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It's Your Funeral · FiM Minific ·
Organised by RogerDodger
Word limit 400–750
Show rules for this event
#1 ·
· · >>Ratlab >>Not_A_Hat >>CoffeeMinion >>_Pinkie_Pie_ >>CoffeeMinion >>Trick_Question >>Trick_Question >>Trick_Question >>Trick_Question >>Trick_Question >>horizon >>Not_A_Hat >>Trick_Question >>Jordanis >>Dubs_Rewatcher
Please refrain from saying anything that might compromise your anonymity. Doing so is grounds for disqualification. It's recommended you do dummy reviews of your own stories should it otherwise be easy to deduce which you wrote.




The basic commenting functionality is in place. I'm working on avatar uploads, notifications, making post replies more responsive, etc. This is enough to get the ball rolling, however. Let me know what you think!

The main benefit here will be the ability to attach comments directly to stories, removing the need for that ugly spreadsheet nonsense.
#2 ·
·
Huh, neat.
#3 ·
· · >>Ratlab
Nifty! Even the edition works! Good job, Roger! Kudos.

(By the way, the spreadsheet was fun. I will miss it.)
#4 ·
· · >>Frogmyre
Oh snap.
#5 ·
· · >>Monokeras
Huh. This is unusual.

Looking forwards to prompts!

>>M1Garand8
Test.
#6 ·
· · >>Monokeras
I'm the only pony here whose user icon actually makes sense.
#7 ·
· · >>Frogmyre
>>Frogmyre
Apparently the hovering function or message inclusion feature does not work yet. But I’m sure Roger’s working on it!
>>Trick_Question
Pff… That’s not fair.
#8 ·
·
>>Monokeras
I see! Well, had to check.

You also don't apparently get notified, Hm.
#9 ·
· · >>QuillScratch >>RogerDodger
This is only a test.

[img]https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/4/30/885688__twilight+sparkle_rarity_questionable_comic_artist-colon-the+weaver_slut_rarislut.png[/img]

Aww! ^q.q^

:facehoof:

Not even :facehoof:? Okay, I'm starting to suffer from cuteness withdrawal. :V
#10 ·
·
Well, this is different.
#11 ·
· · >>Trick_Question
Woo! Now I can comment on threads here without having to sneak my way into roger's dev server!

>>Trick_Question
I'm sure more cuteness will be added with time. Cuteness is, after all, a staple ingredient of a good writing contest.
#12 ·
·
>>QuillScratch
One can hope.




(F5. F5. F5. F5. F5...)
#13 ·
·
πŸ¦„ = :rarity: ?

⁉️
#14 ·
·
Neat.
#15 ·
· · >>QuillScratch
>>Trick_Question
Implementing emoticons is not difficult. The trouble is finding a good emoticon pack that I'm allowed to use. I don't know where Fimfiction's emoticons came from and whether they are licensed such that I may use them.
#16 ·
· · >>Poorly Disguised Alt >>Caliaponia
>>RogerDodger
I don't know where Fimfiction's emoticons came from

Here you go!
(Based on the comments, they'd probably like it if you ask before using. They seem to be okay with people using them all over the place, though.)
Edit: That's one pretty quote thing. I swear I've said that before, but whatever.
#17 ·
·
(deleted β€” just Emoji trial)
#18 ·
· · >>Frogmyre
Literal butts
#19 ·
·
Oh snap! Comments on the site itself? Hell yeah!
#20 ·
·
Well, here we are.

