Danyealle

I'm going to say this honestly... if you are here to get reviews, get out now. This isn't the place to do that. Some fandoms, especially those that cater to younger beings, get those no matter what craptastic, unreadable BS you put up but most of the fandoms don't get the kind of thing you are looking for, especially the older ones. Some stories, ones that have gone on forever, do get such things but newer ones from authors people don't know tend to not get the mega-hits or review counts. However, though reviews might be scarce as hen's teeth, that doesn't mean what you do get doesn't mean anything. Hell, I have a multitude of stories on this site that have been up for years that have no reviews. A few even came down to be published, and I don't mean self-published either, though they had no reviews on this site. Lack of reviews means nothing. It means that people aren't reviewing for their own reasons. You also need to take into account the concept of review karma, meaning the more YOU review, the more apt you are to get them in return. It does tend to work that way.
Reviews are an odd thing. As so many have pointed out, many stories that get mega hits, reviews and rates aren't worth it and you wonder if those that did that read the same one you did while really good ones don't get such things. It just goes that way on all sites I've seen.
In closing, I'll say this... if you like what you're doing and do it for your own reason, what difference do reviews make to you anyway?

I'm going to say this honestly... if you are here to get reviews, get out now. This isn't the place to do that. Some fandoms, especially those that cater to younger beings, get those no matter what craptastic, unreadable BS you put up but most of the fandoms don't get the kind of thing you are looking for, especially the older ones. Some stories, ones that have gone on forever, do get such things but newer ones from authors people don't know tend to not get the mega-hits or review counts. However, though reviews might be scarce as hen's teeth, that doesn't mean what you do get doesn't mean anything. Hell, I have a multitude of stories on this site that have been up for years that have no reviews. A few even came down to be published, and I don't mean self-published either, though they had no reviews on this site. Lack of reviews means nothing. It means that people aren't reviewing for their own reasons. You also need to take into account the concept of review karma, meaning the more YOU review, the more apt you are to get them in return. It does tend to work that way.
Reviews are an odd thing. As so many have pointed out, many stories that get mega hits, reviews and rates aren't worth it and you wonder if those that did that read the same one you did while really good ones don't get such things. It just goes that way on all sites I've seen.
In closing, I'll say this... if you like what you're doing and do it for your own reason, what difference do reviews make to you anyway?

I'm going to say this honestly... if you are here to get reviews, get out now. This isn't the place to do that. Some fandoms, especially those that cater to younger beings, get those no matter what craptastic, unreadable BS you put up but most of the fandoms don't get the kind of thing you are looking for, especially the older ones. Some stories, ones that have gone on forever, do get such things but newer ones from authors people don't know tend to not get the mega-hits or review counts. However, though reviews might be scarce as hen's teeth, that doesn't mean what you do get doesn't mean anything. Hell, I have a multitude of stories on this site that have been up for years that have no reviews. A few even came down to be published, and I don't mean self-published either, though they had no reviews on this site. Lack of reviews means nothing. It means that people aren't reviewing for their own reasons. You also need to take into account the concept of review karma, meaning the more YOU review, the more apt you are to get them in return. It does tend to work that way.
Reviews are an odd thing. As so many have pointed out, many stories that get mega hits, reviews and rates aren't worth it and you wonder if those that did that read the same one you did while really good ones don't get such things. It just goes that way on all sites I've seen.
In closing, I'll say this... if you like what you're doing and do it for your own reason, what difference do reviews make to you anyway?

I'm going to say this honestly... if you are here to get reviews, get out now. This isn't the place to do that. Some fandoms, especially those that cater to younger beings, get those no matter what craptastic, unreadable BS you put up but most of the fandoms don't get the kind of thing you are looking for, especially the older ones. Some stories, ones that have gone on forever, do get such things but newer ones from authors people don't know tend to not get the mega-hits or review counts. However, though reviews might be scarce as hen's teeth, that doesn't mean what you do get doesn't mean anything. Hell, I have a multitude of stories on this site that have been up for years that have no reviews. A few even came down to be published, and I don't mean self-published either, though they had no reviews on this site. Lack of reviews means nothing. It means that people aren't reviewing for their own reasons. You also need to take into account the concept of review karma, meaning the more YOU review, the more apt you are to get them in return. It does tend to work that way.
Reviews are an odd thing. As so many have pointed out, many stories that get mega hits, reviews and rates aren't worth it and you wonder if those that did that read the same one you did while really good ones don't get such things. It just goes that way on all sites I've seen.
In closing, I'll say this... if you like what you're doing and do it for your own reason, what difference do reviews make to you anyway?

