am i the only one thinking RR ads are kinda flimsy

[beast_regards]

I'm no fan of google, amazon, patreon, webnovel, or RR. As long as they're the big players though, they're the ones I'll cater to. I put my foot down at webnovel, and don't publish there, mostly because I'm a diehard anti-communist. I quit playing league when Tencent got in on Riot. That was that.

...

I reiterate that you're butthurt about something else, and are fabricating non-existent problems. Hell, you're even otherizing me by pretending that I'm some kind of RoyalRoad representative. I'm not. I just don't like liars.

...and I am not an American.

A difference between you and your Chinese counterparts is negligible and could be measured how well I understand English vs. how well I understand Chinese. I am not concerned with politics, not there, not on your site, it's ultimately all the same, and I don't want to be caught in some stupid political argument. We are there for the entertainment, an escapism especially from your politics.

Your proclamation about "Chinese censorship" is quite laughable as the Royal Road, Amazon and Google are Israeli and American respectively, yet they do want to censor and control everything as much as the Chinese do, and your monetization schemes are not that different from Tencent...

Difference between you and Quidian (that owns Webnovel) is that you didn't implement pay to read yet.

 

[AuroraAvengarde]

No, their ads really are lame. Especially the stick figure ones.

 

[beast_regards]

No, their ads really are lame. Especially the stick figure ones.

Moderator John fixed your stick figure.

 

[Tyranomaster]

...and I am not an American.

A difference between you and your Chinese counterparts is negligible and could be measured how well I understand English vs. how well I understand Chinese.

Your proclamation about "Chinese censorship" is quite laughable as the Royal Road, Amazon and Google are Israeli and American respectively, yet they do want to censor and control everything as much as the Chinese do, and your monetization schemes are not that different from Tencent...

Difference between you and Quidian (that owns Webnovel) is that you didn't implement pay to read yet.

I never complained about Chinese censorship. I complained about communism. My complaint with Tencent and Quidian is actually that the Chinese government directly funnels money into these companies and makes policy decisions for them. There are aspects within the American system that obviously does that as well, and I'm not a fan of it, but I can vote for American policy. Even the Chinese can't vote for Chinese policy. To some degree, I wish America censored more of the degeneracy we allow openly. China at least keeps a lot of it under control, but they obviously go way overboard and various things.

I can understand why you wouldn't care about which side. That's fine. The thing that's actually annoying to me is that I'm being included as a member of some group that I'm not a member of. I'm being otherized, and I don't appreciate it. You can continue to do so, free speech and all that, but I always find it funny that those who complain about how their being repressed and attacked gladly just throw around loose terms and groupings to demonize individuals they don't agree with.

For your convenience, I've bolded the various instances where you've decided to include me in your mental cabal of big baddies out to get you:

