Horcrux 322 Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 So this is the obligatory Media Spot so I can get 6 TPE for my player. So I started to wonder why the number of 500 words was selected for media spots. It seems like a reasonable number, 500 seems to be a sure fire easy target to hit, though recently if I am being honest reaching 500 without filler and random phrases has been getting harder and harder the longer i am here. I for one moment thought about maybe 550 or 600 for a sweet spot to show that people put in real effort. To show that what they wrote about was factual and had some thought. Then part of me thought well what if we lowered it by say, fifty words and made it four hundred and fifty as the required target. If 500 was acceptable then Surely fifty less would not break too much at all in theory. We can't do 250 because that is a VHL.com article and only 1. So from 250 - 500 you gain 5 more points. But then what do you write about weekly? Do you plan out a complex intricate storyline with twists, turns and drama salvation? Or do you do what I am doing and stalling for time until you reach the obligatory 500? I am at 219 words right now and I'm still struggling to stretch this to 500. Perhaps I should have made this a vhl.com article for 1. Maybe I should have done an interview about the draft with my player, maybe I could write about my favorite teams just based on the colors. Perhaps for next time, for right now it's about why 500 words were selected and as far as I can tell I don't know. I could not cite any reason since I have been here why it is 500 I just assumed that was a nice even 00 number that everyone could look at and agree. Personally I think 500 was a good point to bring the word count too. 500 makes the brain think, it exercises enough muscles to force you to dig into your coffer of words and grammar to make 500 work. Any less and you can get away with skipping some detail here and there. Any more than 500 and you run the risk of pushing people away and alienating some members who may not be that strong of a writer. 100 more to go, closing statement time. Doing this weekly can be tiresome. I know there are days 500 seems like a lot even after typing so much already. But I think it is a necessary feature and rule and I am glad they chose this number. I feel I can hit it consistently. I am looking forward to next week when i write 500 more words put together in a better order that might tell a story of my player. Or how happy i am about the draft or the team i was placed on. (exactly 500) Laine, Hogan and Baozi 3 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
thadthrasher 1,692 Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 I think every one of us have been here lol Horcrux 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-888450 Share on other sites More sharing options...
nurx 914 Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 Honestly write so much as a history major I just think I have grown desensitized to it... rory, bigAL, thadthrasher and 1 other 4 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-888455 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horcrux 322 Posted November 22, 2021 Author Share Posted November 22, 2021 2 minutes ago, thadthrasher said: I think every one of us have been here lol even writing this i struggled like a MFER trying to get to 500 XD it was bad Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-888457 Share on other sites More sharing options...
thadthrasher 1,692 Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 2 minutes ago, nurx said: Honestly write so much as a history major I just think I have grown desensitized to it... I feel this. I write hundreds upon hundreds of words each week for work and for my Master's Degree. rory 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-888462 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JardyB10 4,865 Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 14 hours ago, Horcrux said: Do you plan out a complex intricate storyline with twists, turns and drama salvation? I have attempted this in the past actually. I planned a massive Tarentino-esque movie script, 1000+ words each, called "The Assassination of David." Or something like that. Perhaps if we had the rules we had today I may have actually finished it. Alas, writing ~1500 words every single week for 6 TPE was not sustainable, shockingly enough. Anyway, the nice thing about 500 words is that you can literally write about anything. Case in point: This media spot. You can write 500 words about how lemons are better than Vasteras. You can write 500 words about which VHL members you'd put in a human centipede, and in which order. You can write about why dark theme is overrated. Horcrux 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889030 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Janser 2,169 Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 Horcrux 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889035 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horcrux 322 Posted November 23, 2021 Author Share Posted November 23, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, JardyB10 said: I have attempted this in the past actually. I planned a massive Tarentino-esque movie script, 1000+ words each, called "The Assassination of David." Or something like that. Perhaps if we had the rules we had today I may have actually finished it. Alas, writing ~1500 words every single week for 6 TPE was not sustainable, shockingly enough. Anyway, the nice thing about 500 words is that you can literally write about anything. Case in point: This media spot. You can write 500 words about how lemons are better than Vasteras. You can write 500 words about which VHL members you'd put in a human centipede, and in which order. You can write about why dark theme is overrated. sorry @JardyB10that was mean Edited November 23, 2021 by Horcrux JardyB10 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889070 Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Domino Archives 334 Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 i think it used to be 600 at one point Horcrux 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889097 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigAL 2,176 Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 21 hours ago, Horcrux said: So I started to wonder why the number of 500 words was selected for media spots It’s one standard, single