Review Works

Nobles with a Village award or higher in any subject are allowed (and highly encouraged) to write reviews on open entries submitted to the College.

Reviews are posted on the board in the Contest Hall on the Mileth College Campus.

The guidelines below prescribe the minimum standards expected for reviews. If you are a new noble, please take some time to review these guidelines. It can take a bit of practice for newer nobles to apply the criteria, especially in areas outside their domain. Many nobles find the experience very rewarding.

Review Standards

This section sets out the minimum standards for a review. Failure to adhere to these standards can, and most likely will, result in a Chancellor discarding your review. Referbelow for more information regarding penalties for violating these standards.

Your review must be your own:

---You must provide your own, original thoughts (( do not provide"thoughts" generated by AI software or other people )).

Your review should focus on aspects relevant to the field of entry in which the entrant has submitted their work:

---For example, what do you think of the literary/poetic merit of a literature piece? The visual elements, theme, and overall impression of an art piece? The depth and utility of a lore piece? These are merely examples.

---Some criteria common to all categories include cultural relevance
((connection to the world of Dark Ages)), effort, and communication
(written submissions).

Your analysis of the entry should be in-depth.

---Thoroughly inspect the entry. What are its strengths and weaknesses?
Are there any ways in which the work can be improved? Provide reasons
to justify your review.

---How in-depth an analysis will be will vary from noble to noble, but
it must amount to more than, "Hey, I like this; give it Aisling!" Or,
"This sucks; no award." Avoid merely summarizing the work.

Clearly state the award level that you think the entry deserves:

---The only acceptable choices are Aisling, Kingdom, Village, Clave, or
No Award. There is no 'Abstain' recommendation. Refer to section I.
Award Levels for the criteria of each award level.

---You should also review previous entries in the Loures Library to gain
a sense of the quality expected to earn a high award.

Judge based on the entry and not the entrant:

---This is not a popularity contest. Whether you and the entrant are
friends, foes, guldies, or in any non-arm's length relationship,
you must set aside your biases.

---If 90% of the nobles posting reviews are saying that the entry is
terrible, has no relevancy to Temuair, and should not have been
submitted in its state, you will look suspicious if you come out of
the woodwork to recommend Aisling.

Comport yourself with nobility:

---Entrants should never harass nobles over their reviews, and nobles
should never harass entrants over their entries. What constitutes
harassment in these cases is at the discretion of the contest host.

---Keep heresy in your reviews to a minimum (if not refrain from it
altogether).

Blind Reviews:

Nobles can also mail their reviews to a Chancellor to have it posted anonymously. The Chancellor must first collect a memory of the noble's consent and mailed review for at least one Deoch. The Chancellor will only identify the anonymous reivewer on the internal Contest Votes board.

Penalties for Violating Review Standards

Chancellors may discard reviews that do not adhere to review standards set out above. Additionally, if a noble shows a very blatant or persistent disregard of the review standards, a Chancellor may place the noble on probation to uphold the integrity of the contest system. This also applies to blind reviews.

While on probation, a noble's reviews become advisory and cannot officially count towards the final recommendation. Chancellors may use their discretion to remove a noble's probationary status in the future.

When placing a noble on probation, the Chancellor must report the action in the [ CLOSED ENTRY ] post, keep memories of the offending review(s) for at least one Deoch and record the action on the internal Contest Votes board. Any discarded reviews will also be reported in the [ CLOSED ENTRY ] post.

Tips for Writing Reviews

So you’ve read over the guidelines – now what?

Take time to read reviews on closed entries. First, read the closed entry post and take note of any reviews that were discarded and why. Then read the examples of valid reviews and any reviews that didn’t meet the minimum standards.

Before writing a review of an open entry, consider the criteria relevant to the category of submission. Some criteria are applicable to all categories: effort, creativity and cultural enrichment/evoking the theme.

(( Cultural enrichment is not just a matter of relevance; it means evoking themes of Dark Ages and building our world through tales, historical accounts, art, speculations and theories, lore, etc. )).

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to a Chancellor or fellow noble for advice! Remember, the path to learning is endless.

Questions

Any questions or comments about the guidelines, or anything else, may be directed to a College Chancellor. Any individual wishing to report violation of these, or any other rule, should also contact a College Chancellor.