Discussion: The City Scoop Issue 30
By
Dark_Respite,
Posted on: 2007-12-21 19:05 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
Have a happy holiday of your choice everyone! Thanks for your continued readership!
-Snow_Globe
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
Gratz, Dirtwolf.
And I like the "Developer incognito." Not making guesses...
Oh. And for anyone who doesn't get it, Graver is awesome. Bit of a wait (I think I was at about a year for this piece - with, what, 18 people in front of me at the time and his mentioned move somewhere in the middle?) but really, *really* worth it. (And you can see where you are in the queue, too.)
The art by Graver is spectacular.
Goodbye Marcian Tobay! We all will miss you as our Editor-in-Chief!
Good luck with the City Scoop minority staff though!
Good Scoop this week, and DANG was it HUGE!
Good job guys!
Zy
Another fine issue! Thanks for your work as Editor Marcian, and welcome Dirtwolf.
The only downside to this issue of City Scoop for me was having my quote in the Event Watch misattributed to that evil impostor Killobot5000! *shakes fist* My one shot at fame, dashed upon the rocks of similarity. I'm a sad monkey. 
Just kidding, kinda.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the City Scoop staffers and readers!
K5K - The Killbot 5000
A Spanner In The Works Part One, ArcID: 336662, A Spanner In The Works Part Two, ArcID: 336665, Enter Japes, ArcID: 96001
In The Darkness Creeping, ArcID: 347709, When Dimensions Collide, ArcID: 412416.
[ QUOTE ]
Another fine issue! Thanks for your work as Editor Marcian, and welcome Dirtwolf.
The only downside to this issue of City Scoop for me was having my quote in the Event Watch misattributed to that evil impostor Killobot5000! *shakes fist* My one shot at fame, dashed upon the rocks of similarity. I'm a sad monkey.
Just kidding, kinda.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the City Scoop staffers and readers!
[/ QUOTE ]
Two Killobots5000's? I always thought you were joking! Whoa. Sorry about that...
(I didn't have anything to do with that specific article, but I'm expressing my sympathies)
Also, you're welcome. 
No problemo. It's what ya get for being a batch-model fresh off the conveyor belt I guess. The 5000 model is very popular. If it helps tell us apart on the boards I'm The Killbot 5000. In game Killobot5000 courageously hangs in the PVP zones, I go to them with trepidation and a sense of impending doom. 
Keep up the good work on the Scoop!
K5K - The Killbot 5000
A Spanner In The Works Part One, ArcID: 336662, A Spanner In The Works Part Two, ArcID: 336665, Enter Japes, ArcID: 96001
In The Darkness Creeping, ArcID: 347709, When Dimensions Collide, ArcID: 412416.
...
Okay, I'm flattered, but, you put my drawing of Patty-Sue ivanova in when it had already been featured in a past Scoop.
Aaand that image of patty in her winter outfit leads to the larger image of Singularitee. *shrug*
But other than that, great issue... and like others said, big, too!
-STEELE =)
Allied to all sides so that no matter what, I'll come out on top!
Oh, and Crimson demands you play this arc-> Twisted Knives (MA Arc #397769)
Happy Holidays Everyone, see you all in the new year 
[ QUOTE ]
...
Okay, I'm flattered, but, you put my drawing of Patty-Sue ivanova in when it had already been featured in a past Scoop.
Aaand that image of patty in her winter outfit leads to the larger image of Singularitee. *shrug*
But other than that, great issue... and like others said, big, too!
[/ QUOTE ]
Let's just say it was a last minute replacement for another image.
I'll see if a fix can be put in place.
Edit:
Until then, here is the full size image of patty in her winter outfit.
Last edit:
The link has been fixed. Thanks Lighthouse!
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
Guys, I'm biting the hell out of my tongue right now.
As I sit here looking over the columns that almost always make it into the Scoop, the Horoscopes, the recipes, the Base Spotlight, the Behind the Mask, the Artist Spotlight... There's one that's painfully missing yet again: Belle's City Traveler column.
I am responsible for proofreading, editing, taking pictures for, formatting, and submitting the City Traveler column. On the surface, it looks like I've been doing a really crappy job. Belle's article has only been published in four of the last nine weeks, less than a 50% of the time. This is much more than an "oops, simple mistake." People have actually approached Belle and asked her when her next column will be published and where her column was in weeks past, and it's downright embarrassing.
