'Souls Success

(redirected from Souls.SoulsGuide)

Wondering how you can contribute? Look no further! You want to give back to 'Souls, there are many ways you can help us out! 'Souls definitely appreciate the hard work the members put into this site -- after all, without the strong, friendly membership base we have, there wouldn't be much of a roleplaying site at all!

1.  Suggestions!

1.1  New Features

Any suggestions you have are always welcome! We like hearing feedback about the way the game operates, what you like, what could be better, and how we can make your roleplaying experience more enjoyable. If you are not comfortable submitting your idea in the Requests and Suggestions forum, you can always submit privately via the Tumblr.

We don't use every suggestion we receive, unfortunately -- 'Souls has been running nearly a decade at this point, and it's probable similar suggestions to yours have previously been reviewed by the 'SA. Other suggestions may be too complicated to implement. However, we do still appreciate each suggestion we receive!

1.2  Corrections and Game Information

Reading over our information (the Roleplay Information forum, the FAQ, the RP Guide, the Wiki Guidelines, and any of the other billion information things the 'Souls Assemblage cares for) for typos and spelling mistakes, broken links, missing images, or any other "oopsies" is extremely helpful. Any mistakes you find can be posted to the Maintenance Thread.

2.  Questions and Help Forum

All members are welcome to participate in the Questions and Help forum and respond to discussion regarding characters, species, and so forth. Roleplay-related discussions are welcome, too! Feel free to start polls regarding roleplay preferences (e.g., how fast you like your participants to reply), character species, or other roleplay-related topics.

If you have something to share, feel free! This forum is made awesome with the perspectives and contributions of many different members, so your voice is absolutely welcome here.

3.  Wiki Updates

You can always, always help with the 'Souls Wiki. Areas to focus on include:

  • Most importantly, help us keep the Wiki Guidelines up to date. You won't be able to update the Guidelines yourself, as they're in a locked-off area. You can post in the Wiki Collaboration forum or PM a staff member.
    • Do all of the guidelines seem clear? Are there any areas of confusion?
    • Do all of the guidelines make sense? Are they up to date?
    • Is there anything we can do better?
  • Recent IC history. Anyone can add to this part of the Wiki, of course -- it's especially helpful if you grab important pack threads, plots, births, deaths, and other juicy events for the history section.
  • The board announcements should be reflected onto the Wiki, and the 'SA is bad and doesn't always do this. 8C Anything you can do to help us out here is awesome!
  • OOC history is great! Any big changes to the board can be noted here.
  • Basically... anything you can add onto the Wiki is good! The Wiki is meant to be edited by all members of 'Souls, and whatever assistance you can give us in expanding this resource is extremely useful.

4.  Advertisements & Promotion

Promotional work is much appreciated and always needed. This is a big part of where we draw members from, of course!

  • If you're looking for something to do, you can hit a few different roleplaying games with our advertisements.
  • Remember to wear pride banners everywhere you can!
  • Link to 'Souls where you can. For example, if you upload an image of a character to deviantART, link to 'Souls deviantART group as well as the main game pages. If you're a member of other forums, add a link to 'Souls in your signature, if it's okay by their rules!
  • Promote the Topsites voting and remember to vote!
  • Check the Advertising section out for even more ways you can help!

5.  Help and Welcome New Members!

Make new people feel welcome! Although some mods may welcome new members, do not be afraid to do your part! You can do many things to help newcomers feel welcome at 'Souls. The awesome part is, you can do all this stuff for old members, too, and they'll feel awesome as well!

5.1  Out of Character (Community)

  • Contribute and post OOC discussion! It's especially important to pay attention to threads posted by newcomers -- make them feel welcome, please! Introduce yourself and offer help if they seem to need it (or even if they don't -- you can simply suggest or link to 'Souls features that you enjoy).
  • Responding to Graphics Requests -- alternatively, you can offer gifts outright! Everyone could use an avatar or a signature. Note that not everyone is familiar with HTML and fancy code, so you may want to shy away from that sort of thing unless you know for sure they'd like it!

