Rant: The old days were better. · 8:01pm Dec 18th, 2012
Okay, first of all I would like to start on a positive note and say thank you for all the hardwork you've put into this site, I know I can't do it, so I won't complain about that part. It looks great, fancy and somewhat useful in some features.
Cheers to you.
Now, this is just me speaking.
The old days were better. Period. I mean, I remember when this site was all about writing and helping each other, building friendships, posting comments rather than just being like "lol'' and crap, I mean seriously... look at what we have here now, just people fighting for the featured box. A competition.
Yes, that is the source of all problems as of now, the featured box. Not the writers, not the readers... the box. It has turned some authors corrupt, driving themselves to no longer write for fun, making them complain and judge themselves to oblivion. It was better when everyone had to get at least 75 thumbs up, to show that they actually deserved it. You can now get 20 likes, and boom, to featured you go... and now, unlike then, it's not even to the top! It's not so much special, as it was before, not everyone gets their turn for that story, and they can't ever again, for that story, because it's not permanent on front page... so, I find that rather useless.
That needs to be fixed.
Trust me, as an author, even though we say we write for fun, there is a little piece of us that all wants that big shiny box.
Let's compare now, and back then where there were only 3 spots. Heck, I mean adding 3 slots to updated stories is a pretty damn good idea, but seven just for everyone? No, that's a bit too much accommodation. Back then, we were completely fine with those slots. No comparisons. No competition. Now some people are just writing anything anybody that they know what they'd get featured for.
Example: Talking about the clop perspective at the moment, it doesn't really bother me since I don't read that... but now, it's just flooding the box. One person wrote one, okay cool, you get featured, props... now everyone is writing one for the featured.
When we had three slots (one belonging to Two's A Company, Three's A Crowd) everyone was equal and everyone was like "Oh, okay, I guess I could just write about so and so," and we were okay with that.
But seriously, those who write for fun, like ACTUAL fun, props to you. I know some people who write quantity over quality... all you need is that one great fic.
I just find that back then was so much more fun... I mean, from my 355 followers, I know a good percent of them... well, like... I've built really great friendships, and I do hope some authors are allowed to do that now... if only they'd know of what I meant by the old fimfic.
That box is corrupting some people, I've seen some people change because of that. It needs to be fixed by I don't know what, but lowering the number of fics allowed is a great, and probably only start.
Anyways, back to writing.
No Shame. No Pride.
What do you guys think?
:3:
Yeah man, I miss those days. The feature box was small, and if you saw a story in there, you knew for sure it was DAMN good.
what i think is you have to be a top tier author to get the box or write clop
its not if the story is good
its if you are well known
625221 That should've been added to the rant, but it wasn't the authors that was the focus, people get the fame from the box which is so easy to get... that's why I said it was the source.
If you got it without having any watchers, you are damn good... or good at writing clop.
Those words....I couldn't have said them any better.
slurmed.com/fanart/javier/041_bender-applause.gif
625221 Really now?
I mean, it's not like any stories that are an author's first attempt get featured right?
625233 yes the first chapter is good
then chapter 2 is ass
ass i tell you
example My Little Glados
Yup, I remember those days... even though "better" is a highly opinionated word, I do think the stories were "better" back then, and it was more of a challenge to get there.
Though I do believe the changes to the feature box/site were necessary though to accommodate the site's growth. Remember how some stories stayed up in the feature box for like more than a week? Yeah... that wouldn't fly well today I don't think...
625242 I know they were for that reason, but... urgh, it's like a drop of blood in a shark infested tank.
I may not have been on fimfic for long or anything, but I'm with you on this one. It feels like I'm one of the few who just write for fun, and not for just some box where everyone else get to see it. All I want is for me, an author, along with my lovely readers, to have fun. That's it. No more, no less. But as you said, there is still that small little piece of us that want to get our stories into that box.
Now, compare a small little pettle and minimize it by X 100... That's basically how much I care about getting one of my stories into the featured box. Now, I'm not saying that the box is a demon spawn from the deep clutches of hell, because it's good that some writers get some more readers. Good for them. Just don't go crazy about it and start rushing your stories JUST for that chance of getting featured again and having more followers.
