Discussion: June 8, 2007 The City Scoop!
By
Bland,
Posted on: 2007-06-08 11:52 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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It's a public health concern. He's a registered carrier of cooties.
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Ohhhhhh- OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Can I have some?!! Gimme gimme gimme!!!!
wait.................that says "cooties" oh.............
I thought it said "cookies"
crap.....................
All joking aside- humble suggestion for those who want to contribute to the City Scoop, a guide would be helpful (not that you guys don't do enough- HAH- just DO MORE!!) and also word count and colum length requirements would be helpful too.
Unless I missed something (this doesn't exist)- I have an idea for an on/off colum but I am wary of how much space there would be vs. time requirements and stuff....
Thanx!!
"I'm not scared of anyone or anything Angie. Isn't that the way life should be?"
Jack Hawksmoor, The Authority.
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I keep forgetting that only in my fictional utopia of internet community do character and consideration bear greater significance than explicit regulations.
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All of the City Scoop players are volunteers. We are not employees of Cryptic or NCSoft and we are not reimbursed in any monetary way, or with in-game or game-related loot. Our behavior is neither better nor worse than the average literate Internet forum-goer. We have no magic powers; we cannot delete posts or discipline other forumites. You'll note that Ex Libris and Lighthouse post our HTML for us, too.
I believe many of us expressed uncertainty at being asked to participate, largely on the grounds of our sometimes controversial opinions and stubborn positions on certain aspects of the game. We saw what happened with the PVP Event Committee and the board inflammation therefrom.
But heck, we were selected because we like to build community, not because we're perfect and professional and completely without bias. We are a fan-based publication, not an official Cryptic/NCSoft mouthpiece. The rednames do not tell us what to post; they do not edit our columns unless they notice a factual error; they have not exercised any final say on layout though, as moderators, I assume that they would edit anything truly objectionable.
You'd probably be very surprised how much we do consider character when we try to bring new people on board the City Scoop. We debate personalities, we ask what a person can bring to the table. We comb through someone's previous posts. We want people who are knowledgeable, team-friendly, and unafraid of work. What we don't do is exclude people because they have an opinion opinions shouldn't be suppressed.
We're just a group of fans, like any other. We produce a game newsletter that is no better or worse than the average fan-based publication. The only difference, the one tangible difference, is that we are paying customers building a community here on the forums. That makes us much, much more constrained in our content than an off-site fansite. We must obey the Forum Guidelines and EULA while we are here.
If you think someone in the City Scoop is unprofessional, I'm sorry. If you think somebody on the City Scoop is breaking forum rules, report the post to a moderator.
The real shame is that off-site fan forums don't have to obey any rules of decency and etiquette at all. If you want to go trawling for rude players, the lawless Internet would be a better place to start than the moderated forums here.
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All joking aside- humble suggestion for those who want to contribute to the City Scoop, a guide would be helpful (not that you guys don't do enough- HAH- just DO MORE!!) and also word count and colum length requirements would be helpful too.
Unless I missed something (this doesn't exist)- I have an idea for an on/off colum but I am wary of how much space there would be vs. time requirements and stuff....
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A guide to City Scoop submissions is an excellent idea. I'll try to start an egg rolling on that in our private discussions and see what hatches.
In the meantime, until we get an official Guide, consider this unofficial Hertz Guidelines.
1. No grandstanding. We're not trying to play favorites to any one person or supergroup, or focus exclusively on a single server. This is meant to be a publication by the fans, about the fans, so we want to fairly represent everyone. (But we're not perfect... So if you think something isn't being covered enough, tell us! Or write something up yourself.)
2. No soapboxing. We're not here to editorialize or rant about anything. When I interview I try to get differing opinions. Some people like certain changes and some don't. Even though I don't personally like every aspect of the game's economy, I can still fairly present the opinions of people who do.
3. Make it clean and presentable. Just give us the text, don't stick in your own HTML or UBB code. Proofread it yourself, or get a friend to help you. We can't promise to consult you on every single edit we must make, so if you send something that has lots of spelling errors and funky grammar, don't be surprised if someone on the Scoop cuts it down to size before it hits the press. It's your article, so pretty it up before you shoot it our way.
4. Friday is our publication day, but we have our stories done by Wednesday so Thursday we can do layout. If you have something timely to report, like a Hamidon raid or a Task Force, then get it in early in the week.
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All joking aside- humble suggestion for those who want to contribute to the City Scoop, a guide would be helpful (not that you guys don't do enough- HAH- just DO MORE!!) and also word count and colum length requirements would be helpful too.
Unless I missed something (this doesn't exist)- I have an idea for an on/off colum but I am wary of how much space there would be vs. time requirements and stuff....
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Well you may notice that the bottoms do get a little jagged. Its mainly because we haven't had any word count or length requirement thus far. Its been up to me to space it all out and try to make it look nice, sliding in pictures and such to help fill in the dead space. 
The thing about an online journal is that you don't really need to have space limitations.
Well, as long as whatever is being written is actually interesting, of course. 
This is the first I have had time to actually read through and it was quite good. As a tanker I was very pleased to see Aett get his due for all the work he has done on our behalf.
If I wanted to submit a recipe to whom would I submit it.
Great work folks!
Recipes would be sent to LadyK via forum PM
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
Excellent work on the City Scoop everybody. Very well done!
Very interesting. I enjoyed reading the City Scoop and will have to keep my eye out for future issues. It has a good layout, is easy to read, and is both fun and informative. I will agree that the Crossword Puzzle was fairly simple, but I've been playing since launch and hit the forums on a regular basis.
One thing I wouldn't mind seeing is a Strategy section, maybe call it a Survival Guide. Perhaps pick a random enemy, state their strengths and weaknesses, their powers, and different approaches to the situation. One could tackle issues such as Boss fights (How do I solo a Master Illusionist), Faction strategies (Argh! Ink Men and Sorcerers), and specific encounters (Help! Elite Boss!). All as told by veterans* of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. (*Not a veteran player per se, but by a character(s) that has been around and knows the ins and outs of the different factions and encounters out there. Someone who recalls old battles and tries to help the newer generation of Heroes/Villains. Kind of like a cross between Steve Irwin and Bear Grylls.)
Nonetheless, keep up the great work. This is one of the greater tools to help build the community, and I have seen a number of posts in this thread that were a posters first post. Great job to all those involved!
Cyclone Jack
-= idspispopd =-
[size=1]Arc ID: 3155 - Project Prometheus (Seeking Feedback, now with less invalidation)[/size]
Great idea, Cyclone_Jack. We're hammering on it right now, investigating various ways we might make it work.
A round-table discussion from various archetypes would be one way. You do different things as a Blaster than as a Controller or as a Mastermind.
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Not to be a spoil sport or anything, but how is Joseph Michael Linsner going to react about his character Dawn being used for Athy's picture?
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Most all images are hosted by Photobucket (which seems odd to me) so it would probably have to be taken up with them, actually.
You guys are doing a really nice job with this. Very nice 
Sweet, I got in! Thanks Athy!
Should we start asking more questions now?
Hell, I'd love to write some kind of article myself...
Go for it! We'd love to have material from lots of different fans, on every game-related subject.
Did you have any particular idea in mind? Toss a few thoughts our way, either to me or Marcian_Tobay.
Great job here guys.
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[...] while some opinions have been expressed there has been no factual misnomers.
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I keep forgetting that only in my fictional utopia of internet community do character and consideration bear greater significance than explicit regulations.