The EH Needs a BIG Improvement

Honestly, I've begun to slowly lose interest in posting here, even though I always try to keep that interest ignited. Want to know why? It's the amount of noobs and noob posts being placed in battles, RPs, and who knows where else.

I don't mean to sound offending, but this is sadly true. In probably 90% of the threads I check out or go into in the Battle Arena or Crossroads, there are posts with horrible grammar, terrible spelling and punctuation, and not enough story. A lot are single paragraphs, a wall of text that is awful to look at and hard to read, and even single sentences! It's outrageous!

I can hardly ever find an interesting open RP/battle to join anymore in order to keep using my characters. Something needs to be done about this, and I have a solution. I'll start with character approval, since I also see many ♥♥♥♥ profiles being thrown in the character board. Here are some of my suggestions for this.

• Be MORE strict - highly enforce the character guidelines and rules.
• Read the profiles more carefully, as there still could be typos and errors that you missed. Once I saw a council member completely miss an absent section and still approve the character!
• Really, and I mean REALLY "shove" the links to good profiles and the guideline threads in the faces of noobs/newbs, because obviously they are not looking at them.
• You should actually completely disapprove characters that definitely will have no chance, as in having too many cliches, or too much unoriginality. If this is done already, it should be done more.
• Lastly, HIGHLY encourage ALL newcomers to go read some good RPs and battles to get an idea of what good posts should look like.

Now, onto the topic of posting in battles and RPs. I have developed a new EH system that I hope will prove effective in possibly smartening up noobs and lowering our bad noob count in here, thus making this part of the forum much more interesting to be in. I'll list the system in steps.

Step 1: After character approval (which should be more difficult to achieve than it is now, as implied above), the character maker will participate in a sample battle or RP with whoever approves said character to analyze the character maker's writing skills compared to that of the approver. These sample RPs/battles should be short and sweet since our council members and mods have lives of their own.

Step 2: Go on to step 2 when the character maker passes or fails the posting test. If they fail, they have to go to the Dome and learn to post better before being allowed to post in real battles and RPs. Once the teacher approves of their writing skills whether or not the character maker has graduated, they will be allowed to post in RPs and battles.

If they pass the sample RP/battle test, then of course they're immediately allowed to post in RPs and battles.

Step 3: Go on to step 3 whenever the character maker is (dis)approved to post in RPs and battles. They should remain in the Dome until they've proven their skills. This should not be too strict, as not all of us were born to be writers. But when writing skills are approved, then the teacher will see how well they can start their own battle or RP. This shouldn't be real strict either. After passing that little test, the character maker will be allowed to start their own RPs and battles.

Step 4: Whether or not character makers remain in the Dome after being approved to post in and start RPs and battles depends on how much time they initially spent there. After they become allowed to do so, the section should be watched and modded carefully for any rule breakers or posters who somehow evade having to take the tests from above, though this probably won't happen very frequently.

Then, simply keep going with this system for every newbie you meet! :3

With this system, not only should we have a lot less noobs and noob posts, but the Dome would be getting lots more activity. I hope this idea of a new system is accepted, because I think it would help a lot.

Thank you for your time to read this post, EH participants and council members. :]

Honestly the BA is too bureaucratic as it is; we don't need to add these pointless rules. Frankly if you don't like a battle, or RP, or particular poster then don't read it.

Furthermore it looks like far to much work. If I as a noobie had to go through all that I would have gotten frustrated and left for gaia ages ago.

The problem is, I like almost none of the battles and RPs I find.

EDIT: And besides, the little tests I thought of are supposed to be pretty much the same work as a clan test. Also, it's not like you'd have to do all of them at once.

Well then look harder. The EH is for roleplaying, meaning it's people taking on the roles of their characters for fun. It's not a writers board so pleasing the reader is not the main objective here.

Yeah well, it isn't fun to scroll through threads with posts you can't even bear to read.

Then don't read them. This isn't your personal story archive.

There's nothing else to read, though. Pretty much every thread I go in is like that.

