desc checks... no more.

Desc checks were cute while the point for apparent, however the point has gone the way of Virigoth.

Some imms check them.

Some imms instantly approve without looking.

Some skim them, somewhat.

If you need proof, I've made eight new characters over the course of the last two weeks. One had no description but was approved when I prayed. One was a sloppy mess and was approved. One had a well thought out image, but was summoned and told to correct a few spelling errors.

Yes, descriptions are important. Are they important enough to keep new characters from ranking past 15, anymore? Probably not. Not when, at times, you need to wait a day or two to get the approval due to your or the staffs time constraints.

The fix is a simple commenting out job. Or could be a replacement of ranking past 25-30 and needing one. With most players buckling down and hauling to 50... 15 is usually a blip that takes about two hours, if that. Considering you have to have some luck for a staff member to be able to catch you before your group breaks.... I would say it is more of an enforced headache than something of function.

To sum up :

Due to the number of experienced players capable of going 1-20 in rank in their first sitting, easily... and the time constraints of the imm staff due to them having girlfriends/wives/husbands/boyfriends (or in some cases all four) and jobs/school (once again, some cases... both) I would like to suggest the following.

(1) Extend the rank cap to 25-30 for desc checks.

(2) Remove the cap entirely.

werd lite

Excellent idea. Rank 30.. might as well.

I wouldn't mind it, but only because of the fact that we have a more stable pbase then we did earlier on. Now most people have desc done up while their char is rolling.

Aww that means no more cheap lowbie PK's when your lightning dragon spits a DEMOLISHES lightning bolt at lvl 17 heh.

You could still get your desc checked before that time, so could still have a lightning dragon at level 17...

The man has a point....

L-A

How about letting heralds approve descs? They should be able. Or if not all heralds, at least those that are (T), (E), or (L).

That way... the masses of individuals who want to be heralds could help.

That would make the staff and one other person.

I actually think its a good idea to have Heralds be able to check descriptions, you could also get some RP rolling when your checking it out and I could see alot of room for character development right there.

Hell, how bout all clan E's and L's be able to do it?

Well, in all seriousness... they couldn't be any less serious about it than it sometimes feels like staff is. In fact, it might be a passing of the torch to the pbase... or a selected few trusted individuals in terms of responsibility.

Now, that first part may sound negative, but in reality... think of how boring it is to read through 50 someodd descriptions all starting with "Before you is"... and talking about how muscular and superhero-esque the individual is. I would probably become jaded.

I am still in favor of a level cap change however. Would not require much coding. Would solve the issue.

Less work = a better chance of things getting changed.

I like the idea of Herald checking descriptions, and making a recommendation for a dragon as it comes. It would give Herald more weight and possibly even some respect.

Interesting idea.

Hell' date=' how bout all clan E's and L's be able to do it?[/quote']

No, only herald. I think it suits them better. And I know of a guy who has been L, but who shouldn't be approving descs. Guys like him though, would never go herald.

Could work, couild even couple it with people who apply for the newbie channel?

Yeah, as long as player checkers would be able to give the same rewards as IMM checkers, that'd be great. If not...I'll wait for an IMM to read mine.

You know, it was odd.

For the first time in 7 years of playing here, I got a desc approval without the experience/movement/mana/hp bonus the other day. Kinda made me sad.

I definitely agree that there has probably been an inversion of description quality. I was not here for the majority of FL's history, but my imagination produces the reasons behind why description checks were put into place.

I would assume that it was more common for players to have sub standard, or no description. The code fixes that in a very specific way.

However, it requires the intervention of an immortal.

An easy solution is to take it out completely, as mentioned. This is a good solution for the simple fact that it really won't change much. An immortal has to look at your description right now anyway, so keep having them do it. Instead of making it a hard coded rule, have it so that an immortal will check up on new characters descriptions to make sure they aren't inappropriate. Thats all. Since most characters probably have come to the habit of writing them anyway, there is much less incedence of omitting a description. Basically keep the same system, only remove the hindering of levels and keep checking descriptions. The cut off for immortals to start dropping hints should still be fairly low level, with like level 20 or so being when they may forcefully intervene.

I would leave in reminders to write a description, but in a less overt way. For example, have them get a note from Herald at level 15 that says something like, "We've noticed you making quite a name for yourself, Character. A fitting description of you would be most appreciated as we scribe you into the history books...etc,etc,"

Then, when they send the note to herald, they get experience, and whatever else.

All in all, it eases the progression of veterns...supports the ideal of the old system to maintain appropriate descriptions, and even manages to get Heralds involved and a somewhat more RP spin as to why you are hassled to have a description.

I am against the removal of description checks for a couple of reasons.

1. It is the primary defense against bad names. It is the only time in a character's life when they are forced to interact on some basic level with an immortal, and therefore, the immortal has to acknowledge their name. If we remove that checkpoint entirely, then there is no guarentee that bad names will not slip through more frequently.

2. It encourages immortal-player interaction at a lower level, allowing a character to begin development of their RP in an early way with (hopefully) enthusiastic support from an Immortal. Also, if a player is roleplaying something poorly, or something that goes against the RP of their class, then the immortal who checks their description can catch it sooner rather than later, and help them modify their RP before it becomes problematic.

3. It ensures that descriptions are formatted properly (IE - not an eyesore), there are no grievous errors in spelling or punctuation, and there is no blatant misuse of the description itself, namely forcing people to take actions via a description.

While I am against the idea of removing the description checkpoint, I am not against a few changes:

1. Making it so adventurers do not need description checks until they guild.

2. Increasing the description checkpoint to level 20 or 25 (at the highest).

3. Allowing Heralds, Cabal Leaders, or Heroes (or all three) to approve descriptions with basic benefits (exp/move/mana/hp) and submit recommendations for higher rewards (dragons, owner only items, etc.)

4. Hiring several new Immortals for the sole purpose of description checking. While the above change could fix the problem of people having to WAIT for a description check, a player character cannot (or at least should not) break RP to help a character fix their description, nor can they monitor names/RP the way an IMM can. Hiring more IMMs is the only way to fix the whole problem, but some of the other suggestions wouldn't hurt.