I do think it is polite to comment on all the subs you can. People post things here in part because they want comments. But people also post things to give a wider audience to their work. Role-playing can be a media, like theater, comic books or any other type of narrative art. Yet in role-playing we often have a very small audience. This site gives us a chance to share our work with others who have similar interests, and sharing our work is one of the reasons we have this hobby. So think AG is right, it is important to be an audience on this site as well as an author, because a reciprocal relationship where everyone is an author or performer and an audience member is what makes role-playing games more than just games.

I do think voting serves a purpose. It allows the readers to feel more of an interaction and involvement with the posts. The voting is also a type currency which people can barter around and it creates a loose hierarchy. So in essence you have a game, these currency and hierarchy relationships are also the chief mechanic of most facebook “games”.


That is why I think we should view the game part of this site as absurd or superfluous. When you start to think that the your average post rank or experience reflects you talent or ability then I say you are ascribing to much value to the votes. A ascribing to much value to the game part of this interaction demeans the other more important interaction. I think Scras’s post, which asserts that his ranking are based on years of experience with literature and gaming, places too much meaning on the voting mechanics.

But just in case I am wrong, here is some exp.
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so at the time your wrote this voting was a problem? Was it hurting the function of the site? Go to Comment

Scras deletes posts that don't score well and still posts a lot, I think deleting poor scoring posts is standard for those that really care about their scores. Go to Comment

Excellent post, though now those Under 3 votes I get hurt even more now :) Go to Comment

Useful stuff, although I admit to being mystified on why someone would try and manipulate their subs rating. (Really, a lousy 1 star sub that they manipulate to a higher rating will still be just as lousy as the day it was written so what's really the point?)

One suggestion I do have to improve this thread is to add in a bit of details about how one goes about voting and how many times per day one is allowed to vote.

Other than that pretty handy. Go to Comment

Only voted Go to Comment

I agree with most of the later posters that your scale is quite a bit skewed toward more room for the worst posts.  A Likert Scale (which is what this is, more or less) should be equally distributed between 'points' (something like, poor, fair, average, good, excellent).  But it did get me thinking that I take a lot from Strolens (I've been lurking quite some time) but rarely if ever comment on things.  So, I vow to give some back.  I don't know how much I will contribute of original material, but I can certainly give feedback.

Mark 

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I like. I like the background it gived to funeral customs, and the different levels of treatment appeal to me. Is this sect (should they still exist) tolerant of other viewpoints, or more with the "this is the way, the only way, and anything else is blasphemy"? Go to Comment

I love the idea of mixing criminal's ashes into mortar for jails. 5/5 Go to Comment

I enjoyed this. Nice background and details, good reasons for the stuff happening. Go to Comment

I have always been fascinated with bones, skulls, and ossuaries. Enjoyed everything about this!

The ashes of criminals mixed in with the mortar is intriguing. This may be used to explain haunted houses in general!

Spirit-bone fetishes and Sarcomancy are nice touches too! Go to Comment

Yes, it has already been done, and this, as well as a good number of other saints on the site, though not so many as I expected, were added to Ancient Gamer's Of Saints Codex.

Of Saints Go to Comment

5/5 for your hard work. Go to Comment

Is not that allready done? Go to Comment

Though not as intense as the Vocran Palimpset, its still sublime! The Humoural Lectures have a Paracelsus kind of feel to them. Very nice! Good Clean Living is a fantastic plot hook!

Yet another great Saint! We should group all of the sites' saints together into the "Sainthood Codex" (or "Strolen's Saints")! Go to Comment

A great Saint. Now I need to check out that codex :) Go to Comment

How can you not just love this flawed king of the Arthurian mode? He adds a face to the history that one needs to truly understand it. Good job and nicely done.

There are some little capitalization and grammar errors, but they only slightly detract. Go to Comment

5/5 and an HOH for this wonderful submission. Go to Comment

The only thing I would like more of is a more indepht description of his last battle. The introduction sort of promised me that his own confidence was his ban of sorts. Other than that this is a great historical figure that could function as a major plot hook or a red herring. Great work.

I will provide this post with a Scras;) Go to Comment

"Clad in burnished steel armor, wielding a lance, he became almost the iconic image of the Old World, mightly, lofty, and entirely too confident." Love that line! He single-handedly evokes his age and times, but is no Don Quixote!

An overall engrossing tale! All the links are apt.

Golden Halls of Nahal. In Russian, 'Nahal' (h prounounced) means a shameless, selfish, free-loafer. Fitting perhaps for an emperor :D Go to Comment