Just a general thread for people to rant about why they hate EQD.

For me it's their unreasonable standards for story submissions. I've had at least 5 people go over the first chapter of my story, and somehow they've all missed enough errors to keep it from the prereaders. Note that nothing they mentioned as an issue hurts readability and only the most hardass college English professor would point out those kinds of errors.

Also I had to press them for a specific reason. They said there were systemic errors, so I asked for an example. They said they're not an editing service. I had to press them to say anything. If you are saying there are errors, then have trouble coming up with an example, chances are you made up the errors in the first place.

Music selection - full of dubstep, electronic, etc.

Comics and art are good. Reddit can do the same, though.

And yeah, the pre-readers can be a pain. But it's their website, so... if they want to restrict their fics to established publishers, so be it.

What about using the other 2 threads with the same purpose? (Discussion about things , I Love Equestria Daily. ) Regardless of their title they serve the same purpose and some have pre-readers answer in them.

You should read them since the horse is pretty much beaten to death, several times.

Give a read to the comments in the front page laos. Its 12 pages but worth it. (page 12 being the first for some reason so start backwards there).

The only stories that make it through are so long that if your story chapter is under 5000 words you stand NO CHANCE and idea or concept mean nothing. You could write a crappy but detailed grimdark scootaloo fic and it'd get through while an awesome adventure story with one spelling mistake doesn't

Sethisto is a major dragonfucker and trixie fanboy.

It really seems like the fanbase is developing a hierarchy and it worries me. Everybody throws the "love and tolerate" thing around at haters, but there's little or none of it when it comes to fans who make something someone disagrees with like a fanfic or art that doesn't have a popular subject, or the worst thing of all: alicorn OC's. Make one of those, even just for fun, and you can count on getting strung up.

Also, it seems like all the new fics are shipping, comedy or Princess-sad.

How many ships are there before they all look the same?

399675
Wait, are you actually blaming eqd for what people are sending in en-mass here?

399931

I meant that all the new fics that have been spotlighted on EQD are shipping, comedy and Princess-sad.

well for me i Hate the fact that they have a huge double standard for the fics

Personally, I couldn't get over how to submit my story. I know that seems minor but it was a big problem for me.

They told me my Slice of Life story needed to be more exciting. Then they mentioned syntax errors, yet gave no examples. I think the reviewers have gotten a bit high on power.

those bastards keep rejecting my story for errors that a person that isnt a grammar nazi cant even see

442062

Almost every single instance of dialogue punctuation in your story is wrong.

443460 how? because thats how i was taught and i know no other way. if in english its different... enlighten me.

399665 Personally I never did subscribe to 'Love and Tolerance' myself. Mostly because I saw just how dark the fandom could be before I was fully into it Bronies are hypocritical jerks ninety-nine percent of the time...

My opinion has been shared a few times throughout the group. But to reiterate, I just really, REALLY dislike how the site is run. Not because my stories have been rejected, I won't deny they weren't perfect. But when I see a story get turned down for very specific reasons, and then a day later a story with those exact same faults gets featured and gets a 4 or 5 star rating from them...

443816

Cited works: Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns
Chapter used: 1

Perhaps "almost every" was a tad bit of an exaggeration, but I ran the numbers of the point I read up unto, and of the roughly 28 lines of dialogue I read, 18 of them had an easily recognizable issue, all of which are present below. That's around a 65% error margin for your dialogue alone, not even factoring in clunky and obtuse phrasing.

Your problems seem to extend from an odd use of the verb "spoke" in almost every attribution, a lack of understanding on when a sentence ends, and not knowing when or when not to capitalize letters. Keep in mind, these issues are ONLY in your dialogue, and the piece itself is wrought with such grammatical missteps, so do not interpret this list as a sum total of all this story currently has.

>student… poor thing…” the mare sighed.

Capitalize T.

>“Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!!!” a small lavender filly jumped

Capitalize A.

>“Calm down sweetie,” a silvery white mare spoke.

Period after sweetie. "Spoke" is not a speech verb in the same way said is. Capitalize A.

>“Thanks for the cheer Moonglow, but I don’t think I’m brave enough to get into the Star tower like you and Shinning…” the lavender filly quietly spoke.

Capitalize T.

>“Don’t be so down on yourself kid, you’ll be totally fine.” The white stallion spoke in that laid-back surfer’s voice.

