So Far[]
Feel free to give them a look if you want to improve your own OCs.