It has not a DAMN thing to do with stubbornness. It has to do with ToS compliance. Which you would know if you read it. grumpy already knows what he has to do, as he finally responded to one of several emails sent to him regarding this.
As to jordinio, tech support is easy enough to reach. All HE needs to do is send an email explaining that he can't remember his password, etc, and I'll walk him through activation. That's simple enough.
Should you opt to continue not complying with the Terms of Service, which are actually straightforward, then you'll find that we "stubborn mods" have other means to stop you and grumpy from posting here at all.

OK, folks, I’ve tried to stay out of this because I tend to offend as I’m a blunt being but I’m going to back up what BW says from the prospective of a mod AND someone that has gone through the procedure to adopt a story….
This is not a hard procedure to go through, period. End of story.
It took me a whole five minutes to give the proof the site needed to adopt the story Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness. No, I did not get a break from anything anyone else had to do. In fact, I had to go through the same thing as everyone else and provide proof that, indeed, I was given permission to do so. It’s on file with the site and admins that the original author gave me said permission and I could take over the story. It was easy.
There is no reason in this world that Grumpy and Jordinio cannot do the same bloody thing if Grumpy wants to take over the story. All we need is proof from the original author that they have permission to take over this story. Period. All. We. Need. We don’t have this!
What most of you are not ‘getting’ is we get plagiarism reports about stories posted years ago to this day. Some are founded, some aren’t. If we don’t have the proof of permissions, it comes down to can we prove it. If the author of the original isn’t around and the author that adopted it can’t provide them for that reason, we have no choice but to down the story because they can’t. We see people posting others work without permission all the damned time! We also see unauthorized sequels just as often. These are plagiarism. To stave off the accusations and protect the author adopting, we need proof that they have the permissions. It’s easy to do and can be easily provided. That’s all these two need to do. Something, apparently, they aren’t.
The other issue is that it’s against the rules to post another’s work on the site. That’s clear as a bell in the damned TOS. Adopting and taking over a story is one thing, posting for another is another and it’s not allowed. That’s what Grumpy is doing. We don’t allow anyone to do this with one exception; translated works. Those also have to provide the proof of permission like I said above.
These aren’t hard rules, folks. They are simple, easy and provide protection to all those involved in the damned situation. Just because other sites (read that ff.net) don’t give a fiddler’s damn about it, doesn’t mean we don’t. We protect our authors here to the best of our ability because, golly, gee, WOW, most of the mods and admins are writers themselves!
So, rather than tantrum, go tantrum with the two that have decided to ignore what the mods and admins say and when they are bluntly told not to do something, the consequences of what will happen being clearly given, The issue is we are enforcing the same rule we do with everyone else! If these two can’t follow what everyone else does, this is not OUR PROBLEM!

OK, folks, I’ve tried to stay out of this because I tend to offend as I’m a blunt being but I’m going to back up what BW says from the prospective of a mod AND someone that has gone through the procedure to adopt a story….
This is not a hard procedure to go through, period. End of story.
It took me a whole five minutes to give the proof the site needed to adopt the story Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness. No, I did not get a break from anything anyone else had to do. In fact, I had to go through the same thing as everyone else and provide proof that, indeed, I was given permission to do so. It’s on file with the site and admins that the original author gave me said permission and I could take over the story. It was easy.
There is no reason in this world that Grumpy and Jordinio cannot do the same bloody thing if Grumpy wants to take over the story. All we need is proof from the original author that they have permission to take over this story. Period. All. We. Need. We don’t have this!
What most of you are not ‘getting’ is we get plagiarism reports about stories posted years ago to this day. Some are founded, some aren’t. If we don’t have the proof of permissions, it comes down to can we prove it. If the author of the original isn’t around and the author that adopted it can’t provide them for that reason, we have no choice but to down the story because they can’t. We see people posting others work without permission all the damned time! We also see unauthorized sequels just as often. These are plagiarism. To stave off the accusations and protect the author adopting, we need proof that they have the permissions. It’s easy to do and can be easily provided. That’s all these two need to do. Something, apparently, they aren’t.
The other issue is that it’s against the rules to post another’s work on the site. That’s clear as a bell in the damned TOS. Adopting and taking over a story is one thing, posting for another is another and it’s not allowed. That’s what Grumpy is doing. We don’t allow anyone to do this with one exception; translated works. Those also have to provide the proof of permission like I said above.
These aren’t hard rules, folks. They are simple, easy and provide protection to all those involved in the damned situation. Just because other sites (read that ff.net) don’t give a fiddler’s damn about it, doesn’t mean we don’t. We protect our authors here to the best of our ability because, golly, gee, WOW, most of the mods and admins are writers themselves!
So, rather than tantrum, go tantrum with the two that have decided to ignore what the mods and admins say and when they are bluntly told not to do something, the consequences of what will happen being clearly given, The issue is we are enforcing the same rule we do with everyone else! If these two can’t follow what everyone else does, this is not OUR PROBLEM!