There are a lot of things you are purposefully omitting, like, for example, a fresh account making generic and vague low rating reviews under one's story after someone jumped through the review hoop. They came out of nowhere, only rate one story, and then, go silent. If I report them to you, the reports are ignored. Not only they could say mean things to me, like the rest of the Internet can, they could defeat me with the basic math.

~~~

Which means, no, the process is not only not replicable; it is very clearly done with the full knowledge and support of your moderation staff. Because, clearly, you have a tools to stop this behaviour, you just apply them selectively.

Now, that's a conspiracy theory. We all know there are no furries on the Internet. I confirmed it through the test the Google found, and they couldn't be wrong. After all, they were suggested by the people who wrote your content rules!

and your monetization schemes are not that different from Tencent...

Difference between you and Quidian (that owns Webnovel) is that you didn't implement pay to read yet.

Other than participating passively in their systems, I'm not a policy maker. Pay to read does exist in their systems, it's externalized through Patreon, where you can read ahead, or Amazon KDP where it's monetized exclusively. I have no problem with books being sold, or with the pay to read aspect of Webnovel. I have an issue with Webnovel's degree of control they exert on authors through their contracts. I do also have some degree of problem with people actively pulling down stories on places like SH without modifying them, then selling them, but other members of the SH community have convinced me that it's actually not a problem, so I'm more ok with it than I used to be.

I am, by no means, against monetization. You've created some kind of strawman image of me in your head that is something akin to the head on a hydra that you've associated with these other companies. If you're so collectivist that any person that doesn't agree with you is a head on that hydra, and you and your fantastical band of buddies are "Actually the Real Good Guys" who are individuals, and everyone else is just a part of some non-human monster, then you live a terrifying and sad existence.

Every person has some worth, and is an individual. Individuals make bad choices or good choices. Even communists are individuals (despite some of them claiming otherwise). People working for a company are just that, people working for a company. They aren't somehow "The Company". They might be a representative of "The Company", but they aren't "The Company". The only of those companies you could claim I maybe work for is Patreon, because I do collect money there. If participation on a website means being employed there, then sure, I work for RR, SH, Wordpress, Google, Facebook, X, Amazon, Unity, Steam, etc etc etc. Same goes for governments, and friend groups, and every other possible grouping of people.

It's targeted discrimination to put people into a box and not treat them as an individual, to claim they're merely 'a member of a group'. Even worse if it's 'A member of a group I dislike'. It's the kind of thinking that caused the atrocities of last century.

 

[abu_nur]

No, their ads really are lame. Especially the stick figure ones.

Yep i can make several yt videos out of them fr ?

 

[beast_regards]

...but I can vote for American policy. Even the Chinese can't vote for Chinese policy

I couldn't vote for American policies.
I couldn't vote for Chinese policies.
I couldn't vote for your Royal Road policies either, or of yours Amazon and Google partners.
So, I am sorry I don't feel for the pains of you and some multi-billion dollar company you so passionately defend.

 

[HiroXV]

What I find personally insane about the fact that RR ads are like this is just... Well, the fact that they cost.
Like, you'd figure that spending around 50 $ for an ad would make you aware that you should create something attractive to get more viewers but no, let's throw 50 $ to shit and make stick figures.
I'm not accusing RR of anything, but the fact that this (and ai porn slop) are the standard is tragic.

 

[abu_nur]

What I find personally insane about the fact that RR ads are like this is just... Well, the fact that they cost.
Like, you'd figure that spending around 50 $ for an ad would make you aware that you should create something attractive to get more viewers but no, let's throw 50 $ to shit and make stick figures.
I'm not accusing RR of anything, but the fact that this (and ai porn slop) are the standard is tragic.

I mean if you already have to pay 50$ just hire an artist i know guys who may agree to even 10$ and are at least decent ?. Also my main reason to start writing in like 2020 was because the standard of fiction everywhere was always the same and stuff it was hard to find what i wanna. So i started by writing what i wanted and now it's just a hobby and practicing diff genres

 

[Tyranomaster]

What I find personally insane about the fact that RR ads are like this is just... Well, the fact that they cost.
Like, you'd figure that spending around 50 $ for an ad would make you aware that you should create something attractive to get more viewers but no, let's throw 50 $ to shit and make stick figures.
I'm not accusing RR of anything, but the fact that this (and ai porn slop) are the standard is tragic.

A fool and his money are easily parted.

Most people don't really pay much attention through their entire lives, they don't dig into details, never learn more than surface level. They browse facebook, tiktok, and other such places, and drift through life. They're told advertising helps them. They want to buy an advertisement. What kind of advertisements have they seen through life? Sketchy porn ads for video games with a busty elf on them, Strange ads on facebook for games that don't exist, and nonsense ads on tiktok that are nonsequetors. They say, "This is an advertisement, it's what I know". They make it. It fails. The other ads also fail.

