Random silly question

[genlisae]

This occurred to me while thinking about how many secrets there are about writers struggling to get more readers. I know we have a ton of communities where you can advertise your own sims story and they are great and wonderful and not enough good can be said about them but, why do we not have a Sims Story Rec community? Or if we do where is it 'cause I haven't found it?

I am thinking along the lines of the_slash_pile where community members rec someone else's story (for the most part), tell everyone what they liked, etc. The wonderful thing about these types of communities is not only do they get the word out there for others to find new stories to read but over time they start to serve as an archive of what IS out there.

So do we have one of these for sims stories and if not, why not?

Comments

[abstract-pixels.livejournal.com]

I recall seeing it, somewhere... a long time ago... It was almost empty.

Damn, that's a great idea, if not for Slash Pile I wouldn't have anything to read at work :P .

[genlisae.livejournal.com]

So there was one and now it has vanished? (Or is still there and just need CPR? Someone point me in the right direction if this is the case!)

I mean I found a few threads on isolated forums, recs in comments on other's journals (oh yeah, I've been LJ search stalking) but no single .. collection (is this the word I am looking for? Repository? ... yeah).

[abstract-pixels.livejournal.com]

I was called simrecs or a variation of it, but google is not helping at all... I bet it was deleted then.

A story list by genres/categories would be nifty. There are a few horror stories I read years ago on exchange; all by the same author (never found them) - just imagine how popular would be the search posts!

[genlisae.livejournal.com]

See that last thing you mentioned is 3/4 of the appeal for me. An archive AND a list of community recs would be wonderful because there are so many simstories (everything stories really) that I read and loved and would like to find again ... and I can't.

The exchange is problematic though being as it is down again and pretty much everyone fully expects them to just pull the plug one day with no warning anyway.

I think I will go toss a link to this up on twitter. Get some more input. (and maybe someone else will know if that rec community still exists or what happened to it if it doesn't)

[simtopi]

I like this idea, I do. allthingsimlish had a recommendation post there but sadly doesnt have that much attention.

There is a couple of ways to do it... A free for all way where people just post their reccs, but I also think the allthingssimlish method where each story gets its own post and people would write their reviews in the comments. The latter insures that noone is left out, and new or just-discovered stories could be added on right away instead of waiting for someone to recc it.

In any way there is the sad potential for wank and drama. I think you could already see where. People may feel neglected, wondering why no one recs their stories, they may not get as many reviews or the usual about how certain stories get the most reviews and fan recs. But that can't really be helped I think. Or you know, the fun wank where people are accused of sockpuppeting their own reccs/reviews.

Please don't get me wrong I love this idea and would totally love to help mod or start a community like this. I'm just bored of the drama, but I guess people will complain about anything. It really is a positive idea, But the internet has made me alittle cynical.;)

[genlisae.livejournal.com]

There is the potential for drama and I was wondering if that is maybe what happened to the community abstract_pixels mentioned or perhaps there is just not enough interest? I don't know, I just thought I couldn't be the only one who combs through the reading lists of those on my friends page to find new stories. I am also sure I miss a lot that way and there are a lot I never find again because I can't remember the name or who wrote them or ... yeah.

I do like the idea of each story having it's own post. I love that idea. Which may help minimize the wank potential as well. If each story had a post of its own the story author could also ask for feedback there and get it from those who genuinely wanted to help .. or that could lead to drama of a new sort, though I still have faith in this community to act as mature, respectful people when they know that is what is expected of them.

[genlisae.livejournal.com]

Were I to do this (and it is looking like I am going to LOL! With help, hopefully a lot of help!) I would like to have the ability to review. Reviews add another dimension for a reader when they are searching and as Simtopi suggested, each story having its own post (perhaps submitted by the story creator?) would save on hurt feelings of "why is my story not good enough to get posted!" and only leave the "why is my story not getting reviews?!" option, though I believe there are ways around that as well (just as soon as I work out how to articulate the vague concept I have there properly so I can expand on it and explain.)

Perhaps a middle ground though. There is a way to make this work, I'm sure of it. I think it just needs more discussion.

[starling-1.livejournal.com]

Recommendations are tied up with social relationships. It's the Lunch Table dynamic.

That said, I think you should go for it.

[genlisae.livejournal.com]

They are, and this community seems to thrive on the Lunch Table dynamic (Love the phrasing! It is so accurate!) So anyone who did hop in on this from the mod/maintainer side of things would have to have a very thick skin or just not care. :D I might want to warn anyone who offers help about that.

[synda.livejournal.com]

I love this idea. I'm always looking for good stories. If they have to be complete though, an awful lot of good stories won't make it. People start, wander off to something else, lose interest in the sims, or their games crash and the like. They're still worth reading, imo of course :) Maybe just note that they're incomplete? Or not updating. Or something.

[genlisae.livejournal.com]

This is a good point. If we stuck to completed stories only ... wow most of what I am currently reading would not be allowed! Thanks for bringing this up.

[aledstrange.livejournal.com]

It'd be great to see something like this but for all kind of stories (We tried something similar in M_t some time ago, but didn't work too much). Well promoted it can be a great idea.

However like others, I do worry about for the wank potential. In one hand, there's always those who may try to use this to promote stuff for all the wrong reasons (friendships, showing off, trying to get on the good side of the popular writers, or whatever) instead of being impartial and fair; and in the other, there's always those who would whine about not being rec'd enough and call out favoritism.

TL/DR: It'd need a lot of careful modding, but it could be really cool to try. :)

[genlisae.livejournal.com]

I think you hit the main idea directly: try

If it doesn't work, it doesn't work or if it needs to become simply a user submitted "reference library" to keep the drama and wank down, well that's okay too. I do still have an enormous amount of faith in the sims community though. I think they can come together and make this work for the love of stories and storytelling, because that is what brought us together in the first place isn't it?

Misplaced faith? Maybe, but I have it, and I have a thick enough skin to try and see what happens and deal with whatever flack comes my when while I do try. Keeping it away from those who maybe don't have that thick skin is going to be the real challenge.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

I don't see a lot of wank at the slash pile. There are differences of opinion and an occasional hackle is raised, but that's all. I don't know why this is the case. Possibly because: 1. the purpose of the community is well-defined: 2. the mods set a good tone from the beginning: and 3. there's a set format for recommendations, so no room for feeling slighted because you didn't get as fancy a review as someone else, or whatever. I really think you can do worse than model a community on the slash pile.

[genlisae.livejournal.com]

The slash pile is a wonderful working model and it IS working. I can't pinpoint why exactly though I believe you are correct in saying that is the tone the moderators have set and the purpose is clear. It is with what works there in mind that we have gone forward with this. Some slight changes and for the moment moderated posting (this is the sims community after all and while I believe the majority will be respectful we want to ensure that is happening). We will see how it works.