Time Frame on next book
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@The Author Guy
-On reviews
As I said these bashings and insults are very rare. The only book that I came across that raises such vitriol is this book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16113648-i-can-be-an-actress-i-can-be-a-computer-engineerComplete with death threats.
The most common form of negative review I come across are along these line:
-The characters are stupid/unlikable.
-The story is stupid.
-The book is boring.Of course reviewers write it more colorfuly like these:
-[character name] is the biggest moron in the world./ I just wish [character name] would drop dead.
-I can’t believe any of this shit./ The story has enough plot holes to sink Titanic.
-I start reading the book and I magically was able to tidy up my house./ It is an effective cure for insomia.This is primarily the result of writing for other readers instead of the authors. They aren’t targeting the writers, but they didn’t do it in a manner that make it acceptable to the writers. They mostly do it in a way to entertain the other readers.
Others do try to be considerate but then aren’t very good in properly writing it so that it would be more acceptable to the authors. Often they aren’t really that helpful at all and just use plain speak like “this book is awful/boring””I don’t like it””nothing special”
Sometimes, I think that the authors are just being too sensitive. As most readers aren’t really that great with prose, they would not be able to write their reviews in a way that is ‘acceptable’ or ‘constructive.’ They write it plain and blunt which I think isn’t ‘considerate’ enough for many authors. Words like “this is stupid” which is how people would actually speak is considered bashing for by many authors. It is also quite difficult to ascertain if a writing would insult or not. Something honest like “the writing is horrible” would be considerd an insult to many writers, but then there aren’t many ways to say that without sounding a bore.
-on Author Interaction
You just spell it, its for the readers. Therefore, even if the writers is capable of of writing more… technically, academically and respectfully; they don’t because other readers won’t be able to understand them or be turned off. They have to resort to more simple and colorful writing that the common readers could enjoy and read.
You know how it is. When you write, you write for the audience. Since the author isn’t part of the audience; the technical, the academic, and even the considerate is often sacrificed to reach the audience and make it more accessible to them. Reviewers often have to write more honestly and directly (The writing is horrible. The character is stupid) than something more constructive and considerate to the author (The sentences could have been writen to flow more smoothly. [character name] could have been more more observant and skillful in magic and use it to solve problems instead of relying on coincedenses and deus ex machina). The honest and direct (and often colorful) writing is more helpful to potential readers and buyers than the ‘constructive critism’ writen for the author. Potential consumers has no need for such detailed reply and those details won’t actually help them make a decision.
Those other avenues for author interaction are more oriented to the readers who do like the work. They are the ones who liked to have more info or so about the book. Such avenue is the last thing an unsatisfied reader would go to. The (extremely) unsatisfied ones probably rant in a review and delete or throw the book to the trash and forget about it. The less enthused will probably just give two or three stars and it at that. As such, those things are biased (towards positive) and less of an honest look of the situation.
Also, well, we are not actually talking about author interaction per se, but we are talking about reviews and the nature of these reviews. Insisting that they be ‘constructive critism’ or author oriented is wasted because they aren’t meant to be. These are for the readers, and as such, they can be rather blunt and unforgiving. What is there is actually more of an honest reaction than serious critique. The hatred and bashing are their real reactions to the book (and says a lot about the reviewer) rather than a critical evaluation you are looking for.
Still, that doesn’t mean these bashings and rantings isn’t witout substance. See that Barbie book I given before? That sure has raised a lot of ire from the population and made the news. These ‘reviews’ arguably might not be constructive or objective, but the grievances amid the hate is still valid.
Such hatred and bashing also could actually come from the people who like the work but somehow the makers decision antagonize them. A great example is EA and their game franchises, particularly the games Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3, and Dungeon Keeper Mobile. These francises have a huge fan base that have put a lot of effort and fortune for their beloved games. But then, EA makes creative decisions that doesn’t go well with them, or I might say insult them, and such, a huge backlash of hate had threatened EA and tarnished their name (nominated for The Worst Company in America, twice). Hatred from the fans might actually be more scathing than from the casual readers.
And the company’s response is quite vile. They actually disrespect their fanbase. Good job EA.
If authors really want constructive critism, then they actually have to directly ask the readers, or beta readers and the like. That way it would prime the reader to be constructive in his critique and enable a more clear interaction between them and the author.
And I do would love to be able to talk to the authors or makers. One that I would love to talk to is Shigeru Miyamoto! I would realy realy to meet him in person.
There are a lot of changes in the relationship between writers and readers nowdays. Self publication has become influencial now. Then there is also things like Wattpad that actually makes writer/reader interaction a central part of the platform. Then there is fan fiction (and fan art) that makes writing an integral part of fan culture. You will be surprised by the number of Harry Potter fan works are out there. Then there are also a lot of Twilight fan fiction out there. Ewwww!
@Tizzy
Awww! Tizzy is feeling left out.
[color=red]I, Malahadiel, will sell my soul to eternal servitude for the honor of becoming a beta demon.
[/color]=d>
You got me!
You can read me like a book!
You are right, I do care about all those things. It is after all, the small pleasures in life that make it worth living, the screams, agony and suffering of others…
I guess I’m really just an old softie…softy? Hmmm….a romanticist?
Ooooo I see the timeline for the new book has taken a general direction. I like the new name, so whats this about a beta reader?
Oh and btw authorman I like your stance on RPGs, I hate RPG games that stress graphics over story.
But I was born in the 1990s so most of the RPG games I know of are like (divine divinity,diablo 2, and the associated stuff)
I love the Final Fantasies, from 5-10. FF 2 was good too. The best is from FF7-FF9 for me anyway.
Bwah hah hah!
Now you know what I keep whispering in T-A-G’s ear every night before he goes to sleep!
