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Post by L on Feb 8, 2003 10:36:43 GMT -5
I sent the following message to Darrell (Mr. Pickles) Just wondering- could you post some sort of clear guidlines as to what is acceptable and what is unacceptable for publication? I recieved the following answer, which I'm posting here in hopes that it will be helpful: Well, as far as laying out some guidelines, I'd say to stay away from... Hacking, theft Any illegal activities Drug and alcohol use Death, suicide, murder, or terminal illness (I know we have Coltzan, but I'd stay away from anything stronger than the mention of someone's passing) Profanities Sexual content or anything said in a sexual context Dating, marriage, honeymoons, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. Parodies/references to copyrighted material (I know this has been allowed in the past, but I'd like to phase it out, if possible) Contentious responses to others' submissions (I've decided to add this after last week's "Legolas" hubbub). Of course, presenting an opposing view to someone is permitted. However, I would ask that dissent be presented in a constructive, civilised and respectful manner. Please keep in mind that, just because something isn't on this list, doesn't mean that it's automatically allowed. We must reserve the right to be able to discount a story based on any scenario that makes us uncomfortable. However, for now at least, I would consider this list as a pretty good "rule of thumb". Edit from Wolf: To see the up-to-date list of what's okay and what isn't in the Times, straight from Snowflake's mouth, visit neoholic.com/index.php?page=interviews_snowflake . ^_^ It has been reported that Neoholic has been corrupted and is now a repository for virii and spyware. Posted by Sans Rose: First of all, to submit anything to the Neopian Times (except editorial questions), go to www.neopets.com/ntimes/nt_submit.phtml . To submit editorial questions, visit www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editform.I must point out www.ntindex.com/nt-faq.php as it will answer a lot of the most common questions. All of the links have been moved to ntag.oddhatter.net/list.htmlThose are by far not all there is to writing, and I am sure the articles/websites will not answer all questions, and doubtlessly create new questions, but it's a start. And many of the people who made the above resources are here - Laura, Tdyans, etc. Edited by Wolf to keep all the Times links up-to-date. ^^
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Post by sara on Feb 8, 2003 13:34:55 GMT -5
Doesn't anything religious also go onto that list? I mean, I'm sure they wouldn't want to publish a story which described Neopets discussing whether or not they were discarded from the Garden of Eden or anything along those lines. Also I think they want to skirt away from anything really political in the "real" world - I mean, a strike in Tyrannia is OK, but writing an article thick with references to how evil Osama Bin Laden isn't going to sit well (especially since the word "Osama" is blocked on Neopets - I learned that when I tried to discuss "Osama Tezuka" over neomail.)
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Post by Princess Ember Mononoke on Feb 8, 2003 15:00:55 GMT -5
No theft? Oh, I guess that mean Child_dragon's Dragon Thieves is permenantly out of the Times. And no boyfriends/girlfriends/marriage? What about Monokeraus and Kalissari? i can understand not wanting excessive love mushy stuff, but none at all is just stupid. And NOTHING illegal? Not even by the VILLIANS? Sheesh! That is HARSH.
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Post by Leb on Feb 8, 2003 18:19:58 GMT -5
I know for a fact that religious stuff isn't allowed, or at least wasn't--in one of my stories, a group of Jehova's Witnesses bother the Pant Devil on Halloween, and Josh said that it was funny but unacceptable "for the site," which I understand, and I changed it to "Asparagus God Worshippers".
But I think that Megz's Dark Night stories should be allowed; sure, in some parts the stories are based on other material, but so is everything. It's been calculated that there are only 100 types of plots for stories, and the only thing that makes an author's story theirs is their style and characters. And anyone who bars Megz's work from the Times is going to see a good author quit--
Thought I was going to say I was going to quit, huh? Well, to continue: Anyone who bars Megz's work from the Times is going to see a good author quit sending in good stuff--that's right, ALL JAMEZ, ALL THE TIME! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Gone were the days of Li, Conspicit, Dylan, and all those well-developed characters I wrote about! I'm going to start writing about Jamez!
Jamez claims this is a good thing. ;D But seriously, I need to bother Felicia anyways--she didn't give Megz credit for the latest Dungism part, and Megz did 50% of the work. Also, Monokeras and Kallisari rock. Barring them (along with Megz's work) would be like saying, "Whee! Let's make the Times amount to dung!" And don't get me started about the whole "stealing" issue.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2003 18:25:26 GMT -5
I sent the following message to Darrell (Mr. Pickles) Just wondering- could you post some sort of clear guidlines as to what is acceptable and what is unacceptable for publication? I recieved the following answer, which I'm posting here in hopes that it will be helpful: Well, as far as laying out some guidelines, I'd say to stay away from... Hacking, theft Sexual content or anything said in a sexual context Dating, marriage, honeymoons, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. Wha...? thalk about contradiction. |
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Post by Leb on Feb 8, 2003 18:48:37 GMT -5
I know! What kind of stories can we write?
Darkus Badguy sighed after a long day of donating to charity. After his partner passed, his dreams of being the most helpful Neopet in Neopia were shattered. He sipped from a cup of cocoa and sighed.
BEEP!
"Oh! My generic microvave oven has finished cooking my pastries!" he said, delighted. After the Neopets Team hypocritically told him he and his girlfriend had to break up, this had been his only joy.
Suddenly, Darkus accidently puctured his skin with a knife while cutting his patries, and his veins already had a disorder that made them lack clotting ability. He called Neo-11, only to be told that terminal illnesses were not allowed in Neopia. He was instantly deleted, and only a pool of digitized red plasma remained.
It's boring beyond comprehension! And it's more disturbing when you try to cover it....
