General Complaints/Inquires/Requests Thread

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CheshireBilli

@CheshireBilli

Dazzler

+ 7

Posted: 11 years ago

#991

Okay, so I am genuinely curious. Why exactly are there so many rules about commenting? And if the TM doesn't have an issue with the sort of comments left on the thread, why is it an offense? Because what is 'constructive' is very subjective, isn't it? What I may consider constructive criticism, someone else may not. Plus, as EXPELLIARMUS pointed out, any sort of feedback is appreciated for an amateur writer. Well, I think it is. Frankly speaking, readers don't HAVE to comment. And if they choose to, no matter how short, it tells the writer that their story is being read and anticipated-- which is enormously encouraging.

Even an 'update please' tells me that there are people waiting to read what I'm writing and that actually prevents me from slacking off and procrastinating.

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Preet

@Preet.Kc

Sparkler

+ 5

Posted: 11 years ago

#992

Originally posted by: BlueMystique
Just chipping in with my two cents here. I find it a bit weird that there are so many rules about commenting. When I first saw the rule about spamming in FF threads, it was mainly due to people talking about personal things, that are better suited for a CC, in the story thread. And calling them spamming might be the right thing to do. But telling an author it is okay that they cannot update, or telling them to get well, or asking them when we will be seeing an update of the our favorite story, in my opinion, should still be considered "legal" for a lack of better term. You have mentioned that scraps and pm's work for these sort of things. I don't know about others, but scraps are where I talk to my close friends on IF, it is private, it is something I don't want to share with all my readers. And a number of pm notifications for something that could easily be said in the story thread, also doesn't make sense to me.

Ultimately, we all come to IF to read some good stories, appreciate the authors who write them, and maybe contribute some of our stories as well. Having to think about every post I make on a story thread for the fear of getting a "warning" or god forbid lead to closing of a story thread is not only unnerving, but kind of disappointing as well. Because like Luna said, it discourages me from commenting at all.

PS: I am seriously not trying to be mean, and not that this is relevant, but it is one of the worst offenses on IF, so I am going to say that I find it a bit weird. An author who might have plagiarized 3-4 paragraphs will have to face the same repercussions(warning level raise) and a temporary closing of their thread, similarly a "spamming" of comments could lead to a warning level raise as well as the closing of thread is to me, very unfair.

@Bold Red: I too think the same, after all we are just encouraging the author, something like "don't worry, we are with you take your time, we can wait" and I personally think that it hepls the author, keeping in mind my experience on the forum, i have seen a lot of writers thanks their readers for understanding them and few times even thanking them for making them write a chapter that without their comments(sometimes emotional notes) would have took more time to come.

@Bold: so true. It makes me hall irritated when i receive a PM regarding what can be said on the thread itself and i think many author feel in the same way.

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Preet

@Preet.Kc

Sparkler

+ 5

Posted: 11 years ago

#993

@Luna thanks for the reply, i'm really curious yaar, but i was right, there was a reason behind it.

P.S. another curiousity, Luna is your name kya? In my language it means moon.

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ArHinism

@ArHinism

Inactive

Posted: 11 years ago

#994

Hello Jot :)

Can you please remove these two thread?

URL Not Available

An advance thank you.. :)

URL Not Available

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Harjot.

@Angel-Jot

Alumni

+ 6

Posted: 11 years ago

#995

As I said about short responses such as 'nice update', there are no consequences and those comments are posted because they're allowed to be posted.. I just said that they are discouraged and it says that in the box very clearly. I didn't write it in there, the IF admin did.

You guys wanted us to be more alert when it came to plagiarism, you want us to be able to help authors promptly and act as soon as possible, correct? If we have to review a thread, and there's a multiple comments that are merely responding to a note the author may have posted instead of the story, and the chapter[s] itself, we aren't going to be very pleased. It's good when authors get appreciation from readers and there are no restrictions to appreciating a story. You want to comment on a fan fiction? On the story? Do it! DON'T SPAM! Unfortunately, this is not up for negotiation.

Since LooneyLuna, brought up a note posted by the DT at a particular FF thread, and has claimed that there was 'healthy discussion' going on, let me inform you that discussing Harry Potter and continuously posting 'We're waiting', is not a 'healthy discussion' That note was posted in response to those particular comments which are SPAMMING. [And also the comments you admitted to posting yourself about DT time zones and compatibility with other members.. FF threads are not there for you to discuss all that.]

I am sorry if members are feeling discouraged to comment (which you shouldn't because really, you comment at this forum specifically to appreciate the stories don't you? You're allowed to do that, just not allowed to post comments that aren't appreciating the story so I'm not sure why members are feeling 'discouraged'), but this is one rule that will remain intact to ensure lives of the readers and DT members are made easier.

Edited by Angel-Jot. - 11 years ago

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BlueMystique

@BlueMystique

Rocker

+ 7

Posted: 11 years ago

#996

Hi Jot. Thanks for the reply.

I understand that talking about things that are unrelated to the story might not be a good practice. I will say that sometimes, some part of the story might remind the reader about something and mentioning this in their comment might lead other readers to want to go off on a slight tangent and discuss it in the same thread, because there are so many people on IF, and not all us know each other. HP for example, is a very widely known thing and is known to get people who have read the books excited when they see a nod towards the novels in a story, and if one member picks up on it, then the other readers might want to discuss about it. Like I said, we don't know all the readers very well, and like I mentioned, I like to keep scraps and pms fairly personal, and as opening a CC for one such instance seems like a silly thing to do, readers do sometimes go off on a tangent and discuss some things that are not directly related to the story.

