Enlighten Me, Please?

 

I was going to update the recommendation place so I searched through TaeNy tag and my friends’ stories in order to find more promising fics. Instead, I saw these red words attached in almost all fics.

[Subscribers Only]

What’s worse than that? Mostly, senior authors are the one doing it *insert facepalm* It’s the same as setting a new trend!

Now before you think I’m bashing, I’m not. I’m just really curious of why they did that. While I actually can send PM to ask them (more than half who did this are my friends *LOL*), I’d like to know what readers and other fellow non-[subscriber only] authors think about it too. For starter, let me share my opinion first.

 

As a reader:

It’s saddening. Truth to be told, I was, is, and will always be a lurker ^^V I lurked around before I had an account and read a lot. From taefany09’s Victims of Love, MashiPao’s Hope for Tomorrow, Janesey’s Finding H (sunbyung, I didn’t even know who is HyoMin *LOL*), up to fangirling over iiEatBubbles’ FFYA. After I made an account, FFYA was the first and only fic I subbed into for a while. I was used to fanfiction.net for years where the review has separated section and everyone is less competitive about numbers.

Up until today, I still follow through my principal to only sub and leave comment after the fifth chapter, unless the plot is really interesting for me or the writer is my friend. Most of the time I will just read silently. Now I can’t even read past the foreword without subscribing. Heck, I won’t bother to open a fic when it has [Subcribers Only] on its title. So it’s really saddening. What happened with “I write because I love the OTP and it’s fun to share with fellow shipper”? :(

 

As an author:

I wonder if I do the same, how many new subs will I get? *LOL* Honestly, subscribers are the last in my list and I had turned off the new subscriber alert for more than a year now. I’m a er for comments. It’s comments>views number>upvotes>subscribers for me, but I won’t say it’s not important either. It does make me happy when I check one of my fics and see the subscriber number increasing, although I won’t go checking them one by one and leaving thanks on their walls. The thing is, I don’t want the obligation that comes with the [Subscribers Only] option. I am never one to tell my readers to comment/upvote/subscribe thus nobody can tell me to update, bwahahahaha~ Instead of subscribers, comments valued much much more to me and I think I’m doing well enough in that area ;) So I guess I won’t use that [Subscribers Only] option anytime soon.

 

Now I’d like to hear your opinion about this matter. It’s okay to be honest but please don’t bash anyone. Like I said, some of those [Subscribers Only] authors are my friends so they might be reading this too. Readers and fellow authors’ openness might reach them. And for the authors who did it, I’d like to know the reason or I can just agreed with my initial conclusion that you’re hungry for subscribers, which is even more saddening and pathetic...

 

All Hail TaeNy~

 

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Totoro_lover #1
honestly, as a writer I don't really intend on using this even though it's lacking subs. I mean, like what you said, what happened to 'hey! I have a new idea for a story, you might like it!' idea? I think that some authors are more pumped up and inspired whenever there subs increased not because of the [subscribers only] but because those readers sub because they really like the story.

As a reader, I'm really disappointed by this because I can now not surf on stories then land on a random page then read it then become interested THEN subscribe because there the [subscribers only] which means I have to look for the title in the unknown story and we all know that's high to impossible or pretty much impossible itself.
secretcode #2
I agree with you with the question about the "Subscriber's Only" part. Its saddening and disappointing.

Is asianfanfics starting to be about numbers and social position? Disappointing it is.
dream_keeper88 #3
Ahhaa, my assumption was correct. You are a lurker so you are at a disadvantage when authors use this option. Anyway, we obviously can't change it. Hmmm... I value comments more. It is my gauge. If I see three comments, I know three people are reading. Lurkers don't comment on my fics though so for me the sub-only fics would be the same in terms of subscriber-comment ratio, just that, no one lurks in the fics. I don't mind too much coz I haven't come across a sub-only fic I like. Clearly those here share the same sentiment and mine is very different. Remember that no one is forcing you to do anything. How can you feel forced when you are the one curious is beyond me LOL. I will bring this up to boss. A mod saw my latest blog already. But maybe I won't. It's the users' choice after all.
hwaitaengoo #4
As a reader, it bothers me as well that I cannot read some stories because they're locked. Just like you, I like reading the first few chapters before deciding whether or not I would subscribe to the story, because let's be honest, prologues don't really say much about the story or the author's writing style. Well, you could say that there's always the option of unsubscribing later if I don't find the story enjoyable, but unsubscribing always leaves me with a bad feeling. Like... I don't want to offend the author or something. So I thought it best to not subscribe at all. I mean unless they have one heck of a prologue or description, then it'd be hard to subscribe without reading a few chapters.

