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Tweak says, "wanna do a little makie outtie"

nana dayna has icons (kalt) wrote,
@ 2009-03-03 09:45:00

While going over some specifics for a project that we're working on, Chels (

coeur_delanuit) and I have come across a somewhat tough decision.

So, because of it, we decided to open up a little poll on other player's point of views on challenging character holds. If voting in the actual poll doesn't work for you, or you'd like to elaborate more in a comment, feel free to do so.

Poll #3295
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

Thoughts on challenging character holds?

View Answers

It's great!
7 (10.6%)

It's great! -- When it's not my hold, anyway.
8 (12.1%)

It makes me a little self-conscious / nervous.
19 (28.8%)

It makes me a little self-conscious / nervous, but I apply anyway.
25 (37.9%)

I avoid games that have them.
9 (13.6%)

I'm not a fan, but I suck it up anyway.
18 (27.3%)

No no no no.
11 (16.7%)

Ticky box~
15 (22.7%)

Thank you for any help regarding this. And, to the icon watchers, sorry it isn't icons. ♥

(Post a new comment)

	vimes 2009-03-03 11:57 am UTC (link)
	I'm fairly indifferent to the whole challenge thing. If there's a character I really want to play I'll put myself out there. It sucks more as a mod, telling the other person holding that they're not good enough, but I really see accepting challenges as a competitive way to get the best people in the game. Sidenote: OTR had FOUR Jack holds at one time. It was a nightmare. (Reply to this) (Thread)

kalt
2009-03-03 07:08 pm UTC (link)

FOUR!? Oh, jeez. :\

As a mod, I can see the benefit of allowing challenges -- you get the "best" character for your game. There is the downfall of rejecting someone if their app was still good, but you still get the "right" one in the end. And on the other side, as a player, I don't really like the whole challenging thing because there is a moment of feeling self conscious if you don't get the part you wrote for.

Ignore my rambling. :[

(Reply to this) (Parent)

kitten_patronus
2009-03-03 04:25 pm UTC (link)

I don't like challenges for the pure fact that I tend to play mostly in HP games, and while, yes, you have grounds for comparing two applications for, say, Harry, what do you do if the two applicants have two drastically different interpretations of characters who are nothing more, canonically, than a name and a house? It's not fair to the applicants to be compared to another interpretation of the same character, and it's not fair to the mods to have to choose between two very good applications. (Of course, this is assuming that both applications are good, but I prefer to take that stance from the get-go, instead of assuming that one will be good, and the other will be crap.)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

kalt
2009-03-03 07:13 pm UTC (link)

I agree on the lesser known characters and the different interpretations. And while the game that Chels and I are working on does have some lesser known characters, it also has a lot of well known characters that had their own histories, personalities, et cetera. -- Which is why I'm having a tough time deciding on challenges or not. ;)

I appreciate your comment, since it did remind me of the little known/not as fully developed characters and all (not that I forgot about them completely -- but, oh gosh, what work it is to figure out the cast lists!). <3

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	helloworld 2009-03-03 09:22 pm UTC (link)
	When I modded HP games and we had the problem of multiple apps for just name/house characters, my co-mods and I have always been fine with suggesting a name change for one of the characters (usually the one we receive second). (Reply to this) (Parent)

	arcady 2009-03-03 07:29 pm UTC (link)
	I'm surprised so few people said they're great. Are we so selfish that we'd rather get in than the game be enriched by the best intepretation available? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	starsgoblue 2009-03-03 07:33 pm UTC (link)
	I dunno. I usually don't challenge a hold because I'm afraid I WILL get in. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arcady 2009-03-03 07:37 pm UTC (link)
	Is that because of guilt or...? Sorry if my comment came off as snarky, by the way, the wondering-aloudness kind of gets lost in the internet. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

starsgoblue
2009-03-03 07:44 pm UTC (link)

No worries; it's cool. :)

I guess it sort of is, yes. I don't like to make anybody else feel bad, and I've heard so many people be so glum and down on themselves when they don't get a character that they applied for because their hold gets challenged. I would especially hate to do that in a case where the other person is a good writer with a good character and it basically just came to a coin toss kind of situation. I mean, there are lots of other characters I could play. Rather than challenging a hold, I'll either look for another game (if it's the character I'm really interested in) or branch out and try another character (if it's the game that I'm really interested in.)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

starsgoblue
2009-03-03 07:32 pm UTC (link)

Coming here from Chels' friendslist.

