I'm very sorry you feel attacked, that most certainly WASN'T my intention. However, just as you are standing up for your POV, you surely can understand that others are going do the same when your own POV disagrees with theirs. Personally, i don't think anything was said that was particularly harsh or out of line, but again that my opinion. If I've managed to make you feel attacked for it, then I'm deeply apologetic! It REALLY wasn't what I was trying to do!

UPDATE: After reading your edits to the last post I am going to jump in yet again. First of all I AM a MOD... in fact I'm an Admin. If you took such great offense to a forum post you shouldh ave come to ME... or another Admin. We could have handled this in private. Now you're putting words in my mouth? NO ONE is saying you are a bad guy. I'm explaining where the ORIGINAL comment that you took offense to, was inspired from. And this was of course stated long before you pointed out that you yourself said your are one of the members who expect a certain number of reviews.

Sweetheart, you misunderstood what I was trying to say.

I was referring to the practice of demanding reviews in return for more chapters. I did not once mention ff.net in a derogatory tone, although Dokuga is slammed on ff.net by MANY, frequently.

We don't go after people on ff.net for doing so either. We are a separate site with separate rules and methods. We do not condone flaming anyone or any other site here. As Moxy pointed out, though, the courtesy does not extend both ways.

Again, I am sorry you were offended, but that was not my intent. I'm sorry that you now feel attacked but that, too, was not my intent. I was merely trying to point out that THIS site does not allow such things and on THIS site, I felt it was perfectly natural to express that as a "pet peeve."

My apologies for any offense you may have taken from my response.

Sincerely,

~~Wiccan~~

Moxy: I am also aware you are MOD [I capitalize it all, IDK whym I didn't mean it in a disrespectful way]. I think there is alot of misunderstanding going around.

If I were really aggravated then I would addressed it with a MOD but I merely asked to be careful because I took offense. I meant with my original post - not your posts.

I am not saying you're calling me a bad guy but I have been placed on the defensive and it made me feel that way. I did not feel this needed to be addressed in private because these are my opinions and I was n't going to address this privately unless I was directed otherwise. I am ot meaning ti put owrds in your mouth however - this is my interpretation of the words spoken.

Wiccan: "We don't go after people on ff.net for doing so either. We are a separate site with separate rules and methods. We do not condone flaming anyone or any other site here. As Moxy pointed out, though, the courtesy does not extend both ways."

Per Moxy: "but FFN has been a notorious stronghold for writers who plagiarise (and FFN who has paid mods and admins, is VERY slow to act on these reports) as well as members who have been known to get right nasty about NOT getting reviews and the mods and admins do nothing about it"

That is what I was referring to. That is where the bad guy comment lumped up from and to be honest, don't worry about it.

I see where everything stands clearly and I can see where both of you are coming however I would like you to see where I am coming from as well. A comment was made and I did take offense. I didn't mean for everything to sprial to crap because I stated that fact. Had I known this would have happened I would have kept quiet like I always do and keep my opinions to myself.

We like that you share your opinion. It DID spiral downward fast, probably mostly because of the tming with posts and the speed in which the the forum chooses to update.

I'm sorry that you were made to feel attacked and like we thought you were the "bad guy." Please believe me when I say that was NO WHERE near what I was trying to do. I was TRYING to clarify matters so that you WOULDN'T be offended and managing to only make things worse.

Thank you for being so gracious about how the issue has progressed. And again, I apologize if I unintentionally hurt your feelings. I never meant any offense.

*ahem* Dancing around all that...

Kagome Yuki Niwa wrote:
...I write on ff.n and do ask for a certain amount reviews ...

I am curious!

Why?

I mean... why do you do this? What does it get you? Not trying to be offensive or judgmental at all! I just don't understand the motive and am trying to see things from your perspective?

I don't have a problem with people who want to hold their chapters hostage for reviews, personally, but I also don't condone it as I seriously don't get the idea at all. So what is your reasoning for this practice, if you don't mind sharing?

The fact of the matter is this - I personally don't think that the topic of review count requests/demands is a safe topic. That is all I want to express. I 'hostage' my stories [only three out of like 50] because I have like fifty that need to be reconstructed or completed and requesting a certain amount of reviews gives me both time to write the next chapter and take care of my other stories. And it also gives my readers a sense of, "She requested such and such and we're now at such and such amount so she should be uploading soon" rather then giving them a date that I may not be able to live up to. If I get them faster then intended then I pretty much just post what I have or finish it quicker.

I'm really bad with dates.

It has worked for me. I don't do it because I don't take pride in my work or even because I feel it's a popularity contest so being lumped in with people that so steal works, that do think it's a populrity contest, and that are mean to their reviewers is a little hurtful.

I am not someone to be butt hurt by comments. Believe me - I can dish and I can take. My feelings are fine but I do not want to be put in with a crowd that I probably wouldn't like sitting in front of me - much less over the net.

That's about it - I really don't have anything else to say. I feel very strongly about this - I don't want to start a problem. I just want my opinion heard and to at least be taken into consideration - or at least my feelings on the subject be taken into consideration.

