May
19th
2014
I has a sad. · 1:42pm May 19th, 2014
My story just hit 100 downvotes... feels like a crappy milestone if you ask me. Just once, I wish people had the balls to post a comment saying that they downvoted and why, instead of hiding behind anonymity, safe in the knowledge that their personal story hangups and distastes can bring down an otherwise widely enjoyed story.
I realize you can't please all of the people all of the time, but FimFiction's ranking system is biased towards the most inoffensive kinds of stories. If you ask me, downvotes should come with a mandatory explanation for such before being counted.
Edit: Le gasp! Someone has changed their vote! I'm back in double digits, hooray!
Edit re-edit: Aaaand now I'm back to 101. Boooooooooooo.
has 100 downvotes
Still doesnt seem that bad compared to the 1570 upvotes. i may be wrong since i have no clue how the system works though.
i agree that it should be a requirement to explain why. but to implement that would mean alot of things for the site to go through. like how to keep people from just saying any random words/jumble of letters to bypass a system like that.
try not to look at the down side, every good story has down votes cause there are people who just go around down voting everything for no reason. You should be looking at the fact that you have OVER 1000! votes
which is an awesome achievement
Yeah, but then look at the ratio. 157>1. If any of my stories ever get that, I think I'll start frothing at the mouth or something.
Although I do agree with wanting to know why. It would be nice to know these things.
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Actually, it's more like 15.7:1, but still
Well, i can't tell ya why. I mean, i upvoted.
Besides, 1/16th of your story's ratings are downvotes. Only 1/16th. 'Tis not that bad..
I too despise the anonymous nature of the evil downvote. Each one to an actual author is like a knife twisted in the chest. What annoys me is the visual representation, it seems to emphasise the negative vote over the positive. Look at a new fic with 2 upvotes and 1 downvote; it ought to be 2/3 green and 1/3 red. In actuality it seems to be nearer half. When a story is new such a rating can drive readers away.
As for your own 100 downvotes. I say ignore them, your story is one of the best I've read and one of even fewer truly brilliant HiE's on this site. Plus there's no clop, the curse of this fandom. Yes you have three figures of downvote, but you also have over 1,500 upvotes. that's roughly a 97.5% approval rate.
And just to make you feel a little better:
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131005204438/mlp/images/0/09/FANMADE_Big_hug_for_you.jpg
I think the system is fine the way it is. Most people don't know how to identify what they don't like in a story. Critical reading is a learned skill. If someone doesn't like a story then they don't like it and most wont know why; it will just be an intrinsic dislike of the story to them. If they were made to comment on it, it would likely just end up as hurtful drivel.
You cant please everybody with a story. If one in fifteen people are unsatisfied by your story, so be it, that's reality. I worked for a company that refurbished electronics and leased them to large companies. You know what the target success rate was? 99%? 95%? No, it was actually only 85%. You have 93% success rate with your readers. Congrats, you met corporate standard.
I am just tired of authors complaining that they have dislikes when their story has ten times that in likes. Buck up and get over it because you are doing great.
Some people downvote just to be trolls
I am in the processes of reading this. You sir, are brilliant. If a few Negative Nancys want to downvote art, let them. It wasn't me and that is all that matters.
Neither up or downvoted, but I already posted why I didn't like the story. I'll try to rehash my points. At the end of the day, what part of the story makes your story stand out from the rest of the HiE fics? I believe that it is hard to shine from the premise of "Teen gets thrown into Equestria, polymorphs into a pony, and decides to stay due to romantic interest". Aside from the traumatic transformation, there was no other conflict that Connor actually had. No antagonist or problem that I can relate to, so to speak. Felt like I couldn't connect to him much. What ties did he have that would make him want to return to Earth? Felt like there wasn't enough for me to care about his life on Earth. I guess I don't like the self-identity / self-discovery problem all that much.
Taking a look at the other HiE fics that I like, there are story elements that I do like. For example, Article 2 has a gruff antagonist that actively resists adapting to pony culture, with the overlooming consequences of having a highly advanced soldier in a world with multiple nations. Voice Among the Stars and Arrow 18 have the whole language barrier problem, and Misunderstandings has an active antagonist working in the shadows to some unknown end. Sorry that I can't really connect with your story, but that's how I see it.
