The Official Author's Hangout 2014 Winter Holidays Contest Support Thread

[Kethandra]

I caught it pretty good overnight. Lost .20 and I had about 130 votes at last check last night so it took some work to have it dropped that much.

This is the second contest in a row my story went up on a Friday did well all day and got hit overnight.

Friday night is the night for trolling I guess.

Even my Halloween entry got a *1 last night. I recorded the votes yesterday, this morning there is one vote more and the score dropped in a way that only a 1* can do.

My only story that did not drop in score last night is the incest Winter entry. With 598 votes (Amazing! Thank you incest!), it's harder to budge the needle.

 

[lovecraft68]

Even my Halloween entry got a *1 last night. I recorded the votes yesterday, this morning there is one vote more and the score dropped in a way that only a 1* can do.

My only story that did not drop in score last night is the incest Winter entry. With 598 votes (Amazing! Thank you incest!), it's harder to budge the needle.

Yeah incest rules here in vote total. I think Seanathon's Halloween incest story broke 2k.

Drawback is...the sweeps don't give a big boost to stories with that many votes as it does lower vote total stories. Its what makes the sweeps more than a little flawed, but there is really no way to make them "even out" the low/high vote totals that anyone can figure out.

 

[Kethandra]

Yeah incest rules here in vote total. I think Seanathon's Halloween incest story broke 2k.

Drawback is...the sweeps don't give a big boost to stories with that many votes as it does lower vote total stories. Its what makes the sweeps more than a little flawed, but there is really no way to make them "even out" the low/high vote totals that anyone can figure out.

So I'm covered on the low vote end by my two one-pagers in Humor & Satire and Celebrity.
Neither would likely be at 25 votes yet if not for readers checking out the contest.

Back to Incest, it's astounding to me as an author here for all of two months, that my first incest story has over 60k views in two weeks. I've seen YouTube videos described as 'Going Viral' with less views than that.

 

[lovecraft68]

So I'm covered on the low vote end by my two one-pagers in Humor & Satire and Celebrity.
Neither would likely be at 25 votes yet if not for readers checking out the contest.

Back to Incest, it's astounding to me as an author here for all of two months, that my first incest story has over 60k views in two weeks. I've seen YouTube videos described as 'Going Viral' with less views than that.

My first two stories here were in low vote categories. BDSM and Fetish, barely got any votes or views.

My third story was in incest and it hit 65k views and a few hundred votes in one day. I thought something wasn't working right.

Amazing that on lit and other story sites how popular incest is, but sites like amazon won't sell it and there is still some type of "rule" and people trying to deny it exists....but its popular in every form, even porn with all the "step mom" videos, but nope have to pretend we have morals in this country

Meanwhile torture porn like Saw and Hostel? Oh, those are fine! Video games that women can be raped in and are more violent than movies? No problems! But over 18 consensual fantasy incest...nope.

I guess the "family values" the bible thumpers yap about is very limited in its values

Rant over. Back to my latest...mom/son story.

 

[Rozalin_0123]

My first two stories here were in low vote categories. BDSM and Fetish, barely got any votes or views.

My third story was in incest and it hit 65k views and a few hundred votes in one day. I thought something wasn't working right.

Amazing that on lit and other story sites how popular incest is, but sites like amazon won't sell it and there is still some type of "rule" and people trying to deny it exists....but its popular in every form, even porn with all the "step mom" videos, but nope have to pretend we have morals in this country

Meanwhile torture porn like Saw and Hostel? Oh, those are fine! Video games that women can be raped in and are more violent than movies? No problems! But over 18 consensual fantasy incest...nope.

I guess the "family values" the bible thumpers yap about is very limited in its values

Rant over. Back to my latest...mom/son story.

I must interject here...

While I can agree with most of what you said, video games do not have rape in any shape or form, unless it was made by some indie dev in his basement which wouldn't see the light of day anyway. In fact, when it comes to sex, video games are FAR more strict than movies.

Case in point; Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas "hot coffee" scandal. To make a long story short, the game was at one point banned for having a sex mini game in which the main character is sitting on a couch while his gf gives him a blowjob. Mind you, the only thing you can see is the back of her head bobbing up and down. The other thing to note; this mini game was only accessible by hacking the game's code with a third party device.

THAT got a game banned. They had to pull all copies, re-release the game with the "code" deleted from the disk which cost Rockstar a large sum of money.

A rape scene in this day and age would probably cause a development studio to go bankrupt. A developer tried back in the 90's, producing the game Night Trap for the Sega CD which used full motion video for the entire game. The rape scene was discovered, people complained, and the game was banned and a censored version was released later. That developer no longer exists.

