URPG Stories Chat and Feedback

I would grade these. Whether they would pass would still probably depend on some of the standard URPG factors, and there would have to be substantial evidence that there was legitimate pokemon involvement and you didn't take one of your actually published articles and change some of the words to "machop".

...whether or not these grades would get overturned or not is still up to Hannah, though. xD

 

I don't take my published articles and use them for the URPG, I take my URPG articles and publish them

 

This is purely for my own convenience so pay it no heed. Unless you like this sort of a thing. *creepy wink*

Easiest:
Scatterbug

Simple:
Bunnelby, Fletchling, Spewpa, Dedenne

Medium:
Litleo, Flabebe, Pancham, Espurr, Spritzee, Swirlix, Binacle, Helioptile, Carbink, Phantump, Pumpkaboo, Bergmite

Hard:
Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Diggersby, Fletchinder, Vivillon, Floette, Skiddo, Furfrou, Meowstic, Inkay, Skrelp, Clauncher, Hawlucha, Klefki, Noibat

Complex:
Quilladin, Braixen, Frogadier, Pyroar, Gogoat, Pangoro, Honedge, Aromatisse, Slurpuff, Malamar, Barbaracle, Heliolisk, Tyrunt, Amaura, Goomy, Trevenant, Gourgeist, Avalugg, Noivern

Demanding:
Chesnaught, Delphox, Greninja, Talonflame, Florges, Doublade, Dragalge, Clawitzer, Tyrantrum, Aurorus, Sylveon, Sliggoo

Merciless:
Aegislash, Goodra

EDIT: I just really needed to categorize all gen 6 mons alone without the others gettin' in the way. Now my heart is at ease.

 

Hey, so I've actually been mulling this one over for a while.

Is there a particular reason why we say that every chapter/section/part/installment of a multi-part story must be able to stand on its own? I understand that each mini-story/installment (nouns are eluding me right now, sorry) should have it's own plot, climax, details, etc. and shouldn't just be filler, and each story should be entertaining on it's own, but I kind of see a distinction between "entertaining" and "stand-alone." Longer stories have more room for character development/relationship building/nefarious plots on plots on plots, and, for the sake of overarching storylines, it's difficult to write the precursors of some of these things in without nerfing the surprise factor of later events.

For instance, I wouldn't expect to be able to pick up the fifth book of, say, Harry Potter and understand the history of anything and everything ever from that universe, let alone a very obvious explanation about who this Voldemort guy is that everyone's making a fuss about. (Or, for that matter, I wouldn't expect to be able to flip to a random chapter in any book and make sense of what's going on)

I get that we don't want to saddle our graders with THERE ARE FIFTY CHAPTERS BEFORE THIS AND YOU HAVE TO READ THEM ALL TO UNDERSTAND ME HA! syndrome, but would providing brief summaries before each chapter suffice?

IDK NOW I'M JUST KIND OF RAMBLING 'CAUSE THERE'S, LIKE, MAYBE TWO PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY DO INSTALLMENT STORIES AROUND HERE ;-;

 

Installments have always been difficult to really develop within URPG. While some of the issue resides in the knowledge of the series (which, as you suggested, can be easily remedied by a summary before the installment), another issue rises regarding the overarching plot versus the plot of the individual installment. Typically, graders are trained to grade the story just off of the individual because that's how the story system was built. The captures of each installment should be based off what happens in the story, not necessarily how it relates to the rest of the installments.

Huh everything I just said was confusing. Well, I guess I'll continue with your example of Harry Potter. The thing we're looking for is more based off the individual books rather than the chapters. The books have their own individual plots that are resolved within the text, but they also hold overarching plots that are resolved throughout multiple installments. This is ideal for a multiple-installment series in URPG. However, if we were to operate off of chapters, they would be far less complete than otherwise. While a chapter in the novel might have immeasurable importance to the plot, it might be incredibly weak by itself. Seeing as its the grader's "duty" to work with what is presented to them, they would have to face a difficult decision that would probably end in a failure.

Maybe I should use another example, one more relevant to URPG. I'm not sure if you read Embreon's monster of a story, but she split it up into chapters within the individual story. Had you taken any one of these chapters and published them alone (with a few exceptions perhaps), I can almost guarantee that they would fail. However, because they were presented together in one piece for a grader to grade, one of the most successful URPG stories was passed with flying colors.

Again, I love love love it when people pull off installments correctly. They develop fantastic plots that surpass the standard expectations of URPG stories. However, due to the nature of the grader's job, the installments have to be sorta independent if they want to be passed. Think book in a series, not chapters of a book.

Oh, book figuratively. You don't have to be writing novels for each installment - slice of life and similar small yet independent pieces work just as well. Or take Emma's route and publish one mega story!!!

 

Wasn't sure which approach to take, so I ended up taking both chapter in book/book in series. I prefer the second one, though, so glad it works out that way. xD

I'm more concerned about the idea that, for an installment story, we're told that the introduction needs to somewhat recap what happens before/you should be able to read each installment entirely in isolation.

UGH I THINK I'M DEBATING SEMANTICS AT THIS POINT BUT IDK.

Like, while the fifth book in a series should be enjoyable on its own, I shouldn't be able to read it with the same understanding if I'd read the preceding books or not. I might have a vague idea of character relationships or things that happened before, but the experience shouldn't be the same. Reading that Snape was actually a good guy would've have absolutely zero impact had I not spent the previous six books disliking him (and the interim between the end of the sixth and the end of the seventh loathing him for [spoilers]). Simply put, his redemption would've felt like asspull rather than a really, really touching scene had I decided to jump straight into the final book.

