HOW'S THE GAME?

[paradisamods]

It's time for another round of Game Discussion, also known as

HOW'S THE GAME?

Here we come together to discuss the game, its plots, the settings, and just about anything we can think of that we'd like to talk about, expand upon, improve, change, etc.

This is not an HMD for players and their characters; this should be about the game's function as a whole and not the people in it. If there is something you feel is absolutely necessary to address that involves a specific person, please IM a mod first to discuss it. We can be reached at valawie (Valerie), fan of todd (TF), or never die ftw (Ashley).

Anonymous will be left off for this round. Sock journals are allowed, but you will have to request comm access to post with them.

This round will be an OPEN FORUM. Please feel free to bring up any game-related topic you'd like to discuss. All topics will be linked in the main post.

➜ HOW'S THE STAFF
➜ MANDATORY PERSONAL HMD POSTS
➜ PLOTTING 101
➜ ACTIVITY CHECK ACCOUNTABILITY
➜ WORLD OF PARADISA

Comments

[hellshaped]

I think having a mandatory private HMD is a good idea. If someone doesn't post to the quarterly public HMD and also doesn't have a private HMD post, then the only way to give them critique is to go through the mods -- which seems unnecessarily severe for something that can be as minor as "watch your spelling."

I'd also like participation in the quarterly HMD post to be mandatory; it's actually one half of that month's activity in another game I'm in. For those who aren't comfortable receiving public critique, we do have an option for linking to private HMDs (though I rarely see that being utilized), which I guess would go back to requiring private HMDs. I realize this is probably even more of a polarizing idea than mandatory private HMDs, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

[strangewonders]

While I have no opinion on the private HMD thing, I think mandatory game-wide HMD is a bad idea for a few reasons.

It's extra work for both the mods and the players, for one. And for another, I've never seen a game where this exists and actually fosters any crit. I was in a game that required it, and I used to amuse myself by going through and counting just how many people actually got crit (the number was always pretty paltry, TBH). Basically, it accomplished nothing that the voluntary HMD/personal HMDs didn't already do, and made more 'paperwork' for everyone involved.

Really, when it boils down to things, the people who want crit are probably already offering themselves up for it, one way or another. And the people who don't want it aren't likely to listen to it, anyway. Forcing them to post won't really change that.

[hellshaped]

I don't know if I agree that it will be more 'paperwork'. Dropping a comment to an HMD doesn't exactly take a lot of thought. Granted, the game I'm in where this is mandatory is also a game where players provide links to their AC instead of having mods do it. So in addition to their AC threads they link their HMD as well, which I guess makes it easier to track there.

Not to mention the HMD post doesn't really garner any critique right now anyway! So it certainly wouldn't hurt it in that regard.

[strangewonders]

Yeah, and on my end... I like making AC without having to post. I guess if HMD stayed quarterly it wouldn't be as bad as the games where it's monthly/bi-monthly... but for selfish reasons, and for the sake of not making the mods have to count up more things, I'm still not in favor of it.

And yeah, it won't hurt. But it probably won't do anything, which is sort of my point. Why do more work for the same results? If it's just a matter of making sure you can crit anyone you need to, the private HMD would be enough.

[hellshaped]

I think it should be mandatory just because I don't think people pay enough attention to it, quite honestly. If it were required to post to HMD, to pay attention to when it went up, go to the page, and post, then maybe there would be a better chance of people actually getting critique.

[strangewonders]

Oh, I totally get what you're saying. And theoretically, making people look at it should help. But I've really never seen proof of it. All game HMDs that I've seen pretty much get the same level of traffic, regardless of whether it's required or not. Because honestly, it becomes a thing people copy/paste, and then close the window on.

But that's just talking from my own personal experience, and maybe yours is different. If it's something a lot of the game wants, then the mods should totally go for it. But I think making the private HMDs mandatory would be a simpler solution to the main issue, which is being able to leave crit for a person if you need to.

[gottaknockhard]

I'm actually for mandatory HMDs, just because I think it's important to be open to crit. I don't think that this will be supported when there's probably a lot of conflicting opinions and it's hard to change something that's been the norm for so long, but for me, I've had instances of wanting to crit someone and being too nervous to when they continually avoid HMDs and/or have no private HMD post. I don't see the harm in making a little easier and accessible for discussion.

I know some people are more sensitive to crit, and I know how hard it is to leave it because of a fear of how any kind of constructive crit may be taken, but I think everyone might get more comfortable with it if it was something that was required. (That might just be me! But I know I would.)