Will Scum Who Rail On The Mods For Shit They Didn't Do Please Step Forward? · 12:58pm Jun 8th, 2014
*Steps forward*
I'd like to take this as another opportunity to apologize for what I said in my blog last night. I had a shitty day, and it was nice to have something to get pissed off about. I'm sure a few of you think less of me for it, and you have the right to. Now then, I'd like to set this right by talking about, as I implied at the end of my last blog, why, despite the flaws in algorithm itself, the site membership had no interest in seeing it fixed. This is some thing i realized while writing my post, and if I'd been in a more sane mood I would've deleted all my writing when I realized it. But I wasn't, so let's talk about it here.
The reason people think they want it fixed but don't really comes down to two other pony fiction sites, one most of us probably don't remember and one that we're all too familiar with. I'll start with the second one because I'm sure most of you already guessed that I'm talking about EqD. Equestria Daily gets a huge amount of (partially justified) rage from fan fiction writers. However, most of this rage comes from butthurt writers who's r63 OCxTwilight shipping story didn't make it past moderation for "grammar mistakes". It's no secret that the EqD prereaders use grammar as a way to avoid having to say that your story just isn't good, and as a way to hide how subjective the whole process truly is. On the other hand, EqD is more exclusive, which is a thing I've heard people say that the want FIMFiction's featured box to be like. And yet, those same people are pretty quick to pass judgement on the site, even if it solves the problem of bad stories ruining the list, at least to some degree.
The second and more compelling site to think about is PonyFictionVault. Despite a huge amount of advertisement in the form of site blog posts, this site, created by the same guy who made PonyFictionArchive, the place where I discovered the brony community, did not take off. For those who don't know what it is, it's a group of stories selected by the guys who made it where he interviews the person who wrote the story and puts it onto a pretty exclusive list of stories. And all of them are stellar. I've read a lot of the stories in there, many before they made it in, back in the days where I actually took reading seriously (I hate how little I read nowadays). Anyhow, the list is perfect. There is not a single error. And yet, nobody cares. The vault has been around for around as long as this site, and it didn't take off in the same way, despite being the more flawless list of pony fiction out there, at least in my opinion.
And why is it so much less popular than FIMFIc? I, along with most of the site, am not good enough to get it. And please don't tell me that I should think better of my writing. I'm a realist, and I know that those people are great writers while I merely experiment with the craft. The only thing I'll ever be truly great at is proofreading, as I've explained before. But I digress. We don't feel the same level of engagement because we can't get it. However, on FIMFic, everyday you see someone make it in with their first ever story, their voices for the first time being heard for the masses. Now that I think about it, it's pretty damn powerful and a great message to send. You can be featured; you can be in the spotlight. You are important.
Does this blog say that we aren't allowed to dislike the featured box just because you weren't aware of the alternatives. What I'm saying is that the only way to have a list of stories without flaws is to make it a very exclusive club. Like 44 stories a year, which is about the approval rate in PFV. In making my blog post last night, I forgot the magical thing about that box: it's attainable. Despite it's huge flaws, it inspires us to reach that goal, more than some grammatical standard on EqD ever could. It's just great website building, and we have Knighty and Xaquseg to thank for it (well, one of those two, I don't know which wrote what and probably never well, but whatevs, I'll just do a catch-all thank you). Again, despite the flaws, we like it more than we like any other form of featuring, so we should probably stop making fun of it.
Put probably in bold, though. Despite the fact that it's the best system by popular opinion, I still want to see it changed, and I won't rest easy until I do. A lot of what I said in last night's blog was perfectly accurate: stories with a high fraction of downvotes seem to get in more than their due, and that's something I think we can all happily agree on. That being said, I'm accountable for the other mindless bullshit I shoved out there and this is my attempt to set things straight. I don't hate the mods. Hell, I've even been banned before and I still think Knighty is a very chill dude (and to be fair, I first posted on the blog where first posting was officially banned. I still regret nothing). Some of the mods come off a bit elitist, but Knighty in particular is a very humble person and a lot less abusive than the average head mod, and I think a lot of us, including me, are quick to forget that when things don't go our way. It's part of human nature, something we can't stop but something we can try to fix after it happens.
Anyhoo, I hope you all see me as a bit less vengeful now, and I want to focus on what actually matters this week: writing. I've got my Week of Fury, where I will do my best to complete five different pieces of writing, depending on how many tasks get piled onto me this week (like today, I have work and then a boy scout meeting)(and yeah, I know, the same guy who raged last night is a boy scout, hard to believe). I'm trying my hardest though. The first story that will be released is a shoutout to something written a while ago by Bookplayer that I may or may not have been responsible for, and will feature Daring Do and Zecora.
