I got an e-mail from ALFA today, which stated: “At this time, to the best of our understanding, your application does not match the player profile we are looking for.” Saddened by this news, I immediately decided that I should send in another application, before they reach the player limit. The e-mail I received from Alfa didn’t tell exactly for what reason I was turned down, or what I needed to do, to improve my application, it just seemed like an e-mail they send to everybody who gets rejected.

I have a question for all the Alfa members here; what did you do to make your application look good?

Personally, I tried to suck up a bit, just trying to be as polite as possible. I kept my personal bio as short as possible and what I kept ‘What are you looking forward to in ALFA/NWN?’ also a bit vague.
I probably also sucked with my ‘What makes a good roleplayer?’. This was one of the hardest things to answer, for everybody has his own views on what makes him/her a good roleplayer. I just tried to explain that I wouldn’t hold any grudges if somebody killed me, if that other person was roleplaying and that this makes the game fun.
I don’t think it could have been my character bio, for I used reference to the Realms, on several occasions, I written the entire bio in first person and I made the character have a goal in the Forgotten Realms.

I would be thankful for any help and any suggestion on how to make my application look better.

It's hard to say since they don't let on what they're looking for (for obvious reasons). I didn't get in the first time either. My bio was fairly simple since it was for a beginning adventurer; nothing too dramatic, just tired of his life and looking for some adventure.

Maybe don't try so hard to suck up and just say what you think. Put in what you really are looking for and what you think is a good roleplayer. If ALFA doesn't fit in with what you're looking for then maybe you wouldn't enjoy it...

Well, just be honest about it. When I put my application together (hmm...about a year ago now that I think about it) I simply wrote about the type of character I would like to play, and the type of players I wanted to play with.

In the 'What makes a good roleplayer', try to focus on the type of player you imagine yourself to be, and the type of players you enjoy hanging out with. There isn't a roleplay textbook that the reviewer is checking your answer against - it's your opinion ;) You may also want to throw in a point or two about the type of players you *do not* want to play with.

The character background is almost irrelevant except for the fact that it gives you a chance to be creative. All that's really necessary here is to show you're interested in playing a character that is a) not Drizzt b) not Elminster c) not a member of the Baggins family. It's not about your knowledge of the realms, or coming up with the absolute, most original character concept ever. Just a character that has it's own personality and shows you put some thought into it.

And keep in mind that it's only a handful (possible only one, I can't remember off-hand) of people that are reviewing the apps. If you get rejected, resubmit. To some extent, there is a randomness to the whole process.

I just re-written and submitted my application. Thank you both for the help, I'll keep my fingers crossed again, and hope I get in this time.

Good luck :)

Let us know how this one fares. Sometimes you get rejected because you are in a pile of other "stellar" applications and yours comes off as bland. Its all relative, so keep trying.

If that fails, let me write it for you. I've applied twice and gotten in twice ... not to brag or anything. I'm just the sort of lame/whipped/geek ALFA is looking for! ;) (just kidding, ghost writing is verboten! And I wouldn't do anything that was verboten!)

[ June 18, 2003, 16:45: Message edited by: Mathetais ]