[POLL] Rule Changes

[chacusha]

Please take this poll to determine rule changes for Game 2.


[PROPOSAL 1] Alliances in Game 2
A reminder of the alliance system -- The six teams here at ff_land get divided into pairs (alliances). The point values of allied teams are added together and the alliance with the highest total is declared the winner. Last game it was the Thief/Monk alliance.

For the next game, the new alliances would be Soldier & Thief, Monk & White Mage, and Black Mage & Dragoon. The individual team comms would all be combined as well, meaning that Thieves would be invited to the Soldier comm as members without posting access and vice versa. Of course, individual members can still choose whether or not they actually want to join/interact with their allied team but it seemed to help team morale overall last game.

• Rationale: Creates larger "teams" and allows uneven teams to be balanced.
• Arguments Against: I'm not sure if anyone brought up arguments but I can see it being more motivating to compete if you don't have to worry about the performance of your allied team. It also may interfere with building up individual team identity.


[PROPOSAL 2] Vagrant Story
While not a Final Fantasy game in name, Vagrant Story is officially part of the Ivalice Alliance along with games like Final Fantasy XII and Tactics (Advance (A2)). Originally intended to be separate from the Final Fantasy series, it was later purposely connected back to FF by references to it in later Ivalice Alliance games.

For more information see the FF Wikia.


[PROPOSAL 3] Kingdom Hearts original characters
Currently ff_land allows any KH fanworks that prominently feature the FF characters. However, things featuring ONLY KH original characters (I'm talking Sora, Riku, Namine, Organization XIII, Hayner, Aqua, Ventus, Eraqus, Ansem, etc. here, NOT Disney or imported FF characters) have always been a vague grey area.

I can see arguments both ways. While KH and FF are strongly linked and many people are fans of both, to me it's always seemed like a separate fandom. And while I love the KH games something fierce and even my mod icon and tag banner feature Aqua, I can see how allowing fanworks that only feature KH characters could be a slippery slope. So yes, please let me know your opinion on this one!


[PROPOSAL 4] Raising stamping and referral points
For this, I'm proposing to raise the points given for sorting an applicant from 5 to 10, and the points for referring someone from 50 to 60.

• Rationale: About 1/3 of the voters in the polls said 5 points was too low, and only 12% of last game's points were earned in FF Classchange (this includes referral points). FF Minigames and some scales in Moogle Workshop are getting a boost, so it might be good to inflate the sorting points to match. 60 is also a more easily divisible number than 50.
• Arguments Against: A majority said they were okay with 5 points per application, and 10 points might be a tad high for voting on an app... (but I don't want to use a non-round number, so it's got to be either 5 or 10). roax brought up concerns about too-high referral points here


[PROPOSAL 5] Occasional restrictions on games in contests in ultima_arena
For this proposal, there would be occasional restrictions on games allowed for contests, particularly fic contests. Currently, nearly all challenges in ultima_arena allow you to submit an entry featuring any FF game. The proposal here is to have challenges where the games you can choose from are limited in order to even the playing field, as not everyone is familiar with every game.

For example, a fic written for a highly obscure game might not get the same amount of attention as one with very recognizable characters. To solve this, there could be challenges where only obscure game fic is allowed, and other challenges that are focused on a particular popular game such as Final Fantasy X. See this thread for arguments for/against.


[PROPOSAL 6] One fewer short contest in the second half of the month
Currently, the contest schedule is: one month-long challenge, two half-month challenges in the first half of the month, and two half-month challenges in the second half of the month. The proposal here is to have only ONE half-month challenge during the second half of the month instead of two, for a total of 4 contests in a month rather than 5.

• Rationale: At most two challenges would be due at a time. Right now the max is three, with one of them being the big month-long challenge. It would also tone down the end-of-the-month point bonanza that happens in ultima_arena.
• Arguments Against: Not as many contests in the second half of the month to keep people occupied.



[Poll #1744111]



Thank you! :)

Comments

[breyzyyin.livejournal.com]

I think the issue with spoilers is also just the definition of the term. What does one consider an actual spoiler? To me, if a game has been out for years already then I don't think it is fair to feel like you have to warn about spoilers (if you've never played FFVII you might actually be spoiled about Aerith's death...or if you've never played Crisis Core you might be spoiled about the ending, but most gamers already know about Zack's and Aerith's fates. The original game has been out for YEARS now. Same for the FFX ending: most people I know already know what happens to Tidus at the end, even the ones who haven't played the game).

~I could see it possibly being an issue with people writing fics for lesser-known characters who don't get a lot of internet or gaming press information, like Red XIII's backstory or the Laguna and Raine story in FFVIII, but at the same time...with so much time elapsed from so many of the game releases people tend to write about here, I'm not entirely sure where the basic line between what is a spoiler and what is a basic plot point would fall. The latest FF games to come out recently have been FFXIII and FFXIV, and even they have been out for at least over a year.

~*Anything* could technically be a spoiler to people who haven't played a game. I can understand where someone who hasn't played a game doesn't want to read something with spoilers in it, but at the same time I don't think it is fair to restrict writers from writing about what they want to write either...but, is it fair to tell people that they have to read something that would spoil them for a game they are planning on playing and they're trying to avoid spoiling in the first place? It is actually a very tricky situation. Both sides have valid points and I feel bad that both options will probably limit the amounts of participation or voting (Yin puts Spoiler Warnings on her fics knowing it will probably steer some voters/readers away, but she does it so it won't spoil a game for a reader...not everyone is going to do that though, and I do feel bad that the instant something says "Spoiler Warning" people are going to steer clear of it, just like I feel bad that people probably aren't voting or reading the fics from games they don't know).

~It really does depend on how one views and defines "spoilers" in the long run...which is complicated in general because I've seen people have very differing opinions and views on what even constitutes a spoiler. O_O; ...Good luck with figuring everything out! I think these are questions that have plagued fandom for a long time. :/