And honestly Moxy? No worries. It happens when things are read rather than spoken and it's a little more difficult to express through words typed and things can be taken the wrong way. I'm sorry too~!

ZAN: That's why I do it - I know others that do it because it's like mentioned before a popularity contest. Most my stories are fine without it - however the biggers ones I like a certain amount so I have the time to post/write. It's not something I have done in awhile but it was a practice that I did participate in.

Kagome Yuki Niwa wrote:
The fact of the matter is this - I personally don't think that the topic of review count requests/demands is a safe topic. That is all I want to express. I 'hostage' my stories [only three out of like 50] because I have like fifty that need to be reconstructed or completed and requesting a certain amount of reviews gives me both time to write the next chapter and take care of my other stories. And it also gives my readers a sense of, "She requested such and such and we're now at such and such amount so she should be uploading soon" rather then giving them a date that I may not be able to live up to. If I get them faster then intended then I pretty much just post what I have or finish it quicker.

I'm really bad with dates.

It has worked for me. I don't do it because I don't take pride in my work or even because I feel it's a popularity contest so being lumped in with people that so steal works, that do think it's a populrity contest, and that are mean to their reviewers is a little hurtful.

I am not someone to be butt hurt by comments. Believe me - I can dish and I can take. My feelings are fine but I do not want to be put in with a crowd that I probably wouldn't like sitting in front of me - much less over the net.

That's about it - I really don't have anything else to say. I feel very strongly about this - I don't want to start a problem. I just want my opinion heard and to at least be taken into consideration - or at least my feelings on the subject be taken into consideration.


Oh! Well see... that totally makes sense to me now! It's your own way of organizing yourself. I can get with that and understand entirely. People all have their own styles to getting themselves motivated and organized and if telling people "I'll update if I get x number of reviews" is your method and works for you then I say more power to you. (And I meant no offense by the hostage word, I just really fail at finding the best words right now. XD)

I think the problem is that you are unique in this practice. The majority of people who demand a certain number of reviews before uploading stories do this as a way to force people to praise them. Unfortunately, it is all too easy for people to judge first and ask questions later. Knowing what we know now, it's not so far-fetched to think that you were offended by being so quickly lumped into a group of individuals that you do not belong with. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question!

I didn't mean to cause any conflict with my opinion though I was expecting this. It never fails where ever I go; I almost always have the opinion that's not "popular" in fandoms. I know my opinions can be a bit strong, but I honestly try not to offend people. I also try to be fair and open minded (though that can only go so far with certain things). I hate unnecessary conflict, especially ones that are the result in misunderstandings.

I'm also willing to change my opinion when it's challenged very well. While you haven't completely changed my opinion Kagome Yuki Niwa, I now know there is at least one person who has justified reason for demanding reviews. I'm sorry if I was generalizing, but I've learned a long time that it's human nature and the best we can do is prove each other wrong(and I have no problem admitting that I'm wrong ).

I know this thread is a rather old, and it went took a little walk away from the original topic at hand, but this has always been an interesting topic to me.

I don't think reviews can make or break a story if the author is writing for themselves. I've always written for my own personal happiness. If I post and don't get any responses, so be it! I wrote something that was worming around in my brain and just had to come out. It came out, and I was pleased. If someone else just so happens to enjoy it and let me know that it made them happy, it makes me even happier. I was able to brighten someone's day. Who could ask for anything more than that?

I've never relied on reviews to tell me that a story is worth reading. Over the past seven years since I've been writing for this fandom I've seen some terrible stories get reviews out the wazoo, and then stories that are truly works of art be passed by. If a summary looks good, I'll give it a chance. If the summary was misleading and the story isn't what I thought it was, I'll move on. It doesn't mean the story isn't good, it just wasn't what I was looking for.

All in all, in my opinion, reviews don't mean success. Success I think, especially in this, comes from the satisfaction that you yourself get from what you are doing. If you are personally satisfied with a story, if you learn from every experience you have with sharing your work, then you are a success. It doesn't mean fans, it doesn't mean reviews, or notoriety. If you are pleased with your work and open minded enough to grow from each experience you have, then you are a success.

I hope that is what you were looking for, OP. I can be rather long winded and could go on about this subject for ages and ages

To me, it depends on my mood. I am a summary person, I love summaries.

Mood 1: Find a good summary. Click. If it has little reviews and it's a good story (one with an interesting, well-developed plot), review each chapter. If the author notes in each chapter catch my interest (for example if it's the author's first story, if there are inner rating conflicts, etc.) I review and try to help. If the story had 200+ reviews...I usually just review in the last one.

Mood 2: I browse reviews. I make a math match of reviews and chapters by making a mental division of them reviews/chapters = read. That's not all though, again... I have to like the summary.

Mood 3: Click by title. Usually, titles written in different languages. :shrugs: Not sure why.

I don't mind cliffhangers, no cliffhangers, or some other of these things. I am a very patient, easy-going (I think) reader. What I seek most of the time is a great story, surprising plot with the character as IC as possible.

Hope this helps!