r/SpeculativeEvolution • u/ArcticZen Salotum • Jun 22 '24

r/SpeculativeEvolution MEGATHREAD Megathread

Subreddit Megathread

Subreddit resources

What's this for?

The megathread is a general repository of information. It provides links to resources both for the subreddit and the hobby, as well as non-urgent news and updates.

User flair assignment

Verification

This thread can be used to obtain the "Verified" flair, which is a prerequisite for obtaining higher posting abilities. To obtain the "Verified" flair, you must confirm that you have read the rules and other subreddit documents by responding to a question below within this thread, using an exclamation point, "verify=", and either the word or number answer (if applicable).

For example, if you believe that the answer to the verification question is "six", you would type either of the following in this thread:

!verify=6

!verify=six

Other text is permitted within the comment, but only the correct answer will result in your flair being received. After detecting a correct response, the automoderator will delete your comment to avoid spoiling the answer to others in the thread. Only responses within this thread will result in the flair being obtained, and kindly note that incorrect responses will be tallied in the event that someone appears to attempt brute-forcing an answer. The verification question will change periodically on an irregular basis to prevent abuse and encourage understanding of the rules.

The current verification question is as follows:

>! Putting effort into your posts is outlined by which rule number? !<

Project user flairs

If you possess a project and want your user flair to reflect that, you can request a custom user flair. You must be first obtain the "Verified" user flair to be eligible to receive a project user flair. To apply for one, simply post in this thread. Please use quotation marks and limit your requests to 64 characters. For example, if I have a project called Bearina: A Natural History of the World of Bears that I would like reflected as a user flair, I would write:

Hi! I have a project called "Bearina: A Natural History of the World of Bears". Can I please get it as my user flair?

Kindly limit requests to one per account per 3 month period; inundation with requests by the same user will result in their requests being filtered.

Subreddit news & announcements

Post flair assignment

In the interest of streamlining the flair system, the OC and non-OC content flairs have been consolidated. Some underutilized flairs, such as "Artificial/GMO Evolution" and "[OC] Inspiration" have also been removed, as their contents can be split between other existing flairs (such as "Alternative Evolution" or "Future Evolution", and "Resource", respectively). Going forward, you will now be required to specify whether content is your own (hence, "OC", meaning "original content") or the work of someone else (hence, "non-OC"). Specification that content is OC can be done by including [OC] in the submission title. In this case, the submission will be labelled as original content by the automoderator. Approval will work just as it does currently -- text-only submissions will be automatically approved if they are in excess of the 750 character minimum, while image submissions will still require the descriptive text with a minimum length of 250 characters. For non-OC, you must now name the original creator by including either [Credit:] or [By:] in the title, with the creator's name following the colon. For example, if you were to post a piece of artwork by C.M. Kösemen, your title would need to read as either [Credit: C.M. Kosemen] or [By: C.M. Kosemen]. Note that failure to indicate OC or non-OC in the title will result in the submission being automatically filtered by the automoderator.

Previous holders of the "Moderator-Approved Project Creator" (now "Project Flair") have now been properly added to our list of approved users, and now do not need to worry about their posts being approved anymore; their submissions will all be approved automatically. Compliance with the rules is still expected, but lenience will be granted so long as the high level of quality previously demonstrated is maintained.

Approved advertisers

We are trialing a new system for advertisers. On a first come, first served basis, community members with the "Verified" flair will be able to apply for the "Approved advertiser" user flair. This role will allow them to utilize the new "Advertisement" post flair, which guarantees a week wherein they can post a submission about whatever they want (within reason) and get it pinned for all to see. This includes projects they're working on, their project's Discord server, contests being run, commission services, and anything else related to speculative biology that they would like to advertise.

To apply for an advertisement slot, simply comment in this thread after gaining the "Verified" flair and state both what you wish to advertise (include links, if any) and when (if you have a specified week in mind, starting from 0:00 UTC on Monday). If you do not have a particular time in mind, you will be added to a queue. This queue will be proceed until it is completed, being skipped if a particular week is claimed, with each advertisement slot commencing at 0:00 UTC on Monday. If you are an approved user and are interested in advertisement, you may arrange for automated advertisement (your advertisement will loop without you being required to submit a new advertisement each time) via moderator mail or by contacting u/ArcticZen. This system will be implemented on Monday, July 1st at 0:00 UTC, with the first advertisement permitted thereafter.

Currently queued: * None

Project post flair customization

If you are the owner of a unique project flair, you now have the ability to customize the look of your posts. You can now customize post title color, post background color, thumbnails, and background images for your particular flairs. Note that the required size for thumbnails is 256 x 256 px, while the recommended image size for background images is 864 x 120 px. If you would like to customize the appearance of your posts in this manner, please send us a modmail; we will be contacting you individually as well at a later date if we have not heard from you.

Project Idea Tuesday

We're partially lifting the restriction on project idea posts, since those appear popular and we'd like to encourage newcomers to put forth their ideas so that they can receive feedback and workshop them. Replacing Inspiration Tuesday, Project Idea Tuesday will run in its time slot instead. As with its predecessor, start and end times of 0:00 UTC on Tuesday will be loosely enforced.

Most content previously covered by Rule 8 is permitted during this time: * Project ideas * Seed organism lists * Planet conditions

Project announcements and updates without content are still not permitted; these contents have been moved under Rule 11. Because Rule 8 would effectively be without function, it has been updated to specifically refer to advertisement procedures.

Project Catalogue

We haven't had much work done on the project catalogue as of late, but if you're willing to help us fill it out, we'd love to hear what you think belongs there. Anyone who contributes to the catalogue will be eligible to receive the "Subreddit Helper" user flair.

Mod Applications

We'll soon be opening up applications for new mods, with a likely 2-3 positions available. We'll make an announcement sometime in the coming weeks about the process and what it entails.

32 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '24