LitRPGs and trending! Attention required!

Assurbanipal_II

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We all know that LitRPGs are immensely popular for reasons of demographics and the inherent implications of such a system. :blob_evil_two: Even the greatest loser can become strong with a system.

Now that is not the issue. Being popular is not a problem per se, but it is definitely problematic when LitRPGs stories become too popular and begin to exert a negative influence on the diversity of webnovel writing in general.

What do I mean? Let's give a brief look at today's trending.

1594461913664.png


Overpowered Death Mage In Another World = LitRPG

Origin Seeker = LitRPG

Cinnamon Bun = LitRPG

Rat In The Dungeon = LitRPG

Arcflame, the strongest tree-growing dragon = non LitRPG

The Reincarnated Vampire Just Wants To Enjoy Her New Life = LitRPG

Unsightly Gluttony = non LitRPG

Why is my Harem World a Yandere Nightmare = LitRPG

Reborn as the Duke’s Daughter ~ The Goddesses are Ruining my Life! = non LitRPG

:blob_evil_two: As you can see, 6 out of 9 stories are derivatives of the LitRPG genre which is popular to a degree that it threatens the biodiversity on scribblehub, preventing non-LitRPG stories from entering the apex of exposure. Every author wants to get there, because trending means views, and views mean readers, and readers mean comment regardless of quality. Very simple formula.

- So what do I want? :blob_reach:

I want more exposure for non-LitRPG stories!

- How do I want to achieve that? :blob_reach:

Remove LitRPGs completely from trending and give them an own, separate trending list. Something like a special LitRPG trending bar just for them where they can mess with each other in a death match.
 

Rellawing

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Nya! Not a bad idea, but I'd suggest separate trendings based on genre, although, there's already a ranking system for tags and genres... so IDK... anything that gave more stories a spotlight on the site would be good. Maybe the site needs to focus less on what story got updated and how frequently it was, and instead, look at like say: a series of trending carousels for a variety of stories.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Instead of showing all these chapters that got updated on the first page, we should have a list of stories trending in a few circuits.

Top Trending > The ones with a viewership and popularity over a certain percentage.

Rising Trending > The ones who are rising to the top.

New Novels Trending > The new ones below the rising level who just got started and things are looking up for them.

New Novels Listing > Instead of a trending list, this one is just a carousel that can be cycled through to show all the new novels that haven't made it into New Novels Trending for those who are curious about finding an overlooked gem.

Adding icons on top of covers to indicated recently updated within the last few days would be good. If someone updated their story, it would renew the icon that appears over a cover (top left corner or something, like a shiny exclamation point, nya!

This would let everyone know that that book got updated within the last few days, or a week, if that would be better, since once a week is kind of a bare bones rate for many writers.

Bottom line, nya, I agree that more stories need to get spotlight. This would only help ScribbleHub's image and make the writers happier, and a note: the writers have to be happy, otherwise they won't post.

Getting lost in the grey oblivion of being overlooked and never getting to shine probably kills more author's spirits than anything else does.

The way things are set up right now, it's an unintentional Darwin's, only the fittest survive and flourish. <3
 

Assurbanipal_II

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But if we take out LitRPG now, next will be Isekai and afterwards the list will be empty :blob_no:

:blob_evil_two: Well, they get their own list. So nothing lost.

But, yes, Isekai can get an own too when scribble grows further. At the moment we are still to small to fill an Isekai list consistently with new content.
 

Saileri

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:blob_evil_two: Well, they get their own list. So nothing lost.

But, yes, Isekai can get an own too when scribble grows further. At the moment we are still to small to fill an Isekai list consistently with new content.

TFW two out of three projects I'm working on are isekais (although one between two fantasy worlds), and one of them has a system (although it's just part of worldbuilding and not the focus) :sweating_profusely:
 

binarysoap

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Just having only LitRPG's have their own special trending section will probably send the opposite message of what you are trying to achieve, @Assurbanipal_II
That's basically the same as SH saying we support LitRPG and we want more LitRPG stories, so we will give it a special section! All other inferior non-LitRPG stories can just be thrown in the other trending section.

The other suggestions of having more trendings is fine, although I would caution of having too many various lists on the homepage, because it then becomes cluttered and a complete mess. So even if your story was on the front page, it's buried under a hundred different stories on the front page.
 

YuriDoggo

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It would be an interesting idea to have a rotating genre trending where every few hours a different genre gets a go at the carousel. So one hour you get a litrpg trending, and then it switches to harem, then fantasy, whatever.
This is separate from normal trending, and if there's overlap, then the normal trending entry is removed and moved to genre trending to make room for others.
this is a shit idea don't listen to me.
 

thedude3445

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LitRPGs will fade in popularity in like 2-3 years so I don't think it's a big deal at the moment.
 

