MODPOST 1/2

[soul_mods]

Attention, Soul Campaign!

We’re opening reservations in a little over a week, and the mods would like to make some announcements regarding changes being made to the application and reservation process. These changes have been in planning for a long time, and is one of the reasons why we went for the break.

Reserves Page and Application Cut OffThe

Comments

VOLUNTEERS for beta reading!

[soul_mods]

Thank you!

[de_faulty_hero]

Sign me up.

I'd prefer series like the Final Fantasy series, Starcraft, .Hack, Claymore, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fushigi Yuugi. However, I'm willing to read over any application that comes in even from obscure series, so don't count me out for those.

[chaos_squirrel]

I'm signing up for this! Although I think I should mention I might not be able to help with last-minute reserves if I'm under a time crunch myself.

Preferred series include Trauma Center, Persona 4, Tales of Symphonia (sequel is best, I've only binge-reviewed parts of the first game ahaha), Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus, and...Jackie Chan Adventures? Some of these are more likely to be apped than the others.

I'm cool with anything, though, as long as there's some time to let me research or review other canons.

[histrionicflair]

Sign me up.

QUESTIONS!

[soul_mods]

[quarterlynx]

So for one of my apps, I had gotten revisions before (and I think this is a common thing for people from some of the ones I've talked to) -- but it was a request to make sure the soul traits I picked matched up with what I wrote in the personality section -- not exactly a personality revision, but an additional explanation as to why I chose those traits.

Under these new rules, would an application like that be outright rejected? Or does that count under the soul campaign revision section?

[soul_mods]

I'd say it depends. There are times when we make that revision suggestion because we find the personality section lacking, and that's the easiest suggestion that can be incorporated in the app -- under the new procedure, it would be rejected instead. Sometimes, we ask for a clarification of the soul traits because we don't see it as a reflection of the personality section -- this would be a revision.

The app team will be trying to avoid looking for redundant information in the character info section in the future, so hopefully that also lessens what we see as a deficiency in that section specifically, too.

[terra_inflexus]

This is more of a concern but...

As someone who's gotten a lot of revision requests and someone who's helped a lot with other revisions, I'm not entirely sure not asking for revisions in the character section of the app is a good idea. Soul Campaign has one of the toughest, most detailed apps I've ever done, and you guys (rightfully) expect a lot from your players. It can be hard, though, knowing when what's in an app is enough to satisfy the app team. In all my cases of revision requests, I was confident what I had was enough--I had added everything I could without repeating what was already in the app, I had gotten people to beta, I'd beta'd--only to end up getting revision requests because it still wasn't enough

[mumyo_ken]

Tossing my two cents in -

Betas! Great idea!

Not allowing revisions on the most subjective part of an app is an absolutely terrible idea. Especially with two-month wait between apps.

Honestly, I'm not even sure what purpose it's supposed to serve. I doubt most revisions come about not because people are lazy or do not know their character. It comes because they don't know what the mods want to see. And quite frankly, I would not be comfortable betaing for the game, because I don't know what those standards are. To do this, there would have to be lots of examples of what was considered good enough, and an appeals process so that mods disagreeing with interpretation doesn't automatically bar someone from the game or force them to wait two months to app again and hope that this time they know what the mods are thinking.

[soul_mods]

We're putting up guidelines on the things that the app team and the mods want to see in these sections, as well as something to help the beta-readers when they start beta-reading for other applicants.

All plot-heavy LJ games generally tend to ask the same things from their personality sections -- motivations, focus, strengths and weaknesses -- and we're not deviating from these common core requirements. When these are lacking is the only time we might consider rejecting the application based on that section, and not when there are only minor quibbles in an app.

[amazingentry]

Hey everybody! I know I'm late, but here's what I think.

From reading this, it sounds like many of you were asked to make very minor revisions on your Personality sections and now fear that such minor edits will now instead earn you a rejection. I do not believe this to be the case. Because there is now so much weight placed on the personality section, an application reader is more likely to ignore those minor edits and wave you through unless there are glaring problems with the section. Have faith that a comprehensive list of what is expected of an applicant will appear, but in the meanwhile, you may find the short blurb on the application very telling.

Character Personality:Be thorough; we consider this the backbone of your app, and we will not be accepting revisions for this section if the application team finds it lacking. Focus on an analysis of character personality and motivations and use specific examples as evidence. We want to see how well your grasp is of the character’s psychology, so don’t turn this into a History

[gunsmokeangel]

Question!

If say, I put in an app at the beginning of the app period and it was rejected in a timely fashion, could I either resubmit the app before the end of the period or submit another, different app before the clock stops?

Then instead of the app team working with someone to clean up their app, betas could help, or the person could still get into the game with a character that they can app better. Might seem a little less intimidating.

[soul_mods]

No, you would not be able to. It would be unfair to everyone else who would only be able to apply for one character, either because they submitted a little later than most or because the app team can't process the dozens of apps soon enough despite their best efforts. We only allow a second app for people who lose out to character application challenges, i.e., when two players app for the same character in the same app cycle.

[gunsmokeangel]

Ah, okies. I was just wondering.

[soul_mods]

It's all right. Thank you for the question.