Route 29: ｍｏｄｓ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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route_292011-10-11 04:15 pm
these_balls) wrote in route_292011-10-11 04:15 pm
Entry tags:
A NEW RULE APPEARS
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 Yes, these would be more work for you, and for us, but the current password system feels outdated and obvious.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!
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!
no subject
However, as already mentioned by some, the spoilers policy seems double-standard. I mean: have you honestly seen an app without spoilers? The answer is no; every app in history had, has and will have spoilers within itself -- bigger or smaller, but spoilers nonetheless. Some that are not considered major may still ruin a canon for someone (an example here, and since it's, well, a spoiler (for SMT:P3), I'll white it out: Chidori's death perhaps wasn't the most shocking spoiler in the entire game, but for someone who's just started playing it, it is a big thing). Now the question is, who is to decide what is a major spoiler and what isn't? Personally, I think that by reading an app, you fully agree to bear the consequences: people should be aware there may be spoilers lurking in the app, and it's their risk and responsibility if they choose to read it anyway.
And as for the password... Yeah, I agree it's laughably easy to go around; however, I think the tasks you provided examples of would be the same. Just CTRL+F "task" and done! The idea of rules/FAQ-centric questions that has been mentioned above is better, but it's also true that the players who are already in-game shouldn't be made to go through all of it again. I mean, I go to FAQ frequently (hence the name of the section, huh?) because my memory's not perfect and I need to check if it's okay to rename a Pokémon, what the limit is, what the current weather affects, HOW TO WRITE THAT GODDAMN "é"... I imagine (hope?) a lot of players consult the page on regular basis, so is there really a point in making them study it all again when they probably look up things there already...?
... Wow, that is a lot of tl;dr I'M SORRY. But yes, I'm done. Sorry if it comes off rude (I DIDN'T MEAN TO) and/or doesn't make any sense ;;
no subject
It's re: apps still. Like I mentioned, I don't see a problem with having to put them in comments instead of linking. I understand how it makes your lives much easier, and a happy mod is a happy game, huh? Still, I find the "link --> not proceeding this week" rule a little... too strict. I see how it's a rule to be obeyed, but still. I'd say clearly stating "PLEASE PUT YOUR APPLICATION IN COMMENTS. DO NOT LINK, IT WILL MAKE OUR JOB EASIER!" should be enough? Perhaps it's me being naïve, but I do believe people who want to be accepted would do as asked to. In C&C, for example, the mods clearly ask for the app to be linked if exceeding three comments, and to my knowledge, there's few incidents of applying players not following that.
OKAY NOW I'M DONE FOR REAL.
no subject
Just to clarify: we have every intention of making the new rule as visible as possible. You might have noticed the rules page was updated, and the apps page now has it in BIG FONT as well! That said, we made sure to specify that the new rule only went into effect on the 11th--there's an app up right now that's linked and was put up on the 10th, so that app would be exempt, for instance. We are absolutely not going to straight-up ignore linked apps that aren't marked for spoilers! Instead they'll get a small note politely informing them of the new rule and asking them to re-post it in comment form before the week is out, like we currently do with people who have the wrong passwords.
The reason we're being more hardcore than usual with this is because this is attempt #2 at making this a rule, and during attempt #1 there were a lot of people who continued to link non-spoiler apps. So we're trying something different, at least until people get used to it.
On spoilers: being that I used to play Junpei, I feel you. That is a pretty big spoiler! But Persona 3 is also 3 years old and quite popular. To keep the Vanitas example I outlined above, we'd find it pretty unreasonable, more than six months after the game's release, to expect Van players to hide his face. We simply ask that players use common sense in judging what might affect someone's gaming/reading/watching experience. (Is the canon very new, or is it more than three months old? Is it very popular, or more obscure?) We know it's not perfect, but we want to give players options besides slapping a big 'spoiler alert!' warning on the apps page.
Like I've mentioned in other answers, we'll check in again after a few app rounds, if the number of linked apps doesn't go down, and see what we'll do from there. White-texting and simply warning for spoilers are both options we'd consider.
About the passwords; we're definitely thinking of a kind of 'FAQ quiz' thing rather than tasks or passwords. That seems to be the most consistent suggestion so far!
Thanks so much for your feedback! Every little bit helps.