So, the restart is here. Ain' that great? Time to repost profiles, be they changed or not, new or old, and the forum helpers will be there to get you into RPing your shiny new level 80 as fast as you can.
Well, yeah. We'll do whatever we can to help you. But what can you do to help yourself? How can you make the process faster for us and you, making your approval a quick walk in the park instead of flying through a hurricane of changes? Well, follow these simple steps:
-> Your forum name has changed, and that's great. You are now 10% more awesome.
Sadly, however, we lack the ability to guess that. If you request a forum name change, please send a PM to a forum helper so we'll know to update the wiki. Otherwise we'll think it's the profile of someone who quit and archive it.
-> Avoid posting an "Unchanged" pre-approved profile. There's been major changes to CotH's lore and timeline post-restart, be it lore, the profile format, or the timeline. Making your profile with the updated information saves us the problem of having to tell you to go do it, and you the problem of having to rewrite large chunks (or maybe all of it) to fit our crazy specifications!
Of course, there's exceptions. Maybe your profile fits the new lore perfectly. Those are few and far between, however, so take heed.
-> Run your profile through a spell checker, or have someone review them. The workshop is your friend on this one, as players are usually more than willing to help with grammar. You can of course also come to a Forum Helper (it's our job) or a GM to help. You could argue that there's no difference between us correcting your typos there and in a PM box, but well, there is. First, we'll have the chance to read your profile beforehand, form an opinion on it, and aid you in a manner which it will be approved faster. Second, we're not really supposed to be fixing typos (Grakor has said this before, I believe, but forum helpers didn't exist back then) as keyboarding is one of our core rules and it should be taken for granted.
-> Highlight changes.
-> Rule of thumb: If you're not sure about the concept, PM it to someone who can tell you whether it'll fly or not.
->Don't be afraid to use the workshop. The workshop isn't just a place to guard your profile until the next week. The workshop is where everyone will be trying to help you make your character that good and ready to get approved and, I'd personally suggest posting the profile in the workshop even if for a single day regardless whether you're 100% sure about it or not. You may be surprised on what they'll find and help you with.
->Use exact numbers. Remember your profile isn't IC. It's a biography of your character, and thusly, writing numbers like "Around 60kg" won't do. Be exact, and write down exact numbers. Refer to this guide for details!
->Try to be as descriptive as you can. I don't expect anyone to write me fifty hundred pages of text that are an amazing read and I'll gladly spend my afternoon drifting away in the imaginary world that is their history. No. In fact, this is mostly for the personality section. Remember there's more than a single facet to your character. He isn't just "friendly", "mean", "funny" or "annoying." He can be sadistic, masochistic, cruel, cold-hearted, interesting, boring, hot-headed, cool-headed, straightforward, manipulative, elaborative, objective, have a tendency for under or over explaining, etc. When you start thinking of your character's experiences, I'm sure a lot of personality is going to appear.
-> With the free-form system, be wary of multiclassing. We now have the freedom to do anything! And that's awesome. Remember, though, that you can do anything within the boundaries of your class. You can use the arcane, the shadow or even the holy light to explain how your hunter enchants his arcane shots, but you can't use it to heal someone, or fling firebolts around as a warrior. Everything has it's limitations.
-> Don't be afraid to ask for help. (See "Don't be afraid to use the workshop") after all, humans make mistakes.
->Space your profile correctly. Adding a line after each paragraph or item in your list (much like this list is being made!) will really help both reading and wiki-ing the profiles. Please? Thanks!
-> If you're making a custom variant, pass it through a forum helper or a GM first. That will make the process of approving much faster as more often than not we need to end up waiting for the word of a GM on whether the custom title/power is fair game or not. Knowing it before hand will not only make the GM reply faster to the profile itself (assumed, at least) but also make it easier for us to know whether we can approve you right away or correct something on the profile.
-> If something on your character is unique or contain hazy lore. Add sources. We research as much as we can, but don't expect us to know everything. We also make mistakes. Making it as easy to check your facts as possible means consequentially an easier reply and approval.
