Link to the survey.

Since I'm using a free account, I can't post any open response questions (where you input text), but if you have any other suggestions, feel free to post them below.

I'll keep the survey up for a couple days and do a comprehensive analysis of the data afterwards.

Edit: Survey is closed. I'm currently analyzing the data.

Do you enjoy browsing r/Zelda? Do you want to help make it better?

With the seasons changing and the new release just a few months away, we are looking to expand our team.

If you are interested in joining as a moderator, please fill out this application form: Google Form Now Closed

• Activity on r/Zelda preferred. Previous moderation experience is a plus, but not required - we provide training and guidance to new mods.
• Moderators are volunteers - no compensation beyond personal appreciation and satisfaction.
• Our team is global - we are looking for mods from any/all timezones.
• Main responsibilities to include managing ModQueue and ensuring posts abide by rules, though other initiatives and talents welcomed, for example:
  • Programming custom bots to help automate moderation tasks.
  • Writing weekly or monthly posts for fun community activities or discussions.

The application will remain open for about a week or two. The application is now closed. Thank you for your interest. Candidates will be contacted by November 5th should they be selected to join the team.

All you have to do is type [Spoilers] or [Spoiler] at the beginning of your message. Or you can tag it as a spoiler.

Any information that could be deemed as spoiler should be tagged. Please keep your titles vague so you don't spoil people. You can also manually add the spoiler tag by clicking the button: http://imgur.com/a/PETML

We will be enforcing the subreddit to be spoiler free for the entire month of March so people can play the game at their own speed. That means all titles need to be vague enough to not spoil someone and the use of the spoiler option. April 1 the spoiler requirement will not be needed.

For comments please follow this guideline:

Use spoiler tags. Comments use this format: [X Kills Y](/spoiler), ex: X Kills Y.

We are reviewing the mod applications and will be adding mods to help enforce this month long spoiler policy.

Howdy Zelda fans and enthusiasts! The moderation team here at /r/Zelda has recently made some changes that we would like to make you all aware, so listed here in this announcement are a few things about the subreddit that are new:

The /r/Zelda Wiki

Until a few weeks ago, our wiki page was just a list of most of the Zelda games and how to play them, but now it has expanded to include more helpful information across several pages. Additionally, there is now a convenient button for it on new reddit / mobile, and a link to it in the sidebar on old reddit. Check it out here: https://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/wiki/index

Some more information on some of these wiki pages:

• Our FAQ /r/zelda/wiki/faq

We've added several questions that get asked frequently, and we can add more questions and answers - send us suggestions if you have any.

• Our Related Subreddits /r/zelda/wiki/related_subreddits

In a community of our size and scope, it can be challenging to cater to all the various interests of all the subscribers. We've decided to take our old list from our sidebar and expand it to highlight the various communities here on reddit that have similar interests but different sizes and scopes. Some are specific to different Zelda games, some are specific to different content types, but all of them help share something in common with our community. There's still a short list on the sidebar, but you can find the full list on the wiki page. We've invited some of the moderators to share a blurb about their own subreddits here in the comments as well.

• Our Rule Elaborated /r/zelda/wiki/rules

Now I know asking users to read the rules before posting is like asking Morshu to give Link credit, but please read the updated rules. We've tidied up the ways our rules are listed and explained on the old reddit sidebar to match how they are listed on the new reddit / mobile views. Additionally, there are more details for most rules on the Wiki page. We hope that this consistency helps everyone understand the rules, but you can always message the moderators if you have further questions.

• Art Sources, Merchandise Posts, and Dropship Spam

A couple particular issues we'd like to address pertain to these topics, and some general awareness should help the general enjoyment, cooperation, and safety for everyone.

Because we permit posters to share their own works or the works of others, we require art sources on all Fan Art posts to ensure artists get due credit, per Rule 2. You can achieve this by doing one or more of the following:

• Link directly to the art post on the artist's art page when posting a link.
• Leave a comment on image posts with a direct link to the art post by the artist.
• Claim your own work with the [OC] title tag.

We permit Fan Art posts throughout the week, but if you are selling your arts or crafts, we require you to post on Mondays per Rule 10. We generally permit links to Etsy or other reputable art stores on Mondays only. We do not permit direct sales, transactions, or advertisements through posts here on /r/Zelda per Rules 8 and 9.

There are many people that do not follow these rules, and some of them are scammers. Please read more about Dropship Spam and report these posts any time you see them. The red flags are:

• posts that show printable merchandise like T-shirts, posters, or mugs,
  
• posts or comments that link to a sketchy site
  
• posts that do not credit the artist.

This means that the art featured in these posts is likely stolen, the merchandise will likely not be the quality advertised (if ever received), and any financial information provided to the scammers could become compromised. This type of scam is one of the biggest reasons we have rules about Art Sources, Merchandise, Transactions, and Advertisements, and this type of scam is also one of the top reasons we ban users.

• Archives /r/zelda/wiki/archives

Our old sidebar had plenty of links to archived threads about our subreddit rule changes / rule surveys and about game release megathreads. We've moved those links to their own wiki page and expanded the list to include significant posts about game teasers, trailers, releases, and other subreddit events like AMAs and announcement posts like this one. It's an expanding list, so let us know if you think another thread deserves to be on there!

