Site Clean Up Proposal

Hello all, you're friendly neighborhood absentee site admin here. Seeing as two years after shuttering the doors we still have folks making requests and writing threads I figured I owed it to them to poke my head back in and see what I could do.

As I said before, even with having taken a step away from the site I was only ever an @ away from anything anyone needed. Now, I wanted to take the time to do some site modifications while I had the energy and make things a little more manageable for the site going forward. I think low power maintenance is the right way to look at it and just properly adjust the site to suit.

I think at present Sakura is a great low-pressure place to write and tell stories in a Bleach setting but! We need to make sure we look over applications, we need to get rid of all the stuff that people aren't using so it doesn't feel like a vacant place and we need to make sure our story and setting are visible for people to see even if it is slowly progressing!

So I am declaring myself Defacto Boss until one of my fellows shows up to take the reins. I'll leave this thread up for a bit with my proposals then close it out and make them. Reply if you wish to add in things you'd like to change, or, if you'd like me not to change something I've proposed.

Changes:

• Summarize the time skip in our plot events
  
• Summarize the state of the world and Seireitei
  
• Clean up requests to better reflect the reality as it stands rn
  
• Change the systems to work a little bit more simply/fit current needs (detailed below)
  
• Change gradings(detailed below)
  
• Clean up all the old aging and out-of-date threads
  

Systems
We can leave this one as is. Frankly, it's probably the right move. My alternative is that we drop stats in favor of a more simplified/streamlined tier system. Get rid of power/control/agility/durability and instead you have a tier from 1-10. 1 being a basic recently awakened individual, and 10 being your vastorode/gifted captain commander/vaizard freak etc level. We leave skills alone. So, if your skills are really good you can still argue being stronger than someone with more power, but that tier plays a large role in making your character better at everything, while skills allow you to specialize in certain areas.

With a combat system having stats allows for more gradience/build nuance but I don't think that's really all that necessary and in lieu of that simplicity really helps the site in its present form, but, it's also maybe not needed due to the lack of ongoing conflict that requires this.

Grading
Until someone comes along who wants to grade things, I am axing the system entirely. I do not wish to tell people how good their writing is or whether or not it passes muster. Therefore, I'd like to change all XP Requests to a flat 100 XP per completed thread with some leeway for what is or is not a completed thread. If people really want feedback it can be asked for but honestly, I think this is 100% necessary at this time and frankly, I suspect a relief to many (if many were around to read it). That said, I think the requests should remain, why? Because it's good to frame your requests in collections and do your best to present them in a way that gets you thinking about how you write. The better you write, the more you offer to others, the more they and you will enjoy writing together. Threads will be verified that they have been worked on but otherwise 100 XP across the board.

This brings us to release requests/mastery requests. The same as above. I intend to leave the requests up as they are, but I wish to completely drop the bar on requirements. I don't want to tell you when you're ready for a release, I want you to tell me. That said, more than just opening the door entirely, I still want people to be mindful about when they make the request, I want it to be meaningful, and rewarding once you get it. I will verify that you have written earnestly and that you have made some attempt to tell a story but I don't intend to do much more.

All of the criteria which make a good request stands I hope that everyone earnestly applies themselves because that's where the fun is, but I'm not your boss and I don't want to play power/stiry cop, but if anyone else wants to take up the mantle then we'll adjust as the situation changes.

Alright, that's all for now!

TLDR; Update! Clean up! And trim down some rules which don't work in our pleasant climate.