A NEW RULE APPEARS

[these_balls]

Hey, Route!

Yes, more new stuff. Everything chaaanges, chaaaanges, it's evolutionary~

1) New apps rule!:
In the interest of clarity and app processing speed, we now ask that potential applicants post their application in comments rather than linking. If the app contains explicit references to 'hard' spoilers (think big reveals, like 'Dumbledore dies', I SEE DEAD PEOPLE, I am your father etc), players should put the application in their own journal or their character's journal and link it, making sure to mention the presence of spoilers within.

We've always gotten linked apps (goodness knows I'm guilty of linking an app or five that was spoiler-free!), but having them all on the page means the mods don't have to open a million tabs while processing, and spoiler links keep fellow players from stumbling onto things that might ruin a canon for them.

This is a rule; as of today (the 11th of October), if your app is linked but not marked for spoilers, it will not be processed that week. We trust all our players will read and abide by the rules list, which has not changed besides this.

2) Polling about the passwords:
RELAX, we're not changing anything concerning passwords...yet. But we're thinking it's about time this thing got an overhaul, don't you think?

Our proposed fix: What we'd like to do is remove the passwords altogether and replace them with something of a task system: on the rules and FAQ pages, tasks such as 'explain in one sentence how your character feels about strawberries in their personality section' or 'include a link to your favorite youtube video in the canon links section'.

The goal here is to make sure people have at least given a cursory visit to both pages. These tasks would change arbitrarily and be located arbitrarily within the FAQ and rules. Yes, these would be more work for you, and for us, but the current password system feels outdated and obvious.

Your turn: How do you feel, Route? Hate this idea? Love passwords? Have a better idea? Let us know!

[Poll #1785767]


If you have grievances, comments, suggestions or ideas concerning either the new app rule or the password system, you can: PM the mod account, PM any of us individually, catch us on AIM, or post (anonymously or not) to our (screened) Suggestions post.

Looking forward to hear from you!

Comments

[usedtelekinesis.livejournal.com]

Possibly unpopular opinion time!

Honestly, I don't like being forced to put an app in comments because some apps can be really long and I think it's neater to have one comment with a link rather than a pile of comments if there's a lot to explain or a person/character gets wordy. It also lets people go back and fix typos or coding errors without having to delete and repost the entire application. I know that other games require it and I can understand the reasoning for it, but I personally don't enjoy it and it'd make me a little less likely to app for anyone else if I had to guess how much text filled a comment box bit by bit.

And as for the password system, while it makes sense for new players, having to search for something arbitrary every single time I write an app is a little frustrating. Unless there's been a rules change, I don't see the point in constantly requiring it when people who know about it probably just ctrl+F for relevant phrases to see what it is this time.

[these_balls]

Unpopular opinions are allowed!

I understand your reticence! I also think a link looks neater. But having it all organized in the apps post saves us the trouble of, for instance, custom comment pages or having to open several tabs at once, and helps us keep things in order. It also allows us to keep apps for reference--like I mentioned above, there were problems recently where someone believed we'd accepted a samples-less app, when the player had simply removed them after being accepted. Does that help clear up our reasoning? I know it may not change your personal opinion on the matter, but I just wanted to make sure you knew we weren't doing this out of the blue.

Noted on the passwords! What about FAQ- or rules- related quizzing, as other have suggested: would that be a good compromise?

[shiromadoushi]

Someone could just as easily delete the relevant part of there app as well on the app page in the case. There's also been a few cases of app-theft which could be way that person removed the sample. Having all the apps left open on the apps page I would think increases the chance that someone will just steal that app for another game since they're all in one convenient place.

And I'm rather in agreement with the above unpopular opinion. I actually had to hunt for the password the first time because I read the FAQs before apping and by the time I got to the password part in the app, I'd utterly forgotten it and had to actually go ask someone where in heck the thing was. The 2nd time was a bloody nightmare of "Where did they hide that stupid thing this time ug".

Not that it really matters since if all the apps are posted in line, you can just scroll up and take it from a the last app on the page anyway with very little fuss.

If you really want to keep all the apps together and on file, I'd suggest having them be emailed instead. Less app theft, clear apps page, easy ability to have everything in a searchable database and no comment limits. [the only trouble there is LJ formatting doesn't carry over]

[usedtelekinesis.livejournal.com]

I understand your reasoning, I just don't like it personally. The incident with someone thinking there weren't sample was easily cleared up with a brief explanation on anoncomm, so I can't see why it was worth taking into consideration when it was one isolated incident. I've modded in the past and I think that multiplying tabs is just part of processing apps, but even that isn't too bad if it's kept in its own instance of whatever browser the person is using. Custom comment pages can be disabled easily enough too.

Mayfield asks for commented apps rather than linked, but I don't like it there either. Again, it's just a naggy personal preference that'll make me less likely to do anything with apps in the future.

And on the other issue, quizzing still doesn't make sense for anyone other than new players unless there's been a change recently. We all had to read them once, there's no point in making us read through everything multiple times, especially for the people who app and drop frequently.

[usedrage.livejournal.com]

I'm not a mod, nor do I have any position of power or decision making in Route, but an "isolated incident" on anoncomm for Route is never just an isolated incident. If it happens once, and the mods make a mistake in the future, it will come back on them for not fixing the problem when it came up in the past. This isn't a new occurrence, not for anoncomm and not for the game.

This is from player perspective, mind you, and someone who constantly links her own apps. The mods are trying to change their reputation and enacting policies on things which have caused misunderstandings--and made not only the mods look bad, but other players. No one likes to have their page linked to anoncomm negatively, no matter what the subject of the negativity is.

There's pros and cons to each method, and while linking is easier for the players in the game, and seems less messy, it is less likely to cause misunderstandings if it's all laid out.

[usedtelekinesis.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's because I stopped giving much of a rat's ass to anoncomm a while ago (I only follow threads for games I'm in to see what's being nitpicked over and to get a sense of when things are bad enough to jump ship) or maybe it's because I haven't been in Route that long compared to some people, but small things happen and I think it's better for everyone to ignore them.

I link my own too, but I'm really not sure that this is the way for the mods to get a better reputation.