Got 1 star because of a comment in forum.

[Deleted member 166076]

That's actually like an interactive story!

Yeah, a lot of my readers like that aspect of my work. I've also done polls and surveys on Wattpad and RoyalRoad before as well. I only recently started cross-posting everywhere else, so haven't had a chance to do anything similar for free readers elsewhere. I've made a Spotify playlist for all of my longer works and the "Her Beasts" one is a result of readers input on Wattpad as well as my own efforts. Meanwhile, the one for my "The Dangerously Cute Dungeon" series only got a few replies of suggestions, so it's mostly from my husband and me working together. I haven't got as large of a readership for my "The Innkeeper's Dungeon" series just yet since the free chapters aren't very many right now, so I just got help from a user on Wattpad and my husband to compile a playlist for it. Suggestions are still open for the dungeon stories, but yeah.

In the past, I did a huge survey asking for interview questions for my "Her Beasts" series and that resulted in me writing a huge interview chapter meant to be canon and fit into the story naturally that got put as a bonus chapter at the end of the first volume. It's got some funny moments that newer readers really love and find humorous. I do most of the decision-making as far as the main story, but little interactive things like that really help bring the story to life in a unique way that I just wouldn't otherwise have.

As for current projects, I am currently running a 'contest' for TDCD where readers can submit 'fanifiction' of other dungeon masters as a like a short one chapter story written in the same way I do interludes. I'm planning to post them all as one chapter and have poll voting for the winner, but it's also a sort of interaction. I haven't had any submissions yet, but I've had several people comment they're excited about it and may want to participate in it. We'll see how that goes, not everything always works out, but I'll still keep attempting things like it in the future.

 

[Deleted member 146224]

I don't know about others, but I want to protect readers as well. Wild, I know.

And what kind of investment is lurking in the shadows, awaiting those poor unsuspecting readers that they need to be protected so much? Is every novel paywalled, so they can't take a peek inside, to see if it was written by a 5 yo on sugar high? Are they forced to make a donation once they reach a certain chapter? Will someone take their kidney hostage so they don't drop after 1 chapter?

It's easy to say that readers have limited time and they need to be baby sat so they don't waste it on something they don't even know they don't like. But so are authors. Many of the people posting here post for fun or as a hobby, writing between work while juggling being responsible adults with a desire to live a little. It takes significantly more time to write one chapter than to read one chapter. It also takes a lot more time to plan, draft, outline and so on, than to read the same thing.

There are plenty of aspiring writers, who are still young and still learning how to produce something of a readable quality, who can get easily crushed when some wanker decides to just slap a 1 star, because they don't like the specific genre. Not everyone is omega super chad with a skin thicker than an underground anti-nuclear bunker. Sometimes people simply have a bad day, or a bad century and that 1 random 1 star can be a little bit too much. And then some stories will never be written, stories that many readers could enjoy for free.

Ratings, as they are now, as utterly useless. The rating gets skewed both ways, because troll gangs exist, but also because there are a bunch of people and their army of simps, that will bloat the rating with 5-stars, not because it's good, but because it was written by X or Y. And then how are people, who don't know anybody, supposed to get through, if all of the readers with their limited time go to those bloated 5-stars?

Removing the rating system completely creates the most fair environment for everyone. It's just like a bookstore, but better because you can see tags (so you know what type of story to expect) and even get to read the whole thing. For free.

 

[Xcalibur_Xc]

... It takes seconds to copy anything that’s on the internet. WebNovel cannot stop theft. It maybe can stop Trolls, but SH and RR have ways to stop trolls as well, such as limiting reviews and ratings to 1 per IP and not allowing VPNs to review or rate.

Let me prove it. Give me the link to a chapter of your novel on WN, and I’ll give you the chapter in plaintext within minutes, if not seconds.

They already stopped twice. So, yeah, it's all about trust with RR lost a long ago. You can give me in plaintext within minutes, but post it somewhere under your name and all I have to do is let the editors know. They will take care of the rest. I'll even get compensation for it. So, you wanna go? Give me your profile and site name where you'll post and I'll give you the link to my book. ? As I said, WN works fast as soon as they detect theft. I know we have our own favorite sites, but facts won't change. Changing IP isn't a big deal. And there are some premium VPN that even SH can't detect. I won't name the software. Anyway, we all know why everyone hates WN. LOCKED CHS. LOL. My only problem with SH is the tap rating system.

 

[3guanoff]

I am not programmer, but there are many system that can measure how long a reading would be ( I have seen in blogs or news sites, 4 min read/ 6 min read.) it would be easier if the program would check and account had spent reading the book on the chapters (say first three chapters) before they are allowed to rate.

I think SH can already track how long you have read a book as in the dash board of a novel there is a tab called 'valid read' that can track if the reader had spend more than 30 seconds(or something like that) or not.

