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Aldea Prime Naming Convention Poll

Aldea Prime Naming Convention Poll

Hi there everyone!

Now, everyone have had the opportunity to try the new Stardate naming convention on the Aldea Prime Anthology Board. So the question is if people like using the Stardate Calendar and adding the headers at the top of the first post, or if it would be preferable to use the naming convention we used in Interregnum 04-05. Which simply looked like this:

Day XX [YYYY hrs.] Insert Title

Example:
Day 01 [1600 hrs.] Focal Point


So, we're having a 3 day Poll about it. If you prefer to simply use the one above, where Day 01 would be March 11, you vote for that, and if you prefer to use the Stardate Calculator to render a stardate number for the header, you vote for the other option. That convention looks like this:

SD XXXXX.XX: Insert Title

Example:
SD 57565.07: The Comfort Of Kin


Looking forward to see the results! If we change the convention, I will spend a few minutes editing the threads we've posted so far in the Aldea Prime Anthology. :)

Best,

Auctor Lucan

Re: Aldea Prime Naming Convention Poll

Reply #1
I for one am in favor of the older Day XX convention. Partly because I’ve used that most of my Trek RP career (been writing since ‘01) but also because when skimming posts to see what’s happening around the same time as my threads, the extra mental gymnastics of stardates is a bit hard on the old noggin. :)

Also would add, it's a lot easier for new writers to jump in as days are intuitive, whereas the SD system is not.

Re: Aldea Prime Naming Convention Poll

Reply #2
I agree with SummerDawn.

The more simplified Day XX naming convention is my preferred way.
Defeat, Genocide; why quibble with semantics.

Re: Aldea Prime Naming Convention Poll

Reply #3
I'm going to take the other choice:  Adding the stardates.  I need to know the date, if not on the thread pages, then on a dedicated page that can establish a timeline for when the scenes and episodes took place.  It's hard not knowing the date, even if it's extra work converting stardates and such. 

Re: Aldea Prime Naming Convention Poll

Reply #4
AL, not sure what the limitations of the forum are... but would it be possible to, if we use the standard date/time, we could mouse over that portion to get the stardate, or if we use stardate, to mouse over and get the standard date and time instead?

Re: Aldea Prime Naming Convention Poll

Reply #5
Hi there!

Going to answer a few questions raised in regard to the poll and the options.

I'm going to take the other choice:  Adding the stardates.  I need to know the date, if not on the thread pages, then on a dedicated page that can establish a timeline for when the scenes and episodes took place.  It's hard not knowing the date, even if it's extra work converting stardates and such.

If you feel like making and updating a wiki page with all the threads listed separate from the actual forum page, perhaps adding which characters are featured in those threads listed, then be my guest, but that's not efficient use of my time. Better to have a solution on the forum directly, updated in real time. The amount of maintenance required to just keep that kind of page up to date is nuts when we have the same information on the forum.

Instead, we have an alternative for OOC knowledge being Day XX, which tells us all exactly how long ago they arrived on Aldea. That gives us perspective on when the Battle of the Apertures was, and we can also sort the Aldea board by Subject (top right corner) to get all the threads in sequence. Doing so will also let us immediately see where Day 01 stops and Day 02 beings, etc. Browsing the long list of threads will become easiest that way since you can go by Day XX and [TIME hrs.].

I am not sure what's important about knowing the date? Then again, you can easily learn what date it is now, because Day 01 is March 11. That means Day 15 will be March 25. If you really want to use the date, it's not difficult to find out. The alternative to that is to use modern day date formatting, but there are problem with that. Namely that it will either break the sorting of the board when you sort by subject, or make it difficult for the eye to follow where March XX threads listed become March YY when you sort them. Let me show you:

A) Day XX Format
Day 01 [1200 hrs.] Lorem Ipsum
Day 01 [1300 hrs.] Dolor sit amet
Day 01 [1440 hrs.] Consectetur Adi
Day 02 [1420 hrs.] Quisque Sceleri
Day 02 [1740 hrs.] Odio Quis Sapien
Day 03 [1930 hrs.] Sollicitudin Sem
Day 03 [2340 hrs.] Ut Sed Libero
Day 03 [2355 hrs.] Aliquam Vel