Ral

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As if Trending was about variety. It never was and never will be.

Giving LitRPG its own Trending section doesn't provide variety. You actually provide an area where there is no variety at all and another area where the same lack of variety persist.

If variety is what you seek then make what appears in the homepage be completely random pick in variety of genres.

If a list is defined by certain criteria, then by nature it abolishes variety in areas the criteria affects.
 
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BenJepheneT

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That's like going to a cinema admist the marvel craze and asking them to screen more obscure French films. Remember that SH, as a site, doesn't cater to writers. It caters to readers wanting to read stuff made by people who have the same interest as them. The writers aren't traffic, we're just people in charge of bringing in the traffic. The site is the moderator that gives what the traffic wants.

If we were to suddenly strip the Trending tab of LitRPGs there'll just be complaints on how hard it is to find LitRPGs to read on the site. You might give a rebuttal and say it's as easy as going to the series finder but accessibility is the name of the game. There's a reason non-LitRPGs don't get much traffic and that's because it's not as accessible as LitRPGs. You could literally just walk into the site and find 6 LitRPGs sitting in the Trending tab just waiting to be read. Even readers who don't particularly read LitRPGs would still read 'em anyway due to how easy it is to find them.

LitRPGs get on the Trending tab because people WANT to read LitRPGs. If we cripple the popular genre it'll just cripple the site because it's because of that popular genre that people keep coming back to the site for. If anything, we should be pushing for personalized recommendations based on the readers' preferred genres, not light a site-wide thermite just because your genre story wasn't put on a pedestal as much as System Isekai #47.
 

Assurbanipal_II

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That's like going to a cinema admist the marvel craze and asking them to screen more obscure French films. Remember that SH, as a site, doesn't cater to writers. It caters to readers wanting to read stuff made by people who have the same interest as them. The writers aren't traffic, we're just people in charge of bringing in the traffic. The site is the moderator that gives what the traffic wants.

If we were to suddenly strip the Trending tab of LitRPGs there'll just be complaints on how hard it is to find LitRPGs to read on the site. You might give a rebuttal and say it's as easy as going to the series finder but accessibility is the name of the game. There's a reason non-LitRPGs don't get much traffic and that's because it's not as accessible as LitRPGs. You could literally just walk into the site and find 6 LitRPGs sitting in the Trending tab just waiting to be read. Even readers who don't particularly read LitRPGs would still read 'em anyway due to how easy it is to find them.

LitRPGs get on the Trending tab because people WANT to read LitRPGs. If we cripple the popular genre it'll just cripple the site because it's because of that popular genre that people keep coming back to the site for. If anything, we should be pushing for personalized recommendations based on the readers' preferred genres, not light a site-wide thermite just because your genre story wasn't put on a pedestal as much as System Isekai #47.

Your logic is lacking. Trending here is mostly about knowing how the algorithm works and what about readers actually want to read. Everyone knows that. LitRPG have just an easier time as they naturally attract more readers, but of course you are oblivious to the issue.

The predominance of LitRPG is a problem and needs to be cut back through some sort of intervention. Giving them an own trending list is one way, limiting their share another potential one. They form an oligopoly at this point and their grip needs to be destroyed like Standard Oil.
 

yansusustories

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If anything, we should be pushing for personalized recommendations based on the readers' preferred genres, not light a site-wide thermite just because your genre story wasn't put on a pedestal as much as System Isekai #47.
I really like this idea. I mean there are certainly people who are open to a wide variety of genres and as such would benefit from standardized trending lists but some people (like me) prefer reading specific genres and wouldn't touch the others at all regardless of how you showcase them.

Overall, I think it would be nice to have a general trending list for completely new users or users who just want to see what is generally liked by the people on the site and then give us the option to choose up to maybe 3 genres or so that we like and want to have a trending list for.
 

BenJepheneT

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Trending here is mostly about knowing how the algorithm works and what about readers actually want to read. Everyone knows that. LitRPG have just an easier time as they naturally attract more readers, but of course you are oblivious to the issue.
Well too fucking bad. People want to read LitRPGs, and thus they trend. They get easier time with exposure because many people expose it. That's why the trending tab exists for that purpose. If you completely exclude one genre from the Trending tab it wouldn't be called the Trending tab. It'll be called a non-LitRPG Quarantine zone. You answered your own question with this one and even if you think it's still a problem, the solution you provided isn't exactly better than the current situation we have right now.

