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Neranz Laverani 09-03-2002 01:18 PM

This thread is based on a couple of things that KaVir said in
.

I agree that the small amount of text isn't enough to represent area credits.

People who could deserve credit:
Original author
The original author is always shown unless the author requests removal.

Balancer/Grammar Reviewer
Its better, in my opinion, to submit these issues back to the builder or they won't get the feel for the mud's balance.  If administrators, actually make the edits though, this is a lot of work.

Revisor
Revising can be a lot of work.

Also, if an area is derived from another area, the area it is derived from.

Sample Credits

Area Name: The Lost Forest
Written by:  Alredian - March 1998
Balanced by: Tien Leal - May 1998
Revised by: Lazaar - September 2000
Revised by: Tien Leal - February 2002

By seperating balanced by from revised by, we remove the question of whether or not balancing involved minor or major revisions.  The balancer gets credit without detracting from the credit of the author and making it seem like the work was so bad it had to be revised right away.  Yes, sometimes it is that bad, but if you fight over the line between balancing and revising, there will always be disagreements.

If the author of the area wishes to have their name removed:
Area Name: The Lost Forest
Written by:  Anonymous - March 1998
Balanced by: Tien Leal - May 1998
Revised by: Lazaar - September 2000
Revised by: Tien Leal - February 2002

Name removal would be a bit drastic though, perhaps some sort of renunciation message, where the author can disagree with the route the area has taken.

Area Name: The Lost Forest
Written by:  Alredian - March 1998
Balanced by: Tien Leal - May 1998
Revised by: Lazaar - September 2000
Revised by: Tien Leal - February 2002
Disclaimer:  The intent of the area has changed.  To inquire about the original intent, contact Alredian at


Derived area example:
Area Name: The Forest of Baml
Derived From:  The Lost Forest by Alredian
Written by:  Lazaar - December 2000
Balanced by: Tien Leal - February 2001

Just some ideas.

Neranz Laverani, Seeker of Knowledge

smadronia 09-05-2002 03:54 AM

I agree that the typical form of credits for an area usually isn't enough, but I don't know if adding in anyone who's worked on the area is also the way to go. It's one thing if someone had to go through and add in room descriptions, new mobs and new objects, but should they share credit with someone who'd gone through and fixed 2 or 3 typos?

As an Admin and head builder, I go through all areas on our mud and revise and balance them before they get put up. If the area has a builder, i report and typos, grammar errors and balance issues to them, and let them deal with it. Most of out areas have come from area exchanges or other area depositories, so it's up to me to balance them and fix errors I find. I don't feel comfortable putting my name in an extended credits file for each area I work on, to me it's like saying I need some kind of recognition, which I don't want. I would also feel funny putting my name on an area as a balancer if I only had to balance a few things, I don't feel I've done as much work as the person who wrote the area.

My eventual goal is to have a helpfile on each area up on our mud. It's going to list a short synopsis of the area, who built and if they worked on the mud, where we got it (stock, area exchange, off the net, built for the mud, etc), and about the time it was put in. If we can get a short bio of the person who made the area I'll throw that in.

Neranz Laverani 09-06-2002 10:47 AM

If someone just fixed some typos, obviously they wouldn't be added to the list. That is just common sense. People who do put a lot of work into revising or balancing an area should though. The current systems are cludgy and difficult to read if you give credit to more than one person. I think designing a multi-line system where more people can be added if their additional work warrants it would improve readability. Such a system would not detract from the author or usurp their credit because the author always has top billing.

I have seen many reworked areas where the revisor or balancer put more work into the area than the original author. Those people definitely deserve some credit. Recognition is really the main reward a lot of builders get for their work. If they work hard, they deserve the credit too.

Neranz Laverani, Seeker of Knowledge

Shao_Long 09-06-2002 05:16 PM



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