So you do know how to punctuate that... some of the time. Maybe it's the ellipses.

>“Thanks Shinning…” she playfully pushed the stallion aside.

Capitalize S. Maybe it is the ellipses.

>The white stallion coughed “Mom, don’t forget… you have two other kids…”

Period after "cough."

>“We’ll be rooting for you…” The blue stallion spoke, “Twilight…”

Okay, maybe not. Perhaps it has something to do with being of a foreign language, as I've hardly ever seen "spoke" be such a recurring verb used to indicate a speaker. Also, the dialogue here implies that Shining wasn't speaking previously.

>“No way we have the same last names! You’re so pulling my tail right now, aren’t you!?” the colt laughed.

Laughed in not a speech verb. Capitalize T.

>“Heh, then what about your dad then? Sparkle Sparkle?” the colt softly laughed.

Same problem.

>“HUSH!” a hiss came from a small door on the near wall.

Came is not a speech verb in this situation. Capitalize A.

>“Sorry about being so mean,” the colt began, “Sparkle is just such an uncommon last name, I'm surprised anypony has it.”

Period after "began."

>“What are you talking about?” Twilight interrupted, “Sparkle is one of the most spread out last names in all of

Period after "interrupted." The way it currently is phrased would attribute the latter dialogue as being the interruption instead of the former.

>cousin or something!” she waved her

Capitalize S.

>A smile lit up on her lips as she sang a single word: “Sure!”

That's not how you use a colon.

>“But what do those old coot’s know?” the mare laughed

Laughed is not a speech verb.

>She sighed and spoke:

Colons don't work this way outside theatre.

>“It won’t be so bad,” Starshine smiled,

Missing two periods: one after "bad" and another after "smiled."

>“And now,” Celestia spoke after a pause,

Same issue mentioned with "spoke."

I stopped here. My point is made.

Here is a guide for you:

http://theeditorsblog.net/2010/12/08/punctuation-in-dialogue/

443849

Got an example for me? I'd love to take a look.

444123 so you're basically saying, i need to capitalize the word that comes after the speech? ok, fair enough, i literary had no idea. ok, i admit the first two chapters i slacked on the punctuation, that lesson learned already.
but about the entire "spoke" "laughed" not being speech verbs, i dont get... dont people use them? or what exactly?

and i... i guess... thanks...f-for the help

444196

Speech verbs are something one says.

For example, you may shout a sentence, but one cannot physically "laugh" a sentence. For such instances, the punctuation changes to reflect that it is a separate action from the dialogue.

Ex. 1:

"You're so funny," she said.

vs.

"You're so funny." She laughed.

Why the second dialogue end with a period instead of a comma? Simple, because the verb used was not to indicate speech.

Now let's go over spoke vs. said. The explanation for this is slightly more complex and delves into the more into the meaning of each work rather than the previously obvious distinguishable difference between "laugh" and "said."

"I am here for the fleas," she said.

"I am here for the fleas." She spoke in a raspy, almost inhuman voice.

The verb "spoke" is the past tense of another verb, "speak." Speak and spoke are two verbs of a class called "intransitive" which basically means that they can take no direct object. Compare to "said" or "say" which are of a class called "transitive" verbs which can take a direct object. This basically means that they can possess another subject, that being the dialogue in this instance.

To better illustrate this, I'm going to switch around the wording of those two examples a bit.

She said that she was here for the fleas.

She spoke that she she was here for the fleas.

The latter is grammatically incorrect. This is because "spoke" cannot gel with the directly with the object of "that she was..." An appropriate use of the verb "speak" would be:

She was speaking about how she was here for the fleas.

But look at what changed! "Speak" is not longer the main verb of the sentence! "Was" is now the main verb. So, put into dialogue, it would be formatted like so:

She was speaking about fleas. "Oh yes, they crawl and crawl."

or

"Oh yes, they crawl and crawl." She was speaking about the fleas.

444240 ... Wow... You're good... I... Thanks, thanks a bunch! I might not be able to keep all that in my head but atleast now i know.
Thank you stranger

Let's see how this "pony collection" contest pans out. It says all versions of ponies are welcome, but we'll see. I submitted a multi frame pic' of my collection (which is G1,3, and 4). They didn't say if all entries will be posted or not. If they do post all, i'll see if it get's posted. And if not, I'd like to know if anyone else get's their pic' snubbed.