This will exclude people who read without being logged in. It is also easy to trick. Waiting with a tab open for six minutes is not a big deal for a troll. Even if you measure scroll, there are browser add-ons for that. Such measures just end up annoying people who did not log in.

I just don't get why people troll in internet, aren't you guys scared of retaliation?

What if the guy you trolled decided to dedicate all his time to learn hacking? He will learn your IP, passwords, emails, and when he saw you being in your happiest moment he decides to go to your house then kill you.

Maybe he uses a VPN. Professional trolls use residential proxies, and they are a pain to detect. Not that it matters. Most regularly ISPs assign new IPs. By the time you learn hacking, the old IP you collected will be useless. You would need to keep track of the user and get a fresh IP. Even then, it's not trivial. I'd say it's more likely that the troll dies in a car accident.

Sold nothing. LOL. ?? It's not about defending or accusing any site. It's all about facts. Does SH and RR have a way to stop theft or stop trolls? NONE. Maybe the admin can remove book thieves, but that's a long process. Can WN stop theft or trolls? Yes, almost instantly. And most people hate WN because of the locked chapters. I know that. And I only said RR and SH have the worst rating system and never said this site is the worst. So, get your priorities straight, it will help you in life.

Of course RR and SH cannot protect your copyright. Those expectations are wrong. RR and SH are not that different from you posting on your own wordpress site.
They are not your agents.
"Book thieves" is an inadequate term to describe cyber criminals. Lol.

WN protects "your" copyright because it is a product they bought. Not that they can do much for successful novels. If your novel is very popular, it will be pirated. You are lucky WN was able to do something. Most piracy sites these days use so-called bulletproof hosting and won't care.
Not to mention that enforcing foreign copyright in Russia is not easy at the moment.

In the end, I'd say whatever protection WN might offer is not worth it if you think your novel will get popular enough to make some amazon money.
Of course, I doubt it is very pertinent to the rating system issue. A rating system were the author can remove offending reviews may seem good to the author, but it is bad for the readers. Much worse than the SH rating system. But WN algorithms rely on many other factors, so the ratings barely matter.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

And what kind of investment is lurking in the shadows

Time. The most precious resource you own. You can't buy it for money, gems, gold, whatever. By reading shitty novel, you lose time that could've been potentially spent on reading a good novel.

 

[LuoirM]

I think soup dishes, noodles included, are all trash (Pho, Ramen, etc)

 

[ThatTwat3000]

They already stopped twice. So, yeah, it's all about trust with RR lost a long ago. You can give me in plaintext within minutes, but post it somewhere under your name and all I have to do is let the editors know. They will take care of the rest. I'll even get compensation for it. So, you wanna go? Give me your profile and site name where you'll post and I'll give you the link to my book. ? As I said, WN works fast as soon as they detect theft. I know we have our own favorite sites, but facts won't change. Changing IP isn't a big deal. And there are some premium VPN that even SH can't detect. I won't name the software. Anyway, we all know why everyone hates WN. LOCKED CHS. LOL. My only problem with SH is the tap rating system.

I wasn’t going to post to a website, because that is piracy. I was going to show you how easy it is. Can you give me an example of websites that WN took down?

 

[Xcalibur_Xc]

This will exclude people who read without being logged in. It is also easy to trick. Waiting with a tab open for six minutes is not a big deal for a troll. Even if you measure scroll, there are browser add-ons for that. Such measures just end up annoying people who did not log in.

Maybe he uses a VPN. Professional trolls use residential proxies, and they are a pain to detect. Not that it matters. Most regularly ISPs assign new IPs. By the time you learn hacking, the old IP you collected will be useless. You would need to keep track of the user and get a fresh IP. Even then, it's not trivial. I'd say it's more likely that the troll dies in a car accident.

Of course RR and SH cannot protect your copyright. Those expectations are wrong. RR and SH are not that different from you posting on your own wordpress site.
They are not your agents.
"Book thieves" is an inadequate term to describe cyber criminals. Lol.

WN protects "your" copyright because it is a product they bought. Not that they can do much for successful novels. If your novel is very popular, it will be pirated. You are lucky WN was able to do something. Most piracy sites these days use so-called bulletproof hosting and won't care.
Not to mention that enforcing foreign copyright in Russia is not easy at the moment.

In the end, I'd say whatever protection WN might offer is not worth it if you think your novel will get popular enough to make some amazon money.
Of course, I doubt it is very pertinent to the rating system issue. A rating system were the author can remove offending reviews may seem good to the author, but it is bad for the readers. Much worse than the SH rating system. But WN algorithms rely on many other factors, so the ratings barely matter.

SH can just remove the tap ratings option. I got no problem with a real review of my book. Readers have preferences and they can write a review instead of just tapping a rating. My problem isn't with the review system, but the rating system. That's all.

I wasn’t going to post to a website, because that is piracy. I was going to show you how easy it is. Can you give me an example of websites that WN took down?