Originally Posted by Crystal

It's the amount of noobs and noob posts being placed in battles, RPs, and who knows where else.

I find this slightly ironic, maybe because it's you posting.

Or maybe it's because I don't like you.

Anyway, onto your ideas:

Character Approval Ideas:

Some of these, namely 3 and 5, are pretty decent ideas. The rest aren't.

Step 1:
No. Like you said, council members have lives of there own. Right now, most of them can barely find time to approve characters, and they really wouldn't if they had to RP with the new characters. Not to mention that analyzing a profile(the history section is the best one to analyze if you're lazy) should give a pretty accurate measurement of a writer's skill.

Step 2:
Basically no, for two reasons.
One: What I said about Step 1 being a bad idea.
Two: Forcing newbies to post in the dome and learn would be too restricting if they just wanted to have fun, and there wouldn't be many new people coming into the EH and staying. That is, obviously, a bad thing.

Step 3:
Relies on Step 2 too much, so, once more...
THIS IS A BAD IDEA.

Step 4:
No. A RPer should be able to stay in the EH as long as they want, even if they fall into a period of inactivity/procrastination/crappy writing. Also, we don't need more rules or stricter mods. This isn't Serious Discussion.

Anyway, if you're really having that much of a problem finding RPs, start your own, or(EHers, please forgive me for saying this) post in the OoC to find RPs, or if you don't want to RP with certain people, make it a requirement to have them ask you before they join.

And if after trying those two steps, you still dislike the way the EH is run, well...
No one's forcing you to post here you know.

Originally Posted by Crystal

There's nothing else to read, though. Pretty much every thread I go in is like that.

Once again. The EH is not your story Archive. Whether or not you can stand to read them is irrelevant as long as the writers are having fun. This isn't about you, we aren't going to change the entire system so you'll enjoy reading battles more.

Originally Posted by Admiral Black

I find this slightly ironic, maybe because it's you posting.

Or maybe it's because I don't like you.

Excuse me, no one asked for you to be a dick.

Anyway, onto your ideas:

Character Approval Ideas:

Some of these, namely 3 and 5, are pretty decent ideas. The rest aren't.

lol.

Step 1:
No. Like you said, council members have lives of there own. Right now, most of them can barely find time to approve characters, and they really wouldn't if they had to RP with the new characters. Not to mention that analyzing a profile(the history section is the best one to analyze if you're lazy) should give a pretty accurate measurement of a writer's skill.

If they don't have time to approve characters, they shouldn't be approvers then.

Step 2:
Basically no, for two reasons.
One: What I said about Step 1 being a bad idea.
Two: Forcing newbies to post in the dome and learn would be too restricting if they just wanted to have fun, and there wouldn't be many new people coming into the EH and staying. That is, obviously, a bad thing.

They can have fun learning too. And with their terrible writing, even if they're having fun, they're keeping us from doing the same.

Step 3:
Relies on Step 2 too much, so, once more...
THIS IS A BAD IDEA.

lol.

Step 4:
No. A RPer should be able to stay in the EH as long as they want, even if they fall into a period of inactivity/procrastination/crappy writing. Also, we don't need more rules or stricter mods. This isn't Serious Discussion.

When did I say anything about them having to leave the EH?

Anyway, if you're really having that much of a problem finding RPs, start your own, or(EHers, please forgive me for saying this) post in the OoC to find RPs, or if you don't want to RP with certain people, make it a requirement to have them ask you before they join.

I do start my own, but noobs could join whenever they wanted anyway. And I've tried the OoC many times. No results. I've tried the requirement thing too. No one asks to join.

And if after trying those two steps, you still dislike the way the EH is run, well...
No one's forcing you to post here you know.

But I want to post here and I want to enjoy it the way I used to because I love RPing/battling here.

Alright, I'm just gonna bounce in here and tell you guys to keep it at a cool level. I may not be a specific moderator of this board, but I can still infract you, so if any flamming breaks out, you've been warned.

Originally Posted by Admiral Black

Or maybe it's because I don't like you.

Crystal posted an idea. You can disagree with it if you'd like, but there's no need to be a jerk about it.