B) SD Format (plus internal header)
SD 57558.73: Lorem Ipsum
SD 57558.77: Dolor Sit Amet
SD 57558.84: Consectetur Adi
SD 57558.94: Quisque Sceleri
SD 57559.05: Odio Quis Sapien
SD 57559.75: Sollicitudin Sem
SD 57559.24: Ut Sed Libero
SD 57559.64: Aliquam Vel
C) Long Date Format
2381-03-11 [1200 hrs.] Lorem Ipsum
2381-03-11 [1300 hrs.] Dolor sit amet
2381-03-11 [1440 hrs.] Consectetur Adi
2381-03-12 [1420 hrs.] Quisque Sceleri
2381-03-12 [1740 hrs.] Odio Quis Sapien
2381-03-13 [1930 hrs.] Sollicitudin Sem
2381-03-13 [2340 hrs.] Ut Sed Libero
2381-03-13 [2355 hrs.] Aliquam Vel
D) Short Date Format
03-11-81 [1200 hrs.] Lorem Ipsum
03-11-81 [1300 hrs.] Dolor sit amet
03-11-81 [1440 hrs.] Consectetur Adi
03-12-81 [1420 hrs.] Quisque Sceleri
03-12-81 [1740 hrs.] Odio Quis Sapien
03-13-81 [1930 hrs.] Sollicitudin Sem
03-13-81 [2340 hrs.] Ut Sed Libero
03-13-81 [2355 hrs.] Aliquam Vel
Option A (votable): Here, the eye sees which day in relation to Aldea arrival immediately. We also know that Day 01 is March 11 and can easily find out which date and time any thread is. Stardates are used In-Character so we have the calculator to use when needed.

Option B (votable): Here, it's a long list of numbers that does not tell which day is which. When in the list does Day 2 begin? You'll have to click each individual thread in order to see which date is set in the header of the first post.

Option C (not in the poll):
While this can be sorted chronologically, it's not very immersive for the story, and the 3+ pages list of threads will end up saying 2381 all the time in the beginning. This one also has the most characters, limiting the number of characters we can use for a title. You also have to look at the third set of numbers, as opposed to the number after Day.

Option D (not in the poll): This is shorter, it can be sorted, but it's still not very immersive. You have to look at the second set of numbers, as opposed to the number after Day. We can drop the 81, so it just says 03-13 [2340 hrs.], but in terms of aesthetics, Day XX is easier to relate to than just a set of numbers.

There was also a suggestion on Discord for March-11: Lorem Ipsum, but that does not work when sorting by subject, since April will end up above March.

Is there any support to adding either of the two bottom ones to the poll?

AL, not sure what the limitations of the forum are... but would it be possible to, if we use the standard date/time, we could mouse over that portion to get the stardate, or if we use stardate, to mouse over and get the standard date and time instead?

If you hover over a thread now, it's always the latest post's first text that appear, and I am not sure this can be changed. At least I don't know how to do it. Good idea though! It would keep the requirement for headers though.

Best,

Auctor Lucan

Re: Aldea Prime Naming Convention Poll

Reply #6
Personally I would stick with Option A, it's elegant in it's simplicity.

 

Re: Aldea Prime Naming Convention Poll

Reply #7
I like Option A, the Day XX is really simple when I want to see what day/time something is taking place.

I'm still in favor of Option A  but I did want to add this:
Option D is also kind of simple as well, we could also abbreviate it to 0311 [1200], 0312 [1200], 0314 [1200], 0313 [1200], etc. reducing the number of characters slightly.
Defeat, Genocide; why quibble with semantics.

Re: Aldea Prime Naming Convention Poll

Reply #8
POLL FINISHED!

The result is clear, with a majority over 77 %, you prefer to switch naming convention on the Aldea Prime Anthology board, and I will honour your wishes by renaming the subjects accordingly. It will take me a few minutes but I think this will help everyone situate where their characters are at each day through the anthology.

The new naming convention is:

Day XX [YYYY hrs.] Insert Title
, with Day 01 being the 11th of March 2381.

Thank you so much for your participation!

Best Regards,

Auctor Lucan

 
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