Post by Raferties on Jul 29, 2018 13:09:18 GMT
Welcome to the Description Exchange!
We here at Sundered Weyr have tried to break away from where we started, a little roleplay site called Whazzit. But there's one tradition a brilliant member started there that should live on, and that is the Shiny Description Exchange.
What is this Exchange thing, you ask?
Well, it all started with a steady supply of creature companions (or shinies, for short) that had no descriptions. They were named and owned but they had no titles, fades, personalities, or physical appearances. Or maybe they had some of these, but not all of them. Now, you can always write your own descriptions, but you might not have the time or the inclination or even know what you want. Someone, whose name on site at the time was Katsumi, then created the Exchange. It was a place where people could post with a list of what they needed, and call dibs on other people's shinies to write descriptions in turn. Not all entirely about community cooperation and altruism, Whazzit offered a free common Gryphon for finishing 20 complete descriptions for other people.
Now, our membership here at Sunder is a lot smaller, and there are fewer undescribed shinies. Setting the bar at 20 would effectively ensure nobody could earn a reward, at least right out of the gate, so we're not going to copy the idea exactly for its implementation here. We're also not going to limit the reward. What if you don't want a Gryphon? How we're actually doing things here, though... I'll get to that.
First, the instructions, helpfully divided into sections.
1. Instructions for Posting: The Masterpost
The masterpost will be the first post you make in this thread, which you will come back to and edit as things progress. On your masterpost, you list whatever shinies you have that need descriptions (as well as specifications, if you want anything in particular written in.
For example, the top half of Jeremiah's masterpost looks a little like so:
Shinies that need describing
Athid Geothermal Ralph -- i dunno what i want, go crazy
Sphinx Puzzle Female Anjali -- has a fade, needs desc. she's really hyper
Zaithand Estuary Male Doodad -- he's calm for his rank but otherwise do whatever
This way, we (the admins) can easily keep track of what Jeremiah needs done, because we will have our own masterpost with everybody's lists on it. Ideally, Jeremiah will edit his post to remove shinies from that list when they've been described for him and add whatever new shinies he needs so they can be described. Editing rather than making new posts means all your listings are in one place and not scattered throughout the thread.
On the bottom half of your masterpost, however, is where you keep track of whatever descriptions you have written for other people. For example, going back to helpful example man Jeremiah, if Jeremiah claims and describes shinies for Linda and Suzie, the bottom of his masterpost might look like this:
Shinies I've Written
Unicorn Charity Rayne -- Suzie
Pegasus Wind Moonshadow -- Linda
As Jeremiah writes more descriptions, he adds them to the list on his masterpost. This helps the admin team keep track of his work and know when he's eligible for goodies.
The third part of your masterpost, the bottom-bottom part, is the star bank. I'll be covering this part in the rewards section.
2. Instructions for Posting: Listing Descriptionless Shinies
Okay, so you have these shinies. You had an impulse buy at the shrine, or a friend bought you a birthday shiny, or you turned in word lists to Heron for free Firelizards, or something went wrong at a bonding. or. Or. However it came to be, you now have some shinies that belong to you and have names but nothing else. Or maybe it has a title and a fade and a speech font, but no appearance or personality.
And, let's face it, it's way harder trying to write your own shinies than it is to write them for other people.
Make your masterpost, and then list your shinies by Species Rank (Gender) Name. And to which character it's bonded, as some writers like to personalize shiny descriptions to the characters themselves. Be sure to specify, also, which shinies are total free creative liberty and which ones you want just so. Specifics help potential writers come up with ideas and it ups the odds of you liking what you get.
When a shiny is claimed and filled, please remove it from your masterlist, or move it to a list of things that have been fulfilled for you if you want to keep track of that. This way, we know what you no longer need and can tell what you still do need at a glance.
3. Instructions for Posting: Claiming and Writing
This Exchange thing wouldn't work if all anyone did was list what they needed, right? Right. The other half of business is perusing what your fellow Sundarians need when creative inspiration strikes. Got an idea for Suzie's Mistwatcher? Great! Suzie would love to know how you envision her Mistwatcher!
But you can't just think that and keep it to yourself. Maybe Jeremiah has an idea for that same Mistwatcher? If neither of you says anything ahead of time, you might both end up writing for the same shiny and force poor Suzie to choose. This is why you claim it before you write it. Reply to the topic, and say something like, "Snagging Suzie's Mistwatcher Fluffy!"
Then that tells everyone that you've got dibs on Fluffy and that you're working on him, so they should move on to the other candidates up for grabs.
Once you've titled Fluffy and given him a color fade from this site, and written his full personality and physical description, edit your claim post and post Fluffy in! You'll probably get a forum reply of acknowledgment from Suzie, although she may choose to thank you via PM.
Now, you go edit your masterpost to list Fluffy in the section that contains the descriptions you've written. Because we're not asking for altruism either.
What was that about a reward, again?
The smile on a friend's face is nice, but rewards are nice too, for a job well done.
The normal going rate, therefore, is that when you complete 10 descriptions, you get 5 stars to spend any which way you want to, whether that's a queen shiny or some combination of lower ranks that adds up to 5 stars. And hey, you can add your shiny or shinies to your list in the exchange!
But Heron, you say, I really like that Gryphon idea! Can't I work for one of those instead?
Yes, yes you could, and this is why we're introducing the idea of the star bank. It only applies to this thread for now, but if it works better than intended, it could be expanded on later. The point of the bank is that we don't dictate what shiny you redeem for -- not the species, not the ranks that add up to five stars, none of it -- but we hand them out in amounts that don't add up to every shiny in the database. So, you keep your unused stars in one place. Stockpile 'em if you want to, whether you're saving up for something really big or just unsure of what you want just now.
And, for those of you who would rather spend faster instead of saving up. We didn't forget about you.
For every 2 full and complete (contains both personality and physical description, as well as a title and fade if needed) descriptions you finish, you may claim 1 star of creature companionship from the database.
To claim whatever amount of stars' worth of shinies you have been awarded, PM Owl [Telmaril] or Kay [Raferties] with the species, rank, name, and character bonded. Also please keep track of this in your star bank on your masterpost, subtracting your redemptions from your totals. Helps keep everything organized.
