Enough is Enough!

[Kurahieiritr]

I am not a politically correct person, so do not expect me to mince words in this rant. I have plenty to say about the frauds who plague this and other sites. :sarcasm: is now in session because I have already read all of the favorite nauseating, too often written, worn out excuses that have triggered this overwhelmed frustration induced rant. I do apologize in advance for this being such a tactless tirade. I really need to get this off my chest because I am so frustrated with things I continue to read every time I come here.

What is the point of writing if the document is a thoughtless piece of slop without merit pounded out willy-dilly on a whim, and posted without revision? Why do some people insist upon placing such infantile things in the archives, and then get angry when someone with a basic grasp of English structure mentions a few of the problems that need addressing to create a better reading tale? Why do some individuals whine incessantly about contrit feedback, instead of considering that there might be a real problem which can be corrected with a little expended effort? If one does not understand the foundations of proper grammar and spelling, why insist upon being vile to those who seek to give actual valid aide? When did writing become a place for cop outs and egotists? Who ever said that everyone should be patted upon the head simply because they bothered to put something up at a free site like AFFnet, or FFnet? What have the lazy done to earn a touch of praise and accolades for the illiterate slop they insist upon posting?

Absolutely nothing gets done when a poorly written piece is added to the archives is my response. Give feedback to such frauds, and they delete the reviews, or proclaim concrit reviews to be trolling! Such frauds are too infantile to accept that they can improve if they get off their lazy butts and do a little research! YE Gods Forbid that such individuals ever face the wrath of a genuine editor. I can see the suicide rate escalating fast if they ever had to remove the blinders from their eyes. Such people are the bane of the writing hobbiest, and professional alike. What is the point of giving reviews if the writer is unwilling to consider critical mistake portions of an honest review? Why do lazy, insecure asses bother to beg for reviews while remaining too immature to give such reviews any thought toward self improvement? How can people call themselves writers when they are so obstinately unwilling to learn how to take a fair reading story, and make it into a genuinely beautiful tale that is memorable? Why do such frauds feel so compelled to provide a plethora of meaningless excuses for their mistakes, instead of attempting to change for the better?

The reason for my ranting questions: I am so sick and tired of the whining, lame excuses that the vast majority of writers like to pull out of their asses. People seem to love bellyaching, and giving excuses to avoid improving anything they slop together and post. To me, people are flat against learning the diverse aspects, and complex elements involved with writing style. I am also fed up with jerks who refuse to pull their heads out of the asses when it comes to a reasonable review meant to give genuine help. Nobody is attacking when they send a review that something was messed up when they mention grammar/spelling problems.

Any idea why I might be so angry about the plethora of bull I read in forums, and in author's notes in the main archive? Reality Check: I had a massive stroke a few years ago. It took two years to get to the point I could use my right side again. Then, I had to reteach myself from the foundation up how to read and to write a second time. Everything that I know I should recall from my time as an employed editor in the 90's was locked behind a wall of damage that I struggle to break down every single day of my life. I also have Dyslexia problems complicated by fine motor skill nerve damage. Do I use these difficulties as a knee jerk excuse for instances of personal, poor writing? THE ANSWER IS HELL NO!

To my way of thinking, real writers strive to overcome their disabilities, not use them as a crutch to languish within their flaws! I bought grammar based books and read them repeatedly to recover my lost knowledge. Due to a little thing called effort, I regained the vast majority of the information I once lost due to a life threatening medical crisis. Therefore, I do not give crackpot reviews whenever I take time to read over and consider the most glaring problems I see within a story's structures. I fine comb everything I write repeatedly to get rid of every flaw before I post anything. Yes, I do miss things, which I correct as I get a chance. A person who reads my work can return seven months later to find a lot of mistakes are corrected. I abuse my edit chapter button every few weeks, based upon the errors I get told about when someone reviews my stories.

Whenever I give a review to someone, I always endeavor to point out the strengths, and the weaknesses of each story I have read. The reviews I give carry my hopes that the input will help complete strangers to revise their stories to add strength to plots and characters that were devised. It is a real insult to all reviewers who give thoughtful feedback when the reviews get deleted by such frauds who pretend to be writers. Very few writers I have personally reviewed have retained my concrit reviews. Those who have kept their reviews, I am grateful to you for doing so. Your strength in keeping my review prevents me from becoming completely sick and tired of the constant flow of disrespect given to those who take reviewing for others seriously.

Put bluntly, I have seen the signs of a real epidemic of fraudulent whiners begging for reviews that are insincere. The ongoing blasphemy of it all has finally tweaked my last nerve. The majority of said frauds beg for reviews in every single chapter's author notes. My conclusion is that such begging for reviews is a form of blatant "stroke my ego or else" guilt tripping. "Please review because I live for reviews," is a blatant lie 9 times out of 10 in my personal experience with giving reviews. That type of bullshit line now reeks of the biggest attention seeking ploy in existence to me, as a reader. In the vast majority of cases I leave very tame comments compared to my actual reactions to such writer's stories. I refrain form taking every single line and pointing out the problems. If the writing is atrocious enough, I am reduced to perhaps you should use your spell/grammar checking features before posting in the future. Getting reduced to such a flippant response really hurts because I would not be writing a review at all if I did not see some kind of merit within the story. I would simply back click and be done with the author, and everything else they may have posted. I do keep a list of the unreadable slobs so I do not have to hurt my eyes by accidentally clicking on anything the royal stink writers have added.

During the last three weeks, after seeing how often that line accompanies a deletion of my reviews, experience tells me to avoid such authors as if they have the Black Plague. To date, seven out of every ten concretely focused reviews were erased because my input was not a fanpoodle. My honor code from my previous career as a "shred the writing to get it corrected in time for the sales team to make a profit from it" variety editor experience does not condone "I love it so keep writing" variety pat upon heads. I do apologize for this being such a tactless tirade. I had to get this off my chest because I am so frustrated with "poor me syndrome" type commentaries.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Kurahieiritr

[Aysha c.c.]

This is a good rant, I to am dyslexic, and like you I work hard checking and re-checking my stories before I post them. By the time I post, I have likely read it 6 to 10 times, and still I end up missing a lot of stuff that I get told about in reviews.

Whenever I am informed of mistakes I make a mental note to re-read the story and fix the problems.

Lastly I have never deleted a review, even if I didn't agree with what was said.

[Kurahieiritr]

This is a good rant, I to am dyslexic, and like you I work hard checking and re-checking my stories before I post them. By the time I post, I have likely read it 6 to 10 times, and still I end up missing a lot of stuff that I get told about in reviews.

Whenever I am informed of mistakes I make a mental note to re-read the story and fix the problems.

Lastly I have never deleted a review, even if I didn't agree with what was said.

Thanks for your reply, Ayasha. Many writers, and even published authors suffer from dyslexia, yet they give greater effort to insure they post/publish correct material. Every time I read threads, or see people using the illness as an excuse for not putting in honest thought/effort, it makes me boiling mad. In one day I saw a thread where every attempt to aide the supposed writer was met with a huge list of whines to explain why they could not attempt self improvement which triggered my "Last Straw" mentality. One thing I can not abide after fighting so hard to regain all I lost is whining "poor Me" excuses for why someone cannot attempt to improve and learn. The only way I can find some of the problems in my own writing are when people say paragraph 4 has forth instead of fourth type review input. It makes a world of difference in my ability to give people pleasant reading material instead of eye sore garbage.

I am relieved to know that you are another writer who does not delete reviews. Far too many do, and I have gotten insanely infuriated because I am the type to check an see if people do keep reviews so I know whether I am wasting my time if I read and review their work. Lazy, sloppy writing was bad at FFnet, but that was the reason people can only delete anon reviews, not signed. I begin to think it would be nice if AFFnet instituted the same policy to prevent frauds from deleting things simply because they do not like the truth. As it is, people still scream trolling, so the mods would get the I got trolled/flamed complaints like normal. If it is a genuine bash/flaming troll, the consequences would remain the same for the jerk leaving the review, if not, the review would stay up as a constant reminder that the writer needs to expend a little honest effort.