Grumpywinter didn't adopt it. Grumpywinter posted work for someone else. If Jordinio wants to post the story, if he wants it posted, then he will need to post it on his account.
As for "rigamarole" - the policies in place for adoption are there in order to protect the adopter from accusations on plagiarism. We take that very seriously here. Grumpywinter was warned in the other thread on this story that his account could be deleted if he chose to post the story there. DG chose not to delete the account because this is the first incident of Grumpywinter doing this.

please don't ask for copies. That's against site rules and it was made clear with this when you posted in this thread...
Respect the authors wishes and don't ask for copies of downed stories

I'd totally give users $10,000 for a review! OK Folks, review any of my stories that doesn't currently have a review for an extra 10000 utterly worthless totally fun and cool points next to your forum username!

while it might be a pain and I spend my fair amount of time cussing, it beats the last spam attack we got of over 1000 stories in multiple archives that were nothing but spam in a matter of hours. Yeah, I remember that spam attack and having literally tons of pages to go through to find actual stories (this was before I was a mod and the reason that recapta came into being on the site). It's eaten a fair share of my reviews, I'll admit to that, but I type them up in my word processing program anyway the paste over. This one, though me and it have no fondness for each other, is far better than that POS custom one Yahell has or a couple others I've seen. You might complain that some are easier but you need to remember that they are either custom written code (like for ff.net) cost money to put on. So, rather than have to deal with what we did in the past, I'd rather deal with recapta and refresh when i can't read something it kicks out to me.

while it might be a pain and I spend my fair amount of time cussing, it beats the last spam attack we got of over 1000 stories in multiple archives that were nothing but spam in a matter of hours. Yeah, I remember that spam attack and having literally tons of pages to go through to find actual stories (this was before I was a mod and the reason that recapta came into being on the site). It's eaten a fair share of my reviews, I'll admit to that, but I type them up in my word processing program anyway the paste over. This one, though me and it have no fondness for each other, is far better than that POS custom one Yahell has or a couple others I've seen. You might complain that some are easier but you need to remember that they are either custom written code (like for ff.net) cost money to put on. So, rather than have to deal with what we did in the past, I'd rather deal with recapta and refresh when i can't read something it kicks out to me.

You've mentioned that you write in HP. No offense to anyone and I'm not trying to offended (as I, too, write slash in that section so...) first you need to take into account that those that read in HP tend to be much younger and haven't exactly learned that there is more to 'bottom and top' than what they see and/or read on the internet. I've had them do this to me too (usually more in Supernatural though since i make the one no one sees as such the 'bottom), i come back with the example of oral sex. The one giving is tending to be seen as the bottom. When, in reality, it's not. the person with the organ in their mouth is the top because said organ is also surrounded by teeth. That rather switches it around. Oral sex, giving and receiving, is a rather neutral act, not seen as bottom or top because of many factors. The bottom is the one that controls what is done and pleasurable, or painful, sensations that are caused on the so-called 'top' in the situation. The same goes for many other acts like it. There is no real 'bottom or top' in anything unless you are doing a D/s or BDSM situation of some kind and the line is made very clear who is what. Other than that, they are interchangeable.
As for the emotions... again, I mean no offense, but a great many in some fandoms, especially the ones that cater to those that are younger, don't 'get' the emotion thing. Emotion is a hard thing to convey in so many things, be it fanfic or original. In slash, it seems to be harder than in het because so many don't understand one very undeniable 'truth'; males and females react differently to emotional things and show emotion a different way. For example, a 16 year old Harry is not going to run out of a room screaming and crying when confronted with something. Yet I've seen it portrayed that way more than i care to enumerate here. They also don't realize that how beings were portrayed in the books is very different than they were in the movies. Nor do they take into account, using something you said you write, that characters like Sirius were not as well developed as ones like Hernoine or Ron. Sirius was a rather minor character in both the books and movies, with little character development as opposed to other ones that were more of a 'main character'. So how you portray them is your interpretation of what you saw/read. Nor is it right, wrong or indifferent. When there is no real background of development you have to create it to have a good story. Just because yours doesn't agree with what they interpret doesn't make it wrong. OOC, in the case of the more minor characters, is in the eye of the beholder. They just tend to get pissy when you don't do things according to the way they see the world and, for those, stick up your middle finger and tell them to spin on it.
All in all, it comes down to one thing... It's your story to do with what you want. If they don't like it, they are free to shut the page and move on. Their reviews, too, can be easily deleted here. Beyond that, consider the mentality, roll your eyes and move on!

