>Where are all these people the rest of the time!? Why don't they ever vote anywhere else!?

This. So much this.

I'm not saying I want 30 voters discussing every single update and cluttering the thread every day, but come on, there are times I struggle to get more than just three voters who only copypaste the votes they want and don't comment on the update, much less discuss it. It makes me feel kinda insecure about my own writing.

I know the fact that Keymaster always updates daily goes a long way to maintaining such a high amount of readers, but when I look at how lonely most stories look in comparison, I can't help but wonder if 75% of ToMF's readerbase only comes here for that story alone, and ignores everything else that THP has to offer.

People, there is a lot of good stuff other than Keymaster's. You just have to search a bit in other boards and in the archives, and be willing to wait for more than a week without updates when the bad seasons come. Make other writers feel loved too.

>>19845

Generously assuming you update once a week, Keymaster still works 7X harder than you. Logically speaking, he deserves 7X more votes and discussion than you do.

Why compare yourself to Keymaster, when you aren't even close to his level of dedication/commitment?

>>19853
Whoa nelly, tone down that elitist fanboyism! I wasn't implying Keymaster doesn't deserve the amount of readers he gets - far from it, I think he does a pretty good job at what he does. Nor I was saying me and everybody else must have the same attention his stories get just because. I was just saying that if most of the ~40 readers he consistently has spent some time into other stories as well, this site wouldn't seem as dead as some people like to point out periodically.

Moreover, not everybody can keep up the same schedule as Keymaster. I too would update once or twice everyday if I could, but most of us find that our real life obligations drain us of our scarce free time. Does that make us less deserving of the interest of potential readers? Every author might be more or less talented, and might have more or less time to write fanfiction, but I believe I speak for everybody when I say we all pour our all into our updates, and we have nothing but the utmost dedication to entertain our readers and have a fun time writing.

>>19855

Simply by the nature of this argument, anything I say is going to make me sound like another fanboy. Just the same as anything you say is going to sound like the woes of yet another jealous, second-rate author.

But, setting all that aside for the sake of civility, voting and discussing things in a Keymaster thread is like playing one of those guaranteed win prize grabber machines. No matter how much I time/money I invest, there will always be guaranteed returns. The fact that I know for certain my hard will with pay off is what draws me to his threads.

It's hard to trust all you new authors, since a lot of us have been burned in the past.

>>19856
>anything I say is going to make me sound like another fanboy

Wrong. What makes you sound like an elitist fanboy is the usage of derogatory terms of the likes of "jealous, second-rate author", explicit and implied. If you really want to have a civilized argument, you ought to start by stopping throwing personal insults. I realize calling you a fanboy is absolutely hypocritical on my part, and I apologize for insulting you like that. But I hope I made my point across in this regard. Now onto the really important topic:

>It's hard to trust all you new authors, since a lot of us have been burned in the past.

This right here is exactly the kind of attitude I'm complaining about. What's all that about "guaranteed returns"? This is a fanfiction site, not a stock market, for ZUN's sake! You lose absolutely nothing by reading other stuff too, so why can't you give other stories a chance? I understand you might feel betrayed when one of the stories you've been avidly following suddenly falls on indefinite hiatus (I know that feeling all too well), but that's not a good reason to just stop trusting other authors.

THP is a site where strangers on the internet come to have a good time writing and reading stuff from other strangers. It's a shame when someone drops a story, and the readers have all the right in the world to feel disappointed, but ultimately it doesn't really matter, as there are hundreds of other stories you can enjoy too. Sticking to only one story just because you feel your investment in it will not be betrayed means you're missing a lot of other good stuff - who knows, you might find an even better story buried and forgotten in other boards.

>You lose absolutely nothing by reading other stuff too

Another guy here, but that right there is why I think you are wrong and the issue I have with new writers. It goes like this:

A new writer comes here and starts a story, of course I read it and I really enjoy the setting, how he writes, his characters. I want to see more. Now after about a thread suddenly the updates take longer and longer, but I dont stop reading because I wanna know what happens. And then BAM, hiatus, the story got dropped or we never hear from the guy again. And this happens maybe 10 times in a row with different writers.

And thats why I usually wait before reading new stuff now because I did lose something, the joy of reading a story. Id rather not read a good beginning at all if it doesnt have an end, thats like starting a book and finding out after a chapter that the rest of the pages are blank when its about to get good. It makes me so fucking mad.

>>19845
You, my friend, are right in everything you write. I wish that more people would be like you and try to fight the apathy that has gotten hold onto the site.

If only we had more people like you, if only.

My new favorite writer hasn't released an update to the series I like in weeks. Weeks!!! He took the time to write something I don't give a shit about though, and that makes me SOOOOOO MAD HOW DARE HEEEEEEE

>>19861

So I guess you didn't vote in the recent update of "When Borders Meet Their End."

Completely ignoring everything that came after the OP...

I'm one of the many voters who crawls out of the woodwork when a big decision comes up in one of Keymaster's threads, but it's not as if I don't follow other stories on this site. I just have a hard time getting myself to vote at all, so it takes the important decisions for me to get over my own indecisiveness.

>>19863
I feel this. I haven't read Keymaster in a long time, but a lot of the time I don't vote. Mostly because it goes where I want it to, or I honest'y don't prefer one or another.

Are we talking about Tengu of (Mis)Fortune or just Keymaster's stories in general?

I'm honestly just waiting until he finishes to read the whole thing. I lost track of a good half a dozen threads ago.

>>19859
>>19863
>>19864
>>19865

Isn't voting on stories half the fun? The one thing that makes CYOAs stand out from regular fanfiction is that the readers can decide and shape how the plot and characters develops along with the writer. Refraining from voting feels like wasting a chance to participate in the making of a story, at least for me.

>>19867
Voting is definitely part of the fun of quests, you're not wrong about that. But surely you can understand that for well written quests, one can be happy just seeing it continue regardless of the results of various votes?

>>19869
Should have thought a bit more before posting...