Advertising has failed. It's full of failures. People put up stupid ass ads everywhere. Youtube has ads that are like 22 minutes long. A friend said he got a full 4 hour podcast as an ad once. Those aren't effective ads. People do it. Why? Because none of them know what advertising is, but all of them know that ads give you reach. So they do it themselves without understanding basic principles, and the problem spreads. Back when you had to like, buy a very expensive ad buy on TV, yeah, you got a professional to do it. $50 bucks tho? That price screams do it yourself, and they do. If the price was $5000 dollars, and you got a permanent spot on their website for a whole year, yeah, most people would pay for a professional to design the ad. At $50 though, in a lot of first world countries, that's less than a video game, so it's a DIY price.

 

[abu_nur]

At $50 though, in a lot of first world countries, that's less than a video game, so it's a DIY price.

I kinda chuckled at this part cuz i did the math and 50$ is 2500 from my country coin which is kinda half the price of a Samsung here. I actually know people with such wages, it's kinda funny in a dark way ?.

 

[Gray_Mann]

Further, if I had to wager, you write a lot of furry porn.

I'm not picking sides here, and I'm not throwing my hat in this here ring because unlike most people here, I prefer RR to SH. I'm only participating in the forums on SH, and I read only two authors here on SH at the moment, one of them being @beast_regards

Now, I've been reading his story since when it was still on RR, and I don't remember any sex scene in his work. In fact, he most uses the fade-to-black technique where it's implied they did things, but nothing more. No explicit scenes that I remember. If they are, they are closer to the beginning and it's been a while since then so perhaps I've forgotten.

Anyway, I like Isekai and I like LitRPG, but I'm not a super fan of them. It's weird to me when people dog on RR for it being a majority LitRPG site when I have close to 30 fics on my favorites list, and only 1/3 of them are LitRPG's. Yes, LitRPG makes up the majority of the site, but it is NOT hard to find something outside of that genre on RR. You people just aren't even bothering to try.

As for the ads, I don't see the problem. They are either okay, vaguely funny enough to elicit a snort, not an actual laugh, or just plain stupid. I rarely see one that fits outside of those three possibilities.

I also don't get the whining about the "porn-looking" ones. Get the fuck over it. It's weird to me how prevalent porn online is, than we have the OnlyFans crap, hentai, and idk whatever else I'm forgetting I'm sure there's something, and we still have retarded ass puritans crying about sexy looking characters. You aren't mature enough to be online to me. I mean seriously. Shut up.

Not all of this post was referring to anything you said @Tyranomaster

I kinda dumped a little of all I had to say here.

 

[Anonjohn20]

I think you're flimsy for using an awful site like RR. I wouldn't give them the internet traffic; they'll have to continue deceiving investors by using bots. lol

 

[JayMark]

Is there something more nefarious going on with the rating system?

I can't say, have no proof. I have my own personal experience, but that could just be me sucking at writing. And a bad gut feeling, especially whenever I see 'writing is a business' plastered all over the forums. And the blatently unfair experiences I've witnessed a few other writers suffer there has left me with a fear, unrational perhaps, but a very real fear of posting in forums or sticking my neck out. I would never dare appeal a bad rating with mods either. I don't want to appear argumentative ever. The nail that stands out when it's not part of the favored team seems to get hammered down real quickly. But this is more my own sense of things, it simply governs my behavior as a nobody.

SH, which also has its faults, is much more chill community.

 

[beast_regards]

Now, I've been reading his story since when it was still on RR, and I don't remember any sex scene in his work. In fact, he most uses the fade-to-black technique where it's implied they did things, but nothing more. No explicit scenes that I remember. If they are, they are closer to the beginning and it's been a while since then so perhaps I've forgotten.

I wasn't banned for the porn.

Well, I was on Spacebattles ... no one knows that the rules are on Spacebattles, not even ones that enforce them, so I couldn't say it was undeserved.

On the Royal Road, I had a dispute with the moderation before they could even judge my content...

They are the record in my Book of Grudges since then.

Is there something more nefarious going on with the rating system?

I can't say, have no proof. I have my own personal experience, but that could just be me sucking at writing. And a bad gut feeling, especially whenever I see 'writing is a business' plastered all over the forums. And the blatently unfair experiences I've witnessed a few other writers suffer there has left me with a fear, unrational perhaps, but a very real fear of posting in forums or sticking my neck out. I would never dare appeal a bad rating with mods either. I don't want to appear argumentative ever. The nail that stands out when it's not part of the favored team seems to get hammered down real quickly. But this is more my own sense of things, it simply governs my behavior as a nobody.

Yes, there is.

You could report the rating. I did, several times. They will ignore you. Their rating system is not a bug, it is a feature that forces the interaction through conflict, giving them the traffic they want.

 

[Tyranomaster]

I'm not picking sides here, and I'm not throwing my hat in this here ring because unlike most people here, I prefer RR to SH. I'm only participating in the forums on SH, and I read only two authors here on SH at the moment, one of them being @beast_regards

Now, I've been reading his story since when it was still on RR, and I don't remember any sex scene in his work. In fact, he most uses the fade-to-black technique where it's implied they did things, but nothing more. No explicit scenes that I remember. If they are, they are closer to the beginning and it's been a while since then so perhaps I've forgotten.

Anyway, I like Isekai and I like LitRPG, but I'm not a super fan of them. It's weird to me when people dog on RR for it being a majority LitRPG site when I have close to 30 fics on my favorites list, and only 1/3 of them are LitRPG's. Yes, LitRPG makes up the majority of the site, but it is NOT hard to find something outside of that genre on RR. You people just aren't even bothering to try.

