Some do. Admittedly, I used to be quite vehemently against DLP especially after reading some of the threads from circa '05-'08. It has mellowed down for sure, but I guess some people still remember DLP's reputation from ten years ago.

Though, I don't think it's all bad. When it comes to people recommending fan discussion/forums and fic recommendations, you will often have DLP mentioned quite a few times. It's really only when there is something posted specifically about DLP and its standing in the fandom that you'll have the anti-DLPers trickle out.

Plus, /r/HPfanfiction may have its DLP critics, but I think it's kittens compared to the criticism you would get from say, Tumblr.

 

I'm the complete opposite.

My regular forum haunt and online community, ranma_fanfics, effectively ended in 2004 after its forum host became hostile to free members and our migration attempts failed. Our members dispersed into the wider world.

I drifted between places for a few years until I discovered DLP. It was a different fandom to the one I'd left, but the community had the same feel, the same smell. They were passionate. They were judgemental. They were both elitist and constantly striving to be better. They were comfortably high brow and low. They loved the written word. They didn't care about winning approval from other communities, because they'd attract the good members by their nature and the rest were chaff. They didn't tolerate idiocy. They sharpened their arguments and wits against each other. They never tried to be a home for everyone, just a home for themselves.

I've reconnected with old ranma_fanfics members as they've drifted through DLP over the years, some stayed for a while and others just kept drifting.

For me though, DLP was like coming home.

 

First found it when I was searching for Harry Potter fics on Google, but just sort of forgot about it until I saw a bunch of authors talking about it in their fics. Did some more Google-Fu, and contacted some authors to find out what the big deal was.

Needles to say, I was educated in the wonders of DLP.

 

Nothing special about my story. I first heard of DLP from an FF user named ArenDaystar (not sure if they have an account on here), and was encouraged to join by Eilyfe.

 

I can't even remember how I first found this place...

It was probably me googling 'Dark HP Fanfics recommendations' or some shit like that. It's served as an invaluable resource for over a year, even if I've just guest-lurked most of that time.

 

I found DLP by it getting continuously bashed on the hpfanfiction subreddit. I checked this place out, found that I liked it, and signed up a little later.

 

In around 2008, when I first started reading fanfiction, I saw an author ranting about how DLP was shit talking him. I decided to check the site out and have been lurking ever since.

 

I wondered my way over years ago when googling for quality HP fanfiction sites back when they were still plentiful. First thing I read was something written by Vash and I loved it. Been lurking ever since.

 

I asked on a Naruto fanfic subreddit if there were any other sites where could hope to improve my writing, and give me some great feedback to help better me other than the usual 'good job!' and 'update soon'.

 

Started reading HP fanfiction, found that the wheat to chaff ratio seemed even worse than in fandoms I'd been used to (almost certainly a matter of perception) thought I'd come here where there is a lot less chaff. A lot of terrible writers seemed to hate the place so I figured it had to be doing something right.

 

There's some truth to this, as DLP at it's most erect does disparage the poorly written and cliched fanfic out there.

I was a terrible writer when I joined - still am, by some accounts - but I think it was more taking the criticism on board and reassessing. Rolling with the punches, so to speak, that made me join this forum.

For the most part, DLP is tough love. I think most of the members over the last ten years who are still here saw that. Hell, I've said it before, any success I've had in the original fiction world I owe to the reviews/critiques I got here. Yes, I put in my 10,000 hours and more in the writin' chair, but it was DLP that honed my story blade.

I'm still learning, of course. And I think any who look back at the Hero Trilogy can see how far removed I am from that dumb kid.

So I'd argue any writers that 'hate the place' are probably just sore from some honest and much needed criticism.

 

Sorry for the small novel that follows, but if you really want to know...

My first encounter with DLP was, I believe, because I always searched for "Evil Harry fanfiction" as I had a massive hard on for that (still have, in a way).
And this was the thread that almost always came out on forth or fifth place:
https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=698

Apart from that, no real contact with it.
The site really got my attention when I discovered that one of my all-time favourite stories, "Harry Potter and the Boy-Who-Lived", had a few more chapters posted here. I signed up, wrote some bullshit about how I planned to become an active member (which I didn't), read those chapters and didn't really visit the site for about a year apart from one thread: The "Methods of Rationality" one I found really amusing.

And then, by chance, I stumbled on "Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin", a fanfiction with a terrible start that got far better as it went on.
One day, I thought: "OK, now, what does DLP think about that?" From MOR I knew you guys to be often harsh but also right about most things. As it turned out, it wasn't in the library. So I just had to recommend it in the "Almost Recommended" thread.
And stayed.
Here we are.

 

Just came over after realizing that the fics I liked the most were withinthe DLP community on FF and finding out this was actually a site. New here but from lurking and browsing a few threads today it's definitely the place for me.

 

I found out there's a quest section here from PastaSentient and his Zuko quest on SV.

 

I was looking for decent Harry/Fleur fics (dear god there are so few) and stumbled across Methene's thread about a H/F Community. Made an account (this was around 2 years ago), lurked for a while, lost the account info, now I'm here.

 

Hmm, I bumped up against the site in my searches for decent HP fics but never really stuck around beyond the page I'd been lead to by google.

I finally started paying attention to the site after spending time on SB and SV.

 

To be honest, I don't even remember exactly what brought me here.

50/50 on me either googling dark!harry edgy!harry ragingrapist!harry or looking up some fic I liked or the name of the author (and ending up in the review section or profile page). This was all during my halcyon days of reading fanfiction like a junkie, way back in 2008-2009.

I stuck around cause wading through shit is far easier here(not to mention the best stories are all gift-wrapped for your convenience), wading through the shit that was fanfiction.net in 2009... well, let's just say that sorting by reviews was your #1 guide to finding out if yaoi is your fetish.

 

I read a Quest by Mighosto, on SV, and he recommended this site.

 

I found this site by looking up various Dark Harry FanFictions and I was going to join but never got round to it. Till yesterday when I was reading a GooGle Doc by Taure that mentioned this site and that some stories have longer versions on this site, like Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived by TheSanti.