Incidentally, Night Trap was banned BEFORE there was even the ESRB (Electronic Software Ratings Board). You know, those white letters you see on the cover of every video game box letting people know of it's contents. Night Trap, along with Mortal Kombat, Lethal Enforcers, and Doom are often referred to as the games that lead to the ESRB being created.

Sorry for the out of left field rant

It is strange how the US views all things sex. Sex is something everyone experiences in their lives, and is the very thing that lead to our own existence. Why does everything, not just incest, have to be so damn hush-hush? Seems our country is only okay with ending lives instead of creating them.

 

[jonthechaosman]

You've got to get that under control. Try a schedule like I did:

First thing when I wake up,
after I get dressed,
between making coffee and pouring it,
between each e-mail,
wait!...I need help

Thank you. Made me laugh.

 

[sr71plt]

I stopped looking at the ratings on my contest stories about a week ago.

 

[lovecraft68]

I must interject here...

While I can agree with most of what you said, video games do not have rape in any shape or form, unless it was made by some indie dev in his basement which wouldn't see the light of day anyway. In fact, when it comes to sex, video games are FAR more strict than movies.

Case in point; Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas "hot coffee" scandal. To make a long story short, the game was at one point banned for having a sex mini game in which the main character is sitting on a couch while his gf gives him a blowjob. Mind you, the only thing you can see is the back of her head bobbing up and down. The other thing to note; this mini game was only accessible by hacking the game's code with a third party device.

THAT got a game banned. They had to pull all copies, re-release the game with the "code" deleted from the disk which cost Rockstar a large sum of money.

A rape scene in this day and age would probably cause a development studio to go bankrupt. A developer tried back in the 90's, producing the game Night Trap for the Sega CD which used full motion video for the entire game. The rape scene was discovered, people complained, and the game was banned and a censored version was released later. That developer no longer exists.

Incidentally, Night Trap was banned BEFORE there was even the ESRB (Electronic Software Ratings Board). You know, those white letters you see on the cover of every video game box letting people know of it's contents. Night Trap, along with Mortal Kombat, Lethal Enforcers, and Doom are often referred to as the games that lead to the ESRB being created.

Sorry for the out of left field rant

It is strange how the US views all things sex. Sex is something everyone experiences in their lives, and is the very thing that lead to our own existence. Why does everything, not just incest, have to be so damn hush-hush? Seems our country is only okay with ending lives instead of creating them.

That's not the take I heard on Grand theft. There was a scene where a woman is pulled into a car and...I believe it was the first version probably pulled. My point is that many horrific things are allowed-and with parental guidance at an all time low these days-and no one has issues with it, but its fantasy erotica that is an issue. I'd rather people read about and enjoy a hot sex story than movies where people are getting their limbs lopped off. I doubt an erotica story will ever trigger a shooting spree...

The fact video games as well as comic book, two things formerly for kids, now has to be rated makes my point for me.

 

[Kethandra]

That's not the take I heard on Grand theft. There was a scene where a woman is pulled into a car and...I believe it was the first version probably pulled. My point is that many horrific things are allowed-and with parental guidance at an all time low these days-and no one has issues with it, but its fantasy erotica that is an issue. I'd rather people read about and enjoy a hot sex story than movies where people are getting their limbs lopped off. I doubt an erotica story will ever trigger a shooting spree...

The fact video games as well as comic book, two things formerly for kids, now has to be rated makes my point for me.

Your central point - it's crazy that a society would freak out about fictional incest (unless it's in Genesis or Exodus) while embracing real and fictional violence, some of it sexual - is well taken. Our society has insane priorities.
I thinks it part of a bigger societal fear and loathing of pleasure generally: If a drug makes people feel a little less bad, it's approved and sold. If a drug makes people actually feel good, it's banned and vilified.
Sex is bad unless it's done in the right kind of marriage for the right kind of reasons (making babies). And even then, it's best not to enjoy it too much.
Breast feeding in public is bad, because the sight of a nipple drives men mad with desire, outside of procreative marriage. An exposed nipple or two can get a movie a more adult rating than two hours of gunfire, car chases, explosions and destruction would.

Where I disagree is the peripherals you bring up:
The fact that video games and comic books are rated tells me that society has serious control issues, not that those media forms are so filled with adult issues. 'Comic books' have always had adult cousins, and illustrated sex books existed long before illustrated children's books.
I'd also argue parental guidance is nowhere near an all time low - the good old days of the industrial revolution, as one example, included both mothers and fathers working hellish hours and often children themselves working in horrible conditions with no responsible oversight.

Now a fictional tale about a loving couple enjoying each other who share too many chromosomes, that's scary.

 

[RejectReality]

Now have to be rated?

Comics Code Authority

 

[bbtp41]

Western culture, and the US specifically, like any other culture has some grand taboo that all its members share. In this case it's incest. And even that is a recent development. I direct your attention to FDR who married his cousin and had an affair with another. The attention in adult entertainment here reflects its designation as the grand taboo. If some other form of intercourse had received that brand then it would be the most favored.

