Speaking Out: The Althanas Suggestion Thread Returns

[Ther]

We haven't had this thread in about 6 months, so it's time to hear your guys' thoughts on this topic once again:

Do you have any comments, suggestions, thoughts on your experiences here at Althanas? Is there anything you'd like to see changed, anything you'd like to see added, anything you feel could be improved?

Keep in mind that we take all suggestions and comments very, very seriously, and some of the features that make Althanas what it is today were first recommended by members.

[Canen Darkflight]

Ok, I do have one request, or suggestion.

It's more of a request or a question for the moderators: is there a feasible way that you can change the judging submissions so that they are picked up easier, or done a little quicker? (by normal standards as such. I understand this is a busy time). Or, if you can do it, re-allocate threads between judges so that if one judge has a problem and can't do it, another judge can take over?

You see, the one problem, and maybe ONLY problem, with Althanas is the sheer amount of time it takes to progress forwards. That's what puts people off. I spent two years getting to LV 2 with on/off activity.

[Amaril Torrun]

Ok, I just came up with this idea on the fly, so its going to lack details, but what if we made some sort of competition between different vendors at the bazaar? Or allowed a character's interactions to have real and lasting effects on the merchants?

I think the lack of enthusiasm for the bazaar is in the fact that you get in, get out, and nothing significant happens. Maybe we could have something like ten certain merchants that characters could deal with, or a number around there, so that if someone make a good or bad impression on these vital NPC's, it'll be remembered and affect the next visit.

[AdventWings]

Reply to Canen: The idea is in use at the moment, really. The fact of the matter, however, is that we are low on man-power. Atzar is on leave for ten days (as you may have read in one of his threads) and the rest of us are... well, burned out. As a member of the Judging Staff, I will admit that we are under-powered at the moment.

We are sorry for the current backlog and will do everything in our power (and capabilities) to ameliorate the problem.

Reply to Amaril: Good idea. Sometimes you just want a sword, other times you want a cheap sword. Sometimes, you just want that one sword you saw walking down the road.

You can play this out IC in your own terms or scour the finished threads in the Transaction Archives to see who sells what and at how much. Generally, however, item prices are more effected by locale than IC merchants. Getting enchantments will be at lower prices in Raiaera than in Alerar, but you can buy flintlocks and blunderbuss there for lower price and higher quality there. Scara Brae doesn't have much high-end items on sale and Corone is generally faring better in the Fashion Industry.

Taking in the IC nature of each location and playing them in your thread can (and will) result in lower prices. Just a thought on the matter.

Also, every encounter in the Bazaar is important to your image. It depends on whether or not you run into the same Mod and the same NPC or not, really.

Take a look at The Cinderella Man's Bazaar purchases here (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=3243) and here (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=6406). These are examples of infusing your character's history into the Bazaar purchase, but not the only way. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide how you want to play it. :)

Having a number of listed NPC merchants for reference isn't a bad idea, either, but this will need to be discussed in further details. :)

[The Architect]

I'd like to suggest something everyone may need... A break.

I'm not saying stop Althanas, but I've seen all these things that the active mods have to do and maybe we should strip activity down to the bare minimum for a good four to six months. After the Gisela Open we could refrain from the following...

Starting New Tournaments (ex. Althanaversary, Gisela)
Starting New Features (ex. Dajas Pagoda, Power Groups)
Modifying Rules (ex. GP, EXP, Judging)
Adding/Deleting Regions & Forums (ex. Haide, Athylia's Verse)

Basically we should leave it to everything that has already been established. The following.

The Rules as they stand.
Dajas Pagoda
Citadel
Bazaar
The Regions as they are.
The Power Groups
The Forums as they are.

