Author Topic: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!  (Read 9240 times)

JordanYen

  • Minion
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« on: January 11, 2017, 07:09:49 PM »
From this thread: https://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php?topic=12429.0

That's correct, the plaque text is not stored clientside, and while there are copies of it on places like Paragon Wiki, I'm leery of bundling it with Paragon Chat. To date, we've gone to great lengths to avoid distributing any potentially copyright-protected material along with the program, preferring instead to load it all from client data.

In the chat channel I floated the idea of getting community submissions for new, original, text for the plaques. The replacements wouldn't need to be exact stand-ins (they could talk about some other aspect of the history of the city for instance), but text that's at least somewhat related to the badge they're tied to would be a plus. Unlike silly metagame things like the door messages, I'd prefer that plaque text not be fourth-wall breaking and maintain the tone of the original game.

I haven't set up any formal project or anything for that -- if there's someone who wants to take the lead on it and help gather, select, and edit the submissions for quality, please feel free to step up and do that.

Consider it done. Here is a listing of all plaques and their text. I've set it up to be a shared document so anyone with the link can add new text to the end. Just pick a column and write something new. For best results, it should match the spirit of the original and may even be good to use many of the same names and dates so long as it's written differently (not a lawyer, not sure if that counts as plagarism, but probably not).

I hope people will volunteer to fill in the various alternate text columns or if you think you can do better, add yours in the next column over. Once all of them are done we can give it to CW and the rest to consider for in-game badge goodness!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zzpRkbfD0zAx_HOVmiuYQpVeEP0crLt0h3iuk3-koq8/edit?usp=sharing

Lycantropus

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 255
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2017, 05:50:07 AM »
Oooh! I like this idea!

I'll see what I can think up when I have some time! :)

Lyc~

Codewalker

  • Hero of the City
  • Titan Network Admin
  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,740
  • Moar Dots!
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2017, 11:02:12 PM »
Just an addendum, I prefer text that fits the spirit of the game, but doesn't attempt to echo the original plaque at that location.

To put it another way, I don't want them to sound like a term paper written by somebody who grabbed a wikipedia article and changed a bunch of words to synonyms to try to foil plagiarism detectors.

People wanting to see the original text can view it on Paragon Wiki. Let's give them something new to read as they explore. :)

JordanYen

  • Minion
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2017, 12:35:39 AM »
Just an addendum, I prefer text that fits the spirit of the game, but doesn't attempt to echo the original plaque at that location.

To put it another way, I don't want them to sound like a term paper written by somebody who grabbed a wikipedia article and changed a bunch of words to synonyms to try to foil plagiarism detectors.

People wanting to see the original text can view it on Paragon Wiki. Let's give them something new to read as they explore. :)

I've made a few additions that I hope are closer to what you're looking for, but if they're not, please let me know so I can do better with the rest!

Floride

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 863
  • Badgehunter Extraordinaire
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2017, 04:29:01 AM »
It's not exactly canon, but I wrote one for the plaque under the Atlas Statue. It's not in the google docs spreadsheet because it's not needed for a badge. (standing in front of it and doing a "/loc" shows 126 28 -296).

Since this plaque is not required for a badge, perhaps what I wrote could be considered:

"On this site November 30 2012, tens of thousands of heroes and villains banded together and gave their lives to combat the formidable foe Sunset who threatened to obliterate Paragon, the Rogue Isles, and even Praetoria. Sunset would claim a devastating victory that day, but he grossly underestimated the determination of the powered titans who had challenged him, and Sunset's devastation would ultimately be thwarted. All those who read this, who live by and walk in the code of their predecessors, are living proof that Sunset's victory was indeed a fleeting one."

History shows again and again
How nature points out the folly of men

Codewalker

  • Hero of the City
  • Titan Network Admin
  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,740
  • Moar Dots!
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2017, 04:39:19 AM »
I've made a few additions that I hope are closer to what you're looking for, but if they're not, please let me know so I can do better with the rest!

Still reading through them, but I really like the Terra Volta reactor one!

