Is it just me or are readers on here less critical than on Royal Road?

[DanLane]

I've gotten some good feedback from RR. And so far, my readers have been awesome. There have been a few de gustibus comments, but that's normal. I just started posting my story here in addition today.

Vauryn, I've seen the critical reviews, too. There are occasional trolls and troll ratings, but you can get those struck from your account if you contact the mods there. The criticism can be hit and miss. Some users, like NovelNinja over there, are solid as they get. Others bring a lot of their personal biases unconsciously. Not a big deal if you know how to spot it.

Don't be afraid to post there, too, folks. By and large throwing a wide net gets you more readers, and more feedback. What's not to like?

 

[Vladarius]

the only thing I read on RR is called The New World, was a weird lit rpg with some interesting and well executed ideas. the author even had a whole ass google docs full of the skills and stuff the main character has, or it was excel, im not sure.

 

[JenLeifire]

Can't say, cause I neither get here comments, nor on RR XD thats actually sad, isn't it? lol

 

[Sabruness]

Also that 1st batch talk has me wondering now. Like, who got here first? Pretty sure I might be the oldest member here besides the creator. I THINK. cuz I came from Novelupdates and I browsed there daily. So I'm pretty sure I was here since day one. In fact I think my 1st story here might also be the oldest one here. Cant recall exactly but its interesting to think about.

oldest account? nah, you're way down the list at 596th to sign up. AliceShiki is 63rd and i'm 69th. Tony's 11th and i think, like, the first 10 were test accounts or something. the details are in another thread somewhere. i believe the number at the end of your user profile page address is the user number you're assigned when you sign up. as for user in general? well, who knows.
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Anywho, on topic, RR is.... a very mixed bag though relatively not as horrible as it used to be (the toxicity then being one of the reasons for big influxes of authors of trans stories in the past). That said, in my view it's kinda segmented into different general communities, some of which are more positive and pleasant and some of which are the groups that have long given RR a bad rap.

The more "niche'ier" stuff (and i use that term very loosely) that have been able to carve out their own segments generally have pretty good and helpful readerbases but i think once you dive into the general cut-and-paste generic trend-following stuff is where you're more likely to strike any real toxicity these days. It does help that, as mentioned earlier in the thread, that there is a core of writers on RR that have been around for years many of whom helped carve out some of the pleasant segments of RR.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

i believe the number at the end of your user profile page address is the user number you're assigned when you sign up. as for user in general? well, who knows.
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well if true, judging my the newest members, 596 out of 1mil plus is pretty damn good0considering i joined the day of the announcement

 

[Sabruness]

well if true, judging my the newest members, 596 out of 1mil plus is pretty damn good0considering i joined the day of the announcement

if my calculations are correct, you're still a very early member. just a very early member of the crowd that joined when SH went fully open and the announcement was made. the only ones ahead of that crowd are us members of the secret guinea pig squad XD

Now, i'm kinda curious as to who the first one to sign up on the official launch was....

 

[AliceShiki]

AliceShiki is 63rd

Mine is actually the 100th account of the main site. There are some extra test accounts on the main site, so the forum user numbers are a bit lower.

And on the forums mine is the 66th.

On a side note, @DCLXVI is the 666th account in the main site~

 

[lambenttyto]

I was talking to Jemini, who said that RR readers are kind and helpful. Because RR readers are not better or worse than others, they are probably the same. It just heavily depends on your luck. If you are lucky, you will get those kind and helpful reviews that will boost you. If not, well, you will gain readers and reviewers like mine.

What are yours like?

Well, I decided to take "isekai" and LitRPG out of the genre tags. I told the dude as much and he was pretty nice about it afterward. Said he wanted to keep reading.

 

[Sabruness]

Mine is actually the 100th account of the main site. There are some extra test accounts on the main site, so the forum user numbers are a bit lower.

And on the forums mine is the 66th.

On a side note, @DCLXVI is the 666th account in the main site~

huh, i could have sworn it read 63. *scratches head* must have been tired brain at work. i'm 103 on the main site so not far behind you anyway.

 

[SailusGebel]

What are yours like?

Well, I decided to take "isekai" and LitRPG out of the genre tags. I told the dude as much and he was pretty nice about it afterward. Said he wanted to keep reading.

I got a couple of hollow five-star reviews that didn't help me in the slightest. For me, it already ruined the reputation of RR that readers there are 'high quality' and do extensive reviews and so on.

Not it's the turn of the negative reviews. One review was a copypaste of the phrase, "NTR IS DISGUSTING," but sadly, that review got deleted a month ago. Why sadly? Because not so long ago, my pc broke down, and I lost that screenshot, and without the screenshot, people won't believe me. That review was up for almost two years cause I didn't bother reporting it, which tells me the quality of mods and other readers who didn't bother to do anything with it, even though that review is against the rules of RR.

Another reader got pissed at me in the comments that my MC is too weak-willed. I honestly don't remember if it was before or after I put a WARNING in my description saying that MC is like that. After a short conversation with that reader, I said that if he didn't like my novel, he could go and put me a 0.5, which he did. Once again, zero info that would actually help me, just a whiny rambling about his preferences.

I got two other reviews that are paraphrased versions of the offended reader's review. People don't like characters, MC, and so on, so they slap a one-star. One of them said my grammar is atrocious, which is understandable and agreeable, but it was a pretext to his actual complaint, MC, and characters.

And the last review was just hard to understand. I can give you a screenshot because I can't explain all the things that were wrong with that review. I even PMed that reviewer so he could explain, and again, I can attach a screenshot that I wasn't a whiny bitch, did he\she reply? No.

Now, do I think that my low rating is undeserved? Fuck no, I deserve it. Then why do I write such a long-ass wall of text? Because I don't like the mythos that RR is better, RR has more skilled writers, and readers there are more helpful. From my experience, RR is the same as SH and WN. If you write particular genres and tags, and you are lucky, you will get helpful and polite reviews and readers. Otherwise, you will get ramblings about preferences that they pathetically try to hide as a 'critical review.'

Are readers on RR more critical? Maybe. But are they helpful? If we judge from my personal experience, then no. If we try to be objective, then the answer is maybe.