Private Topics Discussion (Now with Mish Mash)

[Tierce]

No one. Ask Xalxe if you need permissions to create a thread for Mish Mash.

[Tierce]

In my mind

This fragment right here--this is not how randomness works.

Furthermore, you're excluding random options because they... don't look random? That doesn't make any sense and you're reducing the possibilities of a setup the players would be looking for. As SleepyKrew said, it's a poor practice and you're trying to shed blame from it, which just looks silly when you're the one doing it.

[Tierce]

The point I'm making is that since I don't have the permissions to use private topic prior to submitting, I am just going to continue designing setups in QT and then porting to Private Topic since it's been required for reasons I can't fathom, so the reviewers will not see that benefit from me anyway.

I have not asked you for your full game information yet, but I fail to see the issue when it comes to designing in BBcode even if you don't have access to private topics. If you have no other place that uses BBcode, you can use the private message system on the forum--that gives you the necessary BBcode, and you're going to need that format

anyway

for when you actually run the game.

What happened previously was that I (and before me, Zito) had to convert

every

game design into something that looks decent in HTML. I didn't have a choice, the users didn't have a choice, we were all using QTs. By using Private Topics for Normal reviews, I'm removing that step for myself and keeping things in a place that is much easier to organize, sort, and search through than QTs. I'm making things easier for myself and for most others. You're going through the extra step of using QuickTopics because you want to, so I really don't see what's the big fuss in me requiring moderators to use a native system when the

vast

majority of moderators have always sent me their designs optimized for BBcode anyway and you have an alternative that works in this forum already. A system that you can request access to, a system that people can give input on regarding features, a system where you actually have control over who sees the topic. You're making things more difficult for everyone involved, including yourself. We're offering you a system here, the possibility of "early design" access to it,

and

an alternative to that system that does not require change and/or social contact, but you're saying this whole new thing is being forced on you. What is the point you're trying to defend?

I understand asking for things may be difficult for some people, but if asking for permission to have access to a system is too much change for you, you already have private messages that give you BBcode formatting that I can then port to private topics; you're inflicting stress on yourself for no good reason.

[Tierce]

See above. What I'm basically saying is that you don't need to see the styling of the role pms. You only need to be able to read the text and determine the normalcy of the role pms. It doesn't matter what's bold, what's big, or what color the text is in. It's still there.

So while you're having trouble understanding what I'm defending, I'm having trouble understanding the justification for the requirement. My thought is that it isn't necissary, but I'm probably putting too much effort into fighting it because it's much less of a big deal than my emotions are making it, but from a logical standpoint, I'm not seeing an argument in it's favor other than the fact that the combination of the argument and the fact that "it's not a big deal" prevail.

...Not really, actually. In most circumstances, sure, color and formatting don't particularly matter. But, say, let's grab an example from a game I ran a while back. It was a Werewolves v. Town game. There were no colors in the role PMs I was provided. I flipped the first Werewolf in red, and after doing it, realized I should probably have flipped it in dark red or another color, because red is the typical mafia color and it was an easy assumption to make that the werewolves were the only non-Town faction. It's a small thing, and I don't think the players in the game made the association, but

I

did and I probably would have done it if I were a player in the game. So yes, color and formatting can be relevant.

No one is asking you to have color in your role PMs or game information. I'm not, and in the matter of private topics for Normal reviews, my word goes~. If I'm not asking you to provide it, it's because it's not a gigantic issue. But if you do, of course I'd like to convert it to BBcode to provide it for the reviewers. It's your game info, you choose how it looks, and I would like the review team to have access to the setup as close to the final version as possible.

As for the rest of the requirement, I've already stated how it makes organization, sorting, searching and security much easier to handle than QTs are.

As for it "not being a big deal", that's irrelevant when the issue is emotional; no one can tell you that your emotions aren't a big deal. What I'm saying is that you already have alternatives, and since I haven't seen you complain about these alternatives (like using private messages, like not caring about the formatting because that's my job and frankly no one ever bothered to make it easier for me before now and I don't expect them to start now), I don't know what your problem is at this stage or how we could make things easier for you.

[Tierce]

Would a compromise be something like Zach creates his topic that presents in QT on his own and for your record keeping you just make the private topic that only has a post 0 link to QT?

I don't particularly care for any kind of compromise until I know what is actually bothering Zach, and I don't think that's it--doing things like that removes pretty much all the purpose of private topics and would be easier to pass off a direct link to the QT via PM.

[Tierce]

Zach.

You are not required to ever design anything on a private topic.
I'm not asking you to do anything on a private topic prior to

me

linking

you

to one. I'm not asking you to provide BBcode for me, even though I'd love to have that. I'm not asking you to use the existing private message system. If you prefer to use QuickTopics to design your game, then by all means, do it. I, however, will then grab your stuff and put it in a private topic because there's a lot of convenience added for me and others in doing so.

In this specific process, what is it that is bothering you? How can I make

Normal reviews

more convenient for you?

You're not going to get constant access to Private Topics until we're sure there are no issues with the system (and possibly not then), and that mostly comes from a not-Jade concern. So, knowing that this is not something I will provide because it's not my field, what is it that can make the Normal review process (the thing you were complaining about and I have control over) easier for you?

I don't want you to be upset or abandon Normal games altogether, but I simply do not know what it is that is bothering you because there is no change required from you other than "click this link to a private topic instead of this link to a QuickTopic" on a PM from me.