As an author, however, I do understand how encouraging and fulfilling it is to see your subscriber count go up. I mean, it shows how many people are reading your updates. Personally though, I don't really mind the subscriber count. As much as it tells you how many people are reading your story, it doesn't tell you which of them are actually enjoying it. Again, just like you, I value the comments more than the subscriber count. 1 new comment encourages me more than 10 new subscribers. Imagine that 1 reader going out of his/her way to tell you how much they like your story. It makes you feel so much better, doesn't it?

I guess it all comes down to what the author values more. It's saddening but since it is their story, we cannot do anything about it. Let's just sigh and continue scrolling down. :D
haruhiana #5
That actually bothers me as well. Not that I am not gonna automatically subscribe if that is from my favorite author but sometimes I have this urge to subscribe to a fic when I have read it up until its latest chapter and now what am I gonna do if that fic is locked to "Subscribers Only" its like forcing me to do something that I dont want to just because I'm such a busy body and a very curious reader. That's just meh! So I just ignored it and moved on to the next fic that I could read. Same thing like "Friends Only" and "Members Only" what the.. is that?! xP
GorJessSpazzer #6
I was wondering the same lol
moonpaladin #7
I Frequented this site for over two months before becoming a registered user. Before that I just worked my way through some of the best stuff ever, (don't we al feel that way about our first fanfics?)

Tghe only reason I made an account was because, I Just had to let iieatbubbles know, just how much i loved FFYA.

Now a days, I don't like this whole subscribers only thing.

I hate the feeling of unsubscribing to a story. Like the Author ias going to get a new subscriber, and then look at the list, and its the same, no new subscribers. And I know how much every one works to get their stories up (some definetly put more effort into their stories, more time, sweat, and in more ways than one BLOOD) So I just stay subscribed to stories, i don't like and it pisses me off. I log in and theres the little message new story updates, I click on it thinking, finally I have been waiting for the next Mental Perfection chapter forever now, or maybe munkey got around to posting the next chapter on Fly ^^

Then all hopes dashed away, its a story i don't even like but had to subscribe to.

I wouldn't do it to my readers. I don't write fluffy romances (mostly because i am about as romantic as a frog... a dead frog) I don't write hot , (because I am a straight guy, no one wants to read my take on girl on girl right?) I write demon slaying, sword weilding stories, with story lines that aren't exactly clear to myself. So I value every reader that enjoys my stories, and forcing them to subscribe, I only want readers who like my stuff, not those that were forced by a checked box on the Add new chapter window.

And thats all MoonPaladin has to say on this

~MoonPaladin out ^-^)Y~
~when the fudge is the last half of Beep Beep coming out~