Neat!
#21 ·
·
β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–‘β–“β–“β–“β–“β–’β–’β–’β–’β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–“β–“β–“
β–“β–“β–“β–“β–‘β–‘β–‘β–“β–“β–“β–“β–’β–’β–’β–’β–’β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–“β–“
β–“β–“β–“β–‘β–β–Œβ–‘β–‘β–“β–“β–“β–“β–’β–’β–’β–’β–’β–’β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–„
β–“β–“β–’β–‘β–‘β–Œβ–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–“β–“β–“β–“β–’β–’β–’β–’β–’β–ˆβ–Œβ–“β–€
β–“β–’β–“β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–“β–“β–“β–’β–’β–’β–’β–’β–€β–“β–“
β–“β–’β–“β–“β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–€β–€β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–“β–‘β–’β–’β–’β–’β–’β–“β–“
β–’β–’β–’β–“β–“β–‘β–‘β–‘β–Œβ–„β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–Œβ–‘β–‘β–’β–’β–’β–“β–“β–“
β–’β–’β–’β–“β–“β–“β–‘β–‘β–ˆβ–ˆβ–ˆβ–„β–ˆβ–Œβ–‘β–‘β–‘β–“β–“β–’β–’β–“β–“
β–’β–’β–’β–’β–“β–“β–“β–‘β–‘β–€β–€β–€β–€β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–“β–“β–“β–’β–“β–“
β–’β–’β–’β–’β–’β–“β–“β–“β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“
▓▒▒▒▒▒▓░░░░░░░▐▄░▓▓▓▓▓▓
β–“β–ˆβ–’β–’β–’β–’β–’β–‘β–‘β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“
β–“β–ˆβ–ˆβ–’β–’β–’β–’β–’β–‘β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“β–“
#22 ·
·
Crikey! That’s neat! Thanks Roger!
#23 ·
·
>>Dubs_Rewatcher
Metaphorical butts.
#24 ·
·
(another missed try)
#25 ·
· · >>QuillScratch
Rrrgh. Once again a Writeoff. Once again a busy weekend.

What time is it going to start and finish again? I might be able to take advantage of a few hours somewhere.
#26 ·
· · >>notbillymorph
Huh, well this is a nifty thing, nice work Roger. Oh, and there's an alias feature as well! No sock-puppeting people :P
#27 ·
· · >>A_Hat >>The_Letter_J
>>billymorph Yeah, sockpuppets are so annoying :D
#28 ·
· · >>MonarchDodora
>>MonarchDodora
Check the fic submission page for a countdown!
#29 ·
·
This will be interesting. I miss my avatar though :(
#30 ·
·
Neat.

Dunno if I'll want to participate in this contest, but we'll see if inspiration strikes.
#31 ·
·
It's rather Spartan... but it suits our purposes, I guess.
#32 ·
· · >>QuillScratch
>>RogerDodger, >>Monokeras

I kind of liked the spreadsheet as well. It'll be nice to not have to make sure that it's current, but I hope that whatever you implement has somewhere where you can look and see the total number of reviews by fic. That 'at a glance' functionality was useful in spotting overlooked fics.
#33 ·
· · >>QuillScratch
So we are no longer commenting on the main page on Fim then and having discussion here? Or will the reviews be done on the main page on Fim and not here?

Don't get me wrong the comment system is interesting here, but I just need to understand with the new rules in all. Can someone care to explain please?

Also can't wait with the new round on Fim. Can't wait to see which prompt will be chosen. :)
#34 ·
· · >>Broman
>>Ratlab
I'd say have a comment counter for each story, but undoubtedly some comments will be discussion of the story and not initial reviews, which may skew the balance. I wonder if it'll be possible to have a system where you could tag a comment on a story as "review" or "reply"? That would allow for easy review-counting.

>>Broman
It looks like the new plan is to comment only on this site, which will be an interesting new twist. Reviews will end up being posted as comments directly on each story, allowing an at-a-glance look at each story's reviews, while general discussion of the contest will happen here on this page. Hope that helps!
#35 ·
·
I love your profile pictures
#36 ·
·
Well now! This is an interesting new feature! I eagerly await the will of our new old robot Roger overlords.
#37 ·
· · >>RogerDodger
This is really awesome. Thanks for implementing this, Roger!