For example, if there are options A, B, C, and [Write-In] but I would be happy with any of them winning, then I personally find it very hard to vote. Generally, unless I force myself to, I only vote when it comes to choices where there's a particular result I favor over the others.

Honestly, what pisses me off more than stories falling into the hiatus pile is when authors neglect to inform the readers about it and simply disappear. I prefer to know that you have no free time to write or simply don't want to, over compulsively checking a story every day for a month until I realize it's dead.

>>19867

I don't agree with that. For me, voting is simply a means to an end. If I start reading a story and find myself enjoying it, I usually just copy paste the winning vote. I honestly could care less about routefaggotry or the more specific aspects of the story.

I really only post a vote because writers these days tend to equate number of votes with how good their story is. So I'm really only trying to keep them from falling into despair and turning into hiatus-witches.

>>19872
As a writer, hearing that makes me feel incredibly disheartened and disappointed. Personally, I'd rather have a few readers who genuinely care about my story enough to participate, comment and discuss it, than a whole lot who only vote out of obligation and pity.

But beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. That's the really sad part about this.

>>19874

Isn't it enough that I like your story enough to waste my life reading it? Some fraction of my finite life is entirely focused and devoted to you, and yet you still aren't satisfied.

You only

>feel incredibly disheartened and disappointed

because of some arbitrary importance you place on participation, discussion, and comments. By your logic, you would mistakenly assume I care less about your story than the people who do comment/discuss it, when that simply isn't true.

>>19876
You may be right, but try to see it from a writer's perspective. If you were to write a story, and you have a reader that wrote a couple paragraphs talking about what happened in the last update, and discussing what would be the best course of action for the next one. Then compare it to the two or three voters after him who limit themselves to copypaste what the first wrote. Also take into account the five or six readers who are silently reading the story from the shadows, without participating.

Do all those readers have the same interest in your story? Probably. But as a writer, you have no way to be sure about that. You only see the dedication of the first voter who spent five minutes to comment your story, and the other two who copypasted the first's vote in a couple of seconds. You don't even know if the silent five readers are there or not.

Naturally, your first immediate impression would be that the first guy is really interested in your story - at least he cares enough to think about how would he like the next update to be -, while the other two are either too busy to come up with something original (understandable), or don't have the same ability to come up with good write-ins (again, understandable), or simply are too lazy or uncaring to give a bother (that's not so good - it means your writing isn't eliciting a strong enough reaction on the readers).

In short, it's not only a matter of whether our stories are capable of getting the reader's interest. Their responses also tell us writers how really invested they are. Their comments give us ideas, their suggestions help us improve our writing techniques, and figure out what do the readers want to see. You don't even need to write long-ass paragraphs about the last update; just a single sentence is enough to give us a moral boost. When you don't speak your mind, you leave us in the dark, and we won't know for sure if you're really liking it, or if there's something we can do to make the story even better.

I found a good story in the "recently updated" section about a woman who spoke really weirdly and kind of got stuck in kourin's because he didn't want to escort her to the forest. I really liked it.
Anyway, I vote to go meet Alice and today, the story is gone. That means that either I dreamed it, or it was a long dead story and I just necro'd a thread. FUCK

>>19877
There is another option though: the voters want their option to win, so instead of making a write-in they vote for one that approximates what they want. Better to pool influence and guarantee an alright reaction than to have multiple write-ins that lose out by one vote.

>>19876
>because of some arbitrary importance you place on participation, discussion, and comments.

Considering that reader interaction and participation is the entire point of the CYOA format, I fail to see how any importance writers place on it could be considered "arbitrary".

Outside influence is important in any artistic medium. Creators thrive,learn, and grow from it. To tell them that their desire for input is arbitrary is to imply that they should just be unthinking, unfeeling robots who exist for no other reason than to make things that you enjoy without asking anything in return.

>>19878
Are you talking about Forest Mix, cause it's still there. It's the first story in the forest board.

>>19877

>try to see it from a writer's perspective

That, sir, is Perhaps the entire crux of the dissonance in the thread. I'm not a writer, never have been, never will be. Have I ever spent hours trying to get a single sentence to sound right? Nope. Have I ever sat in fear of refreshing a thread because I'm scared nobody liked my story? Course not.

Perhaps we can compromise, thought. I am not an unreasonable fellow, so how about this; instead of a pity vote, I post a pity comment. It would, in essence, be virtually indistinguishable from the comments of people who actually care about such things.

Everyone wins. You get your "moral boost" and I get my story. What say you? Will you parley?

>>19887
Parley? So we pirates now?

I'm okay with that compromise. Even if you only do it out of obligation now, I think it's a good routine to practice for a start. Eventually, you might open up and begin making honest comments, and when that day comes, THP will be a better place. I for one will strive to make my stories deserving of your time and interest. But above all else, the most important thing is having fun, and as long as I enjoy writing and you enjoy reading, it'll all work out somehow.

Just curious. What is this site view on the VN 'Katawa Shoujo'?

>>19894

Well, I haven't been nominated as official spokesman of the site(yet), but I thought it was mediocre. I feel a lot of the hype stems from the "baby's first VN" crowd.

>>19895
>>19894
Burnt toast is undisputedly best girl.
It's not the greatest VN ever of all time, but it's a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon. The routes are pretty interesting and none of the characters are really bad per say. Some are just more interesting than others.

I do find it fascinating just how much of 4chan it left in tears or emotional shock.

>>19894
Pretty mediocre and generic vn with a gimmic and being the first vn for many people.

my favorite daiyousei artist just drew a ship

damn ships damn them all to hell

What's up with THP writers and catastrophic system/hard drive failure?

>>19899
Back-ups take time and effort dammit.

>>19899
A curse. An excuse. Hard drives begin to fail the moment you think about them failing. It's an excuse.

In all seriousness, though, life is tough. Things like hard drives failing and truck accidents happen a lot.

>>19899

There are STILL people on THP who think the whole "HDD failure" excuse is real?

>>19900
>Have Dropbox
>Dropbox launch with system
>Saves stories and related in Dropbox folder

I just made a backup of my story, which I can access from every computer with internet, and I didn't lift a finger to do so.
Your argument is invalid.

