We have been getting a lot of complaints lately about people not getting merits for their comments. This is not necessarily because we have not seen them, but because we have heightened our standards of what constitutes a merit worthy comment. We have put our standards into some guidelines, so that you guys can see what we look for in a merit:
1)Perfect or near perfect grammar. Remember to use capitalization and proper spelling. 2)Structured - try to give some flow and structure to what you are writing. Don't just around from topic to topic. 3)Comprehensive, and with unique insight into the game that we somehow deem to be valuable. 4)Coherent. A lot of reviews that follow the recommended template become an exercise unto itself i.e. they don't really make sense when you actually read them. They sometimes even contradict themselves. These sort of comments don't get merits. Just because it is long, does not mean it will get a merit. It has to make sense too. 5)Contains constructive criticism of the game. Tell us the changes that you would make to the game, and why. What do you approve of? What don't you like? 6)Do not ask for a merit. Chances are, if you have to ask for a merit, you will not get one. It highly reduces your chances of receiving one, and makes us sad every time you ask
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- For further hints and tips, check out the N&N and Greg Merit Guide. But remember to always follow the guidelines listed above.
Is that "N&N and Greg Merit Guide!" why all the comments look the same? It reflects poorly on the community if everyone has a lot of nothing thoughful or original to say, or at least something that truly connects them to the game, which is worse than only saying whether you liked it or not, and that (the latter) initially says a lot, since it is essentially a form fanmail. And obviously, it is the fanmail which connects to the author, the creator, the artist, or what have you that would mean more.
I am not sure how I received merits but I do not mind much. Each of my comments is at least 30 minutes of work and are (usually) long, but I would rather like to know if the creator of the game read them and got something from it than getting a merit. They do good work creating flash games. It is not explicitly stated, but is each comment read and/or analysed thoroughly by the moderator or the game creator before it is merited?
Actually typing from the notepad is better, because sometimes it messes up from it, and the notepad is more similar to the messanger box. Although in the notepad, your spelling cant be checked.
