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Hi guys,

The internet isn't very old. I've been at chooseyourstory.com for more than 10 years now. Actually, I've been at CYS since it was born on the day when we killed myadventuregame.com in lieu of this name. Over time, pretty much our entire user base has turned over. The original crew when I showed up was Fleshy, madglee, Havacoman, Solostrike, Fear, Alexp, March, Choco and I. There were a few other people but those were the accounts that posted frequently. Pretty soon Havacoman was gone and a flurry of other users joined the core. Sethaniel showed up, TSMPaul, Endmaster, and a number of other excellent writers.

In internet terms, ten years encompasses multiple geological eras. I've seen a number of radically different CYS' and I'm not going to sit here and pretend that any of them were perfect. I'm not the guy who lives his life in the "glory days" of the past. All of the different userbase incarnations of CYS had their issues. However, this current incarnation has a more startlingly profound one.

Namely, the maturity level of the site and the general atmosphere has steered way off course. I think we all need to be reminded that this is first and foremost a writing site. Lately it has become more of a social networking forum and the content has dramatically shifted into a more sexual, charged and frankly, immature scene. CYS is the most active and busy it's ever been, but it's really lost a lot of its allure. I really don't like thinking about the number of potentially excellent writers who we may have lost due to the toxic and juvenile forum atmosphere. Seriously, if I stumbled on to this website today, I wouldn't stay. Neither would Sethaniel, neither would BerkaZerka. Endmaster probably would, but...

It's time to make a change. We, the admins, are going to oversee a site culture shift. We're going to start pruning forum threads and storygames in an attempt to re-focus the site towards writing, and also to promote a more mature site atmosphere. We're not attempting to scare you off, but at the same time, if you're not willing to shift your viewpoint to match our vision for the future of the site, then you are no longer welcome here.

In this post, I will outline some general tenets but these tenets will be enforced by the spirit of the law and not the exact wording, because this has led to a lot of rule-skirting and general animosity in the past. We're going to delete immature, unsavory, or unsatisfactory posts and we are going to ban users who continuously post content in that vein. The content that we're looking to promote and allow will soon become apparent to you, and no one will be banned until we feel that the standards are clear.

This culture shift will extend across all facets of the site including forums, storygames and forum games. We're looking to be a place where mature writers can come to write excellent stories, play sophisticated or fascinating forum games, and engage in interesting conversation with likeminded individuals. If this doesn't sound like the kind of place that you would feel at home, then I think it's best that you make your home elsewhere.

At this point, I want to reiterate. If you share our vision and like the sound of the website that we imagine, then you have a place here. We will welcome you and you are exactly what we're looking for.

Here are some of the things that we will be looking to excise from the website:

• Low quality storygames
• Low Quality or Freeform forum games (The Tavern can stay on a probationary basis)
• Warrior Cats and poorly conceived fan fiction in general
• Sexual roleplaying
• Mindless bickering
• Empty forum threads devoid of meaningful content

Here are some of the things that we would like to see:

• High quality storygames
• Sophisticated or intellectual debates
• Sophisticated or exceptional forum games
• Events (such as the book club)
• In progress threads for upcoming stories
• Discussion about the better stories on the site
• Good conversation between mature people

Questions can be directed to the admins in this thread, but I want to make something clear first. You are guaranteed two rights here in these forums:

1. The right to your own intellectual property. We will never steal your work or plagiarize it.
2. The right to leave the website and go elsewhere.

If you are interested in sexual roleplaying, low quality fan fiction, or debates about these rules, then please feel free to go elsewhere. If you have questions about the rules, you can post them here. If you have complaints, you can PM me.

Once more, if you have an issue with these rules, then you can PM me. This is not a debate. If you have a question about these rules, then you can post it in this thread.

Thanks,
3J, Seth, and BZ.

I entirely agree with this.

Who wouldn't? It makes sense. This is a creative website for creative people. We don't need smut on here. 

I would be interested in seeing the forums mature (in several ways), as I am guilty of being, well... a "derailer," as one might call it. But I really like the way this website's going now.

Thank you 3J. Also, Frontlines 2: Korean War is actually a freeform game. But please, don't delete it. I think it deserved to stay on put in the forum games. It's not entirely freeform though.

Point of clarification regarding the "

• Warrior Cats and poorly conceived fan fiction in general"

If a Warrior Cats story were to be published with impeccable grammar, divergent storylines, an interesting plot, etc., such that it receives a rating around 7/8, is it still a no-go since it's not considered "mature" content? Or does the quality of writing override the otherwise "childish" subject matter?

 

Great question!

Stories written for children are not what we're trying to eliminate. For instance, this is one of the best storygames on the site. I could see an exception being made for truly exceptional Warrior Cats writing, but not in the near future. For now, we're looking to part ways with Warrior Cats.

So, does that mean deleting all Warriors Cats games, deleting ones that aren't finished/very poor, or getting rid of all that aren't truly amazing?

We are moving in the direction of purging Warrior Cats from CYS. The rate at which we do it is still in the air.

I hope you can still "Publish" it because thats what im wondering. I have been with this site a pretty good while and I came here specifically for WC

@Blazewhisker

I'm not sure what you mean... of course you can't publish it.

Ok.

There are other sites where you can publish warrior cat fanfiction, if that's the only thing you're inclined to write / capable of writing. There are entire sites dedicated to the WC fandom itself, in fact. But if you'd like to stay and publish other kinds of stories, that is also an option. :)

If you specifically want to create interactive fan-fiction for WC, though, there is also the Choice of Games site and Twine, if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks! Its just I spent so much time on one im making now, and I would like them to actually see it before they delete it... :3 But i am sure ill be able to come up with another idea.

They'll only delete it if you publish it before asking permission. 

Oh ok thats good to know as well! My storygame puts a twist on WC and sorta has the feel but not at the same time! Maybe they will accept it :3

Don't hold your breath. We are moving away from WC.

Yes thankfully we are....Seriously moments like this make me GLAD I never picked up a WC book as a kid.

I may not entirely agree with this, but if those are the rules, I'll attempt to shift my viewpoint to respect these rules.

I have only one question:

Why FreeForm RP's?

Because there's too many, and most of then end up being sucky.

What about Frontlines?

There are several good websites that you can move your roleplaying to.

msparp.com and cherubplay.com are both good for anonymous connections, (they are oriented to the homestuck fandom but are also often used by other groups)

shamchat.com is another site similar to msparp but without any specific fandom orientation

www.toprpsites.com has a list of popular forum based rp sites both general and fandom based.

What do you mean by "freeform"?

Freeform is generally the name given to 'system-less' game where... Well you do whatever you want and everyone decides what happens and can't tell anyone else anything concrete.

An example would be a generic fight from. One of many games on here:

Player 1: My average, bog standard, Stealth-space-bionic-ninja shoots an instant kill lazer at your guy from behind leaving no time to dodge.

Player 2: Well My Super-metamorphism-time traveling-ninja has the sixth sense of future prediction so dodges it by doing a backflip which lands behind you and slashes you with his Tripple blood grove space rock katana.

Player : Well my char dodges that and....

And so fourth. Basically the players never need to accept anything so the games generally spiral out of control with massively over the top charicters who spent half the game complaining about how easy everything is because they just never take a hit and auto-kill everything.

