Suggestions

[Professor Albus Dumbledore]

Read the rules? Have a suggestion to make ISS a better place? Great! Go ahead and post ‘em here! :]

_ISS Staff

[Fabian Prewett]

Maybe we should have a place for members to post the links to threads that are ready for archiving? Hopefully that would make the admins' job a little easier.

[Professor Albus Dumbledore]

That's an awesome suggestion, Seraph! Thank you!

Here's the thread
annnd this was a thread made ages ago if anyone needs to revive any of their threads (:

[Stefan Capper]

lalalalalala *bounces in* so i'm pretty sure i put this in my application for somebody...anastasia, maybe, but whatevs.

HELLO. teh suggestion is that the 'physique' and 'facial features' section of the application should be optional, or replaced by something (didi's idea) that says 'notable features' such as piercings, a mole in a random place, something that the rper has decided to change about the face claim.

for example: darren criss is a hobbit but lyle is tall. that needs to be pointed out.

stuff like that? otherwise it's kiiiiind of not really necessary? maybe link to a picture instead or something? :3

MKAY TIS ALL. *flees*

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[Anon]

Reposting this in here (because I just now found it) from my suggestion left in the CB:

I really feel you should change the phrasing in the gender section of your application, for both the About Me and the Character section (especially the about me). Not everyone ascribes to the gender binary (male and female) and I have a feeling the gender section probably used to be sex and then was changed but the comment was left unchanged...which is a bit problematic for people who are androgyne/agender/bigender/etc. They are not trying to be funny, they're just trying to be themselves.

No malice or ill-will on my end, just a thought from someone who hopes to see more acceptance for those outside the binary in RPs

[Fabian Prewett]

I think we've been pretty good about this so far, but it might be nice to have an official warning graphic or something like the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign to put at the top of threads/posts that contain mature/graphic/sexual/etc. situations?

[Aiden Neeson]

could we make the Yule Ball last until November 1st? a lot of people are just starting up school, so posting is slow and a lot of people will only be able to get a couple posts in with the limited amount of free time they have, if at all.

i mean, if it works out that it can be 2 months, that would be suuuuuuper useful

[Jayden Flynn]

SECONDED!

[victoria]

I... would not be surprised if I get a few rocks thrown at me for this one. So, feel free, throw them.

I will never not appreciate the posting length requirements here on ISS. Listen. Long posts? They're a beautiful thing. I have benefited from the three-paragraph post requirements in so many ways. I've grown as a writer because of it. It's helped me find my ~voice, I suppose, as a writer. I've also learned a lot about my characters from these longer posts. I do, however, believe there are a lot of things about shorter posts that could benefit the site, as well. Now, hear me out. I understand completely and totally why the rule was made in the first place - after perusing other sites, it has come to my attention that there are definitely some places where the post requirements are nothing more than a sentence and that's just pathetic. ISS isn't that kind of site, clearly, and the original founders probably didn't want some people swooping in with their tiny, 42 word posts and general crappiness. Also, I'm not coming here saying we should wipe away all length requirements. It's not that the length requirement overwhelms me - I mean, I've had a fair few 5000 word f**k*rs in my time. I think what I'm trying to say, though, is that long posts are really not suitable for everything.

I don't know, maybe it's my own fault that I'm here, saying this. I guess sometimes I do feel obligated to write longer posts just because it's what everyone else is doing - although it's important to remember quality over quantity. I'm getting sidetracked. I apologize.

