, you thought the others would be too strong for us 
? that we couldn't support them and that we would pass out or be disgusted 
? I think it's a little vexing for your readers 
, we're all big boys , we could easily tolerate Shawn's most putrid socks 
.
bondagefreak wrote: ↑9 months ago Keeping in mind that the FO scores found on the stat cards are not necessarily representative of the smelliness of a laundry hamper's contents, my list would differ a bit from @noarmgr if I had to rank their hampers in terms of severity. Going by their respective laundry habits and etc, it would look something like this:
1- JOEY/ETHAN
2- JOSH/KYLE
3- BRAD
---------------------------------------------------DANGER ZONE
4- CHRIS/PHIL
5- ANDREW/COREY/BIG MIKE
6- MITCH/BOB/ZACK
7- NICK
8- SHAWN
[mention]bondagefreak[/mention] my nose curled from just reading that list hahabondagefreak wrote: ↑9 months ago Keeping in mind that the FO scores found on the stat cards are not necessarily representative of the smelliness of a laundry hamper's contents, my list would differ a bit from @noarmgr if I had to rank their hampers in terms of severity. Going by their respective laundry habits and etc, it would look something like this:
1- JOEY/ETHAN
2- JOSH/KYLE
3- BRAD
---------------------------------------------------DANGER ZONE
4- CHRIS/PHIL
5- ANDREW/COREY/BIG MIKE
6- MITCH/BOB/ZACK
7- NICK
8- SHAWN
Why do you think there's been a downtick? I've noticed the relative silence too, but I can't really place my finger on it.bondagefreak wrote: ↑8 months ago Hey guys. Just a quick announcement from me. Myself and other authors have noted a rather important downtick of comments on M/M stories this year. New stories that have sprouted over the course of the last few months have received at best a timid number of comments - significantly less than they would've garnered last year or the year before.
I've noticed the same trend on my own stories as well. Lots of new members and tons of reads, but very few commentators. The M/M stories here are mostly supported by the same two dozen or so regular reviewers, while the vast majority of the registered membership appear content with silently
My guess is as good as yours or @Starcomet's.OrdinaryWorld wrote: ↑8 months ago Why do you think there's been a downtick? I've noticed the relative silence too, but I can't really place my finger on it.
I know the recent Privacy Issues/ SSL Expiration affected site traffic. I know myself and a few others stayed mostly away until it got resolved.OrdinaryWorld wrote: ↑8 months ago Why do you think there's been a downtick? I've noticed the relative silence too, but I can't really place my finger on it.
Atm im more in the mood so will be more active coming period I'm talking about a general decline of posts on the entire M/M side of things since the end of 2022. We're attracting a lot of new users every week, but far less new active M/M participants than in recent years. The influx of new M/M active users seems to have slowed down a lot over the last year or so. That's only the case because you choose to elaborate your thoughts and give feedback. On those old vote-style stories I had going a few years back, most respondents would answer with "single letter posts" (eg: F). I'd argue that doing so takes the same amount of seconds as scrolling to the top of the thread, selecting an option on a poll and then pressing "vote".
I am indeed wandering if it is just the M/M side of the forum that has low activity or all over the forum? I would not be surprised if the F/F and F/M has remained constant.Red86 wrote: ↑8 months ago While I don't write stories myself, I have also noticed that it seems like comments are dwindling on the whole site lately, again.
I assume, like myself, most are just busy in regular day to day life. I swear it feels like there isn't enough time in the day for everything anymore. But I will also note that I also go through my moods of when I feel like reading bondage material. It's there most of the time but there's definitely times I just take a break for a bit.
As far as the polls go, I don't think it's a bad idea to go back to the other method. I will admit it's easy to just select a choice without having to comment (I've been known to do that on occasions) but considering I know many writers like actual feedback from readers, I totally understand. So I try on most posts to drop a comment on what chose and for what reasons regardless.
Quotas are fine and there is no need for you to feel dirty doing them. It does give others an incentive to try and comment.bondagefreak wrote: ↑8 months ago Most of you seem to have misunderstood me or the point I was trying to raise. You guys are all regular participants
With an almost absent influx of new M/M participants, forum activity (M/M-wise) seems to have become increasingly dependent on the same two dozen or so regular users. That's a bit sad IMO. So many members have switched to silent reading that when just a few of us are busy, the M/M side of the forum looks eerily quiet.
Been on here for a long time (13 years). This has been a very slow year M/M wise.
That's only the case because you choose to elaborate your thoughts and give feedback. On those old vote-style stories I had going a few years back, most respondents would answer with "single letter posts" (eg: F). I'd argue that doing so takes the same amount of seconds as scrolling to the top of the thread, selecting an option on a poll and then pressing "vote".
In any case, just getting lurkers to drop a single letter post can go a long way into getting them used to posting. It worked well in the past and quite a few of them went on to become regular participants. I legitimately loathed the "I need 30 answers minimum before publishing the next chapter" incentives I used to implement, but those quotas actually worked wonders in getting silent lurkers to step out of the shadows. For many, there's no reason to post when there's no doubt that the author will continue anyway. It feels cheap, but when there's a quota in place, many of them suddenly feel as though they have something to gain from commenting. And so they comment.
Doing this felt so cheap, but it worked wonders in getting those silent lurkers out in force. As you saw, I decided to implement this same voting system on Brad's story yesterday, but this time WITHOUT the minimum vote quota. As predicted, nary a new face has stepped forward and I predict responses will remain few due to the fate of the next chapter not being left in the balance.
In other words, if there's nothing to gain from it, the silent masses will stay silent.
I'm still mulling this over, but regardless of how well the vote quotas worked in the past, I'm not keen on returning to that method.
