I remember, long before - even before the points system and all that, when YWS was a posting and reviewing site, we had an average of 4-6 reviews on every random piece of work... Cool days yeah But nowadays it's going down for some reason, anyone know why?
You either worship something higher than yourself or end up worshiping yourself
Speaking as someone who came here from deviantART, where a work is lucky to be seen, let alone commented on, let alone reviewed well, even one review is still a pretty cool thing to get.
That said, it's also nice to get feedback from more than one person, and often the more the better. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that if reviews have declined, it will be because of the site crashing a lot before Apollo, and then the bumpy ride of the transition to Apollo. There's not really a lot we can do about that, so there's only really one thing we can do to make there be more reviews: review, and keep reviewing! Giving reviews often encourages the people who get them to go out and review themselves, so if we just keep some momentum going, it will build up and be wonderful.
I personally quite enjoy sitting down and mowing through a page of the 0 reviews section, when I get the time. ^_^
Also, Rydia's set up a lovely review leaderboard to make up for not having the site one back yet. Everyone should join in, because competition is fun and reviews are cool.
"The fact is, I don't know where my ideas come from. Nor does any writer. The only real answer is to drink way too much coffee and buy yourself a desk that doesn't collapse when you beat your head against it." --Douglas Adams
I agree. I used to regularly get reviews on my work. Now I'm lucky just to get one ... and often, that's after asking people if they'll review my work. :/
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.
I noticed the biggest difference in the past year or so. Maybe people are just liking works instead of actually commenting on things? Or maybe reviewing is just less important now. I'm not sure. Whatever the reason is, it's can be a little discouraging to post something and only get one review.
Now I feel guilty. Guess I'll have to do some reviews this week...
“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” Anton Chekhov
For all I know, Apollo could have made the site much better. However, when it was only half-implemented and then left alone for months, it just made the site much less active.
For a while newbies would often not even know that YWS was a place you posted writing, since it wasn't apparent on the homepage, instead just thinking this was a place for writers to group and discuss other things. This has lessened now, probably because of the featured writing and new writings sections on the homepage, but there are still some that just post their work in the blogs section, and though this can just be because they don't feel like it's a piece that's ready to actually be posted, some of it may be because they don't realize this is a place for posting writing as well as discussing it.
In addition, the new section for writing itself is harder to use, with less works displayed per page and a more complicated system that does not allow you to even edit reviews, and with post histories currently disabled, and profiles consisting only of a guestbook, interacting with other users and finding works by other users is much harder.
But, I feel bad posting these criticisms (or at least irrelevant), because Nate's just posted a topic in this very Lounge forum addressing the situation, and calling for discussion.
"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach
Insert certain quote here from some terribly famous and renowned great scientist/philosopher/actor who is now dead and so his/her words shall carry on -Lycando
Yes you have a story? Yes you want a review? Yes please click here.
Speaking of which, we should create more incentives for people to review. I don't about you guys but people may need a motivation to review rather than just submitting their works. There are people on site with less than 10 reviews and more than 5 pieces of work submitted.
Insert certain quote here from some terribly famous and renowned great scientist/philosopher/actor who is now dead and so his/her words shall carry on -Lycando
Yes you have a story? Yes you want a review? Yes please click here.
We've had things to encourage reviewing in the past, so it's not out of the question things that will come back.
I remember....Points, and it costing around the equivalent of two large reviews to post in the literary forums. It even used to cost quite a bit to start a storybook, back when there was far too many for anyone to keep up with. Maybe there was also a limit on how many literary works you could post in a period of time, too? I might be imagining that, though.
It's not easy having a good time. Even smiling makes my face ache.
But nowadays it's going down for some reason, anyone know why?