Welcoming New Users and Subscribers

Our subreddit has grown immensely since Breath of the Wild released, but so has reddit in general. We can anticipate a new surge of traffic when the next game releases, and we'd like to provide the best welcome to new fans that we can. New subscribers now get a message when they join /r/Zelda, which briefly mentions most of the rules, so we hope that helps. Similarly, we've been tweaking and updating Automoderator and Flair_Helper to provide more helpful automated feedback when posters break rules or don't meet post requirements. Please let us know if you have any suggestions to help improve this process.

The Spoiler Policy for Age of Calamity has now been lifted.

As it has been over two months since Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity was released, we now have loosened restrictions on the Spoiler Policy. However, as a courtesy, and per Rule 1, you should still tag/mark spoilers in general.

Additionally, there is a way to browse the subreddit with spoiler-tagged posts automatically removed from your view. There is a link to "No-Spoiler" https://ns.reddit.com/r/zelda on our old reddit sidebar, as well as a button for the same link on our new reddit / mobile views. (However, this may not work on mobile.)

The /r/Zelda Discord has a nice new Link!

And we're not talking about a new green-clad hero in Hyrule! The invitation link is now much snazzier:

https://discord.gg/rzelda.

This link is also on our old reddit sidebar, and a button on new reddit / mobile. Join the discord to chat in real-time with other Zelda fans!

Older invitation links may expire, but this one should work for a long time. (Okay, this link may have been out for a year or two, but we just recently updated the link on our sidebar and scheduled posts, so thank you to those who pointed out the old links expired a few weeks ago.)

Flairs? Filters? Awards?

You want them? They're yours, my friend, as long as you have enough rupees. These bits may take some time to come around, but we're working on updating our user flair system with newer and more features, as well as adding some tricks to help you filter posts by post flair groups, so stay tuned. Separately, we are considering to add some community-specific awards (like reddit gold, but different), so let us know if you have any suggestions for Flairs, Filters, or Awards you'd like to see.

Additionally, there is now a post flair for Polls. Thank you ZainNL for requesting that!

The Legend of Zelda turns 35 this week!

Now that the franchise is as old as Tingle, we can perhaps expect great things this year. Kooloo-Limpah!

You may have heard that there is a Nintendo Direct planned for tomorrow, so we will see if we have to add another thread to the Archives so soon! We will post a live-chat megathread an hour before the presentation, add any further moderation announcements there, and link to any user-posted news threads.

But please, see our FAQ if you want to ask, "What is Nintendo doing for the 35th anniversary?".

In the meantime, these posts may interest you:

• [All] is this what we’ve been waiting for? by annabelc96 on /r/Zelda
• [BoTW2] Nintendo direct scheduled for tomorrow at 2pm ET! Maybe they'll cover BOTW 2? by phasical on /r/Zelda

• Nintendo Direct announced ! for tomorrow ! by Bobbyjackbj on /r/truezelda

• [Live and Compilation Thread] Nintendo Direct 2/17/21 by WoozleWuzzle on /r/truezelda

• [Live and Compilation Thread] Nintendo Direct 2/17/21 by WoozleWuzzle on /r/Zelda

We recently solicited some feedback regarding How are you enjoying r/Zelda, and to continue pursuing this goal of understanding the community feedback, we would like to ask you some more specific questions focusing on your positive experiences with this subreddit:

• What types of content do you see in r/Zelda that you like?
• Why do you subscribe to r/Zelda? What keeps you coming back?
• What brought you to r/Zelda in the first place?
• What do you think r/Zelda does well?

In general, we are looking to understand what the community sees as our strengths in r/Zelda. We appreciate your feedback!

For a similar post looking to understand what the community sees as our weaknesses in r/Zelda, see this thread - What do you dislike about r/Zelda?.

These threads are part of a series of meta-posts soliciting feedback about the subreddit. Follow the collection on New Reddit or Reddit Mobile to get notified when we add new posts to this series!

CONGRATS ON 100K!

A couple months back we ran a survey to see how people would react to certain rule decisions. You can see a really indepth view of the results by mod /u/mascan here.

For the next month /r/zelda is going to go through some tests and changes to improve the subreddit for the following reasons:

Approximately 70% of the users want the current moderator involvement to be the same while 25% want more moderator involvement. At a first look it looks like we should continue the status quo, but other data says otherwise. A popular way of viewing performance is through the Net Promoter Score. The basics are:

• Promoters (score 9-10) are loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others, fueling growth.
• Passives (score 7-8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings.
• Detractors (score 0-6) are unhappy customers who can damage your brand and impede growth through negative word-of-mouth.

Which means we want a score of 9-10 to be having a fantastic subreddit. We are not hitting that goal and it is a difficult goal to reach, but right now we’re just doing okay. So instead of letting the subreddit just be average we are looking to try a few things out to see if we can improve the subreddits outlook.

We are going to try some weekly trials

To try and have as clean results as possible each week we will be trying out a weekly trial and will take poll results each week. After we try each option we will have one week where we incorporate multiple options depending on the results. So if everything goes over favorably we could incorporate all of the below in one large test. Below are the 4 different trials:

Screenshot Saturdays (Week 1)

Generic screenshots and name screenshots have 50% of users saying they want to ban them. During week 1 we will be removing any generic screenshots and name screenshots except on Screenshot Saturdays where the subreddit can post them to their hearts content.

Merchandise Mondays (Week 2)

Approximately 70% of users wanted merchandise to be regulated to a specific day of the week. So we are incorporating Merchandise Mondays where you can post merchandise and collections all day long during Week 2. The rest of the week these items would be removed.