It’s that very question! I knew you were a demon!
Plan B would be, keep same cover for 2nd Edition book 1, and another, new similar T-A-G generated cover for Book 2.
Of course since T-A-G has put money down (1/3 per cover for each book) earlier this week…that would really suck for him. He could swap them out when they eventually show up. The idea of the money up front, which was T-A-G’s idea, is to ensure it’s in the artist’s work queue.
Cover one is promised for end of May, book 2 cover for mid-June. This gives a solid timeline to shoot for, for T-A-G.
Of course, then there is the editor…need to be checking her schedule as well….she did a fantastic job on the 2nd edition, exactly what I’d hoped for. I think people will be pleased at her clean up.
It can be frustrating when some of the characters make bad choices and get in trouble, but actually it’s a comedy.
With a high substance abuse problem…so it is a dark comedy.
Game of Thrones is more depressing, in that your favorite characters all die on a regular basis.
Of course, remember, I’m a demon so what I find funny… 🙂
My beliefs?
I’m a strict Utilitarian.
That which cause me the most pleasure and minimizes my pain is what I believe in. In all circumstances I strive to minimize all pain or potential pain for myself and maximize my options for pure unadulterated hedonistic pleasure.
I’m still a bit mad about that old stuffed windbag (and I mean stuffed quite literally) Jeremy Bentham for stealing my religious beliefs and turning them in to some sort of ‘philosophical’ description of human behavior.
I mean seriously, who cares about human behavior? Only demon behavior truly matters.
:d/
I don’t know about others, but I personally sometimes have difficulty makes more specific reviews especially in a place like amazon without including spoilers.
I would want to give examples, like I dislike this character because he did this at this point, or didn’t this character have a idiot ball rammed down his throat when this happened? That sort of thing.
Without specifics it can be difficult to say more then this character was stupid, etc, etc.
Your alternative is either blatant or somewhat obfuscated spoilers, and I despise people who put spoilers into the reviews, especially on high visibility places like amazon and its ilk .
I think we are seeing eye to eye. I was never talking about the artistic quality or RPG. I was talking about video games and stories. I think you are including all kind of computer games, even those that are not video games.
Well, most video games now has stories in them and the video game is becoming some sort of storytelling medium, but it is a wellknown fact that it is not neccessary for a video game to have any story at all like Tetris. You can remove all story elements in many video games and it would still be a fun game like Donkey Kong.
In early video games, story lines is often just an excuse. Donkey Kong for example had a hero saving a damsel in distress story, but it can be argued that the story is not important for this game. Story lines are really very simplistic or not important for the gaming experience.
RPG has been around for a long time, but because of limitations, it doesn’t translate well in early video games. Then the limitation is overcomed and there is now come a genre of video game where the story is an essential part of the experience.
Now stories become a big part in video games and the story lines of video games become complex, even to those games that don’t need to be. Platforming games for example has very involved stories.
As for quality… You know, it might just be the universe. There had always been bad output but somehow at this time around by just simple chance, the products that got out isn’t so great. Very much like you are getting a long streak of lossing. Its just chance.
Also you can make video games with very little money now. There are many popular software development products that are quite free. There are also free game engines out there: Godot enables you to make 2D and 3D games. Blender has a capable game engine. Unity (a professional product) game engine was for people to use for free. And a lot others. There is modding of course, it has become a common scene these days. It is still quite difficult to make quality games but the barrier for entering is very low.
yes, we are seeing eye to eye.
The difference is the terminology of the word video game. The phrase has meant a couple things over the years.
Originally it was Space invaders in an arcade and then Pong at home.
In “my day” when I was a kid a “video game” was the thing in a box at an arcade.
Then we got the video game console (Atari, Nintendo, Coleco) that worked much like video games in the arcade.
But actually all of these are computer games. The boxes at the arcade were just dedicated computers with very narrow specialization, but if you look at Space Invaders, it’s stuff that was first done with mini-computers 5 to 6 years before. So before arcade style video games were released they were preceded by computer games using somewhat specialized monitors (I can’t remember the exact name but the way the electron guns were controlled was different than on say a dumb terminal–more complex)
And computer gaming logic actually started in the 50’s and 60’s on mainframes, but they generally weren’t “video oriented” in anyway until the CRT monitor came around. Most were text on teletypes. Punch card games were really just programming exercises.
Anyway, in “general” when someone says “video game”, I think/mean computer game, because they are all the same, some just use more special purpose computers. Consoles are computers, and in theory, if one wanted to, one could write a spreadsheet for a PS2,3,4 or Xbox. Someone may have, but that’s a bit crazy. They do all surf the web though now.
So, I think you are using video game to mean non-RPG and non Simulator or what we used to call “Arcade Style Games” Tetris, Candy Crush, etc. Vs about anything else. A FPS is technically an RPG, a very violent one but…I like my DOOM to come with a good story (of sorts—doesn’t gotta be too deep) Of course, look at the crazy back story they do with Wolfenstein
Anyway, that’s a pretty common interpretation for video game, I’m just a bit more generic
Other people say “video game” to mean something on a Console (including RPG’s) vs something on a PC…but I prefer arcade style=video game
Considering the fact that TAG posted that the beta will start mid may and that is pretty soon, i wondr how we will know if we are in the beta. Will we find out throu email?
It’s coming…slowly, but faster than it was this summer.
I am hoping for Spring, of course we have to get through Winter, and I really could stand to have a Westeros style winter this year…
🙂
Beta request noted, and we’ll post an actual sign up list here with priority (if needed) for people who have spoken up here.
I was actually looking around for a thread where we could request to be beta readers, is it just not a thing yet? Also [color=darkred]I am very much interested in being a beta reader[/color] lol.
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