Also, Crystal, if you feel as if you need to continue on disagreeing, please take it to the member's VM/PM/etc. You, and the other memebrs posting in this thread should know that most threads that have a continuing arguement going on in them, get closed. Fast. Especially with flamming.

Please be mature.

Of course, Beejay. I intended for this thread to be a debate on whether or not we use my system, not an argument thread. Like you said, all arguments should be taken to PM and VM, mature debating stays here. :]

Well...it's apparent you have a strong dislike for newbies, but they are reponsible for the majority of the action that happens in EH. Without them, most of the "elders" don't seem to be very motivated to post at all. And what better experience can a newbie get than writing with more experienced people? People are interested by different kinds of writing styles, and just because you don't like one particular style doesn't mean other people don't.

While I don't like to see a good story butchered, sometimes one has to realize that that's life. There is almost always something more to be desired from even the best writers, and as it has already been stated, the EH is for enjoyment, and the people who actively want to improve their writing should probably be doing that in a real class, not the internet.

im n ew here and not to ruin the conversation but could someone explain to me what an EH is

Originally Posted by Blakpenpal001

im n ew here and not to ruin the conversation but could someone explain to me what an EH is

Escapists Haven, basically where you are now. It's a place for writers to create characters and launch them into dangerous situations, and epic battles. Basically online roleplaying.

^Thank you for giving me an example of the kinds of posts I was talking about, Blakpen. :]

Navi: It isn't newbies I dislike. It's noobs. A newb and a noob are two different things. A newb is just someone who is new. A noob is a new person who is stupid and continuously makes bad and stupid posts. Basically, a newb can be cool and intelligent, a noob can't.

Originally Posted by Crystal

^Thank you for giving me an example of the kinds of posts I was talking about, Blakpen. :]

Please don't insult new people.

The Escapist's Haven ^^'' it's a roleplaying forum, where you create characters and roleplay as them, but it's not like a game. You have to write, use text, understand?

Anyway... the EH is basically for fun. Yes, there are rules, and we do keep them up. We don't have to bar anyone from joining because they're a little bad at writing. Once they're having fun, and they're following the basic rules (like the character sheet) then it's alright.

Insaney, you're correct, but aren't single liner and single paragraph posts in battles and RPs not allowed? I've been seeing those a lot.

Originally Posted by Crystal

Excuse me, no one asked for you to be a dick.

It's free.

lol.

HAY GUIZE LOOK I NOT BE RESPONDING I CAN JUST GO LOLO AND MAKE ME LOOK SMART.

How about you defend your ideas?

If they don't have time to approve characters, they shouldn't be approvers then.

You wouldn't do a better job, trust me.

I sincerely doubt anyone would. It would become a tedious, and annoying task after a while, and you wouldn't want to do it.
Oh, and most of them also have a real life.

They can have fun learning too. And with their terrible writing, even if they're having fun, they're keeping us from doing the same.

I don't find the dome fun. I hate it. I'm pretty sure most newbies who came in wanting to make their own stories and RP and meet a bunch of new people would agree with me.
They're not stopping you from having fun. Create your own damn threads.

lol.

I've addressed this argument before.

When did I say anything about them having to leave the EH?

First sentence.

I do start my own, but noobs could join whenever they wanted anyway. And I've tried the OoC many times. No results. I've tried the requirement thing too. No one asks to join.

Then educate the noobs, or advertise in the OoC.

But I want to post here and I want to enjoy it the way I used to because I love RPing/battling here.

Yes, but we don't love your ideas, and don't wish to conform just for you.

Originally Posted by Sabrina

Crystal posted an idea. You can disagree with it if you'd like, but there's no need to be a jerk about it.

So sorry for being honest in a single, non-flaming sentence. I'll never do it again.

Now, to correct some false information about myself that is widely believed:
I am really a girl.
I'm actually really really nice and will love you if you give me a cookie.
I hate RPing.
I hate writing.
I don't have three characters named Vir...

Actually, you know what, I've proved my point enough.