->Avoid exact dates! A profile that states "Uthaniel learned spellcraft during his childhood" is less likely to be shot down than "Uthaniel learned spellcraft at the age of five, being taken in during the beginning of the troll wars by his master, Syl'vael". An exact date makes us need to check your entire profile to see if the dates match up, while sticking to your age and being vague regarding when the events occurred ("Uthaniel would eventually join the Alliance in their fight during the second war", as opposed to "In the year X, Uthaniel would join the Alliance during the second war.) makes it easier for the profile to remain widely unchanged and prevents us from having to re-do the timeline with you once, sometimes twice, do all the math and make sure everything adds up. All in all, dates are more trouble than they're worth.
->Post when you make changes!Sadly, there's just -too many profiles- for us to do, even as a -seven man group-. We can't check the edit history of every profile to check if you did the changes we requested or not - So post! It doesn't bump your profile up anymore, and it doesn't affect the time it takes for us to get to you in any way. If anything, it makes you getting approved faster if you notify us that you've edited it!
-> When you notice your profile is getting views but no commentes, yet other profiles posted after you are getting approved, don't fret! It could be that your profile is under review by the FHs and GMs. This doesn't mean anything is horribley wrong, simply that we might find something to be a bit confusing and need to discuss it to make a faster decision in the future should it come up again. Once the discussion is over your profile will be posted in.
->And, of course. This has yet to happen, but I figure it may eventually happen with the free-form system. Be very careful of what "variant" may be in the right forum or not. Remember that every variant class that requires a different model should go in custom-model submission.
Am I missing something? Delta and Reigen, among others, are helping me update this as we get about to common mistakes in profiles to prevent. If you, citizen, witness something I've failed to mention that happens more often than it should, tell me! It will be added.
Well, yeah. We'll do whatever we can to help you. But what can you do to help yourself? How can you make the process faster for us and you, making your approval a quick walk in the park instead of flying through a hurricane of changes? Well, follow these simple steps:
-> Your forum name has changed, and that's great. You are now 10% more awesome.
Sadly, however, we lack the ability to guess that. If you request a forum name change, please send a PM to a forum helper so we'll know to update the wiki. Otherwise we'll think it's the profile of someone who quit and archive it.
-> Avoid posting an "Unchanged" pre-approved profile. There's been major changes to CotH's lore and timeline post-restart, be it lore, the profile format, or the timeline. Making your profile with the updated information saves us the problem of having to tell you to go do it, and you the problem of having to rewrite large chunks (or maybe all of it) to fit our crazy specifications!
Of course, there's exceptions. Maybe your profile fits the new lore perfectly. Those are few and far between, however, so take heed.
-> Run your profile through a spell checker, or have someone review them. The workshop is your friend on this one, as players are usually more than willing to help with grammar. You can of course also come to a Forum Helper (it's our job) or a GM to help. You could argue that there's no difference between us correcting your typos there and in a PM box, but well, there is. First, we'll have the chance to read your profile beforehand, form an opinion on it, and aid you in a manner which it will be approved faster. Second, we're not really supposed to be fixing typos (Grakor has said this before, I believe, but forum helpers didn't exist back then) as keyboarding is one of our core rules and it should be taken for granted.
-> Highlight changes.
-> Rule of thumb: If you're not sure about the concept, PM it to someone who can tell you whether it'll fly or not.
->Don't be afraid to use the workshop. The workshop isn't just a place to guard your profile until the next week. The workshop is where everyone will be trying to help you make your character that good and ready to get approved and, I'd personally suggest posting the profile in the workshop even if for a single day regardless whether you're 100% sure about it or not. You may be surprised on what they'll find and help you with.
->Use exact numbers. Remember your profile isn't IC. It's a biography of your character, and thusly, writing numbers like "Around 60kg" won't do. Be exact, and write down exact numbers. Refer to this guide for details!
->Try to be as descriptive as you can. I don't expect anyone to write me fifty hundred pages of text that are an amazing read and I'll gladly spend my afternoon drifting away in the imaginary world that is their history. No. In fact, this is mostly for the personality section. Remember there's more than a single facet to your character. He isn't just "friendly", "mean", "funny" or "annoying." He can be sadistic, masochistic, cruel, cold-hearted, interesting, boring, hot-headed, cool-headed, straightforward, manipulative, elaborative, objective, have a tendency for under or over explaining, etc. When you start thinking of your character's experiences, I'm sure a lot of personality is going to appear.
