Allow writers to respond to description comments

[angelicdragonpuppy]

Lately I've been checking through comments people left on my descriptions... and I really wish there was a way to thank those who left nice ones (and respond to those who had questions!) without having to go the roundabout route of hunting these people down on the forums.

 

I realize the obvious issues of 1) it could allow angry people to yell at those who give feedback and 2) not many people write descriptions anyway so it might be wasted effort. I think 1 could be solved by some type of "report this response" button or even a way to disable replies to your comments, and while 2 is a valid point, hopefully it's something that won't instantly shoot it down.

 

So... thoughts? ;o;

 

 

[Dimar]

I'm not sure if you mean it like this or not. Basically the idea to have a comment box there for the author of the description to make notes and explain themselves? Or do you mean an ability to send a direct, personal response to the particular reviewer without having to resubmit your description? I feel like the latter would also require the release of that scroll messaging system that's been suggested.

 

I'm not against it, but I do have the same concern about misuse of it. That could be worked around based on how it's implemented, though. It could definitely be helpful; I just need to know more about how you're imagining it. x3

 

(I think I forgot to put that thread I linked into the third post of DescripForce when I was compiling the list of suggestions. I will have to check that...)

 

~EDIT: Nope, it was there in the third post after all. Maybe I should put it in a different category though...

Edited September 17, 2014 by Dimar

[TJ09]

Very unlikely to happen.

 

Description reviews are not a comments section. They're there for your benefit, not for back-and-forth communication.

[Fuzzbucket]

What I would like is a way to say to those who do comment that UK spelling IS SO OK (MOST approving mods don't edit to US, but it did happen once, and I was not happy...) There have been a few times like that - for instance, when my grammar was corrected after a comment. I may be a snotty pedantic snob but one thing I do NOT do is get my grammar wrong in a description. I used to write and proofread for a living and I - just DON'T.

[Obscure_Trash]

Description reviews are not a comments section. They're there for your benefit, not for back-and-forth communication.

Seconded. I know there are times you want to thank people or explain stuff, but for explaining keep in mind that if the users have a question, the mods may have it to. Whatever it is needs to be made clear in the description itself.

 

For thanking, luckily we have built up a great little reviewing community welcome on IRC. We have gotten non-forum goers there before. I hope all our reviewers know how much we appreciate them. <3

[angelicdragonpuppy]

@Dimar: Yah, I meant personal responses

 

@TJ09: Honestly I wish there WAS a comment section, and maybe I'll go suggest that instead. People put so much work into writing their stories, and people put so much work into reviewing them, and then--that's it. Poof. No other way to let people know you liked the story they gave their dragons, no way to remember who said such nice things, absolutely nothing else to do with these things unless you feel like hunting down people on the forums and trying to continue the discussion there. It's pretty disappointing--I really wish there were ways to keep the interest up and do more with them after they're approved.

 

@Sock: For explaining I was really mostly thinking of trivial things ("is that a reference to X?" "oh, what's his name mean?" "so you like sunsongs??"). Silly stuff that doesn't NEED to be explained, but could lead to fun conversations with people. I can do it on the forums, but again, hunting people down (and going through it one by one) is very tedious. It's the same with thanking, too. I made a list of just a handful of people I wanted to go thank or respond to and it was still about two dozen descriptions long. Finding all of these people on the forums and making it clear which comment I'm trying to respond to would be a ton of work when it could be so much easier and intuitive. ;;

 

TL;DR people who write descriptions and people who comment on descriptions are awesome, I wish there was an easier way for the two to communicate (and maybe even something that could be done with descriptions after they're already approved)!

[Ha-Ki]

Maybe instead of back-and-forth-communication a single additional textbox would be sufficient for most cases? So there'd be the textbox for your description, and a second one for your own comments. You couldn't respond to individual comments with that, but you could leave a general comment for the reviewers.

 

ETA: I just realized I was mostly referring to the topic in Dimar's link, and that a single comment box is not going to help with this suggestion. I should get some sleep But still, if you could edit your comment without re-submitting the whole description, it would at least be possible to answer questions.

Edited September 17, 2014 by Ha-Ki

[Tehya Faye]

Maybe instead of back-and-forth-communication a single additional textbox would be sufficient for most cases? So there'd be the textbox for your description, and a second one for your own comments. You couldn't respond to individual comments with that, but you could leave a general comment for the reviewers.

I would like this. Not only could you address concerns raised in the reviews you could leave general notes about the description to counter some possible confusion (regional spelling, puns, stuff like that).

[MessengerDragon]

Just to put it out there, people CAN sign their comments, and then it is possible to contact them on the forums. (though it only works if both have forum accounts)

[edwardelricfreak]

Just to put it out there, people CAN sign their comments, and then it is possible to contact them on the forums. (though it only works if both have forum accounts)

SORT of. I only know two of the people *for sure* who sign their comments, and they only leave the first letter. How would anyone who didn't know them know who "H" is, for example?

[angelicdragonpuppy]

SORT of. I only know two of the people *for sure* who sign their comments, and they only leave the first letter. How would anyone who didn't know them know who "H" is, for example?

Aside from this, slowly going from comment to comment PMing people is a much more time consuming process than some form of direct communication would be. I could snap off quick "haha thanks!" or "ah, nope, I was referencing Zelda!" or "YES I LARV SUNSONGZ" replies with no trouble at all, but if I have to go to the forums, pull up the member list, copy the original description and comment so they know what I'm going on about... yah. It's just too much hassle. ;___;

[Ha-Ki]

I believe that this suggestion has some flaws. If I reviewed your description and left a comment, how would I ever be able to read your response? The comments are only visible to the dragon owner and mods, as far as I know. Even if I stalked the view page of your dragon, I would never see the response - I'd just see an approved description pop up some day. And to be honest, I usually don't follow descriptions I reviewed (others might, though).

So we'd also need a notifier somewhere on our scroll telling us that there is a response to a comment I made.

 

And if we discuss about implementing such a thing, how about implementing a general on-site messaging system not only restricted to description comments, but simply allowing you to contact the person directly? If the comments are supposed to stay anonymous, there could simply be a link saying something like "write a message to the writer of this comment" and the actual name would be only known to the system, but hidden for you. If the other person decides to answer to your message, you'll know who they are, if they don't answer you'll never know.

 

(Yeah, I know, implementing an on-site messenging system has been shot down before, but I still think it worked well during the valentine's event, and it would be awesome to have)

Edited September 19, 2014 by Ha-Ki