Dec
2nd
2012
Site Post » Site harassment and thinly veiled insults · 2:29pm Dec 2nd, 2012
I've deleted the train wreck explorer's group today. Any further groups set up in the same vein will see a similar fate, and anyone attacking authors under a thin guise of fake criticism will not be further tolerated.
Not everyone on the site is 20 years old and deserving of some of the harsher criticism. Attacking younger people's work does not help them, it just makes you a bully, so stop being shits.
Wow...
And I thought that TWE had changed a fair share. They were trying to help... to some degree... But their reputation had been cemented long ago.
Hmm, rather unfortunate.
I never knew that group existed. Good to hear it is dead from what I just read Knighty.
Good riddance.
Well then. I wasn't expecting that.
Wise knighty is wise, I like it when people are wise...
Seriously though, I approve of what you said here.
I second the motion proposed by Mr. Knighty.
what is the train wreck explorers group?
Well said sir.
It's for the best. I know better than anyone that insults thinly veiled as criticism just isn't the way to do things. It doesn't help.
Hopefully these people will take the hint and realise that criticism is all about helping others and not for your own amusement.
560584 A group that reviews stories, though in a rude way. Like how in communism, the government could take away a wealthy person's land and give it to the peasants; it seems like a genuine, peaceful society, when in reality, it is strict and unfair.
I don't even...
S'pose I could still go around doing the same editing thing, but still... TWE deleted? That's just....
From the way I understand it.
This 'group', TWE, were someone who delivered criticism to stories in a rather harsh manner. But instead of only focusing the criticism on the story, they threw in hidden insults aimed at the author, for no reason whatsoever?
Well.... Okay then.
Can I still make a group for friends with similar tastes or will I be restricted?
THANK YOU
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, KNIGHTY
FAITH IN MODS: RESTORED
Should've known this would happen sooner or later. They did try a cleanup to get the jerks out, but when you still have some of the names that were present after that...
Knighty, what is your opinion of the Anti-Clopfiction Group?
Hey now, I posted genuine constructive criticism with that group, and didn't bash authors for it. That's pretty harsh, man.
It'd be nice if more people remembered which fandom they're in.
560594
560597
It's one thing to find an awful story and tear it apart with your friends, in private. It's another thing to do the same in a public venue like the comments of a story.
To put it more simply: do what you want, but have the balls to be civil to folks where other people can see you.
Damn good. Just today I was yelling at people for the very same thing. This makes me happy. I am glad.
560619
I've flat out stated that I'm rude because I'm a rude person, not because it's what the TWE requires... If that's not owning up to the fact then I don't know what is.
Unexpected, but I thought we'd really changed. Still, hopefully improvements were had when we were still around.
May we, as the deleted party, see what inspired this? I'm not gonna deny we were a cruel group when we started in the summer, but most of us did truly try to bring about improvement. Our methods were harsh, but we did help.
That, or all those good responses we got were lies from people just trying to oust us. How many authors did we hurt, knighty?
560614
Then continue to do so. Anyone claiming that putting stuff in a group called THE TRAIN WRECK EXPLORERS isn't insulting is out of their mind though. By doing so you've directly called it a train-wreck which is actually insult, in case that was difficult to understand for some people.
560584>>560576
For the record, I was not a member of that group, but I did know some ,and I was involved with them (On the basis of reviewing and coaching).
TWE (Train Wreck Explorers) Was a group dedicated to finding the worst fiction on this site, basically any story with a large amount of downvotes and cataloguing them. They also tried for a substantial amount of time to help new and young authors by pointing out faults and errors that lead to said downvotes. Unfortunately, some took it too far, as Mr.Knightly pointed out. In fact, the very basis (finding the worse) was kind of... borderline.
The group spent a fair bit of their resources reviewing, and some bashing badly written works in an attempt to 'scare' people into paying attention to what they typed.
The group was rather large, active and to some degree popular.
I hope that that's vaguely unbiased.
