When I answer questions it's good for everyone. So I'll address who asked, but please, don't ignore the information!

[quote=Astarael Asked]: Does it matter where in the world we begin? Is it “our” world or does it have some fantastical or historical differences? Are we beginning at present day, future day, or in the past somewhere (trying to figure out what level of technology and scientific advancements we are at). Do we have any limitations on our background/history/personalities or are we free to be as sane or crazy as we wish? [/quote]

The setting is going to be a general city in the Western world (US, Europe). I'll give us a vaguely geographic location later, but for now, generalities mean you can use your imagination a bit more. Think of a place like Portland, Oregon, Seattle, or London, that are larger cities and fizzle out as they stretch into hilly suburbs and what not.

The world is as you see it today. If you know about a technology just nearly ready to surface, say like the Myo arm band or Oculus Rift, I'm open to creative ways of integrating such. In those cases my expectation is that there's a good reason your character has it, like they're a beta-tester of some sort, which obviously would feed into background and/or occupation.

Be who you'd like to be, but please, make your character functional. I've seen characters in the past who were very creative, but [I]literally[/I] could not walk down a hallway without going through some manic episode that completely derailed every situation, every time.

[quote=SilverRain Asked]
* Please let me know which sections I need to refine/add more detail. I tried to be a bit crafty in the psychology section... hope it's okay. I'll be RPing in third person though. I'll see if I can find any good tattoos for the Pincer gang. And also some graffiti tags.
* What's the climate - is it hot or cold? Snowing? Rainy?
* How badly damaged is the city? Are structures still safe? Is there water and electricity?
* With Stage 2, is there a chance for Mark to become a ghost? Or maybe I should play as one of Mark's criminal buddies who comes across his corpse at the back of the police station?[/quote]

It is Fall and nearing Winter. While we are staying general with the exact location, expect weather like you'd see in the Pacific Northwest (lots of rain) with harsher winters. 

The roleplay is beginning the minute the Outbreak begins, so, it's really not. Chances are the only structural changes are military/law enforcement checkpoints and a heavy presence. Things will change as we go probably, you can expect the city to degrade with time definitely, but there won't be collapsing buildings unless someone takes the time to do some bombings.

Stage 1 will allow for small time jumps (up to 9 months) as required, but will largely be the immediate reactions to this big change. This is not a post-apocalyptic game, it's very much apocalyptic, and the biggest dangers are coming from fear and paranoia. I'd like us to explore that as much as we can. Any time jump at this point would simply be to allow larger plots to develop, but we'll all have a say in that. Stage 2, as I see it now, would be a longer jump of about 10 years. We would really only hit once the immediate chaos 6 months out of the beginning had settled and whatever new structures of society were established. This means that characters can be influential into how the world is shaped or can see to it progress in certain areas is dampened. Up to you. Don't think too far ahead though. There is an immediate danger and if your head is in the clouds, don't be surprised is someone takes it.

@SilverRain specifically: Your CS is written from the perspective that sometime has passed since the Outbreak. It has not. Things are just now surfacing as wrong, nobody knows just how bad the situation is, or if it's just a prank for that matter. Many are acting poorly though and that likely will worsen. It'd be good to update your CS according to that. Speak about his life as it is normally. Chances are the gang he runs with are still in town, if they weren't actually with him at the start of the RP. If he has any deep connections in the gang the Background should cover that, and it's probably worth considering how well-known he is in the city (if at all). One thing to think about too is just what kind of criminal Mark really is and that's something we should feel and know from the background. Was he driven to crime due to a lack of opportunity, or did he just not take anything seriously enough, so he took the first chance to make big money -- often illegal. Is this a guy who started stealing because he was impoverished or homeless, or does he fancy himself something better? I see he's a gang member, so what kind? The southern California type or something more mafia style (sounds like the former so far). My point is here that you don't want to leave big areas up to assumption, because this is [I]your[/I] character, and [I]you[/I] should be making those decisions.