Thank you for making my day better this morning. I really appreciate knowing that I am not the only person who gives my reviewers respect when they use their valuable time to give me feedback.

[GeorgeGlass]

I agree about not deleting reviews. People who take the time to comment on a story in any detail (ie, more than just "This sux ballz") deserve that much consideration. The only reviews I've ever deleted have been ones that have pointed out some technical problem that I subsequently fixed, like when someone alerted me that my story had come out as one solid block of text. (And I thanked the reviewer for letting me know.)

[BronxWench]

I've deleted no reviews since I first began posting fiction online in 2008 simply because I was feeling hurt by what the reviewer said. Sadly, I lost all my reviews on FFN when I removed my work there due to the rampant plagiarism and lack of moderation on that site.

Having said that, I will admit to having deleted a few non-reviews. Two were responses to warnings I'd left as a moderator here, and the authors posted to my review board rather than emailing. I replied via email, but deleted the non-reviews. The only other non-review I deleted was posted on the latest of a series of prompt response one-shots I had done, and the reviewer was posting in retaliation for my having warned a friend of hers. It was obvious from the review that she had simply gone to the first subdomain where I had something published, and grabbed the story at the top of the list, which, as anyone with sense knows, would not have been the first thing I'd published, but the most recent. It was not a serious review, and although I have retained a screenshot, I did not dignify that idiocy with a response, nor did I feel obligated to keep it, typos and all, on my review board.

For the most part, I try to respond to all my reviews, and my review threads are right on my profile. I love a good discussion, and I love good concrit even more.

[Kurahieiritr]

I believe removing genuine trolls/flames/retaliation nonsense is reasonable and I never took that to issue in any way. To be honest, those kinds of reviews were not what sparked my Irish Viking temper to the ultimate of frustration levels recently. I have lost FFnet reviews since I have been slow and steady removing all of my work there also. I saved them in my writing program with the exceptions of the blathering suck up types myself. However, I think my greatest frustration has come from trying to be thoughtful and helpful which is a very different beast.

A "this sux balls" review is a flame and has no place in reviewing at all in my opinion. My understanding of Reviews are that readers are supposed to point out strengths and weaknesses within the story that they notice. Those strengths and weaknesses need to be expressed so a writer can write a better story that readers can enjoy all the more. Hence, my obscene irritation, and venting about this subject matter.

I almost want to beg the mods here to write a "How to give a review" article with the definition of what reviewing should look like so thick headed posers understand the difference between a fanpoodle and the real thing. Perhaps it is simply ignorance about the meaning of the term causing the troubles. All I can say for certain is that the vast majority of random fics I have read and reviewed no longer have the reviews I left for the writers. I know for a fact I was not cruel or brutal when I pointed out things like tense shifts or character pov shift mid paragraph. I always brought up the strengths whether it was descriptions, details, memorable characters, or interesting plot lines. I also always encouraged the poorer level writers to keep writing and refine their skills. So I know nothing I did could be construed as a flame/troll, or cruel.

[Kurahieiritr]

Perhaps the saddest part of this particularly insulting removal of reviews is how many people are affected because of those individuals who are too immature to accept real concrit. On my once a week scheduled Reading Day, I do nothing but read, and try to review someone else's writing. However, I am now treating reading days with caution, especially when it involves giving any reviews. Changing my behavior has become necessary to prevent me from getting insulted by other writers on this site. Now, I have to read over the story reviews before I bother to actively open any story. I no longer read any story if I can not verify the accepted class of reviews first. I used to read whatever caught my curiosity, but I no longer am willing to do so after the mass of insulting reactions I have been given by other writers.

