Updates and Changes
This is a big one, so bear with us, and please read this update in full, as many aspects of the game have been updated or adjusted!
Staff Changes
We announced recently that Rhys has stepped down from management due to retiring from writing. At this time, Kit has also decided to step down due to shifting life priorities and available time. We thank them for all their help over the years and hope they enjoy retirement/lighter play!
The Map
We know it's been a while since the map was properly updated to adjust borders and provide graphics for new submissions. Updating the map is a complicated process that currently only our back end staff is capable of (we could try, but we don't want to break it entirely), which is why it's been a while since it's been updated. Our coder is extremely busy with work right now, but for now, here is an updated image to go off of minus the three most recent location submissions. Once the map is live you can expect to see some boundary shifts to avoid packs being closed in by others or preventing travel. In the mean time, feel free to assume characters can squeeze by The Nameless Mountain and Jaggedspine Valley without intruding on either pack. Tearspine will be extended along the sliver bordering both as a travel passage.
![[Image: J7D6d2a.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/J7D6d2a.jpeg)
Group Admin/Leader Expectations
Over the years we have noticed the effect of having no activity requirements related to running packs/groups. Canis will always be a place to take things at your own pace; at the same time, we feel it would be beneficial to have some light structure to keep group admins/leaders responsible for their creations and prevent groups from sitting abandoned & inactive in the game. This is disappointing to players in the group and frustrating to any players who are sitting with the potential of the group or location.
The following has been implemented as of this update:
Group Admin & Leader Activity
There should always be at least one pack admin and pack leader actively engaging in the group between OOC and IC responsibilities to ensure all responsibilities are met. A person who is a group admin with a leader character fills the requirement for both. Active group engagement includes, but is not limited to:
- posting threads/replies under your pack character at least once a month
- updating any pack communication/ooc forums and/or ranks once a month
Please keep in mind that Canis Major RPG is a game, and staff does not expect you to devote your every waking minute to a group. Should there come a point where you feel you need to step back and are the only group admin, consider adding another group admin. If staff notices a lack of engagement/fulfillment from group admins and leaders, they will check in to ensure they still have the time commitment, willingness, and interest to upkeep the group. In this instance, if Canis staff:
- can not reach any form of leadership, the group will disband.
- can not reach a group admin but a group leader is present; the leader may be promoted to group admin while the existing admin(s) may be demoted to prevent disbandment
In the event that staff must repeatedly reach out to a group's leadership and no change is seen from individuals promising a pickup in responsibilities, the group may be disbanded. Even if you have another player filling these activity roles, if you yourself find that you repeatedly fail to meet these requirements, it may be a good indicator that you do not have the time to be responsible for the group. In such an event, a replacement should be named, or the group should disband if there are no other admins/leaders or individuals desired to take over.
If we find that these timelines are not beneficial or impede the game, staff will revisit and restructure. To anyone concerned, please know we will do our best to communicate updates with responsible parties on all fronts before taking any action. We do not want to take down any hard work or efforts just because something spikes up in your life. That being said,
please hold off on any complaints until we have had some time for these rules to settle so we can see how they play out! If we see issues arising we will check in with the community for your feedback.
Addressing Inspiration and Original Content
As writers, we naturally take inspiration from media or literary elements we consume. Inspiration is natural and healthy, but needless to say, heavily referencing media to the point where your character is just an "animal version" of said inspiration isn't okay. Put simply, it's plagiarism. This goes for inspiration drawn from other players' characters too — both on and off Canis. Players who heavily reference or copy points of inspiration without creative differentiation will be warned
once for plagiarism. If the player continues, they will be banned from Canis. This goes for groups and locations as well.
To avoid confusion or concern from our playerbase, we want to take the time to denote the difference between inspiration and heavy reference. Canis is a creative writing space that allows our players to drive the game through our characters, be it with new locations, groups, or even events. Due to Canis operating under a
Creative Commons Attribution License, it is important that we, as a community, avoid heavy references to other ideas and media, especially those with their own copyrights.
TLDR; If staff can reverse image search and/or google your submission and find extreme likeness, you should revist the drawing board and rework the idea to be your own.
So what does this mean?
Locations
- Images should have direct permission to use or follow the copyrights of any supplied images. If you are in need of images with open use cases try sites like unsplash.
- Location names should not be copyrighted from media. There are exceptions to this depending on the likeness of the name.
- Brightwater or The Red Desert are fairly common components or only partially sampled to form a location name and are not necessarily tied to a copyrighted medium.
- Terrasen or Winterfell are names that if you google them immediately pull up the media they are referenced to. These should be avoided as they are recognizable.
- Locations should be original in concept. You may like the aspect of a location in a show, book, game, etc. but submissions should not be near 1:1 copies or toe the line of plagarism.
Group concepts
- Like locations, group names should not be copyrighted media. Be creative and make the group your own!
- Similar to names, groups should be unique in concept unless you are aiming for a very standard take on a wolf pack. This has a couple meanings.
