Hi writers,
Quick message about procedures/policies:
Lauren and I are still here, but our schedules have changed drastically for reasons far out of our control. As a result, weekends will be fundamental for our personal writing journeys. However, many of you are (understandably) busy on weekends, and therefore write during the week.
It is imperative that we all make a conscious effort to keep this roleplay active as a community. Therefore, we’d like to remind everyone of a couple things (also, like this message upon reading it please).
Keep an eye on your activity
Out of all things roleplay, this is one of the most important. Lauren and I will continue consistently posting activity warnings EVERY Tuesday. Therefore, on Monday nights, you should be aware that if you haven’t replied to your thread(s) or haven’t posted a journal entry (as these are the only ways to show activity, not through pictures/audio/quotes), you will be on an activity warning. So far as returning from a hiatus, you have one week prior to the previously stated return date to become active. If you neglect to post for 7 days after your pre-determined return date, you will be on the activity warning posted on the following Tuesday.
Yes, this does mean that if you’re to return on (let’s say) a Sunday, don’t post, and continue not posting through the following Sunday, you won’t be on an activity warning until that Tuesday — some 10 days after your scheduled return. That’s the downside of this policy. However, frankly, it’s your prerogative to abuse this policy, just as it’s our prerogative to give you a warning if you continually do so. You all know who we are and what kind of mods we are. We can count on one hand how many times we’ve given a warning. We are not hard asses. Our activity checks are some of the longest we’ve seen, most groups opting for every 3 days. We’re very forgiving so long as you keep us in the loop. Therefore, we are placing trust in you to stay on top of your own activity — especially upon returning from hiatuses.
To this end, please be efficient about contacting us about activity warnings (and hiatuses, but we’re going to talk more about activity warnings here because this is a chronic issue), the 48 hour mark is to be observed and vital to our operation so as to ensure members are posting consistently. If you intend to go on a hiatus or leave the roleplay, it’s important you let us know ASAP, preferably prior to appearing on a Tuesday activity warning.
2. Post open starters
We have a rule here that you must reply to 2 open starters before posting any starter (open or closed) of your own. For the time being, we will suspend this policy in order to foster an environment more conducive to open starters. Brief history lesson: when we first started roleplaying 8+ years ago, this “2 starters per 1 open starter” was a common rule because so many people wanted to post open starters that other open starters would be neglected. However, times have changed and it appears that writers are, now, more wary to post open starters. It’s very important for us to post open starters because our goal, as per writing in a community, is to interact with all characters.
Therefore, we are suspending our “2 replies to an open prior to posting an starter” rule, and instead encouraging you all to post open starters. To be clear: we want you to reply to open starters. However, in order for this group to be more self-sustaining, we will allow all writers to post open starters without replying to 2 starters first. Let us also be clear: if this rule is abused and open starters remain unanswered, we will revert to our previous policy. Furthermore, this policy does not extend to closed starters. It is paramount that we post open starters, as closed starters only benefit the writer and their writing partner, not the entire community. If you’re posting a closed starter, it is essential that you reply to at least one open starter (preferably two, if two are posted recently) prior to posting a closed starter.
3. Keep threads current
We want you to continue contributing to current plots. Continuing threads from December in July is a sure-fire way to lose muse. That’s another reason why we encourage you to end threads, because threads that run too long eventually lose inspiration. Therefore, we ask that if you do not see a current starter, please post one yourself. That may have been difficult prior to our new policy, so if your threads aren’t current, we understand. However, we do expect you to adopt this policy immediately.
4. Interact with each other
You’re very good at this, but please — continue to interact with all characters. This is the entire reason we write as a community, to utilize a diverse group of characters in order to facilitate intricate storytelling. Please utilize the assets of this community, not only for their entertainment, but for your own. By joining this group, you agreed to follow the rules of this roleplay and write with everyone in an inclusive manner. Please continue to uphold this fundamental value of inclusive writing in our absence. This is made easier by plotting with others, either utilizing the discord or via personal messages. Our goal, as mods, is to write with everyone. We hope, if you can’t have 7+ threads at a time (which is understandable), that you perhaps start with 3/4 threads and work your way to more.
The mods (particularly Lauren, but please use our group chat so I can be kept in the loop) will be available via discord. We’re hoping to return to you as quickly as possible, but in the mean time, we appreciate your cooperation during this difficult time.
Best,
The Bee Sisters