SomeGuyFawkes is the only guy outside DLP that leaves me useful reviews. Granted, he's usually a complete douche about it and he doesn't like any of my stories so far, but he gave me reasons for pretty much everything he said and I've changed a few details based on his suggestions.

He's the one who pointed out I had Muggle streetlights buzzing on at night during war time blackout. Pretty major screw up if you think about it. Little details like that that have nothing to do with the story can easily ruin it for the reader, if he's able to spot them.

I used to leave detailed reviews, but that changed when I found DLP. I don't even like reading in FFN anymore; the white background is too hard on the eyes. I much prefer using the WBA thread, which means I sometimes don't get to read the polished piece (or don't even hear about the story at all) and that I don't leave reviews on FFN unless an author specifically asks me to.

 

Most of the time I don't leave reviews because other people have said pretty much the exact same thing I would have (and have managed to make it so that it doesn't sound awkward as fuck, as I'm prone to doing). In the cases where I'm among the first to post a review, I tend to worry that I haven't conveyed my thoughts across as I'd like, say "fuck it," and wait for someone else to do it. Or I'm just too lazy/busy to even contemplate leaving a review.

On occasion I'll actually write a review I'm satisfied with, but I don't think I've done that for about a month now. Even then I think "shit, I could have worded that better" or "I forgot to mention this" and kick myself for a few hours afterward.

 

Bold denotes massive understatement.

Quoted for posterity as the sad, sad truth.

I make it a point to respond to every review, with the exception of maybe a DLP review mirrored on FFN. Now granted, that's a total of about 25 reviews, but the point is that I like to communicate that I appreciate the reviewer taking the time to, y'know, review. Of course, when I get a review consisting of "Fab..." and "Good story" (those are actual reviews for my first story) I can't manage more than "Thank you for the kind words" as my response.

You are one OCD motherfucker.

To add my two cents:

I used to write a fair number of reviews back when I first got into fanfiction and read lots of Harry/Ginny and then Harry/Hermione. I can't say that my reviews were great or offered loads of con-crit, but I also don't think I ever reviewed just to bitch-slap a story for idiocy, cliches, crappy writing, etc. In those cases, I just dropped the story altogether and went on with my day.

I've written just 27 reviews according to my FFN account, and a few are for fics I wouldn't even consider reading again, though I liked them at the time. It's easy to correlate my entrance to DLP with both a changing of story tastes and a drop-off in FFN reviews.

As for a review changing my plans for a story, I haven't had to deal with that yet, really. Both my posted stories are one-shots and despite a couple of my favorite authors, ahem, disliking various aspects of the first one, I'm quite happy with it just the way it is and have no intention of changing it. Still, I'm honored that they thought enough to post their critiques after taking the time to read it in the first place.

 

Only review on FF.net I've ever gotten that influenced me in writing my story was from Master Slytherin... and since he's sorta from here, I'm not sure it counts.

 

I have received quite a few reviews that are helpful. Some of the best reviews have been people being complete asses and saying how much they hate the story and why. If it has legit points, I'll take it into consideration.

That saying, I love getting constructive criticism but sometimes that is hard to find on fanfiction.net. That's why I try to review many fics that I quite enjoy yet they have major errors. Sometimes I get responses (I got to have a huge conversation with the writer of a Prince of a Dark Kingdom. He/she is so nice), sometimes I don't.

Anyways. If you review fics, many times the author reviews yours.

If the fic is just horrible. I don't even try. I just walk away from it.

 

Not really. My post read like DLP and FF.net aren't that different. Both have unreasonable writers but, of course, FF.net has many, many, many, many, many, many, many more. Or something like that.

Douches are everywhere. They can be B) Stubborn douches who aren't driven off a forum as easily as you think and A) witty douches who manage to write their douchy replies in a safe, not-easy-to-detect, sometimes-funny-enough-not-to-be-called-on-it, or-maybe-simply-just-not-too-much-obnoxious way.

*Breaths in*

The reason DLP is miles above FF.net in terms of quality and reviews/feedback is because of the percentage, IMO.

Uncle Stojil

Edit: And SomeGuyFawkes is the coolest.

 

Or they rage quit the site. Literally.

Didn't one guy, Datrang-something, demand for his account to be expunged because he 'thought this was a place to discuss Harry Potter and its fanfiction', and 'not a place full of assholes', or something?

 

I disagree with this and that's where what I said is not what you said.

I just think some hide better than that. That's all.

Uncle Stojil

 

Gosh, pers, you're making me blush.

Serious note: writers/ peeps I respect make and have made huge impact on my writing. Their reviews I take very seriously.