As for the ads, I don't see the problem. They are either okay, vaguely funny enough to elicit a snort, not an actual laugh, or just plain stupid. I rarely see one that fits outside of those three possibilities.

I also don't get the whining about the "porn-looking" ones. Get the fuck over it. It's weird to me how prevalent porn online is, than we have the OnlyFans crap, hentai, and idk whatever else I'm forgetting I'm sure there's something, and we still have retarded ass puritans crying about sexy looking characters. You aren't mature enough to be online to me. I mean seriously. Shut up.

Not all of this post was referring to anything you said @Tyranomaster

I kinda dumped a little of all I had to say here.

I think most of the ads are just ineffective. Not all, some people do it right. I also actually like the idea of a website being funded by the people who use it, and this does that well.

If it's not porn, my bad on that assumption, but the basis stands. I had someone complain rabbidly in my comments because they thought there was a chance I'd have my non-human mc join in with humans in a harem setting.

Is there something more nefarious going on with the rating system?

I can't say, have no proof. I have my own personal experience, but that could just be me sucking at writing. And a bad gut feeling, especially whenever I see 'writing is a business' plastered all over the forums. And the blatently unfair experiences I've witnessed a few other writers suffer there has left me with a fear, unrational perhaps, but a very real fear of posting in forums or sticking my neck out. I would never dare appeal a bad rating with mods either. I don't want to appear argumentative ever. The nail that stands out when it's not part of the favored team seems to get hammered down real quickly. But this is more my own sense of things, it simply governs my behavior as a nobody.

SH, which also has its faults, is much more chill community.

I think the biggest issue that inexperienced people run into is not understanding how to navigate beauracracies, or formulate legal style arguments to compel action by people in power. People look at it like there is some set of favored people. In reality, most successful authors are also just successful at all the related author tasks as well. Things like articulating accurately why a behavior is a violation, making bad ads, not keeping to schedules, not managing their community interaction well.

I've talked about it before. Being a successful author is like 20% the story and your ability to tell it. The rest is all non writing work.

I never go on rr forums. SH is chill.

 

[AuroraAvengarde]

What I find personally insane about the fact that RR ads are like this is just... Well, the fact that they cost.
Like, you'd figure that spending around 50 $ for an ad would make you aware that you should create something attractive to get more viewers but no, let's throw 50 $ to shit and make stick figures.
I'm not accusing RR of anything, but the fact that this (and ai porn slop) are the standard is tragic.

This picture is terrifying.

 

[Tyranomaster]

I wasn't banned for the porn.

Well, I was on Spacebattles ... no one knows that the rules are on Spacebattles, not even ones that enforce them, so I couldn't say it was undeserved.

On the Royal Road, I had a dispute with the moderation before they could even judge my content...

They are the record in my Book of Grudges since then.


Yes, there is.

You could report the rating. I did, several times. They will ignore you. Their rating system is not a bug, it is a feature that forces the interaction through conflict, giving them the traffic they want.

I'm more than willing to come around to this argument and believe it, if you can produce evidence that the report was actually something that should have come down, and you were cordial about it.

 

[beast_regards]

I'm more than willing to come around to this argument and believe it, if you can produce evidence that the report was actually something that should have come down, and you were cordial about it.

As you very clearly know, my story is no longer available on the Royal Road. All my attempts at writing have been deleted from the Royal Road, and with it, all the private messages, reviews, comments, etc. disappeared as well. It has been a year, perhaps two, since my account was deleted as well. I have no doubts that you have the logs: the terms of the service clearly state you keep the records indefinitely. However, only moderation and site owners could access them. For us, regular uses without any connections, they are good as gone for us, common uses....

There is no return to the site...

I gave up on it. First, I thought it would be possible, the second change, with a new account, the reviews reset. This time no daring fate on the forums, this time hopefully avoiding all the mistakes. I managed to make an account a month, perhaps two, after my departure... but now, it's futile.

 

[Tyranomaster]

As you very clearly know, my story is no longer available on the Royal Road. All my attempts at writing have been deleted from the Royal Road, and with it, all the private messages, reviews, comments, etc. disappeared as well. It has been a year, perhaps two, since my account was deleted as well. I have no doubts that you have the logs: the terms of the service clearly state you keep the records indefinitely. However, only moderation and site owners could access them. For us, regular uses without any connections, they are good as gone for us, common uses....

There is no return to the site...

I gave up on it. First, I thought it would be possible, the second change, with a new account, the reviews reset. This time no daring fate on the forums, this time hopefully avoiding all the mistakes. I managed to make an account a month, perhaps two, after my departure... but now, it's futile.

Alright, I have to just be getting trolled.

Our stories have the same number of readers here on SH. If I had an inside pathway on RR and was planning on exploiting it, I feel like I'd try to get a larger readership there than I actively have.

 

[RepresentingDesire]

it is basic courtesy, to give me the link young man ?

Just search for the nowhere-stars discord server in the story but shitting on rr ads and bad story isn't the only thing happening.