Korbian

  • Guest
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2017, 04:47:08 PM »
Tried my hand at a couple of the Croatoa ones.  It's been ages since I've attempted any creative writing, so I dunno if they're suitable.   :-[


JordanYen

  • Minion
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2017, 01:44:36 PM »
Tried my hand at a couple of the Croatoa ones.  It's been ages since I've attempted any creative writing, so I dunno if they're suitable.   :-[

All contributions are welcome! We can always edit from what you started, but revision is always easier than filling a blank page :D

That said I think your additions are great :)

JordanYen

  • Minion
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2017, 12:43:43 AM »
 Many of the additions to the plaque spreadsheet are anonymous, but I wanted to say that so far they are all excellently done. Thank you all!

Tahquitz

  • Titan Staff
  • Elite Boss
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,859
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2017, 07:40:26 PM »
There are approx. 59 entries that need contributions at the time of this post.

The Hero plaques are for the most part finished, the remaining plaques are Villain and Praetorian.  Anyone who is a fan of City of Villains or Going Rogue, now's the time to step up!
"Work is love made visible." -- Khalil Gibran

JordanYen

  • Minion
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #10 on: January 19, 2017, 06:10:05 PM »
We've written over 100 alternate plaques so far and just have to get through the villain and pretorian ones now. Note that you are welcome to write alternative text in a new column. There's not really a limit to how many options we have. Just make sure not to delete what someone else put there.

I've actually seen quite a few people pop in to read what's there. If you don't feel up to writing one of your own, feel free to leave comments on the ones that are there. So far, I've done most of these myself and I don't mind, but I'm know I'm not perfect. If you have suggestions, let me know!
« Last Edit: January 19, 2017, 06:58:43 PM by Jordan Yen »

Yuro

  • Underling
  • *
  • Posts: 10
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2017, 10:16:13 PM »
How do you feel about people editing the new entries in the spreadsheet?  I wouldn't mind going through and cleaning some of them up for spelling and punctuation.

JordanYen

  • Minion
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #12 on: January 25, 2017, 04:52:35 PM »
How do you feel about people editing the new entries in the spreadsheet?  I wouldn't mind going through and cleaning some of them up for spelling and punctuation.

Minor changes like spelling and punctuation mistakes are fine. Go for it.

JordanYen

  • Minion
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #13 on: January 25, 2017, 04:54:03 PM »
I just finished adding the last replacement text. I know my skills are limited and I was tired at times so some might be pretty weak, but at least we have something for every plaque. Feel free to read them over, leave comments, or start a new column and write an alternate set of text! Let's clean it up and get it to CW for consideration!

Yuro

  • Underling
  • *
  • Posts: 10
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #14 on: January 25, 2017, 09:15:19 PM »
OK, cleaned up spelling and punctuation.  Did not tackle much in the way of grammar or attempt re-wording.  I tried to keep a very light touch, and if in doubt, left things as they were.  Also possible I may have missed things.

JordanYen

  • Minion
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #15 on: January 28, 2017, 11:15:01 PM »
OK, cleaned up spelling and punctuation.  Did not tackle much in the way of grammar or attempt re-wording.  I tried to keep a very light touch, and if in doubt, left things as they were.  Also possible I may have missed things.

*thumbsup*

Thanks!

Figboy

  • Underling
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #16 on: January 29, 2017, 09:22:44 PM »
What a great idea, and you've done a fantastic job! If there are still plaques available, I may contribute editing if I have the time. If I can't, I just wanted to say that the work you've done is super appreciate and awesome! Thank you!

slickriptide

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 356
Re: Getting Plaques working again - Pitch in!
« Reply #17 on: September 22, 2017, 01:04:27 AM »
What about querying the XMPP server, via pub/sub or some other mechanism, and downloading a plaques.cfg customized to that server if one is available? If it's not, then fallback to the default plaques.cfg.

If someone goes to the trouble of running a server of their own, this is one avenue of customization that would readily allow two servers to differentiate themselves.