An Addventure Ettiquette Question

[Shendude]

Some years ago, I started an Addventure thread entitled "Planet of the Doors", which included a thread that resulted in a geometric increase possible daughters that I in my ignorance thought was rather clever, but was apparently opposed to the ettiquette of the BE Addventure.

I bring this up because I want to do something and I'm not sure if it too would opposed to our local ettiquette. This story provides the option of "sluttifying" a film, and I have an idea for doing so. However, I do not entirely feel comfortable with using the sole available slot. Thus, I wish to post several posts that will give additional options prior to utilizing my idea. Is this permissible & polite?

Thank you for your consideration.

[Adama]

That slot has not been taken in 5 years, I don't think there's any problem with using it.

It's true that a lot of people dislike "list episodes" -- not because they greatly increase the number of children, but because they are boring and add no content to the Addventure themselves.

I'm ambivalent about the issue... I can see where adding a "list episode" in this case would achieve your goal of leaving it open for others to use.

I'd say you should just add a single list episode -- have your desired movie be one of the options, list some other movie options, then put a "Some other movie" option so that others can add their own list episodes if they want to.  That way you wouldn't be going quite as overboard as you did in the Palace of Doors thread.  List episodes don't have to be organized.

[Shendude]

That slot has not been taken in 5 years, I don't think there's any problem with using it.

It's true that a lot of people dislike "list episodes" -- not because they greatly increase the number of children, but because they are boring and add no content to the Addventure themselves.

I'm ambivalent about the issue... I can see where adding a "list episode" in this case would achieve your goal of leaving it open for others to use.

I'd say you should just add a single list episode -- have your desired movie be one of the options, list some other movie options, then put a "Some other movie" option so that others can add their own list episodes if they want to.  That way you wouldn't be going quite as overboard as you did in the Palace of Doors thread.  List episodes don't have to be organized.

Thank you for the advice.

In case anyone is interested, here is the episode I initially wanted to make, and here is the "list episode" I made leading to it.

[Shendude]

So, I have another Addventure Etiquette question, and rather than starting a new thread about it, I'm using this thread; I hope that's okay.

Anyways, I came up with an idea for an extension of this episode. Unfortunately, it doesn't match any of the available extension options, and there is no "Something Else". Would it be permissible to use one of the extension options that is vaguely similar to what I want to post?

[DruulEmpire]

For whatever it's worth, that's what I wind up having to do from time to time.  The original author might be peeved -- but if he was so keen on the option, he could have pursued it himself.  Anyone should understand by now than an option is a pretty wide open invitation.

PS: actually, JH_'s answer below is a better answer -- and may even explain recent activity.

[JH_]

So, I have another Addventure Etiquette question, and rather than starting a new thread about it, I'm using this thread; I hope that's okay.

Anyways, I came up with an idea for an extension of this episode. Unfortunately, it doesn't match any of the available extension options, and there is no "Something Else". Would it be permissible to use one of the extension options that is vaguely similar to what I want to post?

I'm a little uneasy about that and wouldn't do it myself. I'd suggest writing off one of the unused options with a "filler" episode that doesn't really do anything. Then give that filler episode two options, one repeating the option that you took and the other leading to the episode that you want to write. That way you don't prevent someone who has an idea for extending the option from writing it.

[Shendude]

I'm a little uneasy about that and wouldn't do it myself. I'd suggest writing off one of the unused options with a "filler" episode that doesn't really do anything. Then give that filler episode two options, one repeating the option that you took and the other leading to the episode that you want to write. That way you don't prevent someone who has an idea for extending the option from writing it.

But isn't that the same thing as a "list episode"?

[Adama]

Yes, they're both similarly bad, but it's better than using an option for something it wasn't intended.  I've seen others do it.

[JH_]

But isn't that the same thing as a "list episode"?

