I think the way wotmania ran things was very good, we just have to keep it all in one thread and delete threads where people give away all the major spoilers.
Reviews are an essential part of most entertainment businesses. Just look at how popular the advance movie reviews are at a site like rottentomatos.com
In your previous thread, the majority of us already said we would like advance reviews. I think it would be in the best interest of this site to have a review thread.
I think your warning in this thread is enough to keep too many people from publishing fake reviews. People know it is not OK to post reviews and they know the consequences. That should do the trick. Wotmania never had that guideline in place and they definitely could have used it.
Overall, I think we have to avoid over-moderating this site. There are some other big (to be unnamed) WoT fansites out there that are so heavily moderated that it takes a lot of the joy of posting out of the site.
Guys like Werthead, and other possible early reviewers, have a lot to contribute. I think minor spoilers would be OK in a review thread as long as it was mentioned on the subject header. Minor spoilers are pretty much standard procedure in all book and movie reviews out there.
Otherwise, I think you are doing a great job with this site-- it has been a really great transition.
Keep up the good work!
Reviews are an essential part of most entertainment businesses. Just look at how popular the advance movie reviews are at a site like rottentomatos.com
In your previous thread, the majority of us already said we would like advance reviews. I think it would be in the best interest of this site to have a review thread.
I think your warning in this thread is enough to keep too many people from publishing fake reviews. People know it is not OK to post reviews and they know the consequences. That should do the trick. Wotmania never had that guideline in place and they definitely could have used it.
Overall, I think we have to avoid over-moderating this site. There are some other big (to be unnamed) WoT fansites out there that are so heavily moderated that it takes a lot of the joy of posting out of the site.
Guys like Werthead, and other possible early reviewers, have a lot to contribute. I think minor spoilers would be OK in a review thread as long as it was mentioned on the subject header. Minor spoilers are pretty much standard procedure in all book and movie reviews out there.
Otherwise, I think you are doing a great job with this site-- it has been a really great transition.
Keep up the good work!
General
The Gathering Storm is going to enter our Wheel of Time world soon. We're all pretty excited, but we're not going to allow some posters to spoil the excitement of other posters. Many posters avoid these message boards at the time of a book's release because they are scared that they will be exposed to spoilers. You can rest assured that for the next few months you can visit the board and you won't be exposed to spoilers.
I'll start with the penalty for ignoring the spoiler policy, just to show that the admins here are serious about it...
1st transgression - instant deletion of your post and a warning
2nd transgression - siteban and deletion of your username
The book is also coming out in pieces to stimulate our taste buds. So here is how each piece of the book will be addressed...
Chapter 1 : Tears of Steel
This is already out, and can be retrieved for free from http://www.tor.com/gatheringstorm/register. You need to register, and after that you can download the text. All discussions of this chapter have been placed in the post your thoughts on TGS - chapter 1 at the top of the main page. There are also individual posts on the board which are clearly marked regarding this chapter which I've allowed to stay on the main page because they contain either hundreds of replies, or long theories. ALL posts on this chapter must be in the announced post at the top of the page.
Prologue of TGS
The prologue will be released on September 17 2009 and will be available from most popular internet forums, though we'll provide a link in this post on the day. It will be available for $2.99. I'm going to make two Prologue posts at the top of the page, called -
- TGS Prologue - your thoughts (part 1) *spoilers*
- TGS Prologue - your thoughts (part 2) *spoilers*
This will allow two areas for discussion and will avoid congestion of a single post. If either post reaches a hundred replies, I'll start part 3,4 etc, but once again, these will be the only areas for discussion of the Prologue, without exception.
You can download the prologue at www.mobipocket.com. Thanks to Cannoli for picking this up first!
Chapter 2 : The Nature of Pain
You can download the audio file of chapter 2 from the linked post. It was released on September 24, 2009. Please use the assigned post to make comments, until 27 October, when you can place your comments on the main board.
