mod // important changes
if you normally never read mod posts, make this the one you do read :)
we're making the following changes to the way this community is run. your comments are, as always, welcome!
new voting system
from now on, do not include a rating out of 10 with your vote. we have decided that each vote should be of equal weight. this means you may vote 'yes', 'no', or 'sway'. a sway is where you ask for more information from an applicant before deciding on a 'yes' or a 'no'. applicants will require 60% yeses to be accepted into the community. you must still give a reason and/or a critique with your vote.
member(s) of the month
from this month onwards, there will be compulsory, unscreened votes for member(s) of the month in two categories: 1) best critiquer and 2) best contributor overall. the prize for the winner of each category is 20 points credited towards next month.
the best contributor may be the best writer, the person whose writing developed the most during the past month, the person who racked up the most points... it's up to you to decide how you should vote, but you must give a reason.
the best critiquer is the person who gave the most helpful critiques during the month. this category attemps to acknowledge that making good, thoughtful critiques takes time and effort, and should be rewarded! give a reason with your vote.
votes will be taken in the last week of each month, and if you do not vote, you will receive a warning (same as you would if you didn't reach your points quota). failure to vote two months in a row will lead you to be kicked out of the community. you may vote for the same person in each category if you like.
this idea was sparked by a suggestion one of you put in the suggestion box, so keep those suggestions coming, because we love them!
vote-offs
in the interest of keeping the community intimate and competitive, the community will be kept at 20 members. this means that once we reach 20+ accepted members, compulsory vote-offs will begin. when you cast your vote for members of the month, you will also be asked to vote for the two weakest links. these are the two people you feel didn't contribute, who were unnecessarily cruel in critiques, or who aren't the kind of writer you'd like to see in this community, etc. you must give a reason with your vote.
we will then use these votes to pare the community down to 20 members. for example, if at the end of the month we have 22 accepted members (mods aren't counted), 2 will be asked to leave. if we're at 20 members, votes will still be taken and members who would have been voted off can use the feedback they receive to make sure they aren't voted off next month.
we are not sure whether these votes will be anonymous and we'd like your input on this. anonymity would allow people to be free with their feedback. however, non-anonymous voting would give us all practice at rejecting someone kindly, taking responsibility for our opinions, as well as taking rejection. rejection is a big part of writing life, and it isn't usually faceless. we need to develop a thick skin as writers and this could be a gentle way of getting practise. let us know what you think.
even if voting is anonymous, the number of votes each person received, and the reasons people voted against them, will be made public to the community. this way we can see the reasons people were voted against, the reasons we were voted against, and what people want from each other.
those who don't vote in vote-offs will receive a warning. two warnings in a row means you're kicked out.
we think people who are voted off may stay as lurkers and reapply in a couple of weeks' time. we haven't ironed out the details yet as we're nowhere near 20 members. as such we're open to any ideas you may have. if you'd like them to be screened, comment on the suggestion box, otherwise a comment here would be fine.
challenges for points officially open
from now on, you are able to steal 10 points from each other in the spirit of friendly competition.
there are two types of challenges for points, the writing talent challenge, and the critique challenge. for the writing talent challenge, you will compare the last weekly prompt response of the person you would like to challenge, with your last weekly prompt response. for the critique skills challenge, you take the latest example of their critiquing and compare it with your latest critique.
to issue a challenge, copy+paste and fill out the form in the userinfo. once a challenge is issued, members should vote either 'you' (the challenger) or 'them' (the challenged), giving a reason. the person with the most votes for them wins. the winner steals 10 points from the loser's points total. as such, both people in a challenge must have at least 10 points to gamble with.
if we see a particular person being targeted too often for points (ie more then 2-3 times in a month), we have the right to delete a challenge. otherwise it's pretty much a free-for-all :) and yes, you can challenge mods, if you like!
belated prompts are not allowed
once the week or the month rolls over, that's it. ok, maybe you can be a day late on weekly prompts, but belated monthly prompts are not allowed.
no more writing-related text posts for points
the writing-related text posts for points has gone bye-bye. this is becase the emphasis here should be on writing and competition. you are still absolutely welcome to make text posts containing whatever you like, but they will no longer count for points.
the new rules will be added to the userinfo asap.
phew ! that was a lot to get through, so thanks for reading. remember, your comments are welcome. either comment to this post, or if you'd like your comment to be private, give your thoughts over at the suggestion box.
