POLL: Rule change on being able to opt out of single drabbles

[littlefics]

Hi everyone!

We'd like to get your input on a suggestion we received after the previous round.

Our current rules allow participants to request/offer any combination of the seven permitted drabble types. This means that a participant could theoretically opt out of requesting or offering single drabbles (i.e., a drabble of exactly 100 words). In other words, participants could exclusively request longer drabble types if they wished.

We received feedback that it may be more in the spirit of the exchange if participants could not opt out of single drabbles. We think this makes sense, and have drafted the following rule change:

Potential rule change: Participants cannot opt out of receiving or writing single drabbles. Rather, single drabbles are a default drabble type in any request or offer—and participants can add other drabble types if they'd like.

Under this new rule, you would still be able to request/offer the full range of drabble types we permit in this exchange—you would just not be able to opt out of single drabbles, specifically.

Your input: Here is a StrawPoll where you can express whether you support this change. While we think this rule change would be a net positive, we'd love to hear whether you support it or not—and why, if you'd like to share.

If you feel there are additional factors or perspectives we should consider, please do leave a comment below, email us, or leave a comment on the Mod Contact Post (where it will be automatically screened).

Comments

[peasina]

I voted!

I love being able to exclusively offer and request triple drabbles in this event, as they're my favourite fic format. I'd be disappointed if I could not longer do that, and I never considered that it was less "in the spirit of the exchange" to opt out of single drabbles seeing as there are so many fun drabble options to chose from when signing up.

I will of course continue to participate if rules are changed. This is one of my favourite events! :)

[(Anonymous)]

I agree with this comment in finding it odd that it's not in the spirit to opt out. But I'm also a person who strictly offers triple drabbles and would opt out of single for receiving as a gift but had always been open to every other option. It just feels odd that it was brought up, but will adjust accordingly for the future seasons because I would still like to join in.

[(Anonymous)]

+1

[littlefics]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! We hear you on enjoying other formats, like triple drabble. With the way voting looks so far, we're heavily favoring implementing the rule change, but we'd definitely want to get feedback after the first test run. In practice, we do expect people will have no problem still receiving and gifting longer drabble types, even with the rule change.

One note: Even with this change, people who want to write/request certain longer drabble types would still be more likely to match with each other.

For example, all things being equal, someone requesting Single Drabble and Triple Drabble is more likely to match with someone offering Single Drabble and Triple Drabble, than with someone only offering Single Drabble, or someone offering Single Drabble and Single Drabble Drabble Series/Sequence.

Appreciate you taking the time to write this comment, and hope that you enjoy the next round you participate in! <3

[peasina]

Oh, thank you for responding, and I'm sorry I just saw this!

"someone requesting Single Drabble and Triple Drabble is more likely to match with someone offering Single Drabble and Triple Drabble, than with someone only offering Single Drabble" - This is good to know :)

[(Anonymous)]

I'm more surprised that this is a thing.

[littlefics]

Would you be willing to elaborate?

[(Anonymous)]

Personally love this potential rule change, as it always feels a bit dispiriting to find single drabbles not wanted in a drabble exchange. Will continue to join regardless of course, but I appreciate this being considered for future rounds. Thanks for all that you do!

[snickfic]

I like the general idea of this, so I voted yes, but on reflection I have some logistical questions. Will "single drabble" still be a drabble type in the tagset? Does this rule change mean drabble type will no longer be a matching criteria, or does it mean everyone must request single drabbles along with any other desired types, and if they don't you'll edit or remove their signup? I have never offered anything but single drabbles anyway, so I'm curious what this matching process will look like for me under the rule change.

[littlefics]

We'd like to minimize disruption on the participant side of things, so currently leaning towards keeping drabble types as a matching criterion, telegraphing the rule change widely, and reaching out during signups or the grace period to anyone who hasn't included single drabbles in their signup. Depending on the participant's response, mods can either edit the signup to add single drabbles, or remove their signup.

We don't expect it to add too much extra work on our ends, and on the participant end, it should feel pretty much the same. In your case, you wouldn't have to change anything at all about how you sign up. But if you do participate in the next round, we'd be curious to hear if you feel that the rule change affected your experience.

Thanks for taking the time to ask these questions!