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 Yes, these would be more work for you, and for us, but the current password system feels outdated and obvious.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

[miniworth]

I have a question regarding when, exactly, these changes take effect.

In one section you stated: 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. Two sentences later, you claimed that you aren't changing anything... yet.

So when, exactly, are you going to put these changes into effect?

I'm actually glad to see action being taken, since this game was pretty idle in terms of moderation and regulation in the past few months, but the changes proposed here sound disconnected and, to be completely honest, announced in a cluttered and disorganized way.

Seconding Reine, I think there are other changes that are more relevant to the game (unanswered FAQ and inquiries, details of in-game functions that people are still unsure about more than a year after the game was opened) to address than how to submit an application...

or, and this is where I sound quite dickish, making it necessary for players, even ones who aren't new, to read through a long and un-updated FAQ because of a change in the way you make sure people have read it. It hasn't been updated, I cannot stress this enough. I realize I didn't suggest a better system than this when I contacted you a few weeks ago, but I'm... actually filled with feelings of (unsure) regarding the order you are doing this in.

[sfaccendato.livejournal.com]

I think they mean the "no changes yet" part specifically regarding the password system, not the linking. There's a gap between the two parts of the post where they're under different lj-cuts, and that sentence is the start of the second part.

[miniworth]

Ah, is that so? Then that was a misunderstanding on my part. Whoops. :|a

[these_balls]

That's totally my bad! I've separated the post a little better; now I hope it's easier to understand that the two are separate. I meant that the new rule concerning apps, because it's a small thing, is being instated now, but nothing is being done concerning passwords until we get feedback from our players and come to a decision. If you'd like a deadline, I'd say two, maybe three weeks at the very longest?

As for why we're posting this now: we wanted to get this out and announced before a new wave of apps hit, so that people would be aware. My preference would have been to wait a few more days, but due to the nature of the app cycle, announcing it on a Monday seemed soundest.

As for the FAQ--it's being worked on! It's definitely #1 on our priority list and hasn't been forgotten. However, we also realize there are a lot of much smaller, easier things that can be fixed to make things more efficient, and...well, for lack of a better way to say it, we want to keep you, the players, in the loop. Just because we have small projects like this on our plate doesn't mean we aren't working on tackling the bigger things; I sincerely apologize if that's the way it seems.