A problem with this forum

[johncmcleod]

I post an installment, and 9 hours later I still have gotten not a bit of feedback. Out of like 435 views, besides myself there have been only 18 posts with feedback from only 7 different people. Why? I don't care whether they like it, hate it, or think it's ok I ask for feedback and I get hardly any. This is a great forum but I think it'd be better if more people critiqued each other's posts.

[steamthunk]

Hmmmm...well it's possible no one has much to say (about anything). Perhaps you can jot down some specific categories that you'd like people to comment or rate to help them out (e.g. Rate 1-10: plot, grammar, characters, etc.)

[MarkG]

for every registered user that you see access the forum, count 10 more unregistered who pass by

[SKILORD]

Which is why i stopped writing here.....

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Johncmcleod I have been posting here for a few months now and try to encourage as many writers as possible.But just as you find it hard to find the time to write it is also time consuming to read all the stories here and respond also.I actually read some of your piece Times of War and Diplomacy ages ago before I registered here and have noticed that you have recently posted some more.I have it on my to do list to reread it from the beginning to refamiliarise myself with the story and then I will post my thoughts.
At the moment things have been very quite lately on this forum and it seems nobody is running the contest anymore Jackwww as been trying to get someone to confirm if it still running as he wants to enter his story.I think civman has stopped running it but Im not sure.I posted a thread in august about unfinished stories and have asked civman to respond but he has not done as of yet.I think this forum will start to die unless someone starts to run the contest regulary again as it will attract more people here to write and also comment on others work.I agree with MarkG though as I myself used to read the stories here before I registered.

[vovan]

Well, I registered on these forums a looong time ago. Before the game came out. And even posted a story here, about a month after the game hit the shelves. Since then, I have been kind of following these forums from time to time, but I don't spend too much time here. Now, I started checking them every day about two weeks ago. And I spend most of my time reading the archives. I look for stories with most views and replies, and read them. Let me tell you: that is time-consuming. But I also see that the quality of stories is very far from what it was before. So, there isn't any incentive for me, personally to encourage the writers. They just aren't that good.

But, I do agree with Chrisius here. If contests are run regularly, it might encourage people to write more, and most importantly, write better. But then again, with one story a week posted (or less than that) you can't even start running a contest really.

I am actually working on two new stories right now, but I am not sure when (or even if) I will finish them. It would be really great to see a revival of these story forums, though.

[steamthunk]

I have to agree with everyone who said that it takes time to actually read through some of these epics (and I'm not a fast reader). I maintain that you can't make people respond, but I'm surprised by how few views there are for posts.

That said I took my own advice and made my own categories for rating stories. Rate 1-10 with 10 being highest. I will see if I can use them on stuff that I read.

Characters. (Are the characters interesting, believable in their setting, consistently written?)

Dialogue. (Is the dialogue interesting, in character, believable, consistent, and well written?)

Comprehension. (How easy is the plot to follow? Does it make sense even relative to the author's setting and style? Do the descriptions of the scenes show me what's going on?)

Originality. (Something different or been there done that? Totally relative to reviewer obviously).

Spelling/Grammar. (Do youse right good?)

Civness. (how close to civ is the story; here mainly because this is a Civ forum. Being 100% close to civ is not necessarily good nor bad)

Overall. (Unscientific mystery amalgamation of above).


Comments welcome. Now to unleash my unholy creation!

[TheGuitarist]

I agree with vovan and chrisius - I started reading stories long before I registered. Ah, I remember those days well - the lazy days of summer. Every day I would check to see if anyone had written anything - and they usually had. I browsed the archives; I experienced the masterworks of Grundel and OzWolf, Civman and Metaliturtle.

That was the Golden Age of the Civ3 Stories forum. It was made up of a small but tight-knit group of writers that supported each other in their endeavors and encouraged their fellows with every new post. But alas, it is no longer. With the hasty end of summer, the realities of such time-eaters as Work and School returned to occupy our time and choke our muses.

Ask anyone who has ever tried to write anything and they will tell you it takes time to write something well. And time is in short supply today, and tomorrow. There is far less time to write, and even less time to read anything someone else has written.

That which is written now is not mature; it has not developed in our minds for long enough. And none can spare a word of advice or even a rebuke, because time waits for no man. "With each passing moment, you make yourself more my servant," said the Emperor. So it is with the world.

[unscratchedfoot]

Restarting the vote ain't gonna do nuttin to revive this forum. I was planning to finish my garden story start to finish in under a week but gave up on it half-way through when nobody bothered to vote for it just like all my other stories. That vote is the surest way to discourage writers.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

A very interesting point Unscratchedfoot which is why I believe that only finished pieces should enter a vote,although I see nothing wrong with being nominated before completion as it IMHO acts as an incentive to the author to continue.

I'm pretty sure that civman doesnt want to run the contest anymore so I propose that firstly we let Johncmcleod take over the running of the actual contest as he has very kindly volunteered,second that we have a full review of the rules and a poll of those who currently use and comment on this forum and that Markg if he sees this could you please help us to sort this out.Johncmcleod youve probably been around here a lot longer than me could you get hold of mark,if I can help in any way Im more than willing but I must warn you that not that good yet with computers as im fairly new to this internet malarky.

[Jack_www]

Just so you guys know civman quit. I could help with contest. I am sure we can find someone to do it. It is not that hard and I have time to do it, not a lot but I have time. I think the best thing if you want feed back is to put a poll in your story. I will also will be writing more stories soon, since PTW is coming out and I will start playing Civ3 again once it comes out. I though Have not really have had time to read all new stories, but I will try and post what I think about it.