As a side note, are there any plans to implement a feature like what the Ponychan Writeoffs had, where the user just appears as "Writer of X Story?"
#38 ·
·
Nice, I like it quite a lot, and it also seems to be quite fast on my not-exactly-razor-edge-phone.
#39 ·
· · >>archonix
GUYS GUYS

I JUST REALIZED THAT OUR NAMES ARE RIGHT TO THE LEFT OF THESE POSTS

LITERALLY EVERYTHING WE TYPE HERE COMPROMISES OUR ANONYMITY
#40 ·
·
I'm going to find this hard to read until we get avatars in.
#41 ·
· · >>The_Letter_J
>>notbillymorph Totally! Stupid sockpuppets.
#42 ·
·
This site:

Will quickly become our one-stop shopping spot.

But I'm sitting this round out since I'm already behind in getting chapter 3 of Wànlǐ ChÑngchéng / A Great Wall finished. I'll probably be around reading, though!

Mike

Edit: Alas! My indenting doesn't work! I can feel my identity--indentity?--slipping away!

Edit #2: And now the indenting is back! Hoorah!
#43 ·
·
>>notbillymorph
>>A_Hat
*sigh*
Do I need to go create an entire alphabet of sockpuppets now?
#44 ·
·
It works and it's quite nippy. Two good things to start with. For some reason, the thing that's disorientating me the most is having a blue background to my name. Also, having to read to find out who's made each comment. I mean, who does that?
#45 ·
·
Woohoo! Comments! I like the similarity to fimfic's system; feel's very comfortable to use, if a bit bare-bones at the moment. Can't wait to try it out on the stories.
#46 ·
· · >>RogerDodger >>Southpaw
>>RogerDodger Mmm, this hasn't really replicated the functionality of the spreadsheet, yet. The spreadsheet let us cross-reference reviews by fic name and author name, as well as keeping running totals in both directions. While the information on how many reviews each author has done is less important, the information on how many reviews each story had was used quite often.

I'm not sure what/how you're planning on expanding this, but here's a suggestion.

Most people, when they review, put the title of the fic they're reviewing in the post. Perhaps you could add tagging functionality, something like @ or # tags, so that if I mention #FicName in a post, it would be appended to that fic's discrete thread? A 'review counter' could be added to the gallery, which would simply total posts like that.

This would also potentially allow people who enjoy doing more than one review per post to easily add their review post to all the fics.

Well, I realize this is a work in progress, so those are my thoughts. This looks like it's going to be interesting, and I anticipate seeing where it's going!
#47 ·
·
>>QuillScratch Thanks for that. Actually having comments on your stories does sound better then looking at a reviews on the Fim page and having to scroll through long explanations. Thanks for notifying me of that.
#48 ·
· · >>Not_A_Hat
Anyone else try out the alias system? I tried it just for fun and I can't actually change aliases except by creating a new one. So now I have a few, including this one which is identical to my first one... This is some pretty beta stuff here, huh?
#49 ·
·
>>QuillScratch
Pthththb. Doy. I am dense. Thank you.

So Friday at 6, for me. The one bit of timespace I can't do. fffffffffffff. FFFFFFF, I say.
#50 ·
· · >>gardrek
>>gardrek I did have problems changing my alias for a moment, but then I discovered that you need to click the little star by the alias name; it doesn't work if you click the name itself.
#51 ·
·
The aliases have a rather strict character limit. My original string was not "foo". Still, it'll be cool to see how this works for a write-off I'm actually around for!
#52 ·
· · >>RogerDodger
So when do these threads paginate?
#53 ·
· · >>Syeekoh
>>skywriter

Are you high?
#54 ·
·
>>archonix
He can be if you want him to be.
#55 ·
·
Noice.
#56 ·
· · >>Southpaw
>>FloydienSlip
That won't be implementedβ€”nor allowed, if you make aliases for the purpose. It breaks my current interpretation of the anonymity rule that it's broken whenever you claim to the be author, regardless of what name you do it under.

The purpose of the rule is to allow stories to be discussed without the author's intent guiding the discussion. Having people post as "Author of <story>" defeats that purpose.

It was how we did things way back when, but I think it's better this way.

>>Not_A_Hat
The mechanism for "tagging" posts to stories is already in place, but you can't see it yet because there aren't any stories to comment on!