Anyway, long posts aren't for everything. I think about general conversations between friends and trying to thread them and I cringe. Like, there's no way in hell's bells I'd be able to manage a nice 1200 word post with Lucy, telling Wendy in the Great Hall that her hair is looking particularly red that day, therefore she looks seriously smokin', which turns Lucy on. Like. No. Okay. Just. No. And yeah, I could fill it with all the other bullshit that's happening in her head, about Will, and the baby, and Marls dying, and Sirius being gone, and school, and just stress, and other crap, but that gets old after a while. And I know threads like that are pretty goofy, and don't really have a point, but I'm not feeling enough friendship love here. Like, really. I think most of my threads are between characters who are romantically involved, and I daresay a lot of other members could say the same. Nobody really wants to mess with ~friendship posts, just because if they're just hanging out and talking about nothing important, it's... well, not as important as other things like making out with cute boys, or girls, or whatever, thus all the friendships get shoved to the side, and ISS can't see how incredibly awesome the bonds are between the characters. Of course, there are those more intense friendship threads you can do, but don't they generally involve some seriously heavy stuff? Like, Lucy finally finding out she was pregnant? And Imogen walking in on Tori trying to purge? Yeah, of course those threads worked out with the length requirements, just because there were so many ~~emotions. And notes are nice. But honestly? They just don't cut it. And then I consider my characters, and the friendships they all have with the people in their dorms, and like, they see each other every single day. Can you imagine all the conversations we're missing out on - not just between one character, but multiple characters? I can't even imagine doing a thread between, for example, Lucy, May, and Alice - but it'd be awesome, wouldn't it? It'd be easier, if it were acceptable to have smaller posts. They'd go faster, as well, which is always a plus, especially when people are at school. I trust everyone's instincts, as well, and I really don't think this will mean members are lazier. I know if Tori were being emotional, I would let her be emotional, and I wouldn't just take advantage of the lack of length requirements just because I was being lazy. I would let all of her feelings out, even if I wasn't feeling muse, and I would push myself to put out the best quality stuff I can, completely ignoring the word count number at the bottom of the screen. But there are times when all of those thoughts are just not necessary. I think I've done it before, pointlessly babbling just to make a post long enough. And I think that hurts us, as writers. I don't know. Maybe all of this is just me.

What I'm trying to say is that I think being more lenient with the posting requirement is something that should be considered. I'm really wary of it, because I know if some new people come along who aren't quite as experienced as us, they're not going to push themselves as hard because they don't have rules to follow (although maybe I'm not that wary, just because I know when I was new most of the reason I was pushing myself to write longer posts was because I wanted to be better, and on the same level as more of the experienced writers, not because of the rules). I really, really think the admins should consider this, though. It opens up a lot of doors for writing opportunities and I think the site could benefit from it.

*kanye shrug*

[Alice Prewett]

Okay, about the three above suggestions:

One, the mature threads. I think it might be an even better idea if you make people put something in the thread title, like maybe "(M)" for mature or "(18+)" or something? That way, the members who don't want to read stuff like that AKA me don't have to. And then an extra warning in the thread saying what's going to be in it (like, if there's gore, or offensive stuff, or sex, or whatever?)

Two, the Yule ball. Totally seconded considering I'm going to be one of the members who are ridiculously busy.

Third, the posts. I also agree with this, but only to some extent. I do believe there should be more lenient, but not to make it an official rule, because I just KNOW that new people coming in will either see it as not a literate site or thinking they can get away with minuscule posts. I think a better suggestion would be to have a form that you PM to the admin's account and it could be something like this:

Member1:
Member2:
Character1:
Character2:
Why do you want a one-paragraph thread?:
Why should we allow you to have one?:

Or something idk. But basically it's what we've been doing anyway, it just hasn't been official yet, but you guys could make it official? I don't know, I just don't like the idea of like completely taking away the three-paragraph rule.

EDIT: oh! I just had an idea. what if we can limit it, like we do with notes? like we have for every one regular thread, you can have two notes. maybe in this sense, it'll be like for every three or four regular threads, you can have one short one? that way it won't be excessive, but it's still open.

[selene]

I'm going to have to go with Ellie on that suggestion above.

