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Introducing: SV's Picks of the Month!

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June 2020 Picks of the Month
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    • Skippy

    Skippy

    Labrador Wrestling Champion
    Group Leader (Content Promotion)
    Content Promotion
    Hello there.

    Sufficient Velocity is pleased to announce our newest feature, Picks of the Month!

    There are a lot of amazing stories, quests, and other fantastic things posted on SV by our users, and our Picks of the Month will spotlight some threads that we feel are worth celebrating. Whether it's an undiscovered gem of a original quest or story which we think tons of people will love if only they get to see it, a great essay on an usual topic which fellow nerds might find really interesting, or a successful creative work which we think represents the very best of SV, we'd like to celebrate it.

    We hope that this will eventually become something that all of SV's members can take part in, so if you know a great quest, story or other creative work on SV which you think deserves recognition, then let us know! In the months to come, we would like to have more than one Pick for each category.

    And now with no further ado, we'd like to introduce SV's Picks of the Month for June:



    Article:
    SV's Pick of the Month in Questing: B16nary
    by @Tam Lin

    A little b1nary creature awakens in a digital world where the only limit may be imagination itself. Decide what happens next in this quirky original art quest.
    Source: SV's Pick of the Month in Questing


    Article:
    SV's Pick of the Month in User Fiction: Mission of Honor: Retold
    by @General Battuta

    This tense retelling of the third to last novel in the Honor Harrington series will have you on the edge of your seat, as its heroes struggle in the nefarious web of a plot aimed not at mere galactic conquest, but the very destruction of galactic peace itself. From gripping technothriller action sequences to moving personal drama, this story has it all.
    Source: SV's Pick of the Month in User Fiction


    Article:
    SV's Pick of the Month in Original Essays: "Ramming vs Boarding: Naval tactics before the cannon" and "Single Combats: The Context of Chivalric Martial Arts in the 15th century"
    by @EricD

    This selection highlights two fantastic essays on martial corners of history you might not have known about, from one of SV's best armchair historians. If you are interested in historical naval combat or the medieval practice of martial arts, or think that learning more about them might come in handy in a roleplaying game sometime, then give them a look.
    Source: SV's Pick of the Month in Original Essays


    We hope that you will enjoy reading them as much as we have.

    Next month's Picks should be coming out on the first Sunday of July. If there are any questions or comments you have, or you'd like to discuss the selections, then this thread is open for them!
     
  • Threadmarks
    • @EricD 's stuff is good civ and always worth reading, really classic old War Room stuff that is nearly impossible to find these days.

    And Mission of Honor: Retold is quite easily the best story that I've read on this website in literal years.
     
    This is an excellent idea, one problem that I've had in getting into Fiction on SV is that there's just so much of it. This could be a great way for me to find stories that I definitely wouldn't have heard about otherwise.

    I love it :)
     
    Fernandel said:
    @EricD 's stuff is good civ and always worth reading, really classic old War Room stuff that is nearly impossible to find these days.
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    We considered promoting some of @EricD's essays on the Roman army in antiquity, since those are really excellent, but thought these would be good as they're both quite recent. However, I would encourage everyone to check out the "My Essays" tab on Eric's profile, and have a read with a cup of coffee.

    Fourthspartan56 said:
    This is an excellent idea, one problem that I've had in getting into Fiction on SV is that there's just so much of it. This could be a great way for me to find stories that I definitely wouldn't have heard about otherwise.

    I love it :)
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    I'm glad to hear that!

    One thing we'd definitely like to do in future if there is sufficient interest in it is have a couple of picks for each section, so there's definitely quite a lot of scope to signal-boost interesting stories which might not get seen otherwise.

    We have a big google spreadsheet we're using to collate candidates, currently, and are always on the look for new ones.
     
    I predict that this will last for maybe three months before it gets very inconsistent on whether the picks actually happen for any given month.
     
    Mission of Honor Retold is Harrington better than the original ever was. The entire thing was absolutely thrilling. 110% had me on the edge of my seat throughout. Should ghostwrite for Weber.
     
    Akatsuki said:
    The only way to get rid of the banner is to press the X or to wait until we take it down, as there is no option in preferences to remove your own ability to see banners.
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    So, it's a pop up ad that isn't even tailored to my viewing preferences. I don't mind pop ups that alert me to things I need to know, site announcements, etc. I understand the pop ups when you get an infraction, to insure that you have seen them.

    But I come to this site for the Worm fanfics, that's it. I don't do politics here, nor other areas of the forum. And yet, whenever somebody feels like it, here's a pop up for crap I have zero interest in. Oh, yay.

    I understand that most people will like this, but if you're going to be using the banners for stuff other than important issues, perhaps there should be a way to turn the unimportant ones off. I would hate to miss an important announcement just because I got tired of silly banners and quit reading them entirely.
     
    13th Fleet said:
    I predict that this will last for maybe three months before it gets very inconsistent on whether the picks actually happen for any given month.
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    Interestingly, this concern is part of the motivation for why we've set things up the way we have. It is definitely a valid one, and something we've thought about.

    I don't know whether you remember the old SV Newsletter which used to run each month? The Newsletter also used to have "featured threads", which was a somewhat similar concept to Picks of the Month. But the workload involved also meant writing a whole newsletter, which ended up falling to just one person. That was simply not sustainable, in the end.

    That's why we've tried to slim things down to just promoting a minimum of two or three threads per month, with a small dedicated staff team managing things, which we think is doable. In terms of material, I believe there are at least twelve quests and stories produced on SV in a year which would be worth promoting - whether they're fairly successful and deserve recognition, or are just starting out and could use a helping hand.
     
    Looking good people.

    The current division of labor the staff is working with should, hopefully, help with burn out / gaps with this program.
     
    Ravenwood240 said:
    I understand that most people will like this, but if you're going to be using the banners for stuff other than important issues, perhaps there should be a way to turn the unimportant ones off. I would hate to miss an important announcement just because I got tired of silly banners and quit reading them entirely.
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    I understand what you're getting at and agree that being able to set a distribution list for such notifications would be a nice thing to have.
    However, the fact remains that it'll only be there once a month, so it's hardly much of an imposition to click three times every four or five weeks.
     
    July 2020 Picks of the Month
  • Threadmarks
    • *waves hello*

    So we had such a bumper crop of user fiction, quests, and so forth on SV that we felt it appropriate to split it into two separate announcements, one last week and one this week. Also if you haven't noticed, we have a user submission thread for fics, quests, or other such thread that you feel would be interesting to promote on SV! And without further ado, here are SV's Picks of the Month for July 2020!

    Article:
    SV's Pick of the Month in User Fiction, 1: Princess of the Valley
    by @JennyDracos

    Have you ever dreamed of a magical world of adventure, mixing elements of classic fantasy, modern fantasy, and the Old West? Have you dreamed that in that world, rather than being an adventurer, you would inherit a small ranch, and your daily problems would primarily consist of disputes over farm boundaries, and runaway cows?

    What if your ranch held a terrible secret?

    If this sounds intriguing, then check out Princess of the Valley, a charming original fantasy story.
    Source: SV Pick of the Month User Fiction, 1


    Article:
    SV's Pick of the Month in User Fiction, 2: Impurity
    by @EarthScorpion and @Aleph

    Have you read and enjoyed Worm, the gritty story of Taylor Hebert, underdog, antihero, villain to many, misunderstood and feared, and her constant struggles to rise above adversity and be a hero after all?

    Then you may enjoy Impurity, the uplifting story of Taylor Herbert, beloved heroine, darling of the press, applauded and loved by all, and her wonderful life in which absolutely nothing will go wrong.
    Source: SV Pick of the Month User Fiction 2


    Article:
    SV's User Pick of the Month in Weird History: Travelogue of the Stars Above
    by @Laplace

    This being a relation of the journeys of a scholar, Rigel ibn Amir, ibn Hassan, ibn Salib, in which he recalls his travels amongst the stars and his encounters with the Cynocephali, the Bleymeds, the Puesedojinn, and the other peoples of the worlds above Mount Quf.

    Have you ever imagined reading Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, except the Hitch Hiker in question was a scholar from the Islamic Golden Age, picked up by a flying saucer as he was making a pilgrimage to Mecca?

