RE: The Tavern and such.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Again, I mostly agree.

Nobody ever outgrows the need for feedback. We ignore our editors at our own peril-- I know I, personally, would die slightly upon reading

Yeah, I may have mis-phrased that slightly. I suppose I meant, if I thought I was "goddamn outstanding work" I would be seeking professional input, rather input from buddies on an online community geared toward developing worldbuilders rather than professional writers. Not that we don't have a few that make money off their work--and that's a fantastic boon to the site.

I'm thinking I may need an intro to Eschaton in the vein of your old intro to JS thread.

And the "Not Really an English Professor" in your prior title gave it away ;) but I can't get past it, prof.

[Lmns Crn]

Do you really wonder where we get that impression?  

And the "Not Really an English Professor" in your prior title gave it away  but I can't get past it, prof. [/quote]I'm thinking I may need an intro to Eschaton in the vein of your old intro to JS thread.[/quote]I am working on some similar reader-guidance stuff on the wiki, which I can point you towards if you are interested.

[LD]

Consulting Project owns, and I think it's an awesome idea even if it has suffered some of the same "people are so busy" problems that challenge us all. I've held back on participating in the Consulting Project because I've got a lot on my plate lately, but I hope to reengage more with the site soon and step up my reviewing, either with the CP or own my own.

I thought Phoenix?'s Consulting Project was interesting, but I personally did not sign up for it since I prefer the freedom to hunt and peck at the systems I find fascinating rather than to be paired up with someone officially.

I try to promote some of the settings I find to be very interesting in my signature. Although I also enjoy seeing updates to both Pinnacle and Agra (Leetz' setting). Settings not listed in my signature aren't necessarily objected to, they just don't 'speak' to me in the same way that some others do or (sadly) are not updated enough.

Some of the work here is excellently written and all of it has an audience, I suppose the key is just finding what audience would consider it entertaining.

L- and Gamer Printshop and EE make good maps, and Steerpike and Polycarp! write intriguing prose. Mare Eternus, Llum's projects and Wesleydale's flying city seemed interesting as well. Everyone has a little niche with their own take on worldbuilding and I'm glad that I got a chance to experience Crystalstar in roleplay.

Frankly all of us have enough time to check out the 2-3 settings that definitely appeal to us -- at least to check out the new weekly updates if not the whole thing. Few people update enough each week to make it impossible to follow 2-3 threads that really speak to the soul of the reader. It takes at most 30 minutes to an hour to check the newest updates of 2-3 settings. I find it exciting to see the newest things that Pair O'Dice Lost, Steerpike, Crow, and Leetz (with arga) are up to, other people really enjoy and play in Vreeg's Celtricia. Sometimes I wish I could RSS to their settings to read them like pulp updates on my "Reader" feed.

And if a setting doesn't speak to the soul of any reader... then the author may need to rethink how she presents things... but I think that almost all settings here speak to someone.

[Mason]

Sweet sweet Irony: I think I got more replies in this thread than any of my latest zany ideas.

And I thought I was tuurrrible at rocking the boat.

 

That's about all I have time to post right now.
 [/spoiler]

[Elemental_Elf]

A fine point, but really, what alternative do you propose? All I'm saying is you've got to give a little to get a little. You think maybe it'd work better to give nothing and still expect people to work on your stuff anyway? "Quid pro quo" is a cheap and tawdry and meretricious term (I keep using the m-word because I learned it like seriously yesterday and I'm hoping somebody will look it up and run with it also), but people do it because it works.

There is no easy answer really. Many of the ideas I brainstormed before posting have already been done (setting showcase, a league of review swapping, review swapping pairs, creating an introduction/enticement thread)... Sadly all of these have been utalized with varying degrees of success.

From my point of view the massive Celtricias and Jade Stages of the CBG almost require an introduction/enticement thread. There's really no reasonable (or rather easy/not-time-consuming) way to become acquainted with a massive setting whole hog. There are many problems with the concept, not least of which is that most settings would thus require 3 whole threads (Intro, Comments and the actual setting thread). Further, I believe it will take a fair amount of learning to condense a small book's worth of information and summarize it into a small, manageable thread that still has the depth required to hook a viewer. Still that is a skill best learned by doing.

Perhaps the CBG's best method of action is to take a page out of the Green movement - there's no magic solution that fixes eall of our problems, rather it is a large number of smaller collective changes that will revolutionize the forum.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Ed:

I'm thinking I may need an intro to Eschaton in the vein of your old intro to JS thread.

