Fanfiction Lounge

For those of you who may or may not know, one of our regulars lives in Chile.

I just got an email from Solovino,

Wanted to write a longer mail, but the service won't let me. Just wanted you to know I'm alive. If anyone asks about me at the FFL you can tell them I'm alive and OK, but internetless for a while (I'm writing from collegue).

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Wait wasn't there an earthquake in Chile. Then again, I heard it wasn't that serious since it was off the coast or something...

Nevertheless, tell Sol I said hi if you get the chance. :D

Yes, there was an earthquake in Chile. A lot of people in Hawaii had to evacuate for fear of a massive tsunami, but it ended up being two feet tall or something... |3

Ah, good. I'm glad to know solo's alive. We were all worried. :D

*slaps Lounge*

We're going quiet again! This cannot due; where else can I get morning amusement before I go to school? Quick, everyone throw in a bold topic! Let's get this thing up and running again.

Here's something I've been curious about:

What do you think about ratings on fics?

What do you think about ratings on fics?

Ratings as in ratings for mature content? Well, I don't really care about them much either way; if the forum in question insists on having one, I'll put one up, but if not I don't really like those rating systems and I'm actually no good with them anyway.

Dagzar said:

What do you think about ratings on fics?

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You mean how people rate the thread? or a Rating system for fics?

Dagzar said:

Sorry, I should have been less vague. I meant the little star rating you can give a fic (or thread). Do you give ratings to fics, do you judge a fic based on the little stars on the side?

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God no. I don't trust those ratings. You have new kids that no one knows rating their threads with five stars because they think that would make their thread look good. You have authors whose fics don't get rated because they really don't care and neither do their readers. And then you have people who use the thread rating system as some sort of ~revenge~ where they mono-star every thread created by particular authors.

So, personally, I really don't care what a thread's star rating is. I'll look into a thread and read it based on my own personal thoughts about the story. I very rarely trust other people's recommendations, and the thread ratings are included in that.

I have no idea why I'm so bitter-sounding about this.

Astinus said:

God no. I don't trust those ratings. You have new kids that no one knows rating their threads with five stars because they think that would make their thread look good. You have authors whose fics don't get rated because they really don't care and neither do their readers. And then you have people who use the thread rating system as some sort of ~revenge~ where they mono-star every thread created by particular authors.

So, personally, I really don't care what a thread's star rating is. I'll look into a thread and read it based on my own personal thoughts about the story. I very rarely trust other people's recommendations, and the thread ratings are included in that.

I have no idea why I'm so bitter-sounding about this.

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Nah, don't worry about being bitter about this. Heck, I would be bitter about this too. The rating system can be abused besides mono stars, like someone telling another friend to put a five star in a thread. Also, you have those people that thought the stars determine if their fic is good or not, when in fact it's not the case.

...yeah, ranting with you. XD

Bay Alexison said:

The rating system can be abused besides mono stars, like someone telling another friend to put a five star in a thread.

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That too. That completely slipped my mind during my rant. But it is true that that happens.

Stars don't determine what fanfics are good or not, they just determine what people think of them.

Little kids loving other little kids horrible fanfiction will give them 5 stars when it's definitely not worth as much as a fic.

I tend to barely notice star ratings. Like, literally, I just gloss over them like they're not even there. I don't tend to rate my own threads (not any more, XD)

There was once an incident in which I noticed a thread (it was a fic, too) on another board had gotten five stars from someone. Hovering my mouse over the stars, I found out that the rating was, in fact, from me. Apparently, I'd clicked on the rating thing by accident during one of the infamous freezings of my Vista. xD So, yeah, star ratings are quite possibly the most unreliable way of telling how good something is or isn't.

Not that I trusted them - or used them - before this incident, mind.

Also, hi. I am back, sort of. How is everyone?

*gomps Anni because that is what must happen when people reappear again in the FFL*

Oh, and yeah, fic star ratings are pretty bad - and PC isn't the only place with people abusing it as well. XD I know someone one-starred my fic as well once, why I have no idea... As for giving them out I rarely bother, if I ever did to start with. =P

I've had some people five-star my stories in the hopes that it will attract people, and I really don't mind other people rating my thread. Though I will likely never notice; like others have said, they're just not a very accurate indicator of just what a story is like. And plus, I don't want to bother with moving my eyes all the way across the screen to look at them. |D

What do you think about ratings on fics?
Honestly, I used to care, but now I couldn't be bothered really. In fact, the only reason that I think the stars shouldn't be abolished ar the fact that I'm Obsessive Compulsive and I like to fill in every little gap in logic or something that needs gap filling.

Ninja Caterpie said:

Little kids loving other little kids horrible fanfiction will give them 5 stars when it's definitely not worth as much as a fic.

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That reminds me of your mom. Of course, I don't actually mean your mom per-say, but I mean mostly everyone's parents in general. No matter how horrible your fic is, they'll sugar-coat it and tell you that you're doing a good job in an attempt to either a)spare you the horrible truth, b)encourage your writing skills to develop, or c)both.

Most of the times, people think that it's ok to make mistakes. However, what they don't realise is that if you keep making mistakes, you're bound to repeat the same mistakes over-and-over again. And you'll get used to making these mistakes that you think are right and it'll be hard to revert to the rigth way once you've been doing that one for so long.

That's my two-cents anyway.

Elite Overlord LeSabre™ said:

Stars look pretty. That's it.

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Shiny aren't they. :3

An-chan said:

Also, hi. I am back, sort of. How is everyone?

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I was going to tell everyone how I was, but you gave me a viable excuse to post my condition. xD

Well, I've been busy lately which makes me unable to really do anything serious in PC(i.e. the FFOTY thingy and reviewing.). For one thing, I have a paper to finish, a language to learn, the Collatz Conjecture to tinker with in Excel, three books to read, five other fics to read, and the answer to life to be pondering. In case you're wondering, all the above are real...

That said, I've finished The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, all five of them. I don't like the ending, but Douglas Adams passed on and as much as I trust Eoin Colfer to do a good job, it's just not the same. ;_;

Oh, and yeah, fic star ratings are pretty bad - and PC isn't the only place with people abusing it as well. XD I know someone one-starred my fic as well once, why I have no idea... As for giving them out I rarely bother, if I ever did to start with. =P

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Unless you know, they really had terrible taste and couldn't recognize quality writing, really didn't like the plot, or was being a troll...

Mizan de la Plume Kuro said:

That reminds me of your mom. Of course, I don't actually mean your mom per-say, but I mean mostly everyone's parents in general. No matter how horrible your fic is, they'll sugar-coat it and tell you that you're doing a good job in an attempt to either a)spare you the horrible truth, b)encourage your writing skills to develop, or c)both.

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...there are parents like that?

o_o

Craaazy. My mum should go talk with one of them. It'd be a great. She's way too blunt. and the worst part is it's hereditary

Anyway, I feel bored. Having to write an essay on the theme of 'lost' in Cinderella Man doesn't make it any better. The only thing I feel like doing is watching the comeback scenes in said movie, which isn't really useful in proving my thesis.

D=

Ninja Caterpie said:

...there are parents like that?

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Yeah, there are. My biological mother is like that, where no matter what it was that I wrote in my younger self-insert Sue-character bad-grammar days, it was the best thing ever!

Some parents just don't want to be truthful to their children, or they just really don't know how to be blunt when it comes to some things. My biological mother? No clue about anything to do with writing, so it's not like she could actually give good advice.

It's only when people who should know better (like teachers and grammar, we all should hope) don't say anything that there's problems.