FORUM RULES. Are you new? READ THIS FIRST! SERIOUSLY!

FORUM RULES

  1. Account creation. For security reasons, it is better that you log in using your Facebook, Twitter, or Google account. There are icons on the right. Click on one of those, and if you’re currently logged into one of those websites, you should be able to create an account on the forum very easily. This is much preferable to creating a login for the Forum software.
    1a. Lack of security. We can’t guarantee the security for any passwords stored by the Vanilla Forum software.
    1b. Difficulties of account creation. We don’t set the question at the “create a login” screen (ie “Why do you want to join these forums?”). However, we do receive about 30-60 spam applications a day. You don’t have to say much, but you do need to say something to distinguish yourself from a bot.
    1c. Inadvertent rejections. If I reject your application, just reapply. I might have denied it by accident. You can also email me to say, “hey, this is a legit human being, please approve my application.”

  2. No bumping. Please do not post “any update?” or “when is it coming out?” or anything along those lines. This includes "BUMP"ing dead threads.

  3. Limits on thread proliferation. If you have questions about ChoiceScript, please do some research before starting a new thread. Chances are, someone has already asked a very similar question.
    3a. Along those lines, it’s worth checking out our FAQ before asking the same question here.

  4. Respect. We are very tolerant of a wide variety of viewpoints on this website. What is not tolerated is directly attacking other members or using incendiary language. Please respect that.
    4a. Author’s prerogative. Also, please respect the purpose of a thread. Especially if the purpose of a thread is discussion of a game. If a game-maker asks you to drop a point of contention on their game’s thread, do so.

  5. Harassment. The other major crime that you can commit on this forum is harassment. When you disagree with a decision that someone has made in their game, feel free to express that disagreement. However, if they continue with their design choices, it is not your prerogative to browbeat them into changing their minds.
    5a. Subtle -isms. It is entirely possible that individuals can be aggressive towards other members of the community without realizing it. If you are a victim of a subtle -ism, or witness one, you should feel free to identify it, and/or draw my attention to it by private message or by drawing my attention with an @jasonstevanhill. At that point, however, further discussion of the matter should be handled off-stage. We will then handle it through private messages. Subtle -isms include racism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia, etc.
    5ai. Apologies. The key thing to remember here as these are usually inadvertent or unintentional. If you are accused of a subtle -ism, the point is not to defend yourself. What you think or what you believe about yourself is not important. You have made someone uncomfortable with your statements. The instinct to defend yourself publicly is the wrong one. The correct response is to apologize and move on.

  6. WIP Game Thread. If you’re going to post to the “Are you working on a game in ChoiceScript? Let us know!” thread, make sure to have concrete details, and some progress to show. I freely delete posts on that thread that I consider extraneous. Or if I’m just feeling particularly grumpy that day, and you misspelled something.

  7. No questions about JavaScript. This forum is not dedicated to JavaScript. Choice of Games does not support the functions of *script. Moreover, this is not the place to post questions about JavaScript.

  8. Admins, Mods, and CoG Staff. Besides myself, there are five moderators on the forum, @Reaperoa, @Havenstone, @JimD, @CJW, and @FairyGodfeather. Their words carry a lot of weight with me, as they should with you.
    8a. More Moderators? No, I’m not looking for another moderator at this time.
    8b. Employment Status of Moderators. These moderators are not employees of Choice of Games LLC or Hosted Games LLC. They are volunteers, contributors, and community members. Their statements should not be taken as coming from the companies.
    8c. Employees of CoG. @ladybird is an employee of Choice of Games LLC (6/1/13 to present).
    8d. Owners of CoG. @dfabulich, @adam, and @jasonstevanhill are partners in Choice of Games LLC and Hosted Games LLC.

  9. Grumpy admins. I hate the forum mail system. If I have to write you a mail via the forum mail system, you’re in trouble. If you need to write to me, use normal email.

  10. No advertising for coders. Do not advertise for coders. Most people here fancy themselves writers, not programmers. If you’re a coder that wants to pair up with a writer, feel free to say so. But writers, don’t advertise for coders.

  11. ChoiceScript Game Content. We are generally agnostic on the content that is produced with ChoiceScript. If you produce a game with pornographic or objectionable content, you may post a link to it on the forums. If the discussion about the game becomes objectionable, we reserve the right to censor the objectionable posts and close the thread. We will allow the thread to continue to exist, however, with a link to the game. We invite you, in that instance, to take your discussion elsewhere.
    11a. Minors. If you are a minor, you should not follow links to games that are explicitly marked as “adult”. If you do follow those links, we take no responsibility for what you find there.
    11b. Censoring of Minors. If you are a minor, and you tell us that you are a minor, and you post in a thread explicitly marked as “adult”, we will censor your posts.
    11c. Adult Content. If you post a link to a game that has intense horror themes, graphic descriptions of violence, explicit sexual content/erotica/pornography, rape, etc, please mark “adults only” in the title of the thread. Or ask a mod to add it to the title of the thread.

  12. Privacy. We guarantee no privacy on these forums. If you are using the mail function of the forums, you consent to us reading that mail. If you don’t want us reading your mail, take your conversation elsewhere. There is no overriding need for you to have it here. Moreover, there is some setting that I have yet to identify that causes some private conversations to be automatically forwarded to my email.

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RULES FOR ALPHA- AND BETA-TESTING

  1. Send me an email (jason AT choiceofgames DOT com) saying what game you’re requesting access to. NOT TO THE AUTHOR.

  2. Send feedback to the author of the game and copy me on the email. You can also copy support AT choiceofgames, if you like.
    2a. If I don’t give you the author’s email, then send the feedback to me.

  3. By sending me an email requesting access, you’re agreeing to not discuss the game publicly until a release date is announced.
    3a. If the author signs on to the forums and says it’s ok to discuss the game publicly, then their preference trumps #3 above.

  4. The point of testing is FEEDBACK. You’re testing the game, not to see if it breaks, but to test for continuity, fun, coherence, and content. If something is underdeveloped, tell the author. If something doesn’t make sense, tell the author. If you think you should have been able to make a different choice, tell the author.

  5. When submitting feedback, provide specifics about the moment you’re responding to, as well as what choices led you to that point. Without details, the author will not be able to locate the issue you’re commenting on.

  6. Once I close a testing thread, that means I don’t need any more testers. So if if the thread is closed, don’t keep emailing me for access.

  7. There is a new feature in the betas, which is a button that says “Bug Report”. You should only use this feature to report continuity errors or scripting errors. Do NOT use it to say “spelling errors”.

  8. If there is a spelling error, copy the relevant sentence and paste it into an email. Then we can “find” it in our text editors.

  9. I’m maintaining a database of people who request testing access. If you don’t reply with feedback on multiple occasions, I won’t give you testing access to games in the future.
    9a. If you don’t cc me on your feedback, I won’t know to credit you for your feedback in my database.

Multimedia Presentations

  1. GaymerX Panel “Gender and Sexuality in Interactive Fiction” panel with Christine Love, Aaron Reed, Porpentine, Zachary Sergi, and moderated by @dfabulich. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n-qfs0paM0

  2. Game Design Round Table discussion with @dfabulich.

  3. VuPop2 “Viking, Gunslinger, and Madam Midshipwoman: Gender and History in Interactive Fiction” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCVKDWkzXpM#t=518