O4 Thread Mirror: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-17893908/discussion-lost-series-policy-proposal
Overview
It’s been 20 years since you joined the foundation. There are 300 slots left until the database has 10,000 total entries. Just as you’re navigating back to home to check on the countdown timer, you see something that wasn’t there before.
A link in the sidebar of the database flashes at you.
“Lost SCP Files Found.”
You click it, and before you know it, you’re looking at a whole new series of database entries with a strange new name.
You have just discovered The Lost SCP Series.
This is a proposal to introduce a new type of companion mainlist article to the standard series of SCP articles which we have been writing and curating for almost 19 years now.
What Is This?
The Lost Series will be a limited and unique affair, beginning with a thousand slots ranging from 000 to 999. There may be potential for future slots beyond that but nothing is guaranteed in the cracks between database certainty.
Thematics
The Lost SCP Series will be thematically introduced to the site as SCP database entries which have been “lost.” Entries which have vanished from the mainlist, slipped between the cracks of the digital and analog archives, fallen between filing cabinets, corrupted, degraded, or destroyed.
Experiment, find ways to tell stories through the medium in strange and unexpected ways. Take inspiration from formats that have been lost to the endless march of time, or come up with new approaches never before seen by the wiki. There are no restrictions on article themes or styles. There is only boundless potential, and the power you have in your hands to turn that potential into reality.
Why do we need this?
The reality is that Series X currently has a little more than 350 articles left open for filling. Due to the intensive nature of K-cons and the burden they place on staff, contests, discord staff, and critique staff and the current event schedule this year, holding a 10k within the next 3 months would be untenable for staff to manage especially with the rapid increase in posting rate.
Additionally, staff need time and space to address the shift in the way the authorbase and readers are engaging with the site. The reality is that, our critique systems are overwhelmed, posting rates are at an all time high, and reader burnout and overall readership is worse than it has ever been. Staff need time and energy to implement a dramatic shift in policy to address changes to the way the userbase engages with posting, quality standards, elevation of and learning of critique skills, and encouraging long term retention of readers and integration of new and old authors into official community spaces where teaching can occur.
It would be disingenuous to say the Lost Series isn’t a stopgap, because it is. It is designed to buy staff and the userbase time to organize the next K-con and make it incredibly special and ensure we don’t run headlong into endless acceleration.
But that doesn’t mean we just have to rest on our laurels and make it just another thousand slots to fill. This is where the unique and limited nature of these slots, their unique thematic elements, and storytelling opportunities will come into play.
And if this sort of ‘side series’ is succesful, then I can forsee us returning to side-series like this in the future. Who knows, maybe even a second Lost Series at the next major milestone K-con.
What are the terms and conditions
Naming Scheme
In terms of how these slots will be named there are several options.
Option 1A:
Each slot is formatted as SCPL-XXX.
Option 1B:
Each slot is formatted as SCP-L-XXX.
Option 1C:
Each slot is formatted as SCP-LXXX.
Option 1D:
Each slot is formatted as SCP-XXX-L. This option has the potential to cause confusion in the userbase setting the expectation that like -EX's or -J's, anyone can make a -L article out of range. This is not the intent of this proposal, as the Lost Series are all mainlist articles and the rules regarding out of range posts will apply.
Option 1E:
Each slot is formatted as SCP-0000 on the series hub page. The URLs would be lost-series-000 through lost-series-999.
Option 1F:
Each slot is formatted as SCP-0XXX. This approach may cause some confusion, and there are already some existing SCP-0XXX articles that are currently tales.
Option 1G:
Each slot is formatted as SCP-X###.
Option 1H:
Each slot is formatted with a three letter combination where the first letter is either A or B. This would give us an uneven 1352 slots.
Option 1K:
Each slot is formatted in some other way. Please offer suggestions below and we might reach a consensus there.
Slot Mobility
Due to the limited nature of the Lost Series, slot trading would not be allowed. Once you post in The Lost Series, you cannot move your article out of it. It is in the liminal spaces of the database, stuck and cannot be returned to the mainlist.
Opening
In terms of opening The Lost Series we would have three distinct options.
Option 2A: We open the slots as soon as Series X is filled up. This will give staff 3-4 months to iron out specifics, draft a hub, make a front-page banner, draft social media posts, and prepare advertising.
Option 2B: We open the slots for posting as soon as a staff vote has concluded. This will give staff a much shorter time to iron out specifics and prepare materials, but it will also stop people from pre-drafting lots of Lost Series Entries.
Option 2C: We open the slots for posting following Pridefest. When I originally wrote the proposal, I hadn't quite clocked how close the timing would be to Pridefest, which I hadn't forgotten about. My sense of time is just terrible. This would give staff a month to produce all the needed materials and time to iron out more specifics that aren't necessarily covered in the initial proposal.
Series Page
There are several options we can take when it comes to the actual Series Page.
Option 3A: A standard series page with no additional immersive elements.
Option 3B: A series page resembling the other Series, but with immersive in-universe text indicating the lost/recovered nature of the database entries.
Option 3C: A unique series page with its own CSS theme, styling, and slot formatting for each hyperlink reflecting the unique nature of these lost files and the glitchiness of the archive attempting to present them to the reader.
001 slot
Option 4A:
The Lost Series 001 slot will link directly to the SCP-001 slot.
Option 4B:
The Lost Series 001 slot will be a standard article within the series and have no special properties.
Option 4C:
The Lost Series 001 slot will become a proposal slot representing 001 proposals which were rejected or lost. It's often implied in works that proposals are put forward, but a good chunk are declined and never see the light of day. This could be a nice worldbuilding opportunity for the community to figure out what these proposals might look like. (Credit to White boy for this idea).
Navigation
The Lost SCP Series will receive its own link on the side bar formatted to indicate its status as a unique part of the mainlist.
Tagging
Lost SCP Series entries will be tagged as SCPs with all the attributes that come with that, and also a unique series-specific tag.
This discussion is open to all Staff and will last for a period of one week.