Technically perhaps, but not in spirit. What's annoying about list episodes is that the person who writes one generally offers options but doesn't take any of them up himself (unless it's the "something else" option to write yet another list), so isn't actually doing any creative writing at all. Even the options generally don't show any originality, typically being varieties of animal or something like that. They expect someone else to do the creative work for them. That doesn't apply here.

[Shendude]

So, I've got another one.

As I sometimes do, I've copied a story I worked on at another Addventure to this one. Now, when that story was originally being written, there was quite a bit of OOC discussion, some of which I think BEA authors may find useful as inspiration.

I had planned to post it as a comment, being and idiot and forgetting that it was WAY too long.

Would Addventure ettiquette be served best by presenting it as a series of comments, or should I use the "Something Else" option to make an OOC posting for it?

[DruulEmpire]

So long as it isn't cramping your options -- with six in all, that should be avoidable -- you might just set aside one option as where you plan to add the comments.  (Besides, using the "something else" may feel like a ripoff to anyone who actually wanted to try something radical.)  Just call it "Here you can find useful commentary from the original" or some such, and if you feel you really need it as part of your continuity, make it your ONLY option besides "Something else."  Of course, there's always some slim chance that some jerk will use it before you can, but that's how this is.  I personally wouldn't mind such an episode were it to come up; placing all the burden on the opening episode for all the debriefing and thrashing out of ideas is perhaps not always for the best.

[Adama]

BTW, it's good that you credited the original authors in the comments, but I think credits like that would be better in the signature.  But that's just my opinion, not any official guideline...

[Bad Kitty]

... and if you feel you really need it as part of your continuity, make it your ONLY option besides "Something else."  Of course, there's always some slim chance that some jerk will use it before you can, but that's how this is. ...

Type out your episode in advance in something like notepad. proofread, edit, etc. Like do all of your episodes that way, then make them, and you only have to paste them in as you go (you may have to redo paragraph breaks & such). that way the window of opportunity for someone else to grab your intended continuation option is quite small.

[Zorlond]

A side-benefit to using that approach is also the opportunity to toss your episode through a spellchecker... We may be perverts, but we should be grammatical perverts.

[Shendude]

So, yet another etiquette question.

I recently came up with an idea for a restart. Interestingly, it sorta kinda fits with another thread that has not been updated since 2009 (by me, the only previous update having been in 2003). Would it be permissible to slightly alter my restart to fit that thread and spin it off from there, or should I just go and do a normal restart?

[naken]

You can do what I did in episode 433669, and add a “proposed change” episode that can resume the original direction or branch off in a new one.

[Shendude]

You can do what I did in episode 433669, and add a “proposed change” episode that can resume the original direction or branch off in a new one.

Hmm. I was thinking of having one of the options from my not-quite-restart be to return to the previous storyline.

Would that serve the same purpose?

[Shendude]

So, another question.

I have, on numerous occasions, revived an a story-thread that has lain fallow for awhile. I usually try to put in some sort of recap of what had gone before.

My question is, is it necessary to do so? And how much recap is required? Does the previous length of the story matter?

Also, if you are collaborating on a thread with a particular individual and they jsut stop osting too it, is it appropriate to keep adding to it, or to send said collaborator a PM asking why they stopped and if they are interested in resuming it?

[DruulEmpire]

A recap is technically not at all necessary, but I know I always appreciate one every once in a great while, especially if it's good and thorough and doesn't gloss over or assume too much.  A good enough recap can save a lot of scrolling -- so, if you think you're good, I for one am for your doing it, especially if you enjoy it yourself, to help wrap your own head around all the action.

While I personally like the idea of PMing someone to check on a fallow thread, a sad number of collaborators may never visit this Plume nor check this Forum for PMs nor necessarily even pay much attention to the new comments feature.  In a pinch, the most blatant thing you can do is to add an episode including a note to the author in a bracketed aside in the body of the story or, if your question is brief enough, in your signature.  I'm not a fan of that, but sometimes I think the urgency can call for that -- though I think the greatest urgency of all is quite the opposite situation, if you think someone is galloping off with the thread somewhere and you're wondering, Whoa, wait, how and why did this happen?