For the record, I have not been laying down on the job. Here's a brief rundown on what has happened in the past nine weeks:
<ul type="square">[*]On October 26, the article ran, albeit with a misspelled title that was thankfully corrected.[*]On November 2, everything ran okay.[*]On November 9, even though I submitted the column on time, it just plain didn't run. When I asked about it, I was told, "it may have been overlooked."[*]On November 16, the column that was supposed to run on November 9 finally ran.[*]On November 23, there wasn't supposed to be an issue published according to a note in the previous issue. Because of that, I didn't submit the column that I had planned for that issue. To my surprise, an issue did in fact run on November 23, sans City Traveler, of course.[*]On November 30, there wasn't an issue published at all. I was told, "We'll run it next week."[*]On December 7, City Traveler was yet again not published for the third straight week. I wasn't really given an explanation why, I guess it was just overlooked again.[*]On December 14, the column that was written for November 23 was finally published. The significance of this is that the column was supposed to be timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Faultline renovation (November 28), but because of these repeated mistakes, the anniversary was missed by over two weeks.[*]I submitted the column for this week (December 21) around midnight Eastern on Wednesday. (Having been a former staff member of the City Scoop, I know this is by deadline, and I have personally witnessed many articles submitted after that deadline still make it in.) At noon the next day, I was told, "this will have to go into the next issue."[/list]In short, if you're wondering where Belle's column is this week, it's in the hands of the Scoop staff, as all of her others have been (or would have been, in the case of the Thanksgiving "surprise" issue), on time.
I think it's a good, well-written column that deserves a chance to be read, and Belle has gotten some great comments about it, for which she is very appreciative. She desperately tries her best to make Paragon City a fun and interesting place to be, and I've gone through extraordinary efforts to make sure that the City Traveler column is in before deadline and in a format that is extremely easy to publish.
I'm trying to decide what to do. On the one hand, I want to continue supporting the community, and especially Lighthouse and Ex Libris, who have invested a lot into the City Scoop project and who I have immense respect for as community representatives. On the other, I'm extremely tired and frustrated with the politics and randomness that is the City Scoop with no hope of things improving. As a reader, the Scoop may look interesting, but as a fan writer trying to get stuff published based on merit instead of who "nomnoms" on whose ankles in the staff forum, it's extremely demoralizing.
At any rate, I wanted to let everyone know why the City Traveler column has been missing so often. If you like the column, I would appreciate it if you would let the Scoop staff know that "overlooking" it like they have been is very uncool to any writer. Feel free to PM me or Belle with any comments, questions, or even criticisms of it.
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
Congrats Dirtwolf!
[ QUOTE ]
Another fine issue! Thanks for your work as Editor Marcian, and welcome Dirtwolf.
The only downside to this issue of City Scoop for me was having my quote in the Event Watch misattributed to that evil impostor Killobot5000! *shakes fist* My one shot at fame, dashed upon the rocks of similarity. I'm a sad monkey.
Just kidding, kinda.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the City Scoop staffers and readers!
[/ QUOTE ]
Oh crap. That was my mistake. I copy edited that article, and I just thought that it had gotten mistyped. My apologies.
[ QUOTE ]
Guys, I'm biting the hell out of my tongue right now.
As I sit here looking over the columns that almost always make it into the Scoop, the Horoscopes, the recipes, the Base Spotlight, the Behind the Mask, the Artist Spotlight... There's one that's painfully missing yet again: Belle's City Traveler column.
I am responsible for proofreading, editing, taking pictures for, formatting, and submitting the City Traveler column. On the surface, it looks like I've been doing a really crappy job. Belle's article has only been published in four of the last nine weeks, less than a 50% of the time. This is much more than an "oops, simple mistake." People have actually approached Belle and asked her when her next column will be published and where her column was in weeks past, and it's downright embarrassing.
