NEWS -- September 2011 Updates
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News & Updates - September 2011

Absentee Forum and Topic

We've updated the Absentee List policy. Members, now you only need to post in the Absentee list if you'll be away a minimum of seven (7) days. If you are going to be away for any less time, you can let everyone know by posting in the Absences forum or updating your signature!


The Absences and Player Updates forum has also been updated with a quick blurb that we hope will help folks when they try to figure out what to do when they go away!


RP Guide Updates
  • The Horse Guide was updated and revamped considerably with all sorts of helpful new information. Horses have become ubiquitous pets in 'Souls -- make sure you read this guide to adhere to realism! Special thanks to Katie D. and Mel for assistance and suggestions with the guide's information!
  • We've introduced a Realism Guide to help players evaluate the realistic possibility of their plots and ideas. We strongly encourage all members to give this guide a read-through!

Joining Page Updates

We've updated our Joining Page, reformatting it and emphasizing a few points newcomers often seem confused about. We've also reformatted the Joining forum's introduction with similar points in mind. Hopefully, this will clarify things with newcomers here at 'Souls! Smile


Moderator Review

We've conducted a review of both the Mentors and the Moderators of 'Souls. Congratulations to Meghann, who has been promoted to Junior Moderator! All of our Moderators have been doing a great job lately, however, and we'd like to thank them for the hard work! 'Souls has gotten to be a bigger community as of late, and we've had our rough patches, but thanks to the vigilance and diligence of the entire Moderator team, we've continued being awesome and will keep it up indefinitely!


All Welcome Thread Reminder

Please remember that if an all welcome thread already has a few replies and seems to be well-underway, it's polite to PM the thread starter and ask if you can still jump in. You can check our guide on Roleplaying Etiquette for more helpful hints on how to be a polite and courteous role-player!


Catacombs

Since our members are just so freaking awesome, we've created some new Catacombs for you to collect! We hope you like them and happy hunting! Smile Additionally, we have fleshed out the rules and regulations for the Catacombs. We still hope to use an honors system to monitor these skulls; however, we hope that these stipulations help clarify the collection of Catacombs.


Auxiliary Character Requests

We approved seven auxiliary character requests and denied two. Keep up the good work, guys!


Ichika no Ho-en Map Expansion

Holy Cow! Ichika has gotten pretty big! As a result, the map has been updated to reflect their new land claim.


New Skin!

Our new default skin is a dark themed skin, "As the Heavens Fall." It's dark backgrounds and light text, something we don't see too frequently at 'Souls. We also have a new light themed skin, "Just Like the Wolf." It's slathered in Georgia and should hopefully appease those of you desiring something lighter in coloration! Both skins are orange in celebration of fall and Halloween! Both also use our new wide-version 'Souls, and both are sans the dreaded signature line. Wink


Spotlight & Community Souls

Congratulations to Marie, winner of Spotlight Soul for September 2011 as Aeron Ganesa! There is no elected Community Soul for this month. For more information, check out the Community/Spotlight Soul thread!


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Member Complaints

Recently, the 'SA has received member complaints regarding denied auxiliary character and puppy requests, as well as complaints regarding realism. We would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone that it is your responsibility as a player to double-check and ensure your plots, characters, and so forth are in accordance with 'Souls realism, rules, and procedures. Additionally, it is your responsibility as a player to ensure your activity is sufficient prior to requesting things dependent on your activity.


In the interest of fairness to all players at 'Souls, the Assemblage adheres strictly to the game rules and procedures. When we evaluate a request of any sort, we must ensure it complies with rules, procedures, and precedents. If it does not, the request must be denied unless we are willing to make the same exception for all players in similar situations. Therefore, we avoid exceptions and exemptions except in special, noted circumstances: for example, the Puppies procedure 2A, wherein a player with numerous characters can apply for a fourth puppy point.


Mentorship Complaints

Additionally, we have received vague complaints regarding the Mentorship and its conduct: we must encourage players to come directly to us with their issues. If a mentor has handled you in a disparaging or deriding manner, we STRONGLY encourage you to contact us with your complaint and let us know exactly what's going on. Receiving a few off-hand remarks and an extremely vague Formspring question doesn't make us privy to the actual problem: if we know nothing of the issue, we can't address it! Sad


We have also received complaints about a general lack of activity in the Mentorship forum; these complaints are being addressed with our Mentorship review, as well as the release of a new Mentorship handbook. Hopefully, the Mentorship team can be rejuvenated with these things!


In Summary

In closing: if you feel a any member, moderator, administrator, or Mentor has treated you unfairly, we strongly encourage you to contact a member of the 'SA. If it is an administrator that has wronged you, send a PM to the personal account of a different administrator. If a moderator spoke unkindly to you in the chat, copy a log of the chat and send it to the 'SA.


However, please do not whine publicly or otherwise engage in behaviour that will cause drama. You are, of course, free to say what you'd like to your friends and to complain in private journals or other private venues. But please remember that causing drama is against the rules, and that badmouthing issues in the public chat, posting about it in Open Letters or elsewhere in the OOC Garbage, or otherwise complaining openly is more or less guaranteed to start drama and can incur negative consequences for the involved players.


Once again, we implore you to come to the 'SA with your issues, problems, and concerns. We are here ensure that 'Souls is a fair and enjoyable roleplaying environment for everyone, but we can't fix problems if we don't know about them! Thanks in advance.

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