As I see it, authors that write just because it's fun to do usually get the best stories, and then they start to rush things and everything just goes to hell. That's something I NEVER want to happen to me, or anyone else out there. Just take your time, get lots of inspiration and plan out the story. Alternatively you could just write whatever the hell your brain can process and just go with it, like me! But some people could just kill to get featured.
Anyways. Now that I'm done with that, it's back to trying to use my mind to create a good story for all of my wonderful readers.
Stay safe and get some muffins.
625258 It's just a way to slightly get your name out there, now.
Indeed
The days of old I found to be more flavourful and more joyous as I do recall. More activity as a community back then, than writing for featured right now.
We may have lost the days past but we still have it's memory. As long as we continue to be here, those days will never be truely gone.
I don't care whether I make it to the feature box or not, I just love to write, that is why I am writing two stories with a possible third one coming up. Imagine my surpise when my A Soul in Steel and Iron story made it into the box, that right there just told me that readers love the story and wants more, so that is what I am going to give them.
I too miss the old days. It was once a time when I could put out my chapters daily, loving both the feedback, and the general fun of it. But, it faded...and now I've lost most of the enjoyment in writing...it takes a month to put a 1,000 word chapter out.
The other thing that hacks me off about the new ways of the sight is the treatment of OC stories. Just for the reason it's an OC based story, it can get down-voted to fuck. My sequel has I believe 17 dislikes, and no hate comments or comments telling me how to improve or what I did wrong!
I miss the days where I knew what I was doing wrong because I got the feedback. It doesn't happen anymore.
There was a time where a story was voted down to the red zone because it deserved it, it is all about because the writer is a newbie and people refuse to help. I miss the days when people followed the teachings of being a brony love and toleration. The box use to show individuality, freshness, captivating, and overall damn goodness; no nine out of ten times it's about copying something that appeases the masses. Fanfiction is not about fame or popularity but about showing your own twist on the story.
Take for an example the ponyfall stories; while they have gotten better and in no case do I dislike them, but look what they gave up along the way I was there when they decided to only do main characters i.e. Mane six, cmc , the princess and so forth. Yes it made it easier to do ponies that had characters but that's what makes so many background character based fiction so fun was because they were in terms a blank canvas to which we could try our own style upon within reason.
I'm not the best writer out probably far from it, but I know from past experiences with roleplay guilds that when you go from having fun to worrying about being an elitist you lose sight of why you became a fan in the first place. When I write again I don't care if it is down voted to the most hated fiction in this site I will write for fun for it was the reason I became a brony, for in the end even the best of us are just a primitive culture in the shadow of an advance civilization of Faust.
Bah, this is why I wished I were a season 1 brony. I started on October 2011 when most of the good times were over. It was nice seeing this fandom grow from the beginning of season 2 though.
I'm too old to like the changes the site has made, too new to understand the old ways of the site.
Still, I do agree to a point. I don't get why they moved the featured box and the box they had was pretty big... I like the idea of a box where your works can be seen by many and you can get more well known, but it did seem to be a lot of clop (which I don't mind, but clop for the sake of clop... Not really something I try to find) and I do wish it made more sense than it does now... I mean, stories can get like 1k views and like 20 likes and it'll get featured, and yet "Diaries of a Madman" which is an awesome story hasn't been featured at all I don't think. I don't think the featured box is the devil's spawn, but I think it has a long way to go before it works.
THANK YOU FOR BEING THE ONE TO SAY THIS!
I agree with this 100%
I remember way back when the featured box was just a box for the BEST stories to get into, where if your story got into it, it meant people actually loved it. Not because it was a quick sex story.
I understand why people wanted/want to get in it, at least once, but it's nothing really special now. Now, anyone who can write about clop can get in it.
I remember when I wanted to get into the featured box. I wrote TWO crappy as hell stories, and they gained me nothing. And when I give up on it and write a story just to clear my head, it gets featured.
Moral of the story is, if you write about what you enjoy or love, more people are likely to like it.
Anyways, yes, the featured box has corrupted many a writer on this site. I see accounts with over 20 one chapter stories that are nothing but clop or something like that.
I miss those days when all the new stories on this site actually made you want to read and follow them.
Who else misses the days when people wrote only for fun and the enjoyment of seeing what people thought of their story?
Whelp, there's my two cents, two buckets, two bits, whatever XD
The old days were better by far.