Worldbuilding Exchange

No one has objected to the proposed schedule so I will use that; I will update the sticky post, set things up on AO3* and post an announcement on tumblr shortly (ETA: tumblr announcement will be delayed, as I am having trouble logging in). Tag set nominations will open tomorrow.

On the other changes I suggested:

• Tags: I will alter "Worldbuilding:" to "WB:" and "No Characters" to "Any or No Characters" (however, this isn't quite the same sense as the "Any" tickbox that AO3 allows).
  
• Defaulting: I have decided not to institute a default penalty at this stage. There will still be a default deadline in the sense of "please think carefully about whether you will finish, because if not it would be good to give a pinch hitter longer", as was the case last year. (I reserve the right to deal with any participants who repeatedly fail across multiple rounds to submit their work, and don't default in a timely fashion without good reason, under the "good faith" section of the rules.)
  
• Freeforms: I'm going to stick to Fanfiction, Fanart and Meta, but rename Meta to "In-universe meta" for clarity. (I have been persuaded that the distinction between fic and meta is worth preserving, as a way of signalling how much or how little plot is OK.) I will make a separate opt-in post at the same time as the letter post where people can express their openness to other formats, including podcasts, vids, IF and any other good suggestions people make between now and then.

*The AO3 collection will be moderated this round, to try to guard against the bug where some works randomly pop up revealed when first posted to the collection.

The opening of sign ups is still several days away, but thanks to some good discussions here and elsewhere, I am considering making a few tweaks to the way they will work compared to what's currently described in the information post. If you have any strong views about the topics below, please discuss them in the comments of this post.

Decisions I am almost certain will not change

• The exchange will run on "OR" matching
  
• Number of fandom slots for requests: 3-10
  
• Number of fandom slots for offers: 4-10
  
• Minimum number of character tags per offer/request: 1*
  
• Minimum number of worldbuilding tags per offer/request: 1
  

*I would very much rather handle the situation of people wanting to request/offer the type of worldbuilding that doesn't have characters using the "No Characters" mechanism than set the minimum number of character tags to 0, as the AO3 matching algorithm would treat that as being matchable to anybody. (As an example of why this helps: if you request zero characters, you could be matched to anyone offering any character nominated. If there is even one character you dislike in the tag set for that fandom, you can't sign up to receive zero characters without a risk of becoming the recipient of someone who has only offered that character.)

Decisions that I'm comfortable with as-is, but open to persuasion on

• Maximum number of character tags per offer/request: 8
  
• Maximum number of worldbuilding tags per offer/request: 8
  

Changes I am considering making

• Allowing repeated fandoms in requests and offers: Currently, the rules say that each fandom slot should be unique. However, relaxing this would enable people to sign up to receive/create different combinations of character and worldbuilding tags for different media, or different combinations of worldbuilding tags with the same characters and media, etc. Where I can see this might be particularly helpful is in allowing people to sign up to request both fic and in-universe meta with different slots, rather than having a very wide range of prompts all in one slot. You would still need to have at least three different fandoms across all your slots for requests, and four for offers. (As an example of what this would mean in practice: if this change were made, it would be valid to sign up to request fic, art and meta separately for three different fandoms, using nine of your ten, and make seven different offers for a single fandom with different combinations of tags, followed by three offers for three distinct other fandoms. Or any other variation that fitted the overall requirements.)
  
• Allowing "Meta" without "No Characters": In the current rules, you are required to include the "No Characters" tag for a fandom if you are signing up to receive/offer meta for it. This was done out of a desire to ensure matchability, but if repeated fandoms are allowed this would be much less of an issue. Someone on FFA gave some good examples of "meta" which would be character-based (e.g. an in-universe organisation's files on a particular character).
  
• The meaning of "No Characters": at the moment, "No Characters" is meant to be a signal that you are happy to receive/create fanworks without any specific characters in, not a limitation that no characters should appear. However, since the exchange will run on OR matching, a stronger meaning of "No Characters" could be used, with people who are happy with receiving/creating either no or some characters indicating that by signing up for other tags in addition to "No Characters". This would leave people who very definitely want "No Characters" type of worldbuilding able to request/offer only that tag. I am nowhere near as strongly convinced of the utility of this change as the other two I am proposing. (In particular, the current meaning is closer to what people are used to zero characters meaning in Yuletide, and I'm not all that convinced there are any people out there who do have a strong preference for zero characters to appear; if you do have such a preference, please speak up!)