EDIT: Well looks like it was true this time, though one of someone's sales stock got through.

the reason i hate EqD?
1. Seth. reason: does his trixie fanboy shit, like posting trixie pic to a song and talks about how cool she is but nothing about the song.

2. song post. reason: always spotlight already known artist, while new comers get left out.

3. gore and porn. reason: they hate porn but they keep gore.

4. stories. reason: nothing new or fresh.

5. what they did to tarawhy. reason: her video of twilight being sexy on the bed gets removed because seth said "its porn" but gets her other dark videos(one where twi gets cut in half).

6. fact checks. reason: THEY DON'T FACT CHECK STUFF!

7. good example why the staff member are asshole

This video pretty much explains why I hate EQD

Well it looks like the double standards apply to custom pony figures also.

Their abyssymal demands in grammar. Just use this "-" instead of two "--", and you'll get rejected. Seriously. It happened to me.

They're taking applications for more pre-readers. This could be a good thing or a bad thing.

I'll be darned if somebody over there didn't just say "FimFiction is for people whose writing wasn't good enough to get on here."

479983

I don't see how this would really affect your opinion of the group as a whole.

479983

Aren't like 99,9% of the fics that get "featured" ( since Project Horizon is on Gdocs) hosted here?

Yeah they are.

Anyway a proper reason to hate them, they said we are all obsesed with Luna when we clearly aren't, i prefer Celestia.

484354 It's funny because they say they're not interested in NLR / SE stuff (especially fanfics), yet Seth just made a post about this subject.

478555

I'm baffled by the way you apply the word 'abysmal' to high standards of grammar. That word may not mean what you think it means.

> Just use this "-" instead of two "--", and you'll get rejected. Seriously. It happened to me.
No, you'll get a strike, if several other systemic errors are in your work. The first one is a hyphen and the second a lazy man's em dash. There have completely different functions.

488415 Well, I don't exactly HAVE an em dash on my keyboard.

488417
And google failed you? Wow, it must really be slipping.

488478
Sarcasm doesn't work for you. Why would I waste my time doing a five key input for a LONGER hyphen? That completely breaks the flow of writing. That is a case of grammar nazi to strike because of a short line.

Also. Abysmal: "Extremely or hopelessly bad or severe." I think I used it in the proper context, thank you.

488504
>sarcasm doesn't work for you

Oh, but we're simply the best of friends, too. Such a shame.

>[an em dash is] a LONGER hyphen

Do you actually need me to show you to a dictionary? If this were more personal, I'd just write you off as an idiot and we'd go our separate ways; alas, this is a public forum on a site dedicated to writing—you may not wish to improve, but many here do—and misinformation like this can be harmful to innocent bystanders. I won't have your ''ignorance drive-by'' claiming any victims. Just in case this still isn't crystal clear to anyone reading—A hyphen and an em dash serve completely different functions in writing.

>That completely breaks the flow of writing.

If your position on grammar is any indicative, you wouldn't know basic 'the flow of writing' if it... no, might be dealing with a kid here... It is unlikely you'd know the first thing about perceiving the quality of flow if you don't know the first thing about basic grammar.

Abysmal is conventionally associated with the former—really bad. In fact, my dictionary—a New Oxford app that cross-refs Wiki sources—doesn't have 'severe' as a synonym. What dictionary are you using?

In any case, I'd suggest for clarity in context you could have gone with 'outrageous' or even 'gratuitous'.

488793 You seem to be in the same category as Ebon Mane. Noted. This exchange is over.

489213
lrn2 insult. Ebon's a badass, so I'm afraid you're doing it wrong.
>This exchange is over.
Heh, dramaqueen much? Yknow, most people—granted, when they're being less combative—appreciate learning new things and getting better at a craft. You should, yknow, try that sometime.

489261 You know, when you try to teach someone, avoid the petty insults and exaggeration of your own status. I would've gladly taken what you were offering, but when someone insults me or threatens or so on and so forth, I don't listen. So, instead of quoting everything incorrectly, try and communicate properly. Also, that wasn't an insult. You ARE in the same MENTAL category as Ebon. The MENTAL category is not the poor man's way of saying "Aherpy derp yur rtrd11!". You have the same thought pattern as him.

