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MODPOST 1/2
Attention, Soul Campaign!
We’re opening reservations in a little over a week, and the mods would like to make some announcements regarding changes being made to the application and reservation process. These changes have been in planning for a long time, and is one of the reasons why we went for the break.
Reserves Page and Application Cut Off
The reserves page will open on November 1, 2011 as planned. The application cycle will be from December 16 - 23, 2011. Cut-off for next cycle will be December 15, 2011, 11:59pm EST.
Changes to the application form
We made some changes to the application form, which you can see here. The sections remain the same, but the text explaining these changes have been revised to make them clearer and more streamlined. We’ve included a secondary reference page linked in the application, which includes guidelines that will hopefully make the application easier for players to fill and the application cycle/process much faster than what we’ve been doing before.
We changed the weapon section so that weapons will only have one general ability. There will be a separate post to detail how this will affect current weapons (but don’t panic, we’re not going to make you change yours if you don’t want to).
Last, a summary of the events in the game since its beginning up til the Europe event has been posted in this page.
New revision process for the applications
Starting the next cycle, we will no longer entertain revisions for the Character Information section of the application. This section includes the character’s history, personality, abilities, and weaknesses. We feel that players who know their characters well should be able to write their applications in a manner that makes this section understandable to the application team. Any application whose character information section the application team finds lacking will immediately be rejected.
The other sections (SC-only section, meister, weapon, soul description, samples) will go through the usual revision process if necessary, since they are all sections unique to Soul Campaign.
Beta-reading system
However, since we will no longer be allowing revisions for the character information during the application cycle, we will be offsetting this with a beta-reading system to help players make sure that their applications pass the standards of the game.
How will this work? In the reserves page, the applicants commenting on it will have the option of asking for a beta-reader from SC’s pool of current players. You can volunteer to beta-read theirs and help them with their applications by replying to their reserve comment.
We’d also like to minimize the risk of applicants asking for a beta-reader and not getting any -- to do this, the mods will be collecting names of people willing to be included in a pool of beta-readers every cycle, and we will assign them to a lonely applicant.
If you’d like to volunteer, please reply here, and indicate any preferences (or non-preferences, for that matter!) on series or canon that you have. We appreciate it! App team members may also volunteer, but this doesn’t guarantee that the app will pass.
Test drive meme
We will also test something for next cycle. We will put up a Test Drive Meme in Soul Skirmish, to be linked to the reserves page. This will give the prospective applicants and the current players space to tag each other before the application cycle, to give the applicants a taste of the game before they come in.
The meme will include several scenarios that the characters can play out, depending on their choice. Some will be serious, while some will be more light-hearted. Soul Campaign is a plot-heavy game that depends on consistent relations and interactions between characters, as well as emphasis on world news and events; we’d like the applicants to be more aware of this as they app into the game.
Please note that threads in this meme will not be accepted for Activity Check. Sorry. :c
Whew!
So that’s it for changes! Please note that the new revision process, beta-reading system, and test drive meme are all still under testing for now, and we may adjust them depending on how December pans out. We appreciate your patience!
The second mod post will be up soon after this, so make sure to check it out, especially if you have weapon characters.
For questions about this post (and its links), you can ask here or email us at soulcampaign@gmail.com. (Don't worry if some questions take a while to answer, a couple of the mods are going on a short vacation for a couple of days. Thank you for your patience!)
We’re opening reservations in a little over a week, and the mods would like to make some announcements regarding changes being made to the application and reservation process. These changes have been in planning for a long time, and is one of the reasons why we went for the break.
Reserves Page and Application Cut Off
The reserves page will open on November 1, 2011 as planned. The application cycle will be from December 16 - 23, 2011. Cut-off for next cycle will be December 15, 2011, 11:59pm EST.
Changes to the application form
We made some changes to the application form, which you can see here. The sections remain the same, but the text explaining these changes have been revised to make them clearer and more streamlined. We’ve included a secondary reference page linked in the application, which includes guidelines that will hopefully make the application easier for players to fill and the application cycle/process much faster than what we’ve been doing before.
We changed the weapon section so that weapons will only have one general ability. There will be a separate post to detail how this will affect current weapons (but don’t panic, we’re not going to make you change yours if you don’t want to).
Last, a summary of the events in the game since its beginning up til the Europe event has been posted in this page.