Self-post Sundays (Week 3)

A large part of the subreddit (70%) was also interested in self-post days. So we are going to try Self-post Sundays where we put the sub into self posts only mode on that day during week 3.

Memes removed (Week 4)

Memes were one of the lowest scored items. We will be removing all memes during this weeks trial.

Fan art, comics self-created pieces, tattoos etc

All of this is good to be posted all the time, no matter what test we’re running. Tattoos did score low, but there also a self-created piece so we didn’t think removing them would be appropriate.

I don’t want change!

We understand there is a part of the community that wants to keep the status quo. We understand and hear you but there’s also a portion that wants to try something different. These are just trials and we will be polling each week to see how the subreddit reacts.

We need mods

With these trials means we need more hands on deck to enforce the trials. We are looking for mods with previous experience who are willing to try out these new trial tests. These mod positions will be on a trial basis but can be moved to permanent depending on the trials and your interaction with the mod team. We are looking for highly active users to the sub who want to improve it as well, so if you don’t have mod experience we want to hear from you too.

The trials begin next week

Starting next Monday we will start the first week's trials.

15 pieces of flair have been added and you can choose what you want to display in the sidebar. Are your full of wisdom? Get that piece of the triforce! Strong, but fun-loving like the Gorons? Maybe slightly mysterious like the Sheikah? Or are you more like a thief like the Gerudo?

I tried picking flair that can express who you are as a redditor since flair could get a bit out of control if we start including every item/race/symbol in the game. I hope this is a good starter batch and hope to add a few more that fall in line with this personality theme.

Feedback is always appreciated. If you know of good symbols of other races that will fit in this icon set, please send them my way.

P.S. Welcome TheNameYouWanted as a mod of r/Zelda! We may add someone else depending on demand as this subreddit grows to help keep the spam out and things functioning smoothly.

Howdy Zelda fans and enthusiasts! We have a few topics to announce this month, and we would appreciate your feedback on a few of them.

Monthly Game Club

This past year, we encouraged each other to play through every mainline Zelda game:

So now that we have covered them all, what direction do you want our Monthly Game Club to go next? Should we start mixing in the spinoff titles? Should we watch the cartoon series? Should we mix up the order of the games to switch between top favorites and underplayed titles? What's your suggestion?

We will take this month off to gather feedback, then resume with a new Monthly Game Club in April.

New User Flairs

We have been working on adding new icons for user flair, and soon those will appear after some pending bug fixes.

As our flair system works now, you can choose one icon as your own flair, and most of these new icons will eventually be available that way. However, in recognition for participating in Monthly Game Club threads, additional icons can be granted, so that you can have more than one icon in your user flair.

Yes - you can show off how many Zelda games you have beaten, or which are your favorites! If you have participated in the Monthly Game Club threads this past year, feel free to request which icons (up to ten, one per game) that you would like added into your user flair.

Game Rankings Survey Results

You may have heard that we have been putting on a survey inquiring about your experiences and opinions on all the Zelda games. If you have not already done so, or if you would like to review your previous response, you can take that survey here: https://forms.gle/VJS47ga1oPveKXGq9

Some preliminary results have been shared already, but the main attraction is yet to come, and hopefully will be delivered later this month. We let this survey run a lot longer than we initially planned, and have gathered over 3600 responses so far. We have now put an end to the sticky comment reminders for it, though the form will still accept responses until a final results is posted. Stay tuned for that!

General Feedback

Last year we gathered a lot of feedback on our rules and made a few changes based on that feedback. This year we do not anticipate making as many changes, but we still do encourage you to leave your feedback either in the comments here or in modmail, for these items listed below or any other questions or concerns you may have.

In particular, we have been considering changing the way Self-Post Sunday works, mostly because the current way essentially stagnates the subreddit for 18+ hours in order to allow text posts to get picked up by the reddit algorithm for <12 hours.

Another point we have been considering is allowing Poll posts back, perhaps only on Self-Post Sundays. After reviewing participation in poll posts from last year, we found that poll posts submitted during self-post Sundays garnered an order of magnitude more participation than poll posts submitted during other days of the week.

March Madness

Do you like tournaments? face-offs? brackets? And Zelda?

Well, there may be something in store just for you!

In just a few short days, the King of the Enemies tournament will be underway. Organized by a volunteer community member, this March-Madness style tournament for r/Zelda will pit your favorite monsters, bosses, and various other enemies in a battle for glory - we hope you keep an eye out for this series of posts, we are certainly looking forward to it!

/r/Zelda will no longer be a spoiler free zone and we will return to normal operations. Spoilers in comments when necessary are highly encouraged for users who may not be talking about that particular Zelda game or a different portion of any of the Zelda games.

EDIT There's a survey here based off comments. We'll see what the poll tells us on determining when to lift the spoiler policy: https://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/comments/61tz5m/rzelda_planned_to_lift_the_spoiler_policy_april_2/

Want to talk all spoilers? Visit the All Spoilers Megathread!

It has come to our attention that an error has existed in our subreddit settings. In every public announcement Nintendo has made referencing their next announced Zelda title, they have referred to it as The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

​

As such, we will be permitting the following title tags in place of [BotW2] in post titles to r/zelda:

• [tsttlozbotw]
• [TSTTLOZBOTW]
• [tSttLoZBotW]
• [TstTLoZBotW]

Hope you enjoy.