Now as for the downvoters, don't let it get to you too much. Not sure why you would demand for reasons, because I'd just argue the flipside; why upvote unless you can explain why you like the story? Anonymity makes it easy for one to criticize another without any reason or justification. Just take a look at any well known YouTube video. You might like it, but there's always a dash of red on that green bar of likes / dislikes.
Full disclosure: I upvoted.
Look, I'll be honest with you: it's not the best story I've ever read. It's not even the best HiE story I've ever read. In fact, I'd say it's pretty straight forward. It had a lot of typical things happen in it. Human goes to Equestria, turns into a pony, and falls in love with one of the Mane 6.
My love for your story comes not from the uniqueness of the premise, of which it has little. No, I love this story because of your brilliant execution.
You didn't invent a new trick, you just pulled off an old trick in one of the best ways I've ever seen.
I guess a lot of the downvotes come from people who were looking for something new or different. But they went in with the wrong expectation, in my opinion.
I, for one, would love to see a sequel that delves into Conner's new life in Equestria. Again, nothing new there or groundbreaking there. I just want to see how you go about it.
Hang in there and keep up the good work. Don't sweat the downvotes. /)
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It's not that I'm ungrateful for the success of my story, it's just that, like you said, a lot of people confuse bad storytelling with people writing about things they don't like. I would be perfectly fine with those 100 downvotes coming from people with legitimate complaints about pacing, poor characters; you know, actual bad stuff. If it doesn't meet their standards, I can live with that.
Some people hate HiEs with a passion because they're generally poorly written wish-fulfillment fantasies. Same goes for stories where the main character (is implied to have) hooked up with one of the Mane Six, or that feature ponification with half-assed "just because" reasoning. Yes, I am somewhat guilty of this, but as my general favorability can attest to, it's handled in a well thought-out and logical way. There's a method to my madness.
I would prefer people who do not like these specific points to rather shrug their shoulders and say "you know what? I don't like this, therefore I do not have to read it" than to hit that downvote button based on the principle of "I do not like it, therefore it is bad."
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And you are exactly the kind of critic I wish more people would emulate. You have legitimate concerns that were sadly not addressed, but it was not enough to sway your impression of the story in a wholly negative way. Based on what you've said, I would not be upset in the slightest if you did downvote (okay, maybe a little). Though I thank you for not doing so.
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Yup, not trying to reinvent the wheel, here. Just trying to prove that you can take a bunch of near-universally reviled concepts and present them in a satisfying way without relying on a crutch or a "hook" to get attention. Parodies can get away with it because it's all about laughing along with the readers, as well as super-realistic stories that go for 100% gritty, realistic scenarios (language barriers, xenophobia, dark, soul-crushing depression, etc) because they aren't the usual fare.
Well people did say the downside of each chapters in the comments, I remember the body transformation was a big complaint. It's just that saying you are gonna down vote for those reasons sounds kinda dickish so it's easier to remain anonymous
My opinion i like the story it has it's problems but what story doesn't have problems. it dose need work though.
I think you have to consider the visibility and popularity of your story. You've been featured, so about everyone on the site has seen it while it was there. This includes people who make snap judgements on fics, or are jealous of your success and downvote you out of spite.
On the flip side, My story The Tale of Lord Barleycorn, went almost a year before getting a downvote because the only people who saw it were people who went looking through the HiE groups for stories. I agree, there should be a reason for why a person downvotes a story.
I also used to feel a little sad when my downvote counter goes up. I never got an explanation, and I feel like I've failed in some way. ultimately I decided if I didn't get a reason there was no reason to get upset over it. They probably treat the votes like cheap reminders that they weren't wowed by the first few paragraphs.
Whatever, you got over a 1500 likes. More than both my stories combined. That's something to be proud of.
2125681 Your welcome. I usually only downvote stories that in my eyes take a turn for the worse. There was this one fic where a person's and their home get transported to Equestria. Great start, but then it just went in a direction I couldn't understand. Pretty vague on that one. Ok, better example. I liked the Ballad of Echo the Diamond Dog. However its sequel started making the character to some cryptic nigh omnipotent bs. That and most stories where the humans just roflstomp the ponies for no really good reason are ones I dislike. Only exception is that weird Cosplayer in Equestria set that has come up recently in a lot of authors, starring the Golden Sun one. No clue why those appeal to me; maybe because the ones I read don't have the protagonist constanty rubbing their superiority in the ponies' faces? *shrug*
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Comments like these just confuse me. You're being just as vague as Dash wanting her dress to be 20% cooler. What problems? How could 2dextreem make it better? Sorry, but I consider these kind of comments almost as bad as silent downvotes.
