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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

MOD New Story Board Tagging System- Please Read!

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by mavjade , Dec 11, 2015.

  1. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    Hello Fanficers!

    As you all know, The Force Awakens is about to be released and with that comes a slight issue with the way we organize fanfics. A while back a vote was taken and the majority wanted to go with a multi-tagging system. Unfortunately, we don't have the multi-tagging capabilities as of yet and we feel like it's really at the point that changes need to be made. We've decided to go with the solution that had the second most votes and what we think will be the least confusing option.

    In a few days all stories tagged "Beyond" and "Before" will be have been changed to "Beyond Legends" and "Before Legends" and new "Beyond the Saga" and "Before the Saga" tags will be made.

    In addition, new Saga tags will be added to help break up the vast amount of time and movies that will encompass The Saga.


    Below are the new tags with explanations:

    Beyond Legends - Stories that take place in what is now known as Legends- the former Expanded Universe. If your story takes place after Return of the Jedi and in the timeline of the Legends Expanded Universe or with those characters, Beyond Legends is what you want to tag.

    Beyond the Saga - Stories that take place beyond the entire series of movies. So for right now, anything that takes place after Episode 9 and not part of the Legends timeline would use this tag.
    Any AUs that have nothing to do with Legends continuity or characters, but takes place after Episode 9, use this tag.​

    Before Legends - Stories that take place prior to The Phantom Menace in what is now known as Legends, the previous Expanded Universe, including games. If your story takes place in that timeline or with those characters, Before Legends is the tag you want to use.

    Before the Saga - Stories taking place before the series of movies. If your story is a prequel to The Phantom Menace but has nothing to do with happenings in the Legends EU, you would use this tag.
    Any AUs that have nothing to do with Legends continuity or characters but take place before TPM, use this tag.​

    Saga - This tag will remain for stories that sweep through different parts of the Saga, as well as for older fics that might not get changed.


    Saga- PT - Stories that take place from The Phantom Menace up to A New Hope​
    Saga - OT -Stories that take place from A New Hope up to The Force Awakens​
    Saga - ST - Stories that take place from The Force Awakens through Episode 9​

    Saga -Legends - For any story that takes place within the Saga, but is part of the Legends continuity. Stories that are a part of the Legends timeline or with major characters who exist within the previous Expanded Universe. (Example: A story about Mara Jade as the Emperor's Hand, would be under this tag)​


    Any AUs that take place without Legends continuity or characters and take place within the Saga should go in the most appropriate Saga tag.​



    -- As is the case now, if your story does not fit firmly into one of these categories, choose what you think is best. Whichever tag the vast majority of the story takes place or with the vast majority of characters, chose that tag.




    We know the change in Beyond and Before will not be correct for some stories, but feel it is the case with the vast majority. If your story has been changed to "Beyond Legends" or "Before Legends" and you feel like it belongs in the new 'Beyond the Saga' or 'Before the Saga' tags, feel free to change it yourself or send the mods a PM with a link to your story and we will correct it.


    Please start to use the new tags for Saga with any story that fits into those categories. You should be able to retag any of your older stories, but if you have any issues, feel free to send mav and/or Bri a PM with the link and what tag it should be and we're happy to help!





    If you have any questions regarding this matter, please post them in this thread.



    A few examples that might help to make it clearer:
    Think of Legends as a diverging timeline. If your story is part of that timeline, it goes to Legends tags. If it's part of the new timeline, even an AU of that time line, or an AU where Legends doesn't matter, it goes in the other tags.


    A story with Revan as the main character - Before Legends
    Revan is a character from KOTOR, which is Legends. Since Revan is the main character and focus of the story, it's considered Legends.​


    A story about Mara Jade as the Emperor's Hand set within the movies - Saga Legends
    Mara is a Legends character and the story of her doing the Emperor's bidding is part of the Legends timeline. Even though the story takes place within the movies, it's considered Legends because she is the main character and idea is Legends based.​


    A story with Luke, Han and Leia where they fight the Yuuzhan Vong - Beyond Legends
    Because the basis of the story is set within the Legends timeline (NJO), it's Beyond Legends, even though the characters are a part of the NuCanon (Disney Canon, new timeline). Luke, Han and Leia were also part of the Legends Universe and the majority of the story is about a Legends happenings.​


    A story that takes place 5,000 years BBY with all OCs - Before the Saga
    This story has nothing to do with anything in the Legends timeline, the Legends tag should not be used.​


    A story that is speculation on what happens after The Force Awakens - Saga ST*
    If it's speculation on what happens or what could happen in Episodes 8 or 9, it goes in Saga ST. *If it's far future speculation, as in you want it to happen after Episode 9, it would go in Beyond the Saga.​


    An AU story about The Force Awakens but you also inserted Talon Karrde into the story. - Depends. Saga ST or Saga Legends
    In this case it would be a judgement call. If the story is based around Karrde, then it should be Saga Legends. If he's a minor character and the vast majority of the story revolves around the TFA story and/or cast, it would be Saga ST. It's up to the author as to which tag fits the story the best. If the story change, the tag can always be changed.​


