Overview

The SHOOT Project was founded in 2001. While it has had several members of management come and go over the years, the current and longstanding owners of The SHOOT Project are Josh Johnson and Brandon Hughes.

We recognize that The SHOOT Project is not for everyone. We have a quality level that surpasses every e-fed we’ve ever seen, and we strive to maintain that level of quality. We are serious about our writing and our work producing the highest level of e-fed work that can be found collectively in one place. We recognize also that we all are mature adults and, as such, have a certain level of leniency that we freely give out if we’re communicated with, something I’ll get to later.

You will need to be familiar with these rules and regulations as a member of the SHOOT Project or as a potential member. You will need to have read these prior to joining, and keep abreast of them accordingly. Also, these are supposed to be paid close attention to on a regular basis. Do not assume because you have been with SHOOT for three years or four years or even one week that you know these rules. If you are not sure at any time whether or not you’re about to break a rule, do NOT hesitate to consult these rules to verify.

ALL decisions made by the management of the SHOOT Project (hereafter referred to as The SHOOT Project Committee) are FINAL. By the SHOOT Project Committee, we mean Josh Johnson and Brandon Hughes. Unless you hear it from either of us, take it with a grain of salt. If you feel the need to discuss things with either Josh Johnson or Brandon Hughes about a decision they have made, keep in mind that if either one of us have made our decision and have said as such, there is no compromising. This goes for those of you who have just met us, as well as those of you who have known us for several years. We will, on most occasions, compromise and work with you to ensure your maximum enjoyment. However, we will also reserve the right to state our decisions as final and the decisions must be followed accordingly. Any failure to do so will result in disciplinary actions, which will be discussed later.

Roleplaying

1. This is a roleplaying federation with a slight lean towards storytelling, so roleplaying is a must to succeed, as well as your personal creativity. You do not get to post two shitty roleplays and expect to beat one superior one. That in mind, the judging of just what is shitty and what is superior is completely in the hands of the SHOOT Project Committee, and as such is a FINAL decision.


2. For singles matches, there are an allotted two roleplays per opponent. Roleplays marked with the storyline tag will NOT be counted for a match, under any circumstances, though storyline work can be implemented into a roleplay counting towards a match. Roleplays created specifically for storyline purposes must be posted in the Storyline & Character Development forum. Failure to do so will result in possible disciplinary actions.


3. For tag matches, there are an allotted two roleplays per team. These can be split up in any number of ways, amongst the participants in the match. (Three solo roleplays, two solo, one joint, three joints, et cetera). However, teamwork is essential to any team, and as such will be one of the deciding factors in your success in tag team matches.


4. With other matches, the roleplay limit is decided generally with the bookings, and in a way that would best suit the type of matchup. Multi-Man matches beyond tag matches will generally cause this rule to go into effect, with any number of maximum allowed roleplays to be decided upon the booking of the match itself. Keep in mind that while it is not mandatory to max out on roleplay allotments, it is heavily favored in subsequent judging.


5. Roleplaying will be judged with specific criteria in mind. That criteria is subject to change, and is subject to being foregone completely given certain circumstances. Unless the end result is an agreed upon result between the two parties involved in the match itself, the final judgment is reserved for the SHOOT Project Committee, as stated above.


6. The SHOOT Project Committee reserve the right to overrule an agreed upon result between the two competing parties. This will be a very rare occurrence and will be explained with the particular parties.


7. Finally, and this goes without saying, there should be no use of OOC conversation in a roleplay. Any use of out of character conversations (this includes in-jokes or anything spoken in chat rooms or the out of character board) will result in an immediate loss and possible suspension or even termination, depending on the severity of the offense, unless previously agreed upon with the two competing parties.

Roleplaying Criteria

1. Relevance: This is a big one, and the first thing that we are going to look at. What you're shooting for here, is basically to be pertinent to happenings of the fed, and in correlation to how your character conducts his life. We know that the main thing a lot of people do is to incorporate life with wrestling, and that's fine. We just want people to try and make it as relevant as possible. Be knowledgeable of the world and the stories around you. Comment on other people’s storylines if it works within the confines of your own work. Comment on the overall ongoing saga of the SHOOT Project itself, since that is going to be the place you’re employed, after all.