Also from what you are telling us, the main reason for this rule is that it makes the lives of the DT easier when it comes to being vigilant about plagiarism. I don't think any of us would ever ask you to check all the stories on the forum and be on the lookout for plagiarism. All we asked was that you deal with plagiarism when it does arise in a story, and when that happens we as users point you to the instance of plagiarism, don't we? Why would you have to go through the entire thread to detect plagiarism. And as far as I know, the author to whom the warning was issued wasn't actually participating in the discussion, so if a need did arise to check for plagiarism, couldn't you just go through her posts? If being vigilant about plagiarism is the issue, then maybe restrict the author form participating in these discussions, not the readers.

Also, I don't know about the other authors out there but sometimes, when life gets hectic, I tend to slack off on updating, and seeing a "update soon" or a "waiting" gives me a good kick in the butt to update. Similarly, when I post a note, I'd like to know if my readers think I am being fair, or if they think I am just being lazy. I want to make sure they understand why I might not be updating for a while. So, seeing a replies to a note helps immensely as well.

And finally, it is discouraging because, putting it simply, reading and commenting is something we do for fun, and having so many restrictions around it, and having to stop myself from wishing an author "Good Luck" or "It's okay" or "Get well soon" or "OMG! I cannot wait for the update anymore" etc makes it less, well, fun, for a lack of better word.

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Harjot.

@Angel-Jot

Alumni

+ 6

Posted: 11 years ago

#997

^Understandable but I should've added that it's not just for plagiarism. Situations do arise where we are required to review a thread whether it's because of a comment a reader made or any other issue where we need to go through the thread.. We can't ask certain authors to ensure that spamming doesn't occur, we need to make sure it applies to EVERYBODY because it has to be fair.

I get the fact that you guys would like to keep PMs and scraps, for more personal issues but the thread does not need to be necessarily spammed with 'we're waiting' comments. That's not needed and will not be permitted. We need to keep the forum as efficient and as clean as possible.

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rith123

@rith123

Voyager

Posted: 11 years ago

#998

I've been a silent reader for a long time and I only recently started commenting on stories. I understand that rules have to be implemented to prevent plagiarism and unnecessary spamming, but what confuses me is, how asking for an update or saying "Can't wait for the next update"considered a form of spamming, seeing that it is a form of appreciating a story. Same goes with notes posted by the author.
I've read what you had to say about similar questions and I'm only asking because I know that it means a lot to the author to be appreciated for their stories. But I'm still very confused and would like some clarification. Thanks in advance.

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CheshireBilli

@CheshireBilli

Dazzler

+ 7

Posted: 11 years ago

#999

Originally posted by: Angel-Jot.
As I said about short responses such as 'nice update', there are no consequences and those comments are posted because they're allowed to be posted.. I just said that they are discouraged and it says that in the box very clearly. I didn't write it in there, the IF admin did.

You guys wanted us to be more alert when it came to plagiarism, you want us to be able to help authors promptly and act as soon as possible, correct? If we have to review a thread, and there's a multiple comments that are merely responding to a note the author may have posted instead of the story, and the chapter[s] itself, we aren't going to be very pleased. It's good when authors get appreciation from readers and there are no restrictions to appreciating a story. You want to comment on a fan fiction? On the story? Do it! DON'T SPAM! Unfortunately, this is not up for negotiation.

Since LooneyLuna, brought up a note posted by the DT at a particular FF thread, and has claimed that there was 'healthy discussion' going on, let me inform you that discussing Harry Potter and continuously posting 'We're waiting', is not a 'healthy discussion' That note was posted in response to those particular comments which are SPAMMING. [And also the comments you admitted to posting yourself about DT time zones and compatibility with other members.. FF threads are not there for you to discuss all that.]

I am sorry if members are feeling discouraged to comment (which you shouldn't because really, you comment at this forum specifically to appreciate the stories don't you? You're allowed to do that, just not allowed to post comments that aren't appreciating the story so I'm not sure why members are feeling 'discouraged'), but this is one rule that will remain intact to ensure lives of the readers and DT members are made easier.

Since you have brought this up, Jot, I feel the need to ask what if the story itself refers to Harry Potter or the like? I personally refer to a MULTITUDE of things while writing and have oftentimes had readers get excited because they realize that I too am a fan of something they like (beyond IPK-- which is the fandom I write fanfic for). When that happens, it is only natural for the readers to post comments with reference to the same.

While I understand why you would want only relevant comments on the fanfiction forum, many of us would like greater clarity in terms of what is "relevant." If Harry Potter is part of the story line, why would comments pertaining to that be irrelevant?

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Harjot.

@Angel-Jot

Alumni

+ 6

Posted: 11 years ago

#1000

^Since you asked the 'what if' question, I'm assuming you haven't understand the past two or three comments I've posted.. Anything related to the story itself, is permitted. If however, if Harry Potter isn't relevant to the story, it can't be discussed. And if we're going to use that particular thread as reference, please do not forget that there were many other comments that caused the DT to post the note..

Rith123, is that providing the author with constructive feedback? Is that commenting on the story, the chapters posted? If you post that once, we would let that slide. You're only reminding the author to update, okay, whatever, we'll let that go. However, many readers post such comments over and over again.. That will be and is considered spamming.