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I used to like Hands a lot, because it was silly and campy and didn't take itself too seriously. Then it started to jump the shark when all of a sudden, the rest of the mares (aside from Twilight and Fluttershy, which was a humorous love triangle I will admit) were begging Twilight to turn them into humans so they could jump the OC's bones, apropos of nothing. That, and big, super-cereal revelations about something related to changelings destroying his original Earth, and it all just got a bit too much.
Same for another story I used to like, Griffin the Griffin. I liked the adventure feel and how it eventually grew into a stew-pot of interesting, original characters and situations on the fringes of show canon. But it eventually got a little too crazy, as in "every problem can be fixed with a very specific and coincidental mix of pseudo-magic and hyper-advanced technology." It turned into wish-fulfillment of the highest degree: Any conflict in the story basically became, "Wouldn't it be so awesome if X happened to Y?"
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Which is one of the reasons why I avoid the Chess Games of the Gods series. Way too much wish fulfillment.
Thinking on HiE fics, one I would compare your story to would be Piano Man. Liked the Act I, if only for the part where the titular character decided to play This Day Aria as a musical middle finger to Cadance and Twi, but then Act II turned into a very slow paced recovery story, where he has mental breakdowns left and right, then falls for Twi due to Nightingale Syndrome. That was a mess, and I do believe I called the author out on that one.
'Course I'm implying that you executed your version much better than that.
Well I loved it
I hope that you consider to write a part two
First off, I upvoted and favorited. As others have pointed out, you used a number of common tropes, like a teenager being semi-mysteriously transported to Equestria, ponification, and shipping with one of the mane 6, but did them in a different way than "standard" (bonus points though for not making him a brony, or coming from a world where MLP exists). Kudos for having relatively rational explanations for him being transported and for the ponification, and being the only fic I can think of off the top of my head for having the ponification process being unbearably painful (instead of just poof!: you're a pony now). It was fairly realistic about him dealing with all of this (without being insanely realistic like some other stories have been), bearing in mind that he's still a teenager, along with the suspicion that the ambient magic was subtly influencing his thinking. And while he didn't have a direct antagonist, I prefer to think that the world itself was a passive antagonist: he was fighting against the very nature of the world itself (and obviously lost). Stories like that can be rather tricky to pull off right, but I think that you were able to accomplish that.
And in regards to the downvotes, I'm guessing that they were just turned off by the use of some of the common tropes seen with HiE's, ignoring the relevancy of the manner in which they were presented. All too often I've seen people disparage work just based off of superficialities of it, instead of being able to appreciate the nuances of it if they just look deeper.
Just read the comments. There are plenty of people who tell you why they didn't like it, who cares whether or not those that do tell you match up to the downvoters or not. The voting system is designed to give prospective reader a quick and dirty idea of how many people did and did not like it, nothing more.
I'm a pretty thinky type, but I still have to think on it a lot to really nail down where my issues lie exactly. Most people aren't goin to put in the effort. You can't force people to spell out exactly why they like or dislike something, hell, most people wouldn't be able to tell you why if their life depended on it. "I may not know much about art, but I know what I like." And that's fine.
I upvoted it when I still thought it was good, and I didn't change it into a downvote when it started to go down the tubes because I felt it would not have been fair. I'm very sparing with downvotes, usually saving them for the really bad stories (partly because I rarely read those, I have a pretty good detector for crap and just stay away from them).
As for why I've come to dislike it, now that it's finished, I think the biggest issue is that in the end, it doesn't really amount to anything. In the first half, two thirds or so of the story, you get the sense of true story progression, that this is going somewhere. There's so much promise there. But nothing actually comes of it. Instead, he just turns into a pony and stays and that's it. You know those jokes where someone is telling a bedtime story and then it just get cut of with a "...and then they all died. The End."? That's what this is like. It makes me feel cheated, like I was tricked into get invested under false pretenses. The whole thing can be summed up as the drawn out and totally senseless death of a sixteen year old kid. It's just not a satisfactory ending and it just feels wrong.