I might look it over. Your wiki work there has been looking good.

I may wait to see how close Ishy is with CBG 2.0 before making drastic changes to my presentation style, since he's said we'll have a few new options.

And who knows Dragon, maybe an RSS feed is one of them!

[Ishmayl-Retired]

I may wait to see how close Ishy is with CBG 2.0 before making drastic changes to my presentation style, since he's said we'll have a few new options.

Awww, d'arrsh, now I have to start working on it again.  I was hoping everyone would forget about it. :)

And who knows Dragon, maybe an RSS feed is one of them!

Well now, isn't that a swell idea...

[Gamer Printshop]

I admit, I post far less comments on other's settings, than my own, but I do post to others now and again. I try to participate in other activities here - like the old Build a City thread. Its also true I'm much more a regular member at the Cartographers' Guild, but I do try to send people here from the Guild when they start asking setting questions. I think Immolate is a new member here, that I did just that. I'm hip deep working on publishing a setting, so that's where much of my time is going.

Hopefully, however, my publishing endeavors can give me some expertise to help others here get their work published if that's a goal of theirs. I know I post a bunch of maps, but then that's where my current expertise lies. I've also created a few (both paid and unpaid) maps for the CBG members, and more rarely submit stuff for the CBG 2.0.

I wished I had more time to devote to reading other's settings, and time will come when I have that available, just not at the moment.

I recognize the issue you're having here, and I do try to proliferate my contribution, beyond my Kaidan project. I'm glad the CBG exists, its a great community to bounce ideas off, and I hope it continues in its supportive nature. I wish I could do more.

GP

[LD]

I think the issue that Sarisa mentioned though is less about contribution level from current members but in getting new members (although I could be wrong).

[Mason]

No, you are right Light Dragon.

[Loch Belthadd]

Now I feel bad that I almost never do anything on this site except lurk (and spam "delete this thread"...) I don't even have my own stuff up yet... I will eventually get my stuff up, but it will take a while since it's all written down(and I don't have much free time anymore).

[SDragon]

I may wait to see how close Ishy is with CBG 2.0 before making drastic changes to my presentation style, since he's said we'll have a few new options.

Awww, d'arrsh, now I have to start working on it again.  I was hoping everyone would forget about it. :)

I had forgotten about it, until my recent wading in the web dev pool; specifically, the Drupal setup that I'm trying to configure. IIRC, wasn't 2.0 planned to be done on Drupal?

And who knows Dragon, maybe an RSS feed is one of them!

Well now, isn't that a swell idea...[/quote]
Hehe, that it is!

[LD]

Well one minor way to encourage more members Sarisa is by clicking the voting button on the left side. Another is by putting  link to this site in your signature at other sites you post. Another is by name dropping it at another site (if appropriate- not if spammy)

It would be nice if a famous gaming blog highlighted some of the settings here, but I don't know of any "campaign setting/worlds setting" blogs that are extant on the internet.

Another one is for in the site redesign to make it easy to register on any page of the site instead of just the front page. If someone sees n interesting thread they should be able to click Post Reply even if they are not registered- and the Post Reply thread should send them to a registration sheet.

[Ninja D!]

Hopefully that comment wasn't directed at me, though it would be perfectly fair if it was. The simple truth is that my interests tend to drift and I move from one thing to the next quite a bit -- it isn't just this place. I seem to return here more often than I return to any other one thing, though. I do love this place.

There are five informal rules to getting reviews at the Guild.
1. Invest time and build relationships with site members, either by frequenting the chat, PMing, or posting in their setting.
2. Have a fresh and original idea.
3. Present it in digestible portions.
4. Don't flood the board with a thousand pages of your magnum opus (at least, not at once).
5. Be patient.

This pretty much sums it up. You can beg or whatever but you'll just get annoying in the process. The truth is, you probably won't get a lot of feedback here but if I like you, and your work isn't overwhelming to look at (or it is broken up into smaller parts) I am much more likely to look at it.

[dimonic]

As one of the newest members, I would first of all suggest that one of the site gurus periodically test the new-user sign up process - it wasn't working when I tried (and it still didn't send me any mail - I just kept coming back until it let me in).

The other comment I would make is that the quality of a lot of the writing I have encountered (and the reason I bothered signing up) is (to me) very good - and in fact somewhat intimidating. That might account for a lack of feedback from newer members.