A specific pattern seems to be emerging by actively checking out reviews before proceeding to read a story. My conclusion is that if the reviews are shallow, empty fanpoodles, there is going to be a problem. The pattern I am noticing includes Author notes that beg for reviews in every chapter. Once I see two in a row, it is time to reconsider reading anymore of that specific story because I can not say anything about the problems involved with the raw draft that was posted. I am deeply irritated when I know giving tips, and pointers to help the other party create a great story is not going to be accepted. When I have doubts about the writer accepting reviews that point out problems, I am abandoning their stories outright. This means I am having reading days where I start reading, yet must stop, and leave while giving no feedback at all. I know I am probably going to be deleted if I bring up the spelling and grammar errors that I do notice. Therefore, I have not left any reviews anywhere during my last two free roaming reading days.

One of the biggest Pet Peeves I have been developing personally; Grammar based punctuation problems such as the lack of Direct Address Comma, or Oxford commas in a sentence. This pair of commas makes a huge difference in the meaning of a single sentence. The Oxford comma's omission changes the meaning of a single sentence in very dramatic ways. I can not understand why so few people seem to know how to use it.

Example of the missing Oxford Comma: We invited two dogs, George and Michael to the barbeque. This does not have an Oxford Comma so it means the dogs are George and Michael.

Using the Oxford Comma: We invited two dogs, George, and Michael to the barbeque. The Oxford Comma tells the reader that two dogs, and two different people were invited to the barbeque.

[GeorgeGlass]

One of the biggest Pet Peeves I have been developing personally; Grammar based punctuation problems such as the lack of Direct Address Comma, or Oxford commas in a sentence. This pair of commas makes a huge difference in the meaning of a single sentence. The Oxford comma's omission changes the meaning of a single sentence in very dramatic ways. I can not understand why so few people seem to know how to use it.

Example of the missing Oxford Comma: We invited two dogs, George and Michael to the barbeque. This does not have an Oxford Comma so it means the dogs are George and Michael.

Using the Oxford Comma: We invited two dogs, George, and Michael to the barbeque. The Oxford Comma tells the reader that two dogs, and two different people were invited to the barbeque.

I completely agree that using the Oxford (serial) comma is a good thing, but there are actually a lot of styles out there that specifically forbid it. That includes AP style, which is probably the most widely read style in the English-speaking world. So I can't blame people for not considering it an essential component of good punctuation.

[ChrisCross]

I completely agree. And as a writer who really does live for reviews, these liars give me a bad name. I love reviews, honestly and sincerely. I may not have dyslexia (thank whatever deity was responsible for that), but I do have chronic depression and intense agoraphobia. These may not seem like they'd be pertinent to my writing, but the truth is, I write to alleviate the depression, and sometimes my readers are the grand total of my social interaction for weeks at a time. Knowing that people read my work, enough that they will write a review, helps me stay even keeled.

I don't care if the response is "You switched tenses for no reason here, renamed a supporting character (yes, i did that, this is why we don't type under the influence, kids) and then later a guy who hadn't been introduced showed up out of nowhere and I don't know who he is, etc." I actually like complaint reviews, because they help me grow. Of course, I also love it when a reviewer says "I like the way you did this scene, and your OC has a dynamic personality, etc." Who dislikes praise for their work?

My only pet peeve as far as reviews go is what I call anti-flamers, or as Kurahieiritr puts it, fanpoodles. The people who say "Great job, nice work, keep it up!" Ok, so you like it, great, but for the love of the Muses, can you at least tell me why?!? Is my descriptive work the 'great job', or is it my dialogue 'nice work', or should i stay with the pov format I was using, or was something else? I spend more time agonizing over vague compliments than over flaming trolls. Unless I'm writing a fantasy involving the spontaneous-combustibility of troll-kind. Then the logistics of burning underpass dwellers takes top pick.

[Kurahieiritr]

My only pet peeve as far as reviews go is what I call anti-flamers, or as Kurahieiritr puts it, fanpoodles. The people who say "Great job, nice work, keep it up!" Ok, so you like it, great, but for the love of the Muses, can you at least tell me why?!? Is my descriptive work the 'great job', or is it my dialogue 'nice work', or should i stay with the pov format I was using, or was something else? I spend more time agonizing over vague compliments than over flaming trolls. Unless I'm writing a fantasy involving the spontaneous-combustibility of troll-kind. Then the logistics of burning underpass dwellers takes top pick.

