Relaxed category/content guidelines?

[suzypfonne]

Is it just me or is anyone else noticing that category guidelines are getting lax?

I've come across several "incest/taboo", "loving wife", "resistance/rape fantasy" stories in the "erotic couplings" category and I don't care for it. I understand many people find those things to be exciting, but I don't. Which is why I don't read stories from those categories. When they're hidden within other groups I have no reason to expect that I'll suddenly come across content that will completely kill my arousal.

I'm also turned off and distracted by the terrible typos, grammatical errors, and lack of continuity that seems to suddenly be okay. When I tried to submit a story several years back it was continuously rejected because the editor didn't care for my quote structure. I eventually gave up. You're welcome to call me an angry, spurned writer. I'm sure that's at least partially to blame.

 

[Sammael Bard]

It'd be better if you back your claim with links to the stories in question. That would be a better proof of your claims and the moderator might do something about it.

As for your second claim, Literotica receives hundreds of stories every week, as compared to a few years ago when the submission rate was really low. I don't think a single moderator (Laurel) can go through each and every story and go after its grammatical typos and stuff. Same thing goes for misplaced stories.

Try looking for an editor who is willing to help you out in the Editor's Forum. Hope you post your stories in here soon.

 

[sr71plt]

Are you not adult enough to take responsibility for what you read or don't and just stop reading what you don't want to read? Will you melt if something suddenly pops up that offends you? Perhaps you aren't adult enough to be on this Web site at all. People used to be able to take responsibility for themselves and not expect everything to be catered to them personally. You must be from the "take care of me" generation.

This is a porn site. If you can't stand being turned off once in a while, just take a hike.

 

[Sammael Bard]

What's wrong with someone taking offence at something they don't like?

 

[litmlove]

I am a forgiving kind of reader because, to me, there are only two real categories of stories: good stories and bad stories, everything else is merely sorting. Where is the line between Romance & Erotic Coupling? It's not too important, what is important is that the author delivers on the expectations of the audience, me.

Story = The Sculptor, Tagline = "A young starving-artist poses nude for a sculptor". - This story is in the romance category but belongs in the Erotic Coupling category. Fortunately RoniGrace delivered the story I expected/wanted with some sizzling body 'sculpting' Category mislabel = forgiven.

I won't pick on a bad story, but lets say they didn't deliver on the eroticism or a real emotional romance... oh... and their writing ability was crap.

 

[PennLady]

What's wrong with someone taking offence at something they don't like?

Well, to go extreme for a moment, what's wrong with that is what happened in Paris last week.

But backtracking and scaling down. This is a site with lots of stuff. Lots of free stuff. If you don't like it, you have lots of other options. If you have a genuine complaint about the site, you should make it to the owners, which is admittedly difficult to do if you don't know about sending PMs via the forum. I'm not sure any other communication, such as emails, are even seen.

Erotic Couplings covers a wide range -- it's seen as something of the catch-all category -- but I do think most people go in expecting a M/F sexual experience. When that's not what they get, they are surprised. However, as sr71 said, we can all be responsible for what we like and don't and just click to another story. If they are serious about it, they can report it.

But just to bitch about "I don't like how the stories are filed" is not going to do much.

Also I don't have a ton of patience with people complaining about stuff on a *free* site. You have the option to not read here.

 

[sr71plt]

What's wrong with someone taking offence at something they don't like?

When done like this, it's a clear signal that the OP wants to be catered to--wants to be taken care of without taking responsibility for themselves. I don't think that's adult behavior. Since I find not being adult on an adult site offensive, I guess you have no problem with me responding to "I'm offended by" with "I'm offended by that," right?

 

[Sammael Bard]

Well, to go extreme for a moment, what's wrong with that is what happened in Paris last week.

But backtracking and scaling down. This is a site with lots of stuff. Lots of free stuff. If you don't like it, you have lots of other options. If you have a genuine complaint about the site, you should make it to the owners, which is admittedly difficult to do if you don't know about sending PMs via the forum. I'm not sure any other communication, such as emails, are even seen.

Erotic Couplings covers a wide range -- it's seen as something of the catch-all category -- but I do think most people go in expecting a M/F sexual experience. When that's not what they get, they are surprised. However, as sr71 said, we can all be responsible for what we like and don't and just click to another story. If they are serious about it, they can report it.

But just to bitch about "I don't like how the stories are filed" is not going to do much.

Also I don't have a ton of patience with people complaining about stuff on a *free* site. You have the option to not read here.