Say, has anyone here been a member of that one role-play site?

This one:
http://poir.netherworld.gs

I'm kind of curious as to what kind of atmosphere it has. Reading the rules and threads can only tell you so much.

>>19904

It looks pretty legit.

This place is a bit slow, huh?

>>19908

Yes, but it's even slower than usual due to exams. Hopefully the activty'll pick up again in the next few weeks.

Man, fuck the TSA.

>plan to write to X point in the story before I ship out
>realize just how much is between where I left off and that point

fuck Fuck FUCK FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

So I've been lurking here silently for a couple of months. I have read the recommendation thread, and I got to ask; what's up with THP and stories where everyone is dead and/or sad?

>>19926

I can confidently say there are zero stories on this site where everyone is dead and/or sad. You sure you're talking about the right website?

A relatively massive mammal died in my room. What could I do to erase the smell?

>>19926

/at/ stories are happy~

>>19923
Her tears balista. You're the reason why Ran is crying.

>>19934
TAINTED BONDSS IS DEAAAAAADD

(Even when it updates)

>>19934

What reason does she have to cry? She doesn't even remember what's happened to her.

I just watched Restupurae Wrongpurae Shadows of Destiny.
This fucking game is somehow able to make me bust a gut, and want to kill someone in a fit of confusion caused rage.

Why don't writers here make more stories from the perspective of actual Touhou characters?

>>19949
In my case. Because I don't want to "live the life of a touhou", but rather, "live a life with a touhou".

THP is 'dead' again...

>>19926
angsty may be art but some of the more popular things are pretty positive (such as keymaster's usual fare), and the norm for THP stories is usually bright normal Gensokyo life.

>>19967
THP is dead. Why not just write smut on all boards now?

>>19950
but living as a touhou does not preclude living with a touhou

>>19978
u wot m8 fite me irl ill fkn rek u i swear on me mum fgt

Oh hey, I think we've gone through at least two or three rage threads without someone bringing up that writer/story again. THP has figured out how to let go.

>>19982
Well, you basically just brought it up yourself, so don't complain when people start talking about it.

>>19982
Which story are you referring to?

>>19982
You think the rage subsided. It merely took on the form of tranquil fury.

>>19984

If you don't know, it's prolly best to just drop the subject. the shitstorms within shitstorms WITHIN shitstorms associated with that story were truly a dark era in this site's history.

>>19988
Ah yes, that story. I know which story as to which you refer.

>>19988
>a dark era in this site's history
I kind of miss the story itself, though, nostalgia goggles be damned...

>>19994

We all do. Which may be the reason that certain stories on this site are more popular than they should be. In my opinion, of course.

>>19999
>more popular than they should be.

u jelly?

>>19937
I keep almost reading your story, then reading something about it and thinking better of it.

Looks like it's that time of the year already. Exams are over for most of us, and new writers arrive en masse to try luck at CYOAs, filling the boards with lots of new stories (especially /th/).

I wonder how many of them will get past the first thread...

>>20021

There's a few in Border popping up right now. God knows it could use a few. Eientei is still empty. There hasn't been an update since March for anything there.

>>20021
depends on if they're in /th/ or not.

In /th/, saying that none will would be a pretty safe bet.

Outside of it, is less certain.

>>20032
Funny, I think it would be in reverse.

>>19999
Found him.

>>20032

Yea I'm pretty sure the reverse is true.

>>20034

Who is Wiseman? Should I be offended right now?

>>20036

Huh...seeing as the height of his villainy is periodic stupidity and speaking in non-sequiturs, I guess I'm not all that offended.

Wasn't Wiseman also voting at some of his own stories?

>>20038
You're thinking of Ddyk, AKA Hartmann, who actually managed to get himself banned.

>>20039

Which was a shame considering the story he did that on in /eientei/ was actually pretty good.

I'm a bit bummed that a lot of the ideas and the new stories are crossovers, where the OC MC is perhaps the most well-thought out character. I wish I could have a plot based story with a touhou MC. Heck, just having touhou characters motivated and active would make things interesting.

>>20063

It's honestly always been that way with about half the stories on this site.

There's a few out there with Touhou MCs. Youmu's Journey in /other/ is one, though its kind of on hiatus on account of someone stealing all the author's notes.

>>20063
>>20064
I usually avoid plugging my own story, but Not-Life over in /others/ is written from the point of view of a canon Touhou. The story has been completed, if you care about that.

There's also If You Spook the Buddha in /shrine/, which is written from Kogasa's point of view.

Besides those, I can't think of many. The Game by Fell is the only other that comes to mind at the moment. Most stories on this site are written with an OC as the protagonist -- probably because that was how this site was founded, but I would also say that it's because it can be easier than trying to write from the view of a canon character. (Can be. That's not always the case.)

>>20063

Marisa's Magically Magnificent Maktaba in /shrine/ is written in Marisa's point of view, and does it pretty well, I think. Touhou MCs are definitely a breath of fresh air on this site.

>>20066
I think OCs are preferred as most writers are men and thus men are easier to write. That and screwing up a touhou MC portrayal can be a nasty thing.

>>20077
I haven't actually seen anyone criticizing for bad portrayal. Even though there are like several different interpretation of every single character.

>>20063
There's also Favors Owed, plot-based and with Reisen as the main character.

>>20089
I'd completely forgotten about that. Why'd you remind me?

>Yukari mentions in Oriental Sacred Place chapter 10 that radio towers fall into Gensokyo every once in a while.

So, there are giant radio towers in Gensokyo, and yet nobody ever notices them? What the hell.

>>20102
One showed up in the fairies manga, I believe. They get assimilated into nature.

>>20103
For one second I imagined a forest made out of radio towers.

It is a glorious image.

>tfw your story gets no votes because other more popular stories pushed it to the bottom of the board.

And then you guys wonder why everybody only posts stories in /th/.

>>20131
There's a thread in /gensokyo/ now for promoting new stories. Have you posted it there?