I just checked there are 8 stories that looked interesting, but I didn't like, and I now have on my subscription list...
taeny_alltheway #8
anyway for me personally, actually i also resent with this stuff..(no hypocrite) well i rather not look inside after all if the title not really appealing for me, it's such wasting time to subscribe > read > turn out to be odd story > then unsubscribe it back. bcoz what is the use to subscribing something i am not even gonna read. it is not really bothering me, coz i kinda have this radar to sense which story i really going to like or not.. hehehe.. n ussually the new fics with those button turn out to be not really good. bcoz the author must be plain stupid to hope for more subs. meanwhile their skill didn't admitted yet. they were amateur but dare to put those.. i am very sure it is not going to work well., so its not really bother me, with or without the button i still wont really interest. it is such not surprising for me to found those kind of authors here.. no offence but this site very fit for those who want to be famous. admit it! and be realistic, whose people didnt want attention and famous. and its kinda hypocrite to think that subs. not important. but it's quite clever for the quite good on-going story or well known author. they are already famous and had trust skill. everybody will absolutely subs. immediately and with very heavy heart the master silent will out of closet n do subscribe too, no other way after all . . haha ... it is not really bother me, i respect them because “I write because I love the OTP and it’s fun to share with fellow shipper” just like some quotes nowadays... or some had pass that fase, they are need fame n remark for their work . . i can understand.. whatever .. .it is up to them, i think we didn't have right to got pissed or hate them, those button made for reason anyway. hey, actually, i more resent friend only, because, we need their approve first, n it was felt like begging..lol, but if subs. only, it feel like buying... more dignity i see 8-)
taeny_alltheway #9
it was clearly just some trend setter... some day this kid(the authors) saw some of their fellow authors use those button, n the subscriber increasing almost immediately, theyre must be like "woah..so cool.. i want that too.. i will do it now" lol haha... but.. behind it..before it's trend there must be some reason like, this author writing n writing diligently but the subs. was really hopeless, not to mention the upvote, meanwhile the views increase very good. or with the well known author, even theyre already had many reader n subs. , but there are those things that bothering them, like, maybe theyre some freaks who bash n put harsh comment or badmouthing their fics out there. . ., but nevertheless they were still reading those story without even subscribe or comment, in other way they actually enjoying reading but never want to appreciate it not to mention, they're even bash it. or maybe they are sick of silent reader and the lurk lol .. they are too many after all.. so . . maybe it was just out of curiousity after all "what if i put this subs. only button, whats will going on, wah.. it is work.. the subs. increase " hmm maybe that is how it started.
HappyWithSad #10
In no way am I bashing anyone but when I saw the "Subscribers Only" I thought would be good for the newer story writers that need the subscribers, the attention. It's like a commercial almost. But with the senior writers the ones that have hundreds of subscribers example: Passionate Passions(which I love) I don't find why they use it? It puzzles me. I feel like it is really greedy, to be honest. I read a lot of stories on here and now most of the stories that I read have "Subscribers Only" now. And it bugs me because not a lot of these stories have good forwards, and it may be a good story, or a bad one. And then those that subscribe find out they may not like the story to the unsubscribe but then feel guilty. I find it also to be mean to the subscribers that have read from the get go. It often makes me think "are we not good enough?" Sigh, pointless function, but it makes me feel like authors don't care about the readers, but only about how much subscribers they have. Again I'm not bashing what so ever.
melly_0309 #11
Personally, I don't like the idea of subscribers only. I like to read a story, and if I like how it's written, THEN I'll subscribe to it.

Sure, I can subscribe, read, and if I don't like it, I can unsubscribe, but I feel like that's really mean. When I subscribe to a story, I feel like I'm making a commitment to the author to continue reading the story, and comment every once in a while. Unsubscribing to something just doesn't feel right.

From the author's point of view, I wouldn't like it either. If I post a story, I want people to see it and give me feedback. Restricting it to only friends or subscribers seems pointless to me because a LOT less people are going to be reading it. If no one's reading it, why should I post it anyway?
scratchdnote5 #12
Mmm... this trend of locking stories is (in my opinion) kind of pointless. Members only makes sense if you only want members of the site to read it, but locking it to Friends and Subscribers only seems... too much. Some people have a lot of friends and want them to only read it, but somehow it doesn't matter.

Locking it to the latter two only sets up the author, in my opinion. Some authors want only their friends to comment: may not get comments anyway. Some authors want only their subscribers to comment: rarely ever comment. Especially in the Subscriber only method, some people will subscribe to the story just to be able to check it out if it seems to have a lot of comments, but if they don't like it they'll unsubscribe (or if lazy, they'll just not comment and not bother with it).

Locking stories seem to be irrelevant to me because one posts their stories on the internet to be read by others. Especially on a public site like this, if you only want your friends to read it then it would make sense to put it on a private Wordpress site or send out GDrive links to them. Otherwise, locking stories on this site is quite pointless.

It was really surprising to see some people Member/Friend/Subscriber lock their stories. To me, it meant that no one should be able to read it because the audience was cut down to a fairly large population, to people the person knows, to people the person knows and hopefully bothers to subscribe and read. It just seems to be a hassle to lock it multiple times and to lock it to begin with.
ForeverAsOne_09 #13
I don't really like the 'subscribers only' thing because when I read the foreword of the story it may sound good but when I actually subscribe I end up not liking the story as I read it and then I feel bad unsubscribing...so then I just wasted time on a story that I thought would be good, but was actually not worth my time :(
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