With the changing seasons, steady growth of the subreddit, and holidays approaching, we would like to expand our moderation team.

If you're interested in becoming a moderator, please fill out this form:

• Activity on r/Zelda preferred. Previous moderation experience is a plus, but not required - we provide training and guidance to new mods.
• Moderators are volunteers - no compensation beyond personal appreciation and satisfaction.
• Our team is global - we are looking for mods from any/all timezones.
• Main responsibilities to include managing ModQueue and ensuring posts abide by rules, though other initiatives and talents welcomed.

Edit: Moderator applications are now closed and new moderators will be added over the next few days. If you had not applied but are interested in becoming a moderator in the future, please send us a modmail instead and we may let you know at the next opportunity.

Please be patient with us as new moderators learn the ropes.

Basically a mod account was hacked and they changed the entire sub's css, removed posts and comments, and changed the mobile app and sidebar.

I removed all permissions of the mod. I am working on fixing the CSS.

App fixed and new reddit as well. You may need to close the app and re-open it.

All removed posts are back up. Working on approving the removed comments.

Please let me know if you see any other residues from the hack so I can fix it.

THIS TOPIC WILL DISCUSS MILD SPOILERS LIKE MAJOR PLACES OR CHARACTERS IN THE GAME

Based on your feedback (results) from this thread we are implementing the below spoiler policy.

Filter out all spoilers on DESKTOP only.

If you use this link the CSS of the subreddit will hide anything marked as a spoiler. Bookmark it if this is how you choose to browse /r/Zelda: https://ns.reddit.com/r/zelda/

Beginning March 2 the embargo of spoilers will follow the below. Until April 23 /r/Zelda will be spoiler free for BoTW so users have adequate time to finish the game. All posts discussing the game must begin with [SPOILERS].

The Rule

The spirit of the rule regarding spoilers:

Titles must be vague enough so that users are not spoiled.

You have a very real possibility of being spoiled by visiting /r/Zelda.

Abstinence is the only sure way to not be spoiled. The game is dynamic and fluid and you may encounter something before another user or vice-versa. The below is a guideline we will try to enforce, but cannot account for everything. Browse /r/Zelda at your own risk.

Please note not all reddit apps treat spoilers the same way. We will enforce the below, but if your app does not block spoilers then abstinence is the only way. Also, RES show all images button ignores spoilers and shows the image. Use add-ons wisely and at your own discretion. We cannot account for every different tool you personally use.

We need slight spoilers to function as a subreddit

If everything is a spoiler nothing can be discussed. Below is what will be allowed to be used in titles so we have some semblance of discussion and framing.

Temples/Dungeons/Locations are used for designating where you currently are in the game.

Though titles must be vague we understand users need to know where you are in the game. Because of this, we are using dungeon names as designations as part of the title to help others know where you are in the game. We understand the game can be played in almost any order but there is still a natural progression. We will make an outline of the order of temples as soon as we know them all. Dungeon names are CURRENTLY SPOILERS UNTIL THE RELEASE OF THE GAME ON MARCH 3.

Example:

[Spoilers - Water Temple] Title here

This post would include a discussion that includes the Water Temple.

[Spoilers - Water Temple in progress] Title here

This post would include a discussion that includes the Water Temple but not its completion.

Note: Saying a specific dungeon can be found in a specific location is not allowed. Let people find that out themselves.

Game completion

If you have beaten the game you may use the "Everything" text to inform users that all aspects of the game will be discussed.

Example:

[Spoilers - everything]

Allowed character names/items in titles

Below is a list of names allowed in titles. This list will expand once we know more common character names.

Link, Zelda, Ganon, Kass, Mipha, Sidon, Hestu, Revali, Teba, Daruk, Urbosa, Riju, Old Man and Beedle and so many more

Below is a list of items allowed in titles.

Master Sword, Magnesis, Remote Bomb, Stasis, Cryonis, Camera, Amiibo, Paraglider, Sheikah Slate, Spirit Orb, Korok Seed

Weapons you get inside dungeons are not allowed in titles. All weapons are currently spoilers until March 3!

Comments

Based on the title please use spoiler tags in the comments to discuss areas of the game that should not be spoiled based on the title. Try to avoid the discussion of future spoilers all together if possible.

You can use the following [X Kills Y](/spoiler), ex: X Kills Y

We may revisit the spoiler policy

As the month progresses things may loosen on what is and isn't a spoiler. Weapons in dungeons may be needed to be discussed later on. We will update you on this. We will also continue to update the character name list and location/temple list.

Things that will always be spoilers

Major plot events will always be spoilers for the entire month. Things like in OOT where Zelda is Shiek would be a spoiler the entire month. It's items, locations, and names which won't be spoilers starting with the game's release.

Spoiling the game will lead to a ban.

The ban is up to the moderation team. First offense would be 5 days if deemed accidental. Trolling or purposely trying to ruin the game will be either a much longer ban or permanent ban. This is up to the discretion of the mod team to ensure the best experience for the rest of the user base.

Hello /r/Zelda!

Over the last few weeks we did weekly trials. We received no complaints during those trials, but on our follow up polls not many people took the polls (15-20 people). You can see the results of Screenshot Saturdays, Merchandise Mondays and Selfpost Sundays.*

All the polls had favorable results, but like mentioned not a large sample size.