You've mentioned that you write in HP. No offense to anyone and I'm not trying to offended (as I, too, write slash in that section so...) first you need to take into account that those that read in HP tend to be much younger and haven't exactly learned that there is more to 'bottom and top' than what they see and/or read on the internet. I've had them do this to me too (usually more in Supernatural though since i make the one no one sees as such the 'bottom), i come back with the example of oral sex. The one giving is tending to be seen as the bottom. When, in reality, it's not. the person with the organ in their mouth is the top because said organ is also surrounded by teeth. That rather switches it around. Oral sex, giving and receiving, is a rather neutral act, not seen as bottom or top because of many factors. The bottom is the one that controls what is done and pleasurable, or painful, sensations that are caused on the so-called 'top' in the situation. The same goes for many other acts like it. There is no real 'bottom or top' in anything unless you are doing a D/s or BDSM situation of some kind and the line is made very clear who is what. Other than that, they are interchangeable.
As for the emotions... again, I mean no offense, but a great many in some fandoms, especially the ones that cater to those that are younger, don't 'get' the emotion thing. Emotion is a hard thing to convey in so many things, be it fanfic or original. In slash, it seems to be harder than in het because so many don't understand one very undeniable 'truth'; males and females react differently to emotional things and show emotion a different way. For example, a 16 year old Harry is not going to run out of a room screaming and crying when confronted with something. Yet I've seen it portrayed that way more than i care to enumerate here. They also don't realize that how beings were portrayed in the books is very different than they were in the movies. Nor do they take into account, using something you said you write, that characters like Sirius were not as well developed as ones like Hernoine or Ron. Sirius was a rather minor character in both the books and movies, with little character development as opposed to other ones that were more of a 'main character'. So how you portray them is your interpretation of what you saw/read. Nor is it right, wrong or indifferent. When there is no real background of development you have to create it to have a good story. Just because yours doesn't agree with what they interpret doesn't make it wrong. OOC, in the case of the more minor characters, is in the eye of the beholder. They just tend to get pissy when you don't do things according to the way they see the world and, for those, stick up your middle finger and tell them to spin on it.
All in all, it comes down to one thing... It's your story to do with what you want. If they don't like it, they are free to shut the page and move on. Their reviews, too, can be easily deleted here. Beyond that, consider the mentality, roll your eyes and move on!