2. Location: SHOOT Project, as a company, is located in Las Vegas. There are soft spots for it in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina. However, the company rarely tours and thusly doesn’t move much past Las Vegas, Nevada. In Sin City, SHOOT is housed entirely in a fictional area of the city built to the size of a city block called the SHOOT Epicenter. In the Epicenter is the arena, specifically built for professional wrestling events, a casino, the SHOOT Project Headquarters. More will be divulged at a later date.


3. Creativity: This is basically the first two criteria condensed into a general attribute. Creativity is obviously important if you are trying to create a compelling back story. Foremost, we all want to see new things, and if you are doing that, you'll get rewarded for it. If you're doing something old, but doing it well, you'll get rewarded for it. Relevance and location will play a factor here, solely because they are there for your world. You also will need to show a decent amount of natural charisma with your character, an ease in which your character is written. That ease comes across confidently and, as such, will translate to favorable judgments.

On Cards

1. Segments/Promos/Run-Ins are all VERY welcome on the card, and are the best way of getting your character and angle over. However, the use of those segments are at the discretion of the staff, and most of all the Committee, so if there's something that doesn't fit or we don't like, it'll be scrapped completely, or changed. We reserve that right. A lot of the times, we will know more about what is going on than you might, so we will simply ask that you alter something here or there, if anything at all. We don't mean it to be an offensive thing for you, but that stuff happens.


2. Segments and Promos MUST BE FULLY WRITTEN otherwise they will be tossed out. No exceptions. The staff cannot write your segment ideas out for you. It's your job. Further, there is a certain format to follow, which means no brackets or parenthesis, no capitalizing your whole name or overt HTML usage, and above all else SPELL AND GRAMMAR CHECK. If we find that the segment does not fit into our criteria, we will return it back to you or communicate to you what needs to be changed. The Committee reserves the right to alter these segments and on-card events to work within the flow of the show, as well as alter our criteria for segment and promo quality at any time.


3. Formatting is essential, as mentioned above, however it will be elaborated on here. Use of the HTML code for bolding is necessary for your character’s speech. If your character is speaking backstage, only his or her name needs to be bolded. If your character is in the ring, the entire speech needs to be bolded. Song lyrics are the only things that are to be italicized to any great degree. Certain writers like to use italics to stress things their character says, and that’s permissible so long as it’s not the entire segment. Your writing for narratives, descriptions of the area need to be a more uniform generic state. Certain writers allow that narrative to also get their character over, and so long as that’s used vaguely, then that is permissible. By vague, I mean no overt use of adjectives detailing your character’s attributes or anything too time consuming. A segment also needs a complete beginning and complete ending. That means the camera comes in on your character and leaves on your character so as to assist in seamless flow through the show.


4. A general note... If you're not booked, but still want to keep involved, a segment is a GREAT way to show the staff you're dedicated and interested. It isn’t a necessity, but it is a fantastic show of support to your company and your character, and will also maintain interest in your character.


5. This one is VERY important. Champions will need to be on AT LEAST every other show. World Champions need some sort of appearance on every show unless they speak to the SHOOT Project Committee about it. If a Champion does not adhere to this, then they may find themselves without a title.

Matches

1. If you request to write a match, you will have the entire roleplay timespan to work on the match and have it in on the day of the show. Deadlines will be discussed in the following section. However, matches are accepted at all times. It is important that you maintain contact with whoever is involved in the match you volunteer for or are assigned so that you can get whatever they need over as well as obtain any information you may need.


2. Time in matches go as 100 words meaning one minute of action. 1000 would equal ten minutes, so on and so forth. It is your prerogative how long you wish your match you chose to write to be unless we inform you of the length we prefer…and we will do that more often than not. Also, HTML coding isn’t necessary aside from entrances, which do not count towards the match length. Match length is calculated from opening bell to final bell, and includes all commentating as well in terms of word count.