5.2  In Character (Roleplay)

  • Respond to newcomers' Thread Requests as well as their Open Threads. Even if you can't give them a thread, you can still suggest some open threads for them to nab or even direct them toward characters who may be of interest to them.
  • Plot with them! You could Private Message a newcomer -- this would be a very good method of making them feel welcome, as you are specifically seeking out that person. Read over their profile first to get an idea of their character, and see if anything sparks your character's plots or interests!

6.  How to Become a Moderator?

  • [W]e highly prefer to add to staff based on qualifications assessed over a long period of time, rather than adding based on short-term need. So, no, we're not necessarily looking to expand our staff at this precise moment, but we're not not keeping an eye out for future considerations either. :O (Source)
  • Moderator Interns are picked by the SA. We're generally always on the lookout for people we think may be suitable for modship, rather than looking only when we need help. (Source)

6.1  Helpfulness

Generally, we're on the look-out for helpful people. Important, too, is a good attitude. Being welcoming toward newcomers, helping your fellow ‘Soulsters out (especially in the Help and Questions forum -- fulfilling graphics requests, code requests, etc. is not a part of moderator duties), and helping the board operate smoothly are all good qualities for a moderator. Pointing out mistakes, errors, and oopses in the Maintenance thread is always helpful. Updating the Wiki, too, is a helpful thing to do.

6.2  Attitude

As for what we're not looking for... if you've had issues in the past with being respectful to others, or other disciplinary issues -- it generally takes a few years of good behavior before we'd consider you for a moderator position. If you've ever had severe issues with other players or the community, it's unlikely you'll be considered for a moderator position at all (though we hesitate to make a broad and exacting statement, it is a likely truth).

6.3  Understanding Game Procedure

Unfortunately -- even if you're behaviorally stellar and a very nice person, if you've had minor misunderstandings with procedure in the recent past, you are not likely to be considered. This seems especially harsh, but it's important to remember that moderators are meant to help others with the 'Souls community -- be it understanding the way the game is played, the rules, or what can and can't be done. For you to be effective in helping other members of the community, you need to have an extremely solid understanding of the game yourself.

If you said one thing wrong once, stop worrying! You are probably the only one who remembers this occurrence. ;) Same goes if you said two things wrong three months apart -- everyone makes mistakes and we are not looking for perfection from our mod team. That said, though... if you have repetitive issues understanding the procedures (e.g., answering a question wrongly or making a procedural mis-comment), it may be a situation where we’d hesitate to consider you for the mod team. This is true even if it what you do is not actually in violation of the procedures (e.g., joining with a secondary too early).

Repetitive issues in understanding game procedure indicates to us that you need more time understanding the procedures and rules of the game before we throw the 15-post Moderator handbook at you. :)

6.4  Activity

Additionally, if you're not very active (i.e., on the board at least once every few days) or if you're not very "sticky" (i.e., you leave for a few months every few months) there's little chance of being considered for a moderator position. Flakiness and inactivity aren't qualities we'd like to see among the moderation team.

6.5  Asking for Moderator Powers?

So, too -- we've always been apprehensive about those who ask outright for moderator positions. It's one thing to ask for responsibilities (i.e., ‘SA, is there anything I can do to help?) and another entirely to ask for powers (i.e., ‘SA, can I be a moderator?).

6.6  Summary

In short:

  • Be helpful and assist the smooth operation of the game (by not causing trouble, and by pointing out errors/mistakes).
  • Don't be a jerk.
  • Have a strong understanding of the game's rules, procedures, setting, and other relevant information.
  • Be active, and be consistent in your activity.
  • Ask for responsibility, not power.

7.  Help Your Pack Leaders

See the Packmember Guide.

8.  Member Tips

Members: Feel free to add your own tips, however brief, here! Remember, you can sign your tip with four tildes (~)

  • Always be friendly and courteous to other people Shawchert March 05, 2011, at 08:07 PM EST