Realistic Cards Rulebook

[The Nyx Avatar]

Again, as the previous rules are no longer pinned, this thread is here. Not too many differences from the original rules, but they are subject to change.

Also, do not misunderstand. Realistic refers to cards that could realistically exist in the card game. So no cards with over 5000 in the ATK and DEF fields, no Level 9 or higher Normal Monsters, no Normal monsters with ATK and DEF higher than Blue-Eyes White Dragon, no Types that don't exist, and ZERO cards with insufficient information in the Effect field, with the exception of Normal monsters (since they have no effects in this field by default).

 

1. Overall rules apply

This should be self-explanatory; any general site rules such as behavioral standards and so forth will apply in addition to the section specifics listed underneath. You may reference the rulebook as a forum-wide announcement at the top of the section.

If one of us gives you a command (either to fix the main post with appropriate changes, correct the images, card name, etc.), you are expected to comply. Insubordination will be penalized accordingly.

2. Cards you make in this section are held to higher design standards.

Whatever you post in this section must be designed with the intent to function competitively, in addition to displaying a higher standard of design than in Casual Cards (which is above this area).

 

You do not have to be an expert on the metagame, nor does your card have to be at the same level as commonly seen Decks at the time of posting, but it must be designed to function in the modern state (at least be able to function somewhat in it). 

 

Poorly designed cards that are blatantly broken are subject to being moved to Casual Cards as appropriate.

3. All threads are subject to critique / comments.

By posting your cards in the section, you are permitting other users to comment on them as necessary. This also includes giving "critique" (or things that you should fix with your cards).

Even if you do not agree with the comments people give, you are expected to respect them and be grateful that they took the time to look at your work. Either thank them in the thread, or just like their post. Please remember that members are under no obligation to review your work.

Reviewers, while you are not required to give SPECIFICS on what to improve, you are still required to say something meaningful about the cards themselves. (See the Advanced Clause)

4. Default formats for CC.

Banlists

The default list for CC is TCG hybrid, which is defined as the current TCG list with any OCG cards added on as necessary.

If you wish to design solely for one format (TCG or OCG), you need to make it clear in the opening post or thread title. However, it is unlikely that many people will be designing with the OCG format in mind.

Formatting (Master Rule)

At present, Custom Cards uses the current Master Rule as its default standard. However, due to the changes made since VRAINS with regards to the playing field and other mechanics (and to accommodate all users), CC caters to two separate formats.

They are defined as thus.

STANDARD:

Separate Monster Zones for Pendulum and Link monsters, Pendulum Zones moved to the S/T area, and of course the presence of Link monsters.

LEGACY: ARC-V mechanics (Master Rule 3)

Defined as no segregated monster zones for monsters summoned from the Extra Deck, Pendulums have their own areas on the side between Monster / Spell & Trap Cards.

Cyberse monsters are permitted for LEGACY if they do not deal with the Extra Monster Zone or anything pertaining to Links.

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If you are designing cards for the Legacy format, you NEED to tag your threads (either as a thread tag or noted in the title).
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There will be no penalty if you don't tag your thread, it means that your cards will be graded on how they interact in the VRAINS environment (which may differ dramatically from how they'd do in the ARC-V generation). If you wish to have your card graded for both formats, make sure you mention this in the main post.

Please respect the format tags and grade the works accordingly. This means don’t talk about Link design in a legacy thread, keep discussion relevant to the TCG unless the thread creator wishes for comments on both formats, etc.

5. The Advanced Clause is more enforced in this section.

Moderators are exempt from following the Advanced Clause while performing forum duties in the section. All members must abide by the Advanced Clause, regardless of their post count.

I. Post length and general required content.

Reviews must be no shorter than 35-40 words.
 
You must explain why you feel a card is good or bad and point out specific examples related to interactions with cards within an Archetype/series or the general card pool. If you point out combos, make sure you can realistically do them without expending unnecessary effort. Consequently, you should at least be familiar with the current game and card pool before coming in here. 
 
Asking questions about the card's usability and overall function if it isn't completely obvious from wording is permitted, and will fall under the AC (however you still must meet the word requirement). You can grade the card based on what you assume it does, then make an adjusted judgment once the thread creator confirms their intent.  

General remarks
 
Please make sure you write your reviews properly, meaning with: Proper capitalization, fonts/colors that are readable on YCM's skin (at least the standard white one) and in a manner that everyone can understand. Use complete sentences when needed, and DON'T treat this like social media. 

