Approved, With a Warning.

[Gorba the Hutt]

Both curiosity and a complaint, of sorts. It doesn't affect me all that much since I rarely submit submissions, but I mentioned the following to some other PCs and found that they shared my sentiments.

Once upon a time, factory/codex judges started approving submissions. Some would use neat "stamp" images. Others would just say "Approved." In the past two years, however, the factory has grown. With that growth have come some interesting trends. One of the most prominent of which is when the FJ/CJ/RPJ/Admin approves the submission, but with a caveat.

Originally, this started as a joke. "Don't abuse this or you'll be in big trouble mister!" And other silly lines like that. However, recently it has become commonplace for approvals to go something along the lines of: "Approved, but if this is reported it will be pulled." or "Approved, with the understanding that there will be no godmodding." or "Approved, but do not abuse this."

I'm not sure if it's the intent, but this comes across as a bit high-handed when most submissions start being stamped like this. As if the words are some sort of necessary invocation of what the players already know to be true in those Roleplaying Rules we are supposed to abide by.

Thus, this is a question to the community of judges, admins and everyone else. What are the thoughts on approving submissions in that manner instead of just saying "Approved," and dealing with instances of abuse later, when they actually happen, instead of trying to Minority Report it?

Again, not really a huge issue for me and more of a slight irritation. In the same way that getting tape stuck to the fingers doesn't really inconvenience you, but can be mildly irksome to remove.

Hauum.

 

[Tefka]

I honestly don't like it, either. I've just never cared enough to say anything.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

I agree with you.

It conveys the accusation that the person who submitted the technology/codex thingamabob is ignorant of the consequences of abusing said tech and needs to be reminded constantly.

 

[Miv Kora]

[member="Darth Orcus"]

I completely agree, if there is a possible chance of somebody godmoding the submission, then the judges should just deny it if the person won't make it any less overpowered.

 

[Julian Valentine]

I'll approve this thread, but if you abuse it I'll remove it.

 

[Ax'no]

Yes it has a guilty before proven innocent feel to it as though the sole purpose in submissions is to submit then immediately use the tech, species or whatever to god mode.

Although it's quite possible that this is happened so much that it makes the judges wary? Not sure, but I agree that an "Approved" is really all that suffices. All of the extra commentary is extraneous, although it's nice when someone calls something out in your submission in a positive way.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

I've gotten the "approved with warning" thing before on my own subs. As a former Codex judge, I can only say I did such things in the past to cover myself in certain situations. Such as, RPGer X creates some item/location/etc with plans to run off an do something to piss of RPGers Y and Z . It backfires on RPGer X and a huge drama filled thread is started claiming "The judge never told me there were consequences!"


I've always looked at it as a way to cover one's self in such situation, rather than patronize the end user.

 

[Allyson Locke]

I know how much work people put into things and I like to give people what they want. It's supposed to be fun and such. I will stop these approvals with warnings. Things that would usually fall into these categories will either be worked till they are acceptable or denied based on concept.

I'll make an official announcement soon. Still at work. Lol

 

[Cecily Demici]

I agree, as a former judge (of the codex) I did use the phrase, but I think it was primarily employed for new people who had never been through the process before. Usually, people who have submitted once or twice know what's what though.

 

[Tyberius Fel]

Right to freely voice your opinion in a thread Approved.

Abuse and suffer.

 

[Tefka]

if there is a possible chance of somebody godmoding the submission

I scream this at the factory every year.

SUBMISSIONS DON'T GODMODE

PEOPLE DO

 

[Julius Sedaire]

*looks about in thread... looks at his pile of tech across various faces.. shrugs at the amount of paranoia he senses*

I can see what people are saying, but I think it is waaaay off base. I always took it ([member="Alric Kuhn"] did it a few times to me) as someone saying: This has the work and potential for it to be approved, but even more so potential for abuse. I am watching.

Was it annoying? Yes, but only mildly so. It is, after-all, the internet.... Not worth the fuss or muss.

I scream this at the factory every year.

