CP Warfare Insider

Hello CPWI staff! Here, you’ll find the rules you should follow as a staff member, some tips for posting, the grading rubric, the CPWI format, tips on getting post ideas, and also a special note from Grant. Please use this page as a reference whenever you are in doubt of your quality or of the rules.

CPWI Staff Rules

1. Your post should try to follow the CPWI grading rubric. This means you should have proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling, be highly detailed, unbiased, and must have at least 300 words.
2. You must post at least once every week,
3. No excessive posting about your own army.
4. Email the CPWI President or Vice if you will be away and cannot be posting, or will be going on vacation. If you can’t email, then notify them by the staff site.
5. Your posts should receive a minimum grade of 5.
6. If you would like to resign from CPWI, please notify the President or write a post on the staff site, instead of simply disappearing.
7. If you go inactive for more than 2 weeks with no notification beforehand, you may have to leave CPWI.

News Reporter Tips

1. Follow the CPWI reporter grading rubric. It can really help you write a great post.
2. Have pictures and color! Make the post look good to the eye., but be careful not to be excessive. Remember that people do judge a book by its cover, so look professional.
3. Have fun in your posts, and ask for the reader’s opinion.
4. Don’t be repetitive and post about the same topics often.
5. Write the post that YOU would want to read!
6. Read the CPARTC guide on reporting.
7. Use this guide on adding interviews.

News Post Format

Here is the post format for CPWI.

1. Make your title a statement. For example, “Army A Battled Army B for Server C”.
2. Write down a sentence or two that summarizes the whole post, then insert the “Read More” tag. Something like, “Army A managed to snatch victory in an extremely close battle against Army B”.
3. After the Read More tag, start your actual post. Write an introduction paragraph (Why was this battle held? Background info?).
4. After the introduction paragraph, start the actual content of the post. The content part of the post does not have to follow a specific format, as this can be left to your own designs. However, it should contain pictures, paragraphs, and an interview never hurts.
5. Conclude your post. Who won? What happened after the battle? Try to include some direct quotes from the leaders’ posts. Also, make sure you include polls and comment prompts. Comment prompts are prompts at the end that asks questions for the reader to comment at the end. Remember Interview-Post integration when adding interviews.

Post Rubric

If you have a question about the quality of your post, make sure you refer back to this rubric. Sometimes your posts will be graded against these two criteria: content and structure and language.

Content: 9-10 (Excellent)- The post uses a lot of detail and pictures. The post is not influenced by the opinion of the author. Reader interaction is allowed via polls and comment prompts. The post shows a lot of analysis of the event. The post gives inisght from the people involved by using interviews and quotes.

Structure and Language: 9-10 (Excellent)- The post is above 500 words. All the 3 major parts of the post (introduction-body-conclusion) are present. There are few grammar and spelling mistakes that do not distract the reader. The writing style is appropriate. Special text formatting is used correctly. The post looks professional. The post uses proper quote-interview integration.

You may find that our rubric is very demanding of your posts to get to the top achievement level. This is because excellence is expected.

News- Getting Post Ideas

Some valuable tips for getting post ideas:

1. Read the top tens. On the top tens, you’ll see armies that are rising and falling, newcomers, and stuff like that.Also, the top ten writers usually include some information about wars and battles they were in, so you can go do some more research on those.
2. Look at what other people posted. Don’t copy them, but the topic they post on should give you an idea, or introduce you to an army you weren’t aware of.
3. Think of a new post type. Rising/Falling army posts are overused, and should only be used for truly risen or fallen armies. Be original with post ideas. The possibilites are never-ending!
4. Check out the Inform Us page before any posts so you know what posts people are asking for.

Opinion Posting Tips – Commentaries

1. You should post opinionated commentaries on battles, armies, or CP warfare as a whole.
2. You aren’t bringing the reader news, you’re entertaining them with your own thoughts.
3. You should give your opinion about the topic (it’s the name of the game!). If event-related, analyze the subject in detail. What caused this event to happen? What is your opinion of the event? What are the implications this event has? (What can this event lead to?)
4. Your post should be at least 300 words.
5. You should always use titles that can identify your post as an opinion, and be sure to use the right category.
6. Have your own writing style! You are allowed to use sarcasm and humor, and you are allowed to comment and criticize. Personalize your post!

Opinion Posting Tips – Philosophy

1. Post about new and interesting topics. (Brainstorm for ideas, don’t keep talking about the same subjects over and over).
2. Use lots of pictures! No one wants to read a boring ten-paragraph essay with no color and pictures.
3. Make sure to captivate the reader. Have fun, be funny or sarcastic, and make the audience love your writing.
4. Your post should be at least 300 words.
5. Go into detail! Don’t just bring up a topic and give your opinion. Get really in deep, and look from multiple points of view.

 Special Note From Grant 

Grant was the first SMAC Head of Site. Here, he has a message to the reporters of the SMAC Network.

Hello. There is a famous activist by the name of Noam Chomsky, and he has done a lot of work analyzing the mass media, and the effect that it has on everyone in the world (specifically the United States). The real-world mass media is a very evil, and corrupt, structure, but that is because the raw news goes through multiple filters (ones like “Money” and “Advertising”). Fortunately, SMAC is not owned by any large armies or Xat-rich people (if we put it into the context of CP armies), so we should be able to operate without any bias. Here are some tips to help understand this idea:

• The media (SMAC, CPWI, and other sites) must report the news fairly, completely, and without bias.
• The media (“                                                      “) must function as a watchdog for the public against abuses of power.

So, as Reporters, you must ask yourselves, “How do I, a faithful reporter for the Small and Medium Army Central, incorporate these central ideas into my reporting?” Well, the answer is sitting right above these lines. Report the news you see on Army sites fairly, completely, and without bias! Also, if you view a legitimate abuse of power, then please report it! But collaborate with a Head Reporter first, as you need a lot a lot of experience to view true abuses of power. This is one of the reasons that people don’t usually appreciate new Reporters; they are inexperienced, so they sometimes make some people look bad without meaning to do so. If you don’t know how to do something, how to phrase it, or if it is appropriate, then please ask a higher-up for some help.

Asking is free, but paying the price for making a bad post isn’t. Utilize your resources, and report fairly! Go out and do well!

Happy reporting!