Giving them an own trending list is one way, limiting their share another potential one.
Giving LitRPG its own Trending section doesn't provide variety. You actually provide an area where there is no variety at all and another area where the same lack of variety persist.
Literally one message above mine. You're just making it EASIER for people to go for LitRPGs now. And what if you expanded on the idea? Make seperate sections for specific trending genres. They'll just all flock to the LitRPG section. Then how about we totally nuke LitRPGs off the trending tab? That'll be disingenuous as fuck, and cripples the reader base, since LitRPGs are the reason why people come in the first place.

Like I said, this site doesn't cater to writers. It caters to readers. That's like the fun fair cancelling the roller coaster so that patrons would be forced to play other things, like fucking duck shooting. If majority of readers like reading one specific stuff, the site shows them that one specific stuff. And in order to cater to the majority of readers, they show the trending tab. And the trending tab has what most people like to read. If we cripple that trending tab, we cripple the readerbase.

If anything, you should be pushing for some sort of personalized tab for every readers, or maybe even an event or week specifically tailored for the genre you want represented.

What you're pushing for is essentially putting a blanket over the problem in hopes of fixing it. It won't. All people will notice is that giant thing you've put a blanket over. People would cry foul instead of reading the other stuff. Do you understand how the general public acts? What you want to do is represent another genre, not fuck over the popular one.

You can't force a reader to read what they don't like, but you can persuade them to read something else. But not like this.

Your logic is lacking
You couldn't see yourself in a mirror because you can't fucking reflect on the things you say.
 

BenJepheneT

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see: https://forum.scribblehub.com/threads/ohko-also-has-suggestions.110/
Kinda sounds like the general idea proposed and it's already confirmed to be something Tony likes. It just depends on whether there'd still be a general trending list at the top in addition to all the sub-lists for each category.
gets excited for new opportunities

notices the time period

not so excited anymore


You know that feeling when you watch a trailer for a cancelled game you've otherwise would've liked a lot? This is that feeling.
 

thedude3445

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Time travel pics or Bullshit.
lol

Trends are just the way the world works, though. Superhero web serials were really popular 3-4 years ago, and now they're barely anything. Supernatural romance and dystopian YA have faded massively in popularity, and so have zombie stories. LitRPGs are becoming mainstream in popularity--Amazon has even published several Audible Original LitRPGs by now, and big-name book deals are probably a year away at worst--and I think the mainstream popularity will do a lot to cripple enthusiasm for the low quality, quickly abandoned stuff that proliferates the internet currently. It's WAY more effort for a random teen to make a LitRPG than it used to be to make, say, a werewolf romance book, so I think once people are able to get their fix off dozens of mainstream books and hundreds of completed stories, it'll start to go the way of the machinima animation series.
 

Assurbanipal_II

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Well too fucking bad. People want to read LitRPGs, and thus they trend. They get easier time with exposure because many people expose it. That's why the trending tab exists for that purpose. If you completely exclude one genre from the Trending tab it wouldn't be called the Trending tab. It'll be called a non-LitRPG Quarantine zone. You answered your own question with this one and even if you think it's still a problem, the solution you provided isn't exactly better than the current situation we have right now.



Literally one message above mine. You're just making it EASIER for people to go for LitRPGs now. And what if you expanded on the idea? Make seperate sections for specific trending genres. They'll just all flock to the LitRPG section. Then how about we totally nuke LitRPGs off the trending tab? That'll be disingenuous as fuck, and cripples the reader base, since LitRPGs are the reason why people come in the first place.

Like I said, this site doesn't cater to writers. It caters to readers. That's like the fun fair cancelling the roller coaster so that patrons would be forced to play other things, like fucking duck shooting. If majority of readers like reading one specific stuff, the site shows them that one specific stuff. And in order to cater to the majority of readers, they show the trending tab. And the trending tab has what most people like to read. If we cripple that trending tab, we cripple the readerbase.

If anything, you should be pushing for some sort of personalized tab for every readers, or maybe even an event or week specifically tailored for the genre you want represented.

What you're pushing for is essentially putting a blanket over the problem in hopes of fixing it. It won't. All people will notice is that giant thing you've put a blanket over. People would cry foul instead of reading the other stuff. Do you understand how the general public acts? What you want to do is represent another genre, not fuck over the popular one.

You can't force a reader to read what they don't like, but you can persuade them to read something else. But not like this.


You couldn't see yourself in a mirror because you can't fucking reflect on the things you say.