What board and what story, by the way?

>>20132
Yeah, I did that already. Its titled "A Grave Mistake", on /others/

Now I would understand if people don't read it because they don't like it, but I'd like if you at least told me so.

>>20133

I like that story!

>>20133
I dont like it, way over the top and tacky. And the supposed humor makes me cringe every single time. Sorry but I had to say it.

Sorry but I never liked YAF. I wonder why they let him teach.

>>20140
I dunno, "this shrine" was pretty good.

In other news, why is this site so f*cking slow? It's summer, where's my influx of activity?

>>20143
something something site is dying, PANIC, etc.

It could be just about anything. I'd say the Steam sale and SGDQ probably didn't help matters. Best not to worry a whole lot about it, though, imo. Everything will keep chugging along.

>>20131
That doesn't work well either, horribly cluttered board. Though I must say /others/ is becoming the same way due to people flocking to it, all while other boards go without much life.

As far as your story, it just didn't interest me. Sadly it comes off as /th/ fare (short lived at least; not assuming anything about quality, but the whole "gimicky concept" does it no favors)

As far as the story getting pushed down, well just wait for ToY to slow down some.

As for other boards, it's not really an issue, even in /youkai/ now that Keymaster finished his story there.

>>20143
there's other things, summer is a time for real life interruptions.

After reading THP high I finally understood why this site is so dead.

It's IRC.

>>20533
We've been regarding them as a lost cause for a long time already.

>>20533

Its a false impression. If a writer's not writing for some reason or another, they go onto IRC. If they are writing, they will pop up randomly in IRC to ask questions about touhou canon, for advice, proofreaders, etc.

A lot of people on IRC are my friends, and also good writers whom I turn to for advice, help and sometimes a kick in the ass to break through writer's block.

Some people use it for procrastination, but those people would find another way to procrastinate without it. There's nothing magical or wicked about IRC.

>>20535
I'm more raging about the fact that THP High manages to update at the speed of light while all other stories are lucky if they update faster than once a month.

Maybe this is a sign. A sign that we should go back to the root core style of CYOA. With short updates, no overarching story, and simply having lots of fun.

Shame this writing style got shunned into oblivion on this site.

>>20536

Whoa, whoa, hold up, let me stop you right there. You're complaining about what is essentially a livestreamed let's play to actual stories on the site here? Dude, it's an actual game that's being played, which supplies all the dialogue and situations that crop up. Of course it's gonna update lightning-quick, since the guy actually playing it is merely supplying screenshots and taking suggestions, not writing down descriptive prose and dialogue and original ideas for a proper story.

I think you got a serious case of misplaced expectations here, man.

>>20535
I wouldn't say IRC but #THP being a place where stories die due to how any would be writers get sucked into its culture. It's to the point where if you want to talk about writing/stories, even the /at/ channel (#touhouporn) would be a far better choice.

Oh, goodie, another one of these.

>>20537
Yeah, I know. But have you seen how fast YWUiG was updating?
More writers should start treating their stories like games. Choose Your Own Adventure games.

>>20538
What culture? Of having an existence beyond writing for the sight? Of having friends? Of wanting to talk to others about shit that isn't Touhou?

>>20536
I still write a story with short, fast updates. And fun. One of the few (only?) stories with multiple updates a day. That said, I'm a gigantic faggot. I'm still at it though. If you don't mind that, we're golden.

>>20540

Aaaah, the glory days of rapid-fire updates for an audience of dozens of voters. Yeah, those were great fun. At the same time, though, and speaking as a writer guilty of those month-long waits between updates, I like what I'm able to accomplish with several thousand words per post, even if I get mad at myself for how long it takes me to do it. Mostly because I'm a lazy sumbitch, but hey.

Fast stories, meanwhile, allow output at an unprecedented rate, but at the cost of being both exhausting for most writers and usually coming at a hit to quality, unless you're some sort of mutant like Keymaster. There's something spectacular about stories going through threads at a meteoric rate, and I agree with you that we should have more like them.

>>20540
>have you seen how fast YWUiG was updating?

Have you seen how YWUiG never finished?

>>20544
>Have you seen how YWUiG never finished?

Have you seen the amount of stories on THP which has never finished?

Spoiler: It's most of them. And all of them have never reached the sheer amount of updates YWUiG had.

>>20545
Well, Do the Right Thing is a good contender, although that's been going for like 4 years.
I think there's a place for the style of CYOA's we have now, and the ones we had back then.
Embrace them both, I say.

>>20536
>A sign that we should go back to the root core style of CYOA. With short updates, no overarching story, and simply having lots of fun.
I went back and read your root CYOAs, and guess what.
They're hot garbage. I can understand how they'd be a lot of fun with a lot of people and updates every 10 minutes or whatever, but I don't think it can be revived now that we're used to stories with a little more... story to them.

Certainly wouldn't cut it for me, in any case.

>>20547
The long stories tend to kill themselves with hiatuses, so in the end it will even out, right?

>>20548
not exactly as these days even high update speeds result in burn out. Also these days the site's readers tend to have more thigns in their lives than the "good old days"

>>20548
Also, you have to consider the site's readership. THP is slow. Even if you can do rapid updates, there's no guarantee that enough people will be around to express interest.

>>20550
But this logic is circular... the slow writers cause slow readers; if the writers accelerate, then the readers would catch up. I for one, check this site every day for new stories.

>>20552
That is precisely the vicious cycle we are striving to break.

>>20552
Hmm, you might have a point there. If Keymaster is any indication, stories that have a quick or consistent update speed tend to pick up readers as it goes.

>>20554
>>20552
That's kinda true. But kinda not. You have to understand that there's no real guarantee that a story will attract readers no matter if it's fast or slow. Part of the problem is that a lot of readers stick to one or two boards or one or two stories. Yeah, there's a lot of people who don't do that and are willing to try new stuff but by and large the person who reads /forest/ isn't the same one who reads /shrine/. I base that on years of looking over stats and chatting with people on IRC. The hardest part is to get someone to try something new. Or, in other cases, to consistently check the site and make a habit of reading and voting, even if it's just five minutes a day.