You've mentioned that you write in HP. No offense to anyone and I'm not trying to offended (as I, too, write slash in that section so...) first you need to take into account that those that read in HP tend to be much younger and haven't exactly learned that there is more to 'bottom and top' than what they see and/or read on the internet. I've had them do this to me too (usually more in Supernatural though since i make the one no one sees as such the 'bottom), i come back with the example of oral sex. The one giving is tending to be seen as the bottom. When, in reality, it's not. the person with the organ in their mouth is the top because said organ is also surrounded by teeth. That rather switches it around. Oral sex, giving and receiving, is a rather neutral act, not seen as bottom or top because of many factors. The bottom is the one that controls what is done and pleasurable, or painful, sensations that are caused on the so-called 'top' in the situation. The same goes for many other acts like it. There is no real 'bottom or top' in anything unless you are doing a D/s or BDSM situation of some kind and the line is made very clear who is what. Other than that, they are interchangeable.
As for the emotions... again, I mean no offense, but a great many in some fandoms, especially the ones that cater to those that are younger, don't 'get' the emotion thing. Emotion is a hard thing to convey in so many things, be it fanfic or original. In slash, it seems to be harder than in het because so many don't understand one very undeniable 'truth'; males and females react differently to emotional things and show emotion a different way. For example, a 16 year old Harry is not going to run out of a room screaming and crying when confronted with something. Yet I've seen it portrayed that way more than i care to enumerate here. They also don't realize that how beings were portrayed in the books is very different than they were in the movies. Nor do they take into account, using something you said you write, that characters like Sirius were not as well developed as ones like Hernoine or Ron. Sirius was a rather minor character in both the books and movies, with little character development as opposed to other ones that were more of a 'main character'. So how you portray them is your interpretation of what you saw/read. Nor is it right, wrong or indifferent. When there is no real background of development you have to create it to have a good story. Just because yours doesn't agree with what they interpret doesn't make it wrong. OOC, in the case of the more minor characters, is in the eye of the beholder. They just tend to get pissy when you don't do things according to the way they see the world and, for those, stick up your middle finger and tell them to spin on it.
All in all, it comes down to one thing... It's your story to do with what you want. If they don't like it, they are free to shut the page and move on. Their reviews, too, can be easily deleted here. Beyond that, consider the mentality, roll your eyes and move on!

You've mentioned that you write in HP. No offense to anyone and I'm not trying to offended (as I, too, write slash in that section so...) first you need to take into account that those that read in HP tend to be much younger and haven't exactly learned that there is more to 'bottom and top' than what they see and/or read on the internet. I've had them do this to me too (usually more in Supernatural though since i make the one no one sees as such the 'bottom), i come back with the example of oral sex. The one giving is tending to be seen as the bottom. When, in reality, it's not. the person with the organ in their mouth is the top because said organ is also surrounded by teeth. That rather switches it around. Oral sex, giving and receiving, is a rather neutral act, not seen as bottom or top because of many factors. The bottom is the one that controls what is done and pleasurable, or painful, sensations that are caused on the so-called 'top' in the situation. The same goes for many other acts like it. There is no real 'bottom or top' in anything unless you are doing a D/s or BDSM situation of some kind and the line is made very clear who is what. Other than that, they are interchangeable.
As for the emotions... again, I mean no offense, but a great many in some fandoms, especially the ones that cater to those that are younger, don't 'get' the emotion thing. Emotion is a hard thing to convey in so many things, be it fanfic or original. In slash, it seems to be harder than in het because so many don't understand one very undeniable 'truth'; males and females react differently to emotional things and show emotion a different way. For example, a 16 year old Harry is not going to run out of a room screaming and crying when confronted with something. Yet I've seen it portrayed that way more than i care to enumerate here. They also don't realize that how beings were portrayed in the books is very different than they were in the movies. Nor do they take into account, using something you said you write, that characters like Sirius were not as well developed as ones like Hernoine or Ron. Sirius was a rather minor character in both the books and movies, with little character development as opposed to other ones that were more of a 'main character'. So how you portray them is your interpretation of what you saw/read. Nor is it right, wrong or indifferent. When there is no real background of development you have to create it to have a good story. Just because yours doesn't agree with what they interpret doesn't make it wrong. OOC, in the case of the more minor characters, is in the eye of the beholder. They just tend to get pissy when you don't do things according to the way they see the world and, for those, stick up your middle finger and tell them to spin on it.
All in all, it comes down to one thing... It's your story to do with what you want. If they don't like it, they are free to shut the page and move on. Their reviews, too, can be easily deleted here. Beyond that, consider the mentality, roll your eyes and move on!

Actually, downloading a copy of a story is against TOS on AFF...
That alone will negate this coming into affect. There is a reason it's there and will remain so.

Actually, downloading a copy of a story is against TOS on AFF...
That alone will negate this coming into affect. There is a reason it's there and will remain so.

Actually, downloading a copy of a story is against TOS on AFF...
That alone will negate this coming into affect. There is a reason it's there and will remain so.

Actually, downloading a copy of a story is against TOS on AFF...
That alone will negate this coming into affect. There is a reason it's there and will remain so.