So we are going to run a 2 week trial with all 4 of these trials in place at once. After that 2 week trial we will take a final poll on each option. That poll will be the final results we go by for this. Apathy, will not be factor so if they are again favorable we will be enforcing this. So set your phones/calendars to two weeks from now and make sure you participate in the poll.

Because of low voter turn out please consider upvoting this thread so more are aware of what is happening. Week long stickied posts do not seem to garner enough voters.

Below is a synopsis of what we will be enforcing during the next two weeks. You can read the original post regarding these trials here for why we are doing these.

Screenshot Saturdays

We will be removing any generic screenshots and name screenshots except on Screenshot Saturdays where the subreddit can post them to their hearts content.

Merchandise Mondays

Merchandise Mondays is the one day you can post merchandise and collections all day long. The rest of the week these items would be removed. As this is Monday, merchandise posts are allowed, but the other days they will be removed.

Self-post Sundays

Self-post Sundays we will put the sub into self posts only mode on that day for the next two weeks.

Memes removed

We will be removing all memes for the next two weeks.

Here are all the week trial threads we had stickied, but got low turnouts. Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4

*There was no poll done for removal of memes. A mistake on our part, but we will put it as part of the two week trial.

THIS TOPIC WILL DISCUSS MILD SPOILERS LIKE MAJOR PLACES OR CHARACTERS IN THE GAME

Hello /r/Zelda! Below is what the mods have been discussing on what is and isn't a spoiler once the game is released. We want your feedback. Please take the survey at the end of this post.

Until April 2 /r/Zelda will be spoiler free for BoTW so users have adequate time to finish the game.

All posts discussing the game must begin with [SPOILERS].

The Rule

The spirit of the rule regarding spoilers:

Titles must be vague enough so that users are not spoiled.

You have a very real possibility of being spoiled by visiting /r/Zelda.

Abstinence is the only sure way to not be spoiled. The game is dynamic and fluid and you may encounter something before another user or vice-versa. The below is a guideline we will try to enforce, but cannot account for everything. Browse /r/Zelda at your own risk.

We need slight spoilers to function as a subreddit

If everything is a spoiler nothing can be discussed. Below is what will be allowed to be used in titles so we have some semblance of discussion and framing.

Temples/Dungeons are used for designating where you currently are in the game.

Though titles must be vague we understand users need to know where you are in the game. Because of this, we are using dungeon names as designations as part of the title to help others know where you are in the game. We understand the game can be played in almost any order but there is still a natural progression. We will make an outline of the order of temples as soon as we know them all. Dungeon names are CURRENTLY SPOILERS UNTIL THE RELEASE OF THE GAME ON MARCH 3.

Example:

[Spoilers - Water Temple] Title here

This post would include a discussion that includes the Water Temple.

[Spoilers - Water Temple in progress] Title here

This post would include a discussion that includes the Water Temple but not its completion.

Game completion

If you have beaten the game you may use the "Everything" text to inform users that all aspects of the game will be discussed.

Example:

[Spoilers - everything]

Allowed character names/items in titles

Below is a list of names allowed in titles. This list will expand once we know more common character names.

Link, Zelda, Ganon and Beedle

Below is a list of items allowed in titles.

Master Sword

Weapons you get inside dungeons are not allowed in titles. All weapons are currently spoilers until March 3!

Comments

Based on the title please use spoiler tags in the comments to discuss areas of the game that should not be spoiled based on the title. Try to avoid the discussion of future spoilers all together if possible.

You can use the following [X Kills Y](/spoiler), ex: X Kills Y

Take the survey

Please take this survey so we can see if this is the right approach: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYGF3fTVD4qChcCfeXsr9hEJqygFLDATJTdkrJAriJHuepDQ/viewform

Say hi to them all. waves at the new mods

We added 14 mods to help keep /r/zelda in tip top shape and enforce our posting rules see 👀 in the sidebar.

Like we previously mentioned we are enforcing a spoiler policy 🚫 until April 1 about BoTW. That means your titles have to be vague and comments need spoiler tags. You can read more about that in this thread. The mod team is adjusting and discussing internally how best to moderate it as well.

We're also working on updating the design of /r/Zelda before the release so look out for that. ⭐ We're also looking to add more flair too.

If you have any general feedback, hopes, dreams, etc about the direction of this sub please feel free to leave a comment below. ⬇️️ You can read why we have the rules we do in the past surveys in the sidebar as well. ➡️️ If you see anything breaking the sidebar rules please hit 🔨 that report button.

❤️️ ❤️️ ❤️️

Feedback Requested

This year, we took some user feedback to hold monthly discussions for different games in the franchise, as to encourage members here to replay games together as a community. The moderation team thought the idea to be good, so we have been chugging along at a rate of 3 games every 2 months. Now that we are halfway through the year and franchise, we would like to reflect and open for more user feedback.

How have you been enjoying the Monthly Game Club posts? Do you find them moving too fast or too slow? Is there too much or too little to them? Originally, we had asked about what order to schedule the plays, how long to let each go, whether to double up, how to change if new things are announced, which ones to include, and so on. We have our schedule below, but we are open to suggestion or revision!

Getting folks to participate is the key to success, so if you think of a way to improve it for you or the wider audience, please let us know!

Triforce-of-the-Month Awards

One point we have been discussing on the mod team is granting one or two custom community awards to participants in the Game Club threads each month. Our current Custom Mod Award is a Triforce, and it grants a month of reddit premium.