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Post by Gryphon on Feb 8, 2003 19:37:06 GMT -5
Wait a minute... So you can't just careful avoid the fact of a character dying and just leave it to the mind of the reader to figure out? Gah, there goes 8 months of writing Lupe War down the Disco Toilet. -.- What are bad guys supposed to do? Tickle their enemies to death?
And what about things like Lupe packs? There's always mates in them, just like wolf packs. That would be the same as marriage, wouldn't it? Ugh... More going against Lupe War. -.-
What about the Pant Devil, too? He steals things. And what about articles on avoiding scams? If you can tell the idiots of Neopia how to avoid them, why not? Oh, because there's a guideline... -.-;
*mutters*
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Post by Kiddo on Feb 8, 2003 20:32:42 GMT -5
Alright, goodbye Aldrai and Netsuko. Goodbye all my villians. GOODBYE THE BIGGEST PLOTLINE EVER!!! I've been dying to write Dragon Thieves: Dr. Sloth and now that won't happen cause the dating thing just destroyed it. Sabreur is not happy either cause his story is reminiscent of mine, aka, stuff dies. Come to think of it, goodbye Dragon Thieves. *sigh* I give up. I'm just gonna work on Eil'gidian - my own rules there.
Okay, now that I have had a bit of chocolate and some time to think, I'm not quitting. I'm just gonna take a "wait and see" route. But if worse comes to worse, the end of the Dragon Thieves will mean my departure from the Times.
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Post by Kiddo on Feb 8, 2003 20:45:10 GMT -5
Sabreur speaking.
Okay, this is a little risky, but it might just solve the problem. Send in everything you have with absolutely no regard for the regulations. No edits. You all represent the greatest collection of authours the Neopian Times have ever seen - they can't edit you all.
Furthermore, this touches on a more important issue. If we milk our works of all controversy and conflict, we also wring them dry of all their substance. These new regulations require us to write dry, canned, meaningless essays, not works of literature. For the sake of all writers, these regulations must be ignored with extreme prejudice.
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Post by LDF on Feb 8, 2003 20:54:30 GMT -5
Wait a minute... So you can't just careful avoid the fact of a character dying and just leave it to the mind of the reader to figure out? Gah, there goes 8 months of writing Lupe War down the Disco Toilet. -.- What are bad guys supposed to do? Tickle their enemies to death? And what about things like Lupe packs? There's always mates in them, just like wolf packs. That would be the same as marriage, wouldn't it? Ugh... More going against Lupe War. -.- What about the Pant Devil, too? He steals things. And what about articles on avoiding scams? If you can tell the idiots of Neopia how to avoid them, why not? Oh, because there's a guideline... -.-; *mutters* *tickles someone to death* I don't think that's possible, but, you could tickle someone so that they have a laughing fit, but that's probably all... What about Al? Does this mean the torment of Hollypaw will end? WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY?! |
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Post by Tdyans on Feb 8, 2003 21:38:36 GMT -5
(I know we have Coltzan, but I'd stay away from anything stronger than the mention of someone's passing) Guys, I take this to mean that as far as the death issue goes, it's pretty much the same as it was under Josh (and these are not rules as has been pointed out before, they're just newly being followed.) Characters can still die, you just have to be vague about it, just like Gryphon was saying. Maybe I'm reading this wrong? As for other concerns, I understand-- I share them. But take them to the board that Mr. Pickles created and see what he says before you give up hope. "Wait and see" just like Kiddo said. |
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Post by sara on Feb 9, 2003 16:21:25 GMT -5
Okay, these rules really aren't that bad. There have been worse sets of rules made - I think ALL of these rules were applied to Carl Barks, but stricter, including many more which went as far to say "no female villains". Yet he still made plenty of good stories, and most of them (if they were about Neopets and not ducks) would probably get into the Neopian Times without censorship problems. There was still conflict, but instead of being about something terribly violent, it would be Scrooge McDuck scheming to get a cup of 10 cents coffee for free (those stories were only one page long comics, but pretty darn funny!)
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Post by lupe on Feb 9, 2003 18:10:46 GMT -5
Alright, goodbye Aldrai and Netsuko. Goodbye all my villians. GOODBYE THE BIGGEST PLOTLINE EVER!!! I've been dying to write Dragon Thieves: Dr. Sloth and now that won't happen cause the dating thing just destroyed it. Sabreur is not happy either cause his story is reminiscent of mine, aka, stuff dies. Come to think of it, goodbye Dragon Thieves. *sigh* I give up. I'm just gonna work on Eil'gidian - my own rules there. Okay, now that I have had a bit of chocolate and some time to think, I'm not quitting. I'm just gonna take a "wait and see" route. But if worse comes to worse, the end of the Dragon Thieves will mean my departure from the Times. What? NO! NOT KIDDO! If Kiddo leaves, then I'll have to find a new author to be a big fan of, and draw pictures for them! ((darn it, I drew all of your pets and you...  )) |
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Post by lupe on Feb 9, 2003 20:01:48 GMT -5
What about Al? Does this mean the torment of Hollypaw will end? WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY?! I don't know LDF, no of us do... |
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Post by wonderfulaishas on Feb 12, 2003 17:26:59 GMT -5
When Pickles sent that list, I dont think that he meant for it to stifle your creativity. It's just meant to protect some people , ya know? I would imagine that theft permitted in the case of a bad guy because if it wasnt, then there wouldnt really be any stories would there? By illegal activities, I would imagine he mean illegal in the sense of murder or something really bad. Thats what an antagonist does, ya know? Bad stuff!
I think they want you to stay away from b/f nd g/f things because that could go into dating, marriage, and honeymoon which could go under the catagory of 'sexual refrerences'. And personally (even though Ive never seen anyone who wrote about this) I wouldnt want to read about pets with a terminal illness.
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))