For the record, I have not been laying down on the job. Here's a brief rundown on what has happened in the past nine weeks:
<ul type="square">[*]On October 26, the article ran, albeit with a misspelled title that was thankfully corrected.[*]On November 2, everything ran okay.[*]On November 9, even though I submitted the column on time, it just plain didn't run. When I asked about it, I was told, "it may have been overlooked."[*]On November 16, the column that was supposed to run on November 9 finally ran.[*]On November 23, there wasn't supposed to be an issue published according to a note in the previous issue. Because of that, I didn't submit the column that I had planned for that issue. To my surprise, an issue did in fact run on November 23, sans City Traveler, of course.[*]On November 30, there wasn't an issue published at all. I was told, "We'll run it next week."[*]On December 7, City Traveler was yet again not published for the third straight week. I wasn't really given an explanation why, I guess it was just overlooked again.[*]On December 14, the column that was written for November 23 was finally published. The significance of this is that the column was supposed to be timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Faultline renovation (November 28), but because of these repeated mistakes, the anniversary was missed by over two weeks.[*]I submitted the column for this week (December 21) around midnight Eastern on Wednesday. (Having been a former staff member of the City Scoop, I know this is by deadline, and I have personally witnessed many articles submitted after that deadline still make it in.) At noon the next day, I was told, "this will have to go into the next issue."[/list]In short, if you're wondering where Belle's column is this week, it's in the hands of the Scoop staff, as all of her others been (or would have been, in the case of the Thanksgiving "surprise" issue), on time.
I think it's a good, well-written column that deserves a chance to be read, and Belle has gotten some great comments about it, for which she is very appreciative. She desperately tries her best to make Paragon City a fun and interesting place to be, and I've gone through extraordinary efforts to make sure that the City Traveler column is in before deadline and in a format that is extremely easy to publish.
I'm trying to decide what to do. On the one hand, I want to continue supporting the community, and especially Lighthouse and Ex Libris, who have invested a lot into the City Scoop project and who I have immense respect for as community representatives. On the other, I'm extremely tired and frustrated with the politics and randomness that is the City Scoop with no hope of things improving. As a reader, the Scoop may look interesting, but as a fan writer trying to get stuff published based on merit instead of who "nomnoms" on whose ankles in the staff forum, it's extremely demoralizing.
At any rate, I wanted to let everyone know why the City Traveler column has been missing so often. If you like the column, I would appreciate it if you would let the Scoop staff know that "overlooking" it like they have been is very uncool to any writer. Feel free to PM me or Belle with any comments, questions, or even criticisms of it.
[/ QUOTE ]
Tony, I sent you a PM about this. I'm sorry that you're upset, but the article was submitted at a time that meant I got it on Thursday, and we already had more than enough articles. I believe the deadline is actually midnight CST, too, but I could be wrong there. That is my deadline, though, because I have to be in bed by midnight if I want to function the next day. That also gives me and Marty no time to copy edit. Articles are to be submitted on Wednesday with enough time for the copy editors to do their jobs.
If you had a problem with it, you should have responded as such in a PM instead of airing all of your complaints about the Scoop and its staff here. We are volunteers, and many of us have extremely hectic real lives. We cannot be expected to check our PMs every second of the day.
I have it bookmarked and ready to be proofed for our next issue. If you've changed your mind about submitting, please let me know. We certainly appreciate the work that goes into this article. I really enjoy them, and I find them to be well researched, written, and formatted.
I don't know what else to tell you other than I wish you had contacted me about this before rather than complaining about it here.
I'd like to thank all of you!
Tony, I apologize your article wasn't put in the Scoop. I can assure you that we really like the Taxibot Belle article. I'd really like it if you kept running it. One issue we've had recently is because of the 'authority' shift internally. I hope that we still see you submitting Taxibot Belle's article and that the recent mishaps don't discourage you from doing so.
Also: If you could possibly submit it to Pantsy or Marty earlier in the week *if at all possible*, that'd really help the process.
Wow Tony, instead of settling all that via PM's with the Scoop staff, you decide to blast them on the forums? And I thought I was petty...
"the reason there are so many sarcastic pvpers is we already had a better version of pvp taken away from us to appease bad players. Back then we chuckled at how bad players came here and whined. If we knew that was the actual voice devs would listen to instead of informed, educated players we probably would have been bigger dicks back then." -ConFlict
[ QUOTE ]
Oh crap. That was my mistake. I copy edited that article, and I just thought that it had gotten mistyped. My apologies.
[/ QUOTE ]
No worries! Enjoy the Holidays! 
K5K - The Killbot 5000
A Spanner In The Works Part One, ArcID: 336662, A Spanner In The Works Part Two, ArcID: 336665, Enter Japes, ArcID: 96001
In The Darkness Creeping, ArcID: 347709, When Dimensions Collide, ArcID: 412416.
FWIW Tony, the articles are enjoyable. Don't get discouraged.
Heck, it was a treat running into her in game (CTX Dreamer) and fighting one of the Winter Lords - while I didn't hop on to the tour, knowing where all the Faultline stuff is anyway, one of these days I just might for grins.