spaced page of writing the MLA rule is each page is 250 words double spaced, so if a professor assigns a 2000 word essay, they really just mean a 8 page paper. They don’t want to count words like we do… Horcrux 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889111 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horcrux 322 Posted November 23, 2021 Author Share Posted November 23, 2021 2 minutes ago, bigAL said: It’s one standard, single spaced page of writing the MLA rule is each page is 250 words double spaced, so if a professor assigns a 2000 word essay, they really just mean a 8 page paper. They don’t want to count words like we do… BigAl readung every last letter to make sure its 500 XD Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889113 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator frescoelmo 1,276 Posted November 23, 2021 Head Moderator Share Posted November 23, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Domino said: i think it used to be 600 at one point IIRC it was a minimum of 250 but you were also graded, which members no longer are (600 was the sweet spot for a 3/3 content but also under consideration was what you actually wrote about, its relevance to the VHL, flow, etc...) content 3/3 grammar/spelling 2/2 presentation 1/1 Edited November 23, 2021 by frescoelmo Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889118 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Janser 2,169 Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 18 minutes ago, frescoelmo said: IIRC it was a minimum of 250 but you were also graded, which members no longer are (600 was the sweet spot for a 3/3 content but also under consideration was what you actually wrote about, its relevance to the VHL, flow, etc...) content 3/3 grammar/spelling 2/2 presentation 1/1 Must have been quite... work intense to approve articles back then... Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889132 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator frescoelmo 1,276 Posted November 23, 2021 Head Moderator Share Posted November 23, 2021 28 minutes ago, Daniel Janser said: Must have been quite... work intense to approve articles back then... It was! Grading was a fun but could be a time-consuming job JardyB10 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889140 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Janser 2,169 Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 30 minutes ago, frescoelmo said: It was! Grading was a fun but could be a time-consuming job would not be for me... That is me spotting a 'Their/There/They're' mixup (or any punctuation or spelling error for that matter)... Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889156 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire Tortorella 2,653 Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 10 minutes ago, Daniel Janser said: would not be for me... That is me spotting a 'Their/There/They're' mixup (or any punctuation or spelling error for that matter)... The flip side is there were a good number of people with English as a second language that greatly appreciated the practice and grading. Graphics grading was 10x more stringent than media spots and the same applies. Our graphics community (IMO) used to be much more skilled than it is now. v.2 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889168 Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_ace 3,112 Posted November 24, 2021 Share Posted November 24, 2021 14 hours ago, frescoelmo said: IIRC it was a minimum of 250 but you were also graded, which members no longer are (600 was the sweet spot for a 3/3 content but also under consideration was what you actually wrote about, its relevance to the VHL, flow, etc...) content 3/3 grammar/spelling 2/2 presentation 1/1 or if it was me grading it: grammar/spelling 0.75/2 frescoelmo 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889544 Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_ace 3,112 Posted November 24, 2021 Share Posted November 24, 2021 we should make it a rite of initiation to proofread an old article from either Viet, J-Cool, or GAllen JardyB10 and Fire Tortorella 2 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889545 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalToday 266 Posted November 24, 2021 Share Posted November 24, 2021 I think it is a forum wide problem that we have all had some of these writing problems. There was some grammatical errors, but other than that good job. It definately hits me since I have this problem every week xD. 9/10 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889558 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire Tortorella 2,653 Posted November 24, 2021 Share Posted November 24, 2021 9 hours ago, diamond_ace said: we should make it a rite of initiation to proofread an old article from either Viet, J-Cool, or GAllen Still feel welfare should have been named after Viet and not James Platt. For those who don't know, back in the day of 9 TPE cap and no welfare, Viet would only do practice facility and fan590 for 4 TPE a week. He didn't speak English well at all, but hated @bushito (don't remember why). I think he got 1 player to the VHL but the rest stayed in the VHLM for their careers. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889612 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator frescoelmo 1,276 Posted November 24, 2021 Head Moderator Share Posted November 24, 2021 23 hours ago, Daniel Janser said: would not be for me... That is me spotting a 'Their/There/They're' mixup (or any punctuation or spelling error for that matter)... Oh I LOVED calling that out hahahaha I also probably wasted like 4-6 hours a week reading mindless articles Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889634 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator frescoelmo 1,276 Posted November 24, 2021 Head Moderator Share Posted November 24, 2021 10 hours ago, diamond_ace said: or if it was me grading it: grammar/spelling 0.75/2 1.499999 doesn't round up Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889635 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horcrux 322 Posted November 24, 2021 Author Share Posted November 24, 2021 I did not expect this to get this many responses XD Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/112071-why-500-words/#findComment-889700 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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