Felarya Community Communication

Krisexy26 wrote:

your comments arent too long to be bored of it and not too short to miss important words. congrats mister CLIFF! (im learning people names woohoo! XD)

but yeah, the basis of felarya was the vore thing (correct me if im wrong). and its kinda hard to...delete a basis =P but yeah you convinced me properly

Felarya was created as a vore-fetish world, and a place to give Karbo's vore drawings some context, Im not denying that. What I am saying is that it has grown by huge amounts in both size and complexity since then.

I also never said I was trying to delete a basis. I am just saying that vore is no longer the main theme in Felarya, but just one of many. Its importance has shrunken, and now it has to share the spotlight with all the new stuff that has been added as the setting has matured. There's still vore, but you also have mysteries, grand adventures, more complex characters, several extremely interesting settlements and civilizations with their own histories, ways of life and politics, danger, monsters, comedy, drama, slice-of-life stuff, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Popularity Skew

Mercatur12 wrote:

But after a while I have been feeling more and more inadequate because of lack of support and I feel as though I came late to the party, so to speak. I feel that if I had just discovered this phenomenon a few years earlier I could be as famous and well-known as "WowandWas," "Zoekin," "RCS619," "Randomdude678," and "kikijohnson." Just to name a few.

Not entirely true. I've been here for three years, now. I remember back when Felarya was transitioning from vore-fantasy to something bigger. I remember when humans were mostly considered to be Twinkies (and I remember the discussion where "human Twinkies" was first used as a joke), and I've seen a lot of now-popular users as newbies. Do you know how many contributions I've made that were taken seriously? How many threads I've made that have passed the five-page mark? Here's a hint, the answer's less than one. Do you know how many times I've been referred to in a discussion I wasn't actively in? How many times a point I brought up was carried between pages? Also less than one. I've held my own in many physics discussions, I was one of the first (Cypress and a few others preceded me) to actually formulate models to explain Felarya's properties and form, and I've proposed theories that even Karbo found interesting, but did you hear me mentioned as a go-to guy for anything?

Sean Okotami wrote:

others receive some comment every once in a blue moon.

Yeah, that's me.

It's 90% my fault, and I want to make that clear. I can't entirely blame the community, since it's very true that I haven't done as much as I could have. But I'd be lying if I said that I haven't noticed that certain people do get more attention because their names are more familiar. While I still believe that a relative unknown can post an idea and have a positive response from the community, I also think that it is more likely to happen if you've already done it before. Do I sometimes feel a little ignored? Yes, but I'll take what responsibility is mine, which is a good heap of it.

On one hand, it is true that the amount of attention is unevenly skewed. But that's not to say people need to give sob stories about how they're being overlooked, because sometimes they need to think about what they can do to fix it instead of falling into a victim mentality. Yes, I think that artists get a little more leverage than writers (and artist-writers have it made), but that's an obstacle others have overcome before. Do I think if I had some sweet drawings to accompany my writing, it would be more popular? Hell yeah I do, but it can't be helped. Sometimes if you're aggressive, it works out a lot better than sticking to the side.

Vore
About vore, once again it's a see-saw. I think a vore artist does have a certain attraction to a lot of folks (do you really think Karbo's initial popularity was because his fantasy world had depth?), but I've also seen pure-vore stories sink faster than a stone in oil. In all, I think that vore art is more accepted than vore stories, because stories are usually ignored by the "I'm here for the vore" guys, and actual critique of writing is reserved for those actually interested in a fleshed-out Felarya.

Sub-communities and Cliques
Oh God, they exist. Yes they do. I'm not saying they should be dissolved or anything, but there's definitely some animosity issues that need to be ironed out. It's natural that in discussions, we fall into "camps". Back in the old days, there was the "humans aren't just food" camp, and the "vore-oriented" camp, although that's one of the disputes that has actually been settled (and we won). Even now, such groups exist. Look at the many discussions on magic: you can tell who agrees with who, and I can usually predict how such discussions will play out. And animosity can and will form in such instances. People will get snarky, and someone will take offense. Someone will call another member's argument irrational, and then things will go downhill.