One the one hand, I'm completely for this site being for moderate to advanced writers. I've looked at some other sites, and one sentence for a plethora of feelings is ridiculous. As a writer, we should be able to stretch one sentence into an entire paragraph, and most of us here at ISS actually do. And sometimes, like Ellie said, for the milestones in our characters' lives, lengthy posts like that are an absolute need. Sometimes, when I'm writing for Kiki, or even Dani, their posts have to be 3000 words. Like when I was posting for Dani and Pierre? Some of the longest posts I think I've ever written, because there's just so much my characters are feeling. So I completely understand the need for lengthy posts. I really, really do. It gives the site some clarity, cleanliness, and overall badassedness. (Yup, makin' words up like a boss) ANYWAY.

However. I think Ellie has an extremely valid point. I think that one of the main things about ISS that sets us apart from the rest of other RP sites is the sense of community we actually share. I highly doubt that the majority of the RP sites out there can boast that almost every single member knows each other, and respects each other, and some even love each other. We're a family here. And that shows through our characters. But how can we show our sense of family if our characters can't have conversations without needing to go through their life story to get there? I'm not saying I have a difficult time with the posting requirement, but I do once in a while enjoy being able to get out a conversation that really needs to happen without worrying about how I'm going to fill the other two paragraphs of the post. It gets a tad redundant, you know? I don't know, I guess what I'm trying to say is I totally agree with Ellie; I think we could probably afford to let up on posting length a bit.


EDIT: I don't think we should "get rid" of the posting rule either, I just think we can be a little more flexible. Plus, having to send a PM every time two best friends want to gush about something has the potential to get a little annoying on all sides.

[Jayden Flynn]

I don't even-- *tacklesnugsEllie*
Yes, yes, yes. I agree with everything that was said above, and I think Jooj's idea of the PM is super organized and might be good, buuuut, like Bizz says, it could probably get annoying.

So maybe we could just go with her second idea? You don't have to ask permission, but you're encouraged to only do two or three per long-ass-thread that you're having?

-nodsnods-

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[Andromeda Black]

Suggestion 1: Hmmmm, I kinda like the idea of a graphic, but I know we talked about similar things for other stuff before and I mean, I'd be alright with it if it was something not too large that just becomes like an eyesore or whatever? 'Cause you know, threads look pretty and stuff, and baha, okay, I'm just being silly... and also really, when do I really do M-rated stuff anyway, so ANYWHO, uh, yeah I think a graphic could prob be fine. As far as titles go, I think it's a good idea if people want to buut I don't think it really needs to be necessary as long as there's some form of warning at the very top of the thread? But that's just my two cents, I wouldn't be opposed to it per se, I just don't know if we really neeed it as long as there's a warning at the very top of the post, and like Seraph said we've been pretty good with that.

Suggestion 2: I have absolutely no problem with extending Yule ooc to run until November 1st, buuuuut at the same time I kinda want to let people start doing Christmas hols stuff? I mean I guess people can do that anyway.... I know the Sirius/Remus thread I just started is techincally set early January we realized, but I guess maybe we can make an announcement around end of September instead of ending Yule just saying people are welcome to start holiday stuff?

Suggestion 3 - Ooooh okay. I think that's a really good point, and the whole idea of "conversation threads" has come up before, and of course, people have done one-paragraph threads for special purposes as well. I agree that a PM could get annoying, having to fill out a form every time and everything, buuut I think it wouldn't be so bad if it was less formal? Just checking and getting permission some way, even dropping a message in the c-box, idk. It's not that a big a deal though, as long as people are still doing longer threads, so I'd say that being allowed to do one/two (I think three is way too much) one-paragraph threads per longer thread could work. Question, though, would it be like notes in which case the characters don't matter (ie. you can be in two threads with charrie A and zero with charrie B and do four notes/one-paragraphs with charrie B) orrr would it be by character? 'Cause we don't really want one character having all their threads by one-paragraph threads... although at the same time, I don't think that would realistically happen, so it should be fine to do it same as notes, yes?