Escape Artists

Administrivia => Metachat => Topic started by: Prank Call of Cthulhu on November 11, 2009, 03:17:31 AM

Title: Response to moderation from EP223: The Uncanny Valley
Post by: Prank Call of Cthulhu on November 11, 2009, 03:17:31 AM
Holy cow, this was a bad story! How bad? It was so bad that the Star Trek Voyager episode "The Thaw" which was not dissimilar to it was better. Yes, I just said Star Trek Voyager didn't suck as bad as something else. I went there. Just because you throw in some clockwork robots for the steampunk fans, chuck every high-falootin' word and foreign phrase you can for the lit majors, toss in some nattering about the singularity or convergence or whatever to grab the interest of the Cory Doctorow fans, then hang it all off a skeleton built from a little Matrix, a little Dark City, and a dash of Voyager, does not mean you'll come up with a good story. It will, however, give you an unmitigated mess of a story. This is why writers need editors, people. A good editor would have taken one look at the draft of this and set fire to it.

Prank, we have tried to reason with you and explain the type of respect that we want in the forums.  You obviously don't care or want to push our limits.  One more post like this and you will be temporarily banned.

Obviously, you are not the only person who did not like this story, but others have expressed that in more respectful ways.

Look, ban me if you have to, but I really don't see anything wrong with that. I didn't use any naughty words (apart from "suck," which can hardly be said to be offensive anymore, and at worst indicates the person using it has an unimaginative vocabulary). It's a bad story. I can try to dress that up with lots of nice words so I don't offend the author's feelings. I guess I could have said,

"While I appreciate the hard work and sacrifice that went into the production of this story, and whereas I certainly would not wish to denigrate the creative process, I feel that the end result left me somewhat less than thoroughly entertained, due to the fact that the story was derivative of other works that slightly exceeded it in quality and entertainment value, and also because it wasn't the easiest story in the world to follow. Therefore, whereas I failed to be entertained by the story, this should in no way be construed that the author is a bad person or lacks talent. My dislike of the story was no doubt a reflection upon my poor intellect."

Or I could just say that the story was so awful it deserves to be set on fire.  Seriously, why mince words?

I don't think explaining why it's a bad story is demonstrating a lack of respect. What about me? I gave 55 minutes of my valuable time to listen to this story, and another ten minutes or so to achieve some cathartic bellyaching on the internet. Does the author respect my time? Evidently not, as the author has [and here PCoC has censored himself, deleting a colorful description suggesting some malice perpetrated by the author in knowingly wasting my time with a horrible story].

When I like a story, I weigh in and explain why it's good (see my review of the Best Escape Pod Ever, "Connie Maybe"). And when I waste nearly an hour on a terrible story, I'd like to be able to vent about it without having to spend an hour rewriting my review so it doesn't cause anybody to cry.

So I leave it up to you, Mr. Moderator. Give the word, and I'll ban myself. I'll never again darken these forums with my presence, if that's your wish. But I'm not going to expend needless effort writing only bland criticisms when I don't like a story. I don't attack the author and call them a bad person--I call their stories bad. And I fail to see how that's wrong.
Title: EP223: The Uncanny Valley
Post by: Heradel on November 11, 2009, 03:36:49 AM
Look, ban me if you have to, but I really don't see anything wrong with that. I didn't use any naughty words (apart from "suck," which can hardly be said to be offensive anymore, and at worst indicates the person using it has an unimaginative vocabulary). It's a bad story. I can try to dress that up with lots of nice words so I don't offend the author's feelings. I guess I could have said,

"While I appreciate the hard work and sacrifice that went into the production of this story, and whereas I certainly would not wish to denigrate the creative process, I feel that the end result left me somewhat less than thoroughly entertained, due to the fact that the story was derivative of other works that slightly exceeded it in quality and entertainment value, and also because it wasn't the easiest story in the world to follow. Therefore, whereas I failed to be entertained by the story, this should in no way be construed that the author is a bad person or lacks talent. My dislike of the story was no doubt a reflection upon my poor intellect."

Or I could just say that the story was so awful it deserves to be set on fire.  Seriously, why mince words?

