[Angie]

Questions About Void?

I often get asked the same questions a lot, questions that aren't in the FAQ or the answers just aren't readily available at the site. So I thought it might help to just have a handy little informal FAQ on the boards where people can ask stuff and get answers and new people will have a little easy to find reference for questions they may have!

You can pretty much ask anything about Void, it doesn't have to be technical! Maybe you just want to know what a now inactive artist is up to or you have questions about what happened in a recent battle. Anyone is welcome to ask a question and anyone is welcome to answer a question.  I'll compile the questions and accurate answers in the first few posts. To make things easy, I may edit the answers into your initial post.

All that I'm asking is no trolling, no flame bait, and no drama, any of that will be removed. This thread is to help out new and old Voiders alike so let's keep it clean!

If you don't want to post the question yourself and are afraid of people thinking you're a n00b or something you can totally PM me your questions as well!

Questions That Have Been Asked

General Site Questions

• How are the Ranks calculated?
• A Void fighting game/animation/movie would be awesome! Has anyone ever done one? Can I do one?
• I'm new and just got in, how does Void canon work?
• Is there a Void school, police force, mall, etc.?
• There's no art skill level requirement?
• Is there a large version of the Void logo I can use?
• When you challenge someone to a battle, are you supposed to message them first to ask about their availabilities and etc.? If not, how do you choose an appropriate length of time for battles to take place in?
• When I add someone to my hitlist, am I sending them the message that I want to beat them?
• What is located around Void City?
• Can I vote on my own comic?
• Do I have to do a certain number of pages a week to stay active?

Battle Related Questions

• I want to start a special event, tournament, 3 way, etc.! How can I do this? Do I have to be a mod to start one?
• I really want to cameo someone else's character in my battle! Do I need permission?
• Do the characters have to actually fight in the comic?
• Do I HAVE to show my opponent's character in the comic?
• Do my comics have to take place in Void City?
• I lost my character in a death match, what now?
• How do I set up a collab comic?
• How do I cancel a match?
• What are beyond battles?
• Can I post adult material?
• How do I get an extension?
• I made my own thumbnails, where do I send them?

Character Related Questions

• My character is listed as inactive/retired, how can I unretire them?
• I want to submit a character team, is that okay?
• I already have a character in but want a second one! Is that okay?
• Who's the mayor of Void City?
• Does my submitted character have to be soley for Void or can I use them elsewhere too?
• I have a character team, do I have to put them both on the same design sheet?
• Can I create an NPC for the site?
• If my character uses some sort of special transportation, does it have to be on the design sheet?
• Can I submit a place instead of a person?
• What size does my design sheet have to be?
• Older characters have win/lose poses, do I have to do these?
• My character got scarred, do I have to draw the scar?

Void Anthology/Book Related Questions

• Has anyone ever released a Void book? Can I do one?

Technical Help

• My battle failed to upload! What do I do?
• I found *insert random bug or problem* on the site! What do I do?
• My character was declined, but I didn't receive a message explaining why?
• Who do I contact when something breaks?
• I uploaded really early when my comic wasn't finished. Now my comic is up and I wasn't ready for it to be put up!

[/list]

[Angie]

How are the Ranks calculated?
We use a combination of elements that are each weighted equally to rank both Characters and Artists - comics completed, matches won, and scores earned from voting.

Each of the three pieces counts as 1/3 of the final score, with Characters and Artists being ranked by this score in descending order.

How characters are ranked has changed several times since VOID began, with each revision to the calculation was an attempt at best capturing a Character's or Artist's standing in the community.

[Angie]

I want to start a special event, tournament, 3 way, etc.! How can I do this? Do I have to be a mod to start one?

Nope! All you have to do in order to start an event is send Toast a private message For special events and 3 ways it's preferred that you already have the people to do it ready to go.

If you want to start a tournament, it's very helpful to outline what you have in mind or write out a little test post, for example

"THE BEST TOURNAMENT EVER

The best tournament ever is to see who is the best ever. There will be X participants duking it out across X rounds! Winners receive a special title and money!

Deadline to sign up is at X and drawing time begins X
Drawing time is X amount of time
Defaulters/incompletes get X punishment"

If the mods see you're serious and have everything laid out already, it's very likely your tournament will come to life. It never hurts to show that you have people interested in doing it as well!

For more on this, please see Roflqu's How to Guide

[Angie]

I really want to cameo someone else's character in my battle! Do I need permission?

The short answer is no.

The long answer is you don't have to, but it never hurts to contact the artist for permission. Most VOIDers are fine with their characters being cameo'd in other comics, but every once in a while someone doesn't like it. If the character plays a significant role in your comic it's a good idea to give the artist a head's up.

But regardless, there is no rule saying no cameos allowed and there is no rule saying you have to get permission.

[Angie]

A Void fighting game/animation/movie would be awesome! Has anyone ever done one? Can I do one?

A Void fighting game has been talked about numerous times on the site. While some sprites and backgrounds have been made in the past, a full fighting game has never been finished.

As for an animation or movie, Mamoru actually did a rather nice and complete Void animation. I still have the file, but would need his permission to throw it on Youtube or something. That's the only one I'm aware of beyond the old Flash battles.

You are more than welcome to attempt to do any of the above, provided it's not for sale because then it gets messy copyright wise.

[Angie]

Has anyone ever released a Void book? Can I do one?

The closest there's ever been to a VOID book is the Anthology.  Prior to that, there was the Pulpo line of anthologies, which featured many VOID artists, but the stories were not VOID related.

