System Time: 15:05 17 May 2008 - 13 Players Online
Contributing
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Contributing to BlogShares
There are numerous ways players can directly shape the game of BlogShares, as well as numerous ways to build the community in and beyond the game. The game is largely administered and maintained by an all-volunteer group of players who donate their time and effort to BlogShares, and there are many ways any player can contribute as well. Listed below are just some of the outlets you can use to help build up this constantly growing and evolving community.
Premium Memberships
Going Premium: BlogShares operates on a shoestring budget, with huge bandwith requirements and intense server resources being utilized. You can help the game pay its bills by purchasing a Premium Membership for $15 US for an entire year of membership. This works out to around 4 cents a day, which is undoubtedly the best game bargain on the Internet.
Giving Premium: Many of our players are unable to purchase memberships themselves, whether due to personal monetary reasons or being unable to use PayPal (and not trusting the mail service to deliver cash/money order). Numerous players have purchased Premium Memberships for other players, sometimes in exchange for in-game assets such as chips. If you love playing BlogShares and know of a deserving player who isn't Premium that would really enjoy being so, you can always purchase that player a membership as well. Use the same form as you would for your own account, simply make a note in the message section describing who the Premium is to go to (user ID # is the most important piece of information, email and nickname of that player is helpful as well).
Suggestions
Suggest Artefacts: There are over 6000 Industries in the game, but well under 500 Artefacts. Index Managers are adding new Artefacts at a rate of four to five a week, many of which come directly from the players. First check the Industry of your choice for an existing Artefact (only suggestions for Industries without one will be accepted). You can do this by visiting this page, where all existing Artefacts are listed. If you see 'Suggest a new one here' next to the Industry name, click on the link, and post your suggestion in the linked forum thread. Please notice that you are asked to provide a full description for the Artefact, not just a name. Suggestions lacking a description will not be used.
Suggest Sub-Industries: Admins are adding new industries constantly as blog content warrants. There are two ways to suggest new Industries. First, visit the full view of any Industry page. Use the 'Suggest a sub-industry for...' form to suggest the name of a sub for that particular industry. (link found on the individual industry page)
Suggest New Cities/Regions: The most frequent new Industry additions are for cities, states, provinces, etc for existing nations. Many nations with large blogging populations, including the US, Indonesia, Canada, China, Mexico, Netherlands, and England, have seen official states, provinces, and/or administrative regions added. Use the 'Suggest a sub-industry for...' form to suggest the name of a sub for that particular industry. (link found on the individual industry page)
Suggest alt-URLs or Report Errors: You can suggest an alt-URL by simply entering the exact URL into the suggestion form provided on each blogs.php page. Before doing so, please read this thread to learn what is and what is not acceptable for alt-URLs. Likewise, you can help us maintain the index by using the Report Error link provided on each blog's page to let us know of incorrect titles, dead blogs, negative share discrepancies, spam, and non-blog listings. Please visit this page and scroll down to the 'When to Report Errors' section for more on this feature.
Game Volunteering
BSEC: The BlogShares Securities and Exchange Commission is an all-volunteer committee of veteran players. While appointments to this team are often made from the administration or game ownership, occasional calls for open positions are made. If you are a veteran of the game, well versed in both rules and extensive gameplay, you can do a few things to help your cause in becoming BSEC. First, become very well known to admins and current BSEC members. You can do this most easily by frequent contact in IRC in #blogshares, and by sitting in on deliberations and discussions in #bsec (which is a public channel). Second, offer useful assistance to BSEC members in tough cases. Often times, its the 'leg work' that can take so long, so if you notice a tough case, you might PM a standing member of the BSEC offering your support or help. BSEC membership depends on active game participation for long periods of time.
Index Managers: IMs are in charge of maintaining the integrity of the game index. This includes delisting spam and dead blogs, hand-cleaning industries for correctness of votes, and filling industries as possible. IMs also choose and release Artefacts and offer assistance in the forums, particularly in areas concerning the index. To become an IM, you must maintain active participation in the game for six months or more, and have a stellar, extensive record of votes. IMs are chosen by administration based on volunteers and by private selection. When an open position is available to be filled, a notice of such will be posted in the forum and linked in Quick News.