I've been letting this ruminate in the back of my mind, and I honestly think that the most surefire way to get reviews or reactions of any kind is to stick to the more popular fandoms and fill the story with sex, no matter how improbable or unlikely, particularly slash.
There are authors here, both in Originals and in various fandoms, who are extraordinarily gifted writers. They create memorable characters and vivid settings, and if it's a fandom, they strive to bring a unique perspective. And yet they get little to no reviews. Maybe they don't cater to the "in" pairings, or maybe they would rather write about a heterosexual couple. Maybe no one gets raped, kidnapped, sold into slavery or transformed into a demon/vampire/werewolf.
Dame Barbara Cartland wrote to a formula, and even when her initially "racy" novels became "tame" with the changing morals of the times, she was still intensely popular. She found something that appealed to a wide range of readers, and she stuck with it. As far as I can tell, if you can come up with a young boy who's been kidnapped and sold into slavery and then loses his virginity to his gay demon/vampire/werewolf owner-cum-lover, you're on the way to review heaven. If you can make it work in one of the more popular fandoms, not only can you hit review heaven, you can later edit it into an original work and publish it to great acclaim.
::removes tongue from cheek and saunters back off into dignified obscurity::

JayDee, while sarcastic, is quite correct. Also, please note that she is one of the Authors on the site, a long standing member, not a admin or moderator. As a user, so long as she remains polite, she is welcome to voice whatever opinions she pleases same as you are.
Please understand that we've been dealing with the issue for many years and every time we've taken any sort of action she's posted something similar to what she currently has up on whatever site or social media she's work with at the time and we've said nothing in regards to whatever version she's taken to telling.
When the time came that we decided to remove her, I knew that we would most likely have some very upset readers as she has a large following and I also knew based on past behavior that she would likely blame the staff and degrade the site. As owner, I made the decision that any inquires into the status of her fiction would be answered with the above statement and only that statement prior to even removing the account. It is concise, truthful and in reality professional. I made the choice to include the exact dates and reasons to avoid a long drawn out thread of "I can't believe you deleted her - You guys are mean nasty horrible people for enforcing the Terms of Service a user agreed to!" We've had that before with other users and quite frankly, this was an easy way to cut it off at the pass. (Please note that it did work quite well for the better part of two months)
I did not at any point denigrate her or her writing and nothing was an attack, personal or otherwise. Believe me, if I truly felt it was necessary to stoop to the level she has on her various social media sites, I could. There is more to the story than what is posted above, but beyond a factual stating as to the history and why, that is not something users need to be concerned about.
It's quite frankly no more or no less than a reference I would give if I had a person call for a job reference or one for a lease: Just the facts Jack. I've held to a strict level of honesty and transparency with my members and will not deviate from that.
As this is obviously not going to resolve anything or change your mind, I locked the thread. I respectfully ask that as I have responded to this and there is really nothing new that could be said on either side that you not start this up anywhere else on the forum. Thank you.

Yes, shame on the admin for that brief summary telling folks what happened. What they needed was something like a professional writer would put, like old dexy's statement as, uh, admin/host of her own site: "I knew how petty and evil-minded the admins over on AFF really are."
Wait, what? Surely not! Based on your statement about how admins should act on their sites I expected to see nothing more than "I am no longer with that site." Now, I know little of these things but from what you've told us that doesn't seem terribly professional does it? Almost, well... petty? Gosh! Petty! Yeah, we'll go with that. Maybe... and this is just speculation, you understand, maybe stating a user is removed for ToS violations, and listing the violations - much like we see in clubs and such - without adding personal ad hom attacks... maybe that is the professional way to do it?
I'm just being snarky.

Oh, you're adorable! Starting a post like that with the line:
Too funny. You Sir and/or Madam have made my day. The whole post is so expertly crafted. I especially like the bit where you give an opinion that folks on discussion forums should only give opinions if asked for opinions... when not asked! But it's pretty much all high class 'net flamewar bait (heck, vintage - I recall variations of "I'm not sure you have the mental capacity to understand it" on usenet). I salute you! And you should totally write riddles. I'm gonna have to risk being interpreted as peevish again and echo that wishing well in the future to you. I know it's hard to tell on the internet but this is totally not sarcasm, or even snark. G'luck!