You can pick up the chapter on audio at www.tor.com... thanks to Larry for this.
The Gathering Storm
The main book comes out on October 27 2009, and will be available at online and real book stores. After this date, you may post about any aspect of the book, including the Prologue and Chapter 1 on the main page. Pre-release spoilers are totally banned. It doesn't matter if you managed to get your hands on a 'copy' of the book before this date, we're not risking false posting, half-truths and lies. We don't need that sort of taint on our board. Incidentally I'm expecting a spoiler-free review from one of our own posters, which will posted in due time in early October. The following rules thus apply...
1. You must use the topic marker "TGS" when posting about the book. You may ONLY use this marker, and no other one. The TGS marker means spoilers are implicit in the post, and you don't need to write *spoilers* or other disclaimers in your title. Markers such as 'Review','Characters','Sanderson' are not allowed, and are reserved for the rest of the series, but NOT TGS.
2. Your title must be benign to the pre-TGS reader. You may not have a title such as 'Semirhage's suicide' or 'Cadsuane's death'. I'm going to be very strict about this and edit suspect titles harshly.
3. You may not comment on TGS in any other posts which are not marked TGS. Therefore if a poster is discussing WH and an unresolved plot element, you may NOT go in there and write 'don't worry, this gets resolved in TGS'.
Examples of Acceptable Posts...
- TGS - Regarding Egwene's behaviour
- TGS - Rand's channeling
- TGS - My thoughts on TGS as a whole
Examples of Unacceptable Posts...
- TGS - Regarding Egwene and Elaida's duel
- TGS - Rand's inability to touch saidin anymore
- Review - My thoughts on TGS as a whole
Remember, you don't have to actually type 'TGS' before the title of your post. It is the TGS topic marker just above the subject and body of your post which you must SELECT. If you have any problems, rather NB me with a query before you post something dodgy which requires harsh action.
Sidious
The Gathering Storm is going to enter our Wheel of Time world soon. We're all pretty excited, but we're not going to allow some posters to spoil the excitement of other posters. Many posters avoid these message boards at the time of a book's release because they are scared that they will be exposed to spoilers. You can rest assured that for the next few months you can visit the board and you won't be exposed to spoilers.
I'll start with the penalty for ignoring the spoiler policy, just to show that the admins here are serious about it...
1st transgression - instant deletion of your post and a warning
2nd transgression - siteban and deletion of your username
The book is also coming out in pieces to stimulate our taste buds. So here is how each piece of the book will be addressed...
Chapter 1 : Tears of Steel
This is already out, and can be retrieved for free from http://www.tor.com/gatheringstorm/register. You need to register, and after that you can download the text. All discussions of this chapter have been placed in the post your thoughts on TGS - chapter 1 at the top of the main page. There are also individual posts on the board which are clearly marked regarding this chapter which I've allowed to stay on the main page because they contain either hundreds of replies, or long theories. ALL posts on this chapter must be in the announced post at the top of the page.
Prologue of TGS
The prologue will be released on September 17 2009 and will be available from most popular internet forums, though we'll provide a link in this post on the day. It will be available for $2.99. I'm going to make two Prologue posts at the top of the page, called -
- TGS Prologue - your thoughts (part 1) *spoilers*
- TGS Prologue - your thoughts (part 2) *spoilers*
This will allow two areas for discussion and will avoid congestion of a single post. If either post reaches a hundred replies, I'll start part 3,4 etc, but once again, these will be the only areas for discussion of the Prologue, without exception.
You can download the prologue at www.mobipocket.com. Thanks to Cannoli for picking this up first!
Chapter 2 : The Nature of Pain
You can download the audio file of chapter 2 from the linked post. It was released on September 24, 2009. Please use the assigned post to make comments, until 27 October, when you can place your comments on the main board.
You can pick up the chapter on audio at www.tor.com... thanks to Larry for this.