As for making your own or throwing all your battles into a book, this is where it gets complicated. If you were wanting to do an actual VOID comic for profit featuring your VOID character, you can, but you can't really feature anyone else's characters. For example, if I wanted to release and sell a book that stars Angie, my own character, and features no other VOIDer's creations, I can (and have!) as I am tied to no one else's copyrights. But your battles feature other people's characters so unless you're wanting to track down a bunch of people, get their permission, and potentially share the profits with them, that's a no go.

[Angie]

I found *insert random bug or problem* on the site! What do I do?

Post them in the handy dandy Bug Thread and Toast will address the problem as soon as he can. Just remember that some problems may take longer to fix than others so it can be a while if it's something effecting all the battles.

[Angie]

My battle failed to upload! What do I do?

There's a nice little guide I wrote up here, that covers most of the problems the uploader may have and how to fix them. If none of the solutions work then toss me a private message on the boards.

[Angie]

My character is listed as inactive/retired, how can I unretire them?

You can go to your character's page and in the upper-right is the current status.  Mouseover on that, and click the link for Unretire. In some situations, your character was retired or made inactive because you lost a scar match and never updated the design sheet. In that situation, obviously update your character's design sheet.

If, for whatever reason, you're just unable to unretire your character, contact Toast as he is the only one with the power to make characters active again.

[Angie]

I'm new and just got in, how does VOID canon work?

There is no official VOID canon. Part of the fun of the site is doing whatever you want. Some people like myself have storylines going on, but no one can force anyone to follow a strict storyline.  Also, if you lose a battle you are not obligated to follow the story of your opponent. You can make whatever you want canon, just try to be classy about it.

[Angie]

Do the characters have to actually fight in the comic?

Nope! It's actually encouraged to think outside the box. The content is all up to you, the only requirement is that both characters are present somewhere in the comic.

[Angie]

Do I HAVE to show my opponent's character in the comic?

Yes, or else the comic doesn't go up and you receive a default. You're more than welcome to do Beyond Battles for solo comics!

[Angie]

Do my comics have to take place in Void City?

Nope! You can have your comics take place anywhere!  Despite being a crowd favorite, the use of VOID City within the comics produced for the site is in no way mandatory. Comics may take place in any setting as desired, and you may use the setting of VOID City when and if or however you choose.  Want your comics to take place in the 50s in Russia? Go for it! Want your comics to take place in an alternate dimension on Planet Kittens? Go for it!

Save for certain tournaments or special match types selected by the Artists, comics can be about anything, take place anywhere, and be about almost anyone and where anything can happen.

[Angie]

I want to submit a character team, is that okay?

That's totally fine. Just make sure that you put however many characters you have on the design sheet. Also, you don't have to put both/all the characters into every battle. Just obviously, one of them needs to be present.

[Angie]

Is there a Void school, police force, mall, etc.?

This kind of goes hand-in-hand with there not being an official VOID canon as well as having comics take place wherever you want. If you're wanting to use places other people have made, there's a thread with some of them here

As for a police force, the somewhat official police force of VOID is the VCPD and some of the information can be found here

But again, Void is what you make of it, so you're welcome to make your own locations.

[Angie]

I lost my character in a death match, what now?

You make a new one.

Once upon a time, artists were allowed to resurrect dead characters, but that's not the case anymore.  Dead characters can still be used in Beyond Battles, but not regular matches except very rare occasions like the Speed Resurrection Tournament.

If you're attached to a character at all, don't put them in a death match. Same goes for scar matches, if you don't want to deal with the results don't do it in the first place.

[Angie]

I already have a character in but want a second one! Is that okay?

Sure! But only if you've battled several times with your previous character. In the past, some artists would continuing making new characters but would never use them, so we frown on artists that make new characters without using their existing ones. If you have some battles under your belt with your previous character, then go for it.

Don't try to go overboard though, one of the only people that has successfully had a ton of characters and used them all several times is Hiemie. So unless you're Hiemie it's usually a good idea to just stick to 1-2 characters.

[Buckydeer13]

there no art skill level, right?

I mean beside at least knowing how to draw

[(Pi)]

"Knowing how to draw" is a little vague, so I'll try and clarify.

We want to know that you can draw comics, which means you should be able to render humans and environments consistently, and have some level of "completeness" to your work. We're not looking for professional level skills at all, we just want to make sure that you'll be able to functionally illustrate comics for the site on a deadline.

If you're still wondering about what we accept, take a look around the fighters currently on the site. There's a pretty diverse assortment of styles and skills, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Set up a character in the Incubator, and people here will help you tune up whatever you need.

[AJ 武士龍]

Hey people i've got one question!
Who's the mayor in Void City? ya know...el presidente...

[Wei Ingnan]

who do you want the mayor to be in your comics?ya know......en sus propias historias.....

[AJ 武士龍]

ah ah vale vale, Wei!

[Angie]

Make whoever you want mayor or seize the title for yourself! Since the last official mayor's artist hasn't been around on Void in a long time I think it's safe to say someone can take the title for themselves at this point. Or people can make a tournament and battle over who gets to be it.

[Cherubas]

So, in anticipation of the upcoming Chia-hua battle I went to the character section to see how he stacks up and noticed that he didn't appear on the page until I enabled everyone past and present. This confused me because he's clearly active and yet he seems to have no rank. It's fun to see where my character stands in relationship to other characters, but it loses some of its charm when I find out that in addition to the 200 retired or dead characters who score higher than me there are also characters still competing who humbly outrank me in silence.

Anyway, the question is, why do some people have no rank at all?

[(Pi)]

Chia-hui is currently listed as "Retired," even if he's in a battle right now. I think carlito must have retired him and not changed that status when he got in another challenge.

as for no rank at all, i think there's a difference (technologically) between being "active," "inactive," and "retired." not totally sure though, kevin will have to explain it further.