I'm considering a new rule for the paranormal VBB, I'd like some feedback:

Rule: If a title has been put into the box and not chosen three times, that title will be placed on a no-play list, and that title may not be used for play in the box.

Now, my info currently only goes back to round 17 (and I couldn't get round 18 for some reason) so as of yet, I do not have any of these (although if we could go back farther I suspect that we would) but I have several that have gone through twice and not been chosen, and some that have two copies in the box right now that are possible candidates depending on what happens with them in the next round. I will try to go back and find those previous rounds, but am not holding out hope of getting them. So we may be stuck with starting at 17 and continuing on from there. Then each round I will add to the non-playable list as needed.

Thoughts?

ETA: I guess I should speak a little more on why I think this might be a good idea... I think since we're a pretty set group, if a title has been through the box that long, 3 times not replaced incdicates at least 6 rounds that a title was available to people and they didn't choose it. So I feel like that is a pretty good idea that everyone in the box either has it, or isn't interested in it. That was my reasoning. I'm not married to this idea, but wanted to do something to help freshen up the offerings, and I just have a hard time with copyright date being a good limitation on this, but I don't know.

I'm mostly in favor of it, but since I am always behind the curve where series are concerned, I'd love it if those books that get put on the "killer" list could come off the list after 6 months or a year to give those of us who are just dscovering a book or series that "everybody else" has already read, could get a crack at them.

Maybe then if they fail after being renewed they get permanently killed?

I voted no cause there are enough rules already and I can't remember stuff like that.

I think as long as it has been a few months since it was in, it could be added again. We might have new people that have never read it or people trying to get a whole series together or something.

You wouldn't have to remember it, just consult the list I'd link to before making your play to make sure you weren't adding those titles.

So who would keep track of how long it had been since it had been in though? That's still me making a list of suggested books to avoid, isn't it?

not being snippy at all, I'm just wanting to make this a better box, and brainstorming ideas to do that. :)

As far as Bartonz's idea, I think tracking them by time limit and it's been on the list for 6 months so it gets another try would just get too confusing to keep up with (could I do it, yes, is it worth it, not sure) but I would be for coming up with a killers-for-trade type zone where you would put those listed books in, and only trade for that same category, or even trade others not on the list for those if you wanted, but not the other way around. Kind of like some of the old used book stores used to do with Sci-Fi, since it was so popular. You could only use SFF credit to get new SFF, but you couldn't bring in a stack of romances and use that credit to get SFF. If that makes any sense?

I voted yes because I do think that putting the same books in over and over that are not being taken out is something that needs to be stopped. Sort of along the same lines of someone putting a book in and it not getting taken out, so they replace it. Then they turn around and put it back in again next round. Well if it was not taken the first time, then odds are it is not going to be taken this time.

What ends up happening is that the newer more popular books get snatched out immediately and then a bunch of older, less popular books ride out the rounds and just keep getting replaced over and over. The box then gets stale. The folks who put in the newer books are no longer able to find books that the want to take out because they have read them all and the books just end up being replaced round after round. So I can absolutely see what you are saying Shaunesay.

Something does need to be done to freshen up the box. Maybe this is it?

This is what I have been feeling lately about not just this vbb but the mystery one as well. The only 2 I really participate in. But there are people that are new to the genre that would be missing out on some good books that the rest of us have read.
If I had the money right now I'd put in extra books but hubby has been out of a job for 6 weeks now so it looks like no more vbbs or swaps till he gets a job again. :cry:

I have mixed feelings about this. I get what you're trying to do, but I don't want to have to check a list before I put books in the box, particularly since most of my books for this box come from this box. I personally don't use a book again if I've had to replace it... I do something else with it. And I'd like to see some older books, particularly series books. Like I posted in the thread about skipping a month - I haven't read book 1 of a lot of the series in the box, so I'm not going to take book 5.

:P

I voted #4 because I couldn't pass up the answer to that one :)

Actually, I really don't mind either one. For me it works both ways because in some series I am all caught up and in others I am a beginner. For example, I have read all the Dark-Hunter novels, but only 3 of the Betsy novels, and none of the Sookie books (yet... I have some of them waiting for me)

I do understand about killers, and that's one of the reason's I wasn't sure if I should add my Betsy book this round. Most of you have read them!

The only suggestion I can think of is something like this:

When it's your turn and you've made your move, if you are missing a book in a series, (or have started one that has been around for a while,) post about it.
If you need Sookie #3, and you are sure you'll take it out, say so and maybe someone that has it will add it in for you next round. That way the older books don't clog up the box, and the new members/people starting new series won't miss out.

