Membership Pending Applications

[Death Kitten 200]

15 hours ago, Zozma said:

I have seen admins confess that they purposely pend most applications as a test. Ever since I read that, my already low tolerance for being pended was at the lowest state possible. If I’m pended, I leave. I don’t have time for that shit. 

Out of curiosity, if an admin team pended you with good reason that they clearly explained (such as your background contradicts site lore, or you have connections to another character that may need verification and/or correction, stuff like that), would you still bolt the moment you got pended?

[Huskerdust 625]

Probably. I tend to be finicky so I read all the information several times and as I write the bio, I look to make sure things match up. But of course I’m human and I make mistakes. 

 

Mostly it’s the feeling of being micromanaged combined with my rebellious nature (I hate being told what to do and always have) with a little bit of social anxiety thrown in. If my first encounter with the admins is to be told to fix something, that anxiety will push me right out. 

 

Believe me, I get why some admins do what they do but there’s so much of “I only do this because it’s what I was taught” or just for the sake of testing people that I no longer have the patience. Time in life is limited. I’m not wasting it on things that aggravate me. 

[FriedKilamari 46]

On 11/19/2017 at 2:08 PM, CovertSphinx said:

I take "pending" en masse as a sign that Administration either isn't being clear about what they want, or are trying to run an Elite game where everything in the app has to be perfect down to the last speck of pollen. Kind of like....treating the Apps as the End-All-Be-All of encyclopedia of information on the character.  I personally like to keep SOME form of an App because it gives me an idea of the character we're working with and I can work on teasing them into the bigger plots (and make plots specifically inspired/around said characters) more effectively.

 

The only time I'd "pend" something is if there's something that breaks the worldlore or other serious issue. And even then, I let the member know what's up, and try to give suggestions on how to fix the issue without taking away from their character itself.

 

This exactly.

 

I handle most of the applications on our site, and I've never had to pend an application yet. But in the past, I've had to pend applications for a variety of reasons, with the most common one being the applicant didn't properly fill out a section of said application. Perhaps in the past it was a bit nit-picky, but whenever I did pend an application I, or other staff, was always there to help guide the applicant through the correction process. Sometimes it's as simple as "Hey, your app is great but you forgot to fill this part out!", while other times it's a bit more complicated, but I think so long as staff is there to help people get their apps out of pending, it really shouldn't be an issue, and if it is, maybe staff should take a little more time and effort to help make the process easier.

 

I've never seen pending apps pile up before, but I suppose that's because I've only tended to stick to sites that I myself run/help run? The only time I've had pending apps pile up on any of my previous sites is because the pending applicant either took forever to make the changes or just never logged back in.

[StormWolfe 557]

We hold applications until at least two of us can read the character's bio and validate that any played character connections listed have been approved by the writers of those characters. As long as all of the required fields have the basic information we've asked for, it's unlikely we'd hold a bio. It's a bit more involved in our fantasy RPG because the amount of lore is massive. At that game, I have to have the race's creator do a review also just to cover all bases. I'd prefer to catch any major issues before the person posts.

 

It's not done as a power-play on the part of myself or other members. It's to make sure we are all on the same page. We try to hold everyone (Admins and players) to the same standards. My bios have to be read and approved just like everyone else's. We all have real lives, so it does sometimes take a day or two. We want everyone to enjoy writing with us.

[Sadrienne 242]

On 11/20/2017 at 3:24 AM, Thyme said:

I'm one of those people who actually loves apps, so it's not the app itself that I find kinda weird, but every once in a while I join (or lurk on) a site that pends literally 99.9% of applications. And I just don't understand. 

 

Maybe it's because I was a teacher and from a teaching perspective if all your kids are getting D's and F's (which is in essence what pending is, right?), then something is wrong with either your explanation or your expectations. Since most writers on roleplay sites -- especially not-beginner sites -- know how to write an app/character...

 

Anyway, it just seems like if everyone is getting pended, maybe its time to separate out more sections for your application or make more clear requirements to help guide people towards what you're looking for? I dunno.

 

Pending for us simply means that there are a few questions we have about the character, or suggestions we'd like to make in order to help the character fit in more easily. 

 

So on that front, I agree---if you're getting a heap of applications that need basic edits, you probably need to identify the common mistakes and provide documentation that addresses those issues. Maybe it is the teacher thing? I don't know.

 

It can be a sign of a power trip on toxic sites, but I can also see it being far more common in sites that are entirely original settings. They often have to have the most documentation, and not every applying member is going to read through what they need to know. Sometimes it may be easier for the applying member to hash out an application and get feedback through the pending phase---so that's also a possible reason.