Although, the alternative is forcing graders to read the rest of the story (if we argue that summaries don't do much justice either, which they wouldn't in this case my god what have I done ._.), so I guess there's no real way to win, and the current system offers the best approach.

But understood, Captain. ^^

also yessssshhh emma <3 <3 <3

 

Don't worry too much about it. Good graders will understand that they are only getting a slice of the metaphorical pie when they choose to read/grade just one chapter of a longer piece. And believe me, your summary does not need to be long or detailed, just give out the bare-bones facts and we'll be good.

As an example, all I really need is the name and quest of the main character, and perhaps a description of any other characters that will be relevant in the oncoming chapter. Most of us will get the idea of basic plot and whatnot by inference, or we'll at least be able to ignore anything we didn't understand once it comes to the grade (if we felt that it had probably been explained before, of course). If you get a relatively new grader or just reach a chapter where context is really important, you can VM them with some warnings/recommended reading of a select few other chapters that will help them understand.

Actually, for your story I would just put a note somewhere that tells every future grader to read the first chapter and then get to grading whatever it is they're doing, since even if I had just read the first part I would've understood most of what I needed to know. But anyway, you can experiment a little and see what works/doesn't work for graders over time and change things up according to our complaints lol.

 

Reminder - Graders, if you are grading stories posted in the WWC, please delete your grades after grading them and PM them to the author as well. This helps prevent biases against the story from voters and keeps the reader's opinions unswayed by the grade. Anybody doing wages will be able to see the grades even after the deletion, and a PM allows the authors to get their feedback without interfering with voting. Thanks!

 

Popping in randomly to comment on this old "installments story" thing real quick, because I do plan on eventually picking Continuum back up.

I'm assuming the way things in MotM were done is all right and that if I keep that forumla for this, everything should work out nicely. Each chapter had its own subplot that was worked out, and each chapter also helped carry the story overall forward. I also added nice summaries of the previous chapters so Graders who weren't up-to-date on the whole thing didn't have to mess with reading however much was before whatever chapter they were Grading.

As far as anyone wanting to look at the story and see how it was presented, sadly the completed story was lost when PE2K went offline. I have the whole thing saved to a flash drive, but I do have the first four chapters (I believe) posted here that I could direct people to if they wanted to see. I'll probably eventually get around to posting the rest of it here so the complete story is posted somewhere.

 

Looking for someone to help me look over my story. I just want any opinions, questions on things that may have confused you or whatever you can give to help me out. Haven't written anything in like two years and just want some input :]

 

Shoot me a PM ^^ I'd love to help out.

 

Is there any way my story pass can stay the way it was when I got it? I spent 16k to get it in an auction back when they were rare. Now you can get them for 10k in the gift station.

Just feel robbed of its rarity =D

 

Meaning where they take off 10% of the minimum character requirement? I would have to say no, your story pass should be updated to the current one. It keeps the system more clean, and the updated story passes are better in almost all ways imaginable. If I'm misunderstanding what you're asking though, feel free to argue your point.

 

When I got it, it was worth 20% off the character requirement required. That just seemed so good because it would save me a lot of work for a long story. Taking a rank off, really won't do much for a long story. It's nice if you are writing for one or two mons that you want lowered in difficulty, but the old one just works way better for a ton of mons, because you can make the entire process easier on yourself.

I don't know. I just don't like the idea that I spent a bunch of my hard-earned money on this rare thing when I was a noob, and suddenly everyone can have them much cheaper than I got it for. Had I known, I would have instead spent my money on something actually useful like the Feebas that went up for auction. Just seems like little kid Neon got swindled.

 

The thing is though, those story passes are actually kinda detrimental to your story. As I've said earlier:

Admittedly, yes, the rarity of story passes is kind of lame. They're hardly rare now, but they are also more useful. The decision now is between sell them at gift stations/other common events (decreasing their value and rarity) or they're handing them out only at special events like auctions (increasing their value and rarity). While I see both sides to the argument, I personally think it's better to have them used more frequently rather than less frequently. They encourage more writing and have few negative drawbacks, so while I'm with you that they're very easily accessible, I think it's better than the opposite.

And sorry about that, little kid Neon. Didn't mean for you to get swindled, and I'm sure that some people got those story passes for more/less money, but by establishing one system that has the best benefits, it seems like the best option.

 

So, I have two Story Passes and am in need of EMs. Anyone need some Story Deals? :3 I can write pretty much everything, and I haven't got any sort of captures planned for future chapters of My Little Pokmon yet. And if you need a Story Deal and I've used my Passes (which I prob won't use them on anything below Hard or Complex), I can probably still work something out with you n_n.

>Royal Canterlot Voice activate<​

PREPARE THINE WALLETS, KNAVES...ER I MEAN...GOOD FRIENDS!

Oh, by the way...don't listen to Ely if she goes around saying her WWC is gross and stuff. It's epic and I thought it was awesome and everyone else better agree!

 

Do characters needed in pokemon we don't hate include spaces or no?

 

Yup, they do include spaces.

 

Sweeeeet
Much similar, thanks!

 

What is this, I've only gotten two takers for Story Deals after all this time? C'mon people, step it up! I'm sure there're people out there too lazy to write for their own Pokemon busy to obtain new Pokemon! I have two continuing stories I'm working on and no captures planned for either so far. DON'T MAKE ME START HUNTING YOU PEOPLE DOWN.