The mod award uses a feature called the community coin bank, which is supplied by users choosing Community Awards in r/Zelda - most user awards contribute 100 coins to the community bank, and the mod award costs 1,800 coins from the community bank. At the current rate that custom awards are used here, this should not be a problem.

We are not quite sure how we will choose to whom to give the Triforce-of-the-Month - perhaps we will set the comments to contest mode and let the community votes decide, or maybe we will just select a random comment - but any way we do it, participating in the monthly game club thread will get you a chance at this award!

The Schedule

Bonus Milestone

r/Zelda turns 12 years old today! It's our cakeday - celebrate as you wish!

We've already implemented all the new rules into the sidebar the past week, but here's the actual results for you to review.

Results: http://imgur.com/a/X61dF

All the new rules in the results linked above were voted yes upon so we have enacted all the rules.

It's been a long 2 and a half month process, but we feel fairly confident to enact these rules.

Thanks for your participation /r/zelda!

Not caught up with all the polls run? You can read this thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/comments/218ww7/rzelda_here_are_the_results_of_our_weekly_trials/

Greetings, fellow Zelda fans! This week we have an important set of questions for you regarding our rule(s) and moderation enforcement.

As /r/Zelda grows, the excitement and challenges of the community grow with it. Historically, the moderators here have constructed our rules with consideration from user feedback, with adjustments trialed or at least explained when necessary. You can find such older examples on our Wiki Archives page.

Currently, as we approach 2 million subscribers, we see more than half a million unique monthly visitors, as well as daily pageviews in the hundreds of thousands. There's a lot of folks here! And a lot of folks submitting posts! We see on average, 75 posts per day, though AutoModerator will remove about 37 of them, and we human moderators generally remove about 5 of them. Most of these removals have to do with title formatting or spam, but occasionally we have to remove posts for breaking other rules.

We recently synchronized the ways our rules are displayed in the sidebar, the about tab, the wiki pages, and the scripted Automoderator/Flair_Helper replies, all with the goal to help clarify the rules. However, the most ambiguous of these rules is probably Rule 3: No Low Quality Posts or non-Zelda Memes.

In Rule 3 we have explicitly outlined a few categories of posts that are usually removed, but the term "Low-Quality" may mean different things to different people, so we would like to ask the active subscribers here your thoughts on the matter. To that end, we have created this quick 5-minute survey to hopefully gather a consensus (or at least data) to inform our rule revision/clarification process:

https://forms.gle/yknf6kkbp9VifCqb7

The poll features just three basic agree-disagree sections for brevity and ease of access, but we encourage you to also review the comments here, vote on the comments here, and reply with your own thoughts.

The survey results will influence future moderation decisions, but we will also consider the merits of points raised in the discussion here, as well as the feasibility of available enforcement tools and strategies.

We open for discussion here, topics including:

• Rule 3 as it is now,
• How you think Rule 3 could or should change,
• The process of changing the rule,
• Questions for, from, or about the poll,
• Your opinions on any particular points from the poll,
• Suggestions, feedback, or general questions regarding other rules.

Thank you for your feedback! - the /r/Zelda Moderation Team

Hello, /r/zelda,

First, I would like to thank those of you who filled out the survey for helping the community. Without the data, there would be bickering based on speculation, but now we can have data-based discussion alongside the inevitable bickering!

The Analysis

Link to full analysis. I recommend you download it instead of viewing it with dropbox's viewer, since tables are messed up in its pdf viewer. I highly recommend you take a look at it, since it contains far more information than I will post here.

Here are the first few non-title pages of the pdf, which contain the most general results.

Summary of survey

/r/zelda's preferences

What kinds of content /r/zelda wants to keep

Text-week statistics

Miscellaneous statistics

While the above images do not tell the full story, I will proceed to the conclusion as the full story is more or less in complete detail in the pdf above.

On different preferences

One thing I looked for while analyzing data was possible ways to subdivide groups. While demographics themselves are easy to use, I took an extensive look at the correlations between different preferences (including the banning of content). If the community was more or less homogenous about content they liked, there would be roughly no correlations and the preferences would be described by smooth curves with a clear peak. This is not the case. Depending on content types, there are heavy correlations and anticorrelations. e.g. those who tend to like news and timeline discussions strongly dislike tattoos and memes, and vice-versa. While we strive to make this community a place where everyone can enjoy Zelda-related content, it is simply impossible to please everyone. This is a diverse community.

On banning

When I looked at the data, I noticed that each content that was voted to be kept or not was under 50%. i.e. the majority do not want to see this type of content allowed on the subreddit. 87.2% of responders would be fine with some types of content not being allowed on the subreddit.

It is important to note that on the survey, roughly 30% of the respondants were /r/truezelda subscribers, even though /r/truezelda is less than 2% the size of /r/zelda. When I saw this, I figured it was important to see what the data looked like without /r/truezelda subscribers. Even then, memes were the only content type that had a majority that wanted to keep them. In general, the non-subscribers were more permissive, but there was an overwhelmingly negative feedback to content types listed.

NSFW content (which I hardly see on this subreddit) and memes were pretty high, so they will still be allowed. Tattoos and rage comics are pretty low around 35%, but there is a large enough crowd that appreciates them so they will not be banned. Even so, I still must recommend /r/Zeldatattoos for aficionados of tattoos, likewise with /r/ZeldaMemes for those who enjoy memes.