Administration: Administrators are personally selected by the Board of Directors after extensive time spent both in the game and in communication with Jay, Suburban Wolf and/or Island Dave. It is entirely possible that new admins will be added over time as others drop out or positions are added. To be considered for an admin position, you must have been in close, personal contact with the Board of Directors and current admins for a long period of time. Please don't ask for an admin position. If you qualify, and it is desired to add a new admin, you will be informed directly of your opportunity. It is worth noting that all current admins began the game as players, each worked closely with BoD and then-current admins to improve the game and gain trust. This is a long-term committment from each, and nothing less would be expected from (potential) future game admins.
Other Opportunities: As BlogShares grows and evolves, there are often situations where volunteers are needed for specific tasks. For instance, we maintain a list of language volunteers, willing to help IMs and admins translate blogs to verify voting and content. Other specific tasks, such as finding blogs for a certain industry, or testing new functionality, pop up often, so check the #blogshares IRC Channel, Quick News box, and the forum for volunteer opportunities.
Wiki-Help Cleanup: Any user that has been registered for more than 180 days has the ability to edit most of these help wiki pages in order to make them better. Please see the Style Guide for information on how we would like things done. Conversely, if you haven't been registered for 180 days, or just don't have the time to edit the pages, let the Blogshares Editors know about anything that needs to be changed on the Needed Edits page.
Giving Back
Gifting: One of the most popular and friendly gestures our more established players like is to gift shares or chips to new players. Some will simply scroll the list of our newest signups and gift random blog shares or a handful of chips to give the player a nice start in the game. It's just a means of saying 'Welcome to BlogShares'. To gift shares to a player, visit that player's main profile page and click the 'Gift' tab. Simply select a blog, number of shares, and fill in the rest of the information. Please note there is a gifting limit of 29 owners for a blog. The player will receive a message indicating that you have gifted the shares.
To gift Chips, click on the 'Chips' link in the top navbar (available on most every BlogShares page). Enter user id # and amount of chips. On the confirmation page, you may enter a message to the receiver. The player whom you gift will receive a message in the game indicating that you have sent chips.
Contests: There have been numerous contests over the history of BlogShares. From Laila's Philippines Blogging Contest and the series of BlogShares Blogging Contests run by Island Dave to the very popular Haiku competitions officiated by Rutty, there are numerous ways to sponsor and organize in-game contests. Prizes often vary, but are typically substantial enough to warrant a lot of interest. Many of Island Dave's contests have had numerous prize sponsors for Premium Memberships, BlogShares cash, chips, and ideas. The possibilities are endless, and with the new BlogShares Missions system, contests can be even easier to organize.
BlogShares and Beyond
Forum: Many players never 'step foot' in the BlogShares Forum, but the vast majority of game communication and conversation takes place there. There are numerous boards for discussion, with lots of helpful people willing to answer questions, offer advice, or rant about the crisis of the moment. Take a moment to pop into the Forum and say 'Hi', read some of the newest posts, or browse some of the very interesting past content. Once you've gotten some experience in the game, take a hand in helping newer players by answering questions, providing strategy advice, or offering suggestions.
Charities: Over BlogShares history, many players have undertaken charitable activities directly within the BlogShares community. For example, mars / iris Securities sold much of his net worth in a charity drive benefiting his local Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. After the Tsunami disaster, Gunnar Langemark did similarly to benefit Unicef. Laila and RWO have teamed up to organize charitable drives numerous times. If you decide to use BlogShares to contribute to charity, please be certain to keep it legal, clear, and honest. Committing fraud will be heavily punished within the game, and you might well be breaking the Law.
BlogShares Blogging: Many BlogShares related blogs have sprung up over time. Feel free to start up a BlogShares-related blog by yourself or invite others to join you. We love seeing the community grow and interact, so if you love BlogShares and love to blog, this might be something for you.
Many thanks to all the player volunteers, charitable donaters, contest sponsors, gifters, bloggers, suggesters, error reporters, and all-around good people who continue to make BlogShares the most friendly, dedicated, and supportive community on the Internet.