I actually have played and really enjoyed Freeform games, it is just that sadly they have not seemed to work on here for a long time...

Thanks Forge. You nailed it.

Are the admins/mods going to delete the ones already up?

I think this is likely. If you have sensitive or sentimental writing, please take the time to back it up.

Hey! I've swear I've seen SkyTenshi's post about freeform RP. But why it suddenly get deleted before one minute?

"Once more, if you have an issue with these rules, then you can PM me. This is not a debate. If you have a question about these rules, then you can post it in this thread."

I guess I'm okay with the rules except one. But nevermind, I don't feel like I want to have a conversation about it.

I'm guessing that's forum games.

The probably with that board is that there's too much freeform, and most of it (players, characters, gameplay,) ends up being garbage. 3J wants to begin introducing other types of roleplay (d&d, PbP, Pathfinder) while keeping freeform at a minimum.

If you fear your RP is going to be deleted, you have several options --

-host it on another site

-(when the time comes) ask 3J about it

-give it up and try to accept, learn, and participate in other forms of roleplay

Overall, this new change is better for the site, as freeform has become oversaturated.

I realize you said you "didn't want to discuss" but you probably did want to anyway.

I don't think 3J will listen to me. Frontlines 2 isn't all about war and stuff, but civilians stuff and other disaster caused by the war are also included. I don't think the mods can understand what I meant.

But it's still freeform, which 3J mostly wants to banish.

Like I said, you have some options.

I'll consider the choices. Anyway, it's not entirely freeform as it's a mix of freeform and structured game. I believe Invasion of Earth by WizzyCat is also freeform, but not entirely.

I have no idea why would 3J do this, but he's actually..... making the site less fun rather than making everyone happier. If he rejects SkyTenshi, then he'll reject me. I don't think the mods are good listeners either (no offense).

Thank you for holding me in a nice light, but I did PM 3J and he did respond in a clear manner to all my questions and issues. I may not agree with his decision on banishing freeform from CYS, but don't think the mods don't listen to the very community that they try and improve ^_^

He is not completely banishing freeform gameplay, he's keeping it at a minimum. He's going to assess the good ones and the bad ones.

At least in his reply to me, he was quite adamant about freeform never occurring on this site from now on.

EDIT: Nevermind, looked at some of his replies below.

I just had to do this:

"which 3J mostly wants to banish"

Me: Well he IS JJJ-the banisher!

But in all seriousness let's talk freeform. I personally HATE it went things go like that. I mean, I'm usually willing to take a hit, even kill off my character and have (for example) a sibling come back to avenge them to keep the action going, but whenever I try to realisticly kill someone (i.e Carter jumps from the bushes waving a knife. He has a wild look in his eye and swings the knife down in an arch. <----- Simple, leaves the other person the choice to dodge or be hit, gives some control to the other person) they NEVER take a hit, they ALWAYS dodge and insta-kill me. In cases where they're "I kill you" description is so idiotic and overpowered I just ignore them and add a "patch" if you would. For example: When Carter swings the knife down, super-ninja-sensei turns invisible and dodges before blasting Carter to pieces with a nuclear powered, spear shooting bazooka. What I do: Carter sees the ninja disappear and feels his blade slice through thin air. He whirls around, trying to figure out where the ninja went, but eventually gives up and sheathes his knife before continuing to Sancta City. THAT'S what I do, but it is absolutely NO fun doing it like that because there's no real inter-character interaction or communication. I'd like to develop storyline between characters but all anyone wants to do is live forever and insta-kill everything. Boring, stupid, immature, and soooo frustrating! THANK you for eliminating these from the site. You've done us all a HUGE favor! ;)

-Pixel

Isn't pbp basically freeform?

... I guess, yeah :P sorry bad example. But there is some more dice-rolling apparently than straight CYS freeform...

Is Warrior Cats being completely purged from the site?
 

We are moving in the direction of purging Warrior Cats from CYS, however, the rate at which we do it is still in the air.

Interesting...

R.I.P in peace Warrior Cats.

Well then, I'm deleting my WC fanfic.

I actually stopped reading WC anyway.

EDIT: Oops. I already deleted it. I forgot.

Freeform as in, "Fuck it, whoever/whatever you want!" or freeform as in GM moderated roleplays without a system? Or both?

And what constitutes sexual roleplaying, just so we're all clear on it?

If sex or sexuality comes up incidentally in a storygame or a roleplay, that's fine. If it looks like someone is getting off on it, or if it was the whole point of the story or roleplay, then it's not fine.

Sounds like a plan.

EDIT: Now's probably not the time to make rhetorical joke questions.

Still, which (if any) of those types of freeform games are allowed?

If you have to ask if something is a sexual roleplay or not, it likely is.

You never know.  Sometimes the suggestive imagery on an acid trip may or may not actually be intentional.

Sounds good to me.

I assume the admins have come to a mutual-ish agreement on what will be considered mature or sophisticated?

Yes. This post has come at the tail end of a long discussion.

So, this means there won't be any more of those dreadful and poorly-written feline fiction?

I do have a question. Considering it is uses WC as a foundation, is the CYSClan/SmiteClan thing allowed to stay? Storygame-wise, I already saw the break from the RP in the forums.

Well, considering that he said that there weren't going to be any freeform games anyway...I'd don't think so.

Not the RP, the storygames- er, future ones. Much like mine.

No, it will not be allowed to stay.

 

But it's just cats with WC names...

Bah, no point in protest. Can it just stay unpublished?

Yes

Thx m8.

Can I link to the game, but it stays unpublished?

Why are you trying to skirt around the rules?

Aww.... And I have been working on a awesome warriors cats game.... And I have been working on it for MONTHS!!!!!!

But, one question. Is warriors of SkyClan banned?! It's been around for about two years!!

It's banned. It is:

1. Freeform.

2. WC.

Someone else already pointed it out.

Then you'd better make it so exceptionally awesome that 3J / Seth / Berka accept it. 3J said they could make exceptions.

They said there could be an exception for certain storygames, but since the potential and quality of a forum game are such nebulous and purely subjective concepts, I'm not sure there's going to be any exceptions in that department.

I just want to see if it's permitted or not. I'd probably forget about it anyway. *shrugs* Procrastination and I are basically best friends, and the storygame wouldn't be finished in months. In that period of time, I would most definitely forget the answer to my question.

That's basically what WC is in the first place.

Nah, the WC have this shitty code and they go to places that start with Moon and they do regular shit no one cares about.

CYSClan/SmiteClan only uses the name style of WC.

What if the story merely involves WC, but isn't based around it? (Or it is heavily involved, but it is not a WC story, I.E. humans living in a place where sentient cat clans exist and having to deal with those things?)

I'm sure there's flexibility based on the quality of writing and if the writing explicitly mentions warrior cats.

Case-by-case basis.

Alright. Just so we're clear, I totally respect these rules, and I'm not trying to look for loopholes. I've just been working on a story with that concept for a few weeks now and I want to know whether I should publish it when it's done.

This is 3J's opinion on WC:

"I could see an exception being made for truly exceptional Warrior Cats writing, but not in the near future. For now, we're looking to part ways with Warrior Cats."

"We are moving in the direction of purging Warrior Cats from CYS"

Despite your game being satire, I'd still consider it Warrior Cats.

