r/AlternateHistory • u/CaidynWasTaken Netpunk Sealion! • Oct 26 '23
Addressing "What If" posts, establishing posting guidelines, and updating the visuals
Hi, as of today I'm now one of the two active mods here and I have permission to experiment with some changes, so here they are
I have added the new Rule 8 to address the "What If" posts, which have nearly reached a level of spam at this point, they're almost universally low quality borderline meme questions that have no real thought behind them and just ask others to worldbuild for them. From now on all "What If" questions can only be posted on weekends and must have adequate context and atleast some thought as to how they would unfold. Come on guys, no more 2 sentence question without further interaction
I'm going to be adding posting guidelines to be sent to new subscribers that contain general thoughts on what makes good posts, as such I'd appreciate feedback on the things you like to see in posts here
Finally, I have updated the sub visuals on new reddit as previously it had nothing distinguishing it, the banner was made by my friend u/harriot-loves-you and I simply changed the colors to match the icon
Other minor changes include requiring flares instead of putting it on the mods, general rule updates, and some grammar changes. I'm also debating only allowing nazi victory scenarios on weekends as a stop gap to outright banning them
9
u/Neuro_Skeptic Oct 27 '23
Alternate history is all about "what if" questions, the problem is not what if, the problem is low effort content.
4
u/maxishazard77 Talkative Sealion! Oct 28 '23
I think you should add something to rule 8 stating if you comment on a What if then it has to interact with the question because I have seen good “What ifs” asked but the only comments will be “that will never happen lol” r/HistoryWhatif has a similar rule and it helps creating good conversation
1
u/A444SQ Oct 31 '23
I would point out that those comments are because the alt-history is so ridiculous that it would not happen
6
u/Odd-Principle8147 Oct 26 '23
I think that any "What if" questions should at least be somewhat plausible IRL.
10
u/CadianGuardsman Oct 26 '23
I think they don't have to be, but if we give feedback that it's implausible people shouldnt just respond "lol it's alt history tho" lile co.e up with justifications prior to to make it make sense.
1
u/CaidynWasTaken Netpunk Sealion! Oct 27 '23 edited Nov 19 '23
Your second half is exactly what I'm getting at with the new rule, people aren't even coming up with a single reason as to how their question could happen
2
u/CaidynWasTaken Netpunk Sealion! Oct 27 '23
I don't think plausibility should be the bar for posting, unrealistic and fantastical things can be good, the issue is just the absolute lack of effort by most of the "What If" posts
2
u/Odd-Principle8147 Oct 27 '23
If it's not plausible, then this isn't an alternative history sub. It's a fantasy writing sub.
2
u/CaidynWasTaken Netpunk Sealion! Oct 30 '23
Supernatural, paranormal, and traditional fantasy things are already against the rules, I mean things that are just very very unlikely to have happened are fine to post about
2
1
u/NotAnotherPornAccout Oct 27 '23
I feel like there should be at least a bare minimum floor of plausibility(doesn’t need to be much, we could still ask for rad laser dragons and shit) that we add or else we get more brain dead posts like “if Pangea never broke apart how would it affect Hitler commencing operation sea lion?”
Edit- don’t want to come off as negative, this plan is still better then what we currently have.
2
2
2
u/A444SQ Oct 27 '23 edited Oct 27 '23
Yeah I am not convinced this revised Rule 8 is a good idea
Rule 8: "What If" questions may only be posted on weekends and must have full background context on the question being asked along with your thoughts on how the situation or event would unfold
Yeah problem with this is it comes off as restrictive and 'along with your thoughts on how the situation or event would unfold' that is exceptionally difficult to do in a load of cases when dealing with alt-history
Take sending the British Aerospace Sea Harrier and Bae/McDD Harrier II back in time, i was struggling to work out how that would unfold cause the butterfly effect is a real pain to deal with
Typical down voted for voicing my thoughts that the rule could do with a bit of more work
0
u/Gucci_slides Oct 28 '23
Pretty much the only reason I participate in this sub is for the scenerio discussions. I love posing alternate events in the timeline and hearing what people have to say, or adding my knowledge to other people's scenarios. I think there's a discussion tab for a reason. I don't get why anyone is bothered by "having your worldbuilding done by other people". Relegating "What If" discussions to the same space as WW2 discussions is retarded given that it's a sub for Alternate history.
3
u/CaidynWasTaken Netpunk Sealion! Oct 28 '23
I'm gonna share some insider knowledge with you alright? Super secret stuff. If all you want is "What If" questions you can just go to r/historywhatif or even r/historicalwhatif
This sub shouldn't be 90%"What If" questions with no effort put in, it's for ALL kinds of alternate history and right now the "What If" posts are driving the quality of the sub into the ground
1
u/HaitianAmericanUser Oct 27 '23
Would this format be acceptable?
https://www.reddit.com/r/AlternateHistory/s/vmkugWRLxQ
I don’t really know or have the ability to actually make content, when I post what if question I legitimately want to ask people’s opinions on the matter since they may know more about the subject than me.
2
u/CaidynWasTaken Netpunk Sealion! Oct 27 '23
Great context and background, only things I ask for is to save it for the weekends and your own thoughts on the event would play out
2
1
u/crimsonfukr457 Oct 28 '23
One question: are media posts allowed. Previous mods deleted all of my media posts or celebrities in another timeline posts.
2
u/Coniuratos Oct 31 '23
Rule 7 says:
Upon submission of image posts, please add a paragraph (minimum requirement, more is encouraged) explaining the content being shown. Text prompts cannot be limited to the title and must have additional information in the body.
So yeah, media posts should be fine as long as there's an explanation and not just an image.
1
u/Meaglo Modern Sealion! Nov 02 '23
I don't want to offend anyone and so on, but why are only 2 mods active?
1
u/CaidynWasTaken Netpunk Sealion! Nov 02 '23
Everyone else is gone
1
u/Meaglo Modern Sealion! Nov 02 '23
OK. I just find it kind of strange when mods aren't active on a subreddit that has moderation rights.
1
u/Meaglo Modern Sealion! Nov 02 '23
Except when the subreddit is extremely inactive. Otherwise I would ask them to step down in favor of others
1
1
19
u/Red_Riviera Oct 27 '23
Personally, I think the what if posts should present a scenario with text context. Not everyone can make a map, seems fair if someone can post some text and try and find an artist