The Gathering Storm
The main book comes out on October 27 2009, and will be available at online and real book stores. After this date, you may post about any aspect of the book, including the Prologue and Chapter 1 on the main page. Pre-release spoilers are totally banned. It doesn't matter if you managed to get your hands on a 'copy' of the book before this date, we're not risking false posting, half-truths and lies. We don't need that sort of taint on our board. Incidentally I'm expecting a spoiler-free review from one of our own posters, which will posted in due time in early October. The following rules thus apply...
1. You must use the topic marker "TGS" when posting about the book. You may ONLY use this marker, and no other one. The TGS marker means spoilers are implicit in the post, and you don't need to write *spoilers* or other disclaimers in your title. Markers such as 'Review','Characters','Sanderson' are not allowed, and are reserved for the rest of the series, but NOT TGS.
2. Your title must be benign to the pre-TGS reader. You may not have a title such as 'Semirhage's suicide' or 'Cadsuane's death'. I'm going to be very strict about this and edit suspect titles harshly.
3. You may not comment on TGS in any other posts which are not marked TGS. Therefore if a poster is discussing WH and an unresolved plot element, you may NOT go in there and write 'don't worry, this gets resolved in TGS'.
Examples of Acceptable Posts...
- TGS - Regarding Egwene's behaviour
- TGS - Rand's channeling
- TGS - My thoughts on TGS as a whole
Examples of Unacceptable Posts...
- TGS - Regarding Egwene and Elaida's duel
- TGS - Rand's inability to touch saidin anymore
- Review - My thoughts on TGS as a whole
Remember, you don't have to actually type 'TGS' before the title of your post. It is the TGS topic marker just above the subject and body of your post which you must SELECT. If you have any problems, rather NB me with a query before you post something dodgy which requires harsh action.
Sidious
This message last edited by Matrimony Cauthon on 14/10/2009 at 08:11:34 AM
The Gathering Storm - Information and Spoiler Policy
- 13/09/2009 09:11:21 AM
7468 Views
Cadsuane dies? Semirhage commits suicide? Egwene and Elaida duel? Rand can't channel?
- 13/09/2009 10:44:46 PM
1326 Views
As a rule I avoid the boards around prerelease times regardless *NM*
- 14/09/2009 06:27:05 AM
476 Views
While I agree with what you are trying to accomplish
- 14/09/2009 03:09:20 PM
1082 Views
No. This must be strictly enforced. And the message that it will be strict must be in the language *NM*
- 25/09/2009 06:09:57 AM
495 Views
Bastard.
Silly posters, everyone knows Cadsuane doesn't die before she gets married.
- 15/09/2009 02:32:51 AM
959 Views
Good, that means I can visit the site safely
- 15/09/2009 08:32:22 PM
895 Views
If you have not read it by Oct 28, you are an inferior species of fan and should not be here. *NM*
- 15/09/2009 11:09:04 PM
528 Views
- 18/09/2009 05:28:12 PM
926 Views
- 18/09/2009 05:28:12 PM
926 Views
Well, I'm getting a review copy, so can you elaborate on the rules for that?
- 17/09/2009 07:58:37 PM
985 Views
I think pre-release info is pretty much banned
- 18/09/2009 07:29:56 AM
1076 Views
I'm a bit concerned by this.
- 19/09/2009 04:23:15 PM
907 Views
Re: I'm a bit concerned by this.
- 19/09/2009 04:39:49 PM
1054 Views
You already made a post about reviews for TGS and we were overwhelmingly in favor of it
- 14/10/2009 07:40:34 AM
837 Views
Please don't restrict this too much
- 14/10/2009 07:49:27 AM
903 Views
Re: Please don't restrict this too much
- 14/10/2009 01:06:08 PM
953 Views
going to have to disagree with you here
- 17/10/2009 07:31:00 AM
913 Views
People have the book already-- it is time to put up a review thread
- 18/10/2009 02:55:37 AM
960 Views