OK. How much did I confuse you? :blink:

I agree with Lemmy - there's lots of series I haven't started yet and I'd hate to see those books banned from the box, but maybe posting if you're looking for a particular book or series would help that.... but then wouldn't those posts just kinda get lost in the thread..... oh, I don't know! Maybe we could try that and see how it works? :shrug:

You could put the month/year it went on the killer list in ( ) after it to keep up... not that I've changed my mind, just brainstorming :giggle:

PS - I got interrupted when I made my first post and then had to hurry to do it, so if I sounded snippy, I'm very sorry - I did not mean to :blush:

no no no! I was afraid I was sounding snippy at you! It's all good! :hug:


The problem I'm having is that I'm hearing "Need newer fresher books in the box" and "But what if someone wants those old ones!" And so somehow we're going to have to come up with a way to do that! LOL!

And maybe it's just too soon, maybe we need to watch the activity for a few more rounds. Honestly I don't have ANY that are in that category yet, and probably won't be until another round or two goes by, so it will be a slow process, and not a big list for awhile if we did my idea.

I'm just not sure what to do as all of us are at different speeds and places of reading and it's difficult to keep the speedy people interested when some of us are slower at getting there.

Ok, so here's another idea... I'll could just start making the list as planned, just to see what ends up on it, and then we could use it as a guideline, not saying don't use that, but chances are it might have to be replaced.

AND... we could have something like a group wishlist, where we list books that we would absolutely be interested in and plan to take should they happen to be put in the box... what does anyone think of that? Say that someone finally gets around to reading the Anita Blake series, and is now ready for the earlier books, if we KNOW that, then that might help us decide what can go in, if the people saying it are committed to taking them out if they are able. or even like we've done before, if something is in needs to be replaced status but someone wants it and asks for it to be left in for them to take.

This sounds like a most wonderful idea. Exactly Right! And just so that you know that you are the most righteous and wonderful swap hostess around here's a little whipping for you!! :bananawhip: :bananawhip: :bananawhip: :bananawhip:

I think it would be best to set a time limit on the No play thing. With new members joining there is the possibility that they might want the book. I would suggest 6 months no play. Just my thoughts.

Keeping track of it would just like keeping track of the Out of Play. You have a thread and you list the books by round that they have gone into the No Play box. After each round (since one round = one month) and you take the ones that have been on for 6 months or a year, which ever out of the No Play box. Also, the No Play box thread could act as the For Trade box as well.

Just my thoughts

Shaunie - thanks for being sensitive to so many different needs! I love the idea of a wishlist.

Sounds like a plan to me! I like the wishlist idea

I'm liking it! :) :kiss:

I've actually been toying with posting something along the lines of a wishlist...

Be careful, all that whipping and complimenting might go to my head! ;)

God! I know how you feel! Mike has been laid off for months! Lucky for me since he has his golf league, I get to spend the same amount of money on my hobby... books! He is working some side jobs now but still not making the same money!

I am the same way... In any of the VBB's that I am in, if I offer a book and it doesn't get taken out, I wild release it or put in my box marked for wild release in Feb.!

I think you are right - we don't want a box to go stale, but as a new comer to some of these Authors, I have to say I agree with some of the concerns expressed here.

I really like the idea of the - wishlist. Also, 3 turns is a little too short - I would request 6 turns. That is because the list of people is sometimes very long and people on the bottom could get pretty frustrated.

That's just my 2 cents.

It's not three turns, it's being all the way through 3 times without being taken out, which is actually 6 rounds of the box. because a book can remain in for two full rounds and then is replaced on your next turn.

Ex. I put in a book on my turn in round 4, book stays in through the rest of round 4. Through round 5 it stays in and has 1 * by it, then in round 6 it gets 2 *'s and is replaced when my turn comes up in round 6. So it's actually been in 2 rounds right there, and if we allow a title 3 times of that, then that's 6 rounds it's been through that no one has taken it.

And that means that EVERYONE in the box had a chance at it and NO ONE took it, so it's only going on the list if it gets replaced because no one took it 3 times, not because it's been in the box at all 3 times. We can have a 100 copies of a title cycling through as long as people continue to take it out.