And death is what it is. The Connor we meet in the first few chapters is gone by the end. Twilight kills the last remnant of him when they're all standing in front of that portal. The intro blurb says that Connor will "call into question his definition of home, humanity, destiny, and what it means to truly belong." Apparently what it means to belong is to have everything you know, everything you are or ever could have been ripped away, torn to pieces and be reduced to absolutely nothing. The only way to belong is to not be you anymore.
And not even for a reason, good or bad. He's dead and gone just because he didn't fit some unseen force's notion of what he ought to be like. What for?! What was the point of all this?
There was no point, just bad shit happening to someone who doesn't deserve it for no fucking reason. In the end, I just came away from it with a bad taste in my mouth. I can just watch the news for that.
I feel you man, it really hurts when someone takes the time to say your story is bad, but then doesn't take the time to tell you why.
Ah, but c'est la cheval.
Carry On
I think people should be entitled with an opinion without having to explain themselves, for a fair system you would need the same procedures for likes and dislikes but there is a bias there, when someone likes a story before they read it because they know they will like it, that's fine, they don't need to write about why they liked the story, but when someone dislikes a story before reading it it's all unfair and ignorant,
tbh I think a 5 star system would work better with all the stars having an actual meaning (like new grounds) so story you love you can rate 4-5 stories, which you didn't like content wise you can rate 2-3 and stories which are just plain bad, such as unreadable, horrible grammar, etc. can be rated 0-1 stars, this way people can convey there opinions without explaining them as an overall star rating can be given as well as the amount of individual stars.
tl;dr likes/dislikes are too vague use 5 star system
I don't want it to look like I think people are complaining for no reason, I understand that sometimes people are trolls and dislike for no reason, but you can't expect someone to explain themselves every time they dislike a story because unless you want to change your story to meet their expectations and there isn't much you can do, however it should be encouraged to write a review if the reason for disliking wasn't content based but grammatical/formatting issues
I would be lying if there wasn't some sort of bias in my previous comment because I used to write long detailed reviews whenever I disliked a story, but that was almost always for simple errors which made the story annoying to read, but if fixed would have made it a good read. But most of these reviews were almost always ignored or deleted and the final straw came when I actually put an hour of my own time analysing and story and giving helpful advice to an author to fix some horrible mistakes made, and then called a troll and had my posts deleted
Many downvoters don't have the, well you know, to actually critique the story; rather they just generally go I downvote this.
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I can understand your disappointment, and I agree that there isn't really any deeper meaning to what is going on. Sometimes bad things happen to undeserving people. The story lies in how he deals with it, and the ending is about him coming to terms with reality and accepting that this is the way things have to be now. A bad hand is still a hand. You either keep playing or walk away from the table.
Granted, different people would face the problem differently, and I'm just basing this character off of what I would do in the given situation. I'm very conflict-averse in real life, and obviously I've never had traumatic experiences on this scale to draw inspiration from, but at the same time I'm not the kind of person to let something like that keep me down forever.
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On the Edit. Darn it 2dextreem. You do not know how hard it is for me to click that button just to mess with you. Someone's bound to do it now that you've pointed it out.
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That's just it, he doesn't deal with it at all. He just gets friendship-whammied into suddenly seeing things Twilight's way.
Can you blame me if I very much doubt anything he does afterwards is of his own free will? Or rather, doubt that will as being in any way his? This does not in any way read as a personal revelation or decision at all. It reads like someone getting smilies painted on his soul. Forced happiness.
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So how would you handle it? You actually seem to know what you're talking about.
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Me? I wouldn't have handled it at all, since there would be no more "I". I would have been erased from existence just as him.
If I'd known what was happening to me in time, I would probably have walked away from the table, as you put it. It's always hard to predict what you'd do in such an extreme situation, but if I'm going to die anyway, I'd prefer to do so while I'm still in my right mind and capable of making my own choices, before I get deleted like some out of date computer file.
I'll be honest with you dude. Whilst I didnt change my vote to down; I was still disappointed by the ending. When I first started reading this fanfic, I really enjoyed what I was reading. The character Connor made me laugh, with all of his jokes that only he and the audience would get; and how he was taking his situation of being in land of magic, and talking ponies in a realistic way; with skeptism, wariness, and sometimes outright fear. As the story went on, I was really wondering what was happening to Connor with all of the headaches; and when I found out that he had grown a horn, I was nervous at first but kept reading.
