Questions and answers about Infinite Evolution, the Evolution universe, application help, and anything else. This will be updated as frequently as necessary.

1. What 'verse is this rpg?
Infinite Evolution is an X-Men: Evolution rpg. X-Men: Evolution was a television cartoon series that originally aired on Kids' WB between 2000 and 2003. In the series most of the canon characters are redesigned and portrayed as teenagers.
We do not follow anything from the short run X-Men Evolution comic books because they were written by completely different people and had varied characterizations that we do not consider canonical to the television series.

2. What if I've never seen the tv show? Will I be completely lost?
No, we actually tend to be simpler than comics-verse/movie-verse (no magic, no complicated inter-dimensional back stories). Once you get past the whole 'X-Men as teenagers' concept, it's pretty easy to catch up. Just a matter of checking other people's characters out and taking a look at the current plots.
If you do want check out the show (because it's great), Marvel has the episodes on their site and on their Youtube portal, free to view.

3. When in Evo timeline did Infinite Evolution begin? After the mutant discovery? Before?
Before. Infinite Evolution started off after the season one episode, Grim Reminder, just before the season one two-part finale, The Cauldron I & II, giving the IC start date of the rpg as August.

4. Can I bring in a movie-verse/comics-verse character?
For pre-existing Evolution characters, you may not disregard the Evolution canon in preference for the movie-verse or comics-verse.
If the character is not one that pre-exists in the Evolution universe, you are more than welcome to adapt the character for the purposes of this game.
For non-Evo canon characters, it is generally preferred that you adapt the character to a teen age (thirteen to seventeen being most preferred) as is the theme of the Evolution world, and while this is not necessary, it is strongly recommended.

5. What are the affiliations in the application form?
-X-Men: The 'main' X-Men team, this team consists of mainly the X-Men: Evolution canonical list. Although certain exceptions may be made for non-Evo canons depending on the application, such exceptions will be rare. Both X-Men and New Recruits are placed together in general training squads.
-New Recruits: The New Recruits are basically X-Men in training and are composed of the Evolution canon New Recruits and most non-Evo canon X-Men/original character X-Men. Both X-Men and New Recruits are placed together in general training squads.
-Brotherhood: Within the Brotherhood there's a general level of acknowledgment for the four founding members as dictated by Evo canon (Toad/Todd Tolansky, Avalanche/Lance Alvers, Blob/Fred Dukes, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff). The chain of command is loosely established with Lance Alvers as Second In Command overall and Pietro Maximoff/Kodiak Noatak below him.
-Acolytes: The Acolytes are an elite group personally managed by Magneto. Only the canon Evo characters Pyro/John Allerdyce, Sabertooth/Victor Creed, Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Gambit/Remy LeBeau may start on IE as an Acolyte. No other characters may be applied for as an Acolyte, be they Marvel canons or originals. Some characters may however be invited to the Acolytes in game, but this is not something that may be requested by a player, and will only take place on board plots.
-Neutral: The neutral characters are those that have not chosen to join any of the above groups.
-Hydra: Hydra characters are restricted to only canons adapted as IE canons. No others may be applied for as a Hydra character. For more information on the Hydra characters, please check the Regarding IE Canons thread.

6. But my non-Evo (comics-canon, original) character was at the Institute/the Brotherhood/etc. years ago?
Our board timeline states that both the Xavier Institute and the Brotherhood only began publicly recruiting members in February. The only exceptions are Ororo Munroe, Scott Summers and Jean Grey of the X-Men.
We have also followed the series timeline up to the episode of Grim Reminder, which means all characters beyond those featured in the season one episodes must have joined afterwards.
We presently make it mandatory that all non-Evo characters (as well as Evo canon New Recruits) be RPed into their affiliation. This does not mean that you must start off as a Neutral (in fact, Neutral characters switching affiliations within the first few real-time month of rp is strongly discouraged as the Neutral faction is meant to stand on its own as a legitimate character group, rather than a phase), or that you must have an 'intro to the mansion/boarding house' thread, but that your character will have joined at the present time of the rp setting.
For example, if your character was accepted in August of IC time, your character joined their affiliation in August IC time. The IC time is conveniently located near the top of the sidebar and updated regularly as needed.
All original characters also must be RPed into their affiliation.

7. What about my Evo canon character? Or my non-Evo character that was in Bayville the past time?
When writing your history the first eleven episodes of the series are canon for all characters. So any of the odd earthquakes and some of the recent transfers might have been noticed. For Evo characters, if your character is not mentioned or shown to be at the Institute or a member of the Brotherhood in the first eleven episodes, they must have joined afterwards. For other characters, question six of this Q&A remains.
If you wish to claim a connection to or relationship with any character you must have approval from the player running the character.

8. Can I use PBs from the X-Men movie-verse for my characters?
Please refer to the play-by list, found here, for any questions involving PBs.

9. Can I bring in a character from other Marvel franchises? The Fantastic Four, etc.?
No, even in canon Evo the 'superhero' concept was extended only to Captain America. We are as a rule not accepting canon characters from the Marvel Universe's other franchises at all, even if they are adapted as mutant teens for the board.

10. What's with the mandatory avatar and mandatory avatar size?
Avatars are fun and a unified size looks better.

11. What's with the rotating banners on the board and who chooses the content of the banners? Is there a specific method to it?
Avalanche makes them and he likes random rotations. Content decisions are made on creative whim, although Spotlight Characters will often get new banners.

12. Which staff member should I PM if I have a problem?
Overall we will all do our best to help you and you may reach any of us that's on.
More specifically, for general board questions and the application process, you can try Avalanche or Jocelyn.
For canonical issues, Avalanche is your best shot.
For play-by problems, you can find Jocelyn or Bry.

13. What are the board member group colors?
X-Men: darkred
New Recruits: firebrick
Brotherhood: slateblue
Acolytes: purple
Neutral: seagreen
Hydra: steelblue