A: I got the word "fanpoodle" from our lovely Admin, DemonGoddess. She gets full credit for her awesome phrase. It fits perfectly in my book. So be sure to thank her for giving it such a nice name. Empty reviews do tend to leave you feeling like you are staring a cute puppy in the face and it is drool begging for your sandwich, or nipping at your heels so to speak.

I don't so much hate fanpoodles, but I do get a bit tired of the "Oh my gawd, loved it!" type reviews after I see a handful in a row. Unfortunately, the review erasers have sort of forced people into a corner if they are still willing to post reviews any longer. Perhaps part of the reason for so much fanpoodle class reviews is to keep from getting deleted if they have a concern. Maybe it is due to the amount of slop posted which could make even a person as sharp as myself go numb after a dozen fics if the typos did not drive me into hair ripping fits of torment. Many people have stopped reviewing all together due to assumptions that their reviews will get erased if they give a thought provoking review. It is due to the act of coming to this understanding that I am now experiencing myself which has induced such a hot headed rant in my case.

[DemonGoddess]

fanpoodles are not so much empty reviews, although that's what they tend to leave, is meaningless reviews, but the clique of reviewers who "squee" for no apparent reason, and review and make popular some absolutely DREADFUL writing. Yet, because it's (the story) for a popular pair, for example, it'll get reviewed and highly rated whether or not it actually deserves it. What's even worse, is that often, the writers who HAVE all the fanpoodle following tend to be rather divaish in behavior. To me, they don't so much seem to be writing for the craft of it, but more for the ego boost.

I suppose as someone who cut their reading teeth on the likes of Homer, Asimov, and Tolkien, I tend to be a tad picky...

[GeorgeGlass]

fanpoodles are not so much empty reviews, although that's what they tend to leave, is meaningless reviews, but the clique of reviewers who "squee" for no apparent reason, and review and make popular some absolutely DREADFUL writing. Yet, because it's (the story) for a popular pair, for example, it'll get reviewed and highly rated whether or not it actually deserves it.

And so continues the epic struggle between quality and content. Nobody cares how awesome your fanfic is if they're not interested in your fandom. That's fine, but unfortunately, the inverse (or whatever the right word is) is also true.

A month or so ago I Googled "fanpoodle" because I thought maybe it was part of general fanfic lingo; I didn't know it was actually created here, by you. Maybe this site needs a glossary.

[DemonGoddess]

I actually didn't create the term. It's been around for quite awhile.

[Kurahieiritr]

I actually didn't create the term. It's been around for quite awhile.

A: Oh, I'm sorry if I gave credit incorrectly. I had never heard the term before you posted it in a thread here in Forums. But it was such an apt term that I simply adored it the moment I saw it. I got a mental image of a circus poodle doing tricks for an audience and it has stuck with me. Seeing as how it does make a specific pairing story more popular without merit has caused me plenty of three ring circus monstrosity moments of thought, so yeah, I wanted to give credit where I thought it belonged out of respect for the person I heard it from first.

[Calanthee]

Some vicious Grammar and Spelling Freaks seem to read stories not to just enjoy them but to find fault with them in every possible way. Not to be helpful, encouraging, or constructive but just to feel superior and bring some one down. People write for a lot of reasons not always to create world shattering litature, but sometime for personal reasons. It helps them to relieve stress, sometimes just to be creative, or simply deal with lifes everyday problems. So what's wrong with that if this a free open website. Everyone, except plagiarizers or stealers of others people's words, should be able to write and publish here whatever their skill level, unless you plan to start testing us for grammar and spelling! God Forbid!

If you find a story you don't like and you feel that it's beneath you.... simple don't read it. Don't troll it with hateful nasty critics just to tear the down the story and its writer. If you feel you can be helpful with your critisms and your intent is pure then fine go ahead kindly make suggestions. But vicious cruel preditory Grammar and Spelling Freaks are not wanted, your the worse Trolls of all! Cal

[DemonGoddess]

Totally agree with Cal. Besides, the stuff that we leave here should certainly point to the fact that we don't QC, nor censor.

