So why the disabled ratings? · 6:46pm Jul 7th, 2021
Figured I'd finally clear the air on the subject. No particular reason as to the timing, though Pride Month did get me thinking on the matter some more.
For those unaware: I've started publishing new stories with ratings and comments disabled, about two or three major site dramas ago. Of course, given my current project scale and scope and some issues in generating progress, as well as needing to catch up on pony content still, there have only really been two stories so far to fall under this new rule. All future ones, as it now stands, will follow suit.
But why the rule? Several reasons. The following is both to get my own thoughts in line and to communicate it to you.
Internal consistency.
I've argued against social media dependence for a while now. I think a lot of the world's problems, especially in the modern industrialised world, boil down to addiction behaviour. Not all of it is social media addiction specifically, mind you, but the overall mechanics of it are the same. People chase easy dopamine hits, and that causes problems. I advocate against that. It's somewhat hypocritical to do so with a little dopamine generator attached to my own works, no?
Religious reasons.
One of the things advocated in the sacred Jedi texts is to do things for their own sake. Don't go into a project expecting it to be a big hit, don't go into it with the need for external validation, just go into it. Do it to the best of your ability, and evaluate yourself. This grants you more freedom from your own limitations.
"But Cracker," I hear you think, "you're just dodging criticism! You just don't want people to tell you how much you suck and how much you need to improve!"
And that's a valid point, not gonna lie. If part of me did want to dodge that sort of stuff, I probably wouldn't be able to tell, honestly. But that ties into the next point.
Comment quality.
Disabling ratings doesn't take away anyone's right or ability to criticise a story. It just takes away the public means of doing so. Nothing's stopping anyone from PM-ing me with opinions on a story. Unless they're blocked, in which case I refer you to this very helpful video from Voltaire. I'll admit, I've gotten pretty casual about that.
People who really love a story can PM me about it. And they have. People who hate it can PM me about it. It's a few additional clicks, nothing more. There's a massive reduction in knee-jerk reactions thanks to that. There's more thought put into it, more useful feedback, because the people PM-ing also only get the dopamine hit from my validation. They don't get to farm upvotes or dogpile for negativity.
And it's done outside of the public eye. It's not taking away anyone's platform, it's just managing my own.
Experimental reasons.
I want to see what happens to my writing when it's done like this. Does it change at all, for the better or worse? More importantly, does it bring me closer to my old self or does it take me further away? I've been getting little bits and pieces where I feel like my old self again, the way I was before I joined the fandom, before I hit my low point that then spiralled into more lows. It's only a fraction, though, and I want the whole thing back. I want to feel complete again, and I'm worried my time in the fandom, while helpful in getting me to recover to a functional state, has become a hindrance to healing further. I'm not sure what broke me in the first place, or what's keeping me fractured, so cutting out potential sources of problems is a simple logical step.
Community reasons.
Pretty straightforward. I don't intend to write M-rated stories of any kind any more, or anything too controversial. Though, I should repeat: I'm with Neil Gaiman on the topic of defending free speech. Still, I am fully committed to self-censoring for my continued existence on this site. All those very ungood 
ideas no longer get written out and filed away for later expanding, it's all just tossed out now, don't worry. Heck, I don't even have plans beyond the things in development right now (maybe a sequel to the Enyalius thing?). But back on topic: offense is in the eye of the beholder, and whiners may always find a nest in a comment section, so... yeah. Mods can't shut down your comment section if you don't have one.
"But Cracker!" I sense your emoting through the Service (because 'Force' sounds too aggressive) "That means you'll never get featured again!"
Have you taken a good look at the feature box? Not recently, but over several years, I mean. My two biggest hits were stories designed to play the system, one of which was written deliberately to occupy a spot after seeing a directed attack hatefic get so much traction. My best stories have a niche audience at best. My so-so stories include an entire trilogy that hit the feature box, but the less said about that this close to Pride Month, the better.
I want to get better at stories. I have things to say, themes to convey, and I wish to do so in a skillful manner.
Getting featured has zero value to me anymore. It depends on superficial aspects, encourages stories that start arguments in the comments, and as for follower counts? High ranks of followers are for the early adopters. A guy like me will be lucky to hit 1k followers within three more years, and that's if I game the system. I'm not looking to learn how to pass a test; I'm looking to learn how to hone a skill.
People in this fandom, in general, may not be my audience anymore. They may have never been in the first place. But there's still individuals in it who are, and chances are you reading this right now, still are. I'm talking about the triple digit audiences here. People who really want to find my kind of stories, can. The general audience? Not sure if want anymore. So why not adopt the Nigerian Prince Defense and install an early filter?
There's that rambling explanation for ya. I'm still trying to find a writing rhythm I'm happy with, but I'm getting better at cartomancy, at least, that's been helping a bit.
Take care, all.