I don't think the distinction between "review" and "discussion" is that meaningful, however. The gallery will have the number of comments left on each story, which should show clearly which stories have less attention than others.

>>Waterpear
Currently, not at all.
#57 ·
· · >>RogerDodger
Hmm...This is pretty swanky. All the question marks are a bit ominous but avatars come with time. The similarity makes it easier to adjust at list. Though I never noticed that alias thing up there. Dunno what that's for when I thought things were submitted anon anyway.
#58 ·
·
>>NexusDragon
It's to enable people who want to run multiple identities (for example, a separate identity for FiM entries and for General entries) without them having to make multiple accounts.
#59 ·
· · >>Caliaponia
Roger, nice touch how the site displays your current alias next to the post box. Any plans for comment pagination, so when the thread inevitably expands out to hundreds of messages we can avoid having to PgDn through all the older ones?

>>QuillScratch
Nice find. According to the sidebar on the DeviantArt page, they are licensed under Creative Commons, so they're perfectly clear for use here.
#60 ·
·
As for this round: As previously promised, I'll be entirely sitting this one out. Good luck with all your minifics, and I'll see you over at FIMFic or right here next month!
#61 ·
·
Hahahahahahhaha

My name is fucking John Cena.

Roger, please for the love of god.
#62 ·
·
Posting on here instead of FimFiction will be different, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.

Hmm, what does it look like if someone replies to your post?

Also, yeah, pagination FTW!
#63 ·
·
Oh wow, aliases! This makes me happy.
#64 ·
· · >>Syeekoh
Very cool.

Also:
I Ot Not To Do This

Every time you use Ot as a prompt suggestion, a pony dies. You bastard.
#65 ·
·
I really like the independcy from fimfic. I want to say though that, although submitting through this site, having a discussion about the event on fimfic made it feel more "homey" for me when being new to the group. I don't feel that way now since I know a majority of the names popping up here, but wont this be an additional hurdle for newcomers? Not saying it's good/bad either way, just putting it out there.

As for features: I'd really like an upvote/downvote feature for comments and/or reviews. I think it was a great way to express support for a critique in an anonymous way.

Also, I'd like to ask for a better reply-to-comment functionality. As it is now, you can go up to the comment that's being replied to, but you can't go back to the reply from there. I really loved and got used to the way fimfic did it, with being able to see replies to a comment on mouseover, and being able to open up the comment that's being replied to in the reply at the approriate location.

Not trying to be the negative nancy here; I really think this built-in discussion thread is a step into the right direction, and I very much appreciate it.
#66 ·
· · >>Southpaw
>>Southpaw
do you nOt approve?
#67 ·
·
>>Not_A_Hat
That was the problem. But I still don't know how to remove the extra aliases.
#68 ·
·
>>Poorly Disguised Alt, I concur. Nice find, >>QuillScratch

Since they're licensed under the CC, I would like to see the pony emotes available, even if we end up also using some others.
#69 ·
· · >>CoffeeMinion >>axis_of_rotation >>FloydienSlip >>gardrek >>Morning Sun >>MonarchDodora >>billymorph
I've thought a lot about this, and I need to speak. I am very much open to trying new things. However, at the present time I no longer feel that this discussion forum is a good idea.

I rely on Fimfiction notifications to check threads and to know when somepony has responded to me. I don't want to have to deal with not having a notification system, nor having two different notification systems to manage, nor having emails for every response I get to something I commented. The reason the Writeoff group works for me is that it is integrated into Fimfiction already.

Fimfiction's notification and commenting system is already excellent, and there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. I'm very impressed by the work that Roger has done, and I honestly appreciate his efforts. However, I am certain this system will reduce my involvement in the Writeoffs rather than help, because it's a separate system from Fimfiction (which I use and check all the time).

I don't understand why we're doing this when everything worked fine previously.
#70 ·
·
>>Trick_Question
Ah, so replies generate direct emails?