Is Warriors of SkyClan banned as well? (Since he said "in the direction" of purging.)

Is it freeform? Yes.

Is it Warrior Cats? Yes.

I think you know the answer.

I guess I need another site to roleplay on now...

Go to EotWG and I'll let SkyClan stay there, so long as it remains on one thread ONLY.

I think I'm going to go tell the others now.

I think I'll still stay on CYS for non-freeform roleplays and non-WC stories, I have a few in mind.

Best of luck!

Check out this site for freeform roleplays. 

http://www.valucre.com

The level of writing is really high, and there's a mandatory minimum length requirement in your posts- at least 120 words.

The spirit of this post is encouraging, at any rate.

I'm pretty mixed about these rules; it's great that we're actually going to try and clear this site of all the crap that's been plaguing it. Hell, I'll be willing to act mature and stop being a nuisance (Even though it sounds insane and impossible). However, the new 'no freeform RPs' will make the forum games a barren wasteland. But, I do have one question:
Can we make RPs that are a mix between a freeform and structured RP? What I mean by that is an RP that is already planned out, has a system that it revolves around, GM decides what happens in combat, what happens to people when they try something, and creates everything, etc., but the players are allowed to ignore the main quest and go their own way.

Case by case basis.

In general, if the writing is poor and the RP is loose, it will be deleted.

I have a question. Will the admins be discouraging this social networking behaviour?

As per our PM:

This is a writing site first and foremost, and it's not a place to social network, but that doesn't mean you can't be social here. There's a difference. My forums are looking like a facebook newsfeed and that bothers me. You can still chat with friends, but each topic needs to have a substantive base, even if it's not a serious one. Not every topic needs to be about politics or religion, you can still discuss games and popular culture and events, but the tone of voice and the breadth of discussion needs to be appropriate for a writing site. You can still be funny, you just can't be immature.

At last. It is like a foul toxin has been flowing through my veins, a contaminant, but now fresh blood runs away the old.

Well i only joined the site 3 days ago so i don't really have an opinion of whether this is a case of "Extreme problems require extreme solutions" or whether this is unjustified. I am not a WC fan (in fact its the first time i heard a bout it was on this site to be honest)  nor do i care for sexual and free form RP so all in all i can agree with the "New Direction" the site is taking.

The only thing i might add is that with the new and even more strict guidelines maybe you should consider returning the police of not deleting a story but unpublishing it since now you have more specific deletion reasons. Just a thought though.

The very fact that this is where you first learned about Warrior Cats is part of the problem haha!

Hahaha i guess but i mean i don't understand the appeal anyway (i know that internet = cat but...). At least incorporate it in a fantasy setting or something. I can see how having cats that can fight be interesting as an additional race but this stories seam to be the same thing over and over and over again. Though to be fair i haven't tried playing many of them.

 

This is potentially the best thing that has happened to the site since I joined.  I applaud you all for making this difficult decision and am looking forward to the result.

Well, time to learn a new RPG engine. I knew this day would come. 

Thanks, 3-J. You guys remain awesome as ever. 

I'm pretty mixed about all of this to be honest. I do believe that you're definitely trying to change CYS for the better, and agree with you on many points. Recently, we've had a shortage in quality storygames and I'm sure these new changes will set us on the right path. However, the Lounge has always been a place to sit back, hang out, and talk about anything you'd like. That being said, your new reforms don't make it really clear on what can and can not be discussed in the forums. Though this site is definitely not a "social networking forum", the lounge is still designed to discuss whatever you want. 

Other than that, these new rules do show lots of promise, and I'm hoping for a new wave of quality storygames for the community to read. Promoting quality writing content and better storygames is definitely a way to go. 

 

I feel concern for the lounge as well, since I spend most of my time on the forum there (like anyone didn't know). The only thing that can really effect the lounge is the sophistication/maturity guideline. Yeah, it'd be great to have a bit more maturity and sophisticated intellectual discussions in the lounge, but after a while I think it'd get old talking about religion, politics, humanity, and educational topics all the time. Maybe the occasional "drawing" threads may keep it fun and lively - but I can see the lounge turning dreary and cynical pretty quickly if every post was a serious discussion.

Serious discussions are great, but they are great because they are rare. If they were every other post, we'd run out of interest fairly quickly (I'd imagine). They're good to recycle after a year or so (depending on the discussion) so new opinions can be shared and talked about.

That being said, I don't know how enforced some of these guidelines will be - obviously most if not all are to be enforced strictly at first to break people in; but after the dust settles who knows. I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

It doesn't have to be serious discussion or debate, it just has to be mature discussion. Serious and mature are different. Mature people can still banter and be hilarious, but it's not immature.

Ah I see. *sigh of relief* I feel a lot better now xD

Oh. Well, in this case, I almost entirely agree.

If what's being posted is what would be posted in a relatively mature environment, then it's fine. If it's childish or annoying, then it won't be permitted. There's no way to explicitly state what is and isn't allowed, because this isn't about the topic of content so much as tone and amount. If there's a substantial topic and people are behaving like mature people, then it will be left alone.

There should be a balance. (Between non-serious and intellectual topics)

Currently there is no balance. (Most of the topics are garbage)

3J is trying to fix that.

 

(This is how I see it anyway)

@ecolyte (& others I'm sure) For the record: The description of the Lounge has been such. However, it emphatically has not been the case that "whatever you like" meant "absolutely no rules here."

When I first joined this site, anything that wasn't writing/creativity related got cleaned out of the Lounge. 

we're definitely not going to go that far.  See 3js post above.

Again, if you don't like it, you are more than welcome to set up your own thread on another forum with absolutely no admin oversight.

Also, pretty sure 3j already mentioned: we are not going to get involved in any debates revolving around the exact wording of statements.

Though I haven't been around for as long as you (or any of the admins for the matter), I can tell you that that would get old very quick. On one hand I know that CYS is a writing site but on the other, it is also a community. Writer coming together in a forum to converse with one another. That being said, discussion on just the singular and vast topic of writing, creativity, storytelling, etc. does get old. By no means am I promoting immaturity, nor am I defending those who do not bother correct their grammar, troll the forums, or spout bigotry of any sort. 

Maybe it's a moot point I am discussing. But promoting mature discussion and debates is fine (great!). The enforcement of said discussions is not. 

(Either way, you admins have a hard job. Keep it up though.)

Mature discussion does not equal serious discussion. Please do not conflate the two.

Question; What about Freeform Forum games like Legendary? It was a very popular and fun forum game [rebooted 3-4 times that I know of, each time with at least a few hundred posts if not multiple threads per reboot], and well organized. In my opinion, it would rank right under Commander with how entertaining it was. [also sparked several ideas to integrate into Hell Storm/Voice Of A Madman, which is also a bonus...if I were to ever muster up the motivation to finish up my test thingy first.]

So, it would fall under both Sophisticated or Exceptional Forum games [okay], and the Freeform Forum Games [not okay],

For now, no freeform. In the future, we will look at it case-by-case.

So, uh, just out of curiosity-- @everyone, is there anybody interested in forming a new book club?

Hell yeah I am. 

Meh.

Depends on what it entails, I'll participate. 

Same here.

Are we just going to be talking about books, perhaps reading books together or -- ?

It sounds interesting though.

Sign me up!