And that does still sound like quite a bit to deal with, but since those entities are already established and well under way they won't be too difficult to deal with. I've noticed that Althanas' 'active' population is small and fragile. When a tournament starts a portion of that population is compromised, and a large amount of that activity is reallocated to that tournament. It leaves the general population and the newbies who've come too late with less people to play with. I'm not saying any of these features and tournaments are bad things, but they're taxing for the people involved. This isn't because of the overlap. I'd be suggesting this even if we'd waited a month after the end of Althanaversary to start the Gisela Open. It looks like Althanas has been in a constant state of flux since before I got here, and I've seen a daunting number of changes since I got here. You can say it's a strive to improve, but we need to give our improvements some time. Althanas is like a tomato. You've got to let it ripen before you start cutting it up or else you'll have yourself a nasty ass tomato sauce, and Emril's gonna hate that!

It'll take a load off of everyone's shoulders. The staff won't have to spend all their time developing, preparing for, or directing a new event or feature. They'll be able to focus on the necessities, approving new characters/upgrades, judging, and playing. The players won't have to cope with a region being deleted or added, put time aside for a new feature, or invest all of their time into a tournament. I guarantee if we do this we'll see an exponential rise in standard activity. More Quests, More Battles, More Fun.

[Canen Darkflight]

Actually, I do have a constructive suggestion. But this one is for the members.

A point has recently come to light. Moderators and members of staff here have recently been very overworked due to the lack of man-power at the moment, and quite rightly are tired and don't really get a lot of anything back for the work they put in on juging our threads, helping us with our writing, accepting our characters. Ect.

What if, as members of this community that they support to their fullest, we could find a way of repaying them? Perhaps a tournament, run or organised by the members, in their honour? Or some sort of calander day where we can celebrate their work?

I know there isn't a lot we can do physically, but just showing our gratitude im sure would be enough for them. After all, they do this for free, whichever way you cut it. Least we could do is say thanks.

[Breaker]

As far as the current "lull" in judging goes, the only definite solution I can think of is to train more judges, and in the meantime, be patient.

On the other hand, maybe a slightly more organized system would help. For example, if judges didn't accept submitted threads until they were actually ready to judge them, it might decrease impatience on the part of members and pressure on the mods.

Now... since this *is* the suggestions thread, I'm going to put myself in the shooting gallery by making a totally honest suggestion.

I hate myself for saying this, because it is obvious A LOT of effort went into the new Power Groups system. Despite that, having recently read most of the info on clan wars, raids, treasuries etc etc, I was sort of disapointed. I have some slightly long-term plans for creating a PG, and I was discouraged from the idea by the way things are set up now.

Do I have a perfect system up my sleeve? Of course not. And the current system is infinitely better than before, because there wasn't a system before. However, IMHO Power Groups could be a lot more fun than the presen system makes them. I have a few ideas, or beginnings of ideas, and I'd be happy to brainstorm it up with anyone else willing.

[Rajani Aishwara]

I'm not saying this just because I'm a fellow member of the House of Sora, but I agree with The Architect. We all need a break. I've been here longer than him and the site doesn't go a month without a significant change or addition. We need to sit back and chill for a while. No tournaments, no new special features, no significant changes for at least half a year. Allow the players to get to know each other through the standard practice of quest and battle. It'll be fun for the players, and hopefully it'll be relaxing for the staff.


I have some slightly long-term plans for creating a PG, and I was discouraged from the idea by the way things are set up now.
Can you tell us why you were discouraged? I think the way the system is set up is actually ment to discourage to some extent. We wouldn't want any run of the mill member just founding a group then it dropping off the face of the earth. Trust me, I know. The system itself is not meant to limit PG's to the PG forum. If you look at the House of Sora they have members doing PG stuff all over Althanas, and it's all alot of fun.

I'd be happy to hear the ideas you have for the PG system. I think this would be the proper thread to see those ideas, even if they aren't highly detailed or fleshed out.

Either way, like I said before, I second The Architect's idea of just giving Althanas a break and keeping things as they are for a while.

[Breaker]

Can you tell us why you were discouraged? I think the way the system is set up is actually ment to discourage to some extent. We wouldn't want any run of the mill member just founding a group then it dropping off the face of the earth. Trust me, I know. The system itself is not meant to limit PG's to the PG forum. If you look at the House of Sora they have members doing PG stuff all over Althanas, and it's all alot of fun.

