Why are we moving Fanfic Recs to Reviews?

Tell me about it. I commented out at least eight fics on the TF2 fanfics page (all of them suggested by the same person no less) and set them in to the P5. Over half of them admitted to be explicit fics in their summaries on ff.net and AO3. :\

I really, really think that shoving all the comments into the reviews section is a bad idea. I, and I presume a number of other people, like to follow the review activity and the discussions therein, and this is essentially pushing down the reviews where people are actually discussing things and making almost the entire page a bunch of stuff where there is pretty much nothing to discuss.

It's like when a publisher on Steam dumps a bunch of shovelware and that clutters up the front page, crowding out newer games.

TBH, most of the comments are actual reviews that go into what was liked and not liked, especially the comments for the actual fanfiction as opposed to the machinima. True, some of the comments aren't reviews, but the pages I was doing them for haven't had new reviews/comments added for months. It's not a well trafficked page of a ginormous fandom which is probably why they weren't moved sooner.

Thread, I command you to live! Live! LIIIIIVE!

So. I'm not a fan of the review system on fanfic recs pages, but I can see why it was implemented. On FanficRecs.Doctor Who, for instance, the comment section of The Man with No Name runs to one-and-a-half screen lengths. Justified, as it is truly an excellent story, but wow. Most other stories on that page just have the one comment.

On the other hand, the comments have the benefit of being searchable. They often tell you things about the fic that isn't listed in the synopsis, such as the presence (or prominence) of canon characters, and occasionally a good story will have a terrible synopsis; with only the title/author/author's synopsis system, people will be less likely to click through to the reviews.

I'd like to propose a halfway system that would keep the pages clean while still being informative:

• Allow a "comments" bullet that can be edited by other tropers, along the lines of a very short work page description.
• No sub-bullets to the comments. Edit the entry, or get zapped. Make this an explicit policy.
• Kill all pre-existing "this is awesome!" "yes!" "read this!" -style comments.
• Individual thoughts and opinions go in the review section, as before.

There's a little more room for misuse than if we only allow the review button, but on the other hand it makes the page more flexible and nicer to read.

*tentatively hopes I've not put my foot in some sensitive issue*
*again*

edited 8th Apr '15 2:15:15 PM by LongLiveHumour