I'm going to be honest, I’ve been avoiding this thread like it's nuclear waste because it's the kind of thing that can lead to serious rants and some very hurt feeling but, after today, I decided to add my two pennies to it (and Apollo is checking those pennies to make sure I don't step over the line with this rant).
For those on here that don't know, I've been an archive moderator since '08 and seen a lot of things over those years so I can quite honestly say that, despite what someone asserted, it's not a few bad apples that have ruined reviews for most everyone but a whole lot of them rotten apples that have killed it! That's no joke, folks! And the biggest problem with getting reviews is the authors themselves. They are the ones that have, bluntly, made it to where so many are out and out scared to leave a review of any kind for anyone. It's sad, but it's true! I know people are going to argue with that assertion but hear me out.
One very shining example of this happened today. A few days ago, I was working on doing my ten reviews for AFF's Review Association (for those of you that don't know what that is we go in and review stories each month that have none. Our reward for that? We get a banner. Nothing else. If interested, they are always accepting members-plug over, back to rant...). It's been a few days since I did it so I didn't think anything of it until I woke up today and was getting ready for work. Checking the standard pages I do when I get up, I found that one of the beings I left a review for reported me for it! Now, being a mod, I know what the difference between what a flame and concrit is. I also know where the line is drawn and don't even step close to it. If I feel something I’m saying is too harsh, I get BW or Apollo to check it over for me to see if there isn't a way to soften up what I said or to ensure that I didn't step over any kind of line with it.
The review in question wasn't even one I had to do that with. It was nicely worded, slightly blunt but not overly so, giving the issue, a link about how to fix the issue and how what was done affects the reader when trying to read it. I started and ended the review with positive things about the story. Nor did I rip the thing apart. But, still, I got reported for it and there was a long rant from the author about the whole thing basically saying I need to quit pretending this is a professional writing site or Hollywood and stop leaving those kinds of reviews. I was... STUNNED. Then I laughed my ass off! Am I mad about it? No, I thought it was funny as hell! Am I in trouble for it? No, because I did nothing wrong and I didn't flame or attack anyone. Is this odd? Yes and no. It's odd that I got reported but these kinds of tantrums over concrit reviews are quite common. There are plenty out there, more than just a small handful of them, that want nothing but fandpoodling OMGWTFILUFFIT reviews and for you to say nothing else though they ask for reviews.
Other examples are just as bad. Plenty pimp the hell out of their stuff all over and ask for reviews but when you give them an honest one, they just delete it and don't bother to fix any of the issues you pointed out even if you give them a very easy way or solution to fixing what is wrong. Talking to Rogue, another member of the RA, we figured out that we are running about 50/50 with reviews we leave. About 50% stay up and the other 50 either get rid of the review or out and out delete the story (this month's 5 I did serious concrit for has resulted in 2 reviews already being deleted and one reporting me for what I had to say so you can see this is not an exaggeration). That is sad but true. And, generally, they all but beg for reviews in the story, the thread in the forum to promo the story or elsewhere. But if you don't just gush, they get rid of it. How many times are you going to go through with this until you give up? It generally doesn't take long before you throw your hands up and say 'I give' then quit. It get's worse though.
Though many of you might think I’m joking (I can assure you, I’m not), it goes downhill from there. Like I said at the beginning, I’ve seen a lot over my time as a mod and a common thing to happen is the flame baiting by authors. BW and I have both had this happen to us because we're mods and the author didn't like something we told them to change. We've had them say something in the story then had their readers go after our stories with reviews that are intended to be retaliatory and bombing our ratings. And if they'll do it to a mod, who knows what's going on and how to handle it, you can damned sure bet they do it to reviewers that say something they don't like! They have too, many, many, MANY times.
They leave a butt-hurt, whiney ass AN about how someone was so mean to them in a review or that they think they should just stop writing because of something that is said then BAM the reviewer gets nailed. It happens more than you think, folks! And if you think it's just younger authors that do this, think again! There are plenty of older ones that do the same thing. This, more than anything, has made it to where people are afraid to leave a review. Would you want attacked because you were honest or were giving feedback to someone that's not mean but intended to help them improve what they do? The majority of you would say no to this but it's what happens. And plenty have seen this so they back off and say nothing rather than be on the receiving end of that kind of flaming. That results in people not reviewing. Since this has gone on for years, the end result is what you see now; reviews are minimal. If someone gives one, it's just standard fanpoodling OMG update soon or something like that.
So, know what? You want to bitch and complain to someone about this? Go find the authors that do this bonehead stupid stuff, and more I didn't mention, and let them know because they are the ones that have killed the reviews for the rest of you more than just the readers that never bother.