I've even heard people say they don't like another person (not naming names!), and will admit to doing it myself every so often. And then this goes back to the first thing about popularity.

Krisexy26 wrote:

(im learning people names woohoo! XD)

Don't know mine! XD

Quote :

(do you really think Karbo's initial popularity was because his fantasy world had depth?)

I thought it was the absolutely adorable (and naked) Crisis?

JonathanS223 wrote:

Quote :

(do you really think Karbo's initial popularity was because his fantasy world had depth?)

I thought it was the absolutely adorable (and naked) Crisis?

That may contribute to it a lot. Man, does that guy draw fantastic boobs. I think they look better than most real ones!

I wish I could draw nice boobs as well. xD

Ahem... now back on topic...

I'm not saying we should banish vore or something, but I still consider that it's a misconception to treat Felarya - at least, current Felarya - as solely as an excuse for the fetish. Look, I'm not into vore or giantesses, but I'm here because I first found Karbo's art interesting and then found the Felaryan setting a good chance for stories, ideas and communication with others. Sure, Karbo accepts the fact some people come just for the vore, I respect that and I'm not considering it a wrong view anymore, yet a not complete vision of the Felaryan reality.

Some of you want to write about vore? Sure, no problem, it isn't like we are going to forget the origins of Felarya. But yes, solely vore isn't my cup of tea and through my years in this community, Felarya has evolved into more than just giant women swallowing humans alive...

... And about humans, we're still in process to ditch the general bad conception on humans in fantasy, specially in Felarya. Humans aren't all bad people who deserve to be eaten by some gorgeus and naked giant hybrid woman. There are many stories out there involving humans who are either trying to survive in the wild or living in Negav or other city/village or whatever. It isn't all about "eat the careless and evil human".

Now about character development, even though my first too characters 'were born' for Karbo's first story contest, were there should be vore-related content, I knew I wasn't leaving them as just an excuse for voraphiles. I wanted them to go a bit further, to be characters per se, not walking - or rooted - fetish genetarors. But this is something most of us already know, the whole character development fact.

And finally - for now:

Mercatur12 wrote:

I feel that if I had just discovered this phenomenon a few years earlier I could be as famous and well-known as "WowandWas," "Zoekin," "RCS619," "Randomdude678," and "kikijohnson." Just to name a few.

Err... no. I've been here in the forum for nearly two years, yet I knew of Felarya longer... But I'm still an underdog. Maybe because I don't want to spam others with autopromotion, maybe because people still don't think I'm that good, maybe because... I don't know what actually is, yet your joining date doesn't mean you'll be better and more known. Maybe I'm not the right person to speak of this, mainly because I'm not too concerned about popularity for myself...

Well, I do hope some good will come from this thread.

All I'll say is this: We're lucky to have new, talented writers joining Felarya on a regular basis. Think Globfish, or Israaldun, or EroGG, or aethernavale, or... Well, there are quite a few. People who bring something new and interesting to Felarya. People with imagination, creativity, and the skill to express that creativity in writing. It would be nice if we could all make more of an effort to encourage them by actually reading their work and commenting.

I read as many works as I can. I'm just busy most of the time.

Alot of those up and coming writers are really making a name for themselves.

French snack wrote:

Well, I do hope some good will come from this thread.

All I'll say is this: We're lucky to have new, talented writers joining Felarya on a regular basis. Think Globfish, or Israaldun, or EroGG, or aethernavale, or... Well, there are quite a few. People who bring something new and interesting to Felarya. People with imagination, creativity, and the skill to express that creativity in writing. It would be nice if we could all make more of an effort to encourage them by actually reading their work and commenting.

Don't forget Gorger/Slimetoad, Warrior3000/W-3-K, kaitheguy123, Cauldronborn24, Aisukaiko, gt500x and recently Ravaging vixens has written her first story.

Remember the unification part of this, link to people who write a bit differently from you, who don't write about the same things. (Which you have done a bit already with Ero and Aether, but this message goes for everyone).

French snack wrote:

Well, I do hope some good will come from this thread.