>>RogerDodger
IMO, it would be nice to have a FimFiction-style notification system as an option. I used to have things direct-email me, but it got annoying.
#71 ·
·
Oooo fancy! Guess I've been out of the loop for a while, I didn't expect this. Looking forward to trying it out.

>>Trick_Question
I know how you feel, maintaining multiple sets of notifications is difficult for me. I usually become unbalanced and favor one, ignoring the others for days at a time.

I'm probably wrong, but I think Roger moved things to the site because of his desire to attract a general, non-pony audience.

However things end up going, I do hope you manage to stick it out, TQ :3
#72 ·
·
>>Trick_Question
I believe Roger's intent was for a more all-purpose place to comment, rather than having users who are just in the Writeoffs for the original fiction rounds to make Fimfiction accounts.
#73 ·
· · >>CoffeeMinion
>>Trick_Question
Here, here! I agree with everything you said.

In response to the general sentiment in others' comments that this change was to cater to general fics, I propose a compromise: Only use the on-site comments for general fiction contests, at least until general fics are more popular and the comment system is at feature-parity with the FImfic one.
#74 ·
·
>>Trick_Question

I do agree with this. Like...okay. I get having reviews in-stories, maybe. And having it all on here for General Fic I get.

But honestly? FiM stories fit more on Fimfic. And if we move all discussion here, the Writeoff group forum appears dead - and let's face it, people for ponyfic are really only coming from Fimfic. Better to show there's active activity there, and tie it into the good notification system already in place.

Basically, please allow FiM WOs to discuss in the Fimfic forum.
#75 ·
· · >>CoffeeMinion
Does anyone have a line to Knighty? Maybe Roger and him could collaborate. After all, Knighty does want to expand the site to encompass original fiction. Maybe Knighty could add the genfic accounts and forum pages early, and then create an API that could let Roger do the story comments and gallery page. Alternatively, fimfiction could be set up to take information from these forums, and display them through the fimfiction notifications.

The writeoffs and fimfiction / genfiction strike me as highly complementary platforms. If they could work together, I'd think you'd increase the value of both.

Teamwork is magic!
#76 ·
·
>>gardrek
>>Caliaponia

Hear hear. Keeping the pony discussion on FimFiction makes sense. Having this as a place to talk about original fic makes sense.
#77 ·
·
This is some weird shit.
#78 ·
·
comments over here? cool!
#79 ·
·
Clearly the change was intended to stop me and my meme reviews.

No longer shall I have any fun images to use! Curses.
#80 ·
· · >>Loganberry >>Trick_Question
>>Trick_Question

Mm. Finding particular reviews was horrible in the Fimfiction-thread-and-spreadsheet system, so we need a workaround. I can't help but wonder if a whole new forum is going to deter new people from joining in, though. I think a good portion of people got into the writeoffs by seeing the discussion in the group, and then having the ability to join in on it even if they weren't in the competition. With this, they need to re-register to this site even to talk.

On the other hand, actually registering here feels like more of a commitment, so people might feel more invested.
#81 ·
·
>>Trick_Question Well, I think there's definitely space for a comment system on the stories. One of the biggest issues of the megathread was how difficult it was to discuss individual stories. Sure, one or two would get a lot of discussion, but the majority of stories and the majority of reviews got lost in the crush.

That said, I do think the megathread was a good way of introducing people to the group and there's a risk of making the write-off too insular if everything is portioned away. Maybe hosting the main discussion of FiM stories on FiMFiction would be a good middle ground.
#82 ·
·
even with the convenience, it seems overly restrictive to only allow comments on this site, but I'm willing to try it out for a round and see how it goes.

I'll post all my reviews in Discord chat only, just to pointlessly fragment the discussion.
#83 ·
· · >>Spectral >>John Cena
Tbh, I think this is way too barebones at the moment. No notifications, no pages, no avatars, no way of finding replies to a comment, finding out which comment someone is replying to makes you lose track of the comment you were reading. Also no avatars, no emoticons, and no "alias pages" - I'd love to find my way back to people's fimfiction pages from here - perhaps by letting every alias include a link. Also no comment preview.