But before I go, I feel that some specific apologies are in order, not just for this post, but for some of my past actions as well. There are some people that I feel respect me, or at least used to respect me, who I feel that I've alienated of late.
First, speaking of DaringCora, I'd like to apologize to Bookplayer. You're my favorite author on the site and someone I can not even begin to express my respect for. Constantly the voice of reason, you're usually the first person to point out why I'm wrong about whatever I happen to be raging about this week, and on this in particular, I feel that I wronged you by trapping you in my petty argument, and for that I'm sorry.
Second, Eldorado, who rather than posting a comment on my blog sent me a PM which made me realize what an asshole I was. I struck a huge nerve with you and in my blind hatred I forgot that, oh yeah, this guy I really happen to like helps run the site too and I should probably be a bit more sensitive. I've done this more than once, and for some reason you always still seem to open up by saying "You're a guy I respect but you're being a dick". I'm not worthy. And you also made a really good point about the reporting system which you should blog about, because it's something I've forgotten and I'm sure most other people have. Hell, that would do well as a site post. And for the rest of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, here's an excerpt (paraphrased in a few places):
Maybe if more people filed reports rather than blogging their woes to the site whenever someone abuses the system, then we'd shut these people down quicker before they cause further damage. I'm looking at the thing right now - there is one report for [The Line], which isn't exactly the rallying cry we normally see when something truly rule-breaking happens in a story in the feature box. The tools are there, plain for all to use, but if people aren't going to use them then it's a lot harder for me to do my job.
Thirdly, Icebox, who I insulted in my comment response. You're my favorite guy on here dude, and I hope you don't think less of me for being so petty.
And lastly, everyone else who read it, but did not have much to say because they were either speechless or too smart to be drawn into my shitstorm. Those of who who commented did so because you care and knew that I was wrong about what I said. That means a lot to me. I hope that going forward I'm more deserving of people like you guys.
This is very respectable of you, and I'm sure Froggie doesn't think any less of you. Sometimes we just snap, you know?
However, there's one thing that caught my eye in particular, and it's probably the most unimportant part of this blog...
Sweet. You get cool points for doing that.
And where is that blog, by the way? It was obviously made before I joined the site, because I never saw it before. I always thought that the 'no first posting' rule was always there.
2186775
No, it had to be made. I mean, it was against the rules, but at one point they were just like "we're going to start banning people who do dis." I'm glad first posting is gone, but I couldn't resist the oppertunity.
2186809 I've literally been looking through knighty's blogs for the last 20 minutes trying to find that blog. Did you know that knighty used to actually do stuff for the site?
But seriously, apparently he used to be a lot more active in fixing the site's problems. I wonder what happened to him?
He probably took an arrow to the knee
2186816
He still does stuff. In the early days there were a lot more problems to fix. There may be controversy now, but back then there was even more. There was Mallajong faking favorites, The destruction of Train Wreck Explorers (RIP), the 502 errors, and a lot of other things. They've done a good just cleaning up since then, but it was a fun time. Lol, I'm talking about it like I'm some old timer. Hell, I'm not even on my third year.
Garbo802, you bro.
2186816
He took an arrow to the knee actually means the people got married. How they stand on one knee to propose, arrow to the knee.
2186858
Also it's got historical ramifications
2186864
That is what I meant...they got married, which is why they said they got an arrow to the knee in Skyrim.
Heh, I remember that. I smiled, good old times.
Anyway. I didn't say anything on your last blog, mostly because I usually don't, eh, but, also because I'm not read into the argument - I have very little idea how the box works.
That said, it's always good seeing people calming down and apologizing when they think they've stepped over some line. So, by doing that, you've earned some kudos, heh.
And about what you said in this blog, I somewhat agree. Getting into the featured box for the first time seems to be a milestone of pretty high value for all authors. So, I can agree on that it should keep being a bit lenient in what is allowed onto there, while there are "hard-core" alternatives with manual readings, limits on amount of fics/year and stuff of the likes, which can be alternative features of higher standards.
Though, if it's true that downvotes add to the polularity of fics, and can in theory push them towards the features, then that's a detail which I agree should be at least looked over.
So, my rambles aside. Kudos to you for apologizing and explaining yourself.
Hey, man, we're cool. You were having a rough day. I can respect that. I don't think any less of you.