I'd be happy to hear the ideas you have for the PG system. I think this would be the proper thread to see those ideas, even if they aren't highly detailed or fleshed out.

After re-reading my own post, I realize I should have been more specific. The overall PG system is fine IMO; in fact, the only change I can really see is the addition of the PG treasury, which is a terrific idea.

What discouraged me from the idea of creating or joining a PG was not the setup of Power Groups themselves, but principally the rules applying to raids and clan wars. For my own sanity I'm going to talk about raids right now, and leave clan wars for a bit later.


The defender determines match-ups and the arena for the raid, in addition to the rights of first posting.
It's a bit silly for the defender to determine these things. The attacker should be the one determining the who, when, why, where, and how of the raid. Does this give an advantage to the attacker? Yes! And the attacker deserves that advantage for having the guts to spend time, money and manpower on a raid. If someone successfully raids you, raid them back! Raiding threads only last 14 days, after all, and thats less time than the average Althanas quest takes.


1. The total score for each team will be calculated. In cases of attrition, an equal number of the highest and lowest scorers from the team with the size advantage will be taken out so that an equal number of scores are added from each team.
2. The scores for each team will be multiplied by the number of players on each team.
3. If the two teams are evenly matched, this will result in the score winner always winning.
4. If player numbers are different, then the result will be skewed towards the team with more players. However, a high score from the team with fewer players could still result in a victory against the odds for the disadvantaged team.
These rules just confused me. This is so unecessarily complex it made my head hurt, and I'm no simpleton. Again, no I don't have a perfect system worked out, but I'll suggest an idea which I think would work far better.

We have a great judging rubric here on Althanas. A lot of staffers put a lot of hard work into it, and it is WAY more fair than the marking system they used in my english classes in highschool. Keep the rubric in mind.

The biggest problem (again, IMHO) is the "skewing" dependant on number of participants. I believe that the best way would be for each clan's individual scores to be averaged, or simply added together. Myself, I'm in favour of the averaging.

Ideally, all raids would be fought with equal numbers on both sides. In the case of "attrition", well, it would be the person who drops out's fault for doing so, and their team should suffer accordingly. If one player only makes a few posts, their score will be hurt, and bring the team's average down. If someone doesn't post at all, they get a zero and the team's average goes WAY down. Think about it in terms of real life. If two groups of five people get together for a gangfight, and halfway to the battleground one guy decides he'd rather go home and watch TV, his team will be at a disadvantage.

Back to the rubric. The rubric takes care of things like skewed numbers. If its a 6v4 battle, the team of 6 could get some extra strategy points for using outflanking maneouvers on their enemies. The team of 4 could do the same by finding clever ways to defeat their more numerous opponents.

Now, onto raiding rewards... alot of what I'm going to say here is just kinda spouting out the top of my head, so bear with me.

IMHO, raiding rewards should be based LOOSELY on what happens IC. Before the thread starts, the amount in jeoprady should be agreed upon OOC by the clan leaders and a features moderator. It could be the suggested 25% of the defending clan's treasury, or it could be a certain magical item they possess. The purpose of the raid could even be to show off the attacking group's superior prowess, causing the defending group's purcahsed units to defect. Variable rewards would make raiding alot more fun and original.

Once the "target" reward is agreed upon, the thread can begin. In most cases, the attacking team would probably be launching the raid at the defender's stronghold, or if they don't have one, attacking their camp. Where the booty is placed would of course, be up to the defenders. It would therefore be the attacker's job to obtain it ICly using whatever tactics they could think of, while the defenders.... defend. As best they can.

At this point, you might be thinking this is a recipe for powergaming. Well, it sort of is, and that's sort of the point. Powergaming hurts your score IMMENSELY and therefore the team that powergamed would be likely to lose. Again, our wonderful rubric takes care of so much.


