is there a reason you have more concern over form critiques than private chats? because personally i have the opposite worry

As a writer of a forumfic, I disagree. Using PMs to discuss flaws in a form can be easier for a number of reasons.

• Using the PM feature is helpful to avoid clutter in a thread, and the concept of managing three or more threads at once for one project is a bit overwhelming.
• With PMs, I receive alerts when I have a response from the person who I am asking questions about their form. This makes it easier to approve a form quicker.
• Some people get anxious feelings over having the form criticized in a main thread where some are reading through. Using PMs is an easier method to help manage those negative feelings and potentially create an environment where the author of the form can feel safer.

• Do you have an example of what exactly in a form could cause such controversy that it needs the intervention of a moderator?
• As Xenon said above, do you have any reason why your concern for forms precedes over the conversation that forumers have in private messages?

Last edited by ghostbunni (8/06/2020 9:53 pm)

xenon wrote:

is there a reason you have more concern over form critiques than private chats? because personally i have the opposite worry

Never said that I have 'more concern over form critiques than private chats'! This suggestion is just geared towards the former. Honestly if you have suggestions for that, I'd be grateful. Personally, I forgot to mention this, but private chats are private for a reason and obviously, screenshots can be taken for those if conflicts arise. For this suggestion it's directed towards the fact it can be something easily monitored and actions could be taken easily by those who start forumfics/RPs. It's easier to see the input and output of forms compared to, say, how a conversation is going to go. All in all, what I mean to convey is--if the mods were to need it, it'd be more easy to transition than a private conversation. 
A private convo is less compatible with being public than form suggestions.  

-Galaxian-

ghostbunni wrote:

As a writer of a forumfic, I disagree. Using PMs to discuss flaws in a form can be easier for a number of reasons.

• Using the PM feature is helpful to avoid clutter in a thread, and the concept of managing three or more threads at once for one project is a bit overwhelming.
• With PMs, I receive alerts when I have a response from the person who I am asking questions about their form. This makes it easier to approve a form quicker.
• Some people get anxious feelings over having the form criticized in a main thread where some are reading through. Using PMs is an easier method to help manage those negative feelings and potentially create an environment where the author of the form can feel safer.

 A few final notes.

• Do you have an example of what exactly in a form could cause such controversy that it needs the intervention of a moderator?
• As Xenon said above, do you have any reason why your concern for forms precedes over the conversation that forumers have in private messages?

As a writer of a forumfic and an active roleplayer, I am suggesting this.
Jokes aside:
1) I am aware of that. However, I'm sure that plot and character organizing is much more tedious than two threads (not three, unless you're counting the writing? I don't count the writing personally xD). Besides, I feel like the essence is the same. PMs can be accidentally deleted, also, so that's an additional risk factor. Not that this conversation is about that sort of risk. I do understand it goes with personal preference.
2) Again with the convenience, I'm more directing this suggestion towards future risk and convenience for the mods if such controversy comes up (e.g. if both sides delete the PMs and some controversy happens there, literally no evidence can be taken up again). As an author I understand where you're trying to come from.
3) I would counter this with the fact that this could be made a personal choice rather than just presuming, for instance someone on the signup thread could explicitly say that they're not comfortable with form critiques being on a thread. That's understandable. But for me personally, I would be uncomfortable with being PMed for form critiques. It comes down to personal choice and I don't think I intended for this thread to be too much about personal choice, even though of course certain choices exist on this forum to make it more convenient nonetheless.
4) I'm not sure if I'm answering the question properly, but it's more as if the nature of the judgment. I know that sometimes people go "I have the right to accept and deny characters", which is undeniably true. However, I've encountered some scenarios where that decision using that right is questionable and so, even if the public might not interfere, at least they're aware what's going on behind a form. Again, I don't want to sound like I'm patronizing anyone, but I've seen a fair amount of drama in 3 years of just being in any forum-like environment and think it's better safe than sorry. Alternatives were listed in the first post; not sure if I made them vague or completely unclear, since that's what I tend to do.
5) Please read what I addressed towards Xenon. This suggestion isn't aimed towards PM restrictions as a whole, rather an aspect of it I think might be easily fixed if the community agrees towards it. If you have ideas for those, feel free to provide them.

-Galaxian-

(I am not a super active writer or RPer myself, so I might be completely misunderstanding you. Sorry)

I'm not concerned about flame wars starting over PMs—we all seem relatively mature and I don't see major MB-esque confrontations starting here. If you're not comfortable with PMs, go ahead and make a thread for your RPs! I think the Writing Discussions forum would fit the bill. However, if a writer prefers to use PMs, I don't think that's an issue. I also don't see how a mod could force them to use the new forum if it was created.

Thanks for thinking about this and putting your ideas together! You obviously spent a good chunk of time doing this. I'm glad we have a mature enough group to handle feedback and disagreement.

Last edited by Bobcatsio (8/07/2020 8:46 am)

GalaxianExplosion wrote:

xenon wrote:

i'm still a bit confused though it's also early so that's probably why

in the meantime i'm willing to release all form critique pms on my dev thread, minus the spoilery ones [i'll do redacted stuff]. i feel like a fair bit of critiques have a mystical quality about them [since they're pms] and releasing them may give some insight into the situation

Early confusion gang! No joke though I'm running on 3 hours of sleep lol sorry if I misunderstand any of what y'all say
Thanks for just saying that you're willing. I understand if it's not needed/necessary anywhere so uh, yeah

-Galaxian-

sure! just let me know if/when

I'm an active writer and RPer, but nowhere did I say I am a good one ahahahaha
Hopefully that's the case sorry,,, kinda confused by some parts of what you're saying but, like I said to Xenon, 3 hours sleep gang haha and I'm glad that's the case too! Thanks for responding, Bobcat!

 
oh same bruh, I need a nap