    A story where Jaina Solo is suddenly transported into The Force Awakens and has to help her parents save the galaxy in order to save their lives. - Depends. Saga ST or Saga Legends
    Again, it depends on what you think is the most important part of the story. If it's from Jaina's POV and she's seeing what happened in TFA because she was sucked into a blackhole and is now in the new timeline, probably Saga Legends.​

    If she's inserted into The Force Awakens and is just part of an ensemble of major characters, probably Saga-ST.​


    A AU story with Sinjir Rath Velus as the main character that takes place soon after Return of the Jedi. - Saga - OT
    Sinjir Rath Velus is a character introduced in the book Aftermath, which is not part of the Legends timeline because it is one of the new books (which are considered canon) therefor you should use the Saga tag. Because the story takes place before The Force Awakens starts, it goes under the OT. So you would tag this story Saga-OT.​
     
  2. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Thanks for this mav (and Bri and MS, I know you're hiding behind mav right now)! :)

    And now, Chyn's nitpicking questions:

    1. Do Anthology speculation fics fall under one of the new Saga tags depending on when the writer places them in the chronology?

    2. Is the rationale behind the Saga trilogy-specific tags that post-RotJ stories that take place in the Legends continuity should be tagged as Beyond-Legends?

    *runs away and hides*
     
    leiamoody likes this.
  3. leiamoody

    leiamoody Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2005
    Would Saga OT and PT cover any stories that are AU's that don't take in the Legends canon? What about Before AU's that don't take place in Legends?
     
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  4. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    Sounds like you guys made the most of a somewhat b0rked situation; I've no problem with this new tag system, provided we do eventually get the multi-tagging capability when it is eventually added to the forum software. :)
     
    Briannakin , leiamoody and Chyntuck like this.
  5. Admiral Volshe

    Admiral Volshe Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    I have a few questions, too.
    1. What is the date for the change (estimated)? Are the tags going to be added, or are we going to manually enter them?
    2. As I have a fic for this - where would entirely AU / entirely original fics go for Before/Beyond?
    3. And...I also have a fic that uses both new canon and Legends for Beyond. Where would that go?

    I feel like I've just made this über-complicated. Whoops.
     
    leiamoody and Chyntuck like this.
  6. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    It is über-complicated. Mr Chyntuckopoulos and I thought of separating Canon and Legends when we were working on the master fic index. We gave up :p
     
  7. whiskers

    whiskers Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 19, 2005
    Which mods do I send the PMs to? Thanks.
     
  8. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    Yes. If the author thinks they go into one of the specific tags, they would go there since they are canon. So Rogue One Speculation would go into Saga-PT because it take place before A New Hope. If the story goes further and encompases ANH, then it could be either "Saga-PT" or just "Saga" if the author thinks it goes far enough into ANH that it encompases more than that timeline. It's really up to the author and just as is the case now, stories should be placed into the tag that fits the best and the majority of the story.

    Yes, anything that takes place after RotJ but is part of Legends (so what would have been Beyond before the New Canon/Legends thing started) should be tagged Beyond-Legends.


    Yes. The only thing that would go in the "Saga Legends" tag would be stories that have to do with the Legends timeline. So characters that were in the Legends books that took place in the Saga, or characters from those Legends books are the only things that would go under the Saga Legends tag. Anything that is an AU of anything that is Disney Canon would go in the most appropriate Saga tag.

    If they don't have anything to do with Legends storylines or characters, those would go in the "Before - New Canon" tag.


    Sometime early next week. Probably Monday or Tuesday. They should show up in the drop down list for new posts automatically once we create them. It might take a little longer for them to show up in the list at the top because an admin has to change that.

    If it has nothing to do with the Legends continuity, it would go in the "New-Canon" Before or Beyond.

    Whichever you feel is the more appropriate. If it take place more with characters and events that happened in Legends, put it in "Beyond Legends" if it mostly is uses New Canon/Original stuff, put it in "Beyond - New Canon" .


    Send them to both Bri and myself in one PM and it will happen the fastest. You could send it to either of us individually if you prefer.

    Edit: Whoops left one out.
    Thank you. We hope to use the multi-tagging eventually... but we don't have any idea when that might be.
     
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  9. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    My main fics' timeline borrows minor elements from legends and some characters from something that does not contradict the new canon, as the characters are slowly being reintroduced into it. I am not sure what I would tag it as, but I kinda wish I could use both Saga - OT and Saga Legends.
     
  10. leiamoody

    leiamoody Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2005
    But New Canon only applies to anything set in the Disney Canon, correct? What if the story doesn't take place in either New Canon or Legends (in other words, an entirely different Alternate Universe)? I don't write stuff in either of those canons, so how would I tag my stories?
     
    Ewok Poet likes this.
  11. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    If I understand mav correctly:

    Any story that borrows central characters or plotlines from Legends material goes under Legends tags, specifically pre-TPM in Before-Legends, from TPM to RotJ in Saga-Legends, post-RotJ in Beyond-Legends.

