Bug Reports · Legacy archive
Real Life Submissions
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Real Life Submissions
#1By CP on "The Book of the Dead" by Manfred
"Here's why I'm giving this a 1.5-
(AND LISTEN UP, MOONHUNTER)
You didn't create this.
This is a combination of internet researcha and Wikipedia articles. This is not something you created. And I know you aren't saying you did, but the point of posting in this site, I thought, was to make *creative* useful posts, not just readings from an encyclopedia.
And I'm sick of it. I've been ignoring Moon's four-line posts of Chinese swords and musical instruments for a long time now, but I'm tired of this trend, and I'm sorry, but I gotta' do this and give you a 1.5.
1.5/5, because it is still useful, regardless."
So...CP is right. This is an Idea guild, and submissions should be for new idea's, not pre-existing articles.
However, real life is a handy resource, and I think that we should have a space on Strolen's Citadel for Real life to co-exist. Maybe we could put it on the Submissions area without the possibility of voting, or maybe we need a spot on the forums for it, but something like that should exist.
Thats all.
-Nobody -
Re: Real Life Submissions
#2I agree. I have already voted similarily to CP on such items. A real life item should not be in a post of its own. Put it in a scroll of some kind (Real life books?), not in a codex, not in a lone submission. -
Re: Real Life Submissions
#3Sounds good. A Scroll may be just fine for many real world submissions.
But I think Nobody's idea has some ground, too - some posts are too interesting/large to not make them a post of its own (like that unlucky Book of the Dead). We could disable voting on them, or keep votes but just give zero XP for the whole post (or heck, 1 XP, I feel generous to me :) ).
There are already some posts that could handle the option - I for instance have _dozens_ of reposted traps from a lost webpage.
Seems like we need yet another type of submission... :shock: -
Re: Real Life Submissions
#4OK, my two cents. I will always bend to the overall will though:
Real stuff....why do we need it?
If it is interesting enough we should be able to put a twist on it of some sort and make it more applicable to the site. Personally, I have no use for real items unless they can tie into something creative I can use in a game. No use for them as posts, no use for them as scrolls. If we start posting real stuff where would it stop? Then you get XP for doing a research project, not for doing something creative...and that is what I want, new ideas. If you want to post something real, go to the wikipedia and do it there. This is a fantasy (mostly) RP site, that is what I want.
Yes, history is cool, lots of stuff I don't know, da da da. How can I _use_ it for my game? What ideas can be gleaned from it. To do this I don't want an essay on an item or a history review, I would want a few facts and then what we can use them for. If I want to know about something real I will use google, I don't expect to find it at strolen.com.
I also don't want to go through the trouble of creating the ability to disable votes or create another category for something that has a high percentage chance of getting abused once we condone it. We allow real stuff and now people are driving up XP by posting a scimitar or riding boots. Don't want that, not one bit.
Now, there are going to be exceptions and it will be up to the mods/admins to decide that. The 'real' posts should be challenged, not by virtue of what they are, but on what they provide to us in the value of ideas. If it is a 'real' post that is valuable as a DM or player and can be incorporated into the game then why couldn't it stay as is? But if all it is is a research paper...off with its head.
As a rule: too arbitrary to have a rule. -
Re: Real Life Submissions
#5Okay, cool. *shrug* -
Re: Real Life Submissions
#6The reason for having a place for real things, is because when I browse this site for ideas, I rarely know what I am looking for. I can't ask wikpedia for ideas to put into a fantasy game. It will give me 6 billion completely unrelated topics. Ideas posted here are always ones that, while they may come from reality, they can be easily tweaked and added to any game.
I was under the impression that this was essentially an Idea Guild for people to go not only to create new ideas, but to get new ideas as well. If real life is a good source of new ideas that can be used in a gaming session, then why ban them from the site? Everything on this site comes from reality, even if only abstractly.
The converse, is people taking wikpedia articles, calling it something slightly different, and presenting them as new ideas of their own, which also isn't cool.
Heck, just put up a spot on the forums for real life ideas that can be easily added or incorperated into fantasy. That way, it is out of the way, it does not allow for voting or XP, but it still provides a valuable resource for anybody who is interested.
Simple enough?
-Nobody -
Re: Real Life Submissions
#7The things you speak of would meet my suggested criteria. As long as it is something that has immediate, obvious, and hopefully explained usage in a game then that would be fine. I don't see a need to identify them as real since they would still fit in other regular categories. If it has a good idea I can use in my game what do I care if it is based off of something real or not?
What I don't want is just real things starting to be posted as is without a useful spin being put on it. If all it is going to be is a history paper or an item description then, no, I don't want it. If it is going to be made interesting and useful then why do we need a special mark to say it is real? Does that matter? -
Re: Real Life Submissions
#8.....
Ok. Fine by me. As long as people:
1) Tailor it to a roleplaying setting
2) Change it enough that it has not been plagerized from another site
3) At least give some credit to the source material
Then I think that we are in agreement.
-Nobody -
Re: Real Life Submissions
#9I know I am not the most beloved person at the moment, but yes Nobody has hit it right on the head...
1) Tailor it to a roleplaying setting
It should always be this, otherwise why are you posting it? Historical figures should have twists in their lives making them suitable for fantasy (or some kind of gaming). If it is not tailored, you can always challange it.
2) Change it enough that it has not been plagerized from another site
Yes. We have been innudated with direct cut and pastes. That is unfair to the original producer (which has been, almost exclusively, wikipedia.). If you are going to have a 'factual' or 'real world' piece, you should really pull from several sources and some personal experience anyways.
In truth, it is the old school skills: Take several sources, mash them together, put your own spin into them, and 'walah!' instant report. (Heck that is a job skill in some fields). Direct cut and paste is just tacky.
3) At least give some credit to the source material
I agree. While foot noting is beyond the scope here, some crediting should be done simply in good form.
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History is filled with interesting solutions to problems that fit a historical ethos.
There are a lot of 'historical' things that are very applicable to gaming. History and historical periods are the basis of many games. In many of those cases, real times, places, peoples, and things, are very applicable to gaming, if not directly - at least in inspiration.
The site should be here for useful information that is not just off an equipment list. Real world items and things, beyond the normal experience, are IN MY OPINION perfectly acceptable to gaming and submissions in my opinion. (Thus exotic musical instruments, little tidbits of archaic technology like a ring used to tell time, and institutions and societies showing how people lived in the past, not being things EVERYONE seems to know about, are useful.)
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Re: Real Life Submissions
#10I agree 100% as long as those three are mutually inclusive then I am fine with that.
My problem would be when they hit only one or two of these requirements. In those cases they should be and need to be flagged.