+300

by Darth_Nikolas
on 2021-05-29 18:56

-50

by GMSeth
on 2021-05-29 01:29

-20

by A Roaring Hobbit
on 2021-05-26 15:44

-10

by Hondor23
on 2021-05-26 00:26

-10

by Tel Stewart
on 2021-05-24 19:37

+100

by Mac Attack in Dixie
on 2021-05-22 11:30

+300

by A Rambunctious Bananafolk
on 2021-05-22 06:55

As talked in discord, I believe rather than a freeman, but a "newbie" league could be beneficial for people starting out in WA & its competitions.

-100

by A Lusty Bananafolk
on 2021-05-22 00:17

The existence of the premier league makes the competitions more than fair - you aren't competing against previous winners if you haven't won anything before. That is much more of a chance than you'd get in most places. Being involved in the community - reading, liking, or commenting on other articles and worlds - also helps a lot. We can't like your stuff if we don't know you're there.

-100

by Goddess_Of_Luck
on 2021-05-21 06:33

Reviewing articles is a lot of work ...

-300

by PanAndPaper
on 2021-05-20 09:30

The fact that free accounts can submit work into challenges that will be read an reviewed is already an amazing benefit that most other platforms / independent challenges don't provide, especially on a platform as big as WA is getting.

-300

by A Glamorous Bananafolk
on 2021-05-19 21:27

-50

by LD3D
on 2021-05-19 09:40

+10

by Barbarossa Sparklebeard
on 2021-05-19 02:27

+100

by theaaronw0
on 2021-05-18 18:25

-300

by thechosenone
on 2021-05-18 07:01

Not a fan. When making business decisions it has to make sense from all sides. Freemen are already given a great suite of tools to world build with, with the hope of upgrading their access. This only makes those with free access more able to remain free users. A subset of contests won't draw new users nor will it incentivize upgrades. Hardest pass possible.

+300

by Jester%
on 2021-05-17 22:49

I believe that those who are still new to this should have a place of their own to ensure they do not feel left out and have no chance at all when they are competing with others who are more experienced in writing and style than them. I felt that way when I was starting here myself. It was like being separated from your parents for the first time and don't know what to do. By forming a league for them they can feel comfortable and at home with others with a similar experience like a kindergarten class where they can gain the proper incite they need. As at this moment, most of them feel like a 3rd grader in an 8th-grade classroom gaining not enough attention.

-100

by A Cute Kobold
on 2021-05-17 15:16

+50

by Cyborg Starfish
on 2021-05-17 14:47

+300

by DMSirSwank99
on 2021-05-17 13:51

-10

by Naelin
on 2021-05-17 13:34

This is why the premier league exist. Anyone who previously won a competition does NOT compete against non-winners.

Incredibly pretty articles can be done without ANY css. Almost no css was used in the only article that I won a competition with. Just bbcode, which freemen can use.

Readability is the thing that actually make your article likeable. Blocks of text are blocks of text no matter how incredibly pretty your css is. Work on formatting, not on fancyness.

What puts you into shortlists is to have people reading your work so that they can like it. To have people reading your work you need to make yourself known, aka, participate in the community: Discord, twitter, reddit, you name it. People cannot like something that they don't know exists.

I do think the Premier League NEEDS to be explained better to the community. Right now, for most people it is a badge in some people's profile that links to nothing and is mentioned to have a prize for it sometimes. I think a link on the badge to a page that explains the premier league would reduce significantly the number of people that think non-winners don't have a chance against regular winners.

-200

by A Revolutionary Unicorn
on 2021-05-17 12:48

+300

by Dazzlinkat
on 2021-05-17 11:29

-300

by A Filthy Velociraptor
on 2021-05-17 09:27

-10

by ka_jan
on 2021-05-17 09:11

-200

by MLHammond
on 2021-05-17 07:41

Everyone has pretty well summed it up.   Get a network Actually use BBCode Steal Underpants ????? Profit.   CSS is not neccessary.

-10

by Jacob-W
on 2021-05-17 07:14

I don't agree with the supposed correlation between bbcode/css skills and level of guild membership.

-100

by Toblin
on 2021-05-17 07:05

I disagree with both the notion that freemen have no chance of winning and that they should have their own league. The two most important factors of winning is a) a large network of people who read, comment and like your articles and b) the BBCode formatting of your article.   If the BBCode is good, your article is easy to follow. The CSS is just additional prettiness on top of that. When I won the challenge, I had 0 CSS in my article.   Your contact network, your writing and basic formatting is what wins challenges. Not CSS. I don't believe we should put freemen in their own category. Let them be part of the community.

-300

by SoulLink
on 2021-05-17 06:55

No. Just no. This is a bad idea. Its a huge increase in effort required for very little. We'd have to further decrease word count to make this even remotely feasible.   And it would not solve the problem at all really. What gives you an advantage is having a bigger network. Everything else is completely secondary. Thats just the nature of competitions like this. There is no way to make it fair (e.g. everyone has an equal chance to win) because there are just too many people.