Here in the Forum as well as in the Addventure, a lot of people just seem to, whoosh, vanish in the middle of things.  There may after all be constraints in real life, or they may simply give up without warning.  A fair gauge of this may be to check the Author Graphs in the index, rather than just any one thread.  My own graph can admittedly fluctuate quite wildly, but I've managed at least one token episode per month for some years now --as has JH_, no doubt one principle of his vast success.  Hopefully my own graph indicates that I remain reasonably accessible.

Your concern with courtesy is exemplary, although I would add that sometimes a little cheekiness is called for.  Just now I tracked down the notorious Longest Episode in the entire Addventure.  It is a doozy, and quite amusing -- but all its options have remained fallow for several years, no doubt due to the sheer intimidating challenge of trying to follow up, and the original contributor is all but inactive so far as the Forum and the Addventure are concerned.  So I used one of the options, the near-inevitable "something else," to try something, though with a nod of acknowledgment to much that had gone on back in the Longest Episode.  So yes, we should not be impulsive and grabby, but at the same time I'm not eager to think of fallow threads as the contents of pyramids, all options buried along with the pharaoh as a kind of grand sacrifice, never to be touched for fear of incurring some curse.

[JH_]

So, another question.

I have, on numerous occasions, revived an a story-thread that has lain fallow for awhile. I usually try to put in some sort of recap of what had gone before.

My question is, is it necessary to do so? And how much recap is required? Does the previous length of the story matter?

Also, if you are collaborating on a thread with a particular individual and they jsut stop osting too it, is it appropriate to keep adding to it, or to send said collaborator a PM asking why they stopped and if they are interested in resuming it?

I always appreciate a recap in those circumstances, and usually try to provide one myself. Apart from anything else, it reduces the chance that someone else will leap in, not bother to read all the back-story, and will introduce a serious continuity error.

I hardly ever write from an episode that I've written myself, but lots of people do and and I don't see any problem with it, so long as you leave an option or two for somone else to take if they wish. By all means send the earlier poster a PM or add a comment to their episode. But even if the poster is still around, if it's been a long delay there's a risk that the email address that they used is no longer active.

[Shendude]

The reason I ask is because I had an idea for expanding on this old story start of mine: http://www.bearchive.com/~addventure/game1/docs/640/640488.html

The problem is, I can't think of a succint way of recapping it without spoiling the flow of the story, introducing a Firefly-esque group of merchants/outlaws.

[Shendude]

A question:

Is it required for the recap to be in the story-proper, or is it acceptable to just slip it into the comments?

[JH_]

I don't think that anything is "required"; there aren't really any rules, just some conventions which have grown up over the years and which most writers follow. But I don't think summaries are provided often enough for there to be any conventions regarding them. So what follows is just my opinion. People may not always look at the comments, so it may be better to put the summary in the episode proper. It might help to put it in italics and/or to follow it with a horizontal rule to help set it apart from the story "proper".

[Zorlond]

One approach I've tried recently was to bring up what I felt were important details within the story, but not as a large lump. Just a fact mentioned here and there, across most of the episode. Trying to let the reader go "Oh right, that's what's going on in this thread" while not being a standard 'review list'.

Of course, I'm not really sure if it really worked as intended... And the thread is one of those most people avoid...

Of the two options you asked about, Shendude, I'd agree with JH. In the story body may be more clear for people. You can use <hr> for the horizontal bar mid-episode.

[Shendude]

And yet another ettiquette question.

A few months back, I used a long-fallow option (Robin in a babydoll nightie wakes up somewhere with a note in her cleavage) for a restart about Robin waking up as a space pirate. The originator of the thread, L.E. used the Something Else option to note my error, and the correction doesn't have a Something Else itself. It does however, have the option "She read it,it actually had something to do with sexy-pirate roles..."