Does that help? It can get confusing I know! That's why I don't want to get into too much tracking and so forth because we don't want to make it harder to maintain than it already is. Putting the out of play books in the zoho database will be very helpful, but I don't want to replace that with something else that takes a lot to maintain. I can maintain a lot, but I want to do it for a good purpose, not just for the sake of maintaining! ;) Although I AM an accountant and I suppose that I do a lot of things like that, just for the fun of the maintenance! :giggle:

:wave: ....just my small 2 cents.

Like other comments here, I'm still looking for books of series y'all read a while ago.
My first plan is to find paranormal authors not discovered yet. :peek: Found a few goodies while I was out of town :giggle:

twigg

Freshening up the books in the box is a great idea. Hopefully this discussion will keep the issue in our minds when we are choosing books. Not a criticism, just my 2 cents.

I'll find at least two newer "hotter" paranormals to put in the box for next round, whether or not I take anything out, like several other gals have done. :rolleyes:

The wish list is a nice idea, hoping it's not too much work for you, Shaunie. I was happy to see #1 Argeneau vamps hop into the box ... it's a bit older, but one series I've never read. And it was snagged before I could take it. So with the huge # of paranormal books, and new to the P-VBB readers, it would be nice to allow older books.

Let's make the P-VBB rock with exciting titles!!!! :vampire: :bananadance:

If shaunesay needs any help (if we decide to do the wishlist thing) I'd be happy to help! Lists are one of my specialties! :blush: :wink: :giggle:

I would be willing to help as well. Like a lot of other's here there are some series that I'm just getting ready to get into i.e. Women of the Underworld. There are some series that I'm still trying to find books for. That's why I would like to see the wishlist or use the No Play list as a Trading list as well. Sometimes older books go as soon as they are listed. While some newer ones may end up being replaced after their second round in the box.

It won't be too bad if we end up doing the wishlist. What I want to stress though is that if you put a request on the wishlist, A. that will not keep someone else from taking it out before it gets to you, and B. If you request, please do take it, it's not fair to the ones who put it in, and the ones who want to see different books if you don't. Does that make sense?

I'm still mulling this over in my mind as to how to run it. Like, maybe you can only make 1-2 wishes at a time, to keep from being overrun, because if you made 10 wishes, and suddenly ALL of them appeared at the same time, you probably wouldn't have enough books to take them all, and yet we've said don't wish for it unless you plan to take it out, see? We'll need to keep it manageable.

It might be good to take July off, just to get new stuff like this figured out! :lol:

Maybe we should only put it on the wishlist if it is on the list of "don't put back in the box" books.

That was one thought I had too. Kind of make that list the "please try not to use these unless someone has asked for them" list. That would definitely cut down on how big the wishlist would be.

Although, I can also see if someone goes out to a sale and takes the list with them, or is trying to replace books with something that will for certain be taken, how an expanded wishlist might be good.

:wacko:

:giggle:

my head is spinning but I love reading this thread. Everyone is so excitied about it.
I like the wishlist idea. I like all the ideas. I'll shut up now. :shutup:

I like the wishlist idea and these guidelines seem good to me (and important to making this work).

I've honestly been thinking about leaving this box when all my books are gone because I haven't really been interested in much from it lately. And considering that this genre is my second favorite (fantasy is first), that's a sad prospect for me.

So I think that the opportunity to create a wishlist to give us some suggestions about what might be good to put in the box would help with getting a little more action in the box.

And if you know that something you put in is going to be taken out, then people won't have to replace as often as has been happening, which is another good thing in my mind.

I actually think this one is still one of the more active of the boxes!

:lol: I just noted that in the Round 25 thread - 42 books exchanged in this round - that's a BUSY VBB!! Perhaps we just have a few members who are more "on top" of the series who are getting bored with the box? And no offense intended to them - if you're an avid reader of any particular genre, the genre VBB is not going to be able to keep up to you. This happened to me with the Mystery VBB - I got to the point where I'd read everything I wanted to and was looking for "fresh" stuff that just can't always be there - I left the VBB for for awhile. Not saying this is the case, but with the volume turnover in the Paranormal.... well, do we REALLY need changes so badly? :shrug: I do like the wishlist kinda idea and I hope we'll go that way and see if it helps the unhappy people before we make restrictions......

I'm interested to see how the wishlist affects things too. The paranormal genre, while really popular currently, is just not as neverending as mystery, or romance, or fantasy and sci-fi, and we seem to get stuck on the same popular series, so maybe this will prompt people to branch out a little. ;) I think I will still make the "over-used" book information available, and just maybe not make a restriction just yet, and we'll see what all really ends up on there. I think it could be a one-two punch, making what we put in the box better directed, and see if we can beat 42 trades! ;)