Kaleidoscope · 12:31pm Dec 1st, 2019
As someone who participated in the recent writing event, that seemed to upset so many people, I wanted to make some points about motivations
No one wanted to 'troll', it was ultimately intended as a bit of fun. There wasn't any hostility in it. Yeah we thought it might confuse some people but my genuine thought was that people would see it, click on the stories, see it was an event and that would be the end of it
So to anyone who got mad I'm sorry, but we weren't trying to fuck with people in a malicious way, it was just meant as some fun. If it was interpreted the other way then it could have probably been done better, but we weren't trying to upset people.
It sucks a little to have yourself repeatedly interpreted and portrayed as a spamming dickhead out to ruin someone's day, but I suppose that's the nature of the beast.
Added to this I think the downvote spamming was categorically wrong and is being excused significantly more than it has been condemned. My friends put out wonderful art, and it is not right that kneejerk reactions by people not really concerned with finding out the actual truth lead to that. Not saying people couldn't be pissed off, but there are other ways to express it. I thank the people who reacted more maturely and expressed their displeasure with polite words.
The Quills and Sofas group is a wonderful place full of great people, and I can personally attest the organisers never intended anything remotely malicious. And being aware of the risk of a backlash, and even making some lighthearted jokes about it, doesn't remotely amount to intent to troll
It was an art project about how the same prompt, cover and title could inspire tonnes of great, varied stories. And given the talent we have in the group I'd encourage you all to read them to see how varied people were able to get
EDIT: So one of the stories being about Hitler doesn't make the whole contest or group Hitler or nazi themed ffs. We cannot influence what one writer chose to portray in this contest.
There was an incident recently where people who turned out to be nazis getting fucking banned so I really don't know where this idea has come from. No one in the server or contest is a nazi
I'm politically socially progressive and on the far left, I fucking hate nazis and will not be even tangentially associated with them even it's just by some trolls trying to frame our group and event as something evil
Yeah i can see why people thought it was trolling first rather then anything else.
Same cover, same description, same linking to the same place that you sure as heck dont want to click at since it sounds like the meaning behind it is intentionally obfuscated.
I though someone hacked a bunch of accounts and shrugged not wanting to risk clicking some link.
If it was spread out or so instead of dumping 17 stories in a row it wouldnt have been so jarring i guess.
EDIT: Plus the frustration (some) of the authors are venting on their audience (and worse other stories of the same contest audience) is also a pretty bad thing.
I definitely know this feeling. The hardest thing for me to deal with psychologically is when someone thinks I have ill will toward them, or thinks that I care more about myself than about how they feel. This can happen when unfounded rumors spread, when an apology is rebutted, or when there's a misunderstanding because I said or did something in a way that sent the wrong social impression and nopony believes me when I try to explain.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is just to center yourself. Ponies forget. They'll move on to the next thing that annoys them soon enough. This is a pretty minor thing for people to be upset over, and it isn't reasonable for it to persist as a grudge. So, at worst, it's probably just a temporary problem.
5162672
The link is internal to the website so I don't see why somepony wouldn't click on it. The main problem is clicking on the link doesn't provide any illumination on the phenomenon.
I thought it was a cute idea, I even picked up that the stories hosted the items in the photo inside them.
Which was cool, most people I've seen were mad that stories got pushed off the front page.
This though doesn't make sense all stories get pushed off, some times slowly and others quickly. It's just luck of the draw, so I don't feel people should be sore about that.
The fact they do look the same is a bit confusing, while I'm reading them I'm actually looking at Author Names, not the story name.
5162721
Its "easy" to also create false links. WIthout paying attention it could have been "finficion" instead of fimfiction or such taking you to a false site asking you to "log in" again.
But your point is more valid.