*pant pant*

Well, I hope I've made some sense and not offended anyone. If I have, please accept my sincere apologies, and tell me what I did wrong in the kindest way possible :).

If anyone has any input towards anything I've said, be it positive or negative, spout it out. The Power Groups are my most favourite Althanas feature, which is why I'ved dedicated so much thought to potential improvements.

[The Architect]

It's a bit silly for the defender to determine these things.I don't think it is. The purpose of the raid is to take from the treasury, and ICly the defender is the one who knows where the money is. ICly the attacking clan would watch the defending clan to determine said location, then attack. That's how I justify that rule. Like the Raj said, none of the PG interaction is limited to the PG forum. The House of Sora and the Red Hand could make themselves an IC battle in Donnalaich right now, work it like a quest, and everyone gains something.

As for the math, I don't think we can really make a full evaluation on it until it's put to work in real life. Anyways I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say your suggestion is greatly appreciated.

I'm still a passionate proponent to taking a long overdue break. No new tournaments, no new features, and no changing rules for a good long while. It'll allow us to focus more on the fundamental game, develop our characters and our relationships with each other. Not to mention it would take a whole load of the staff without having to worry about a new feature or tournament in the near future.

[Kially Gaith]

I primarily agree with The Architect, but, as being a none-combatant against IC players, I've came up with a few ideas for EXP gaining, both which would require effort from the other player.

Games: We have some sort of game, in character, that can be played against another character that does not involve injury.

Sparring: I know this could be done as a quest but, a seperate section for sparring matches that do not involve injury, and the matches winner judged on position held through the match. (Were they being gotten the better of? etc.)

Sad ideas I know, but at the moment, the fighting system to me is more a "My dick is bigger than yours" kinda thing, I'd rather not forge friendships with people for them to use a victory or loss as a future OOC reference to myself. It's just an opinion, you needn't comment on that.

[Karuka]

...at the moment, the fighting system to me is more a "My dick is bigger than yours" kinda thing, I'd rather not forge friendships with people for them to use a victory or loss as a future OOC reference to myself. It's just an opinion, you needn't comment on that.

I know that in your run of the mill forum, if you were to beat someone IC, they'd take it OOC, but Althanas isn't the run of the mill forum.

In some instances, good friends OOC become INTENSE IC rivals, and leave it all IC. I had a battle with an OOC friend, I lost, and it doesn't matter.

We take out work with a sense of humor on Althanas. It's about improving our writing and having fun -- and making friends, not proving who has the bigger dick, IC.

[Kially Gaith]

I've seen different, I won't comment on whom, but I believe they know who they are. I'm still gonna avoid player fighting for my own reasons, both IC and OOC.

I agree, the majority do work like that, but for the minority that don't, I'd just rather not have the conflict OOCly.

[Breaker]

not proving who has the bigger dick, IC.
There is a thread for that though. It's called Sex, Drugs, and Violence ;)

Kially-- you can have sparring matches, or play games, at the Citadel. Remember, it's a magic place where anything can happen. Think of the fun a 7 year old would have there. If you want a sparring/learning fight, feel free to challenge my character to a Dajas Pagoda battle, he'd be willing to instruct a youngling.

Architect-- You kind of missed the point I was trying to make. I admit, this is probably my fault for not stating my case clearly enough.

An attacking team should be able to decide what they are raiding FOR. It could be 25% of the other clans treasury, or a magical item, or maybe to kidnap a high-ranking member. If they pick the treasury, then yes, they would have to attack the defending team's stronghold. But they'd still get to START the thread, meaning they could attack at 4a.m. rather than 12 noon, which is the time a wise defending team might pick under the current rules.

But my true beef with the defenders picking the battleground is that they are NOT required to defend from their stronghold. They could pick some totally ambiguos part of the forest for the battle to be held in.

What I'm really shooting for here is realism-- the more realistic the raids are, the more fun they would be to write IMHO. Under current circumstances, 90% of all raids would just be like mini clan wars.