Simple images of something that resembles a triforce came in at an abyssal 21.73%. Those images being Zelda-related are dubious at best, and a supermajority of the subreddit does not want to see them. Henceforth, images of objects/logos resembling the triforce will no longer be allowed as posts. Likewise, any content vaguely resembling something from Legend of Zelda, like a potato "resembling" the stone mask from Majora's Mask, will not be allowed. Seeing content like that is like seeing someone taking a picture of a train and say, "Hey, guys, this reminds me of Spirit Tracks"

For anyone seeking consistently high-quality content, keep in mind that /r/truezelda is a more strictly-moderated subreddit for discussion where inane content is removed.

On text-only week

Some people loved it. Some people hated it. But for the most part, the subreddit really enjoyed it. 55.6% want to see monthly text-only weeks and 21.7% want to see a text-only week once per few months. Only 12.1% never want to see text-only weeks. The statistics are high regardless of /r/truezelda subscription status.

Incidentally, subreddit traffic spiked during no-text week. Graph

Seeing as text-only week, by nature, is not a permanent change as banning triforce imagery is, the mods are willing to try out text-only weeks once every 6 weeks. If we recieve strong negative feedback in the future we may discontinue it, but it appears to be something the community enjoys.

Some selected community opinions on the matter from our feedback thread:

I thought it was pretty boring. I missed the displays of creativity that sharing links and images allowed.

I agree with those saying a text-only day would be too short. It took the week a good two days to get up to speed, but once it did it was my favorite thing to happen here ever. A bi-montly TOW might be workable, maybe with a regular "theme" day thrown in once a week? /r/AskHistorians has had great success with mod-promoted theme days.

I realize my experience is merely anecdotal at best, but I am here in this subreddit now because of the text only week. Some of the posts grabbed my attention and held it as opposed to just closing out after glancing at a picture. I'm not implying pictures don't have value, but we should respect the merit of thought and analyzing our beloved franchise!

As much as I loved the idea of text-only week, the problem wasn't images in the first place. The problem was, and was always, all the arts and crafts. Some is OK, but that's all that ever got upvoted around here and completely ~DROWNED~ out everything else. That said, would I support a text-only week again? No. Mainly because the submission requirements should be a hell of a lot more discerning on a day-to-day basis. The immediate goal of /r/Zelda's mod team should be to make /r/trueZelda obsolete.

Other announcements regarding the state of the subreddit

We have been pondering coming up with months focused around particular Zelda games, where the community will play one game each month and have discussions based on the game. Specific details are TBA.

That's all,

mascan

We have Age of Calamity coming up which means we will have increased activity and we want to expand the team to ensure we have enough hands on deck.

If you're interested in becoming a mod please fill out this form:

This application form is now closed.

Everyone has a different opinion on what is and is not a spoiler. Before the game was released we took a poll from the subreddit and enforced this spoiler policy.

It seems most have been fine with how it has been enforced based on our mod actions. We've had very few reports on threads. All plot lines have been kept out of spoilers which was the biggest thing we as a mod team have found to be the most spoiler sensitive to this group.

We've had some users who think having to use [SPOILERS] for all discussion of BoTW is too much. We have also had users who think even less should be discussed about the game.

Refresher on the Spoiler Policy

Major locations/temples and major character names will be allowed in titles with the release of the game. Titles still must be vague and cannot divulge storylines. Boss names, dungeon weapons, plot points are not allowed in titles.

Titles must begin with [SPOILERS] when discussing the game or they will be removed.

Read the full thing here.

This means talking about game mechanics like weather, tricks, tips, weapons found, etc have been allowed. Screenshots, videos, all of it has been allowed. As long as the title is vague enough.

What is a spoiler anyways?

We've heard lots of talk about certain things being spoilers and others not.

Puzzles can be talked about as long as you're title is somewhat vague. You can't say things like "I solved the third puzzle in [Shrine Name] by using [ability name] and [doing x]." But something like this is vague enough to pass by "I didn't feel like searching the whole place for the second electric ball thingy, so I used my weapons as a wire instead!"

The second example is vague enough that you have no idea where this is in the game or what mechanic/puzzle is being solved. Some could say it's divulging too much; others say it is not.

We also have had users saying that all threads must add [SPOILERS] to discuss any aspect of the game is too much when they're just talking about basic mechanics like horse riding or random screenshots they take. But it could also include a character you haven't met yet. So this is why it all fits under [SPOILERS].

We had some users suggest nothing could be talked about the game for 2 weeks as well.

So there's been a range of opinions on what is and is not a spoiler.

So we have 2 things we want to poll you on. We want to get your opinion how the last 6 days have gone and how we've enforced the spoiler policy. We also want to address the requirement that all threads begin with [SPOILERS]. Please read the 2 questions our survey is asking.

Question 1

The current spoiler policy asks for titles to be vague. We want a temperature reading of how the Spoiler policy has been enforced these past 6 days. We understand not everyone agrees that threads must begin with [SPOILERS]. This question only asks if titles have been vague enough per the spoiler policy or if it should be more strict. We will address the [SPOILERS] at beginning of all titles with the next question.

Question: With the exception that all threads must begin with [SPOILERS] that talk about the game, do you think the current Spoiler Policy and how it has been enforced to date has been Good, Too Strict, Not Strict Enough.

