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Any unpublished game with a sneak preview can be played by anyone. It is ok (even useful sometimes).

The description of the sneak preview option says: "When this box is checked, this storygame will be visible (but not clickable) on your profile page. If unchecked, the only author(s) may view it and it will not be shown in your profile."

It doesn't clearly state whether it allows the game to be played by anyone or not, but an unsuspecting new author naturally concludes that it doesn't. Many authors don't want their unfinished work to be seen, but enable this option to let others know on what they are working. Later it comes as an unpleasant surprise that others play it.

Examples of 2 such cases are in this thread: http://chooseyourstory.com/forums/writing-workshop/message/15913

This also looks like a grammar error: "the only author(s)" (but I may be wrong).

The proposed new option description: "When this box is checked, this storygame will be visible (but not clickable) on your profile page and any user will be able to play it by entering a URL with the game title. If unchecked, this game will not be shown in your profile and only the author(s) will be able to view it."

Implementation time: < 1 minute.

It will benefit new authors who will not get an unpleasant surprise because of that misleading description.

""When this box is checked, this storygame will be visible (but not clickable) on your profile page. If unchecked, the only author(s) may view it and it will not be shown in your profile.""

It's implied that when the box is checked, others will be able to view it. I guess making it clearer couldn't hurt.

"s also looks like a grammar error: "the only author(s)" (but I may be wrong)."

The "Author" covers a single author, and the (s) covers co-authors if applicable. It's grammatically correct.

I wouldn't call this misleading at all, just not clear enough.

"It's implied that when the box is checked, others will be able to view it" - the description says "this storygame will be visible (but not clickable)", which is naturally interpreted as "visible, but not playable" (no one would interpret it as "visible, not clickable, but playable", which makes no sense). But in reality anyone can play it. That's why it is misleading.

"the only author(s) may view it" - I meant the mistake may be in the order of words. The more correct (or, at least more commonly used) order is "only the author(s) may view it". But it's not really important.

Then again, the Account, Profile, Settings article, when describing the sneak preview, flat-out and falsely states, "this does NOT allow the reader to play your unpublished games."

I agree.

But it's not enough. I am a new author who went through all the options and made a conscious choice to enable this option after reading its description. So the real problem is in the description.

Yes!  Definitely.

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