On another topic,

I agree with you in the sense that Althanas needs a break from tournaments. The Gisela happening while Althanaversary is still going is kinda screwy. But saying "no new features, no new rules" is a little extreme. What if someone wants to start a clan war? That's a feature, and denying them that right wouldn't be fair. As for the rules, they change when they can and when they need to.

[AdventWings]

I think having Clan Wars/Raids is fine. The "No new features, no new rules" probably meant something that required the Mods/Admins to exclusively run for the members. Clan Wars are basically members-driven and the Mods are there to oversee the way things play out. I think the phrase was just an umbrella term, but that's easy to be confused over. :p

Also, the nature of Clan Wars and Raids need not be applied only to the PG forums. You can have IC Wars that do not apply to the Treasury and go after individual items. Just make it clear to both sides in the war about the aims and Conventions of War.

Also, I believe that anything that will apply to a battle (whether they be a quest, battle or clan war) can and should be talked over by both parties to determine a middle ground so that thread comes out the most interesting and exciting. Call it meta-gaming if you will, but just be sure not to give one sore advantages over the other.

@ Kially - Great idea. I was going to ask Yamihara to have a chess battle with Cyrus for the Althanaversary Battle, but it looks like he would have to come back from hiatus first. :p The idea for an IC Game, however, sounds promising and I'll look into that.

Also, Battles in the OOC sense here is sometimes an entirely different thing in IC circumstances. There could be an IC Battle of Singing, Poker, Chess, even Sprinting while still keeping the sense of "The Spirit of Competition" of the thread. Of course, much of the premise for this type of battle is still in the hands of the individual writers and there's nothing official on it at the moment, but some thing could be worked out. ;)

Keep 'em coming, peeps. :D

[The Architect]

Thank you Advent. The Clan War and every other Power Group feature has already been established. Consider that when looking at my first post. The Power Groups, and everything that comes with the territory, would be considered an already established feature. People would still be able to fight in the Citadel, compete in Dajas, learn in Istien, and do all the PG stuff in the PG forum. It's adding that we need a break from. For example if someone has a new idea to add a feature to Salvar, I say hold it off for a while. Give us some time to get back to the basics.

[Reiko]

The big change that needs to happen is in the attitudes of the Mods. Simply put the Judges need to reevaluate the way they're judging. Simply put I'm seeing more of a vindictive criticism than constructive criticism and it really needs to be toned down. Judges need to be more than critics and have to realize that Players feeling good is as important to Althanas as it is having them improve.

I suggest to find some nice things to say about the thread and not focus too much on the negative, it sometimes feels now that you'd have to score a JC to get a nice word. Really, people shouldn't have to work this hard to feel good about what they do on Althanas and it's the reason why our activity is so low. We have to work a little harder at being nicer and more fair. I'm not talking about artificially inflating the score, just being a bit more nice. Every productive member is valuable but it's often not seen that way. There just means there needs to be more thought on being positive and helpful.

I've read far too many times when players would often be accused of not using a spell check or proof reading instead of simply mentioning a few errors and how to fix them. Also there's a bit of nit picking character actions. Really if a character does something different or unexpected it shouldn't be nailed for being unrealistic, there might be simple reasons and it doesn't always have to disclosed.

I know it's hard work to be a judge and it's a great service to Althanas that you sacrifice Althans' time to help but it feel like the judgments have some vindictive quality as if they're meant to be punish meant for being forced to read the thread. We really need to work on helping others have more fun here and feel good about playing here.

[Kially Gaith]

Thanks, I'm really greatful that my idea is considered, a game for exp would be really awesome, something like out performing the other person in gymnastics or even outdrinking the other opponent!

Who can perform the best stunt, etc! ^_^

[Skie and Avery]

I don't know how many times I've said in various threads that anyone can reach me at any time with any question or complaint, even if I can't do much to help, on AIM. My screen name is RestitutionSpork and I have never ignored anyone who came with their qualms.

As for spellcheck, I only ever mention it if there are more than three glaring mistakes that would have been picked up by a checker. The confusion of "from" and "form" is seen alot, and since a checker wouldn't catch it, I usually gloss over it.