Song unrelated, I promise.
Well you have certainly thought this through.
Ahh yes, I remember now!
I actually sent you a PM a month ago asking why I couldn’t leave a public, positive comment on your most recent story.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/497203/power-word-weak
You’ve made a bold move, one that shows inner strength as positive feedback is what writers say is a major motivation.
Foregoing that for the reasons you have stated shows some “oomph” on your part.
5551124
Thanks. It is a little hard, especially since I like putting in little in-jokes that are hard to catch for those more random-minded readers(*), but... we'll see how things turn out. My output hasn't been good for the past few years, anyway, I only published two stories in 2020, everything else was WIP, that's pitiful. It's going to require more data before anything concrete can be said of this.
(*)Going to give in to temptation just once: the line "As best we can" is such a joke, referring to asbestos as a means of making fireproofing. The reference to the Pharynx monster hunting story (as oddly prophetic as it turned out to be was another one. Like, this is my addiction, and I'm well aware it is: I need to feel clever. And that's dangerous, because it gets out of control and becomes annoying really easily, as well as leaving openings to be manipulated.
Fair enough all around. Glad you're happy with this setup. And if it takes me a few extra clicks to offer my thoughts, so be it.
Good on ya. I feel the comments section in particular. Dunno if sites like this or anywhere else are actually built or can be tailored to productive conversation. Noticed a lot of my comments on a work keep boiling down to "Thumbs up!", which isn't unwelcome but also isn't the same as talking[/] to someone, y'know?
I can agree with everything on this but I still feel that criticsm is what drives people to do things, good or bad. You need to experience this so you can understand yourself more.
for me, the first story I published online years ago to a public severe viewed by thousands in the course of a single semster of college.... I GOT DESTROYED!
It was harsh,, brutal, and downright awful... and yet... the aftermath was what made me write more. The comments are what I wanted and I needed to know why. I ignored... the less intellecutal comments and their simple reasoning why they didn't like it. I focused on those whove written why it was bad, how I could write something like this and the likes.
Now, if you are wondering if I wrote some nonsense page or if I had a lot of grammical errors, that was not the crisitiscm.
The page I wrote on was... why it was okay for the human race to be whiped out from exsistence like it was a plague(Note: WAY before covid 19 and during my darker years of life). I had written a short story how one person can have the power to control the life of every human on the earth and why he made that choice.
Again, the hate was because I wrote mostly the negatives on humanity and such, but I focused on how the comments that made more sense as to why I couldn't find alternate solutions. The list went on and because of that hate, that I choose to write on and try to better myself. I take in the negatives and turn those into positives in some form or way. You will never be happy in life if you have to ignore those comments and their critique on how to get better.
At least... that is how I work.
I don't read ANY stories that have disabled ratiings or comments because I see it as someone who it fearful. You've explained your reasons here why and I respect that but for me... you choose what you want to affect you, not everyone else.
Honestly that's really impressive. When I noticed you starting to do that I got scared that was the last straw before you left or something.
5551345
First few versions of my flagship OC got destroyed, too. Thing is, the feedback that improved him there didn't come from comments, but from chat. Any simple link to basic colour theory reference would have sufficed to improve things. Same with grammar: all it took was a single link to a reference, and said link was never offered in comment, only in chat.
Said chat later became toxic, in several respects. But that as an aside.
That's kind of the thing, though: I've already gotten better. And it had already been ages since I had a comment that told me how to get 'better' still. The current climate is one where people communicate more about their political preferences, what labels they want to stamp on things, rather than quality.
As for the happiness clause: eh, agree to disagree. What you're describing is a fundamental difference in belief compared to me. I'm striving for freedom and independence in terms of my happiness. It's a long story.
I do understand the sentiment, I really do. But part of it is exerting some self-control. I keep catching myself falling back to bad habits in action and thought, and a little discipline should help there.
5551618
Hey whatever works and you think it makes you better, then push passed anyone who thinks or demands that you should be something your not.
I allow my demons in to keep me grounded but I won't let them consume my life.
Write with you head and heart and nothing will bother you again
5551534
I'm not planning to leave anytime soon, at any rate. I do want to at least finish My Fey Lady and the Bastion trilogy. But I don't know what comes after that, in all honesty. Maybe I'll get some ideas when I binge on pony today.
Maybe I'll go back to my old haunts in the furry fandom, who knows. There are some big ideas for original fiction that need writing... big issue now is getting the productivity back and generating cover art. Hopefully the parts situation gets better soon so I can upgrade. When I manage to get 2k words per day again, or even 5k, with art to match, that'll be impressive. Right now it's at the data gathering stage, I'll know more when My Fey Lady hits: that one's gonna be proper feature bait.
5551311
It is tricky to leave good feedback and be specific enough to be helpful, especially so when there are already other people saying the exact same thing in the comment section.