On Constructive Criticism, Equilibrium, and Forum Etiquette

    The staff of Nexus works hard to make sure the threads, as well as the characters participating in them, are as balanced and fair as possible. This is achieved, not easily, by constant attention to character submissions including but not limited to the ratio of power to weakness, experience to skill, and feasibility. It's a pretty simple idea, folks, and you all benefit from it. Yes, there is no "leveling system" or "rewards system" set in stone here. To enforce such things like stats, rewards, experience, and so on we would have to take away some of the precious freedom the members here enjoy when writing. The pace of the threads would be slowed, character development would be slowed, and frustrations would grow due to numerous technical issues.

    Instead, you want your character to climb a mountain, or swim Lake Eerie? Great. So long as you explain it well and have given your character the necessary skills to do so, no problems. No dice rolls, no SPECIAL stat checks, no decision committee or board to debate whether or not your character has the proper Strength statistic of 8 to effectively wield the rifle you just found.

    If you want it, you simply have to put enough effort into it to make it happen. To sum it all up, with the exception of an initial submission review, the majority of threads and characters are left to the writers' discretion what happens and what doesn't. Creative freedom. No strings attached. You want it to happen, write it in a a way that it could happen, and it does. Simple, eloquent, and fair. Don't you agree? 

  

    So when a member of the site behaves in a way that abuses the perks of Nexus, it throws a monkey wrench into the whole system. It's part of the vulnerability of an open Role Playing system mated to lenient Moderators: you get the freedom and the simplicity, at the cost of increased fragility to the balance system. When a member abuses those freedoms and that leniency, the equilibrium is lost.



    ( This post is public for a reason. There will be no discrepancies. )

    Let's move on to business, then. Sal.

    Instead of possible becoming defensive and angry, I suggest that you attempt to understand why I'm posting this. Your behavior with Ghost last night, and your sporadic tantrums in general are completely unacceptable.

    Ghost is right, Daniel probably would have a very difficult time joining the Rangers. But isn't it obvious why!? He murdered innocent, defenseless people. He killed Earl's family, for no good reason at all, and all of the founding Rangers know about it. Don't accuse Ghost of excluding you or acting unfairly just because he is unwilling to write his characters your way. Or any of us, for that matter.

    You mentioned your last two character submissions? You were specifically writing characters that exists only for the purpose of immediately having a Desert Ranger. Hell, one of the character's names was literally: "Carlos the Ranger". He would have started out more powerful and skilled than any other potential characters for his threads, fully armored, geared, and ready to kick ass. You were reading Cat's profile and discussing it with me while you wrote Rose' profile. And she emerges as a "gunslinger" country gal dual wielding revolvers who kills ten or so NCR soldiers in her profile. Hmm...

    So spare me the misdirection you gave GG, your last two submissions lacked originality and were hastily written Rangers. When your first character needed work, you didn't even create a new thread, you just wrote over it with a new Ranger character. We gave you plenty of options, suggestions, and thorough feedback on both characters. Instead of working with us, you got angry and scrapped them both, then jumped Ghost about it privately and accused him of things that weren't even true. All because you were frustrated at constructive criticism? Your not a child anymore, and you've been a member long enough that the "just a kid" excuse has expired.

    


    I could go on, there's plenty of material. Out of all the members involved with Nexus, your the only one that has caused this much drama. You have four threads in staff chat regarding your behavior since that board was made. Four. Not to mention the countless times you've upset various members. And what's worse is that you know better, Sal. Your not a new member who doesn't understand the rules and how Nexus works. If anything, your a veteran member. You should be setting an example for new members and showing them how to navigate the site and it's threads like a pro.

    As far as your characters, Sal, you don't need to hash out characters so quickly. We know your capable of writing and playing some very good characters, so take your time with them. Think your characters over. Most of the staff is actively RPing with you now, and we all like you.
    
    We all communicate, too, and no one is "picking" on you. We only hold you to the same standard as other members, and although one would think your long time membership would give you a solid grasp of Nexus etiquette, instead you chose to constantly push the boundaries and test our patience both on Nexus and offsite. You've pushed them far enough.

    We've had this conversation too may times already. Staff members have grown tired of it.

    The tantrums, the irrational behavior, and the disrespect to other members will stop.