I did make mention of several out of character actions in my latest judging of a thread of yours, but only because I felt that they were very confusing as to the personalities of your character. That is why the general character category exists, to determine how well and truly the personalities are played.

Some of the comments I made were jokes, especially about the lack of details in regards to lesbianism, because I was trying to lighten the mood a bit. I do believe I mentioned in my comments that the thread improved a bit as it went along.

Now, I have judged your Daggertail stuff before, Reiko, and I found myself making the same comments here that I have before in those judgements. If a harsher tone to my commentary is needed to make you LISTEN, so be it.

As always, I'd prefer you to come to me with concerns about attitude via PM or AIM at RestitutionSpork or MSN at songs4drowning@hotmail.com instead of sitting in the middle of a public thread and mewling like a scolded child. Do this again, and you'll see how vindictive I can get.

[Bleater]

I suggest to find some nice things to say about the thread and not focus too much on the negative, it sometimes feels now that you'd have to score a JC to get a nice word. Really, people shouldn't have to work this hard to feel good about what they do on Althanas and it's the reason why our activity is so low. We have to work a little harder at being nicer and more fair. I'm not talking about artificially inflating the score, just being a bit more nice. Every productive member is valuable but it's often not seen that way. There just means there needs to be more thought on being positive and helpful.

I've read far too many times when players would often be accused of not using a spell check or proof reading instead of simply mentioning a few errors and how to fix them. Also there's a bit of nit picking character actions. Really if a character does something different or unexpected it shouldn't be nailed for being unrealistic, there might be simple reasons and it doesn't always have to disclosed.

I know it's hard work to be a judge and it's a great service to Althanas that you sacrifice Althans' time to help but it feel like the judgments have some vindictive quality as if they're meant to be punish meant for being forced to read the thread. We really need to work on helping others have more fun here and feel good about playing here.

Perhaps I'm out of the loop, but I often read through judged threads (in a better effort to understand the rubric and help my own scores ;)) and I've rarely seen anyone just get bashed for any thread. I've seen a few instances, but those are largely threads with around a 35-40 score and are usually rushed, short, nonsensical fights that were thrown together for quick xp/gold/spoils.

Often the judgements I read will hit on some negative aspects, but I can't begin to count how many time's I've read "This is one area you do well in", or "This is where you stood out in the thread" or "Where that aspect was weak, you made up for it here." Often, I think we as readers like to think we're infallible and get bent out of shape at the negatives, to the point of overlooking the positives. I know I was that way with my first judgement on here, and I received a ton of praise in it, but I was so hung up on the negative stuff, I let it fester instead of enjoying what I did well.

Also, I really don't feel a lot of judgings are vindictive, in fact it's usually the opposite. If I had the patience, I would go look back through the crystal ball to find one example I remember, but paraphrasing it, the judge said something in either Action or Persona to the effect of "While I personally don't like/am tired of characters like this cliched archetype, or characters that do this, you did stick to the character and did this well, so I have to give you credit and points here for it." (Not that it didn't get made up for in the Wild Card :p) I remember reading something like that because it just stuck out in my mind how well the rubric is followed when a judge can think something's crap but won't penalize it since it does fit the judging criteria.

[Reiko]

Manda: it isn't just you and a PM just isn't enough. I didn't want to embarrass anyone with what I said but I felt that it needed to be said since I really haven't been happy with what I've seen of any of the judges lately. I'm sorry you took it so personally.

[Christoph]

To be honest, I prefer it when the judges are harsh, and I think that the mild trend lately to lean in that direction is a good thing. There's nothing that I can't stand more than sugar coating. If an aspect of my writing is bad and could be improve, be as bluntly honest as possible. It's the best way to get better.

I think that the judges have been doing a pretty decent job lately. They point out areas that are good, and then say how the not-so-good aspects could be brought up to the level of your good aspects. And really, the only way not to have any positive qualities is to not put forth any effort... at which point the judge could be expected to say, "It looks like you didn't put much effort into this." Honest communication about our work is the key, and our judging staff is giving us just that.

