Do you read the shows?

[SKS]

Overreacting to what?

You seem to think you're being nagged at every turn when, as far as I can remember, this is the only time this topic has ever been brought up on the PCW forums. You also seem to be obsessed with Brett's offhand "shut it down" comment, when he wasn't even close to suggesting that the fed get shut down

Also, to suggest that mod policy brought down WCSF is 1) revisionist history and 2) pretty offensive actually, considering how hard we worked to drag that thing along in its dying days. People stopped talking, there was a greater issue with no-shows, writers were dropping out.

I said one of the things that led to it closing was in my opinion, the waiting for comments. Not the sole reason. To me it just dragged and I didn't see the reasoning for it. I don't see anything offensive about that at all, considering there were plenty of other people besides the mods that tried to keep WCSF alive. If anything it was the fault of the no shows and the lack of interest in writing.

And I'm not upset about this thread overall, some of the comments just seems really pessimistic about the future of PCW. I think the only time we should be worried about things like this is if the people who run the fed say so. Until then, I don't see the point in talking about it.

[Stratusfied619]

I can see both sides, I can see from former mods that they put in a lot of effort and time into booking for characters and coming up with stories, and they would like to see how non-mods are liking the story, the direction it's going in and have a little feedback on their work. Our feedback can possibly help the direction on where the story goes next. It may also help mods choose on whether or not to do this type of story down the road with a few tweaks to not make it the same or never do that type of story again. Also if there are barely any comments, they don't know if ppl read the show or not.

I also see the point in people not always commenting on shows because maybe they don't know what to say, don't want to offend, be bias towards a writer/character, or not good at putting their thoughts/feelings together. As Kaiser said as long as you're reading the show or just reading the quick results and everything is being turned in in a timely manner it's all good.

Me personally I love feedback, I find it very helpful but not gonna be upset for those that are not comfortable discussing the show.

It would be cool if there was something that showed who read it or read quick results but there isn't so we just have to take everyone's word for it.

[Ali]

I do read the shows, but more in a skimming fashion because I have a short attention span and--oh, look, a bunny!

Discussion is important, I get that. That's why I love things like The Insider, they're fun. But again, I want PCW to be primarily a fun experience. If you're having fun just writing and not commenting, great! If you like commenting and providing discussion, awesome! Do what makes PCW the most fun experience it can be for YOU. Don't feel pressured to do anything.

[Str8Shooter]

Overreacting to what?

You seem to think you're being nagged at every turn when, as far as I can remember, this is the only time this topic has ever been brought up on the PCW forums. You also seem to be obsessed with Brett's offhand "shut it down" comment, when he wasn't even close to suggesting that the fed get shut down

Also, to suggest that mod policy brought down WCSF is 1) revisionist history and 2) pretty offensive actually, considering how hard we worked to drag that thing along in its dying days. People stopped talking, there was a greater issue with no-shows, writers were dropping out.

I said one of the things that led to it closing was in my opinion, the waiting for comments. Not the sole reason. To me it just dragged and I didn't see the reasoning for it. I don't see anything offensive about that at all, considering there were plenty of other people besides the mods that tried to keep WCSF alive. If anything it was the fault of the no shows and the lack of interest in writing.

And I'm not upset about this thread overall, some of the comments just seems really pessimistic about the future of PCW. I think the only time we should be worried about things like this is if the people who run the fed say so. Until then, I don't see the point in talking about it.

I think you may be confusing Tim's and mine's "realism" for "pessimism". We helped run WCSF successfully for a long time, and I would argue that the best times for that fed were when the shows were getting multiple pages of comments and everyone felt involved and like their voices were being heard. I don't think it's a coincidence that the downturn of the fed came along with a distinct lack of comments and threads. We're just trying to share our experience, which I believe is why Tim made this thread.

Both of us I can safely say are very passionate about sim fedding which is why we've been involved so long. We don't want to see it die again, which is why we give these opinions so the same mistake may be avoided.

But again, if these current Mods are going along fine with things the way they are and it doesn't bother them. Then it's nothing to worry about.

[Hanley!]

Clearly a majority of people are reading the shows

I'm not sure they are. I'm not pointing a finger at anyone in particular, but almost everyone is claiming to read the shows here and I very much doubt that's true. If I was to guess, I'd say very few read everything and a lot of people read almost nothing. But when some people post saying they do read every show, nobody wants to be the one to say that they don't. It just makes it easier for people to excuse not reading that person's stuff in future. Plus nobody wants to feel like they're letting the side down. And all of that is understandable.

The impression I got towards the end of the WCSF (and I can only imagine it's the same here) is that most people don't really want to read the shows, but everyone wants others to read their stuff. So everyone has to pretend that they read the shows so other people will feel obliged to read their stuff and comment on it.

I'm not passing judgment on those who don't read the shows or anything. I sat down to read a pay per view recently, and despite enjoying much of what I read, I had forgotten how much work it was. It took hours and that was with me skimming some of the matches. I came out of the experience thinking that I wouldn't be reading a show again any time soon. Reading the shows can just be more effort than it's worth. But when people aren't reading or commenting, it's easy to wonder what the point of the whole thing is. Those were definitely my thoughts back when I was a mod and the forum was going through a long period of inactivity.

I can see how it would be a problem for some writers too. At least a few of the people writing for the fed here enjoy creative writing in general. If nobody is reading what they write for PCW, they might be happier writing stuff on their own where they have more freedom and control over the finished product.

We've been through this before though. Ultimately nagging people to comment won't help, because that doesn't make it feel any less like work. And forcing people to comment will slow down the rate of the shows dramatically, which isn't good either. Changing something about the actual nature of the game seems the only way to change how people read and comment on shows. But that discussion has been had before too and nobody wants to change the nature of the shows.

I'm not really making any suggestions as to how/if things should change, because I'm not involved in this fed anyway. Just posting a few thoughts because of the conversations I've had about the issue in the past. I apologise if I'm stepping on any toes by posting, I always feel a little weird throwing my two cents in, given I'm not involved these days.

I guess my final word is that things probably aren't going to change: this is just a symptom of how e-feds work. It all comes down to how much people are enjoying things the way they are right now.