I'm having fun here. Let us continue this!

489269
Now THAT'S the spirit!

So then, in our initial exchange, post number 30, I stated—
>you'll get a strike, if several other systemic errors are in your work. The first one is a hyphen and the second a lazy man's em dash. There have completely different functions.
So... I'm not seeing how you took offense or 'threat' to this. If it was 'lazy man's em dash', I wasn't calling you lazy; that's literally what it's called.

So it musta been my masterful use of sarcasm with the 'abysmal' comment, neh? Fair nuff, fair nuff. ALTHOUGH, if that's the case, then admit it man, your usage was confused.
>Their abyssymal demands in grammar.
Incorrect! Admit iiiiiiiiit.
Oh, an for the record. YOU went snippy first, quickdrawmcgraw.
>Well, I don't exactly HAVE an em dash on my keyboard.

In any case, you now know there's a difference between an hyphen and em dash! Progress! Oh, an uh... how do you claim to know Ebon's mentality better than I do? Actually curious about this.

mfw.jpg

489287 Snippy? I was not being snippy!

Abysmal

I already asked Ebon about the em dash. I just don't want to input several keys for a single character. As for claiming, let's just say that I can figure out someone's way of thinking by either the way they write (which, if anybody figured it out yet, demonstrates your personality, like my insanity), or, in irl aspects, the way they talk even without showing any physical details. It isn't hard. Try it out. It's fun to see what makes those who annoy you snap like a twig.

489294
Is that... some kind of pokemon or something? Ya got me there, heh.

>Abysmal
Okay, one more try. You used a term that denotes exceeding levels of negative to high quality standards of grammar. There's is a dissonance here! How are you not getting that? Or you are, and you're taking a different tack. You must be. So, what is it?

>personalities
Yeah, I'm pretty good with inferring aspects of such from people's actions as well. It's a bit harder over the net, cuz, yknow, everyone has a ten foot dick, but still, if you're perceptive it can be quite insightful.
I've always had fun figuring out sockpuppets with writers—where a writer Im familiar with starts using a different name? I can almost always pick up on it because of their distinct flairs and quirks.
> It's fun to see what makes those who annoy you snap like a twig.
Haha, I like you.

489299 That's a dark snippet from banjo-kazooie.
Noooo. I was referring to their demands, not the grammar. "Abysmal demands", not "abysmal grammar".

Well, I DID adopt the name of my favorite character. That said, I managed to flip over an aggressive conversation with Argembarger too by doing this. It's better to not argue over the net. After all, rule 19 states that the more you hate it, the stronger it becomes.

489304
>banjo kazooey
memoriiiiiiez

>the abysmal thing
You're still wrong. Really. It's a syntax thing. ;)

>the more you hate it, the stronger it becomes
Heh, I find anyone who takes pony-anything 'supersrs' as fodder to be mocked. I mean, come on—ponies. Hate's just too much of an investment, yknow? Much better to just laugh!

489309 You are making it stronger!

But seriuosly. I know that some things don't exist, but I like to think that, with the infinite possibilities of dimensions, this show exists, as well as many other things. This is where I get my ideas, by exploiting the "what-if" universes, the alternate universes, and the "possibility" universes. I get too many ideas. Speaking of, do you like alternate universe Equestrias, and do you have one of your own? Because I just thought up and made one that is drastically different from the original. VERY drastically different.

489309 I asked that AU question because it's my way of apologizing. We exchange ideas, but via PM.

489318
Oh, dude. I fucking love AU stories. That's what I /do/. Like, my main piece is the 200-something published story on this site. There's now like, 60+k?

For the story, I essentially just took one key component at the beginning of the pilot episode, changed that, then wrote it out as everything fell apart.

PM me yours mate.

I hate Equestria Daily because they think they're pre-reading a book, not a fanfic.

I mean come on! Equestria Daily isn't supposed to be a book publisher.

497561

I can kind of understand it. Their site, their rules. They're missing a lot, but hey.

The problem, as I see it, is the prereaders can pass or fail a fic based on if they personally find it interesting. A friend of mine submitted for all three strikes, and was told flat out that the prereader read maybe 10k words out of 60k. Yet poorly written one shots make it just fine as long as they are relatively free from errors.

398502 How many remixs arn't dubstep or electronic?

502367

Dunno. Haven't been on the site for months.