I've been around the site as a reader for a decade, and author for about a year (not under this penname).
I have some very disagreeable, things to say about the site in general, so I'll keep most of it to myself. Ever since the great nsfw deluge, every miniscule problem on site has turned up to eleven, but everyone can see that. This really isn't about who can show a booby or not, but that in of itself, is a symptom of the changing environment.
My main gripes are with how newer authors are treated within the space and how they get squeezed out or flattened by certain ingroups - these holier-than-thou cliques who treat the site like their personal playground and won't hesitate to view you as opposition if you don't play along.
Newer authors get zero exposure because the site is absolutely saturated with drivel, and if you aren't willing to prostrate yourself for shoutout swaps or very shameless self promotion, you're invisible. The only way to even try making it is chasing rising stars like a hungry stray dog becoming a slave to their system.
Here's the bigger problem. Rising stars are dominated by these clique groups. They have money for advertisements that regular authors could never afford because we have bills to pay. They coordinate releases of similar themed "products" - whether in pairs, trios, or whole damn teams and boost each other through review swaps, favorites, reads, and shoutouts while keeping the connections subtle. This makes it nearly impossible for newer authors to hit the only real source of exposure. The environment is also packed with people who will white knight these established authors.
Where's my evidence? I'd prefer not to get into specifics given the potential for retaliation in the webnovel space. I fear it will eventually turn into something in the vein of webnovel.