3. If you request a match and you fail to turn it in, we will inform the participants of the match that you failed them and that either their match will not occur on the show or they will need to assist us in either finding a replacement or working on a patchwork match, and that will bring the quality of the show down. Do NOT request a match to write if you do not think you can succeed in writing it. If you do so, possible disciplinary action will result.

Deadlines

1. For the weekly show, Revolution, the deadline is generally 12 AM Midnight Eastern Friday. That means Thursday at 11:59 PM is your final minute to post any roleplays. We reserve the right to change that time at our discretion, and roleplays posted after deadline, unless permission is granted otherwise, will not be counted towards a match. You've got 2 weeks to say all you gotta say, so I'm sure this is not a tough thing to handle. Last minute roleplays sometimes can not be helped, as we all have tough schedules, but we must know in advance if you’re unsure if you can make the time allotted. Otherwise, we will assume you were sandbagging your final roleplay and it will be frowned upon.


2. Pay-per-view deadlines will also share the same deadline as Revolution, in our fictional world PPV's also take place on Sunday nights.


3. Segment deadline/Match deadline is Saturday, after the roleplaying deadline. This gives us all of Sunday to work on, and put together, that week's version of Revolution. Given that you will have 2 weeks to produce whatever you need to produce, this shouldn't be too difficult to maintain.


4. In the event that we need to push back the release of the show, be it Revolution or a pay-per-view, and we will inform you on the Out Of Character board if that has to happen. People do have outside lives, and as such we are more than willing to accommodate. However, if you’re going to be late handing in your work, let us know. We generally maintain a status thread on the OOC board and if we make the announcement that the show is going up soon, there is no more time to send in a segment.

Angles

1. Angles are great. Angles are fun. Does everyone have to have one? No, they don't. Our personal experience lends us to believe that having an angle makes things more fun and interesting for the handler. However, they're not required, and won't hinder your status in the federation. But, it should be kept in mind that we're trying to operate as realistically as possible, so if you don’t have an angle, you might find yourself treading water or not booked at all in favor of angles that need a match to progress. The main event itself will be very rich in stories, even if they’re as simple as “face wants heel champ’s belt”. Getting involved in storylines will get you involved in the company, which we’re striving for.


2. We will, nine times out of ten, stay out of your angles as much as possible. We also will run pretty much whatever YOU GUYS want. If you can get someone or some people to agree to work with you on an angle, chances are, you’ll be allowed to do so. While we may believe in the betterment of the company on a whole, this is about having fun for each and every one of you. However, we still reserve the right to veto an angle. We need to be kept abreast of angles, not necessarily every nook and cranny, but the hot topics so as to avoid stepping on anyone’s toes or offending anyone.


3. We also will be here to help suggest angles for you to run with. We also take a very vested interest in what angles involve our titles. We will be a bit more stringent on our Champions and what they choose to do with the divisions they represent. Just because you have a title doesn’t mean you have any more right to argue with any final decisions we make than the new guy who just signed up. Again, our decisions, if we state them as FINAL…are FINAL.

Roster

1. If you send in an application, do not start posting roleplays. It doesn’t matter who you are or how good you think you are, we will turn you down for such an arrogant presumption. Wait for us to accept or deny you and if it isn’t within 36-48 hours of your application, please feel free to post on our board for request that we respond to your application.


2. There is a singles roster, a tag team roster, and an inactive roster. For simple tidiness purposes, when the time comes, the tag team roster is split from the singles roster, though obviously you can be on both of those. Inactive rosters, will simply be workers that have had to take extended leaves of absences or have disappeared while being a loyal member in the past. However, to maintain yourself on the active roster, you must show interest in the day-to-day of the SHOOT Project. Chilling on the forums, talking to SHOOT Project people over AIM, and doing segments/roleplays/etc., are all good ways to do this. The inactive roster will not be shown on the site and, in essence, you will be moved out of the SHOOT Project public eye if you aren’t around.


3. In the event that a character has an angle go on that takes them out of active competition, they will not be taken off the roster as a result. They're more than welcome to keep roleplaying to aid their story.