    Everything else goes under New Canon tags, with Before-New Canon being pre-TPM and Beyond-New Canon being post Episode 9.

    Right?
     
    Nyota's Heart likes this.
  12. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    Added info about where to put AUs to the first post.

    Whichever you think is the most appropriate tag is fine. If it only borrows minor elements, I'd say probably Saga-OT, but if you feel it is more Legends, that tag would be fine as well. Hopefully when we eventually get the multi-tagging capability you could use both if you wanted to.

    New Canon doesn't mean the story is canon. Only that it's not part of the Legends timeline. The tags are more of a timeline rather than anything else.

    The "New Canon" and Saga tags are kind like the current tags. Currently, If you have an AU of the Saga, you put in the Saga tag, canon or not, if it takes place after RotJ, it goes in Beyond. The same things would apply here, if it takes place Before TPM but has nothing to do with the Legends continuity, it goes in "Before - New Canon".


    We may discuss taking off the "New Canon" part, we added it to make a bigger distinction between Legends and and the old way, but if it causes more confusion we can remove it. (This is why we wanted a few days of discussion before we made the change. :) )



    Edit: Chyntuck is correct, and explained it better than I did.
     
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  13. leiamoody

    leiamoody Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2005
    This is really confusing for me because I have never written in Legends, and I will not be writing in the Disney Canon either. Just trying to figure out the new system.
     
    Admiral Volshe likes this.
  14. Admiral Volshe

    Admiral Volshe Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    In my honest opinion...I think the New Canon just adds confusion. My suggestion would be to (ideally) to just keep Beyond and Before as is and then add the New Canon for the canon stuff. Anything that falls between will remain under Beyond/Before, and anything that doesn't will remain under Legends or New Canon.
    So an AU or combination fic will go "Beyond/Before"
    A Legends based fic will go "Beyond/Before - Legends"
    A new canon fic will go "Beyond/Before - New Canon"

    If that's too complicated then I figure you can just merge Beyond/Before and Beyond/Before - New Canon.
     
    yahiko likes this.
  15. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Don't worry, it is confusing for us too. I think "New Canon" will simply just be the new default (aka, meaning anything but Legends) but we can drop the "New Canon" clarification at any point.

    We wanted to make the new canon the 'default' and Legends as a separate category, as it made the most sense going forward.

    We did discuss merging Before/Beyond under a Legends tag, but it was extremely unpopular with users, so we decided to stay away from any merging.



    ALSO - I just tried with my sock and you guys will probably be able to change the story prefixes on your own. But mav and I can still do it for you if you wish.
     
    Chyntuck likes this.
  16. Admiral Volshe

    Admiral Volshe Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Yeah, I think the New Canon being synonymous with everything but Legends is already confusing two of us, and may confuse more people. :) I don't agree with merging Before/Beyond under Legends, for sure.
     
    yahiko likes this.
  17. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    Do you mean either Episode 6 (Return of the Jedi), or Episode 7 (TFA)? Because Episode 9 seems a bit far ahead to be working with.
     
  18. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Nope, we mean episode 9 (can you tell we are just covering ALL THE BASES?). If you are doing an episode 8/9 speculation fic, it would still be tagged Saga - ST , but if you wanted to do a far-future story, you could tag it Beyond - New Canon.
     
  19. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005

    After further discussion, we've changed what was "Before - New Canon" and "Beyond - New Canon" to "Before the Saga" and "Beyond the Saga". The tags will have the full title on them. Hopefully this clears up some of the confusion. Any story not having to do with the Legends Expanded Universe will go into these categories.


    These changes have been made to the first post.
     
  20. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Here comes a can of space slugs: how does this impact awards?
     
    Admiral Volshe likes this.
  21. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    mavjade - that looks really cool - I think I understand better but no one ask me to explain [face_laugh] Chyntuck did a whizbang job of it already LOL [face_love]
     
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  22. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    As mentioned in the last State of the Fanfic, the awards will be going back to being run by volunteers. We will work with them so that they can arrange a way to 'categorize' the eras, though I doubt it will change this year's awards much given how late this change has come in this year.

    The call out for volunteers and figuring out the awards in general is next on Mav's and my To-Do list, but we will probably wait till the craziness of TFA is over (so Awards may be a bit latter than they have been in the past 2 years).
     
  23. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
  24. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    I thought about it some more today, and I was wondering if we really need the trilogy-specific tags for Saga. I see how they could be useful, but I also feel that it adds an unnecessary layer of complexity to the tagging system. There are almost equal numbers of stories tagged Saga and Beyond (currently 10,660 Saga and 9,675 Beyond), so do we really need 5 tags for a single era?

    Also, the sentence below needs to be edited in the OP to reflect the change in the Before/Beyond tags:
     
  25. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Mav and I did talk about this and we decided since Saga now spans 70+ years in-universe and will probably be a large influx of stories (new profic, movies, games that fanfic can go off of) within that one tag, trying to split it up a bit made the most sense going forward.

    I fixed that. Thanks.