chocolateboxcomm | Creator reveals!

And that's a wrap! Thank you to all participants for your hard work!

Now in terms of next year I am considering some rule changes. I'm looking at rule changes in relation to the following:

A rule requiring that each person only sign up with one account; and
A possible penalty for participants who default at the deadline, so as to spread out pinch hits.

I am interested in feedback as well about rules you would like to keep for next year! I likely won't respond to comments, so as to allow you your time to give feedback, but I am reading. Thanks guys!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

clawdine

I like both of these rules!

Thanks for hosting a great fest. I really enjoyed participating this year.

From:

shadow_lover

I like both of those rules too!

From:

unforgotten

The rule about multiple accounts sounds fair to me. I wouldn't mind the other one either if it was a penalty along the lines of "you have to write at least one 300 word fic/post at least one picture on non-lined paper based on a prompt in this year's collection in order to participate next year." (As opposed to a penalty such as "you can't participate next year if you default at the deadline this year," which would imo be too harsh.)

From:

chocolateboxmod

Oh yeah, the penalty I'm considering is "to participate next year you must complete your assignment".

From:

lady_ganesh

Yeah, that's always worked well (I thought) with Yuletide. Give a gift to get back in.

From:

sholio

Some fests have an earlier no-fault dropout deadline, and then impose a penalty if you wait right up 'til deadline to drop out. I think that's fair. Technically I have an early dropout deadline for SSR Confidential, but it's mostly there as a fallback rule in case people waiting up until the deadline to default becomes a problem. (I mean, if there's a couple I'm not gonna be a hard case about it, as was the case last year, but if half the participants start doing it, then, yeah.)

From:

primeideal

Definitely support a one-account-per-participant rule!

Thanks for moderating! :)

From: (Anonymous)

I participated this year and I'm in favor of each person having only one account.

Also in favor of a penalty for no-show at deadline, or a penalty for an earlier "default" deadline.

From:

smallhobbit

I agree with a penalty for participants who default at the deadline, with an earlier non-penalty default date. Presumably if having defaulted you realise you could complete something you could still post it as a treat.

From:

badass_tiger

Personally I'd prefer it if the penalty was that you had to submit one treat (possibly with the imposed word count). Completing their assignment might be a bit too restrictive, especially if they dropped out due to writer's block and found they couldn't get around their assignment. Although it might not be too much of a problem considering the very low word count mandatory for this exchange. But I would prefer writing a treat over writing the assignment ^^

From:

morbane

(not the mod, but) To me it seems there's a difference between defaulting because you couldn't get your assignment to work, and holding on to your assignment until the very last moment (the deadline) and past it. Surely at that point, people either think they may be able to post a work, or are gaming the system - either way it seems fair to me to require them to post a work for their assigned prompt.

From:

badass_tiger

Oh, I was a little confused about 'defaulting at the deadline', but the mod has clarified it below. In that case, yes, I very much understand your view. I've been part of an exchange where I had to drop out before the deadline for defaults because I struggled with my assignment and I have to fulfil that assignment if I want to participate some other year. I'm not too fussed about that in the end, but I do find it a difficult rule to work with. I still think it would be easier for the penalty to be to write a treat rather than fulfil their original assignment (it would be less discouraging imo), but I'd definitely have no objections to the latter if that's what the mods choose to go with.

From:

vass

Thank you for your work organising it.

From:

mahmfic

I am confused by the first one.
And do you mean people who defaulted BEFORE the deadline or default AFTER it?

From:

chocolateboxmod

The first rule is targeting people who sign up with multiple accounts, or sockpuppets. I don't care which account participants use to sign up with, so long as they only use one account.

The second rule is targeting people who do not default and so I have to default them when the deadline passes. This year we had 60+ people who were defaulted at that deadline, and that's a lot to deal with! I accept that there will always be a number of people who simply wait out the deadline, but I'm trying to split the number of pinch hits over a period of time so that I have a bit more time to get all the pinch hits out.

From:

mahmfic

Oh! I didn't know that people sign up under sockpuppets or more than one acct. That's really weird. Cool with that one. How would it be enforced though?

Second one, yep that's fine with me. Whatever makes it easier for you to mod. I <3 this fic exchange and would like to see it continue.

From:

burglebezzlemen.livejournal.com

I had a great time in this exchange. Thank you so much for all of your hard work! :)

I think both proposed rules make a lot of sense.

If you do go with the default penalty, it might also be worth considering a no-penalty default deadline a week or so before the regular deadline, to encourage people to default earlier rather than hanging on until just before the deadline.

From:

lebateleur

Both rules make sense to me. I had a blast participating this year. Thank you for all the effort that goes into hosting this exchange!

From:

desertvixen

Loved the exchange this year!

Agree there should be a penalty for last-minute default, similar to YT.

From: (Anonymous)

I am for both the "one person, one sign-up" rule, and the "you must finish your assignment, or write two treats to participate next year" rule.

I say two treats rather than one, because treats are the stories you choose to write, while an assignment is the one that you have to write "or else".

From:

rosefox

Thank you so much for running a very fun exchange!

1) Makes sense to me, especially given the popularity of the treatless spreadsheet. People already put in a lot of effort to try to get every recipient a treat, so signing up under two (or more) accounts to get two (or more) full works is pretty rude.

2) Like many of the other commenters, I support a) a no-penalty "warning shot" earlier default deadline and b) the penalty being at one or two treats, rather than completing the original assignment.

A request for next year: author reveals at midnight on the 21st, if possible! I waited hours and it was hard. *pathetic puppy eyes*

From: (Anonymous)

Totally in favour of the second rule. Maybe introduce an earlier 'no penalty' deadline for defaulting, like Yuletide?

I understand why you're considering the "only one account" rule, because there are people constantly abusing the use of socks, but it would also be hitting people who are trying to keep fannish identities apart for good reasons (like not wanting certain fandoms/ships/content associated with their main account) and who are model participants with all their accounts. I don't think they should be punished for other people's bad behavior.

From:

craterdweller

Thank you for all your hard work! This is my second year participating and I've had tremendous fun, both years.

I think both rules sound reasonable. I can only imagine the administrative nightmare of trying to organize so many last minute pinch hits!

From:

ahavah

I must be the only one who doesn't care if people sign up with multiple accounts. Why is it a problem? If people can handle writing multiple fics -- and for only a 300 word requirement, that's not far-fetched -- why does it matter? More fic for everyone!