I think that fast and consistent updates are really important (the former less so for your longer and more serious stories) but I think that getting the people to check the site regularly and try new stuff out is even more important. I personally try to be fast and consistent to try to get people fired up but this is something that's best addressed on a more global level. So the best thing anyone can do is make recommendations and tell people to read and write. Encourage them however you can. If we get enough people interested and checking in consistently then you have a more self-sustaining model.

>>20552
>>20553
>>20554

For starters, Keymaster's ability to update fast is not normal, most that try even once a day burn out. Quite telling as once a day is the fastest a story should go before risking burn out or losing readers due to missing votes.

Writing isn't always as easy as some make it seem, and it's the 'work' related to writing that tends to cause stories to die because most would be writers aren't prepared to put in the work to sustain a story once the novelity's worn off.

It's this same factor that causes not so fast rates and burn outs upon doing fast stories.

reader alienation is a thing as if a story goes beyond once a day update, the risk of people missing updates skyrockets and some will quit reading a story they feel they have little say in.

I am laughing at how you are saying that Keymaster is not normal for updating once a day. This should be normal for writers and I know one who could do this daily but no readers.

So stop saying shit like that and just update daily and bring back more life to the site. No more excuses and just get shit done. That goes out to all the former writers who do nothing anymore but are still around.

>>20557
I reckon you haven't tried to write a story yourself. If you think it's so easy for us to update daily without missing a deadline while still trying to make the story interesting for our readers, I welcome you to try it yourself.

>>20556
>Keymaster's ability to update fast is not normal
It's normal enough. If you really like doing something you find time to do it. Even when I was being pounded in the ass by uni, life and people daily I found time to write. You do what you can when you can. And I've talked to people who were 10 hours at work and didn't have a carefree domestic life either who still managed to read and vote at the least. This may not apply to everyone all the time but if you have time to play hours of games or watch movies you also have time to read and/or write. An argument can be made that doing those other things are more fun or more relaxing or an overall better usage of time. That's more than fine! It's understandable. Just don't pretend that it's somehow physically impossible to keep a consistent update schedule.

>reader alienation is a thing as if a story goes beyond once a day update, the risk of people missing updates skyrockets and some will quit reading a story they feel they have little say in.

Let me tell you why this is absolute bullshit: there's a ton of people who read without voting at all or voting only sometimes. Even with slow updates. Just ask around. Not to mention that it's not hard in the least to check the site every couple of hours in this day and age. Even from work. If you can idle and chat on IRC from work, you can read and vote.

Oh and I've never gotten complaints about updating quickly. Six years now. Plenty of other things, sure, but never for actually writing at a non-glacial pace.

You're right about writing not being easy and people burning out though. It's hard to understand how much effort it requires until you actually do it. But that's more of a human thing than the fault of the medium itself.

>>20558
It's really hard but experience makes it easier. Don't give up it becomes easier to make plans and manage.

I see a promising story.
I try to vote.
>scrolls down
>VOTES CALLED
>repeat 3 times

>find out the 2nd and 3rd stories have not updated for two weeks

This is why we need fast-updating stories.

>>20561
Become a writer and give us those fast updates then. It's sure as hell is going to be more effective than complaining about it here.

>>20559
This. A million times this.
That said, let me just reinforce the idea that we have to strike a balance between quality and quantity so we can give you, the reader, something that's not shit. Now, I'm not the best writer in the world, but I do try my hardest to at least be entertaining. My stuff might not be as funny as Keymaster or as epic as Demetrious (goddamnit), and it's certainly not deep, but I do want it to be fun. Or mostly fun. Maybe a little bit of navel contemplating.

Which brings me to my second point.

>>20561
Have you ever taken into consideration that a lot of stories are sitting around waiting on someone to vote for them? Some really active people that would love to get some votes in order to move their story forward.

I'm not sayin.
But I'm just sayin.

So, how was THP in those 'good old days', exactly?

>>20564
Full of faggots.
Literally. Still is too.
Stories felt more like /tg/ quests than full fanfiction.

>>20565
I miss Kira.

>>20566
Too much despair. I'll never fully get over MiG.

>>20536
>that THP High manages to update at the speed of light

BECAUSE ITS A FUCKING ASSHOLE PLAYING A FUCKING VIJERGAEM AND TAKING HIS ACTION FROM THE FIRST VOTE POSTED AND HE JUST POSTS A FUCKING SCREENSHOT WITH A THREE LINE DESCRIPTION OR SNARKY COMMENT

ITS NOT A "STORY" YOU CHUMP

YOU FUCKING

KNUCKLE

DRAGGING

SHIT

FLINGING

SIMIAN

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

>>20568

Easy there, dude. He probably didn't know.

Why in the world are we comparing someone livestreaming porn to a writer taking time out of their lives to write stories about magical lolis for us ungrateful bastards and using that as an excuse to complain that they don't update often enough to please said ungrateful bastards?

>>20570
Going out of a limb here, but I think it's because said porn streamer is probably taking time out from potential writers that could instead be using that time to write stories for the ungrateful masses.

But yeah, I agree complaining about it is just a waste of time.

Time.

>>20571
Well to be honest if "THP High" didn't exist, they'd still all be doing whatever instead of writing.

>>20568
it's still stupid gay circlejerking

literally gay at that

>>20572
Everyone that thinks for a second agrees with you.

And the 'THP High updates at the speed of the light' is a low quality troll. For shame, THP

>>20572
IRC has so many writers who just sit there and do nothing. Have they all lost interest in the site and just do not care anymore? Is it more fun to just play vidya and do nothing? I just wish that Lion would get his ass up and update maybe at least once a week. Fuck I loved Border House and waited patiently for it to continue since 2011/06/23. Not like even cares of remembers.

Fuck everything. Being a reader is suffering.

