Species Whitelist Format suggestion.

[Marlon P.]

Species whitelist loredevs have always had different standards for what they look for, but there's usually uniting themes. Since 2014 we've had the same species whitelist format, with just minor updates - an open ended set of questions.

This is just a set of guided questions to help someone understand what is important for that chraacter's background to focus on. It's also broad enough to be applicable to any species, while the loredev can still ask follow-up questions about things they'd want expanded on.

Quote

 

Byond key:

Current character names:

Species you are attempting to whitelist for:

Please respond to the following questions with well-articulated answers.

Compared to humans, what are the biggest mechanical differences you face when playing this race?

Compared to humans, what are the biggest roleplay differences you face when playing this race?

Please provide an example character by answering the questions below:

Character name:

Where were they born?:

Where where they raised?

What is their faith, if any? And did it change?:

What languages do they speak, and why?:

What is the inciting incident in their life that brought them to the Horizon?:

What is your character's goal in life?:

Who or what entity owns your character?:

Additional notes:

 

 

Edited April 30, 2022 by Marlon P.

[DeadLantern]

This kind of limits what you can do with your character with the questions spoonfed for you. Additionally, these questions are more-so for determining character quality, not for determining lore knowledge. I don't necessarily think this change is bad, however. I just don't see the reason. What's so wrong with our current template, and how is this template superior?

[Marlon P.]

14 hours ago, DeadLantern said:

This kind of limits what you can do with your character with the questions spoonfed for you. Additionally, these questions are more-so for determining character quality, not for determining lore knowledge. I don't necessarily think this change is bad, however. I just don't see the reason. What's so wrong with our current template, and how is this template superior?

Currently we only ask a single open-ended question.

What do you mean by spoon-fed? 

[Alberyk]

I think this is too restrictive. Having an open backstory allows for way more creativity.

[Marlon P.]

2 hours ago, Alberyk said:

I think this is too restrictive. Having an open backstory allows for way more creativity.

How does this limit a backstory? Are backstories limited to the application itself?

And, is the purpose of whitelists to judge creativity or to judge their understanding of the species? In all questions posed to writers, i have never seen a loredev request more creativity, only requests to add in knowledge the application lacks, such as religion, political views, etc.

Edited May 4, 2022 by Marlon P.

[Alberyk]

4 hours ago, Marlon P. said:

How does this limit a backstory? Are backstories limited to the application itself?

It is limiting because you just have to answer the questions and can't explore any other angles. You can already answer all of these questions with an open backstory, while you can only answer these questions with your suggestion and nothing more.

5 hours ago, Marlon P. said:

And, is the purpose of whitelists to judge creativity or to judge their understanding of the species? In all questions posed to writers, i have never seen a loredev request more creativity, only requests to add in knowledge the application lacks, such as religion, political views, etc.

Creativity allows for people to incorporate elements of the lore in their characters.

[Marlon P.]

On 04/05/2022 at 13:41, Alberyk said:

Creativity allows for people to incorporate elements of the lore in their characters.

How cant you? 

[Alberyk]

17 minutes ago, Marlon P. said:

How cant you? 

You are limited by having specific questions instead of a backstory that you can write anything you want on it.

[Marlon P.]

14 minutes ago, Alberyk said:

You are limited by having specific questions instead of a backstory that you can write anything you want on it.

Are there parts of a backstory you require for an application? Such as what faction a tajara are part of on adhomai? Arent these questions already mandatory, but unspoken?

[Marlon P.]

Sorry i keep asking questions but didn't post a thought of my own.

I'm going to assume there are answers you expect from the essay question because thats how it's been for over a decade.

It seems like i want clarity for applicants and you want creativity for applicants. These are not mutually exclusive.

Do you feel including an optional or otherwise essay portion asking them to write, say, their lifes journey to the current ship?, would give your wanted freeformity? I think it would + the questions will be a greate aide for players to build themselves to an essay.