-> With the free-form system, be wary of multiclassing. We now have the freedom to do anything! And that's awesome. Remember, though, that you can do anything within the boundaries of your class. You can use the arcane, the shadow or even the holy light to explain how your hunter enchants his arcane shots, but you can't use it to heal someone, or fling firebolts around as a warrior. Everything has it's limitations.
-> Don't be afraid to ask for help. (See "Don't be afraid to use the workshop") after all, humans make mistakes.
(10-04-2011, 04:55 AM)Delta Wrote: Please give your OOC class in the "Class" field, bracketed, even if it is not your character's IC class. This is for archival purposes, and so that I don't get completely lost when it comes to giving you a wiki category.
Thanks!
->Space your profile correctly. Adding a line after each paragraph or item in your list (much like this list is being made!) will really help both reading and wiki-ing the profiles. Please? Thanks!
-> If you're making a custom variant, pass it through a forum helper or a GM first. That will make the process of approving much faster as more often than not we need to end up waiting for the word of a GM on whether the custom title/power is fair game or not. Knowing it before hand will not only make the GM reply faster to the profile itself (assumed, at least) but also make it easier for us to know whether we can approve you right away or correct something on the profile.
-> If something on your character is unique or contain hazy lore. Add sources. We research as much as we can, but don't expect us to know everything. We also make mistakes. Making it as easy to check your facts as possible means consequentially an easier reply and approval.
->Avoid exact dates! A profile that states "Uthaniel learned spellcraft during his childhood" is less likely to be shot down than "Uthaniel learned spellcraft at the age of five, being taken in during the beginning of the troll wars by his master, Syl'vael". An exact date makes us need to check your entire profile to see if the dates match up, while sticking to your age and being vague regarding when the events occurred ("Uthaniel would eventually join the Alliance in their fight during the second war", as opposed to "In the year X, Uthaniel would join the Alliance during the second war.) makes it easier for the profile to remain widely unchanged and prevents us from having to re-do the timeline with you once, sometimes twice, do all the math and make sure everything adds up. All in all, dates are more trouble than they're worth.
->Post when you make changes!Sadly, there's just -too many profiles- for us to do, even as a -seven man group-. We can't check the edit history of every profile to check if you did the changes we requested or not - So post! It doesn't bump your profile up anymore, and it doesn't affect the time it takes for us to get to you in any way. If anything, it makes you getting approved faster if you notify us that you've edited it!
-> When you notice your profile is getting views but no commentes, yet other profiles posted after you are getting approved, don't fret! It could be that your profile is under review by the FHs and GMs. This doesn't mean anything is horribley wrong, simply that we might find something to be a bit confusing and need to discuss it to make a faster decision in the future should it come up again. Once the discussion is over your profile will be posted in.
->And, of course. This has yet to happen, but I figure it may eventually happen with the free-form system. Be very careful of what "variant" may be in the right forum or not. Remember that every variant class that requires a different model should go in custom-model submission.
(09-10-2011, 11:26 AM)Reigen Wrote: And please remember:
Pre-approved does not automatically mean re-approved.
Am I missing something? Delta and Reigen, among others, are helping me update this as we get about to common mistakes in profiles to prevent. If you, citizen, witness something I've failed to mention that happens more often than it should, tell me! It will be added.
![[Image: Da8y3O0.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/Da8y3O0.gif)
![[Image: WwDxJt9.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/WwDxJt9.gif)
![[Image: 6RpTZgI.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/6RpTZgI.gif)
![[Image: 293D4BE4-7170-4C2A-B8BF-7EA572513EBD.jpg]](http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa90/DEATHH4X0R/293D4BE4-7170-4C2A-B8BF-7EA572513EBD.jpg)
![[Image: Lazuri65.png]](http://card.psnprofiles.com/1/Lazuri65.png)