-100

by A Glamorous Dimensional Horror
on 2021-05-17 06:35

-10

by Hanhula
on 2021-05-17 05:52

I don't think this sort of thing should be a feature request. Take it up with the enchanters and staff so they can consider and respond appropriately, don't take the dev channel for it.

-300

by A Frightened Dwarf
on 2021-05-17 05:34

No this is REALLY UNFAIR on us people who are paying subs. It gives free men an unfair advantage to to win stuff ! Becuase singling them out means theres even less competition from them. And then I guess theyd go striaght to the premier league?

+20

by Adcheryl
on 2021-05-17 04:31

+10

by Chrono Dust
on 2021-05-17 03:57

-300

by A Cute Dryad
on 2021-05-17 03:28

Or, we can make challenges a guild only feature that will

Lessen the work of Dimi and Janet

Give incentive to join the guild

If the above is true, make it fairer

Many other platforms do exactly this because having your work being reviewed and read takes time and should be in some way be compensated.

+100

by TheDoctor292
on 2021-05-17 01:59

+300

by WriterGreg
on 2021-05-17 00:39

I would support a Freeman league and I like the idea that it is not every challenge to ease the increased judging requirements. There could be a Non-CSS or BBCode-Only leage where those who are guild members but don't want to use the CSS features that may be avaiable.

+200

by ReachingForStardust
on 2021-05-17 00:29

Agreed wholeheartedly with the comments of Lyraine, Erin, and Sable below. I think a Freeman League would encourage beginner World Anvil users (which Freemen usually are) to get involved with the community. To make things easier on our Master of Games and judges, perhaps not every challenge should have a Freeman League - only a few throughout the year?   Presentation of information through the appearance of the article is a really important aspect of article-making - and as others mentioned, BBCode is more important than CSS in that regard, because it allows for the organization of information. As Lyraine said, CSS is mostly window dressing in that it allows the changing of colors and fonts, whereas BBCode is the structure. And Freemen have access to plenty of BBCode! I think that a Freeman League would actually encourage Freemen to learn BBCode and how it can enhance the readability of their worldbuilding.

+100

by moonflower-writing
on 2021-05-17 00:10

Although this could've been worded differently, there are some good points here. Article appearance is a factor, although, as someone who has judged for WorldEmber, CSS isn't as much as a factor as BBCode usage is. Still, a freeman category could be beneficial.

+10

by Lyraine Alei
on 2021-05-16 23:57

I hear and read a sense of (completely understandable) frustration, and while CSS is a great way to make an article look good, it's window dressing. (really, really, really nice window dressing to help presentation of course)   But I personally feel that using BBCode for formatting is a greater factor when considering entries.   Well, BBCode for formatting and being an active member of the World Anvil Discord community (though I have heard some of the short list people aren't on the discord) are more likely greater factors. The short list is determined by most likes which has some of its own flaws of course, but is one of the fastest ways to build up a short list for final judging. If people don't know who you are, they're less likely to read your stuff.   (Dimitris had, back in December, given out a challenge to the community to find, read, review/comment/follow people who the individual has not read/reviewed/commented/followed before each week)   While the following altered suggestion is a lot more work, I'd almost think a series of tiers (Premiere for people who had won in the past, and then the Regular League would become one for each rank up to IS - maybe still using the Most Likes system of building shortlists) might be better, and then determining an "overall winner" from among the whole of each Regular Leagues' top two contestants.   I can already hear our poor Master of Games weeping from the idea of the extra work to this idea, so I'd be willing to help out as well.   (That being said, I felt there was a little ... incendiary wording to the opening. I really, really, really wanted to slap down a negative for the wording while agreeing with some of the points in the suggestion)   (I'm also not sure if this counts as a policy-change suggestion, though)

+300

by Michael Chandra
on 2021-05-16 23:50

+300

by ErinRigh
on 2021-05-16 23:02

While I disagree with the blanket statement that freemen have no chance of winning, I will agree that article appearance could be a deciding factor in many judges minds. I support this because I think it would encourage newer anvilites to participate in the challenges more. As with Sable, I'm game to help with this league.

+300

by SableAradia
on 2021-05-16 22:58

I don't personally believe that Freemen have no chance of winning challenges, but I do understand (and have felt) some of the frustration. Because article appearance is usually a significant factor, it becomes difficult to compete with some of the Anvilites with higher subscription levels and superior CSS talents. Freeman are often newer to WA, too, so already have more difficulty getting enough likes on their articles to compete with more well-known Anvilites. I would support a separate league for Freemen, just because I think it would encourage community involvement, and support newer competitors. I realize that creates more labour, so if help is needed in the judging, count me in. :)

+300

by KajetanWrites
on 2021-05-16 22:53