Really random Ares question

[Faraday]

@icanbeyourmuse said in Really random Ares question:

Until yesterday I thought it was based on how many attended. I’d prefer that if one feels they need the ‘top scenes’ or similar such things.

I understand the perspective and appreciate the thoughtful responses (this one and the others).

How many people attended a scene doesn’t really say anything about a scene IMHO. If anything, my experience suggests a negative correlation between scene size and whether the scene log is worth reading.

Trending scenes is inherently a popularity contest, though, since it’s based on hearts. So I can understand and sympathize with brain weasels triggering feelings of inadequacy. I just think that can happen a lot in MUs, from who gets RP to IC social advancement and advancement. I don’t think that’s inherently a reason to remove such “systems” for everyone.

Players who don’t wish to see the trending scene posts can mute the forum category. And individual games may, of course, turn them off entirely via the game config.

[KarmaBum]

@Snackness I always turn this function off immediately and hide the <3s with CSS.

We had a chat about this on the channel not too long ago on LA, and people were frank about how the <3s (or lack thereof) and the post about them made them feel, and staff there also took them down.

It’s one of those things that seems like a good idea in theory, but I’ve yet to see it not become a thing that triggers someone’s squirrels. Sometimes mine.

[Third Eye]

I heart my own scenes with impunity.

We disabled the ‘favorite scenes’ post on Shattered because, after some discussion about seeing it in action on Spirit Lake, we just wanted to do without it. It’s bboard spam and it also felt like it kinda highlighted RP that wasn’t representative of the ‘favorite’ stuff going on on the grid. It’s inevitably friends liking their own stuff, WHICH IS FINE, and I honestly find it really useful in going back and looking at my own scenes in terms of which ones I/the other participants enjoyed. But if the goal is to show off RP to potentially new players or be a collection of the objectively ‘best’ scenes in a given week it didn’t feel to me like it did that great. I don’t really like to get rid of benign things just because of the social brain weasels, I think that becomes endless at some point and there are some people you’ll never make comfortable or happy, but this was one of those things that also didn’t seem to have a positive impact that balanced it out.

[L. B. Heuschkel]

I heart my own scenes simply to remind myself that I have downloaded this log.

[Ren]

I’m another who often hearts scenes I’m in, because generally I really appreciated the other person/people’s time and writing. I heart plenty of scenes I’m not in that I enjoyed reading, too, when I have time/brain to randomly read scenes.

But I’m also another whose brain refuses not to make the ‘trending scenes’ post some kind of contest/judgement even if I know perfectly well it isn’t, so I tend to vote to turn it off when asked. One thing that bothers me a little about it beyond my personal issues, though, is that it’s kind of self-perpetuating – if you tell everyone ‘these 10 scenes are particularly worth reading’, more people will notice and read them, and more people are likely to heart them, so the number goes up even further… in other words, simply saying ‘these are popular scenes’ makes them even more popular than scenes that haven’t been actively and officially pointed out as ‘worth reading’.

[Faraday]

@Ren said in Really random Ares question:

if you tell everyone ‘these 10 scenes are particularly worth reading’, more people will notice and read them, and more people are likely to heart them, so the number goes up even further… in other words, simply saying ‘these are popular scenes’ makes them even more popular than scenes that haven’t been actively and officially pointed out as ‘worth reading’.

That’s true, but the trending scene list rolls based on time. So there will always be new ones coming onto the list - it wont be like, these are the top popular scenes and always will be.

[Pyrephox]

I only heart other scenes. Pretty much any other scene that I read and enjoy, though - unless I forget. Which sometimes happens because my brain is a sieve.

[Ashkuri]

I heart my own scenes if I think the other person/people really knocked it out of the park to a degree that makes the scene not really about me.

I think the scenes most popularly hearted are easily accessible (not too long), reference other characters, and often funny/unique/drama/poignant in some way.

IMO it’s not really about whose RP is “best” so much as it is about something that’s a nugget of “ah that’s cool” in an easy to read way.

[Pavel]

I almost never heart. Not because I don’t like the scene or anything, I just don’t generally do that sort of thing. Same with upvoting posts on here, or liking stuff on social media. Tis just how I’m wired.

By that same token, I generally don’t read scenes I’m not in. It’s still weird to me to do so.

[YetiBeard]

I rarely heart my own scenes unless it is specifically about someone else’s story if that makes sense?

I am a big proponent of likes, becuase I enjoy interacting with other people’s story even if I’m not actively involved. I think it’s fun to see what resonanted with people on my own scenes and in other people’s scenes. I just recently pushed for this to be included on a game that had decided to hide them because I do enjoy that type of interaction so much. A big part of what keeps me sticky on a game is caring not just about my character’s story but others’ storylines as well and often times the likes is an indicator that something important or fun happened in a scene and it’s worth reading vs skimming.

I do get that this causes people to get twitchy about comparing likes and can make people view it as a how much people like them, enjoy their rp, etc. Personally I do enjoy the popular scene posts to highlight things I might have missed, but I get why that’s not a positive for some.

[Nilli]

@YetiBeard I agree with the general sentiment, but also think it’s more meaningful to just reach out to folks to say you liked a particular scene/thing? Which I know you also do, just noting that there’s always options other than hearts/comps/etc.

I’m ambivalent on hearts but do heart my own scenes, also more as a quiet way of signaling to my scene partner(s) that I appreciate them.

[KarmaBum]

@YetiBeard said in Really random Ares question:

I enjoy interacting with other people’s story even if I’m not actively involved.

Just something to try / challenge yourself (general YOU): In addition to leaving a heart, page someone to tell them you enjoyed their writing.

You might be surprised how much a little positive feedback encourages someone to keep writing.

[Pavel]

@KarmaBum said in Really random Ares question:

Just something to try / challenge yourself (general YOU): In addition to leaving a heart, page someone to tell them you enjoyed their writing.

( Please don’t page me randomly to tell me this. )

[bear_necessities]

@KarmaBum I always feel so giddy when someone gushes about a scene I was in, or comments on a pose I did. It is definitely encouraging!

[Omen]

@bear_necessities That was one of the ways we encouraged people to praise others in the absence of our heart system, but maybe that was also based on personal preference. @KarmaBum was one of the first people to really do this to me and it made a big difference in my confidence, more so than watching a heart counter tick up (or not).

[Third Eye]

I mean, I compliment people, both personally and when the system has it as an actual mechanic. I don’t think I’m particularly shy about saying I’ve enjoyed someone’s RP or what I’ve enjoyed about it.

I also heart scenes.

IDK that these things are mutually exclusive.

[KarmaBum]

@Third-Eye is why I said “in addition to…”

[YetiBeard]

@KarmaBum for sure. I really love comps for this reason too, even more than a page. A comp sticks around and also provides a fun reminder of the scene it’s referencing. Often my comps are just X line made me cry, laugh, both, etc.

[KarmaBum]

@YetiBeard I can dig it. I haven’t used the comps system, but it seems like the rough equivalent of p yeti=yo, that was awesome, ty for sharing!!

[tsar]

@YetiBeard said in Really random Ares question:

Often my comps are just X line made me cry, laugh, both, etc.

I feel perceived lol