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Idea crit is its own skill
Ideas are the foundation of a sandbox, meaning the way you approach critiquing ideas should be different to how you'd typically critique a sandbox. The template in the idea forum is designed so that writers will present the key details of their page to critics, who can then ask questions and give feedback. Remember that these templates do not include every aspect of a concept and you should not critique an idea for being underdeveloped before you have asked questions to gauge a better idea of depth.
Asking questions
Questions benefit both the critic and the writer. They allow the critic to determine how much care the writer has put into their idea and how familiar they are with our site. They also create new directions for ideas to be taken and bring attention to confusing or weak aspects. Your questions should be meaningful, such as by encouraging the writer to expand on specific details or introducing new ideas that can build on existing ones.
There are some examples at the bottom of the page.
Giving feedback
You can make your feedback harsh or polite but it must be reasonable. In many cases, it should only be given once you have asked questions to improve your understanding of an idea. Aim to have your feedback be clear and something the writer can work with. For example, if someone plans on using one of our basic templates, do not only tell them "don't use the template". This is good advice but there is no guidance on what to do instead. Following it up with a suggestion on how they could format the page instead or pages they could look at to take formatting inspiration from turns this feedback into something applicable.
Working with the writer
Your feedback should engage with both the concept and the writer. Both are equally important in the development of a well-thought out idea that will grow into an interesting Backrooms page.
Why did the writer make the choices present? It is easy to overlook the process of creating a page but there is importance here; the choices we make in while writing influence the final product. What impacts does the write hope to have on their audience? Some want their page to unsettle readers, others want their page to be remembered for its use of nostalgia. If an idea seems directionless, the issue will likely lie in the writer not having clear intentions for their page. Try to help them make sense of why they want to write this idea and what they hope to achieve with it.
You may also find that the idea you are critiquing is very similar stylistically to pages written in 2021/22. A lot of new writers become familiar with our site through our most famous pages and believe they should try to emulate these pages in their own writings. Encouraging writers to check out some of our more modern pages can benefit them. It is an easy example of how our standards have changed massively over the years and that people much prefer originality. Recommend them a page you like, one you think is underrated, or even one written by you. If you are stuck on modern pages to suggest, feel free to point them in the direction of our tag guide.
Finding an idea that breaks our rules
I think this idea is AI generated
If you do not have the critic role, open a ticket in the contact-the-staff channel and directly report to staff. Staff will then investigate for evidence of AI usage and take action if needed.
If you have the critic role, post a link in the suspected AI cases thread in the critic channel and staff will check it out. After doing this, you can also open a ticket to check staff know if you would like to.
Do not publicly accuse the person or spread rumours of AI usage without definitive proof and staff support. This is against our rules and will result in a sanction from disc.
This definitely breaks a rule
If you find an idea that openly breaks one of our rules (such as including homophobia with the intention of upsetting gay people or using images of real gore), ping the disciplinary team role in the forum. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, you can open a ticket and ping the disciplinary team role with a link to the specific post and an explanation of your concern.
I think this might break a rule
If you are unsure, open a ticket and send a link to the post with your question. Staff will evaluate and decide if it is rule breaking and act accordingly.
This person hasn't used the forum template
Staff will likely spot this and warn the person when checking through new forum posts to pin the first message. However, if you think one has gone under the radar (such as if it has been more than a day without staff stepping in), you can either open a ticket and let staff know or send a message to the critic channel and ping a staff member who is online.
Some example questions
These are only generic questions to help you get started with idea critique. Please remember to engage with the idea you are critiquing and ask more specific questions.- Why did you choose this setting for a level?
- What kind of people does this level attract?
- How is this level lit?
- What can people find on this level?
- What makes this level safe/dangerous?
- How did people manage to collect information about this level?
- How are people living in this level?
Example of using questions in your idea crit
Warning: this example is deliberately silly. There are many issues in this idea that will be ignored because this is just to demonstrate how you can ask questions to better develop an idea. If this was real, this critique would be much more in depth and focus on the person's lack of awareness on our site standards.
Concept Title: Entity 1 - Ms. Evil Cat
Sensitive Content: Mischief
Brief Description: Ms. Evil Cat appears as a regular cat but she has evil plans to take over the world. She can be found in Level 11 and is known to the MEG and BNTG. You can tell her apart from other cats because she always wears a top hat. She understands human speech but chooses not to respond.
Central Narrative: The MEG try to write a page on Ms. Evil Cat while she continually sabotages their efforts.
Hook: Ms. Evil Cat is a very dangerous threat in the Backrooms and puts everyone's lives at risk with her plans.
Purpose: I want the reader to be scared of Ms. Evil Cat. I also want her to appear in all pages after her entity page is posted.
Format/Execution: The page appears as a regular entity page using the main template, but Ms. Evil Cat has removed some sections and written her own additions.
Source of Images Used: https://flic.kr/p/dZ1Xct
Additional Notes/Remarks: :3
LimDoc's critique
Is the top hat part of Ms. Evil Cat or is it just a regular hat she likes? How does she wear it?
Are there any other ways she's different to a regular cat? You say she chooses not to respond to human speech. Does this mean she can respond in a unique way?
What are her evil plans? How open is she about these evil plans? Why does she want to take over the world?
How does Ms. Evil Cat interact with the MEG? How about the BNTG?
Where is Ms. Evil Cat from originally?
How will you differentiate sections written by MEG and sections written by Ms. Evil Cat?
Concept Title: Tale - Botanic Hell
Sensitive Content: Gore
Brief Description: M.E.G. operative John Character finds out about a strange plants that is slowly spreading in Base Alpha, that brainwashes people into spreading it. It's been imported by another operative, but is growing out of control, and he has to find a way to stop it before it's too late.
Central Narrative: The tale would follow John Character as it goes around in Base Alpha, first trying to warn people of the problem, then trying to stop the source of it.
Hook: The plant threatens the safety of one of the most important M.E.G. base, and if it falls down, then thousands of wanderers would be left without help.
Purpose: I want the reader to feel worried about the character's safety, and wonder which character he talks to they can trust.
Format/Execution: The tale would be first-person, and be in three parts. First part is when the character discovers what's happening, and ends when he realizes of dangerous it is. Then the second parts is him trying to find help, but realizes that the higher ups have been corrupted. Then the last part is more of a thriller where the character goes to the center of the infection to destroy it.
Additional Notes/Remarks: None
Praetor's critique
- You give stakes which is a good hook, but how will you keep them interesting to the reader? What kind of twists will happen?
- What kind of genre will this tale be? You mention thriller in the last part, but will you incorporate other genres to it?
- You mention secondary characters but you don't seem to define them. What will their role be in the story?
- What's the character like? What are their emotions, and their vision of the situation? What kind of flaw do they have and how do they evolve?
- What's the message of the story? You mention the plant was brought by another character, but does this have any impact on the story?
- You put gore in the sensitive content. How does it apply to the page, and what does it bring to the story?