Suggestion

[Amanda Rose]

Postby T-Prime » Sat Feb 22, 2014 3:59 am

Some of you may have noticed that the recent posts have been sort of mixed between locations. In other sims I've been in we had separate threads for each major location. Now, I'm not familiar with the technical layout of this forum, but would such a setup be viable here?

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Amanda Rose » Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:26 am

Not sure. In the past, I have used something called non-linear posting so that when every post is put up, we would put a time, date and location and required everyone to make sure that they were not conflicting on the timeline. I can do that but I have found a lot of people here do not like it.

The same issue arises with locations and then there's a lot more threads. Without knowing the time of the posts, how do we know when it is occurring relative to other posts?

In a linear posting world, we end up having everything on one thread and make the implied assumption that things are happening at roughly the same time.

I do not care how things are done as long as we are consistent. Thoughts, people?

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Lucasausems » Sat Feb 22, 2014 3:58 pm

I'm a fan of the linear posting thing. Everything happening at roughly the same time. If someone does a back post or writes something at a different location, the appropriate date and location should be given.

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Melissa Richards » Sat Feb 22, 2014 4:27 pm

Just remember and be aware that linear posting, you run into issues of other people being slowed or stopped by those who do not post as fast or often enough. You need to come up with a general set of rules regarding that and how to keep those that wish to go faster from being frustrated by those who can't due to work or school responsibilities. Too many frustrations cause people to quit and a rotating crew.

You could ask people to do JP's, if they can meet up at the same time. Then post those as a separate thread and dated. There's a JP thread, so maybe have them post in there?

The problem with separate forums or threads for each current storyline going on is, those not posting in that thread tend to ignore it or it gets isolated. Keep things on a main thread, and while people may need to scroll through more, they still see others posts, and get an idea what's going on in the overall plots/subplots.

It's your choice, but those are the pitfalls I see. If you can guarantee (which you can't) that everyone will post at the same rate of speed, then to me linear is acceptable. But, other then that, the non-linear with dating posts ensures that no one is stymied too long waiting for others to post.

Marissa

[Amanda Rose]

Postby KendleRJ » Sat Feb 22, 2014 7:51 pm

I'm ok with the linear timeline, and don't mind if we post the different locations and timeframes in the same thread. If there are backposts, I think it would be easier if it's indicated either in the Subject line of the post, or in the first line or first few lines to identify it as such.

If everything is all together, everyone can keep up with what's happening, regardless of where and when it's happening.

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Amanda Rose » Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:00 pm

So far, I have been encouraging a hybrid of linear and non-linear time. As you can plainly see, we have two threads occurring simultaneously. One, which is still the arrival/pre-flight of Legacy and a second, which is the first day (a chance for everyone to interact or do personal logs or whatever) before the actual mission begins.

I think for clarity, it might be best if people timestamp and mark the location of the post so that everyone knows where it occurred and whether it might affect anything. That way, if it is a back post or slight back post, we know where it occurred and when it occurred.

Further, while I normally would worry about post pace and slow players, from past experience, I think everyone in this group can post at least twice a week and I have, to date, not seen any sluggishness in this game. Perhaps, if that starts occurring, we can reevaluate.

Does this sound clear and is this kosher with everyone?

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Azaria » Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:32 pm

I would agree, but I love bacon cheese burgers too much to ever agree to Kosher anything

Most sims I've dealt with that worked well, you time stamp at the beginning or in the subject bar, and that typically works out pretty well. Perhaps, though, we should have a folder for Personal Logs - out of sim entries by characters, either journal entries, or in Marian's case, Press Releases.

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Amanda Rose » Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:01 am

Being Jewish and non-observant on the laws of kashrut, I can definitely appreciate the bacon cheeseburger. Lord knows I would not know what to do without my pepperoni and mushroom pizzas and my bacon, salami and cheddar omelettes.

As to the personal logs, I have no objection to a separate thread for that. Frankly, I would hope that everyone would write personal logs and I have not had an issue with doing them in the linear posting.

What do you all think about this? I suppose if it is like a narration that others can here or a duty log entry, it should be on the game thread. Anything else is a personal log thread?

[Amanda Rose]

Postby KendleRJ » Sun Feb 23, 2014 6:34 am

I think a personal log thread is a great addition and agree about the content.

[Amanda Rose]

Postby Foxy » Sun Feb 23, 2014 7:27 am

Yup - linear for the most part, time/place stamp for retrospective/sideways posting and a separate thread for Personal Logs sounds good to me.

As does a bacon cheeseburger.