New revision process for the applications
Starting the next cycle, we will no longer entertain revisions for the Character Information section of the application. This section includes the character’s history, personality, abilities, and weaknesses. We feel that players who know their characters well should be able to write their applications in a manner that makes this section understandable to the application team. Any application whose character information section the application team finds lacking will immediately be rejected.
The other sections (SC-only section, meister, weapon, soul description, samples) will go through the usual revision process if necessary, since they are all sections unique to Soul Campaign.
Beta-reading system
However, since we will no longer be allowing revisions for the character information during the application cycle, we will be offsetting this with a beta-reading system to help players make sure that their applications pass the standards of the game.
How will this work? In the reserves page, the applicants commenting on it will have the option of asking for a beta-reader from SC’s pool of current players. You can volunteer to beta-read theirs and help them with their applications by replying to their reserve comment.
We’d also like to minimize the risk of applicants asking for a beta-reader and not getting any -- to do this, the mods will be collecting names of people willing to be included in a pool of beta-readers every cycle, and we will assign them to a lonely applicant.
If you’d like to volunteer, please reply here, and indicate any preferences (or non-preferences, for that matter!) on series or canon that you have. We appreciate it! App team members may also volunteer, but this doesn’t guarantee that the app will pass.
Test drive meme
We will also test something for next cycle. We will put up a Test Drive Meme in Soul Skirmish, to be linked to the reserves page. This will give the prospective applicants and the current players space to tag each other before the application cycle, to give the applicants a taste of the game before they come in.
The meme will include several scenarios that the characters can play out, depending on their choice. Some will be serious, while some will be more light-hearted. Soul Campaign is a plot-heavy game that depends on consistent relations and interactions between characters, as well as emphasis on world news and events; we’d like the applicants to be more aware of this as they app into the game.
Please note that threads in this meme will not be accepted for Activity Check. Sorry. :c
Whew!
So that’s it for changes! Please note that the new revision process, beta-reading system, and test drive meme are all still under testing for now, and we may adjust them depending on how December pans out. We appreciate your patience!
The second mod post will be up soon after this, so make sure to check it out, especially if you have weapon characters.
For questions about this post (and its links), you can ask here or email us at soulcampaign@gmail.com. (Don't worry if some questions take a while to answer, a couple of the mods are going on a short vacation for a couple of days. Thank you for your patience!)
no subject
From reading this, it sounds like many of you were asked to make very minor revisions on your Personality sections and now fear that such minor edits will now instead earn you a rejection. I do not believe this to be the case. Because there is now so much weight placed on the personality section, an application reader is more likely to ignore those minor edits and wave you through unless there are glaring problems with the section. Have faith that a comprehensive list of what is expected of an applicant will appear, but in the meanwhile, you may find the short blurb on the application very telling.
From this, you can pretty much tell that the readers want:
1) A firm idea of what motivates your character. Outline what drives the character and how that character may react to certain situations.
2) The major focus to be on the personality of the character, not the history. Keep the historical examples short and to the point and always discuss what they say about the character instead of using the history to launch into more history. Avoid long story-telling narrations and stick to the analysis. If you're really that worried about it, just read: if you spend more time talking about what happened and not enough going into how your character reacted and why, you probably need more analysis.
My own additions would be:
3) If pertinent, discuss your character's strengths, weaknesses, and quirks within the Personality section. If you don't, be certain that these facets of the character are dealt with thoroughly in the following Abilities and Weaknesses sections.
4) Make sure what you write in the Personality is reflected in the later sections, especially in the samples. People sometimes forget how important the Samples can be in tipping the scale, but I would place Samples up on the same level of importance as Personality.
I do not mention grammar because, really, we've accepted applications with less than impeccable English. To those who are worried about this being an English exam--it isn't.
Also realize that a new application system works both ways and that a new process also means a new, more consistent method of evaluation for the readers, which will then likely be shared with the community as a whole, especially since player participation is being relied upon via the new beta system to ensure everyone gets a fair chance. Speaking as someone who does read all of your apps, I can tell you directly that this new system is in place to affect a new streamlined, less fussy application process that will hopefully bring all successful applicants into the game within the same week, removing the awkward panic and frustration of multiple revisions and very, very late induction characters. Besides, the betas will be there to help, and they will be given all the tools necessary to do so effectively... otherwise, what’s the point?
So my real advice to everyone is to be patient. It's coming.