Wow, can't believe this was over a year ago. Here is the original interest thread and here's an example of a Discussion Thread.

That probably will give you a good grasp of what it entails, but there are a several other threads you can find only by going back one page in the reading corner. I think it died due to lack of enthusiasm on my part due to having to post the threads, count up votes, etc all by myself (with occasional help from Seth <3), so the threads came slower and I nearly only read on weekends so I was also slow on adding to the threads. Basically we'd need to make it much more collaborative so one guy doesn't have to do everything.

I sort of slipped out of the last one, but I'm interested.

Would a Commander inspired game fall under
"Sophisticated or exceptional forum games"?

I've put a bunch of work into it.
I don't know if it will be exceptional, but it isn't something without rules.

So would that be okay?

 

 

Dude, oh yeah. 3J himself ran Commander here. Berka ran Neo-commander. What you have is more sophisticated than Neo. I'm certain that you're good to go.

I'm not going to ban my own creation! Commander is certainly something that CYS is proud to have around. Feel free to run a Commander-style game. That's what the Forum Games forum is for.
 

I just wanted to be sure.

I for one applaud the mods for proving how evil they are by eating kittens.

Seriously though, the guidelines sound fine to me.

Question:

So you say that in the future, you're going to be analyzing the roleplays people want up case-by-case, how exactly will you be determining whether they're allowed to run or not? Quality, freeform-nes, or both? Something else?

Thanks.

If there comes a point where freeform RPs don't degrade into shitstorms because the community is more mature and we've all grown as writers, then we'll cross that bridge then.

EDIT: Nevermind.

Understood.

All the important stuff always happen while I'm asleep!

Well... There goes my life's work fancy title of ambassador... There goes Warriors of SkyClan... There goes Warriors of Anything... There goes a lot of work and storygame ideas... The WC Collab Project...

Half of my CYStian identity just flew out the window.

And that means it's time to find the other half and try to make that in to whole. I do agree with the new guidelines, but I can't help also feeling sad about them.

Rosetail, It's fine. We have everyone at SkyClan over at Derp's forum.

And the admins here fully endorse that site as a welcome and natural place for you to take freeform RPs.

Yay, EotWG has the CYStian mods' seal of approval! 

Yeah, I have a the address. I was just about to go check it out.

Take it to the WC site. You'll be professional compared to those scrubs, anyway. :)

At first glance, these new sets of rules were a little... off-putting, to say the least. However, after properly reading everything, and giving it some careful consideration and thought, I can say I'm... well, mixed, though I do share your point-of-view, and I'll abide by these rules. This is also the perfect excuse for me to start writing on my story games, because I've really been wanting to start them for awhile now! 

There's one thing I'd like to know, though, regarding Forum Games (what other topic could it be?): For a game such as AgK;TR (which hasn't started up, mind you), what would it be classified as? I presume games with a basic combat system and premade story outline implemented would be sophisticated enough (albeit barely), however my focus is the non-combat aspects of the RP, in which the players post their actions and a GM would have to reply to said actions with descriptions of an area, items, etc. 

Basically like Swift's Rabbit Simulator.

Additionally, could I host AgK;TR as a sort of "example" as to what a role play of the sort should look like? I'm not saying I will (I'm too lazy for that), at least not right this second, but perhaps at a later date? Of course, if I were to host it, you guys may go over the OP and determine whether or not it's good enough. 

I'm... not quite sure how the rest of the community will react. From the looks of things, a couple people might find themselves leaving or becoming less active, however I think in the long run this could draw a more mature and passionate set of writers. I just hope the younger writers don't get too intimidated and it draws them away. I wouldn't be half as good in terms of writing if it weren't for this site, and I'm sure a lot of people feel the same, however if I saw Mythic Nippon before Legendary, I might not have even become a member here. Hopefully we can continue to develop young writers into some damn fine novelists, poets, and other such literate individuals! :P

(Sorry if my post seems a little strange. I'm a bit tired XD) 

EDIT: I'm sure you're already aware, but it could take a little while until these rules are properly acknowledged by a majority of the community, simply because they haven't seen this post. But I doubt it'll take that long, given how much attention there is across the forums. 

Though I question the effectiveness of changing the site culture with top-down rules like these, I understand why these have been implemented. However I do have a question about the 'excision of low-quality storygames': are you still going to use the minimum site standards to judge this? And how exactly do you define 'poorly conceived fan fic?' 

You're welcome,
Romulus

We will be re-thinking and posting more on minimum site standards. The strictness is going to increase. However, I'm going to include a provision for high-effort low-skill games to make sure that we don't drive off too many young writers.

Right now the low quality of storygames that are allowed to exist are counterproductive to the site's image.

Under what does 'Mafia' fall under?

Is it a free-form RP or not?

I would say Mafia would be considered at least a little structured, after all, it has goals and a structured game process. You might have to add rules for in character discussion though.

Mafia is not freeform roleplay.

Mafia, Assassins in the Palace, and Variants have structured rules (therefor not freeform) and make fine forum games.

I support this 100%.

I’ve only been here a year but already I’ve met quite a few members who I really respect as authors or people or both but for the last six months I’ve been put off the site more and more by the mostly low quality of the new story games and the pointless arguments, trollish users and hijacking/necromancing of threads that are ruining the Forums. Mostly I try not to go on the Forums too much as I don’t play the games so there seems little else there to interest me at the moment.

I think to keep a site at high quality the admins and mods need the help of the members, some of whom do their best to find loopholes any time a new rule is made because apparently respectful social interaction is a bit difficult for them. I’d love to see this site become a more vibrant place attracting talented new members to take part in interesting discussions, submit creative stories and really make people enjoy using this site rather than it just being a way of killing time because you’re bored. That’ll mean working together, putting forward ideas of how things can be improved and working with rather than against the admins.

I’m willing to help in any way I can, updating the older Articles in the Help&Info section is actually something I’ve thought about trying to do for a while and when I have time I’d like to resurrect the Weekly Review in a more enjoyable form. My interest is in stories rather than the Forums and I’d suggest any story with a Player Rating under 4/8 or 3/8 should be deleted as I don’t see any real benefit from most of them except as examples of stories that could have been done better.

Fan Fiction can generate some amazing efforts (Setha’s Hell Girl for example) but because it’s essentially plagarism it’s a genre popular with the uncreative and even many WC fans are sick now of reading 100 versions of the same WC story (pick a name/gender/mate/hunt something/fight something/become leader). I think losing any WC story with a lower than 5/8 rating (bearing in mind 4.5 is the AVERAGE of a 1-8 rating system) would be no great loss to anyone except the authors.

I want to see this site flourish (not least because I like writing on here) and it’s a fact either a site needs to improve or it will get worse and if the worsening trend is not reversed eventually it’ll become one of those ghost sites that nobody goes on anymore. That would not be a good thing.

@Will11

Thank you for the kind comments, and even moreso, thank you for offering to help! It's really appreciated. Rewriting the help & info articles would be amazing. PM me with more specifics if you're serious about that.