 

Like some others, I used to review quite a lot, before I was enlightened and got to DLP. I used to pull these stunts where I read a story and reviewed every single chapter as I read through them. Most of them were pretty mindless, IIRC.

Nowadays, I don't if I don't really feel like I need to. The needs pops up without warning and at total random times. When I review, however I try to make it as detailed as possible.

 

I think this guy disagrees with you; he also only leaves reviews of the highest quality...

 

Hmmm...

Well, to be completely honest, I only really review when the story makes a major impact on me in some way, shape or form, good or bad, or when it's an author I support... but the funny thing is that most of the authors I support are already members of DLP, and I can just simply drop reviews in their WbA threads. And, of course, there have been stories I've flamed because they've sucked massively or pissed me off.

It's strange, though - I've written in multiple genres, and the quality/style of the reviews really varies depending on the stories I've written. For instance, Rewriting the Song (my Lily/Snape romance fic) doesn't have a single flame - in fact, I somehow got positive reviews from pstibbons and a few fangirls who persistently PM me every couple of months asking when I'm going to come back to that story (and it's been over two years since I've updated it).

Whereas Renegade Cause... well, that's a different story. It's strange, but the further people tend to get in the story, the longer and better the reviews tend to be (wonder what that says about my reader base, that they like my shit or just have adapted to tolerate more and more of it). Sure, they're not nearly as critical as DLP, but they do give me a bit of a fuzzy feeling, not gonna lie. However, there's also a set of chapters (from about eight to nineteen), where people have dropped some pretty incendiary flames (the Litany of Hate's is the most 'infamous', so to speak, but I remember correcting a few smaller details based on one of Taure's reviews) loaded with criticism, some of it very justified. I've actually rewritten most of the first twelve chapters and edited the next six or seven chapters to bring the writing quality closer to where I am now (no worries, no major plot points changed), so I guess that could be an example of where ffn.net reviews helped.

 

You need this thread.

 

I rarely review. With that in mind, if I do leave a review, I'm usually being serious. I don't do the snide douchebag routine, not if I'm involved enough in the story to tell you what I like or what I don't like instead of just exiting out of the page.

And surprisingly enough, I've actually gotten more "How do I fix this?" type responses than "Its my story and you can kindly fuck off" replies from the authors. 'Course, like Pers, I usually only leave reviews to those I think might actually listen and learn.

It's a bit of a gamble.

 

Nine times out of ten when I leave a review, the author asks me to beta or help him with the plot. The times that doesn't happen is usually when an author has written a story so awful that I can't pick which thing I want to criticize first...

Then again I only leave reviews when an author has either left me in awe or dumbfounded, and most of the time said authors are pretentious.

 

I rarely leave critical reviews in the HP fandom. Most of the stories I follow and want to read are posted on DLP, so I'll usually leave the review in the Library or For Review threads. Sometimes when the story isn't on here and it's entertained me enough I'll leave one.

It is when I go outside of the fandom that I leave long-winded reviews. The Fate/Stay Night, DBZ, Sailor Moon, and Zelda fandoms are usually where I leave the reviews. I also take in mind that it is not DLP and that their egos maybe fragile, so I always leave a mix of praise and critique. Most people tend to enjoy my feedback, and I think one Zelda fic was influenced. That was years ago so I'm not sure if I'm recalling how important the impact may have been.

Also, when I read a story such as Blaise described, I tend to exit out and forget about it. Even when I feel the urge to review, I know the author usually isn't going to appreciate any critique I give.

 

As an author, I love reviews. Positive, negative, indifferent, whatever. It's an acknowledgement for the ridiculous amounts of time I spend on this hobby. A 'thanks for writing' of sorts.

 

Without that, I might've given up reading fics at FFnet by now. The black background is so much easier on the eyes.

In my experience, criticism on FFnet is rare, but it happens from time to time. But I've practically given up leaving reviews unless it's a really promising story that's being messed up.

Otherwise, the author is either talented enough to keep things under wraps or I simply don't care enough for the story to see it succeed.

 

Ha. I remember that. In fact, there was more than one LoH rant for the fic.

That was the first time I had read one of Litany's rants, and I remember being disappointed. He spent hundreds of words on explaining why the newspapers and government couldn't attack Harry as badly as they did, by comparing them to the real world's systems of government/legal checks and balances. Never mind that Wizarding England is a fictional entity with no obligation to follow the Muggle U.K.'s laws.

And then there's the bit on Hitwizards. I spent five minutes looking for the review just to drag it out, along with another reviewer's reply:

But I wouldn't be surprised if there were other bits in the LoH review that were helpful, so I guess that sums up the use of FF.net reviews rather nicely: possibly useful if you're sufficiently selective.