thanks,
gauri firstredmoon
on behalf of your mods
we're making the following changes to the way this community is run. your comments are, as always, welcome!
new voting system
from now on, do not include a rating out of 10 with your vote. we have decided that each vote should be of equal weight. this means you may vote 'yes', 'no', or 'sway'. a sway is where you ask for more information from an applicant before deciding on a 'yes' or a 'no'. applicants will require 60% yeses to be accepted into the community. you must still give a reason and/or a critique with your vote.
member(s) of the month
from this month onwards, there will be compulsory, unscreened votes for member(s) of the month in two categories: 1) best critiquer and 2) best contributor overall. the prize for the winner of each category is 20 points credited towards next month.
the best contributor may be the best writer, the person whose writing developed the most during the past month, the person who racked up the most points... it's up to you to decide how you should vote, but you must give a reason.
the best critiquer is the person who gave the most helpful critiques during the month. this category attemps to acknowledge that making good, thoughtful critiques takes time and effort, and should be rewarded! give a reason with your vote.
votes will be taken in the last week of each month, and if you do not vote, you will receive a warning (same as you would if you didn't reach your points quota). failure to vote two months in a row will lead you to be kicked out of the community. you may vote for the same person in each category if you like.
this idea was sparked by a suggestion one of you put in the suggestion box, so keep those suggestions coming, because we love them!
vote-offs
in the interest of keeping the community intimate and competitive, the community will be kept at 20 members. this means that once we reach 20+ accepted members, compulsory vote-offs will begin. when you cast your vote for members of the month, you will also be asked to vote for the two weakest links. these are the two people you feel didn't contribute, who were unnecessarily cruel in critiques, or who aren't the kind of writer you'd like to see in this community, etc. you must give a reason with your vote.
we will then use these votes to pare the community down to 20 members. for example, if at the end of the month we have 22 accepted members (mods aren't counted), 2 will be asked to leave. if we're at 20 members, votes will still be taken and members who would have been voted off can use the feedback they receive to make sure they aren't voted off next month.
we are not sure whether these votes will be anonymous and we'd like your input on this. anonymity would allow people to be free with their feedback. however, non-anonymous voting would give us all practice at rejecting someone kindly, taking responsibility for our opinions, as well as taking rejection. rejection is a big part of writing life, and it isn't usually faceless. we need to develop a thick skin as writers and this could be a gentle way of getting practise. let us know what you think.
even if voting is anonymous, the number of votes each person received, and the reasons people voted against them, will be made public to the community. this way we can see the reasons people were voted against, the reasons we were voted against, and what people want from each other.
those who don't vote in vote-offs will receive a warning. two warnings in a row means you're kicked out.
we think people who are voted off may stay as lurkers and reapply in a couple of weeks' time. we haven't ironed out the details yet as we're nowhere near 20 members. as such we're open to any ideas you may have. if you'd like them to be screened, comment on the suggestion box, otherwise a comment here would be fine.
challenges for points officially open
from now on, you are able to steal 10 points from each other in the spirit of friendly competition.
there are two types of challenges for points, the writing talent challenge, and the critique challenge. for the writing talent challenge, you will compare the last weekly prompt response of the person you would like to challenge, with your last weekly prompt response. for the critique skills challenge, you take the latest example of their critiquing and compare it with your latest critique.
to issue a challenge, copy+paste and fill out the form in the userinfo. once a challenge is issued, members should vote either 'you' (the challenger) or 'them' (the challenged), giving a reason. the person with the most votes for them wins. the winner steals 10 points from the loser's points total. as such, both people in a challenge must have at least 10 points to gamble with.
if we see a particular person being targeted too often for points (ie more then 2-3 times in a month), we have the right to delete a challenge. otherwise it's pretty much a free-for-all :) and yes, you can challenge mods, if you like!
belated prompts are not allowed
once the week or the month rolls over, that's it. ok, maybe you can be a day late on weekly prompts, but belated monthly prompts are not allowed.
no more writing-related text posts for points
the writing-related text posts for points has gone bye-bye. this is becase the emphasis here should be on writing and competition. you are still absolutely welcome to make text posts containing whatever you like, but they will no longer count for points.
the new rules will be added to the userinfo asap.
phew ! that was a lot to get through, so thanks for reading. remember, your comments are welcome. either comment to this post, or if you'd like your comment to be private, give your thoughts over at the suggestion box.
thanks,
gauri firstredmoon
on behalf of your mods