When done like this, it's a clear signal that the OP wants to be catered to--wants to be taken care of without taking responsibility for themselves. I don't think that's adult behavior. Since I find not being adult on an adult site offensive, I guess you have no problem with me responding to "I'm offended by" with "I'm offended by that," right?

Got off on the wrong foot, I guess?

I don't support anyone bitching about something. It's useless and a waste of time (Meet the GB!). PL, as you've said, people can report the story if they're serious about it but bitching about it won't help.

I'm saying that if someone gets offended by something, they have a right to say about it or express it.

Something like, Hey, this particular story doesn't belong here. It should be there instead.

Very unlike the OP, I'm sure.

 

[PennLady]

Got off on the wrong foot, I guess?

I don't support anyone bitching about something. It's useless and a waste of time (Meet the GB!). PL, as you've said, people can report the story if they're serious about it but bitching about it won't help.

I'm saying that if someone gets offended by something, they have a right to say about it or express it.

Something like, Hey, this particular story doesn't belong here. It should be there instead.

Very unlike the OP, I'm sure.

They do indeed have a right to say something, and in this case they did. No problem. But that doesn't mean you won't be criticized in some way. I don't mean to criticize exactly, and did provide an option for doing something more proactive, if that's what the OP wants to do.

Also, and again not everyone realizes this, especially those new to the forums, is that saying something in the forum won't do anything. For any change to be effected, you need to say something directly to Laurel or Manu. Which doesn't mean the change will happen, but that's about the only way for it to happen.

To go off on a slight tangent, just because there is incest doesn't mean it's not an erotic coupling. (It may be a bit surprising b/c incest is usually a trump category.) I suppose not so much if you don't like incest, but still, no one's forcing you to read the story.

 

[xhellblazerx]

To chip in on the side of the OP....if its okay to put anything, anywhere, then why does the site have categories?

How about this...maybe the next time when you rent a movie for your children and in the middle of it there's a hardcore sex scene you just laugh and say "Oh that was a surprise."

Or you buy a children's pop up book and one of the pop ups is a big ole dick?

"Sorry honey, I know that's scary, but people don't have to tell you whats in their story and you're just whining."

I respect people writing the story they wish to and if that means mixing some different types of kinks in there that's fine, but tag it properly and have the respect to have a message saying, "This story contains elements of..."

I've seen many authors do that and its helpful to me because I don't deal with something I might not like and it saves them a bad vote by someone who feels mislead.

It shows respect for the reader and the more I pop into this forum the more I see that respect for the reader is pretty much non existent. The authors put their work here for feedback votes...they want a good response, but anything they hear that they don't want to is whining and ignorance.

 

[sr71plt]

There are very few stories that fall into just one category.

The Web site has the categories it has because it started out with the category system and hasn't gone to the expense or effort to change it. I think we can live with that without hyperventilating. It's certainly worth what we're paying for it.

 

[PennLady]

To chip in on the side of the OP....if its okay to put anything, anywhere, then why does the site have categories?

Well, this is exaggeration, admittedly as I did in a previous post.

There is one person on this site who vets the stories; mistakes will be made. I doubt really that any more mistakes are being made than have been made before. It sounds to me like the OP had a bad run, which is annoying, but once again -- the site is free. If we were paying to join, paying to read, then I'd say you have more grounds to complain.

And again, just because it's incest doesn't mean it's not an "erotic coupling."

How about this...maybe the next time when you rent a movie for your children and in the middle of it there's a hardcore sex scene you just laugh and say "Oh that was a surprise."

Or you buy a children's pop up book and one of the pop ups is a big ole dick?

"Sorry honey, I know that's scary, but people don't have to tell you whats in their story and you're just whining."

This is apples and oranges. We're not talking about the levels of mix-up you're describing. This isn't being sold tickets to Shakespeare and then ending up at a punk rock concert. We're talking about a crossing of categories on a site designed for adults. Categories which often bleed into each other anyway.

I respect people writing the story they wish to and if that means mixing some different types of kinks in there that's fine, but tag it properly and have the respect to have a message saying, "This story contains elements of..."

You wouldn't expect this from a print book, would you? To a great degree, in print or online, you take your chances. As an author I take my chances, too. You're welcome to vote me down if you feel you've been misled. OTOH, I have to wonder why you'd be so sensitive to that kind of thing.

If I read, for example, and Erotic Couplings story involving two people and one of them was cheating, I'd not like the story. But it doesn't make it less of an Erotic Coupling, overall, and I can just go on.

