Members have often in the past wished to age their character for various reasons, whether it's because they've gained a certain rank that they believe should require an advance in age or possibly because they're unhappy with the current age their character is at. Whatever the reason may be, in an effort to improve the experience here on Ultimate Shinobi, we've decided to incorporate a functional and helpful system which allows you, the member, to be able to age your character once approved. This guide will be here to help you understand the aging system and answer any questions you may have.

---

How do I actually progress in age?

Once your character has received its second approval, the month in which it has received its second approval will be the month your character ages. We'll call this the 'Birthday Month'. When your character has reached a point in the year where their Birthday Month pops up, your character will age by a single year. This is not the only time you will have a Birthday Month however. Instead, you'll actually receive four Birthday Months in total.The way this works is you add three months on to your original Birthday Month. Say your character received their second approval in January, add an extra three months to January and your next Birthday Month will be April, to which you add an extra three months onto April to arrive at July and so on and so forth until you finally come back to January where the whole process is repeated. So in total, you'll receive four Birthday Months, meaning your character will age by four years per every Earth year. If you're still confused by all of this, perhaps the example below will be able to assist you;• Uzumaki, Naruto [Konoha Genin] approved in January, age sixteen.• Uzumaki, Naruto [Konoha Genin] ages by one year to seventeen, as it's now April.• Uzumaki, Naruto ranks up to Chuunin in June, places a request to age by one year.• Uzumaki, Naruto [Konoha Chuunin] ages by one year with the approval of Staff, now age eighteen. • Uzumaki, Naruto [Konoha Chuunin] ages by one year to nineteen, as it's now July.

How much do I age by?

Didn't you read the above answer? Well, since you're here anyway, each time your character reaches a certain month, i.e. a Birthday Month, he or she will age by exactly one year. Thus if your character is fifteen and their aging month arrives, they will then become sixteen. It's simple math, really.

How is all the aging changes taken care of?

In regards to actually editing your application to state your current age, the Staff Team will be responsible for ensuring that your character progresses by a year each time your Birthday Month arrives. If you believe the Staff have accidentally missed your character by mistake, simply PM a member of the Staff Team to have the issue resolved.

What if I still wish to be older?

If one year per every three months isn't enough to feed your hunger for age, then you're still able to advance an extra year within the time period it takes to reach your next Birthday Month. All one simply has to do is inform a member of the Staff Team where your request will be taken into consideration since we obviously can't allow you to constantly bunk up your age as it would ruin the balance set within the site. So be aware that while you'll able to apply for an extra year, don't immediately expect to be approved for the advancement.

What if I wish to roleplay a younger age?

If you have reached a certain age, yet wish to perform a topic in which you are at a younger state of age, then you are still able to roleplay this out without having to worry about your current character's age. Topics such as these can be thought as memories, where you're reminiscing in the past about a certain point in time. All one must do is make the topic reader and any participants aware of this. Common ways of bringing up a memory is to make the font italic, though we're sure your creative minds are able to conjure up other methods. It may been seen as cheeky, but nonetheless, it is a completely valid form of roleplaying that we'll accept.

What happens if my character is archived due to inactivity?

Inactive archival can be a bit of a nuisance when wishing to return to Ultimate Shinobi, but do not fret, for we have a solution for such problems. Once your character has been archived because of inactivity, your character will be placed in a state of pause, meaning you will simply not age at all. At any time you wish for your character to be unarchived, they will be taken out of this pause phase and carry on aging as normal. When seeking the permission of Staff, you're also able to have your character advance in age in accordance to the amount of years that have transpired for your character. This option will only be available for characters archived due to inactivity. Any character archived due to death, membership ban or any other reason will not be able to gain from this option.