Okay, so followups...

[MayorReynolds]

I just had a followup to one of my previous stories approved.

I included an author's note at the very beginning of the story, which states:

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a followup to my previous story, I'll Be Home for Spring Break. Although this story stands well enough on its own, I recommend reading the first installment for the full experience.

A few minutes ago, my phone buzzed with feedback e-mail from an anon, who informed me that:

"re: This is a followup to my previous story,

Well that information should have been given BEFORE OPENING THE FUCKING STORY! Shit like this ALWAYS earns an automatic rating of 1."

And then he apparently proceeded to 1-star my story, blasting its fledgling rating back down to the sad zone.

My question is, what would have made this person happy? How could I have given out that information before the story was opened? Parenthesis?

Also, I can't find a way to reply to this person. Maybe that's not such a great idea right now.

 

[Darkniciad]

Nothing you could have done would make this anon happy. He/she is a serial commenter who says pretty much the same thing every single time. There are several of them on the site.

This is one of them to completely ignore. Some negative comments may have value, but this one is nothing more than worthless trolling.

I would be surprised if that bomb survives more than 48 hours. Folks like this who do nothing but drop 1-bombs for spurious reasons and openly admit it are sure to make their way into a problem voter queue and get wiped almost as fast as they can cast a vote.

 

[MayorReynolds]

Nothing you could have done would make this anon happy. He/she is a serial commenter who says pretty much the same thing every single time. There are several of them on the site.

This is one of them to completely ignore. Some negative comments may have value, but this one is nothing more than worthless trolling.

I would be surprised if that bomb survives more than 48 hours. Folks like this who do nothing but drop 1-bombs for spurious reasons and openly admit it are sure to make their way into a problem voter queue and get wiped almost as fast as they can cast a vote.

It's weird how these anons seem to have congealed into some ridiculous faction. Why do it? What's the point? How do they stay together, and what inspired them to start? All they really do is make the voting scores useless, forcing users to rely on Favorites to pinpoint popular stories. And almost every negative comment I've received from the anons has never explained "why." "Why" would this story be considered garbage? "Why" is it the worst this individual has ever read? "Why" is it confusing?

Constructive criticism is an invaluable tool for improving and getting better. Criticism does not help if it's just venom and no substance.

And you're correct. Nothing would have made that anon happy. If it wasn't the disclaimer there would have too much buildup to the sex. Or too little buildup. Or I didn't describe the pussies in enough detail. Or pubes make smart readers ragequit stories. Or I accidentally left in a comma splice.

I welcome feedback, whether it's positive or negative. But I tend to get a little heated when I've busted my ass for literally weeks on end to provide free content only to deal with a bunch of annoying cyber ninjas when the story passes inspection.

 

[RejectReality]

Pardon my alt. Don't feel like switching accounts LOL

What I meant by "several of them" is that there are several serial commenters with their own shtick.

You have this one, who I call the "chapter troll". He's especially fond of blasting stories where Ch. 01 doesn't say actually say Ch. 01. If you just put the title on the first one, he's sure to show up ( especially in LW ) and even more likely once Ch. 02 posts with the designation. He's doing nothing more than hunting for any story he can leave his lame comment on and blast with a 1.

You have the "no respect, delete it" troll ( mostly in incest ) who always comments that the story has some technical problem or another and thus is disrespectful to readers and must be deleted until it's done "properly"

( Granted, I have found this troll to have nailed a real problem in the story quite often. It doesn't make the nasty comment or the accompanying 1 bomb any less douchebaggie, though. So, still a troll )

Then you've got the "paid comments" troll who looks for stories with a lot of positive comments and posts for no other reason than to say that the positive comments are all by people the author has paid to leave praise. Naturally, this valiant hero must drop a 1 bomb ( or three ) to counteract the author's group of paid shills.

I honestly think that one person commenting in incest is a reverse psychology troll. The comments appear most often on mom-son stories, and always follow the same pattern. It's an over-the-top praising of the story that claims such relationships are almost universal, but simply kept secret, and worded in the most creepy manner possible.

If that one's real, it's creepy as hell *laugh* No real way of guessing what sort of score that one leaves, as M/S stories get so many votes that it's almost impossible to see the effect of a single vote unless you're the author, tracking very closely in real time, and the score is a 1 or 2 that can have a serious impact.

Yes, 1-bombs are frustrating and skew the scores, but so do fans who will vote 5 on everything you write, and not that many 5s get wiped out by sweeps. One of the sites where I post has a serious culture discouraging low scores or anything less than glowing praise ( at one time forcing someone to comment to vote 3 or below, and still giving the option for authors to block voting without commenting as well )

Never seen a score below 4 of 5 on anything there.

Another site only allows logged-in members to vote, drops the X% of highest and lowest votes, and then applies a formula to the score as well. It spreads the scores out, but when you look at the score displayed as compared to the votes received, all you can do is scratch your head and wonder where in the sam hell it came from.

In the end, every scoring system is an internet poll, and subject to manipulation. They also skew toward the high end because only those who really enjoy the story and aren't reading for quick gratification followed by a nap will make it to the end to actually vote. ( and those with an agenda to vote low, of course )

Score should only be a small part in evaluating the reception of your story, and probably low on the totem pole of importance.