It shows respect for the reader and the more I pop into this forum the more I see that respect for the reader is pretty much non existent. The authors put their work here for feedback votes...they want a good response, but anything they hear that they don't want to is whining and ignorance.

I think you're wrong. We do have respect for the readers, and I show that respect by writing a story and assuming the readers can figure out what they like and don't like without me spoonfeeding it to them. A romance might have elements of BDSM if that's what the characters like and want; if you don't like it, then it's a bummer, but I don't see why I should have to lay that kind of thing out.

I also think most of us are open to constructive criticism. It doesn't mean we'll always agree with it, or implement changes because of it, but we like to receive that because it gives us something to consider.

 

[robertreams]

While it is true that all the training in all the books cannot make a creative writer, good writing, writing good sentences is not, as some would have you believe, a matter of opinion.

For a site like Lit. if you have no standards, you have nothing. There is a plethora of information available on this site as to how to submit your work. It isn't that "some editor" didn't like your quote structure, it IS that you did not follow the required quote structure.

As for categories: In what category do I place a story about swapping, in which suddenly one of the male characters touches another's cock, so it's a gay story, but wait, now he touches it a bit harder, so now it's a bdsm story, but wait, one of the women refuses to play because she loves her husband, so maybe it goes LW category. In the end it is one long romance story with a lot of fucking, sucking, and so on. Does it really matter that much? Are your eyes going o fall out of your head because you read a few lines of a story that's not n the narrow confines of your taste?

 

[Trip_Dalton]

I think this is a moot point really, because if it happens, it's pretty rare. I've been reading here since 2001 or so, and I've never read a story that was categorized wrong. (not saying it never happens, but I think it's rare)

 

[Hypoxia]

I'll go binary and suggest two possible approaches: 1) write specifically for a category, or 2) write what you want and select a pigeonhole later. If (1) then no problem; Mommy does Sonny who is sub to his dom Bro so it's Incest even as alien tentacles stroke all players. If (2) then we have questions like this thread. Oh, the torture...

 

[suzypfonne]

Holy hell y'all.

Okay, for starters PennLady I wasn't picketing for change, and I'm quite aware that a forum post won't change a darn thing. I get that. I was more polling the audience to see if this bothered anyone else. I see now that looking for a common voice in here is like volunteering for a firing range. My mistake.

robertreams, I mentioned my own attempt at submitting a story because even after making the requested edits to my quote structure it was rejected. I find this mildly annoying since so many stories are seemingly posted without any editing whatsoever.

The_Soulful_Bard, the story that spurned my comment about categories was "My Best Friend, Katie: Pt. 3", which though listed in erotic couplings I thought would have better been tagged in "incest/taboo" or "LW". I do know there are overlaps. I for one am game for light bondage and lesbian scenes, but as another poster mentioned I was one of those expecting mainly M/F without too much variation.

sr71plt: Holy shit! Really?! You obviously find it fine to complain and fly off the handle yourself, so excuse me for ranting. You should take your own advice and if you don't like reading it (in this case, my post) don't. You're adult enough to walk away right? In answer to your bitchfest, I'm 32 and perhaps I do have "narrow" views on what I find erotic. So what? I am not condemning anyone for what they find exciting. You like the idea of diddling your sister on the front pew at church while the priest is being blown under the pulpit by a choir boy? Fine. More power to you. For me that's a bit of a buzz-kill especially when I didn't expect to read it. And I absolutely quit reading and move onto another story when I encounter it. I never asked to be catered to, I was merely commenting that I thought some were miscategorized and have been surprised at some of the content in an otherwise (seemingly) benign category. How dare I have an opinion! And I shared my opinion *gasp* so I must be a spoiled, entitled brat. Bullshit. Reread my post man, I never said I was offended or that everyone should conform to my preferences. Do I find some subjects to be a turn-off? Yes. Do I expect they're a turn-off for everyone? No. Am I demanding that Lit change over to married-purely-vanilla-missionary-position only stories? No. Get a grip on yourself and walk away.

 

[sr71plt]

Guess this is a night for the angry crazies to come out.

 

[suzypfonne]

Yup, you're here.

 

[Trip_Dalton]

Guess this is a night for the angry crazies to come out.

Or maybe it's you?

31,000 posts and almost every one of them needs cheese to go with all the whine.

 

[LadyVer]

To chip in on the side of the OP....if its okay to put anything, anywhere, then why does the site have categories?

How about this...maybe the next time when you rent a movie for your children and in the middle of it there's a hardcore sex scene you just laugh and say "Oh that was a surprise."

