Lowering the Character Application WC!

We all know it too well. When any new member scrolls through the guides and sees that 500-word minimum count in the character application template, they instantly get discouraged. It happens way too frequently for it to be just a particularly lazy or unmotivated newbie that day, or any veteran member for that matter.

So what I am suggesting is that we lower the word count to something generally accepted by the community. Why? Well, it's unnecessary! Most people would agree (or from my experiences) that describing a character's personality does not take half-a-thousand words. Some can be described in just a few sentences or bullet points, actually. And personally, I don't see an issue with that. I've been given a few common responses as to why the word count is so high, and the top two I have received is that the purpose of the word is to "weed out the one-liners (people who post incredibly, almost comically short posts, typically consisting of less than 100 words or just a sentence)" and to "develop your character."

Obviously, these are perfectly understandable reasons to justify the word count, but not everyone needs 500 words to develop a character's personality. Frankly, I think we're confusing quantity with quality. I personally don't have a major issue with the word count. Sure, I've gaped at it when I first joined (as literally, most people have), but I've learned to deal with it and get it over it. But doing a character's personality shouldn't have to be a chore, and it feels like it is. There are plenty of people who believe that they are completely happy and/or satisfied with what they have written, but have to ask for help or conjure up some "bullshit" to write in with the personality just to meet the word count. People, new AND old, have literally come up with strategies to deal with this gross amount of WC (bullet points, writing in a bunch of unnecessary history, etc)

Overall, what I am trying to get across is that everyone should not have to be forced to meet these standards of what our hardworking staff team considers to be "quality and developed." If you are satisfied with what you think makes your character developed, and it is not "half-assed" and effortless (and it shows), then by all means, approve the character application! Especially when members are constantly being encouraged to work at their own pace and not to stress too much about the little details. My suggestion is to lower the word count for personality to 200 or 300 words!

I think a 250-300 word count is a pretty reasonable change to the personality requirement. 250-300 words still keeps out the terrible one liners, but also reduces the need to just use *filler* of some kind to pad out an otherwise concise and effective personality. Besides, if the staff thinks that the personality of 250-300 words is not good enough, I doubt anyone would be upset if they were asked to develop it in specific ways that might be lacking.

After speaking with other admins, we've decided to lower it to 300 words.
I'll be locking this and putting it in the approve section. \o/