>>20563
>Have you ever taken into consideration that a lot of stories are sitting around waiting on someone to vote for them?
>>20561
>VOTES CALLED
>repeat 3 times

I'd like to. I'd really, really like to, but votes called, man, votes called. BTW I checked these stories again aaaand they've not updated. /shrine/ really is slow.

>>20576
tried other boards? I know that Little Soldier Lost in /eientei/ updated recently with a sizable update. Same with stuff in /forest/

>>20575
I remember Border House
;_;

>>20575
>being a reader is suffering
Do the impossible: continue the story yourself! It's not like the writers will care. Probably. If they really care then you can pretend you're writing an alternate reality or something.

>>20579

I always thought it was considered bad form to do that.

>>20572
>>20574

The problem, for me personally at least, goes beyond the virtual circlejerk. The site needs activity. Not just writing and updates but voting too. Here we have a group of people who fill up threads with lightning speed and use energy to care about something but it doesn't translate to the rest of the site at all. It's like wasted potential. So it feels like rubbing salt in wounds. If you're going to be a faggot and talk about video games and whatever, go ahead and do it with your friends elsewhere and take it easy. It just seems in poor taste and makes it feel like you're flaunting the fact that you choose not to do anything of consequence on the site. If we were thriving then I guess off-topic stuff like that would be an okay oddity. But we're not and so it makes it a bitter pill to swallow. We're a touhou fanfiction community, I'd rather get that part working smoothly before indulging in off-topic stuff.

I know it's not fair and some of the people involved to read and write at times but, to me, all the other stuff I said makes the whole experience unpalatable.

>>20579
>>20580
I think you could always ask for permission. That'd be the way to go about it. There was a story on shrine that got picked up again by someone else iirc.

>>20579
Do you think Lion would mind if I were to continue Border House?

>>20579
Remember the shitstorm that happened when someone tried to continue a dead story? No thanks.

>>20581
Well to perfectly honest a lot of times it's just one vote.
and that one vote is from the same guy 3 times.
So I mean, it's not like it's actually flooded with activity.

>>20583

>Do you think Lion would mind if I were to continue Border House?

Go on IRC and ask him. He's on pretty often.

Even if you can't get permission, you should probably be fine if you start a new story with the same premise.

>>20579
Hard part is matching the talent of the original writer... and getting the original's permission.

>>20581
Someone did do that, though it (ace combat Gensokyo) is on hiatus due to life, but if Paperboy wanted the 'resurrection' to stop he'd just have to say the word.

YAF YOU HACK FRAUD!! I READ THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BELGARIAD

IT WASN'T VERY INTERESTING OR GOOD AND TOOK ME ONLY A FEW HOURS TO READ
THIS ISN'T A GREAT FANTASY EPIC, I FEEL GYPPED

>>20620
>trusting YAF

That's where you were mistaken, my friend.

>>20579
I had that idea.
I planned out what would happen after the shower scene, what the writer intended to do afterwards with the whole masquerade lifting itself around him, what the red eyes on the dragon statue meant, minute details about side characters, how to calm anons if I were to routelock to one of the vampires etc.
But that was just theory. How do you actually get away with all that? Where do you find the guts when you have failed with your own tiny projects before?

>>20620

I read the Belgariad series back when I was a teen. I thought it was pretty good. In hindsight though, it probably had the single most boring magic system in existence. Even the magician fight scenes were lame.

No updates. Writers are you even trying?

No discussion in my thread. Readers are you even trying?

>>20533
This guy was right, but for the wrong reason.
IRC NEVER FUCKING VOTES.
THEY NEVER FUCKING WRITE.
WHAT FUCKING GOOD ARE THEY??????
Seriously this pisses me the fuck off. Writing isn't easy, but what the fuck is so hard about voting? How is that so fucking difficult? They never fucking do ANYTHING.

>>20743

You think being a writer is hard? Try putting yourself in the readers shoes, having to put up with a bunch of idiots who won't stop voting for things I don't like. This whole CYoA thing would go so much smoother if everyone would just realize that my opinions are better than theirs.

I think we can all agree that IRC is the place where writers become lazy and get sucked into being not productive.

If only they would care like a bit about the site then we would not be having this problem right now. Maybe a bit care and a wish to update and less about games and whatever.

In the end it is not like we can force a writer to write again. It is all his choice but then please just say that you quit/retire/don't feel like it anymore instead of giving hope. This is only cruel.

>>20763
Well, I think we can all agree that strawberry preserve is far superior to anything involving grape. And also that you're an idiot.

Wow, when I put "I think we can all agree" in front of whatever I believe personally it's almost like it automatically lends my statements an air of legitimacy! What a neat trick. Also, you're an idiot.

EVERYTHING I WRITE IS SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT


just had to get that out there, carry on

Some time ago there were complaints about how there were too few stories active and that this site was going lukewarm at best.

Now it seems the opposite is happening: new stories are popping up like mushrooms after a storm, and it's a miracle if any of them get more than 5 votes after the initial three updates of novelty.

You asked what we writers were doing a few months ago. It's summer already, so we have a lot more of free time to write. Where are you readers now?

>>20780

>Where are you readers now?

The anti-psychotics I've just started taking are doing a number on my reading comprehension and decision making process, so I'm mostly lurking at the moment. Can't speak for anyone else, of course.

>>20780
>Where are you readers now?

Personally im voting on new stories that I actually like and not the ones that are shit. Thats just me though.

My readers are kind of monstrous, but also I love them.

I didn't know which thread to put this in so I put it in this one.

>>20780
I'm following like twelve different active stories right now and don't feel like adding more to my plate is where.

>>20780

You know, if all you new authors banded together and voted in eachothers stories, you could give the illusion of all your stories being popular. This misconception could help carry your stories to actual stardom.

>>20785
A NEW CABAL TO CHALLENGE THE ACTUAL CABAL!?!?

This is going to get interesting~

>>20784

Same here. And that's not even including all the other stories I'm following on other sites.

>>20787
Post links. I have already voted on everything I can here.

>>20786
The IRC Cabal reigned over THP for too long and look what they brought us. Shitty stories, not enough readers and less than stellar reputation.