Or you buy a children's pop up book and one of the pop ups is a big ole dick?

"Sorry honey, I know that's scary, but people don't have to tell you whats in their story and you're just whining."

I respect people writing the story they wish to and if that means mixing some different types of kinks in there that's fine, but tag it properly and have the respect to have a message saying, "This story contains elements of..."

I've seen many authors do that and its helpful to me because I don't deal with something I might not like and it saves them a bad vote by someone who feels mislead.

It shows respect for the reader and the more I pop into this forum the more I see that respect for the reader is pretty much non existent. The authors put their work here for feedback votes...they want a good response, but anything they hear that they don't want to is whining and ignorance.

Like.

 

[sr71plt]

Or maybe it's you?

31,000 posts and almost every one of them needs cheese to go with all the whine.

So, you're claiming to have read all 31,000 of my posts? Sounds pretty stupid, doesn't it?

So far I also have 735 stories posted to Literotica to your . . . 1.

So, who's the drone here, advertising wares with no dues paid to the site and acting all knowledgeable on the basis of joining up this week?

Your whole hard on here is because you attacked Robertstreams and I gave him a bit of support on the point you attacked him on. You're the one being schmuck--and you seem to have company on that tonight.

 

[Trip_Dalton]

I've paid my dues I was here before you, and I'll be here after you. My one Incest story, the one with 91,000 views in four days, yeah just the one, trumps all that flat, boring . . . oh never mind.

As for Robert, well you sure used to follow him around pointing out all of his mistakes until he started kissing your butt, now he's your golden boy.

I jumped him because he's a tool. He started spouting off about one of the people he edited for. Degrading the poor author right here on the forums. Yeah, that's a really nice thing to do. Then he screams about the word "And" like its the devils word, so I prove he uses it even more than the person he's whining about, and somehow I'm a liar, LOL. MS Word knows how to count words in a document, but apparently Robert doesn't

As for advertising? I had no idea I needed a certain amount of crap on this site before I could advertise. Based on yours, it doesn't have to be very good, it just needs to hog up space

 

[sr71plt]

Sorry, you are just being a ranting maniac about both Robert and me. And bullshit to my changing on Robert--I dinged him on Strunk and White on this forum just a couple of days ago. No, this is just about you going postal on Robert--and then me, like a baby having a tantrum. (You got some company in that yesterday--a regular newborn nursery wailing away.)

And bullshit to you having been here long enough to read all of my posts as well (that statement of yours was downright stupid). In this persona you only started to exist this month. That, though, brings up why you have had to go to a new persona here. The other one became crazy enough that you felt you had to change? Maybe you need to change to yet another new account?

 

[TamLin01]

What's wrong with someone taking offence at something they don't like?

This is actually a perfectly reasonable point. People don't like have to like or approve of everything they read. Their disapproval doesn't mean the rest of us can't write it, read it, or like it, but it's not invalid. Frankly, I think it's those who expect/demand that dissenting voices pipe down who are asking to be catered to.

To the original point: shit happens. Sometimes writers don't know or can't decide where to stick a story, or sometimes admin slips up and puts it somewhere it probably doesn't belong. Such is life. The categories are intentionally elastic definitions anyway. It's an imperfect system, but most are, and it's good enough most of the time.

 

[litmlove]

Sorry, you are just being a ranting maniac about both Robert and me. And bullshit to my changing on Robert--I dinged him on Strunk and White on this forum just a couple of days ago. No, this is just about you going postal on Robert--and then me, like a baby having a tantrum. (You got some company in that yesterday--a regular newborn nursery wailing away.)

And bullshit to you having been here long enough to read all of my posts as well (that statement of yours was downright stupid). In this persona you only started to exist this month. That, though, brings up why you have had to go to a new persona here. The other one became crazy enough that you felt you had to change? Maybe you need to change to yet another new account?

You know, you wouldn't have everyone questioning your ability if you were diplomatic. People can have an opinion you disagree with, but that doesn't make them bad people deserving scorn. They are not "crazies", they feel genuinely aggrieved that Literotica's categorisation convention is being carelessly flouted.

I agree that mis-categorisation is not a problem that needs to be addressed. Unfortunately this argument is being lumped in with your dismissive snarky abuse. So instead of stating the argument for your case, you cause one. Sigh. I don't think you realise your casual abuse is sacrificing your credibility: you are polluting your valid arguments with your toxic reputation. Of all the places, please don't come here to insult anyone or anything. It's bad for everyone, yourself included.