Wow, sounds like this group got what they deserved. I mean, I riff some fics but at the end I've been starting to give more constructive stuff then just 'This sucks' etc... Wonder if they reviewed any of my stuff?
Did not see that coming, but I guess it makes sense.
560615
Hah!
Well said!
I was only aware of their mission statement, not how badly they had sank into depravity. Wow, man. Just wow.
Something tells me that the Cockroach Club had a hand in this...
When badfics overrun the site, then you'll see that we were useful.
Mmm... well, if they are as is indicated (I never got to investigate them fully myself), then I am glad they got taken off. Anyone who insults others under the guise of criticism not only hurts the authors, but they hurt real critics as well. I think most of the true critics on this site have a bad enough rep as it is for being harsher than they actually are (though that's only what I've perceived from the way other people talk about critics), though I have personally talked to a lot of them, and even consider myself to be one, and none of the real good ones are harsh at all.
Critics are kind people, and all they want to do is help by giving constructive criticism. The fact that a group of people would go around masquerading as critics merely to insult others or be harmful in some way disgusts me.
I also hope this didn't hurt the reputation of most groups, either, as I am the Admin of 2 rather large groups, and the Founder of one of them. Both of them have rules that if any of our proofreaders, critics, pre-readers, collabors, etc. are rude or offensive, they are to be reported, so hopefully that prevents any nasty ones from seeping through for long.
Well said
Well done.
560624 Excusing bad behavior by saying you're behaving badly is no excuse at all.
Thank you very much, knighty. For cracking down on this kind of thing. I really think it's important to make sure this site is safe for authors of all ages. And that they can write without being cyberbullied.
I'm sad to see it go, personally. While some reviews were indeed too insulting, having read a lot of them on various stories I've found them to be generally very constructive. I've learned a lot by reading those reviews.
560615 *raises hoof* I second that
560642 The only organization that group seems to have so far is a single folder named "Attack!", considering Knighty's blog post:
I thought it might be worth asking about.
560617
A group called the TWE reviewed author's awful stories but the authors got mad because they felt that criticism is mean and rude.
560665 ......
It's less of an excuse and more of an acknowledgement. I acknowledge that I am rude, and do not try to apologize for it because apologizing for it is useless since
1.) I'm not really sorry and 2.) I'd just be rude again anyways...
But I think this got a bit off-track. Point is, others may be happy TWE got deleted, but it makes me sad.... Nothing much to say beyond that.
560615
*what race they're part of.
Fixed that for you. It's nothing to do with the fandom, it's about being a decent human being.
As to what Knighty said, I think attacking crappy fics isn't the right way to go about it. Groups that teach new writers how to write better are the way to go.
At the same time, I think the protest of clop is perfectly legit since it's a two-way moral argument, and people who oppose it are allowed to express their opinions.
560633 I suppose I'll just continue pointing out improperly conjugated verbs, misused apostrophes, and tense errors on my own then?
560700
Uh, yeah, sure? It's fine to criticise constructively. I wasn't saying you can't.
This one is wise > 560698 . Listen to him.
Didn't see that coming, considering how much that group was spreading. I mean, I can see why you did it, it's just a bit of a surprise.
I can't imagine that my praise fills you with anything but disgust, however, I thank you for removing that group. You got to the heart of it and ripped that heart out.
Anyway, I now return you to your regularly scheduled ponyfics.
560614
Knighty has a point. The name of the group itself could be insulting to the very authors you're trying to help. How would you like it if your story got criticized by a guy from "FIMfiction's All Star Shitlist?" Of course, this wasn't anywhere near where you guys were - on the contrary, you were helping out a lot of people. It seems that some just took it too far.
Now help from "The Author Support Group?" I'd listen to that. Actually, I HAVE listened to advice from them.
The fact of the matter is, there's always going to be someone pissed off about something enough to raise a stink about it. Even if intentions are noble... results might not be anywhere near that original guideline.