SUBMISSIONS DON'T GODMODE

PEOPLE DO

Respectfully, unless you allow FJ's and/or CJ's to judge based on people's past behavior, personality, and penchant for such (and I can already hear the screams and taste the salt from that now if it happened/was official) the only way a Judge has to approve or deny or... well... judge things... Is based solely on the content of the submission... It is semantics at a certain level, I suppose, but submissions themselves do have the potential for abuse even in the best of hands. And those are deservedly watched.

True enough, you wouldn't want to give me a flamethrower or such... I giggle a bit around fire. But you could probably trust my older brother around it. Now swords? Exact opposite. However, pretty much no private citizen should be allowed to own a tank. So there exists all three potentials - for users to abuse subs based off of their penchants for or against, AND for a submission to be such that anyone may be tempted or fall into the 'trap' of over-use/overpowering that use.

Whether the 'verbal' caveat of 'Abuse and Suffer' is needed is for bigger minds than mine. But any sub can be abused by any writer here. And some are much more open and tempting towards it than others.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

I'm suspicious of everyone equally. It's not personal.

 

[Tefka]

Respectfully, unless you allow FJ's and/or CJ's to judge based on people's past behavior, personality, and penchant for such (and I can already hear the screams and taste the salt from that now if it happened/was official) the only way a Judge has to approve or deny or... well... judge things... Is based solely on the content of the submission... It is semantics at a certain level, I suppose, but submissions themselves do have the potential for abuse even in the best of hands. And those are deservedly watched.

You're not wrong. Submissions are judged for content and balance. Development threads are for making sure you're actually role-playing and not just hoarding. These things intertwine, it's a giant weave. If you take my statement at face value, we don't even need Judges.

But it's not a face value approach. It's a "you guys are running to the left, I'll scream from the right, and we'll meet in the middle".

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"] yes it is don't lie. Everyone and everything is personal

 

[Darth Prazutis]

I agree with this and [member="Tefka"] is 100% right, a submission is harmless, it's the person behind the screen that does all the harm.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

You're not wrong. Submissions are judged for content and balance. Development threads are for making sure you're actually role-playing and not just hoarding. These things intertwine, it's a giant weave. If you take my statement at face value, we don't even need Judges.

But it's not a face value approach. It's a "you guys are running to the left, I'll scream from the right, and we'll meet in the middle".

I think I read you wrong the first time. And for once, I've been off work/school for 48 hours straight, so I can't blame that. Mea Culpa. But, I get what you're saying, and understand that. Makes a little more sense that way.

I still do remember the first time Chris pulled that in a submission I put up. I think it was my second week here, when I made my power-hammer on Ijaat. It was almost like the first time someone hazes you at the firehouse or ambo station. You realized you had undoubtedly earned something, and someone was saying 'Look, this could go badly. But you put the work in, and you dont seem the type to abuse it. So enjoy.'... At least, that is how I took it. I sincerely doubted Chris was actually going to hunt me down and say mean things to me, like he threatened to.

Honestly, I love the Factory and I intend to be annoying the Code very soon. They are what drew me here. And yes, they frustrate me. But these people (having been one myself) do a LOT of free work that no one even sees. I can't count, even in my brief time in purple, the number of times I spoke on Skype or PM to help a user polish a submission that was shaky to begin with. And I was inspired to do it that way because of Braith and people like Ajira treating me thus.

Lets all just breath and act like rational beings for a moment. Then we can resume trying to tear each other to pieces over 1's and 0's arranged to look like text on a screen.

 

[Tefka]

Lets all just breath and act like rational beings for a moment. Then we can resume trying to tear each other to pieces over 1's and 0's arranged to look like text on a screen.

I like your passion, but nobody's actually being irrational. This thread is the poster boy for rational discussion right now.

 

[Fabula Caromed]

I actually used to do this a ton when I was FAdmin. Probably a couple dozen of the submissions I second-stamped have "abuse and I'll <creative and inventive punishment> you" in the reply. The strangest thing is that now, in retrospect, it seems pointless and silly. None of those were ever reported, and we never had any issue with them. It's not quite as easy to tell which submissions (or, more accurately, which members) will be imbalanced and cheesy from the showroom floor.

I think it was just something that we, as staff, liked to say to make ourselves feel better.

 

[Tefka]

Which is also extremely absurd since we barely even average 1 factory submission report a month. Most Factory submissions that get reported aren't even approved yet.