Images maybe work? Testing below:
[img]http://www.animalsbase.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Pony.jpg[/img]

Nope.
Can I edit a comment? Yepp.
#84 ·
· · >>Trick_Question
>>Spectral
Forgot to mention: this is a step in the right direction, of course. Expecting people to sign up for fimfic accounts for general fiction contests is dumb.
#85 ·
·
>>Spectral
Here, here!
Take note, Roger.
We the committee of the Writeoff demand an alias page!
#86 ·
·
Oh, we have comments on here now. Neat.
#87 ·
·
>>MonarchDodora
I can't help but wonder if a whole new forum is going to deter new people from joining in, though.

As someone who's very nearly a new person, I'd hazard a guess that people who want to write ponyfic will be (to some degree) put off by the need to register on another site in addition to Fimfiction, whereas people who want to write original fic will be (to some degree) attracted by the lack of need to register on Fimfiction itself. I'd also hazard a guess that the Writeoff may start to feel more and more like an original fic event that sometimes has pony rounds, rather than the other way round. Whether that's a good, bad or neutral thing is another question entirely!
#88 ·
· · >>gardrek >>RogerDodger
Anyone else having trouble voting for prompts? Perhaps it is merely that my iPhone has turned traitor, but I don't recall having this much trouble turning grey thumbs-uppy-things into green thumbs-uppy-things in the past.
#89 ·
· · >>RogerDodger
>>CoffeeMinion
I, too, am having troubles. Can't click any o' dem thumbs.

(on chromium linux x86_64, if anyone cares)
#90 ·
· · >>Spectral >>gardrek >>CoffeeMinion
>>CoffeeMinion
>>gardrek
Voting hasn't started yet.
#91 ·
· · >>gardrek >>Trick_Question
>>RogerDodger
I was confused by this, too, until I realised. Maybe hide the thumbs until voting begins?
#92 ·
·
>>RogerDodger
I was wondering if that was it.

>>Spectral
This is a good idea.
#93 ·
· · >>QuillScratch
I agree with others that pony stuff should perhaps stay in the fimfic forums.

As for the prompt thing maybe you can put something as simple as "Voting starts/ends in" before the counter (since that would also show how much time we have left to enter a prompt).

Btw, great job, Roger!

Test. Red.
Gray.
White.
#94 ·
·
>>fda_approved
White.

Alas, the background of the comment boxes looks like it's a bit more grey than that.
(By which I mean, "I see what you did there. Literally.")

Edit: turns out colour doesn't quite work the same in quotes?
#95 ·
· · >>Bugle
I have a concern beyond the fragmentation issue and loss of some features: Pagination. We're up to ninety-five posts in this thread and we haven't gotten to a new page. Now, it could just be set up to make a new page every hundred, but given how long some review posts can get, that could get downright obnoxious, assuming that the site isn't going to load the whole darn discussion every time someone pulls up this thread.
#96 ·
· · >>RogerDodger
>>RogerDodger
OK that makes sense. What's interesting is that I don't even see the grey thumbs-uppy things on my Windows machine, but I do see them on my iPhone.

le bug?
#97 ·
· · >>CoffeeMinion
>>CoffeeMinion
Temporal bug. You're viewing it on your iPhone in the past, when the thumbs-uppy things were visible while disabled.
#98 ·
·
Oh jeeze, this is....

Hrm. Maybe I'll get used to it when we start implementing pages. It'll be pretty difficult to find where precisely you left off when it's one continuous thread.

As such, I'm a bit overwhelmed and have only kinda skimmed the thread so far, much to my disappointment. Maybe when I'm on lunch I'll give it a more proper read.
#99 ·
· · >>John Cena >>Waterpear >>CoffeeMinion
Making Equestria Great Again

Rise of the Aryan race

It's only a matter of time until we get overrun by politic trolls...

Also, where do I go to change my profile picture?
#100 ·
·
>>John Cena
Nevermind. I found it.