Because people have feelings. Including authors. And we respect people. Including authors.
Title: EP223: The Uncanny Valley
Post by: Bdoomed on November 11, 2009, 04:28:58 AM
Look, ban me if you have to, but I really don't see anything wrong with that. I didn't use any naughty words (apart from "suck," which can hardly be said to be offensive anymore, and at worst indicates the person using it has an unimaginative vocabulary). It's a bad story. I can try to dress that up with lots of nice words so I don't offend the author's feelings. I guess I could have said,

"While I appreciate the hard work and sacrifice that went into the production of this story, and whereas I certainly would not wish to denigrate the creative process, I feel that the end result left me somewhat less than thoroughly entertained, due to the fact that the story was derivative of other works that slightly exceeded it in quality and entertainment value, and also because it wasn't the easiest story in the world to follow. Therefore, whereas I failed to be entertained by the story, this should in no way be construed that the author is a bad person or lacks talent. My dislike of the story was no doubt a reflection upon my poor intellect."

Or I could just say that the story was so awful it deserves to be set on fire.  Seriously, why mince words?

I don't think explaining why it's a bad story is demonstrating a lack of respect. What about me? I gave 55 minutes of my valuable time to listen to this story, and another ten minutes or so to achieve some cathartic bellyaching on the internet. Does the author respect my time? Evidently not, as the author has [and here PCoC has censored himself, deleting a colorful description suggesting some malice perpetrated by the author in knowingly wasting my time with a horrible story].

When I like a story, I weigh in and explain why it's good (see my review of the Best Escape Pod Ever, "Connie Maybe"). And when I waste nearly an hour on a terrible story, I'd like to be able to vent about it without having to spend an hour rewriting my review so it doesn't cause anybody to cry.

So I leave it up to you, Mr. Moderator. Give the word, and I'll ban myself. I'll never again darken these forums with my presence, if that's your wish. But I'm not going to expend needless effort writing only bland criticisms when I don't like a story. I don't attack the author and call them a bad person--I call their stories bad. And I fail to see how that's wrong.
Alright, I'm putting my virtual foot down.  (a foot composed of the next several pixels that make up this post)

Dude, there's a difference between voicing an opinion and being an asshole.  It's the difference between "man, I really disliked this story, and I feel like I wasted my time with it, here's why: [insert explanation here]" vs. "This story makes me want to kill, and should be set on fire, and my god it's made of suck!"

We like to keep a civil community here, not one filled with douchey comments, tactless assholes, and unfiltered opinions.  Yes, go ahead and hate a story, but holy crap must you be so blatantly offensive about it?  Not only are you insulting the author, but you are insulting the editors who decided this was a good story, good enough to be bought, transferred into audio, and distributed to the public.

Frankly, if you don't think you can show a little self-restraint, then I do not see the point of you being here.  Your review of "Connie, Maybe" was awesome, I will say that much, but it doesn't make up for all the other crap you've been throwing around here.  You are on thin ice, so either behave or get out.

and, not directed towards you, but rather the "grading" of stories.
no.  just don't.  you say "oh then don't read it", well sorry, but ONE STAND ALONE LETTER is not going to just be glanced over and ignored.  It stands out, and condensing an entire opinion into one letter is as bad as a "meh".  Sure, you explained yourself, but the letter grade at the end is useless, it adds nothing to the opinion.  If anything, it detracts from it, cheapens it.  Just don't, please.
Title: EP223: The Uncanny Valley
Post by: deflective on November 11, 2009, 04:51:27 AM
speaking as a user, a user that strongly advocates light moderation, you are crossing a line Prank Call of Cthulhu.  you have a valid point of view and i appreciate it when people take time to make their comments entertaining but you give the impression that you're just waiting for stories that you don't like so you can cut loose and insult someone.

saying that the story is muddled and contains elements from too many tropes is valid, no matter what other people think of your opinion, but not so much when you say that the story's draft needs to be burned.  i'd be interested to see what your comments would look like if you avoided talking about how a story is an affront to your personal standards and instead concentrated on where it went wrong and what could be done to fix it.
Title: EP223: The Uncanny Valley
Post by: Talia on November 11, 2009, 06:15:20 AM
no one wants you to ban yourself man. Just be less vitriolic, that's all.

Hell, just bout everyone's had stories they dislike. Happens. Not all stories work for everyone.


Just basically be less inflammatory bout it if you could, I think, is the request here. I understand your point about not liking to be, in a sense, censored.

But please, please, when you do voice your opinions, keep in mind this: everyone involved is a person. The person who wrote the story. The people who chose to run the story. The reader.

Responding in a spectacularly negative manner may actually be hurtful.

It is fine to dislike things. It happens. Clearly the story, as said, didn't connect with many. But please dont seem to make it a personal thing.

No one set out to ATTACK YOU by airing this.