We need to get rid of them and vote for new mods.

>>20790
Not sure if serious.

>>20790
Holy shit.
Please tell me you aren't serious.

>>20790
120/10

>>20790
fite us nerd

>>20790
Don't know if Wiseman or not.

>>20812
I doubt it; it's not even a decent conspiracy theory.

>>20862

I find any and all conspiracies involving cabals and magical girls with hats to be equally ridiculous and, as such, equally indicative of Wiseman's presence among us.

I say it's him.

>>20791
>>20792
This just proves that the IRC Cabal is watching our every step on the board. They control and regulate the stories on the site. Without their approval nothing can be posted here, yet alone survive for longer. Their power is strong, their methods underhanded.

What about you, anon? What's it going to be? Loyalty to your fellow readers, or loyalty to the Cabal? Your stories, or your old mods? Your duty to the site, or your personal feelings? You don't know the truth yet. But sooner or later you'll have to choose.






You guys sure are parnoid about Wiseman. I mean he could be among us at this very moment and you would not even notice him!

>>20864
Dear God.

>>20864
IRC -> I R C = 3 letters
A triangle has 3 sides
Therefore, IRC is Illuminati

But wait, there's more!

Cabal - > C A B A L = 5 letters
5 - 3 = 2
3^2 = 9

What does this mean? The Cabal did 9/11!!!!!!11111oneoneone

WAKE UP SHEEPLE

>>20867
Excuse me we did nothing of the sort that was the shrinemaiden cabal.
God. At least keep your conspiracy theories straight. We don't have time travel like them. Yet.

Wth is a cabal?

>>20873
Take a look at this, it should explain it
http://bit.ly/161o6up

>>20873
It's the secret IRC group that controls THP from the shadows, shitposting in your favorite story so your waifu doesn't win.

They operate from Rizon, on the #THP channel, where they encode all their shitposting messages in code. Tuesday night, when they appear to be watching videogame wrestling, they are in fact communicating to each other about their next target.
For example, "Bazaa" is code for "anon" and "Always bet on DUEK" signifies the next target.

Dude Im making all this up please don't take me seriously
Or am I? Or is this just what they want you to think?

(USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS TREACHERY)

Sees the above.

Wtf

>>20879
>>20880

"When you cut out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say."
--Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones

I'M ANGRY AT THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THP

Is this the actual end? After all that happened and everything we endured?

>>20979
Chill out, dude. Most writers are still focused on giving the final touches to their stories for the Writing Contest. Give it a week and everything should return to normal.

>>20980

And the others are probably busy with school.

Where the hell is Fell!?

>>20990
He's always hanging out in the IRC, bro. Stories are probably delayed because he's busy with work or something. Who knows.

Realizing im a bad writer and those who likes my stuff are just idiots.

>>20993
Said every writer ever. Get over it.

I hate being on the road. It's bad enough having to pay for wifi at these places, but having to pay for wifi that cuts in and out is hair-tearing.

>>20995
Dude what hellish part of the country are you in? Like every dunkin donuts and McD has free wifi here

>>20993
Or maybe you're just depressed.

>>20998
YAF link to your gae bulg, I mean blog, please.
Have you written any original fiction in your time away from here?

>>20999
Not much, provided the events I have been subjected to over the last 1-2 months, but your post did prompt me to finish another chapter of my may-one-day-be-novel. Cheers for that.

As for the bulge blog, it has been linked several times already. Go look.

Working on that Futo/Youmu thing I did promise at the moment. Let none say I break my promises.

>>20996 That assumes every truck stop encountered while travelling (trucking) has a McDonalds or a Dunkin' Donuts. I wish they did.

>>21001 Merely delay them?

>>21002
Think of it in terms of postponing the inevitable.

YAF you fag, come back to IRC.
I miss you.

>>21035
You fool. Do you know how many shitstorms that would stir?
A civil war would break out, between [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]! The whole place would burn!
Think of the greater good here!

So what THP thought on Walfas?

>>21039
Walfas is like the game. You go forever without ever thinking about them and then someone brings it up and you pretend to rage at it.

>>21039
Smelly, dumb, etc.

>>21039
create.swf is a vehicle for an infinite number of unbearable idiots to make an infinite amount if unbearable fanwork. There's some decent stuff to be found in the heaping piles of shit, though, such as EoSD in a Shellnut.

>>21039
Is good that it exists. Teenagers have to go somewhere

You guys are overreacting. The few times i've come across Walfas in my internet travels have all been pleasent experiances. Namley; Derp Wars, a few of Kahi's earlier CYoAs, various webcomics, Pivix comics, and youtube vids.

Now, granted, most of the youtube stuff is bad, but I doubt the ratio of good to bad is as harrowing as you guys are making it out to be.

>>21039
The guy's stuff is amusing though the engine is used by typical fans to make typical fanstuff... mostly. Not sure how people feel about a "A Diamond in the Rough" (it massively deconstructs what would be a typical 'outsider in gensokyo' story" I believe it got referenced a bit (via referencing an outsider that resembled its MC)

>>21045
Diamond in the Rough's Gensokyo is the perfect Gensokyo for Wizanon to destroy.

It's hilarious how so many people get butthurt when it got revealed that Yukari slaughters Outsiders for youkai food.

>>21045

I'm still mildly infuriated at how much special treatment the Diamond MC got in spite of being a worthless human being.
It went from "Gensokyo is your personal paradise" to "Gensokyo could be an excellent spiritual retreat, if you are not a complete waste of oxygen."

>>21053
I'm pretty sure the author was trying to parody how established characters in fan-fiction act nice to mary sue characters for no discernible reason. He didn't really pull it off very well though, since it just made EVERYONE look irrational and/or retarded. That made it pretty hard for me to actually care about any of the characters.

>>21053
>>21057
I think people like it due to how artsy/deconstructive it is and not so much the story itself.

I suspect THP stories have moved away from the frame work referenced in that.

So, I just thought up a theory but I want to confirm something first.