We are drawn to what we can't have.

I agree with Kethandra that the real culprit here is control issues. The fact that groups want to ban certain entertainments represent an interested and motivated audience. Would we be happier if they didn't care at all? Remember, "Any publicity is good publicity."

 

[lovecraft68]

Now have to be rated?

Comics Code Authority

Good point...the original CC was a product of Wertham's infamous(and propaganda) book seduction of the innocent

However the CC you are referring to was tossed by DC comics around 84 nor so when they would not pass a Alan Moore Swamp Thing story line featuring Arcane and after that it was down hill

The ratings now are more along the lines of age rankings rather than an all encompassing one.

Back to Grand theft....I think it was a woman that was "implied" raped then thrown from a moving car.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

This is where Scouries (cough) may be right in having a minimum vote count of 250. Or at least, have a two-tiered contest.

Incest has placed maybe 4 or 5 times total in all the contests combined. Loving Wives, once, and that was by TxTallTales.

Or maybe all the good writers are just in Romance and Sci Fi, I don't know.

Yeah incest rules here in vote total. I think Seanathon's Halloween incest story broke 2k.

Drawback is...the sweeps don't give a big boost to stories with that many votes as it does lower vote total stories. Its what makes the sweeps more than a little flawed, but there is really no way to make them "even out" the low/high vote totals that anyone can figure out.

 

[lovecraft68]

This is where Scouries (cough) may be right in having a minimum vote count of 250. Or at least, have a two-tiered contest.

Incest has placed maybe 4 or 5 times total in all the contests combined. Loving Wives, once, and that was by TxTallTales.

Or maybe all the good writers are just in Romance and Sci Fi, I don't know.

The problem with the 250 vote minimum is that a lot of categories wouldn't qualify and that wouldn't be fair.

There was discussion of a two tier contest along the lines of less than x-votes, more than X-votes, but there's a lot of issues with that.

There are-as there is in any contest-a lot of flaws in the system. There are also ways to manipulate the contests. For example a last minute entry in a very low voted contest would have an edge, providing of course its a decent story and can maintain a good pre sweep score.

The sweeps for many are the issue. We don't know for certain what it counts/discounts. People here have some good educated guesses, but not for sure.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Entering a high vote category story late wouldn't be manipulating. It's just being realistic. Low vote categories place much more frequently.

Im glad to see there are not one but two Incest stories in this Contest that have a good shot at placing. Cousins and sibcest, the most romantic. . .

Interesting that the contests are driven by eternal love and soul mating. It's Romance by default.

The problem with the 250 vote minimum is that a lot of categories wouldn't qualify and that wouldn't be fair.

There was discussion of a two tier contest along the lines of less than x-votes, more than X-votes, but there's a lot of issues with that.

There are-as there is in any contest-a lot of flaws in the system. There are also ways to manipulate the contests. For example a last minute entry in a very low voted contest would have an edge, providing of course its a decent story and can maintain a good pre sweep score.

The sweeps for many are the issue. We don't know for certain what it counts/discounts. People here have some good educated guesses, but not for sure.

 

[RejectReality]

"Custer's Revenge" on the Atari 2600 was rape porn, and the system had bunches of porn games, so video games hardly qualify as "for kids" from the beginning, either. Before that, you're more or less looking at Pong consoles, and it's hard to make porn for that.

Of course, I bet if I search, I can find Pong Porn. Rule #34: If it exists, there's porn of it.

 

[TxRad]

Actually, scouries 250 vote minimum was to exclude the categories he hated, which were all but incest, his one trick pony category.

As for large vote categories being at a disadvantage. I really don't see it. If a BDSM story can win a Valentines Day contest, anything can happen.

By the way, that story has 3,628 votes, 792,102 views, 158 Comments, and a score of 4.73. Not exactly low on anything.

 

[lovecraft68]

Actually, scouries 250 vote minimum was to exclude the categories he hated, which were all but incest, his one trick pony category.

As for large vote categories being at a disadvantage. I really don't see it. If a BDSM story can win a Valentines Day contest, anything can happen.

By the way, that story has 3,628 votes, 792,102 views, 158 Comments, and a score of 4.73. Not exactly low on anything.

The story is also six years old at this point, do you recall the numbers around the contest time?

I ask because I am wondering if BDSM has taken a dip as it does not garner a lot of votes these days

I also wonder if the stories from a few years ago didn't get more attention with the site being somewhat smaller than it is now.

In recent times I can only recall one incest story placing (by Ben Long) Romance seems to be the dominate player of the last couple of years, or at least it seems that way.