Plagiarism is a horrible mistranslation of fanfiction. Plagiarism is taking someone's ideas and passing them off as your own, but to call your work fanfiction is to actively acknowledge that the ideas were not your own, and instead you're telling your own stories in that world. A fanfiction isn't supposed to be plagiarism, it's supposed to be an alternate history novel... Except with a lot more creative liberties available than simply historical theories... Unfortunately, "fan fiction" does seem to be an excuse to copypaste for a lot of people, even if it's plagiarism in the form of confused 10-year-olds inadvertently telling the same story over and over again.

What about strategy RPs like EoN or Houses and Betrayals? Are they freeform?

If an RP is really a strategy RP, with structure and set of rules at large, then it is not freeform.

Edit: Attemtping strategic sounding posts and psudo-tactical nonsense without actual rules with which to carry out strategies is what I would call freeform.

Please link.

Invasion of Earth - Part 1 - The Beginning

Houses and Betrayals Reboot Interest and Sign Up

Houses and Betrayals Reboot

Invasion of Earth (Interest and Sign-up)

 

Two more...

Frontlines 2: Korean War

Death Lands: War Begins

The major question that keeps coming up is 'what is freeform'. I've amended the forum games post to say this: "Low Quality or Freeform forum games". I know that it's extremely vague and doesn't go into detail about what exactly is a low quality forum game and what exactly is a freeform forum game, but there's a reason for that. Already in this thread, there's a number of attempts to skirt the spirit of the rule, and I want to make it known right now that we will be acting based on the spirit of the rule and not the exact rule wording.

A freeform forum game is a forum game where there is no sufficiently binding and complicated system of rules to dictate the flow of the game. A low quality forum game is one without sufficiently well developed characters and writing.

One of the major themes in this thread is people posting their "high-quality" freeform games and asking for exemptions because they're "good". I see where you're coming from and I'm willing to compromise on this one a little bit. I haven't talked this over with Seth or BZ yet, so this is not a binding promise, but I would be willing to talk about leaving those forum games un-deleted, so long as they aren't continued.

High quality free-form games of the past could be left up, so long as they aren't posted in. I see no reason not to have them in the forum archives, but I don't want to see freeform games continued to be played on CYS. Again, The Tavern can stay on a probationary basis.

Remember, even a good freeform game distracts people from writing. If you don't believe me, then look at how many good storygames the lot of you core roleplayers have produced. This isn't a site for roleplays, this is a site for storygames. Let's get back to that.

3J

Edit: Off to work now, will post more later.

I wonder how many members would leave this writing site if there were no forum games? They sound like they produce some great writing that would make terrific story games though...

Indeed. Freeform games, even if they're good, have been a major distraction for us. If the roleplays get stopped, then I hope roleplayers will get their hands to make good storygames. However, expect some or most of them to leave for other sites.

So bet it! We're definitely not holding anyone hostage. We're looking to refocus the site into a storygame site again and this is the process.

See if we can turn roleplayers into storygame writers. I'm both roleplayer and writer, but nowadays I'm more of a roleplayer. But now, I think you just turned me to focus more on my Frontlines storygame, which is based on the Frontlines roleplays themselves.

There are some mature content, but I think they are appropriate.

I 100% agree with all that is being proposed here. Although I have only been a member of this website for a few months at best, I have noticed that the atmosphere here is generally very unhealthy and immature. Newbies who are naive, simply looking for help, or voicing an opinion in the best way they know how, are often met with sarcastic, demeaning replies by more active, older members. The overall attitude of many people here, from my point of view, is despicable. They degrade others and call them out as ignorant and immature when they are acting just the same, if not more so. An environment like this would turn anyone away. As you have stated, isn't what truly matters the stories themselves? Better to focus on that and be mature about it.

All of that having been said, although I am a fan of the Warrior Cats series, I second the proposition to delete all Warrior Cats stories, at least the horrible ones (of which there are many). Admittedly, I am currently working on a Warrior Cats bit of fan fiction to (hopefully) add to this site, but am treating it like I would treat any story I write: with care and respect. I do have a question regarding this. Upon finishing said story, should I have one of the administrators review it first before posting it up so as they may or may not give the seal of approval beforehand? I want to follow the new site rules as best I can, and were I to publish a Warrior Cats story, which I plan to do, I want it to be rampant with good grammar, an engaging plot, memorable characters who have development/arcs, and overall pleasant writing.

I just want to say a quick thank you for reminding all of us authors on the website of the intentions of CYS and the maturity and quality you're looking for in them. I must say that I just started with this website in the past month and though I loved it I knew I was going to have to be VERY careful with the immature and inappropriate content of many people's games I wanted to try out. So thank you and I can't wait to see some new and improved storygames out there, especially after the poor quality game clean up! -E

What will happen to us warrior cat fans?

You can stay so long as you follow 3J's guidelines, just like any other member.

Nothing. Seriously, you guys aren't being rounded up into camps and shot in the head.

Think of it as a CYOA, you can either:

1. Go to Derp's new WC Friendly site and continue your kitty adventures there.

2. Stay here and attempt to write a non-WC story.

3. Stay here and complain until the mods get annoyed and DO shoot you in the head.

Oh shoot, I'm an admin on Derpino's site so that means I have to monitor theirs kitty adventures...

All of SkyClan has moved to DerpBacon's forum.

You can remain Warrior Cats fans. You just can't write about them here.

Okay, you have now had a full day to backup what you need to backup and I am going to begin removing subpar content from the forums.

I will update you on new storygame standards in the coming days.

I'll archive the gameplay thread soon, which can be saved for later purposes for the storygames. But no need to delete threads that are already abandoned though.

Any thread that you need, you should back up.
 

Y-Yes sir!

What content are you deleting? Will I need to back up my unpublished storygames?

No unpublished storygames will be deleted. No published storygames will be deleted (just unpublished).

Okay, I've dealt with active forum games now. I may or may not go and purge a bunch of the older forum games, but not today. Please don't necro old threads.

So basically, all WC are going to be unpublished from this site from now on, right?

Sounds like they are going to unpublished but may be examined individually at a later date when they've been polished up a bit.

For the foreseeable future, we are not allowing Warrior Cats games. The future is the future and there may come a time to renegotiate that rule.

Thank the mods! Personally, I think the forum has devolved into meaningless posts, dumb Warrior Cats related stuff, and general shenanigans. (From what I heard about the past.) Is profanity still allowed?

Within limits of course.

Also, no more freeform RPs. I think you should focus more on storygames for now.

I know. I just hope The Invasion of The Gummy Bears will be considered mature.

I hope so. If the mods don't approve my storygame, I'll just abandon this site for eternity. But I think it's just me being impatient and kinda emotional about this.

It seems like as long as your storygames are well-written or shows effort, than it'll be allowed. I don't believe the admins are trying to kill off the genre of humor or less serious storygames as a whole; only they are trying to promote a higher level of writing and thus, higher quality content.

I don't know what your storygame is about, but I'm sure as long as it's written in legible English, has a well-written plot and some interesting characters, it'll pass. So basically a standard level of writing.

Yep, that's pretty much exactly our position. Humor is totally fine (and encouraged) but poor writing or overly immature ("lol poop hahaha") content is not.

Good, which mean some uhh.... murderous and kind of "sexy" scenes won't make my game to be unpublished. There are some unrealistic stuff, but I think they are all appropriate.

"murderous and kind of "sexy" scenes"

Read Eternal :) 

(If you haven't already)

B-But a few small rape toward female characters (don't blame me. It's one of the campaign's scenes) are okay, then?