Who cares? I only care about my own work lol. They took down the thief that's all I care about. Twice. Heck, two months ago someone stole my new original, so, I removed it from SH and posted it on Amazon. Thieves can't be stopped forever, but after it's up on Kindle, they took care of the rest. Anyway, we are getting offtopic. I got no problem with SH review system, but that tap ratings, that's bad.

 

[Deleted member 146224]

Time. The most precious resource you own. You can't buy it for money, gems, gold, whatever. By reading shitty novel, you lose time that could've been potentially spent on reading a good novel.

Partaking in any kind of entertainment is inevitably a gamble. No matter how many ratings you slap on something and how detailed they are, there's no 100% guarantee that someone is going to enjoy it. So their precious time will always be in danger.

That's not even taking into account that if someone reads 20 chapters and they stop enjoying it at 21, then it's still 20 chapters of entertainment they got. Again, for free.

People go to bookstores and buy physical books, based on nothing but a cover and synopsis on the back and you don't see them malding because they spend 1 day reading a book they didn't like. Even though they had even more valid reason for it--paying their hard earned money for it.

All that it takes is a couple of glances at tags and skimming through a chapter or two to know if you're going to enjoy the story or not. And if you can't do that, then all I can say is: skill issue and git gud.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

skill issue and git gud.

I can say the same for authors who give up after getting a few one stars that don't actually mean anything.

 

[Corty]

All that it takes is a couple of glances at tags and skimming through a chapter or two to know if you're going to enjoy the story or not. And if you can't do that, then all I can say is: skill issue and git gud.

Stop using logic here! And stop speaking in truth bombs!

I can say the same for authors who give up after getting a few one stars that don't actually mean anything.

You too! Let me have my drama; I am feeding well right now! This thread turned out to be a gold mine. My drama laddle is overflowing!

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

SH can just remove the tap ratings option. I got no problem with a real review of my book. Readers have preferences and they can write a review instead of just tapping a rating. My problem isn't with the review system, but the rating system. That's all.

Who cares? I only care about my own work lol. They took down the thief that's all I care about. Twice. Heck, two months ago someone stole my new original, so, I removed it from SH and posted it on Amazon. Thieves can't be stopped forever, but after it's up on Kindle, they took care of the rest. Anyway, we are getting offtopic. I got no problem with SH review system, but that tap ratings, that's bad.

Original? All your stories are fanfictions.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

but also because there are a bunch of people and their army of simps, that will bloat the rating with 5-stars, not because it's good, but because it was written by X or Y.

 

[Deleted member 146224]

I can say the same for authors who give up after getting a few one stars that don't actually mean anything.

Except the investment on the side of the author is incomparably bigger than that of a reader. And if a writer quits, it's also a bigger loss than a loss of 1 reader that didn't enjoy the story. Because it's the authors, who are coming up with stories, writing them and posting while not receiving anything in return. The author provides an entertainment, meanwhile what does the reader provide? Most don't even leave likes or comments. Hardy anyone leaves a rating too. So what kind of value does the reader bring to this relationship? Because it looks quite one-sided.

Stop using logic here! And stop speaking in truth bombs!

Logic? I'm using logic?
...
OMG You're right! Holy shit! This Daikon made a terrible mistake! Here, everyone gets a potato and we forget about everything! ?

Imma go leave you a couple of 5-stars so you sweat even more ?

 

[Corty]

The rating gets skewed both ways, because troll gangs exist, but also because there are a bunch of people and their army of simps, that will bloat the rating with 5-stars, not because it's good, but because it was written by X or Y.

Sue me. I only leave 5 stars

Why? Because I only read things I like and drop the rest.

 

[Deleted member 146224]

Sue me. I only leave 5 stars

View attachment 30184

Why? Because I only read things I like and drop the rest.

I can't, I would have to sue myself too

 

[LillyWhite]

I think you're all over reacting, yeah the rating system is fully abusable and we're basically illegal chinese immigrants working in a factory for free, but it is what it is right? Both RR and SH use the same systems because late-stage capitalism enables suffering /s.

 

[Corty]

The system is still less abuse-prone than Google reviews. So that's that. It is good enough and a fine middle road between author-controlled sunshine and rainbows and between bot swarm user apocalypse.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

Except the investment on the side of the author is incomparably bigger than that of a reader. And if a writer quits, it's also a bigger loss than a loss of 1 reader that didn't enjoy the story. Because it's the authors, who are coming up with stories, writing them and posting while not receiving anything in return. The author provides an entertainment, meanwhile what does the reader provide? Most don't even leave likes or comments. Hardy anyone leaves a rating too. So what kind of value does the reader bring to this relationship? Because it looks quite one-sided.

Why are the authors writing? would be my main question.
Is it because they have a story they want to tell or because they only want some validation?
If they quit because of one-stars, they must not have cared enough about the story in the first place.
Sure they can be discouraging, but if somebody is that vulnerable they probably shouldnt be on the internet.

 

[Deleted member 19066]

Sigh~ let's have a read then.