[GeorgeGlass]

Totally agree with Cal. Besides, the stuff that we leave here should certainly point to the fact that we don't QC, nor censor.

Are there any such sites that do? Hentai Foundry QCs images but not written material.

[DemonGoddess]

There are quite a few who QC before allowing addition.

[RogueMudblood]

Are there any such sites that do? Hentai Foundry QCs images but not written material.

Supposedly, FFN does QC. *rolls eyes*

Anyway, immediately coming to mind is Granger Enchanted, a Hermione-centric HP archive which requires a story be beta'd before they will accept it into their submission queue. And they will reject works and explain why.

WIKTT (Hermione/Snape) also does QC, and if a writer receives a request from the maintainer to fix a published story and doesn't do so, they run the risk of losing the story.

The Sam/Dean Slash Archive (Supernatural) also does QC and will deny a story if it has too many errors.

Those are but a few examples. I'm sure there are many, many, many more.

[Kurahieiritr]

There are quite a few who QC before allowing addition.

A: Hm, interesting to know. Quality Control was never the core issue that this rant focused upon when I posted it, and still has nothing to do with the main focus of my particular tirade. My whole rant was completely grounded in those who beg for reviews nonstop, then get mad when someone actually gives them one if it involves concrit feed back. My frustration exploded because such writers scream to get reviews they do not honestly want from the rest of us. The overall intent to vent frustration with review demanding that leads to reviews getting deleted, if said review is not purely glowing was the only reason for this particular tirade. ROFL. It was my intention only to rant about those specific writers who have the Diva style attitudes when I wrote this specific rant out. I was not speaking about others who do not review whore to the limit in A/N's per every chapter. Several threads bring up this same exact issue repeatedly in this forum, and it is something of an issue that I am not alone in expressing across thread domains. It is a topic many here have expressed, so I know I am totally not alone in the frustration felt over this specific issue.

Still, some automatically see all concrit reviews, which point to strengths and weaknesses alike, as trolling. I have no problem back button clicking when I start reading something that is very poorly written. It is not so much that I find such fics beneath me, rather such fics are often too difficult to follow with any personal enjoyment because I am thrown out of the story so often I stop reading. Yet, those writers are not screaming for reviews with every single chapter and to the limit of A/N format either. They are not the issue to me, because they are not throwing "give me reviews" tantrums.

If such intention to give reviews of the caliber I hope to receive from others makes me an unforgivable troll, then I am proud to be one. I used to make a living being a troll when I was an actual editor in the Print Media Publishing industry. Can't help but have a high standard because of my work history, I suppose. I've always endeavored to point out the strengths of every single story I have reviewed, but I always give the kinds of reviews I wish to receive from others because to me that is part of the expected game of writing. My favorite reviews have all come from fellow trolls who have helped me to revise my current stories a lot in recent months. The stories are steadily evolving into a better reading series since I began posting my work here. I'm grateful for the pointed out typos and other as sundry pointers I have received. I personally love knowing I have a few grammar and spelling trolls who like my stories enough to take the time to mention flaws they see in my work. Since I began posting here I have gotten some great feedback and am doing slow but steady revisions to all my tales to bring them up to a better standard. Guess this means I adore getting trolled.

[Calanthee]

Its fine to seek perfection in yourself if that's what you want to do, but have compassion for those not as skilled as yourself some people just enjoy telling a story even if its not grammar and spelling perfect. I have read stories with perfect grammar and spelling and tone of voice that comes across superior and the story ends up boring as hell! To me a good story makes me want to read each word that comes next even if they are spelled wrong and the periods and commas are missing. To me character development and plot structure are much more important than pure and perfect grammar and spelling... surely not every word we say to each other daily is perfect english we are all flawed is some ways, so are stories. A really good story rises aboves its flaws just like people do. No ones perfect, neither are stories. It must be very boring to read stories only to seek out their mistakes. Guess that's why I wouldn't make a good editor. Cal

[GeorgeGlass]

Usually, if I start a story and the spelling and grammar are really bad, I just quit reading it. I just can't stand reading stories like that--the language distracts too much from the story--and anything I could say in the way of concrit isn't going to make much of a dent, anyway. So any spelling or grammar problems I point out in a review are likely to be minor. I generally spend more of the review talking about what I liked about the story, because if there weren't enough things that I liked, I wouldn't have read through to the end.