I just think that the box should be for fics that are popular, and then the Royal Guard and the Royal Canterlot Library can handle judging what's good or not. It's hard to have people curating the box 24/7 to decide what goes in there and to check for inconsistencies, so it's just easier on everyone to let popular stuff be popular for about a day or two and then let the site-backed reviewers feature stuff for quality.
2186857
garBRO802
amirite
2186816
the nazis would be jealous of that burnFor serious, I like knighty. He's got some pretty swell stuff coming up from the workshop.
2186858 I actually figured that out a couple of months ago; I just like saying it.
2186879 For one fucking hour I have been looking through site blogs, and I can't find that one, dammit! It sounds fucking hilarious, and I wanna see it!
2186895
i20.photobucket.com/albums/b217/strangething/ponies/lyra-mother-of-god-right.jpg
How did I not see this before?
2186917
Marry a person and you can say it all you want. it will be funny to see reactions.
2186931 maybe you were too busy looking at your horn
i don't blame you, it's very pretty
2186873
Wait, so all these guards are married?
And yet I've still killed hundreds of them? How come there aren't hundreds of widows chasing me round Skyrim?
2186941
Because, they are not allowed to be anything but house wives and in the kitchen. Because its medieval times in the game? I don't know, that's the only unreasonable explanation I have.
2186941
you rainbow-horned monster
2186980
i.imgur.com/wr8wu3B.gif
2186917 Heh, any luck? I did check through the site posts pages 15-30(something), without any success. Maybe it's taken down.
I'd guess that the post in question might be removed though, as it broke the rules and all that.
2186873
No, the video says something different. I think you're probably right about the marriage thing, but I like what this video says. And this channel. Game Theory is great.
2187705
ye
I'm glad you think so highly of me, and I can't wait to read your new story. And I hope you never take offense when I jump on your rants-- there are some people I'm friends with who I know are just hot headed. I think of my responses as a slash of cold water. If it's something that's really bothering you, we can talk about it, but I know most of the time it's just something you got your ass up about and I never hold it against you.
Anyway, the feature box will never be a list of the best stories, as you note. I do have an idea that I think would indirectly help it, though.
One thing that gets neglected in talking about why things make the feature box because it's impossible to measure, yet I've found it to be the most reliable way to make it, is getting someone with a lot of followers to blog your story in the timeframe to make the box. This is a part of marketing, obviously, but it's also something that's really hard to plan on. First, you have to either have someone happen to read your story and be really impressed, or be a part of a social network that will make that person more likely to read your story. Asking people is just plain rude, and I know if anyone flat out asked me to blog their story I'd turn them down. Then there's the simple logistics of that person being online and feeling like blogging when your story is still new enough to hit the feature box. And finally, your story has to be in line with the sorts of things that person writes, because that's the main reason people follow that person, and they're less likely to check out something that doesn't look like what they normally read. So, for example, Wet Feathers made the feature box because I'd been hanging out with Tchernobog and he was impressed with it, because he was around and decided to give it a blog bump, and because the followers he has are AppleDash fans and likely to check out the story.
That being said, what this site needs is the ability to make "recommending" stories easier, so that more eyes are directed to works they might enjoy in a timely manner (within the window of feature box levels of heat). When Knighty was previewing the "book shelf" idea, I suggested combining it with this-- Shelves that users set as public would have a check box that other users could check to receive a notification when things were added to that shelf. Similar to a group, but with less set up on the part of the person maintaining the shelf.
So, for example, I might have shelves for Recommended Romance and Recommended Applejack stories (those being the things I tend to read.) If you wanted to subscribe to those, whenever I added a story you'd get a notification like it was added to a group, but knowing it was a personal rec from me. This would hopefully mean that "good" stories, that get recommended by users that people trust, would get a boost in views and be more likely to make the feature box than they are now.
...that's how I would work towards making it better, at least. But it boils down to that I feel like the focus on improving the feature box should be on giving writers and users better, logical, non-annoying marketing tools so that good stuff is less likely to slip under the radar.
2189168
Yeah, I've noticed that too. My only regular box (top 7) feature came when The Parasprite and a few other people blogged about The Double Meaning of Engagement. And my best story got some help when Bronystories blogged about it, though Cirrus unfortunately did not get featured.
And also, yeah, that bookshelf thing sounds really nice. It would be nice if FIMFic recommended stories based on the things you've previously read. I discover half of the music I listen to with the same mechanism on Grooveshark, and I feel like that sort of thing would get me back into reading again. It would also be cool if you could mark stories as needing proofreading, and that could get recommended to people who proofread. The proofreading groups used to work like that, but until group notifications are back up, they really can't.