You are not required to have perfect English grammar (for those who have another language as their mother tongue), but make sure we can understand what you're trying to say. (If you have to use Google Translate, then do it).

Posting tone and mentality

 

How do I put this in the most direct terms? Don't be an asshole when responding to other members / giving a review in threads.

 

While you are given free reign to review as needed, it does not give you a license to use inflammatory language towards their design, nor does it give you as the thread creator to engage in the same type of behavior. We're all here to post cards/reviews and improve ourselves, not to be harassed and getting into flame wars. 

 

Treat the thread creator / reviewers with the same respect that you would like being shown on this site and post in a proper manner. 

 

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Behaving in an uncivil towards other users in this section shall result in harsh warn points and in more severe cases, potential section or forum ban for a period of time as deemed necessary.

II. Posts containing the following will NOT count towards the Advanced Clause, and will be penalized accordingly. 

A. OCG or card grammar fixes
 
B. Rating or posting "good/bad card"
 
C. Talking about the card's image
 
D. Restating a card's purpose without any opinion of your own in regard to playability and design.
 
E. Tell a member to change their card without valid reasoning.
 
F. Other content that is classed as spamming (i.e. 1-2 word posts, shitposts, unrelated conversations)
 
G. Posts under the word requirement

You may do the things in A through C without penalty, provided that you give a proper review. Comments on OCG/grammar will count as a review if/only if it relates to how the card is to function, however you should give your own thoughts as well.

III. Posts should not be filled with content-less nonsense to meet the word requirement.

Elaborating on point C above, restating a card's purpose (aka "Captain Obvious" posts) will NOT count as a valid review under the Advanced Clause and will be penalized accordingly.
 
You may restate it in your own words if/only if it helps you to understand what you're dealing with, but you are required to write your own opinion about the card (and back it up with details) otherwise.

IV. Moderators reserve the right to drop in with a ruling on a card at any time.
 
If it is needed, a ruling may be dropped to clarify matters, however I suspect this will be a rare occurrence due to the disparity between TCG and OCG, despite this section being mostly TCG players.
 
At most, probably general assumptions if it isn't obvious.

V. The purpose of the Advanced Clause is meant to increase the QUALITY of posts, NOT quantity.
 
This is a section that thrives on card design and thought, so you should be putting a good deal of thought into a post, especially once you've been in the section for a while and know how you're supposed to act.
 
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We aren't forcing you to write (collegiate) essays about a member's card (or your own), but this serves two purposes.
 
1. Help the user whose thread you're commenting on to improve their craft and make better cards in the future.

2. Gives you the opportunity to show that you at least know about general card design, the current card pool and/or potential interactions. While there is no way to gauge your precise knowledge, the main thing here is that you are aware of what exists and can write a qualitative assessment.

If you can write 2-3 complete sentences (generally), you should meet the requirements for both areas without issue. (Pointing out examples will definitely fill out the requirement)

VI. Penalties for breaking the Advanced Clause.
 
If you violate the Advanced Clause, the following punishments will apply.

1st offense: Verbal warning.

2nd offense: 3 point warning.

3rd offense: 5 point warning. 

4th/subsequent offense: 7 point warning (meaning your posting rights are stripped for 72 hours)

I reserve the right to modify these punishments to be more lenient/harsher as deemed necessary, based on the situation in which the rulebreaking occurred.

6. DIVINE monsters

 

Effective 4/17/2018, NEW Divine-Beast and DIVINE Attribute monsters are permitted in Advanced Cards. SUPPORT cards that are non-DIVINE or Divine-Beast have always been permitted in this section.

 

While you do have free reign in designing whatever cards you want with this new Type/Attribute, they are still subject to the same design standards as other cards (and must carry the appropriate notes).

7. Threads in the Other TCG section must be tagged with the card game you are designing for.
 
Even if it's obvious what game your cards come from, you must mark your thread either with the game written in a forum tag in title (or use one of the topic tags provided).

8. Posting cards in another member's thread is forbidden.
 
If you want your cards to be seen, make your own thread for it. Don't post them in another member's thread, as this is considered topic hijacking, which is classified under spam and will be penalized accordingly.
 
If you are in a collaboration project, then you may post your cards in another user's thread. Make sure that we know who's involved with the project so we don't accidentally warn you. If you wish to collaborate with another user, contact them via PM or elsewhere (do not ask them in the thread, nor should you badger them repeatedly). No excuses.
 
You may post an existing card for comparative purposes, but only if you follow the Advanced Clause properly.

