Site Update Request Threads: Expanded and Enhanced

[JamesMartin]

Aloha Friday Sanctum!!! (I don't know what that means, I just assume Mia had a reason when she said it)

Announcement for you today. We've rolled out a small update that we hope will help people condense a lot of information in an easily digestible form in their Request Threads and elsewhere!

Put simply, when filled out, a finished request thread will now look like this:

(For the record my thread is closed, I just needed an example to showcase a variety of options)

This information is broken into four sections and I will start by explaining each.

1. Rules Check

This is the only mandatory section. When posting a request thread, you must check this box. It is a confirmation that your thread conforms to all site rules, in particular that all characters are 18+, that all fandoms are aged up and that you do not request any roleplay occur in PMs or on Discord.

This is mostly a helpful guide for new members, but also a reminder for those who write on multiple sites to perform a sanity check.

Mostly, it is hoped that this will reduce the number of disclaimers staff need to request

2. Pairings

This is a chance for people who have wider tastes in Pairings than the prefix shows to list out everything they are looking for.

This section is optional

3. Content Warning

Serving both as a courtesy for members who avoid specific content and as a summary for those seeking the darker and more depraved, this section lists a number of things we consider serious enough to need fair warning.

This section is optional

4. Preferred Genres

Last, but not least, this is a simple checkbox to select the genres you are interested in writing. Right now the list is limited to the genre prefixes, but it might be expanded with more suggestions

This section is optional

What about existing threads?

As with my example above, this new system can be applied retroactively to your old threads with the press of a button.

Simply click the "Edit Thread" Button

Doing so will open an editing menu with checkboxes to select all options

Confirmed

Pairings

Content Warning

Preferred Genres

As an additional note!

We decided during the process to not limit this to request threads. The new Content Warning system is now also available for all roleplay threads, in case you want any potential readers to have a heads up how depraved (fun) you are

On the Topic of Genre

Since the start, we have used Genre for the Prefixes in The Dark Alley. However our old list was, frankly, bad. It missed obvious genres like Romance, it lacked a tag for Fandoms, compressed all of science fiction into one tag and was desperately in need of an update.

Well, @Jumbled and I updated it!!

There is now a list of 16 genres to choose from. Some old ones have been changed, while new ones were added.


This is obviously not a comprehensive list of every genre ever made. -punk genres alone probably number more than 16. However, we felt it was a good representative sample

And we are considering going further.

It has been suggested that, with The Dark Alley now numbering more than Six and a half thousand threads, that we should split it into multiple forums. On further consideration the idea we are leaning towards is a split based on genre and time.

One forum for settings and genres set in the past (basically anything that predates the 20th century), one forum for modern settings (anything based on the time between 1900 and "the near future") and one based on anything set in the distant future.

In order to facilitate this, we would use the prefixes already existing and move all threads with certain prefixes to the new forums. In addition to allowing some diversity of location, this divide would also allow further expansion of the genre list to ones that are commonly Roleplayed, but would be too cumbersome in a limited list.

Anyways, that's all for now. Post any thoughts or questions below!!

 

[ZAlcyoneus]

I think the divide of rp into time period is a good idea.

 

[Summer Rain]

I love the idea of a divide of RPs into time periods as well, my only suggestion would be, what about those in no real world time period at all? For example, purely fantasy settings/worlds? Would you just need to align it with what closest matches the world you created?
(I do not RP these settings myself and don't know how common they are, it was just a thought).

Absolutely love the varying genres now and can't wait to start pursuing some of the ones I am unfamiliar with!

 

[JamesMartin]

I love the idea of a divide of RPs into time periods as well, my only suggestion would be, what about those in no real world time period at all? For example, purely fantasy settings/worlds? Would you just need to align it with what closest matches the world you created?
(I do not RP these settings myself and don't know how common they are, it was just a thought).

Absolutely love the varying genres now and can't wait to start pursuing some of the ones I am unfamiliar with!

These would be analogous time periods. So, if you are writing a Medieval fantasy, that would be historical. If you're writing, say, a Star Wars fanfic, that would be future. Basically, fantasy is past, sci-fi is future and slice of life is probably present.

There will be edge cases in all that, no doubt, but we aren't doing this to be super strict and so the rule would be "just pick one that fits best."

 

[Summer Rain]

These would be analogous time periods. So, if you are writing a Medieval fantasy, that would be historical. If you're writing, say, a Star Wars fanfic, that would be future. Basically, fantasy is past, sci-fi is future and slice of life is probably present.

There will be edge cases in all that, no doubt, but we aren't doing this to be super strict and so the rule would be "just pick one that fits best."

Makes sense!