Please stop writing like your lip is quivering.

Rape is a touchy subject and it needs to be handled with care. It can't be glorified here. The fact that you just described it as "kind of sexy" means you're probably not capable of writing about it with care. I would suggest omitting those parts.

Uhh...that was sarcasm, I think.

I didn't read it that way.

I don't think Raven meant it like that. Pretty sure Raven meant "sexy" as "sexual adult scenes".

EDIT: English isn't Raven's first language.

You could be right, but if you're going to be writing about rape, then you need to have enough of a mastery over the language to do it justice and to keep the tone proper. It doesn't really matter to me why a person doesn't have that mastery, just that they don't.

Just trying to clear things up.

It's not what your characters do, Raven, it's how you portray it. If you're going to do rape, I'd go for implying / vagueness / emotions. Basically, make the scene as ... tasteful as you can, even if "tasteful" and "rape" really don't belong in the same sentence, and don't portray it as a good thing. if you can do that, then you're fine. If you're unsure, I'd PM an example of the scene to the mods for approval. If you know it'll be way too explicit and you're unwilling to tone it down, just don't do it.

I think this is great advice for Raven.

As far as site rules, rape can be fairly explicit (although not described in complete detail.. I don't want to hear about how the parts move) so long as it's portrayed in a very negative light. Look at Game of Thrones, for instance. We're not seeing genetalia during rape (not described in complete detail) but it's very gruesome and explicit, and shown in a completely negative light.

I figured you can offer a fair amount of details, but I tend to air on the side of caution in my own work as well as when instructing other writers. (Besides, I'd rather focus on the mental / emotional damage of a scene like that than the physical act itself, since ... if I'm going to subject a character to that kind of torture, that's probably the point of it.)  

I don't think it's too explicit. But correct example will be appreciated!

Well, you could also write up a draft and send it to me, if you like, and I'll critique it for you ... but sorry, I'm not inclined to write a rape scene out of the blue. xD It's not a comfortable topic to write about "just 'cuz." If I find a place for one in T.O.W. (which ... is possible, but highly unlikely) then I'll give it a go.

Actually, the rape scene happens to the female MC herself.

Ok? ... What difference does that make?

All the difference in the world.

You won't be the rapist, you'll be the rapee!

:P No, Coins, I mean what difference does that make in regards to what I said?

(Besides, I was assuming it was the MC who was getting raped from the beginning, Raven has mentioned this to me before. If I did write an example scene, it would either be with a third person's perspective or the MC anyway. I'm not exactly interested in making a rapist MC.)

You are exactly interested in a rapist MC!?

EDIT: Mein Gott, you edit fast!

It's what happens when my mind is hyper and my eyes are tired. Knowing I'm prone to mistakes means I compensate by finding and correcting them quickly. (Why this carries over from stories into forum posts, I couldn't say. Mental hyper-ness does make it hard to shut myself up, though. I need to get back to writing...)

Oh, umm...

You won't feel as bad?

I never do! I REGRET NOTHING! AHAHAHAH! *lightning and thunder in the background* Fair enough.

I didn't read through every post on this page but I do agree with 3J I miss the days when I first joined, back in 2007 though I wasn't very active then I came back around in 2010 and stayed active for a couple years, until personal issues came up, which is part of adult life, but anyway the original days when I was on were fun, we had good people. We had good conversations, I made my first storygame but this site hasn't been the same and I sort of lost interest in the site for some time due to the difference in the site, but I would love to be part of a new look Era of this site, and gladly be active in good changes in the site. Maybe I will finally have the inspiration to at least try to find time to put out a quality story. I have had a couple ideas for some time now 

xD ... I'm ... not sure why you replied to my post rather than the OP, but nonetheless, good for you!

Another bad case of #non-threaded view. :P

But ... the OP is still all the way up there ...
 

(Un)fortunately, I have no other explanation...

Lol, I don't expect you to, but ty nonetheless.

I also back up these new rules. It seems perfectly reasonable and logical and it also fixes the warriors cats problem. Even if it may be harsh to those who wrote the stories of WC in the first place. Maybe this place will finally shape up.

I like it that being allowed to include rape scenes in Forum games is such an important consideration :D Undoubtably that will attract the intelligent and creative authors that a writing site needs and definitely not appeal to the sort of people you wouldn't want to hitchhike alone with late at night... I don't understand this at all. You could mention torture in your story if those doing the torturing are clearly bad characters but why bother going into detail of unpleasant things unless you have a real interest in things like rape and torture? I agree with Kiel, it's not the act itself but the effect it has, something really bad is stronger if it is only alluded too ("that night my husband ruined my life but I can't talk about it"); less it definitely more and the reader is usually clever enough to fill in the gaps with imagination than if you lay it all out there for them which not only makes the story or game lose it's impact but might make the reader a bit uncomfortable with your interest :) Unless they harbor similar interests which is a bit worrisome...

DISCLAIMER: I hate threads that don't go in a neat chain so I'm responding to Will. Hopefully he forgives me and doesn't send ninjas. 

Also, try to avoid  Beige Prose if you feel the urge to write a rape/torture scene.

:P I'm partial to purple myself.

The double plus rapist did double plus rape on the unmale.

They copulated without its consent.

Funnily enough, I did almost say earlier "less is more." As another example, the masters of classic of horror rarely showed blood or violence. Implied horror lets the audience fill in the blanks with something more gruesome and horrific than any special effects team could ever produce and with the added benefit of everyone imagining what scares them personally.

We're not talking about forum games, Will. However the ability to broach adult subject matter in story games is an important consideration.

Eh, I'll just work on my storygame until I got an approproate place to put the scene.

@AWarriorfan we found a new place to rp. just type in your searchbar, 'empire of the wolf god'  or 'the wolf god's empre' and you'll find it eventually.

@jaystarthecat

Hey, I'm Raven47, not RavenFeather. Also, I'm already a member longer than you in DerpBacon's site.

jaystarthecat should PM the person instead of replying to my post.

Yes. SPEAKING OF PMS...

I know. I have unthreaded view. So I comment to the bottom post.

Turn on threaded view then. -.-

I think you're over thinking this a bit. As long as you use common sense on what to add and not add, you should be good to go.

This applies to everyone as well, whether you're writing a storygame or a forum game, common sense will answer many of the questions of what is and what isn't a freeform game.

I appreciate your optimism, eco, but (in my experience) common sense is not as common as its name implies.

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Eitherway, the topic of what can and what can not has been beaten to death by this point in my opinion.

I used to do that more often ... good for you. xD You edit fast, too. And some people need extensive clarification, but I understand it's iyo.

Haha, thanks :P

Also--random, I know--but how goes writing on your two WIPs? They look interesting.

It's just going. Being a bit of a perfectionist, progress is a bit slow but my creative juices are flowing again so I managed to "finish" one epilogue that's off the main path. Mainly working on only Amorieas at the moment so progress for my other one is stalled.

Main reason why I haven't been active on the forums lately :P Hopefully get a new motivation thread going up soon and go at it full steam.

Got'cha. Good luck. :D
 

Thanks! Same to you and TOW. I completely forgot I was reading an unfinished product, which was amazing. 

Thanks! Just finished another page in it, actually. I haven't had a lot of time lately, though. :|
 

@3J and Admins

Will you guys be updating the ToS as well?