"Is this going to turn into a race against time to find a cure before he turns completly?" I wondered. As the story came to its end, with Connor becoming a unicorn; I was really put off but stuck around since I really liked how Connor was taking his situation; now being presented with a chance to go home; but his body was now a full unicorn. What threw me off I guess was on how Connor changed his mind so quickly last second, and how the ending felt rushed; with Connor taking his situation well when he realized he had Twilight. It kinda felt like the message I was getting was "Meh, who cares about my problems, as long as I have love." It felt kinda cartoonishly unreal. I was hoping for a bolder choice I guess, since it seemed unlikelky of Connor turning back into his human form, what with him going back to Earth; his future now uncertain. Instead, the ending felt shoehorned in; with everything turning out well; as if all the drama that had been going on prior felt..pointless. I'm not really a fan of the "human becoming a pony lived happily ever after" ending since I've read that kinda ending too many times, so thats why I felt let down I suppose.
To bring this too a close, I still like your fanfic and am glad I read it; but I wish that the ending had been different.
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I suppose the sudden decision to stay in equestria can also be destributed to his hormones, seeing that he kind of had a thing for twilight, the feeling of 'belonging' (see hat I did there?) to her just intensified when he became a pony.
Meaning teenage pony hormones pulled a fast one on his decision. Besides that, there was also the mental basis, as having her comfort him, seemed to be stuck in his brain.
I can't quite agree with you on the funny side of this fic. While there was the occasional laughter here and there, it was only lightly presented.
This story really focuses on the struggle, pain and general psychologie of a teenage human, mysteriously landing in equestria, as far as I can tell. Our teenage hero is a bit spoiled to begin with, or lets rather say, not as mentally mature as other HiE characters I have seen so far.
Therefore he is acting in his own reality repelling kind of way, fitting to a half man/child, personality.
After Twily and him becoming acquainted, combined woth the stressful situation that developed with his change, it just kind of clicked between them. But having a prospect of returning home made the decision to stay with Twily, and trust her with his own rehabilitation in pony society, difficult for him.
And if you say it is rushed, concerign his decision, it really isn't acually. Remember that he had spent the entire night, plus the trip to canterlot, to decide what to do with his life. The final decision came, just like a boy who refused to jump into a large cold pool from a 10 meter height for the first time in his life.
There was to much unknown, and insecure backup waiting for him on earth, while in opposition to that uncertainty, he already knew that he had full supporting friends in equestria, along with the mare he felt affection for.
In short: uncertainty, hormones, and the prospect of friendly support, made his decision to stay in euqestria definite for him in the final moments.
And I can't really say he made the wrong decision, as I believe there would have been cruel cicrumstances waiting for him on earth, if he had returned as a unicorn.
i'm gonna be blunt, i don't up vote or down vote stories. i FAVE them, and, if i REALLY like them, I COMMENT on them. I feel that Up voting without Faving kinda is lame. Faving to me, doesn't mean it's your ABSOLUTE FAVORITE, it's just a story you liked and may like to read again. So, Up voting should be part of Faving. Then again, i don't understand the logic so much. It's a good story and you shouldn't be upset at a few down votes.
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If you were hoping I would avoid crossovers, you're kinda late for that. I edit and co-write Loyal2Luna's Doctor Whooves and Mass Effect crossover stories, both of which have (arguably) gained critical acclaim. Thanks for your well-worded criticisms and your compliments, and if you like my style of writing, you should really check those out. Since signing on with L2L, a lot of my influence can be seen across her stories.
2777239 I may check out the Mass Effect one, once I get to those series of games again. I keep ignoring them...
Hey, rising artist here. And I can attest to this sentiment. It feels awful. Oddly enough my pony art is well received on most sites, (deviant art being the prime example) but on brony specific sites (like derpibooru) my art is almost unanimously shuned. I'm with you on this, I wish people would clarify their reason for disliking something (and in the case of those who do, be more specific than "It's awful!") because each one is a detractor from my productivity (however insignificant). I don't know, I like your story. When you take a very serious tone I become entranced in the writing style, my only suggestion would be probably the opposite of what most others think: Avoid the light hearted stuff. It's almost too contrasting with the rest of your story. Other than that I'd say you've got good world building skills, and are skilled in creating an uncomfortable "out of place' atmosphere which is perfect for this story!
Ah well, if you compare the current about 140 downvotes with the over 2000 upvotes, I'd say you did a darn good job :p
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