[Varia]

Brad and I have been reading a lot of judgments lately to get a grip on the process and what spoils were acceptable to ask for. I really don't think the judgments have been harsh. Actually I've been quite impressed with the judges on Althanas. The input you guys give is really helpful. Like Christoph, I'd rather have the judge be honest than sugarcoat everything. I can't improve if I'm babied.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

I'm one of those cats that receive some of the so-called "Harsh-judgments" that are being talked about. Me personally I tend to like them. I contact back almost every judge that reviews one of my thread and gives me a score to thank them. They've done me a service when they can pick out the things that are wrong with my work even if they have to really LOOK for it. I personally don't mind scoring lower as long as I get my experience and my rewards for a quest that I've worked hard to complete then its a fair trade off. I think the problem comes with people who can't handle criticism well. I speak to many mods on a regular basis and I've modded myself from time to time. What everyone has to remember is that being as mod is a JOB and a certain level of professionalism comes from undertaking that job. It shouldn't matter that you're friends with a particular mod or you really admire a particular mod, that mod is gonna do HIS JOB and give you an unbiased review of your work. You want to improve you follow the judge's advice on the matters and leave it at that. If judges are constantly pointing out the same things then that means that's an area that you have to work on particularly hard.

I know I'm being long winded here and kind of "harsh" myself, but I've dealt with a lot of crap in my tenure on Althanas here, and I know what its like to be misunderstood. I think that's what is going on here, a simple case of misunderstood intentions. Certain people need to understand that there's a difference between an UNBIASED JUDGMENT and a personal assault on your Character. None of the judges are personally attacking people OOC that I've seen. They are making critiques of ones' writing capabilities and that's the whole damned point people! I'm an artist and I have to deal with harsh critiques all the time. Some people like my art style and some people think its crap. I listen to the people who think its CRAP and can tell me WHY they think my art style is crap so I can become a better artist. The same is true of writing. I recently got some fairly harsh judgments but I deal with it like a man, I know they aren't attacking me PERSONALLY they are just giving their honest opinion about what I need to improve my writing. Certain people need to pay very close attention to what I'm saying. Now since this is a thread to speak out about Althanas I have a BIG suggestion I been trying to bring into the spot-light.

SOMEONE BRING THE VARA MOIRE UNIVERSITY BACK!!! I think that the Newbie sections (AKA Scara Brae and Peaceful Promenade) should have MORE features than the regular rp world itself. The newbie section should be considered training for people coming from sites like Gaia, for example, and from Yahoo's Ayenee (Where I came from so long ago) in how to do turn-based Role-Playing. (AKA T1-Story) I think the mods should pay CLOSE attention to our newbie population and roleplay with them MORE. I think its fine to have an established core of fantastic writers in this place but when they overshadow everyone else, there's a bit of a problem here. Althanas is supposed to be about FUN not about eliteism. Which is a problem that's long gone here. I've always considered myself to be a rogue rper in the sense that I LOVE rping with my army of newbies. I've made a lot of great friends and helped to personally train many Althanas reg's. (You know who you are) And now I'M the one who needs training and that's okay. I know my writing has improved!!! My point is, that with an IC Skill System in place, writers like myself and other newbies can get training from Mods and ALSO get IC Skills they need to insure their Character's survival.

That's my basic point, having some sort of skill system in place that works in conjuction to Raiaera's spell-song system would be freaking fantastic.

If you guys can bring back the Dajas Pagoda you can bring back a re-vamped Vara Moire. I think its desperately needed right now.

[Io Beauregard]

If you guys can bring back the Dajas Pagoda you can bring back a re-vamped Vara Moire. I think its desperately needed right now.Yes, they could, but it would take alot of work. There's another thread in the My Word forum that addresses the sheer man effort and time it can take to do that. From what I've been hearing the staff is low on man power and time. Atzar Kellon took the task of reviving the Pagoda, on top of judging Althanaversary, judging normal threads, approving the armies for Gisela, and more.