Not our jurisdiction.

Just a reminder to everyone, if you'd like to discuss the new guidelines, you can PM any administrator. The forums are not the place to do so.

Thanks!
3J

@animegirl1220

Seriously? You replied to a post stating "if you'd like to discuss the new guidelines, pm any administrator, the forums are not the place to do so" with a forum post demand for discussion about the new guidelines.  

It's not a debate, it's not up for discussion.  these are the rules. Pm an admin if you want to talk about it.

 

@animegirl1220 I think if you spent a few minutes having a look around the site, or just read 3J's posts in this thread, you could probably answer most of these questions for yourself.

But seriously though, I'll be a little sad people can't just relax or goof off on the forums anymore (though I fully support purging the forum games section with fire) but this is first and foremost a writing site and I'm really glad that the focus will now be more on quality writing. I've been a member here four years, and was aware of the site before that, and I can't remember there ever being a point where serious writing efforts were the norm here. For every genuinely good story, or even genuine attempt at a good story, there were reams and reams of zero effort garbage drowning it out. (my favorite WC experience is still the one where the author got all salty at the comments telling her to spend more time on their work because she had 'spent hours on it already!') 

I see my WC badfic parody has been removed, and I'm just thrilled there's no longer any reason for it to exist on the site. It's also a pretty amazing experience seeing five new stories, and having not a single one of them with a title containing the word 'clan'.

If I can get clear some free time this weekend maybe I'll even try getting one of my rough drafts in a publishable state in celebration. There honestly never seemed like much point, before.

Hey Mizal! I just want to clarify that serious discussion doesn't equal mature discussion. You can goof off and be funny, you just can't be wildly immature. For instance, all of the posts I've seen at IS would be fine. With the possible exeption of ChubbyTeletubby, who basically just scares me.

P.S: I miss you and when I finally get around to reviving Continent, I hope I can get you to play.

Now I do remember that first Continents game, so maybve there's hope for the forum games section yet if there's a new one in the workds. I really enjoyed it even though I don't think I was any good at it and then my habit of randomly disappearing from the internet allowed my civilization to fall into ruin :(

Also I've just been informed via PM I missed some truly hilarious drama here, and just by a couple of days too which makes it all the more tragic.

 

 

You were pretty good actually, if I recall. Your civilization died because I burnt out, not because you left. That's why the next time it comes out of hiding, it will be way more automated.

The drama was pretty contained, so you didn't miss that much. Happy writing!

Honestly, I really don't like this change about the freeform banning. But, hey, we all can't get what we want. There are literally dozens, if not hundreds, of other sites you could freeform role-play on, and sites made specifically for that reason.

So I'm just confused on why people are making such a fuss about it. Making alternate accounts and calling for a revolution, or threatening the mods/admins or even the site it's self is uncalled for, and completely irrational. I see no point to it, unless you're someone begging for attention, drama, and to get banned.

So if you want, go skulk and mutter about how 'horrible' the decision was, or how badly you want to freeform roleplay here, and over all be a complete jerk about it. But please, I'd really rather not replace the WC spam with Revolution spam. If that does happen, then I'm done, and moving all my stories to a different site. I'd really hate having to do that for various reasons that I'll refrain from ranting about.

So, as I stated before, I really don't like this decision, but know what I'm doing? Well, for one, I'm not making a fuss about it. As my grandma used to say 'Life's not fair, and then you die.' - a bit rough, but true. And I'd rather not derail this into an argument about what's fair or just or whether or not your entitled to have everything fair and just. Take it for granted, and make the best out of it. So what I'm doing instead of making a big ol' fuss about not being able to play one specific type of forum game on a site that isn't even meant for forum games, is I rebooted Commander to help sooth the transition and satisfy the regular RPers.

Really, all that any of you who are protesting/threatening about this freeform thing is getting yourself banned, or if not that, then really freakin' annoying the moderators and administrators with what I believe to be many arguments against this decision.

 

And if I'm somehow reading the entire situation wrong, then I'd gladly appreciate it if someone deleted this post.

Hey Taco, I just want to reiterate that there will be no annoying revolution on our watch :)

As for you not liking the decision, as I said before, that's your right, but please keep it in PMs.

Have a good night.

I meant it more for people who'll try that stuff (like mardox), 'cause I'd really hate to lose another member.

Just because I don't like it doesn't mean that I don't think it's good for the site in the long run. It's like Spring cleaning - no one ever likes doing it, and things gotta get messier before it actually gets clean, but once it's done, everyone feels better. Anyway, I only said that to make a point - otherwise, I would have happily gone along and run commander without saying a word about it. I apologize if I came off as protesting against the rules - I'm trying to protest against the protest.

One last thing...are you a stalker? o_o How'd you know it was nighttime where I'm at? An-and that creepy little smile is there again...I really don't like really serious subjects. So if the comic relief is uncalled for, I apologize. >_<

It's nighttime where most people who are posting here are at.

Malk, this was idiotic. Why would you say that to the admin who wants to bring back maturity?

I love the mods 'round these parts.

I actually added that in myself. 

Was curious if that was the case haha.

This is literally everything I tried to convey.

Good words, Taco.

I'll try my best to stay in the guidelines.

Signed,

The Tattoo Goddess,

Goody2Shoes

Ok 3-J, I only have one question/concern

First of all, I'd like to thank you for making this change. I am personally a Warriors Fan, but I totally agree that there are many low-quality WC games on-site and those need to go. I'm a little irked by the fact that Warriors is being purged completely, but I understand where you're coming from. As a suggestion to Warriors Fans, if you want to make a Warriors Game using code, images, AND sprites/animated motion (a plus unless you prefer text adventure style like this site has) then PLEASE go on www.scratch.mit.edu. I have an account and it is a wonderful site that doesn't judge too badly. You'd be welcome there to stretch your "catty" creativity.

Now onto my question/concern...

When you say "mature" storygames, does this mean clean language and topics? Such as no swearing, no sexual scenes (even if it's a romance game), and no childish jokes made in an attempt to give that character a funny but immature personality? Most of these things I find makes a storygame more emotional, meaningful, and exciting, as well as giving a deep sense of the inner being present in the characters. If the things I mentioned are being banned from storygames, then I'll most likely either reluctantly change my style or leave the site (fair warning). I just want some clarification before I continue with my storygames, so that way I don't accidentally make a mistake and have a game removed.

Sincerely-

Pixel

I don't think mature means (in)appropriate.

So..... what you mean like so long as it isn't meaningless sex or mindless swearing with no justification it's fine? I'm still a bit confused....

I mean storygames with mature topics such as sexual scenes and adult language are unlikely to be deleted unless they are explicitly porn (or breaking some other site rule).

Storygames that use clean language, have no sex scenes, and make silly jokes are fine - there's a "maturity" rating for a reason. As long as it isn't a troll game it'll be fine and won't be deleted.

Nice profile avatar of daemon helbourne from FL

Ford OMG OMG OMG! YOU KNOW WHO HE IS! *fangirl squeal* Ahem. Thanks. You just made my day! (BTW, the way it's spelled in my game is "Damien" but I've noticed that people spell it different ways all the time. Just FYI about how I spell it, but by all means spell it however you want, it's a free country! ;D)

A storygame can't revolve around sex. Sex can absolutely happen in the storygame (and does, in a number of well received published works here) but it can't be the focus of the storygame. i.e. no pornographic stories.