Go fuck yourself. I am doing this for people for you and not the story capitalist above.
Well too fucking bad. People want to read LitRPGs, and thus they trend. They get easier time with exposure because many people expose it. That's why the trending tab exists for that purpose. If you completely exclude one genre from the Trending tab it wouldn't be called the Trending tab. It'll be called a non-LitRPG Quarantine zone. You answered your own question with this one and even if you think it's still a problem, the solution you provided isn't exactly better than the current situation we have right now.



Literally one message above mine. You're just making it EASIER for people to go for LitRPGs now. And what if you expanded on the idea? Make seperate sections for specific trending genres. They'll just all flock to the LitRPG section. Then how about we totally nuke LitRPGs off the trending tab? That'll be disingenuous as fuck, and cripples the reader base, since LitRPGs are the reason why people come in the first place.

Like I said, this site doesn't cater to writers. It caters to readers. That's like the fun fair cancelling the roller coaster so that patrons would be forced to play other things, like fucking duck shooting. If majority of readers like reading one specific stuff, the site shows them that one specific stuff. And in order to cater to the majority of readers, they show the trending tab. And the trending tab has what most people like to read. If we cripple that trending tab, we cripple the readerbase.

If anything, you should be pushing for some sort of personalized tab for every readers, or maybe even an event or week specifically tailored for the genre you want represented.

What you're pushing for is essentially putting a blanket over the problem in hopes of fixing it. It won't. All people will notice is that giant thing you've put a blanket over. People would cry foul instead of reading the other stuff. Do you understand how the general public acts? What you want to do is represent another genre, not fuck over the popular one.

You can't force a reader to read what they don't like, but you can persuade them to read something else. But not like this.


You couldn't see yourself in a mirror because you can't fucking reflect on the things you say.

Go and just fuck yourself and your dictatorship of the majority.
 

BenJepheneT

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lol

Trends are just the way the world works, though. Superhero web serials were really popular 3-4 years ago, and now they're barely anything. Supernatural romance and dystopian YA have faded massively in popularity, and so have zombie stories. LitRPGs are becoming mainstream in popularity--Amazon has even published several Audible Original LitRPGs by now, and big-name book deals are probably a year away at worst--and I think the mainstream popularity will do a lot to cripple enthusiasm for the low quality, quickly abandoned stuff that proliferates the internet currently. It's WAY more effort for a random teen to make a LitRPG than it used to be to make, say, a werewolf romance book, so I think once people are able to get their fix off dozens of mainstream books and hundreds of completed stories, it'll start to go the way of the machinima animation series.
In other words, only then will we find the true fans of the genre who stay after the craze gone. Remember the bad boy romance stories of the mid 2000s? It's still going fucking strong on Wattpad, even after it's gone off mainstream.
 

Moonpearl

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The Trending section as it is now is useful to let authors know what's truly popular on the site, though. It can help us tailor our presentation to a wider audience, if we so choose.

I also don't think that just singling out LitRPG will help, because then Isekai or BL will replace it, and people will complain.

I would love the hell out of a personalised recommendations section, though. My tastes as specific and eclectic.

Nya! Not a bad idea, but I'd suggest separate trendings based on genre, although, there's already a ranking system for tags and genres... so IDK... anything that gave more stories a spotlight on the site would be good. Maybe the site needs to focus less on what story got updated and how frequently it was, and instead, look at like say: a series of trending carousels for a variety of stories.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Instead of showing all these chapters that got updated on the first page, we should have a list of stories trending in a few circuits.

Top Trending > The ones with a viewership and popularity over a certain percentage.

Rising Trending > The ones who are rising to the top.

New Novels Trending > The new ones below the rising level who just got started and things are looking up for them.

New Novels Listing > Instead of a trending list, this one is just a carousel that can be cycled through to show all the new novels that haven't made it into New Novels Trending for those who are curious about finding an overlooked gem.

Adding icons on top of covers to indicated recently updated within the last few days would be good. If someone updated their story, it would renew the icon that appears over a cover (top left corner or something, like a shiny exclamation point, nya!

This would let everyone know that that book got updated within the last few days, or a week, if that would be better, since once a week is kind of a bare bones rate for many writers.

Bottom line, nya, I agree that more stories need to get spotlight. This would only help ScribbleHub's image and make the writers happier, and a note: the writers have to be happy, otherwise they won't post.

Getting lost in the grey oblivion of being overlooked and never getting to shine probably kills more author's spirits than anything else does.

The way things are set up right now, it's an unintentional Darwin's, only the fittest survive and flourish. <3

I have to say, I'm actually reliant on the Latest Series and Recent Updates sections to find what I want to read. It's the only place that interesting but niche novels may turn up in. It's also the only place for reliable exposure.

I only found out about your recent novel from there, too. (Although it's in my off-site To Read list right now.)
 
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