On Writing (a simple guide to Articles and the Q&A)...
Mar 25, 2014 12:00:27 GMT
BoshtrichBurger likes this
Post by malice on Mar 25, 2014 12:00:27 GMT
Articles
The pseudo-world within which we play this sim wouldn’t quite be complete without our very own would-be media crew covering what’s going on within the realm of NBADSL. And it’s a great way to both connect with other GMs, improve your own team, and to explore & consider what you think works within the simulation.
The rewards for writing an article are anywhere from zero up to +5… and remember: all article rewards operate outside the usual restrictions placed upon players (up to 6 points max, and 3 in any one category), so they are particularly useful.
Articles are something that should be encouraged within the league, but that said: there is a form of quality control that exists within these articles. Primarily, that sits with the GMs as a group. But the ‘Article Grader’ (AG) can overrule grades given, and award a grade that falls outside the GM voting (ideally, this shouldn’t happen often, if at all). The award will generally be granted by the Article Grader once a piece gets 5 votes in a particular grade. Voting occurs via poll (and writers: please remember to include a poll within your piece!), and voters are encouraged to explain why they voted the way they did (in particular if you give a +5, or something lower than 3).
Consider the expectations of each of the following:
+5: Given to pieces that are almost at the level that you’d expect to see if our league really did have a *mainstream media* writing about it. Presentation is excellent, the piece is error-free, it’s of suitable length, it covers a topic that is well-received by the community… and has obviously had significant effort put into it.
+4: Should be given to articles that are of very good stature, but for some reason or another fall just shy of being a +5. Really well-written, but perhaps there are a few errors… the presentation is not quite there… the topic is something that has been covered ad infinitum… or it’s simply too short.
+3: The average piece. A piece that’s not egregiously bad, but is not up to the standards of excellence that a 4 or 5 would get. Perhaps the grammar is a bit sloppy. Maybe the presentation is like a dog’s breakfast. Could be that it’s just too short. There are a variety of reasons that a piece might be deemed a +3.
+2: Simply not enough effort put into the piece, and there are clearly obvious limitations in the writing.
+1: Basically the above on steroids.
Zero… I can’t imagine anyone ever getting a zero, but it needs to be an option. It could occur from managers refusing to vote on a piece, and stating why… or the AG will overrule (with reason given) and state why a zero is given.
I would imagine the vast majority of articles will be graded at 3 or 4… 5 should be reserved for the absolute best (tho’ I acknowledge that we do have a lot of really good writers in this group).
Ideally, I won't have to step in and grade a piece, but the option is there. Remember as well, you don't have to agree with an article's premise when grading it. If a team says "these are the 4 best options for teams winning the title", and presents good reasons as to why they think so, then you shouldn't really mark them down because you disagree. Say you disagree, and feel free to begin a discussion in the commentary about it, but a well-written piece that's supported and has good presentation should be judged accordingly... regardless of your opinion as to it's validity.
Budding writers? You can do 2 articles per season. And it might be a good idea to go to your profile and turn on "Enable Drafts" so that you don't unnecessarily lose Pulitzer-level work when writing (it's found in the 'settings' tab)!
Q&A columns…
Question and Answer columns are another way to improve your team. The rewards they garner are every 10 questions earns $50, and if you get 50 questions answered that gets you a +2.
There are a variety of ways to take this on. You can write a narrative in role, much as BoshtrichBurger does with his Kevin Durant column (formerly a Chris Bosh Q&A), you can write it as a GM of a team… or simply answer it as yourself. The choice is yours – but questions should only be about the teams/league/players/strategy.
Some basic pointers
- do not ‘bump’ your Q&A. You want it to head to the top of the list, then ask a question of someone, and hope they do the same of you. It should be obvious by now who the guys are in this forum who are very active in the Q&As.
- be clear about who you're responding to, the best way to do this is to quote the question you're answering...
- make it easy to count how many questions you've answered. Some kind of continual count in your response is the best idea.
- try and keep on top of answering. If it gets to 5 or so answered questions, I'll probably put a hold on more questions being asked until those unanswered have been responded to.
- be creative with your answers. Short sentences as an answer (or more so: single word answers) won't be counted as a "countable answer" in regards to the 10-Qs-equals-$50. Unless they're incredibly pithy short sentences...
- no continual back-and-forths between two managers. Don’t abuse the system.
- Most questions have an implicit 'use-by' date. With all questions: if you don't answer 'em within a week, I'll cut them from being answerable.
- If your Q&A goes 2 weeks with unanswered questions, I'll reset your 'answer' count to the last 10-count (10, 20, 30 et al).
- and a tip: if you ask questions of others, you'll get more questions yourself.
I cannot stress the last point enough. IF YOU WANT TO BE QUESTIONED, ASK QUESTIONS. At the moment, about 25% of those using the Q&A are very active with their questioning, 35%ish are somewhat lackadaisical about it… and 40% seem to think that people are asking them questions because they truly want to know about that user’s team.
NEWSFLASH: for the most part, no-one really cares about *your* team (well… not THAT much - and certainly not enough to continually ask *you* questions about it). The main reason someone asks you a question in your Q&A is in the hope that you will return the favour. This system works BEST when people ask a question back.
The Article Grader
At the moment I (malice) am Article Grader (AG). It’s the AG’s responsibility to keep stuff flowing, to make sure that articles are graded appropriately (and overruling if necessary), and to make sure that Q&As are used appropriately and not taken advantage of. Whenever I’m writing as AG, I’ll use a red font.
On the odd occasion I reward an article a different grade to the one that it obtained via vote, I will explain why I did so. Further discussion on that should not take place in the article comments, but via PM.
I’m happy to help out with articles, a number of users have had dialogues with me in that capacity too. You have a question, shoot me a PM… but understand that *life happens* (and from early April school begins and I’ll be a bit busier than I’ve been recently).
The Off-Season Round Table
Articles are kinda my province as AG, and the Round Table falls under that. After this season's one - it needs a bit of an overhaul.
Here's how it will work from next season:
Towards the end of this season (perhaps during the playoffs), I'll select someone who I think will do a good job. The person doing it won't take part in it, but will gain whatever +s are voted in (it's an editing gig). 6 people to take part, including the two Finalists (4 randomly chosen). If anyone successfully comes of CY, they'll be a part of it too (if there's more than one GM in that category, the highest finisher wins entry). In that situation, 3 participants will be randomly chosen.
From next season, the reward will be +2 per participant, but one GM will get +3 for the best responses (if I'm not taking part, I'll select. If I am, then GMA Pres/VP will choose). That should encourage people to write well, and take their time with their responses.
The article MUST be published prior to the commencement of the new season. During the pre-season is ok, but once the first sim hits - it should be up before that point.
NOTE:
Any reward given is good for the season, and can't be used beyond the season it was awarded...
I will use the comments here for notes about *stuff* regarding articles/Q&As...
Please note: this is NOT an actual article, just a guideline as to Articles, Q&As, and the role of the AG...