I bring this up, because I would like to expand my episode (which has since been edited to include a reference to the babydoll, and to include the note) in a way not covered by the remaining options. May I use the above-mentioned option in L.E.'s correction?

[DruulEmpire]

'Dude, sorry to have been away, been housesitting for Luddite (i.e. not online) parents.

It is a long-standing unwritten fact that L.E. can, eh, be a bit of a douche.   If you can deal equitably with him at all, more power to you -- if he makes that impossible, I for one will take your side.

[Shendude]

'Dude, sorry to have been away, been housesitting for Luddite (i.e. not online) parents.

It is a long-standing unwritten fact that L.E. can, eh, be a bit of a douche.   If you can deal equitably with him at all, more power to you -- if he makes that impossible, I for one will take your side.

Cool.

Maybe I should PM him and ask?

[DruulEmpire]

I'm not even sure he ever stops by the Forum, the ongoing truth of most Addventurers.  You may have to talk with him within the Addventure -- awkward, and outside of the comments feature it needs to be balanced with "content" as opposed to "mere" commentary, but sometimes that's the only real option.

[JH_]

Agreed. I don't think that he has a Forum account at which you could PM him, so commenting on one of his episodes is probably the best way to communicate.

[Adama]

L.E. once stated that he refused to use any forum which required you to register in order to post.  He used to be findable on some other forums, but that was years ago.  He might lurk here, though it seems unlikely.

[Shendude]

Yet another question:

What is the protocol for requesting correction of spelling/grammar errors? Do I send Adama a PM? Do I send him an E-Mail? Or do I just put in a comment that I've made spelling/grammar errors? Do I need to specify exactly what I would like changed?

Another question:

There's an old story, Alt Evo, wherein Jim alters human evolution so that women are different. The initial options are, essentially:
-Women are furries.
-Women are submissive.
-Women outnumber men.
-Women are busty.
-There are all-female other races that need human males to reproduce
-Something else.

I recently thought up a way of doing an "all of the above" version, sort of. The thing is, the Something Else option was used by L.E. to offer a number of mix-and-match options:
-submissive and busty
-submissive and numerous
-furry and submissive
-busty, submissive, and...
-numerous and...

"furry and submissive" and "numerous and..." were the only ones used, in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Would it be permissible to use "busty, submissive, and..." for my "all of the above" post? Or will L.E. get upset at me again?

[Adama]

All three methods of getting in touch with me wind up in my email inbox.  Since all methods come to me via my inbox, they reach me at the same time.  Personally I prefer not to get PMs since they're harder for me to read at work (NSFW site and all), and I don't always get a notification, but I understand that some people dislike using email, and want to say more than fits into the comment boxes.  I'd say the best way is to use a comment on the episode.

And yes, you do need to specify exactly what you want changed.  Most people asking for changes have, so far.  It removes ambiguity if you say exactly what needs fixing, so there's less chance of me getting it wrong.

As for the Alt Evo thread, I'd say L.E. didn't leave you much choice... I'd say go ahead and take it.  If you're really worried, add something in your signature explaining why you took it.  Just try to make sure to leave in a Something Else option yourself.  Or perhaps a "Some other evolutionary path" option.

[Shendude]

All three methods of getting in touch with me wind up in my email inbox.  Since all methods come to me via my inbox, they reach me at the same time.  Personally I prefer not to get PMs since they're harder for me to read at work (NSFW site and all), and I don't always get a notification, but I understand that some people dislike using email, and want to say more than fits into the comment boxes.  I'd say the best way is to use a comment on the episode.

Good to know.

And yes, you do need to specify exactly what you want changed.  Most people asking for changes have, so far.  It removes ambiguity if you say exactly what needs fixing, so there's less chance of me getting it wrong.

Gotcha.

As for the Alt Evo thread, I'd say L.E. didn't leave you much choice... I'd say go ahead and take it.  If you're really worried, add something in your signature explaining why you took it.  Just try to make sure to leave in a Something Else option yourself.  Or perhaps a "Some other evolutionary path" option.

OK.