Mindless swearing is fine as long as the character is a character who should be swearing mindlessly.

These guidelines aren't about content, they're about tone. We're looking for a mature tone. In other words, we're trying to eliminate stories that are "so rand0m dude" and stories that clearly weren't written with a mature effort level. It's okay to be a bad writer, we'll have provisions for that, but it's not going to be okay to publish crap effort-free stories.

As I said, minimum storygame standards are in the works.

Thank you 3J you've really cleared it up for me! Of course, my storygames never revolve around sex. I MIGHT do a dating sim, but of course, it will be mostly about interactions and romance (not necessarily sex) and will have a bit of story to even out the RP aspect. You're response is encouraging, and I'm glad my style fits into your image of what the site should be like. I hope to have a long and happy time on the site, thanks to the changes you've made. Thank you! ;)

-Pixel

You're welcome.

They can mindlessly swear "if they are supposed to be mindlessly swearing"? and sexual scenes are okay if the story doesn't "revolve around sex"? First of all, no well written game can revolve around sex. Completely impossible. (Notice the words Well Written). Second of all, for mindless swearing, the only reason a character would be mindlessly swearing is if that's their character, or if something bad happened. Otherwise its not a good story as a character just starts randomly swearing for absolutely nothing. And since you get rid of poorly written stories, that means this culture shift does basically nothing except have forums be more strict. So all this "Culture Shift" did was make forums strict. Same with tone. Good use of tone is only found in good stories, and you are getting rid of bad ones.

"First of all, no well written game can revolve around sex."

Oh no, they certainly exist.

@RedSaber

I don't think you just made any sense at all, actually.

As you said yourself (I think? That was really, really hard to read), the culture shift involves increasing our minimum site standards for storygames and thus it doesn't only involve forum policy.

As for the rest of your post... k.

I must say that I'm liking the feel of the Site since getting this new Culture Shift going.  ^v^

Still rather soon to say for certain, but the forum threads have been more civil, Forum Games less cluttered and more intriguing, and even the daily crop of new Story Games seem to be improved by a noticeable degree.

Me too!

I must agree.

Hey, just thought of something. Is Freeform allowed on our profiles? I, er, may have to get rid of that chatbox [been up for 3-4 months now, so it's not like I put it up specifically as a loophole.]  if that's the case. >_<

If not, could I at least link to it on my profile?

It's certainly fine to link to a chatbox from your profile.

Is it still okay to have the chatbox itself up on my profile?

Fine by me!

I hope to return to get the site a little more accessible, modern someday; in the mean time, thanks all (especially 3J, Seth, BZ) for keeping the content awesome.

Thanks for the acknowledgement!  :)

No worries!

Thanks for building it in the first place. You don't have a debt to repay so just come on when you can and code when it's enjoyable.

Oh, also, I'm about to go back to school for Computer Science, so maybe I can give you a hand in a year or three.

I agree completely. It's always such a pain searching for story games because 70% of them are pieces of crap. It would make it easier for more serious members to enjoy the content this site has to offer.

Could, uh... you define "sexual in nature?" I have some rather racy romance scenes in my new storygame. They aren't the point of the story (though they are kinda important), are optional, and aren't exactly... porn. Is that okay?

It depends on the content, how graphic it is, and your ability to convey it in non-base terms. You can have sensual scenes, but the quality of your writing, and the way you express the scenes, must be of a higher level than something one would type into Urban Dictionary...

There is no Maturity level 8 on the site for a reason.

Okay! So long as it's tasteful, and not Fifty Shades of Grey. Got it!

And if you're ever unsure about anything in your game breaking the rules, you can PM the scene and context (Or a link to the story in sneak peek mode and directions on how to get to it) to a mod or three for approval.

Thank you, I believe this is a good thing to do. I have recently noticed a lot of inappropriate and sexual storygames, and it has been discouraging my desire to contribute to this website. I'm glad that something is being done to encourage a more mature atmosphere, and I hope that others will make an effort to keep it that way.

Yes...now comes the matter of finding players that haven't absconded to BHB or other sites, and also ensuring proper writing...in fact *Shameless plug in GO!* Like the Forum Game 'Mortal Kombat a New Tale which I am trying to find players for, so far it seems to be sinking down there so I will bump it for anyone interested. It is a Structured game with an ENFORCED SPECIAL system in place.

So you guys should probably delete Rosetails' warriorcat articles.  

 

I'm fine with whatever faith it will face. Whether it'd be deleted or cleaned of WC terms.

I think it'd be a shame to lose it completely... it's worth editing at least.

It would be a shame. One of the only good WC creations. (Not to insult the others, of course.)

I feel like it's a good guideline though, so perhaps Rose could edit it so that it applies to fanfiction in general.

@Rosetail

Is this something you're interested in doing?

I can do it, just not today. I'll get it done tomorrow.

Can articles even be deleted anyway?..

Eh...in either case, there is the fact that while some are going away pretty quick like, others are left behind and archived *Older ones however are ones that people don't bother with as they are either already dead or already completed*

Does this mean we lose Endmaster's games? Or is he an exception? Cause if you get past the sexual notions and the cussing, he makes pretty good games.

Not remotely. Endmaster's games do not fall under the category of things they're trying to get rid of.

Haven't been around much lately, but I have to say the changes have really made a difference. I've been dropping in the last couple of weekends and just randomly clicking on new stories and it's amazing how much the overall quality has improved. The experience for any first time visitors is going to be MUCH improved now, so thanks again for putting your foot down there.

Agreed. Before the new guidelines, the good storygames were lost in a sea of mediocre WC and absolutely shitty 1/8 lengths. We probably lost plenty of potentially great authors during that point in time (say that 3 times fast). Now those bad storygames are outnumbered by those with effort put into them. It's a great environment for writing.

Thanks! I really appreciate the feedback.

There is more work to be done re: combing through already-published storygames, but I've got two midterms this week so it will have to wait.

Hope you're well!

Question: I was thinking about starting up my AR roleplay again, but it's not exactly FreeForm. I would control what happens(like deaths, zombies, loot, etc). Would that be okay here?

It needs an actually system, not just a "what I say is law" system.

Yep.

Yeah, Previously Established Systems like Weapon Triangles *One weapon beats another but loses to another type and so on.*, SPECIAL *Strength Perception Endurance Charisma Intelligence Agility Luck* system with limited points to spend and either no way to raise it or very few options to do so should do the trick....There are other systems that you can find.

Die Rolling systems but that usually depends on using a die roller and if it's here? You're relying on the word of other people, so you'd probably be better off on BHB if that's the case.

It's not like that, it's like what cdrive1 said. It's got a weapon triangle, perk triangle, etc. I'm not controlling what everyone does, but, to an extent, I control the surroundings. I control what happens TO the players, like what loot they find, where they find zombies, what type of buildings they find, etc.

Write your system more formally, but it sounds good.

Alright. Thanks!

So no WC? And if someone wrote high-quality one? And I mean like a really good one? Like 7/8 ratings or stuff?

Currently, it is a blanket ban on all Warrior Cats Fanfic, so no, not even an exceptionally well written one.