Help » Kudos Guidelines

What is a kudos?

From the Greek word meaning "glory," a kudos is acclaim for exceptional achievement or qualities.

On the RP repository, receiving a kudos means that another community member recommends you as someone other people might like to get to know and RP with. Perhaps because you are exceptionally fun to RP with, exceptionally fun to know, or are just plain exceptional!

There are a few guidelines that apply to kudos, and kudos that don't live up to them may be deleted by moderators.

What is NOT allowed in a kudos

• Kudos are not to be used as guestbooks, as a place for inside jokes, or for personal communications. There are at least three other places that those types of communications can go on the site.
• They are also not to be used to defame other people, either directly or indirectly. That's against the spirit of a kudos entirely!
• Ultra-vague niceties like "I love you!" or "Awesome." Usually adding the word "because" and going from there solves the issue.
• Purely factual kudos like "Bob is tall and has dark hair." This is a description, not an endorsement.
• Sarcastic or fake insults. It's way too easy to misinterpret them if you don't yet know the people involved.
• Exceeding our PG-13ish rating

You are very much encouraged to write kudos that you know will light up your friend's day, but always keep in mind that why you are endorsing that person must be apparent to other people as well, not just the two of you!

Fixing vague kudos

Kudos literally asks you to answer this question:

"Tell us what you love about (name), and why we will love him/her/they/it, too"

Often, people forget to answer the "why," and leave short kudos like "Bob is awesome!"

In a way, this is a recommendation of a sort, but it's too vague to be very helpful. If you've forgotten to mention the why, a moderator may ask you to edit the kudos to give us a reason or two for this apparent awesomeness.

Be relevant

Since the “we” referred to in the kudos question is an online community focused on RP gaming, the explanation must have something to with RP, community or friendship. A kudos that said we would love them if we could taste their sandwiches is irrelevant because we won't -- we only know them online on a RP site, and they won't ever make us lunch!

A slight rephrasing, perhaps saying that the recipient is the sort of welcoming person who likes to make everyone feel at home, makes it easier for a reader to understand why they might like to strike up a game or friendship with the recipient.

Kudos for art and profiles

Because character art is also a vital part of the online RP community experience, the following types of kudos are also very welcome:

"Bob drew a fantastic piece of character art for me! That's just how nice Bob is."

"When I saw Sue's new icon, I was in awe of her artistic skills. If you want to be inspired, get to know Sue and her work!"

But a kudos like "Bob has a great icon!" falls into the "non-specific" trap, and you'll likely be asked to elaborate on what about the icon shows off Bob's artistic skills, sense of humor, etc. that would make us want to get to know Bob.

Commendations on having a great profile are also valid kudos. Being able to use the profile builder in an interesting way is a kind of art and helps to keep the RPR community upbeat about the RPR itself. Kudos about profiles being a fantastic read are also valid, as this endorses the player's writing and character making skills.

Length requirements for kudos

There are no length requirements for kudos, so long as you are able to clearly communicate why other people will love your friend as well.

Moderation of kudos

When a moderator discovers a kudos that is clearly positive, but misses the mark slightly (almost always because it is too vague), they will typically send a request to the author to edit it to meet the guidelines.

Kudos that just read like a piece of a conversation, an inside joke, or spam will be deleted immediately. A message containing the deleted kudos is usually sent to the recipient, so they will know what you were talking about.

Using kudos to defame or insult people or the site is considered extremely poor form, and may result in penalties for the author.