4. If you need to be taken off the roster for any reason, and wish to return to the SHOOT Project at a later time, you MUST contact us via e-mail at projectreality@gmail.com or seankygon@gmail.com. Vanishing from duties without a word is incredibly, incredibly detrimental to your chance of return. While you may be moved to the inactive roster, we reserve the right for discretion on this matter. Keep this as a friendly warning. Additionally, if you need time off, let us know as far ahead of time as possible.


5. If you have left under poor terms, we are a family and will discuss your possible return with the rest of the roster. You will be told of anyone with any issues with your return and it will be up to you to discuss those issues with them and settle them. If the rift is irrevocable, we will default to the side of the person already on our roster and you will not be accepted.

Shows

1. We have one weekly show, and it's called Revolution. The show is hand written by the SHOOT Project roster and staff, and will air on Sunday. Basically, this gives us a decent enough cushion to get the show up on time, and to the best quality we can provide. Sometimes real life will get to us, as it gets to all of us, and the show may be posted late. We will strive not to allow this to happen, but we ask for your patience and possible assistance in the event.


2. If opponents don't roleplay for a contest, the match will be scrapped or the match will be used to get someone else over in some fashion. The fact of the matter is, if there’s no push by either party to work within the one week parameter we set, don’t be surprised if you’re helping get someone else over on the show via a beatdown or what have you. Only in very different circumstances will this rule be ignored. And as always, THE CARD IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.


3. Dark matches will occasionally be held to test new talent and as a general "are you still around" type of thing. No offense should be taken by being placed in a dark match. If you have a problem with it and you’re new, you’ll definitely going to have a short tenure here in SHOOT. If you have a problem and you’re a longstanding member of the roster, then you need to communicate with the management as to your status. You can rectify this with segments or storyline roleplays, avoiding any dark match placements. We have a large roster and you won’t always get weekly bookings, so don’t rely solely on being booked to make your presence felt in the company.

Out Of Character Behavior

1. We are a family. That means we talk out our issues. We also do this privately. Nobody needs to see the bullshit, they come to see the five star talent we produce every single week. If you have a problem with someone, it is UP TO YOU to discuss it with them. We have a Private Message system, the roster members have e-mail addresses and AIM or MSN names made available in our OOC board, so there is literally no excuse as to you keeping your problems to yourself.


2. If we find you’re gossiping, trying to spread drama, you’ll be released or suspended, one of the two. We have a Breaking News forum for IC drama and gossip, and IC drama and gossip are the ONLY kinds permitted in The SHOOT Project.


3. You need to be mature enough to handle people’s criticisms of your work because, guaranteed, you won’t impress everyone every time in SHOOT. You need to take it in stride and if you are offended, discuss it with that person in particular privately. Sometimes it’s a simple misunderstanding, and if you are okay with discussing it publicly and allowing others to offer their input, you may, provided it does not degenerate into a flame war.


4. Champions HAVE to leave feedback as much as possible. If you have a belt here, it’s because we believe you can help lead the company in some fashion. Every belt is only as important as you are willing to make it. We want you to care about your title and your division and don’t abandon it once you lose your title because, trust us, you will lose your title eventually. Feedback needs to be left at least every other show and it doesn’t need to be in depth, but you need to show you care about the product you’ve been chosen to represent.


5. As stated above, eventually you will lose titles and/or matches. You need to be able to handle that professionally. If you lose and you quit because of one loss, you won’t be welcome back so easily. If you lose a series of matches, you need to talk to either Josh or B about it, and see what you can do to change those losses to wins.


6. Again, COMMUNICATION IS KEY TO SHOOT PROJECT’S SURVIVAL. From angle discussion to character discussion to any personal issues, YOU NEED TO TALK TO YOUR FELLOW ROSTER MEMBERS AND MANAGEMENT. If you feel a problem can’t be handled between you and a roster member, come to Josh or B or a mutual friend you trust to mediate. If you don’t communicate, you’re not wanted here, no matter how talented you think you are.

As always, direct your concerns and questions to either Josh Johnson (projectreality@gmail.com) or Brandon Hughes (seankygon@gmail.com). Please make yourselves familiar with these and have fun!