[Kurahieiritr]

Usually, if I start a story and the spelling and grammar are really bad, I just quit reading it. I just can't stand reading stories like that--the language distracts too much from the story--and anything I could say in the way of concrit isn't going to make much of a dent, anyway. So any spelling or grammar problems I point out in a review are likely to be minor. I generally spend more of the review talking about what I liked about the story, because if there weren't enough things that I liked, I wouldn't have read through to the end.

A: Very good point, George. I am similar in my reading and review actions. I do talk about the good points of a story if I do review, and as often as not I leave the spelling and bad grammar to a single "please use a grammar/spell checker program before posting" comment. Some of the reviews I leave ask where the characters are located if the story has zero setting. Or I might find a fic where the Point of View shifts so fast it makes me dizzy trying to keep up with which character is speaking. A few have a lot of tense shifts, so the character is jumping back and forth through time without end in a given scene.

As the "lack of reviews" and several other threads all point out, the Diva types have ruined many people's desire to give reviews at all. Even a couple mods have had to explain to the Diva variety writers sending in reasonable reviews as trolls about the difference between concrit and trolling. Hearing that reviewers are actively leaving disclaimers before they leave a review is another sad evolution caused by the Diva's "Leave Reviews Tantrum fests" which is unfortunate for everyone who puts up stories here. A lot of people have stopped giving reviews at all because of the situation. The drop in reviews is connected to such Diva minded individuals in part. Other factors do exist, yet the common denominator really has been the Diva writers throwing tantrums if they don't get ego strokes alone.

Therefore, is it any surprise that talking about ideas that will provide future reviewers a sense of security through asking about creating an Author Promotion sector where we each have to list guidelines for our own reviews has begun in another thread? I know you've read that particular post, George. It is a sorry state when authors have to point out in detail which types of reviews are acceptable because of a group that has made many readers leery of posting any kind of reviews. I cannot see an Author Promotion addition changing this situation with reviews tapering off and even shutting down completely. The threads where Review requests are asked for by giving the story before it a review before posting your own tale(s) is about the only one I've seen that has worked. For anyone who does not wish to post a story though, it becomes irrelevant. If a person does not know the fandom, they cannot review as often as not due to lacking the background expected of them. So again, we have the same problem with finding a solution that lets reviewers feel comfortable with reviewing for strangers.

Easy solutions do not exist for the escalating problem that has sparked several diverse threads here in this forum. Several posts by people who once gave reviews speak of getting insulted by the Diva writers to the point they no longer bother to review for anyone. The number of individuals who have the experience with getting their thoughtful reviews deleted has been growing. The topic is included within multiple forum categories. Perhaps it will come to a conclusion when nobody outside of their specific support group, or buddy system gets reviews here any longer. Having to contemplate such a sorry statement is truly sad. Yet, it seems to be about the only viable option when people are reluctant to share their thoughts and opinions in the review system because of feeling disrespected. People are leaving fewer reviews of any classification as time marches on according to the different threads. Due to this phenomena increasing in repetition, I can only assume that the problem will get much worse in the future.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Kurahieiritr

[DemonGoddess]

We have a promo forum ya know. Promote a Story. You add that particular data to your post.

[Kurahieiritr]

We have a promo forum ya know. Promote a Story. You add that particular data to your post.

A: I know this, DG. ROFL. Another person was talking about adding an Author Promotion section to help inspire people to leave reviews. I told them they needed to look for a beta type of individual in that thread because their mentioned review criteria matched a beta, not a reviewer. I figured their idea would go nowhere when they started talking about it because of Promote a Story and similar sections that are here for that purpose. Still, it makes me wonder about the growing number of people who are frustrated as reviewers become scarcer.