The Architect is right. We need to consolidate more than anything else, allow our selves to get back to the basics, then get back to our progress.

As for the judgings, I have yet to recieve one, but from what I've seen they're not harsh. They've mostly been constructive save for the rare neglect to tell the player exactly how to improve on a low score.
I really haven't been happy with what I've seen of any of the judges lately. I'm sorry you took it so personally.Shot in the dark here, but is there anything here that you're happy with? I'm not saying that to diss you, but as nice as you are I've heard very little good about this site come from you. You talk about elitism alot, which I fail to see, you don't seem to like the tournaments, and you made a reference about the new PG system not working where it was not relevant. Judging from the state of things I think we could all stand to hear something positive about the site (not it's players) from you.

[Siren]

A lot of work actually went into the Dajas, and it's not got very much activity, meaning that putting ANOTHER feature into SB would probably be a flop and strain Atzar even more.

So while it's not a definite "no" for Vara Moire, but it's a pretty solid "not now." ~ Karuka

[Amaril Torrun]

The Dajas Pagoda isn't active? From the looks of things, I'd call it one of the most active features of Althanas lately, though I guess there's enough room for some more battles.

I do agree that another feature in Scara Brae would not only put too much strain on Atzar, but I doubt enough people would get involved with it. Before adding new features to the same region, I think we need people to get acclimated to the Pagoda.

[Call me J]

As far as "harsh" judgments go, to an extent, you have to realize that by submitting your work to be critiqued, it is going to be critiqued. If you don't like being criticized for spelling mistakes and having character actions seem nonsensical, I suggest that you do one of the following two things;

1) don't submit threads for judgment.

2) stop making spelling mistakes and have logical character action.

You can't fault the judges for telling you that your threads have mistakes if the mistakes actually exist.

[Moonlit Raven]

I've seen too many threads that look, and often were, done in a matter of days. That is all well and good, but not everyone is or has the abilities of a bestselling author. It only takes a few minutes to use spell check. It would take only a few more minutes to read the post out loud to yourself and pick up some of the sketchy things that might grabs a mod's attention. If it sounds odd out loud, then chances are it is off kilter. Play with it and fine tune it until it sounds right.

If you need help don't be afraid to find yourself a friend that is willing to be a beta for you. I have to do that myself. I slept through first period English once to often. :) Having a friend that is a grammar whore helps out a lot too.

Asking questions when you are going over a post can help a lot too.
1. Why is my char doing this?
2. What are the reasons?
3. What are they thinking about?
4. How would they, not me, react to this?

As Mary Poppins said, 'A spoon of sugar helps the medicine go down.' So take what a judging mod says with a spoon of sugar and a liberal doze of patience and acceptance.

...vodka helps out too if you're that type of person.:cool:

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Raven brings up valid points. In regards to the Vara Moire University (Or some other equivalent thereof) I'm happy that at the very least its being considered as a forum. I'm not suggesting that Atzar do it, there are lots of other super active mods who'd probably step up. OR we could recruit mods within our own pool of active players for the university to start up. The Dajas Pagoda had an overwhelming response cause probably it seemed like a fun project to do, less stressful than The Citadel. Though personally I could do without that annoying charge rate for battles :P. Maybe periodically there's a half off percentage on entry fees?

I think that could work. Also the Vara Moire doesn't have to be a part of Scara Brae, it can be a part of Underwood as I suggested earlier. Underwood has its own set of Mods and I think that might be a cool way to use our already active pool. I mean those are just my suggestions.

[Christoph]

Having a friend that is a grammar whore helps out a lot too.


I can attest to that. =p

Anyway, I can't think of anything else to say on this subject that I hadn't said in my previous post, or that hasn't been expanded upon in other posts.

As for the Vara Moire, it's a cool idea, but I think our staff just needs a little down time from new features and extra stress. Remember, happy mods = happy forum.