- Do not heavily structure a group to resemble a fictional group, role, or plot from media. If you like Game of Thrones, Throne of Glass, Assassins Creed, etc. that's great and by all means be inspired by the settings or world building, but do not attempt to recreate House Stark, the Ironteeth Witches, or the Brotherhood, etc.
- Do not heavily structure a group to resemble the likeness of another existing on site. The only exceptions to this rule are sister packs, a new pack bringing back the likeness of a disbanded group that the founder(s) were a part of IC to reference, or plots where individuals may splinter off from the main group due to unhappiness with structure or how things are run, then attempt to make their own version.
- In all of these exceptions, staff recommend checking in with the creators of said groups to make sure there are no disputes / that groups have enough differences to recognize individually unless permission is provided.
Staff recommend having more than one inspiration from different medias when brainstorming a group concept to avoid heavily leaning on one idea and risking plagarism or extreme likeness. Additionally, you should still be spinning these ideas into your own recognizable creations. Canis should not be used to play out stories or worlds that already exist.
Characters
Players are expected to play their own OC's (Original Characters), meaning they are not copycats of existing characters from other individuals or media. If you are inspired by an existing character, consider using them as but one of many "layers" to build off of when developing your own take on the character type. A good way to avoid copycats or heavy references to characters you do not own is to mix ideas from multiple inspirations (see
kin onions), then sprinkle some traits to make the idea uniquely yours. The rest usually blossoms in character as they develop through play.
Acceptable use of inspiration- A general trope or character archetype — The Hero, The Trickster, The Maiden, Yandere, Tsundere, etc.
- Voice claims — Your character can sound like whoever, so long as you do not try to pass the character off as the person/character in use.
- Face claims — A direct reference to a notable character in media that may have similar vibes, characteristics, or tendencies, usually used for aesthetics. Characters should not heavily resemble the character of their face claims.
- A vague outline of a character's history — Raised by a single father in hardship. Bound together in a found family group of misfits, tragedy led to their deaths, and your character is the sole survivor. (This example is inspired by Arcane, but the characters in your character's history are not from Arcane nor do they die the same way or have the same relationships to one another. The way your character evolves after should reflect the character's play on site, not events that follow in Arcane. You should also not try to recreate events that follow from Arcane on site.)
- Names that are used in myths or other public domains — Persephone, Odin, Vritra (Some popular media may adopt these public domain names as well, but double check for spelling or similar names that actually belong to that source.)
- Your own spin on a myth — Since Canis allows characters to come from other worlds/histories, there are characters on site who may have been gods or magical beings. If you are playing your own take of a symbolic figure, you must use your own rendition of the myth. Ex. Your character Thor, should not resemble the Marvel Avenger.
- Media released into general use or given permission by creators to use so long as there is no monetary gain — Warrior Cats as a whole concept/structure has free use given by the authors. Valyrian is a fictional language used in Game of Thrones, but allowed free use in non commercial practices.
Unacceptable use of inspiration / what is considered heavy reference- Copyrighted names — Jon Snow, Celaena Sardothien, Pikachu, etc.
- The use of copyrighted history/locations/languages/etc. in a character's past or current play.
- Direct parallels to an established character. You copied the homework but changed a few answers — My character HEX (Jinx) was blamed by her sister BI (VI) for the death of their friends because she wouldn't listen to instructions. She was cast out by her sister after their dad died/disappeared and was adopted by the leader of a notoriously bad group raised as a right hand (Again, using Arcane for this example. This is obviously using an established character or their relationships to define your own without making significant changes to create a new identity.)
- Requesting a design look like another person's character or intentionally replicating "the vibe"
Designs purchased from other people should take on new character identities unless the seller explicitly states that they are also selling the character's concept/identity. This means a new name, history, personality, and differing source inspiration should any additional media have been referenced by the previous owner that shaped the character into who they once were or, likewise, made them unique. In other words, make them your own! This does not correlate to the use of a general personality similarity, as that may have been adopted due to inherited art that depicts the design.
It would be impossible to list out every scenario of acceptable vs unacceptable use. These are only a rough guideline to provide context if these rules are not familiar or obvious to players. We know you guys have the ability to differentiate stolen and original works, but if you have questions or concerns, please reach out to staff for guidance! You will not be in trouble for running ideas or problems by staff to avoid plagarism.
Additional Updates
- Overall rulebook refreshing/revisions
- Specific pages players should revist: New player guide, Writing on canis, Embracing Consequences, Setting 101, Character Creation, Packs and Groups, Location Discovery, Management, Staff Guide
- Specific callouts: Added travel distance parameters, transparent activity cycles, rules regarding contributions and likeness to existing media, adjusted rules regarding design/name changes, group requirement changes, added group admin/leader expectations, group disbandment changes
- Vanished Twinwater Tides and Blackpine Reach due to a lack of interest in continuing groups the locations were originally submitted for
- Please note, we do not usually do this, but due to our pause on territory submissions, we decided it would be best to help move us forward toward reopening submissions. Both locations were also given the thumbs up by the original submitters to vanish.
- Added a vanished category under locations in the compendium for territories no longer in play
- Herbs now have images again in the compendium
the staff team luvs u