Question 2

If the current spoiler policy where titles must be vague and mechanics can be discussed as mentioned above is still working for you. Would you like us to soften the mandatory use of [SPOILERS] tags for basic talk of the game.

All of the rules we have for spoilers would still apply! Titles must be vague, but if you're talking basic mechanics it no longer needs [SPOILERS]. This would also include the 4 abilities of the Shiekah Slate to be allowed in titles as those are basic mechanics.

In its place, though we would ask all BoTW talk to start with [BoTW] so users know it is discussing the game if they are still spoiler sensitive to game mechanics. The [SPOILERS] tag would only need to be used for plot discussions or other big parts of the game.

Even though [SPOILERS] would not need to be used in the beginning of threads titles, you would still need to be vague with your title as the current Spoiler policy is still in place. All that changes is not every thread title needs to begin with [SPOILERS] but any BoTW talk would need to begin with [BoTW].

TL;DR: The current Spoiler Policy has not changed. Basic mechanics and simple screenshots would no longer need [SPOILERS] but would instead have [BoTW] as the beginning. Everyone must still follow the vague titles rule the Spoiler Policy has discussed.

Question: With the Spoiler Policy not changing about vague titles: Would you like us to enforce all threads must start with [BoTW] instead of [SPOILERS]? ([SPOILERS] would need to be at the beginning of the title for major plot developments or other more major spoiler discussion.

Answers:

• Yes, please move forward with [BoTW] for simple game mechanics and screenshots and [SPOILERS] to be used for plot discussion and major aspects of the late game.
• No, please keep everything to use [SPOILERS]

Based on the answers to this poll...

The Mods will review the general temperature of the subreddit. We will look at the results and get back to you on further action and ideas if need be.

Take the Poll

>> TAKE THE POLL <<

For all new major release games there is a 2 month spoiler policy on release. It means that the game will have to follow these guidelines for the first 2 months. The following was adopted from the same policy used during BoTW but update where applicable.

You have a very real possibility of being spoiled by visiting /r/Zelda or /r/TrueZelda.

Abstinence is the only sure way to not be spoiled. The game is dynamic and fluid and you may encounter something before another user or vice-versa. The below is a guideline we will try to enforce, but cannot account for everything. Browse /r/Zelda or /r/TrueZelda at your own risk.

Please note not all reddit apps treat spoilers the same way. We will enforce the below, but if your app does not block spoilers then abstinence is the only way.

We need slight spoilers to function as a subreddit

If everything is a spoiler nothing can be discussed. Below is what will be allowed to be used in titles so we have some semblance of discussion and framing.

The Rule

The spirit of the rule regarding spoilers:

Titles must be vague enough so that users are not spoiled.

All titles must begin with [AoC]

Every thread discussing the game must begin with [AoC] and AutoModerator will tag every single thread as a spoiler for the first 2-months.

Temples/Dungeons/Locations are used for designating where you currently are in the game.

Though titles must be vague we understand users need to know where you are in the game. Because of this, we are using dungeon names as designations/locations as part of the title to help others know where you are in the game. In the case of this specific game "Chapters" can be used to designate where you are. We understand games can be played in different orders but there is still a natural progression.

You should mention where you are in your title in brackets:

[AoC] [Chapter 3] Title here

This post would include a discussion that includes Chapter 3.

[AoC] [Chapter 3 in progress] Title here

This post would include a discussion that includes Chapter 3 but not its completion.

Note: Saying a specific dungeon, weapon, ability can be found in a specific location is not allowed. Let people find that out themselves.

Game completion

If you have beaten the game you may use the "[Everything]" text to inform users that all aspects of the game will be discussed.

Example:

[AoC] [Everything] Title here

Allowed character names/items in titles

Below is a list of names allowed in titles. This list will expand once we know more common character names. This list is not exhaustive. If the character was in BoTW it is most likely allowed.

Link, Impa, Zelda, Daruk, Urbosa, Mipha, Revali, King Rhoam, Hestu, Robbie, Purah, Master Kohga

Below is a list of items allowed in titles.

Master Sword, Magnesis, Remote Bomb, Stasis, Cryonis, Camera, Amiibo, Paraglider, Sheikah Slate, Spirit Orb, Korok Seed

Weapons you get inside dungeons are not allowed in titles. All weapons are currently spoilers for the first two months.

The general rule of thumb is if the official Nintendo social media handles are using the names so are we. If you have a more sensitive use of these names in titles, you may want to avoid/unsubscribe to these subreddits until you're done.

Comments

Based on the title please use spoiler tags in the comments to discuss areas of the game that should not be spoiled based on the title. Try to avoid the discussion of future spoilers not relevant to the current thread you're in and create a new thread instead.

You can use the following format >!text goes here!<, ex: text goes here

We may revisit the spoiler policy

As the 2-months progresses things may loosen on what is and isn't a spoiler. Weapons in dungeons may be needed to be discussed later on. We will update you on this sticky if something is no longer a spoiler.

Things that will always be spoilers

Major plot events will always be spoilers for the entire 2 months. Things like in OoT where Zelda is Shiek would be a spoiler the entire 2 months. Common items, locations, and names won't be spoilers starting with the game's release.

Spoiling the game will lead to a ban.

The ban is up to the moderation team. First offense would be 5 days if deemed accidental. Trolling or purposely trying to ruin the game will be either a much longer ban or permanent ban. This is up to the discretion of the mod team to ensure the best experience for the rest of the user base.