I in theory don't mind challenging a hold of someone I don't know, but I'll never challenge the hold of someone I DO know. It feels like saying "I think my interpretation of this character is better than yours" and that just makes me very uncomfortable. I hate making anyone feel bad, and I care a lot more about the feelings of the other players in a game (or the players in general, if I'm a mod) than I do about having the "best" people.

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	zenni 2009-03-03 07:40 pm UTC (link)
	The only thing that I don't like about challenges is that you usually lose the chance to extend your hold, but otherwise, from both a player and a mod perspective, I feel they're good to have in a game. (Reply to this)

moonshoes
2009-03-03 08:05 pm UTC (link)

*coming via Chels!*

My main problems with challenges is it feels as though there's very little reason to have a hold at all. It's like letting someone take claim... but not really. But, at the same time, I think that it's almost necessary if it's a bigger character in canon. Liiike if it's Harry Potter, why not allow challenges? That way you CAN find someone that is the very best characterization.

Soooo, yeah! XD This isn't very intelligent sounding.. but basically I'm just not a fan.

(Reply to this)

	likethistledown 2009-03-03 10:19 pm UTC (link)
	Via Chels: Maybe it's my own craziness, but I rarely ever challenge holds. A lot of it has to do with thinking I'm just not fabulous enough in the first place and I simply don't want to be rejected. (Reply to this)

nuit
2009-03-04 06:48 am UTC (link)

While being challenged does, indeed, suck, it's kind of a shame if, say, Person B was really interested in a character but Person A held first, and Person B had a much, much better app they couldn't even submit, but Person A's app still wasn't rejection-quality. Not to mention hold order doesn't really have any bearing on how badly they want to play, as well as quality. I modded for quite a while and I don't think I ever had 2 (or more) apps for the same character simultaneously that were truly equal.

And as someone who HAS been rejected more than once in other cases, you just have to suck it up if it's not your app that gets chosen in the end. It's not the end of the world. In games without a set canon it's really silly to allow challenges, but in something like HP, there's a reason the majority do. There are a lot of people reluctant to challenge even if they're allowed, so it's not like you'd be inviting some kind of cutthroat holds massacre, you know?

(Reply to this)

ether_bunny
2009-03-04 10:06 am UTC (link)

I have to admit that it does make me a bit nervous when my hold is challenged/challenging someone else's hold, but it really comes down to quality of game.

It seems to me that a game could miss out on a lot of really great play if they're willing to settle for a weak but not bad version of, say, Sirius Black. Because he's a popular character and a lot of people want to play him, but not all of them are good at it (unfortunately), and if even just the Sirius in a game is weak, it can mess up the dynamics for other characters in-game whether they're played well or not. The entire Marauder group needs to be strong players as well as those varying degrees of opponents they have -- Lily, Severus, any that I might be forgetting. Because in a Marauder-Era game, especially school-based games which are more centered on social circles and personal relationships than on action/war, the representation of these characters will play into the attitudes of many of their classmates. If you apply to a game as a character that admires or is friendly with the Marauders, and they all turn out to be poorly played and ooc, you're not going to have a good experience with that. Since they're such popular characters, I think it's important that everyone who wants to apply for them should be able to while the slot isn't filled, so you can be sure that these characters are all the best available to you.

I guess I just can't think of any reason why challenges should be disallowed in a game. They might be nerve-wracking for the applicant, but... oh well. If a person is playing a big-name popular character like Sirius or Lily, they should be confident enough in their interpretation that they can deal with challenges. If they're not confident in their interpretation, they should play a less prolific/defined character where they have more freedom and aren't as restrained by canon.

When it comes to the mostly-just-name characters, I don't know that challenges are as fair. Because it does come down to which personality the mods prefer. But in the same vein, the mods should be choosing the characters and players they think will be the best move for the game as a whole, rather than just who applies first. It's true that characterisation is loose for a lot of HP characters in that way because we have lists and lists of names with one fact attached to them, but the mod's acceptance of an application is more than just "the grammar is good", even for those characters. So I think that restricting your access to players is always a bad move in that way...

/ramble

(Reply to this)

	roue 2009-03-04 12:13 pm UTC (link)
	TICKY BOX~~~~~ (Reply to this)

wentsch
2009-03-04 05:29 pm UTC (link)

I should probably qualify my answer; I am a little wary/agitated when people challenge my holds and I feel like a jerk when I challenge the hold of someone else. However, as a mod I am in favor of them because it opens up the chance to allow someone with a better representation into the game. I don't really have a problem telling people that I've chosen to accept another application in lieu of his or her own, because I'm doing what's better for the game and its players.

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