 

[lovecraft68]

"Custer's Revenge" on the Atari 2600 was rape porn, and the system had bunches of porn games, so video games hardly qualify as "for kids" from the beginning, either. Before that, you're more or less looking at Pong consoles, and it's hard to make porn for that.

Of course, I bet if I search, I can find Pong Porn. Rule #34: If it exists, there's porn of it.

I don't recall the Custer game. I did have a 2600, but was never a big gamer other than D&D which I did not play on video games(remember adventure) I do remember hearing of the rape porn, but never seeing it.

But my point is whwn they first came out video games were mostly aimed at kids now they are pretty much aimed at adults as our comic books because the average adult these days...is simply a kid with money to afford these things.

My wife always jokes when we go over someone's house for the first time that how many video games the guy has is a reflection on how little sex goes on in the house.

 

[bbtp41]

That's because viewing porn has become acceptable for women these days. They are a more activist group that responds and votes more frequently then men. And we all know that women are touchy/feely while men are feely/touchy so romance does better now.

 

[lovecraft68]

That's because viewing porn has become acceptable for women these days. They are a more activist group that responds and votes more frequently then men. And we all know that women are touchy/feely while men are feely/touchy so romance does better now.

True. women are more apt to read erotica than guys who are generally more into visual porn.

I've written a couple of romances, but they went into mature because of age gaps. No real interest for me in "straight up" romance, I need to have a kink involved.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Forget I ever mentioned it. I mean, him.

yes but, if a BDSM story "winning" is pulling off a miracle, what does that tell you?

Out of curiosity I tallied every single placing category in every contest in the last 5 years. Romance and Sci Fi are so far and away the winners it's astonishing. The distant seconds are GM and EC.

Not sure why. I assumed lower votes totals was a contributing factor, but I could be wrong. Not that there aren't great writers in all categories, I'm just saying some categories do tend to do much better over and over.

Actually, scouries 250 vote minimum was to exclude the categories he hated, which were all but incest, his one trick pony category.

As for large vote categories being at a disadvantage. I really don't see it. If a BDSM story can win a Valentines Day contest, anything can happen.

By the way, that story has 3,628 votes, 792,102 views, 158 Comments, and a score of 4.73. Not exactly low on anything.

 

[lovecraft68]

Forget I ever mentioned it. I mean, him.

yes but, if a BDSM story "winning" is pulling off a miracle, what does that tell you?

Out of curiosity I tallied every single placing category in every contest in the last 5 years. Romance and Sci Fi are so far and away the winners it's astonishing. The distant seconds are GM and EC.

Not sure why. I assumed lower votes totals was a contributing factor, but I could be wrong. Not that there aren't great writers in all categories, I'm just saying some categories do tend to do much better over and over.

Sci fi is a lower voted category as is EC and Romance gets a good number of votes, but I think all can agree its a very generously voted category. The only way to tick them off there is not give a HEA.

I would have thought EH would have been there, but that's only for Halloween that it does well for the most part.

Incest is sort of alone in how many votes it can get, it can easily go over 2k at times for a contest. I had one in Summer 2012 that I think got around 2500k.

The mid range categories seem to be group/mature/lesbian....not sure on where some others fall.

The sweeps seem to affect things more than they used to as well which might be contributing to the incest dry spell so to speak. Its also a love hate category and gets a lot of trolling.

All I know is I am going to drop this before we start hearing how one person here-who is hardly here anymore- some how is responsible for every issue with voting/comment/trolling/favorites and contest wins/losses....

That is one busy guy

 

[RejectReality]

Romance used to be the dominant category, hands down.

Sci-Fi, Non Human, Non Erotic, etc. rarely managed to get enough votes to qualify, so it didn't matter what your score ended up being. Romance was the only category relatively free of trolls and jerks that could consistently qualify, so it pulled down most of the wins.

I still believe the vote minimum should be raised to 50. If you look through the 30 day toplists, even the low vote categories like Humor tend to reach that level nowadays. It would tilt the scale at least a little away from low-vote categories.

 

[lovecraft68]

Romance used to be the dominant category, hands down.

Sci-Fi, Non Human, Non Erotic, etc. rarely managed to get enough votes to qualify, so it didn't matter what your score ended up being. Romance was the only category relatively free of trolls and jerks that could consistently qualify, so it pulled down most of the wins.

I still believe the vote minimum should be raised to 50. If you look through the 30 day toplists, even the low vote categories like Humor tend to reach that level nowadays. It would tilt the scale at least a little away from low-vote categories.

I am surprised NH does not place often they are probably second to romance in soft voting. But then again it seems mostly everything there is a series(and they do well in the monthlies because of it)

As for minimum votes...in my time I haven't seen a story place that was around 25 votes....but that does make a case about sweeps. Take two bombs off of a 30 vote story you have a pretty good sized jump.