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Thread Games / The 3 word story game - Round 1

« on: October 11, 2009, 08:52:51 pm »

The rules are simple.

1. Post the next 3 words of the story.
2. Do not post twice in a row.
3. If it's near the end of the time, try to move it towards something resembling an ending.

This thread will run until the end of the year, then I'll start up a new one (this way we won't get the 100something page thread we got last time, where no one actually wanted to list the final story.)

=============================================================================
I'll start the story with...

Ever since I

572

Spam Factory & Containment Facility / About this forum

« on: October 11, 2009, 07:35:55 am »

This is both the dumping ground for spam that gets posted elsewhere, and a place where you can feel free to post spam directly.

Moderation is, obviously, extremely loose in here, as we don't care if you make utterly pointless threads - that's kinda the point of having a spam forum.

We don't care if you double post (or 30x post). We don't care if you post gibberish.

If you want to test BBCode, this is a good place to do it.

If you want to plug a site, go for it.

If you want to spam a recruiting link for one of Those Webgames, fine... just make sure it's in this forum.

If you want to make a counting thread, or something similarly mindless, go right ahead.

Please note that flaming, trolling, etc, WILL still be dealt with (although you may have to report them, as again, the mods don't exactly check this place regularly).

573

Feedback & Bug Reports / Please read before posting feedback

« on: October 11, 2009, 07:24:22 am »

Feedback is welcome, whether it's praising a change, or frankly telling us that something sucks.

The key is to be descriptive and constructive. If you feel something sucks, go ahead and say it, but tell us WHY it sucks, and if you have a suggested way to make it not suck, that too.

574

Feedback & Bug Reports / Please read before reporting a bug or typo

« on: October 11, 2009, 07:21:44 am »

Please let us know about any bugs you find, as well as any other errors - even if it's just a typo. Here's a few things to help get the issue fixed ASAP:

Be clear about exactly where the error or bug occurs.
Good example #1: On the main page for (whatever), the last sentence has an extra "the" in it.
Good example #2: If you use use (skill name) followed by (item name), you get a weird decimal number of chaos credits.
Bad example #1: You forgot a period in that 12 page FAQ you wrote.
Bad example #2: ZOMGITLOGGEDMEOUTFORNOREASON!

In good example #1, we know exactly where the error is, and can fix it in minutes.
In good example #2, we know how to reproduce the bug, and should be able to track down the error in a reasonable amount of time.
In bad example #1, it could take hours to find where that period should be, if we find it at all.
In bad example #2, we have no idea where it dumped your login, or what you were doing at the time. We don't even know for sure that there even is something we need to fix, as opposed to say... you hitting a script as the server rebooted, or your security software eating your session cookie.

If you get an error message, please post it.
Sometimes it'll only give a general idea of what went wrong, but some error messages (to a programmer) are quite obvious, and are specific down to the exact function that's bugged... sometimes even the exact line of code. Even the more cryptic ones give us SOME idea of what failed, and can help narrow down the possibilities.

Try to repeat the error.
This is for 2 reasons - it ensures it wasn't just a fluke ('net connections cutting out for a few seconds can cause all sorts of weird issues, as can things like having the bad luck of trying something right as we reboot the server), and it lets you tell us how to trigger the bug, which makes it much easier to track down where the problem is.

Don't ridiculously overexploit things.
If you find a way to dupe items, get free chaos credits, etc, then test it a few times to make sure you know how to reliably do it, but then report it, along with what you got as a result of your tests. Try to do as little damage to the system as possible when testing - if you spawn credits for instance, don't spend them.

Don't flame.
Yes, stuff breaks. Yes, sometimes RL prevents us from fixing a bug the day it's discovered. It happens. Screaming and ranting isn't helping it get fixed, IS making you look like an ass, and is forcing us to read around the swearing to even see what the problem is... if you even bothered to describe it. This helps no one, yourself included.

575

Off Topic / Welcome to OT

« on: October 11, 2009, 07:01:02 am »

This forum is for discussion of well... basically anything we don't have a forum for. Silly threads are both welcome and encouraged, as well as discussion of pretty much anything.

Please note that your thread must have SOME form of conversational value. If you're making a COMPLETELY pointless thread, a counting thread, or doing something like plugging your site, please post that to spam instead.

Also, the forum rules still apply. Not having a topic is not a license to be an asshat.

576

Serious Discussions and Debates / Please read this before you post here.

« on: October 11, 2009, 06:52:11 am »

Welcome to the serious discussions and debates forum.

You're welcome to start a discussion or a debate on pretty much any topic - politics and spiritual stuff tend to come up most often, but anything is allowed.

Because these sorts of threads have a nasty habit of turning into flamewars instead of discussions or debates, we are more strict in moderating this forum than we are elsewhere on this site.

Please follow these ground rules:
1. Attack the idea, not the person.
2. If someone creates a topic that's dependent on assumptions, accept the assumption for the sake of discussion. For instance, if the topic is "assuming aliens were to land on Earth, what kind of welcome would you expect them to receive and why?", then don't argue about whether or not aliens exist and whether it'd even be possible for them to get here - although both of those are perfectly fine topics for their own threads.
3. Discussing whether something should be legal is welcome, telling people how to break the law is not. For example, feel free to argue the case for legalization of marijuana... but don't point people to dealers.
4. Flaming isn't acceptable. Period. If you're about to make a post in anger, save a draft, wait 10 minutes, then come back and edit it when you're calmer. Not only will you avoid attacking someone, but your argument will be much stronger.
5. Respect others' spiritual beliefs. This doesn't mean you can't attack a belief if you can logically invalidate it... but most spiritual beliefs really can't be proven or disproven.
6. Sometimes people specifically want a DISCUSSION, but NOT a debate. Someone might for instance, make a "what happens after we die", open-ended discussion, where they simply want as many people as possible to post their views on the matter. If this is the case, please follow the requests of the topic starter.
7. Sometimes a thread splits naturally into 2 discussions, and we'll simply split it if this happens. If you notice this occurring, feel free to PM a mod and ask for a split. That being said... please try not to intentionally create a split. It's quite common for a discussion to spark another discussion, but it's better to create that as a separate thread to begin with... and it's much easier for new people to join the discussion.
8. Respond to flames or trolls with the report button, and nothing else. 1 flame or troll is annoying, but 1 flame + 30 replies to it = dead thread.

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Thread Games / About this forum (and what a thread game is)

« on: October 11, 2009, 06:33:55 am »

Thread games are simple games played out of a forum thread. For instance, in "the 3 word story game", each person posts the next 3 words of a story, leading to silly results.

The rules vary from game to game, so you should always read the first post of a game before you jump in. Feel free to bring a favorite game from another forum, and if you have an idea for a new one, don't be afraid to post that too - just be sure to explain the game in the starting post, as not everyone will know it without an explanation, and it's not always obvious what to do from just reading existing posts.

Because thread game posts are generally very short and of minimal to no conversational value, you will not receive exp, chaos credits, or an increase to your post count for posting here. Very active thread gamers may receive bonuses in the future however. (We haven't worked out the exact details of this yet.)

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Announcements & Such / Welcome to the new RA!

« on: October 11, 2009, 06:21:14 am »

After 6 years, we finally TRULY have our own site, on our own server.

We'll be building up from here, and have a lot of cool stuff coming in the future.

To our new members: Welcome!
To our returning members: Thanks through sticking with us through all the site issues we had, and welcome back!