Articles · Rules and Advice · Citadel Help
Your First Submission
So you are here. You are brand new or have been browsing for years and you think you are ready to plunge in. DO IT!! Do it NOW!
Do check the place out! I can promise you these things: Great ideas to peruse at your leisure, great egos/friends to get to know, great feedback to your posts and... honest opionions. The honesty has gotten us in trouble in the past... You get to see small incidents every now and then, as people dislike having their pet ideas stomped upon, but that is kind of what we do here. We tell people what we think. It can be hard at times, but if you weather the storm, I am sure you will do alright! It always stings when we get bad feedback, but look at it like this: It stings for all of us and even our best writers get a blooded nose every now and then (except Iain, but he doesn't count.) Â -Ancient Gamer
A lot of people admit they are a little bit intimidated when they think about posting. The first post here, they say, is like jumping off a cliff. It is a leap of faith and you are never sure about how your submission will be received. Hell, I still feel that way when I submit stuff sometimes. You gotta just let loose though!
Admittedly, we are a slightly heavy handed bunch that doesn't pull punches. You will get an  honest opinion of your submission. That is one of the main reasons I used Ancient Gamer's quote above. We do try and be gentle with the new submissions but, yes, it is a bit of a initiation. If you can power through the first couple submissions, and work with us instead of against us, I can guarantee you that you will win over even the most stringent Strolenite to your side!Â
The fact we don't pull punches is probably the best thing about the site. If you want/need honest feedback, then you will get it. We want your posts to get better so we will ask questions and give hints on how to do just that. We will bend over backwards, actually we can't wait to bend over backwards, to help if you seem to truly care about your submissions! We LOVE creating stuff. We know not everything is going to be an outstanding post. We don't want every post to be outstanding, we just want it to be complete.Â
A vote of three is a very satisfying vote which people sometimes don't understand. Three is good, be happy. It takes a solid bit of information to earn a three so even that is not easy. Many voting systems quickly get over inflated but we try our best to keep it honest. Expect to earn what people truly think of it. Don't despair over lukewarm comments and medium votes, that is sometimes positive in itself and you are on the right track, it is to be expected on many submissions. When you hit a good one and the compliments flow it will all be worth it! Â Unfortunately, many crumple under the initial constructive criticism and, possibly, low votes and once again disappear into the deep corners of the net.
Stick it out, it is worth it. If you truly want to improve your game world then this is the place that can help you! Â
Post your ideas and accept honest, helpful, and good intentioned feedback...oh, and give some out yourself! Don't just accept it, dish out some of your own. We are an equal opportunity comment system. :)Â Â
Go take a look at Not Sure What to Do? for some inspiration or to get your feet wet. We are excited to see what you have!
Yeah, rereading this a couple times I see that it is not much of a pep talk, but you need to know what you are in for. Too many people have come in here with their dark elf assassin wizard elves and don't understand why they get blasted for it. Better to be up front with what to expect so if it comes, at least we can say we warned you. We are an incredibly supportive group if you take your creations seriously!!
SUBMIT IT!!!
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This article links to 4
- CSS Demonstration Sub Strolen linked by Strolen
- Linking Submissions Strolen linked by Strolen
- New to Strolen's Citadel Strolen linked by Strolen
- Not Sure What To Do? Alongside Strolen linked by Strolen
Links to this article 1
- New to Strolen's Citadel Strolen linked by Strolen
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Very Good
I kinda wish I would have had this to read before my first post. I almost got my face chewed off, and it was quite the shock.
It would help me assimilate this sub if there were a few headers.
This has given me an idea for an improvement to the citadel. I'll think about it for a bit and post something on the forum.
Agree completely!
Oh, I missed this series of subs somehow. Good work Strolen! There will never come a time when this sub and its relatives, are not useful to our community.
A warning and a promise. I like it! I STILL remember how much I agonized over that first submission, but as a result I spent a lot of time on it and it showed. Wish I could have read this first, though.
This somehow needs to be sent to all new members of the site in as a link in a PM somehow so they can read it. As a matter of fact a codec of helpful subs should be sent to every new members as a sort of required reading if you will to help them along. Possibly to help stave off those thinking they need to copy and paste other works to get good votes and focus more on their own work. I likes it... yess I's doos'
I just listened to this and thought that it was a good resource for us all, but especially for authors new to this site:
How to Take Criticism
Excellent article. This also served to remind me that I really need to write my first submission.
Personally, I get a little disappointed sometimes if I get an average less than 3.5 (and sometimes 4 for specific subs) on any of my subs that aren't 'abandoned ideas' . In this sense, the bit about the vote of three in this article helped me to realign my perspectives to a more realistic level (they tend to become skewed quite easily as I sometimes just set just so high an expectations for myself that it becomes unrealistic) and is my favourite. Anyway, a good article for newbies in term of preparing them for the site.