A Fanfic Writer's Inevitable Whine About Reviews Post...

[alf_b]

So, I finally made my "official" debut in the Warcraft fandom. And...

Comments

[aiffe]

Some fandoms are just not very vocal at all. Track your hits for that story, that's how you'll know if you have readers.

[alf_b]

Oh, I'm getting hits. Not as many hits as what I'm used to, but the story's being read! More hits on the prologue than the other chapters, so something about it seems to be turning people off.

Don't mind me, I'm just being whiny, I guess.

[ichiban_victory]

I think it's a safe bet that if someone's a fan of WoW, they're going to be playing the game instead of reading fanfics based on the game. Even when official manga and comics came out for the game, most people I talked to in-game didn't read them, didn't care, all they wanted to do was raid and get better gear. :P

(As for me, I'm done with WoW. Not touching that again.)

[alf_b]

I figured that would be a possibility; I briefly touched upon it in my post. Despite this, other fics around mine are getting read and earning comments. Meh, whatever. Just me being whiny :P

[ichiban_victory]

It really is a shame since the lore of Warcraft is very fascinating. My favorite instances always had to do with the history of WoW, like the Black Morass. The first time my group successfully completed it and orcs started pouring out of the portal, I geeked out. The lore started getting messy as the game fell into new hands (like Draenei. They're cool and all, but huh?) but it was still cool to me. Only a couple of people I played the game with ever understood the significance of anything, even things like Uther's Tomb. Gah! I HAD to go pay my respects back when I finally discovered it

[alf_b]

I LOVED all the Caverns of Time instances, because they're all so lore-heavy :) And I have a soft spot for Kael'Thas, though I've never stepped foot in Magister's Terrace or Sunwell Plateau *sigh

[paynesgrey]

I think with the case of the Pit too, some of the better written stories don't always get the most reviews. Or as Aiffe said, the fandom isn't very vocal. You can always gauge the review counts by other fics around you too, and see what people are interested in.

Have you tried posting your fic at an LJ fic community? I've found that in some fandoms I get better reviews here, and other fandoms I get more reviews at the Pit. It varies.

It's also Friday, or if you posted it late last night, and sometimes weekend reviews are slow, especially in the summer.

Your fic is probably awesome and too good for the brain power of the average WoW fanfic reader at the Pit. XD

[alf_b]

Good suggestions. I'm starting to believe it was the wrong story to be breaking into the fandom with. I have other stories in mind, so I'm thinking of getting cracking with one of them (ugh, it takes me FOREVER to write something :P ), build up my fanbase with more of what the readers want, then try again with this story.

And thanks for the words of encouragement :) Perhaps you may be right - I'm too awesome for the fandom, ha-ha. Though there are some AMAZING WoW fics out there (I should know, I gush and squee with the rest of the fanbrats every time those stories are updated, lol :P )

I'm just being whiny, don't mind me :P

And thanks for commenting! Missed seeing you around; I've thought of you from time to time. *hugs*

[paynesgrey]

And thanks for commenting! Missed seeing you around; I've thought of you from time to time. *hugs*
Yeah, no prob. Sorry, I've been all over the place lately and mostly a bad commenter. *huggles back*

[fenikkusuken]

For maximum potential readership in the Pit, post on Friday afternoons around 2:00. That way, you'll be at or near the top of the 'New' or 'Updated' fic lists, just in time for the bulk of the fanfic reading population (US East Coast) to find when they boot up their computers for the night.

I wrote a ficlet based in the 'Tales of Vesperia' fandom for empath-eia last year, and despite being posted according to the above rule, it hasn't had very many reviews. Most gamers would rather play than read, it appears!

[alf_b]

It seems that way! Game fandom is hard to get into, that's for sure! I wonder how the BNFs of those fandoms managed to do it. Not that I want to be a BNF. *shakes head vigorously*. It's just...sheesh!

[ouatic_7]

Not being a gamer I don't read gaming fandom but MD does and always bitches about it afterwards, about how game rules and game logic are ignored so I'm guessing that one reason gamers don't read fanfiction is the average isn't very good. And as previously mentioned, fewer readers = fewer reviews.

[alf_b]

heheh, the on-going debate on using game mechanics for fiction based on games