Just to be clear, I've sent several PMs about this specific issue over the months, both to the Scoop staff and to the community reps. Each time, I've gotten very apologetic responses, I've sometimes gotten assurances that weren't followed through on, and the problems continued. In my last PM when the column wasn't published on December 7, I even specifically mentioned that I was tempted to talk about this continuing problem publicly, but I didn't.
Believe me, I do not like airing stuff like this out. There is a lot more that I wanted to say in that post that I chose not to in the attempt to be as diplomatic as possible. The first time, I simply let them know, hoping it was just a glitch in the system. That was when I started submitting the article in the exact HTML format they use to publish stuff to make it as easy as possible, trying to be constructive in my efforts to make sure that the article was published.
Since then, with each PM, I tried to express that I was getting more and more frustrated. After more than two months, it's still going on. After the column wasn't published on December 7, I sent a PM saying that I was seriously questioning whether I'd ever submit another column again. I did anyway (at 11:16pm Central on Wednesday, Dec. 19, for the record), and here we are yet again, only two weeks later, the column still not being published.
You have to understand that this is not how I wanted to resolve this situation. I know that by posting this, I'm running just as great or greater risk of being attacked than of getting support. But I've tried everything I know to no avail, and as I said, it's really embarrassing when Belle has to explain to people, "I don't know where the column is, Tony submitted it and they just didn't run it." I feel like posting this was pretty much the only option I had left other than simply quitting altogether.
[ QUOTE ]
We are volunteers, and many of us have extremely hectic real lives. We cannot be expected to check our PMs every second of the day.
[/ QUOTE ]
I understand that, and if this were an isolated incident, believe me, I would not have said anything here. But I have to reiterate that five of the last nine weeks (four of the last eight published issues), Belle's column hasn't been published. After four of those, I sent PMs about it to the Scoop. (Not you specifically, but I don't like naming names, especially since I don't think the person I sent them to was responsible.) After two of those, I sent PMs to Lighthouse and Ex Libris, hoping they could say something to help resolve the situation. After this one, working with a completely different Scoop staff member, I'd just had enough. The "hectic life" explanation only works for so long, especially when this week's is the only deadline I've ever come close to missing and I've personally witnessed articles that weren't submitted until the day of publication make it in.
I think it's a little unfair to make my deadline earlier than everyone else's in order to be published, but if that's what it takes, I'll start having Belle's submissions in by midnight on Tuesdays. In return, I ask for some kind of assurance that you guys will make a more consistent and earnest effort to actually get it on the page. I never asked for perfection, but less than 50% for over two months is just plain unacceptable. If there's some editorial reason it can't be published such as issues being too long, let me know and we can make it a biweekly column or something.
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
This thread has taken a turn for the inappropriate.
Tony, please talk to me via PM and we can get this resolved because you have not yet spoken to me. I'd really like to clear this up and not let it become a major issue as it is now.
Good job again guys, another great issue!
Liked the new Developer Incognito, very interesting to read. If I were to make a guess...maybe War Witch?
Also enjoyed the Holiday Memories section, was cool to hear about someone else's traditions besides my own.
Keep up the good work!
I would love to tell you who that was for Incognito, but as part of the agreement for me to get it done, I have no knowledge of who it is. I am as clueless as you all are for it.
Shadowy Presence - Absolutely, positively worse than playing a Kheldian... --Myrmydon
*Mumbles something about Teldon's usual state*
<.<
Umm... thanks for the support everyone!
>.>
Please use this thread to discuss Issue 30 of the Player City Scoop!
Edition 30 of "The City Scoop!" a publication for Supers by Supers!
This edition has a lot of focus on the winter event, and will be the last of 2007, as everyone will be out of the office next week.
If you have any concerns regarding the content of the Scoop please feel free to direct your comments via PM to Lighthouse or Ex Libris.
If you would like to do a feature article, have an event covered, or join "The City Scoop" team please PM Lemur_Lad or Dirtwolf.
We have new Editor-In-Chief Assistants who will also be able to help you: Pants_Stealer and Snow_Globe (who would welcome puzzle submissions).
If you or someone you know should be considered for Behind the Mask Teldon or Encounters please contact MrsAlphaOne.
If you need some Advice contact Lady_Athyna or would like to Ask The X contact LiquidX.
Lighthouse
Community Relations Manager
If you have a specific in game, account, tech or billing problem please contact our Customer Support team via The Knowledge Base "Ask A Question" page.