Important Revamping the Suggestion Process

[Mist]

The Suggestion Process as it exists was created over two years ago. It is time for a much needed update. This thread, effective immediately, will change the way in which we receive, process, and implement suggestions.

1. Concept Designers should not lock a thread within its first 24 hours. It is necessary that we have a period of debate on every suggestion within the community. Any staff member chiming in should only be to further debate, pose fruitful questions, etc.
2. If there is an ongoing discussion in the thread, the thread should not be locked until at least 24 hours after the last response was made. Again -- we want to facilitate discussions.
3. New Suggestion Tags
   1. COMPLETE - This is already in the plugin. Concept Designers can mark suggestions for features that have already been implemented (without waiting 24 hours), or can go back and mark threads as they're completed, merged, and released (again bypassing the 24 hour rule
   2. Approved - This suggestion will be revisited by our Concept Designer team at some point to discuss the place it has in our plugin. When we revisit the suggestion, it will either be PLANNED or DENIED after much discussion.
   3. Pending Review - The default mark for new suggestions. This means no Concept Designer has marked it yet as it is too new, still in a period of debate, etc.
   4. Planned - This means the suggestion has gone through the full Concept Design process, made usable, and sits somewhere on our official Trello board.
   5. Denied - The suggestion will not be implemented (There's a list of reasons why below. Concept Designers will always provide a reason for denying a thread).
   6. Notice that "Looking Into" is not on this list anymore. This new system is designed to ensure decisiveness on suggestions. Meaning we either approve it, or not. We will aim to reduce the current "Looking Into" amount of threads by reviewing them in the coming days.
4. Reasons a Concept Designer may deny a thread
   1. The suggestion is a duplicate of another that has already been denied (and the other has been denied for a valid reason)
      1. If you are suggesting a similar idea, you should explain WHY it is different from previous suggestions. If it is significantly different, duplicates will be allowed.
      2. Duplicates are allowed if the nature of the plugin is different. Maybe your suggestion didn't make so much sense in October, but come December there is a clear space in the plugin for it. (Example: WaterArms was consistently denied but as the plugin continued to develop it just made sense to include it)
      3. Duplicates may be denied of the suggestion is almost identical to a suggestion already on the forums that has not been marked yet. If a suggestion is undergoing debate, and you have a similar suggestion, you should contribute to that thread. Not create a new one.
      4. The suggestion isn't canon
         1. For our purposes, we are defining canon as "a general law, rule, principle, or criterion by which something is judged." Canon does not mean "we didn't see it in the show." You can assess if a suggestion is canon by reviewing if it was ever possible in the show and if you cannot find evidence, decide IF it could be possible based on the information / laws the show has provided us with.
      5. Suggestions are impossible / not within the scope of the plugin
         1. If you suggest a feature in Core, that should be in RPG, we will deny it and ask that you re-make the suggestion there.
         2. The feature cannot be coded into a plugin. If you're not sure whether a suggestion is possible, tag a developer @[username] to be sure. (Note: do not tag every staff member / Mist / Kiam)
      6. The suggestion already exists in the plugin, just with a different name (in which case it'll be marked as "Completed")
   2. Concept Designers can ask you to clarify / create a new suggestion
      1. If your suggestion is "loaded", it has too much to give a clear mark. We highly recommend breaking suggestions down to one suggestion per thread as much as possible (even if you make 2-3 threads in a single day). We can't mark specific parts of your thread valid or specific parts denied. Instead, we mark the entire thread. If we deny it and tell you to open a new thread with the following -- you should!
         1. Examples of things that need multiple threads
            1. Suggestions that involve more than one ability (each ability should have its own thread, it should be thorough)
            2. When suggesting multiple properties of the same feature changing
               1. Example: Changing velocity of AirSwipe and the damage of AirSwipe are two completely different suggestions. Therefore, put them into two threads. (You CAN link them together though.
   3. Follow the Trello Closely
      1. We cannot stress this enough. This is where you will see everything that we have planned but not yet implemented. You should look at it before you make any suggestions. If it's already on a Trello card, a Concept Designer will lock your thread and link you to the appropriate Trello card

 

[Vahagn]

Thanks mist.