All I'll say is this: We're lucky to have new, talented writers joining Felarya on a regular basis. Think Globfish, or Israaldun, or EroGG, or aethernavale, or... Well, there are quite a few. People who bring something new and interesting to Felarya. People with imagination, creativity, and the skill to express that creativity in writing. It would be nice if we could all make more of an effort to encourage them by actually reading their work and commenting.

Seems I have a bit of catching up to do with new writers! I'll also second the commenting suggestion - in my humble opinion that's by far the most helpful thing anyone can do after reading a story. It is unpleasant to think you are writing in a vacuum when you get no feedback on stories that you've worked on.

Aside from chatting with Karbo, I've been absent from both the forum and deviantArt quite some time for various personal reasons. Hopefully in the coming weeks I can start making headway against the backlog of stories and pictures on deviantArt (FrenchSnack, you alone have nearly forty submissions for me to read! ). I'll also point out that some people in this very thread should take their own advice and broaden their view of Felarya by actively commenting on other people's contributions - aka practice what you preach.

timing2 wrote:

I'll also second the commenting suggestion - in my humble opinion that's by far the most helpful thing anyone can do after reading a story. It is unpleasant to think you are writing in a vacuum when you get no feedback on stories that you've worked on.

I couldn't agree more. People can't simply read stories, enjoy them, and expect writers to continue providing stories without feedback.

Nor can people complain about seeing fewer new writers if they don't comment to encourage those who do come.

Quote :

Aside from chatting with Karbo, I've been absent from both the forum and deviantArt quite some time for various personal reasons. Hopefully in the coming weeks I can start making headway against the backlog of stories and pictures on deviantArt (FrenchSnack, you alone have nearly forty submissions for me to read! ).

Welcome back, and good luck!

Yeah, I try to read what I can, and often I am busy. I need to get back to doing that too, but also I am not that great of a writer myself. I try really hard, but I really don't know how to convey things properly.

well theres just too much stories from too much authors...just pick for yourself those that arent that known and make them your padawan

How long's it been since... Hmm.

timing2 wrote:

It is unpleasant to think you are writing in a vacuum when you get no feedback on stories that you've worked on.

Funny thing is, that's somewhat why I threw myself out of here a while back. A perspective of mine is that even an overly critical review is better than getting nothing. Even just a "You suck at this" would suffice, to be honest, so long as there was reasoning behind the statement beyond just stirring up trouble. In truth, though, it isn't simply the fault of other people, but also an artist's own-- i.e.

Quote :

I'll also point out that some people in this very thread should take their own advice and broaden their view of Felarya by actively commenting on other people's contributions - aka practice what you preach.

I am not one who has been known (or at all, for that matter) for frequenting countless pages, posting constructive criticism on each artwork I lay eyes upon. The reason for that, though, is that I honestly don't know what to tell the artist 90% of the time. A simple response like, "This is great," may be all that I'm thinking, but it feels to me like I'm passing on the message, "I looked at your stuff." I want to convey more than just that, but I can't for something that is merely great. Conversely, when I see artwork that really is not up to par, even for DA standards, I don't want to crush the artist even when I know it could lead to improvement (not to mention, I don't want people demonizing me for criticism, as where I deal it, it's often a bit over-the-top).

It's the same way with adding favorites to a gallery. There are people out there that literally favorite whatever is most recently posted on the DeviantArt website--it's happened to me before on several occasions. Short of being a grandmaster speed-reader, you don't comprehensively read 3600 words in two seconds. I don't favorite an artwork unless it is a favorite piece. "Favorite" hardly holds meaning at all on DeviantArt other than a person bothered to click a button on your page.

But all the preceding I've typed is what my reasoning here was solely based on in the past, which did eventually convince me to get fed-up over it and bail for a while (whereas now, I'm actually just very busy with schoolwork). I still think this is a problem, and I believe this is why some artists trying to contribute are so reluctant to converge at all. The artists create their work, they find their minimum recognition bearable, and they don't have to get involved with the nonsense that almost seems like, "You scratch my back, I scratch yours."