9. Threads with 2 or more cards are to be posted in the Multiples section.
 
The main forum (where you are reading this thread in) is for Single cards. If your thread contains more than 1 card, then it needs to be posted in the Multiples section. This is to make it easier for you to locate your cards as opposed to lumping everything into one forum (singles and multiples combined).
 
Paired Pendulum Monsters and a single Ritual Monster/corresponding Ritual Spell are considered to be 1 card, and may be posted in the main forum. Paired Pendulum Monsters must work in tandem with each other, or they will be moved to Multiples.  
 
This rule does not apply to the Other TCG area. 

10. Cards and reviews are to be posted in ENGLISH. 

As YCM is an English-speaking forum, all members are required to write in English. Do NOT assume that members know your native language or are fluent in it otherwise.
 
Posting your cards in your native language is fine, but you must provide an adequate English translation for other members.  The same rule applies for reviewers who are sufficient in the user's language, and wish to respond.
 
Posting a translation from Google Translate or another translation site will suffice most of the time. Otherwise, try your best to write English and we'll help you correct the card grammar and other spelling/grammatical mistakes if needed.  

11. Card posting etiquette.
 
All members who post their cards as pictures will be required to post their card's information beneath their cards, regardless if they can read off the image or not. We have members who access this site off of a mobile device / a small screen and/or have visual problems that prevent them from reading directly off the card, or cannot view the images due to Imgur/whatever image host being blocked in certain countries or institutions.

Do not assume that members will be able to read off the pictures without difficulty.

Additionally, if images don't work on YCM (which happens), the written cards will give us something to grade. There is a template in the FAQ thread that you can use, or you may use your own style. Just make sure all of the required information is here.

If you use TCGEditor to create your cards, please resize them to 50-60% and/or either use the "Quote" button or keep them in spoiler tags.

If your post has 10 or more cards, then you need to either spoiler tag them or use the "Quote" button so they don’t lag the page.

If you're going to make a card, fill in each of the fields, with the exception of art (art for a generated card is preferable, but not enforced). No matter how fair or overpowered your card is, you at least need to do the bare minimum and have the stats, and Summoning condition and/or effects in the middle filled out. Any without these fields are unacceptable as they're not finished.
 
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I will not penalize you if you forget to put the effects underneath and it is generally readable. However, I WILL penalize you for not posting the effect and it is difficult to read off the picture. Use common sense. 

12. All cards related to a custom Archetype or that rely on each other must be in one thread.
 
You must keep ALL cards linked to a custom Archetype / cards that rely on each other in one thread (in the opening post), or link to them if you have posted some members earlier on this forum. Ideally, you should post all of them at once, or just release whatever you have at the time and add on as you go.

If you need to use subsequent posts due to space/formatting concerns, then link to them as you do and note that in the original post. However, I do not foresee this to occur, unless you make an extremely large set or are doing a group collaboration.

13. The following threads will be locked or removed on sight.
 
Cardless threads: If you do not have at least 1 card for us to look at and grade, then we will lock or remove the thread. This is also the reason why you need to have the written info beneath; if the picture goes away, then we at least have the written data to work from.

This also includes threads that simply say "post your cards here".

Cards that are copy/pasted without any changes: This rule mainly applies towards retrains/erratas of already existing cards from the game or anime/manga. You are allowed to repost your own cards without changes, however it is advised that you at least make SOME changes. 

Cards that are not those of the thread creator: Posting other member’s cards that you did not make will result in a thread lock (and a warning for ripping), unless under extreme circumstances.

Such circumstances include posting cards for another person who is currently ineligible for their own account or cannot post them at the present time. You can talk over the specific circumstances with me, and we'll work out something. 
 
Group projects may be posted by any user involved in the project. I do not need to know who made what card.

Threads in which the thread creator shows no desire to acknowledge comments in a mature manner: As mentioned in rule 3, you must be willing to accept comments/critique on your works and be mature about it.

Do not act like a little kid and bash users for giving you critique, and not saying "good job" or something. Remember, this is Advanced Cards and the standards for reviewing are much higher.
 
If I catch you being disrespectful to other users who gave you appropriate comments, thread gets locked and you will be punished.

14. Images cannot exceed PG-17.
 
While you are permitted to use any images you choose, they cannot exceed PG-17 at the highest. In other words, do not use images that have adult content or are extremely graphic.

 

If you have any doubts about an image, please PM me to check. It is better for you to check first than to post them and risk getting penalized, either by me, or another mod who happens to check this area while I am gone.
 