    If so, then I want some of whatever good stuff you're on, and also, you're in luck!
    Source: SV Pick of the Month Weird History


    Article:
    SV's Pick of the Month in Questing, 1: Maid to Love You
    by @open_sketch and @Jeboboid

    Have you ever wanted to sail the stars? Have you dreamed of going on romantic adventures? Have you imagined walking along the diamond beaches of Antares? Do you secretly imagine being a clockwork French maid, who hopelessly in love with their mistress?

    If so, you should check out Maid to Love You!
    Source: SV Pick of the Month Questing, 1


    Article:
    SV's Pick of the Month in Questing, 2: Blockade Runner
    by @OneirosTheWriter

    Have you ever watched the Star Wars films, seen the rebels dying heroically to achieve objectives and establish dramatic tension, and thought to yourself, this looks like a job with exciting career opportunities?

    Then check out Blockade Runner, where you will play as a valiant rebel commander of a CR-90 corvette and their daring crew, and hopefully not all end up murdered horrifically by Darth Vader!
    Source: SV Pick of the Month Questing 2


    Article:
    SV's Pick of the Month in Grand Strategy Roleplaying: Balance of Power: The Fifth Sun
    by @Nevaddy Yankee

    Have you ever wanted to take a journey into a vanished world? A world of serene Tenochtitlan amidst the waters, of vibrant Central American city-states and confederations, plumed eagle knights, canny leaders and bold merchants?

    Then check out The Fith Sun, a GSRP or "Balance of Power" set in pre-Columbian Central America, which so richly detailed, so excellently researched, so evocative in how it brings its subject to life, that it may in fact be a secret project by a cabal of time-travelling Mesoamerican wizards.
    Source: SV Pick of the Month Grand Strategy Roleplaying
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Weird History provides the all-star pick from this month, I feel :)
     
    Jensaarai said:
    I don't know what either of these terms mean?
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    A GSRP, known as a Grand Strategy Roleplay, and Balance of Power are games wherein you roleplay as nation-states and such along those lines. Balance of Power games are another term for such games, albeit they are a fair more mechanically focused I believe?
    Gravitas Hunt said:
    Maid to Love you points to page 2, which has both a stickied post and a threadmark as the first post – a little confusing.
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    >.> Ah hell, apologies on that error.
     
    Jensaarai said:
    I don't know what either of these terms mean?
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    A "GSRP" is short for "Grand Strategy Roleplay" which is essentially a roleplaying game where players take the role of nation-states or state-level actors, rather than playing a single character. This is often within a historical setting, although you can just as easily do it within a fantastical one. There have been a lot of GSRPs on SV set in the Star Wars universe, and @Maugan Ra recently ran one called Heirs of Sigmar, where the players played as the Electoral States and some other groups within the Empire in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. Essentially, think of a regular roleplaying game experience, except run over a web forum, and rather than roleplaying as an Elven ranger, you're roleplaying as Austria-Hungary.

    Originally, GSRPs became extremely popular on a forum called "Alternate History", or more frequently AH.com for short, but they were viewed with suspicion by a lot of the other members of the forum, due to the roleplaying element. They were relegated to a section of the forum which was deliberately made inconvenient and invisible, and suffered discrimination from the AH.com Staff. Happily, when things reached a crisis point, an SV staff member who was also a respected amongst the GSRP community on AH.com, @Cetashwayo, led them across the internet desert like Moses, to enter the Promised Land of Sufficient Velocity.

    Now, "Balance of Power" refers to essentially the same game concept, with a few unique quirks of their own, except they evolved independently on a totally different forum, this being Taleworlds.com. They've also started to appear on SV quite recently, and if they're all as magnificently written and richly detailed as The Fifth Sun, this is something we very much hope continues!

    (To get even more confusing, all the way back on SpaceBattles, in the Before Time of like 2010-2012 and even earlier, there were games which were substantially similar to GSRPs and BPs, except these were confusingly called "Story Debates". It just goes to show that some concepts are very old indeed, and are invented over and over again.)

    EDIT: Goddamnit @Usili 2.0 you nefarious ninja!!
     
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