When was it that ZUN said/wrote that the Outsiders getting gapped to Gensokyo are all misfits the Outside World doesn't need? I need the year, at the very least.

If my theory is true then wow, I must applaud ZUN for doing it.

>>21059
I don't think he's ever said that, though I guess it's kind of logical since Gensokyo is a land for forgotten things.

The closest official thing I can think you might be referring to is the vampire entry of PMiSS(Which was released in 2006).

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Perfect_Memento_in_Strict_Sense/Vampire
>The details of this contract are that the youkai will offer them humans from which to feed (*3); in return, the vampires will not attack humans living in Gensokyo.
>3: It is said these are humans from the outside world or those whose deaths are of no consequence (suicidal, etc.).

>>21060
2006, eh? Hmm, too old. I'll need to do some more research first.

Also...

>Examples of Dubious or erroneous statements
>Sakuya Izayoi's past before serving Remilia Scarlet is complete speculation (Akyuu states this in her article).
>Eirin Yagokoro and Kaguya Houraisan have been categorized as human (while it is arguable whether Lunarians are human or not, the way their articles are written seems to indicate that Akyuu is completely unaware of their Lunarian descent).
>Fujiwara no Mokou is the descendant of a group of anti-youkai ninjas who live in the bamboo forest (she is not a ninja and there is a high possibility that she is not a descendent, but instead is the actual person that caused the legend of ninjas in the first place).
>The reason why ascending into Heaven nirvana is restricted is because Heaven is filled to capacity (in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, Yukari Yakumo and Suika Ibuki eventually discovered that it was a big lie. There's plenty of room in Heaven, though it implies the Celestials are hogging more than their fair share.)

Who wrote this, I wonder?

Is it just me or have the fandom been dying down lately? Nothing is happening and everything's been quiet.

I hate how Authors are afraid to characterize new Touhous, and they end up being forgotten for a few years.

>>21064
>>21065
Not sure really though it doesn't help that the flow of games seems to have slowed down and we're limited by that and the inflow of stuff released.

The issue here is that the newer characters have to compete with old favorites, most of which due to the usual THP fashion of dopping stories, still don't have stories.

The DDC cast doesn't have much material unlike even TD, so that's a factor as well.

>>21064
People inside and outside of the Japanese fandom have talked about a so-called "Touhou boom" for a while, so any slowdown is probably just a matter of things finally leveling out. For all anybody knows, it could pick right back up in a couple years time.

Shit's so cyclical anyway.

Getting real tired of all these fun and interesting stories that are FUCKING DEAD AS SHIT.

>>21089
Dude there's been like 10-15 new stories this fall. A ton. It's been great.

Try branching out and reading some jank on /th/.

>>21090
the board with the highest mortality rate?

>>21091
If you're gonna worry about that, might as well not read anything.

I'm upset that it's been over a month and nobody seems to care that I wrote a new and improved ending for Flea.

>>21093
At this point I think it's just too little too late.

It's been 4 years since the previous update, and 3 years since you cancelled it and posted spoilers for what would have happened. As far as I was concerned, the story ended then. After all this time I cannot clearly remember what happened in the story, and I don't really want to reread it since I do vaguely remember disliking it.

I didn't post anything about the ending because I didn't have anything positive to say, and it's just bad form to insult someone for actually going to the trouble to finish a story. Sorry, I do appreciate that you made the effort, at least. Most authors who abandon their stories don't.

>>21093

Give it a rest dude. Nobody cares about your story anymore after you left us hanging for 4 years.

>>21094
>>21095
I originally intended for it to be a Christmas present. In 2011. I'm sorry.

>>21096

For what it's worth: I forgive you. Readers shouldn't feel entitled to free writefagness.

>>21097
I actually disagree. When a writefag starts up a story here they're putting responsibility on themselves to see it through. They're relying on their readers and voters for their input. It's a give and take relationship, and the readers of a story have every right to be upset about long delays and writefags quitting. I can very easily imagine how painful it must have been for readers of my story to sit through months without and update and now years before I was able to put this out.

I just didn't expect to get no response at all.

>>21098
I didn't notice it, sorry.
But yes, like they all said, giving spoilers for the ending is a good way to close faster the wounds that a hiatus creates- but that is a double edged sword
For what's worth, I read the story when it was being updates and I liked it

I forgot to ask something, onaholemaster: since it is obvious that you still got it and, assuming you still have feelings for the story or this place, how about a remake? It's not like it wasn't tried before.

>>21100
It's something that I've considered, but I think I've quite readily demonstrated that I'm hardly capable of making a decent story at a decent pace. I do have some unique ideas for a possible remake, but whether they'll ever see the light of day is another matter.
For now my current goal is simply not missing a day with FuC. That'll be an achievement for me.

>>21098
Well it seems the thread was autosaged and the existance of a bunch of busier stories obscured it. A new thread might have been a better idea.

>>21103
>the thread was autosaged
It wasn't.

Trying to start reading Tainted Bonds today.

My reaction is pretty much the same when I watched Sword Art Online.

"Seriously? you're going to do that? why? and why are the ladies impressed? no, it was not that impressive. could you act a little bit more normal , please? why can't you at least made throwing Youmu's hand cooked meal at Ran's face a vote? why the girls like you? no, that act of 'necessary' moment of jerkass should not be so easily forgiven. No, i can't relate with this MC at all, and the use of the pronoun 'you' make me feels like I'm standing on the sideway while my favorite character got NTR'd by some stranger that I didn't know, and he was kind of a dick."

Sorry mate. just my opinion.

I cannot believe I'm saying this in a touhou site, but this place have serious lack of yuri.

>>21120
That's because everyone here's gay, and there aren't enough woman writers.

>>21120

Everyone's too busy writing male OCs that drop into Gensokyo and romance Touhous.

>>21120
Yeah, and?

>>21121
He's not joking.
Idle in the IRC. Everyone is gay, or at least bi. All they talk about is dicks.

>>21131
It's like you think girls can't have dicks. Weirdo.

>>21135
>CJD
Not girls.