[I reserve the right to ask you to change images if it is deemed inappropriate. For the most part, I am generally chill about what you can use.]

If you use artwork from deviantArt or another source, make sure you either get permission and/or credit the artist. Also check that the artwork is free for usage; some things are not. If we get a complaint about you using artwork without permission or crediting an artist, we are required to remove the cards in question (or ask that you change the picture).
 
Posting either an image link to where you have obtained the image or the author's name will suffice.

Artists, if you see your works being used on this site and wish to file a complaint, PM me using the following form.
 

1. Verification that you made said artwork, or are authorized to act on their behalf. (Please provide a link to your deviantArt page, Pixiv, website, etc.)
 
2. Link to the artwork in question on your personal gallery. (You may also provide .xcf/.psd files or scanned artwork files. I cannot look at files made on other software such as Illustrator, SAI, etc.)
 
3. Link to the threads/cards in question using the artwork.
 
4. Certify that the user did not receive your permission to use the artwork. (Please keep in mind that users may have found the artwork elsewhere, such as on Photobucket, Google/Yahoo Images, Pinterest, etc, and may have not known about your wishes.)
 
5. Certify that whatever you mentioned above is in fact correct. (Do you attest that whatever information you have provided is accurate, and that you are not filing a report out of spite or personal matters towards the member in question?)

Label this PM "Artwork Complaint".
 
Do not post in the user's thread; fill out the form and we will look into the matter.
 
Taking matters into your hands, including the use of provocative language and being disrespectful towards the user for using this artwork, shall result in severe punishment, including warn increases or potential bans, including IP bans if severe enough.
 
While this is your artwork, you are ultimately bound by the same rules as other users.

15. Acceptable language in names
 
The inclusion of any word that exceeds PG-17 (including racial slurs or profanity of any language of origin) is forbidden. Words like "damnèd" are permissible, but other words like the f-bomb (even if used to describe something amazing) are not to be used under any circumstances.
 
Words such as “ass” and “bitch” are forbidden because of their common connotations (even if you can say them freely otherwise).
 
Much like with images, if you have questions about acceptable card names, PM a Custom Card moderator for confirmation. We reserve the right to ask that you change the name if it is deemed inappropriate.

16. Bumping

STANDARD

Thread creators are allowed to bump their thread if 12 or more hours have elapsed since the last post. Twelve hours mean twelve hours; not 8 or 10. If you’re off by 10-15 minutes, I will let it slide; otherwise, you will be penalized for early bumping.
  
Just be patient and wait for the time to come around.

Ideally, you should only bump the thread if/only if you have made some form of update since your last post.

CUTOFF FOR DEAD THREADS

There are two conditions for determining if a thread is dead or not; depending if the member in question is the one who created the thread in the first place or not.

Condition 1 (Normal): If a thread has no replies for 14 or more days, it is considered to be dead and SHOULD NOT be posted in.

Threads posted in after this period will be considered as necrobumped and will be locked on-sight; either with a verbal note or none at all.

Condition 2 (Thread creator): If bumping your own thread, you are allowed to do it up to 60 days from the last post date, however you are REQUIRED to have updated the thread somewhat (either you added some cards, fixed up effects and so forth); otherwise, condition 1 applies.

You will need to mention what changes you have made.
 
Exceptions can be made due to a user's circumstances at the time when the bump period expires (i.e. power outage, on a trip, lack of internet, etc). Just let me know about these cases, and the standard period can be waived or extension granted.
 

(If it's been over 6 months, then you should probably repost it.)

MULTIPLE POSTING

This refers to the act of posting multiple times in a row within the same thread. If you must announce multiple updates within the 12 hour period, just edit your last post or make the changes and do not update that.

The same applies for responding to multiple people; use the Multi-Quote button if you need to do this. Either that, or just wait patiently. (See STANDARD)

17. Using the Report Button
 

If you spot any rule breaks in this section (either Advanced Clause breaking or something else), either use the Report button at the bottom left of posts or PM a mod about the issue. Either method works to get our attention, as we generally respond quickly.

 

Do not post in the thread to tell the user they broke a rule; otherwise it will be considered as spamming/mini-moderating and warned accordingly.

 

If you are unsure about whether a thread/post should be reported, then please use the button otherwise. You will not be penalized for reporting a thread/post that is otherwise judged to be in line with the section rules. It's important that this section remains clean, and your help is greatly appreciated in doing so.

 

Please don't hesitate to ask me via PM or in the FAQ thread if you have questions. 

 

And if you want the link to the previous rulebook, here you go: