Non-Star Wars fan fic forum - Forums now open!

I don't see why this is even a question. This new board could only help the boards; I don't see how it could hurt. Why deny something that can help?

As some people have said before, I think the best thing to relate the NSWFF to is the NSWRPF.

I am an avid RPer, one that posts a lot in the SWRPF and RPResource Forum. I however, don't post much in the NSWRPF, but I am not opposed to it. In fact, I love that it is there. I am mainly a SW RPer, but there are certain topics that I would love to join in on other than SW. I just haven't seen them in a while. My main point in bringing this up is, I am sure there are others like me within the RPing Community. However, the NSWRPF is still going after two years. Regardless, it is not as active as the SWRPF, but it is still pretty active. It seems that every time I reload my favorite boards, it always has a new post. And it's not hurting the boards in any way.

So, I say create this forum. I most likely won't be posting in it, but there will be plenty of people posting in it. Also, it could very well make some members that post on other Fan fic sites stay here rather than go elsewhere. It may take a while for that to happen, but I think it could.

 

ASG, we've had this discussion before. The reason the cross-promotion thread was allowed in this case, is it had the support of all the mods involved. We had already discussed this idea in MS, and decided that if there was enough user interest, we would go ahead and explore the idea. MS had already decided upon exploring this. That's why it's different. If some user came to Obi or a mod and asked about the formation of a new board, and then that mod went to MS with it, and discussed it, and came out with the resolution that if there is user interest in it we'd go ahead with the forum, I think that we'd allow the same kind of cross-promotion threads, in the pertaining forums. At least, I would. I don't really get what your beef is.

 

Yes, I'd like us to talk more in here about the pros and cons. Some have done that in the last few days and I'd like to see more of that. I'd like to see users who are active in the current Fan Fic boards and see what their opinions are. I want to see more discussion about how some like this idea and some don't.

 

I'd like to throw in my support of this.

 

This is the way I see it:

Pros
-Offers another place for fan ficcers like the NSWRPF did with RPs.
-This will cause more people to stay here rather than go elsewhere for their postings.
-Therefore, it will bring in more activity.
-Broadens the "horizon" a little bit for everyone, not just fan ficcers.
-While I don't think this will bring in a new influx of members, it could be a deciding factor in whether or not someone will continue to post here or not.


Cons
-Strays away from the Star Wars only message board.

That's what I could think of as of right now, and, of course, these are my opinions. I am biased towards having this board, so that could be why there are less cons, but I really don't see any besides that. In fact, is that really a Con? I mean, we already have at least 8 Non-SW Boards around here, why not have another? I honestly do not think it will hurt the board at all. I think we need to look towards the future here and see what is best for the board. Besides the TV shows, and books, nothing else is going to happen within the SW universe and is that enough to run a giant message board like this? I don't think so. So, this place really needs to, as I stated in the Pro's, broaden it's horizons.

 

I've mentioned it before, but I give my full support to the making of a NSWFF board. I write several of these stories and I hate having to post them at places like ff.net. The sense of community felt on our ff boards is a very rare thing, and I would love to bring some of my other stories here too.

 

nemesis's pro/con lists pretty much sum it up from where I'm standing. I don't know that the big about such a big messageboard not being able to survive without this is accurate, but I do agree that this really can't hurt, it can only help.


I haven't seen many people against this; I think someone in here said something about in the fanfic thread along, there were 45 people for it or okay with it and 4 people against. 506, I don't think you're going to get that much discussion from people who are against it.

 

I wasn't saying that this place won't survive without the NSWFF. I am saying down the road, in like five+ years. Thought I'd clarify on that.

 

I think it's an excellent idea.

Though I may not be as prolific in other fandom areas as I am with SWFF, I would prefer to post NSWFF here than other places, because like was said before, the community here is so much warmer than other sites.

 

This pretty much sums it up for me. I think that the very nature of the community here will prevent the NSWFF board from going down the road that ff.net has. People looking for the sort of feedback you get here will be drawn to the board - though I don't think we'll get a lot of traffic from people not already part of these boards.

 

I really would support and have a very strong presence in the NSWFFF. I am sure that there may be a few that will push the limits of what is and is not allowed. But, I still think that this is way overdue. I would be immensely pleased to have it become a permanent fixture on the forum and would help any way that I would be allowed to make sure that it is run properly.

 

Chiming in with my support. I know I wouldn't post a lot, but I enjoy reading in other fandoms, and I'd love to see what JC authors would produce. Sometimes I even get a non-SW plot bunny of my own. The JC fanfic community is fairly unique, and I think a NSWFF board would be a great addition to that community.

 

I almost feel like I should speak up in defense of fanfiction.net. I actually do post there, and like it -- for what it is, which is a site dedicated to providing a location for as much fanfic, for as many different fandoms, as they can get away with. Partly because of its size and publicity, it's ended up having to introduce a lot more restrictions over time than the original anything-goes mentality, but the hugeness and lack of standards are a feature, not a bug.

While I do appreciate ff.net for the role it plays, though, it's not what we want here and it's not what we're going to have here if the NSWFF goes through. The NSWFF would have rules about both content and interaction similar to the current Star Wars Fanfic area's policies (though I will note that JC Fanfic does not actually have a quality requirement), and it would be populated by a subset of people who are interested in a Star Wars forum -- though not necessarily strictly a subset of people who are interested in Star Wars fanfic, since there are a lot of people who only write fic in some of their fandoms and not necessarily their favorites at that.

It's never going to be a gigantic audience for any one non-SW topic compared to some of the dedicated multifandom sites, let alone other dedicated single-fandom sites, but it will provide the kind of posting environment and audience that people who like this place for Star Wars fic are happy with, and a place for anyone else here to post if they want to show their friends here their non-SW fic.

 

I too post at ff.net. But my biggest problem with the site is that the administration there seems cold and indifferent. I had at least three of my stories pulled down from the site along with temporary bans, which they never explained. My stories were appropriate, and didn't break any rules. I will still post and read stories there, but I'm still wary.

 

I'm really torn on the idea. My initial reflex reaction was excitement, but then after I started thinking about it, part of me isn't as thrilled.

I would love to have a place to share my other fandom fanfics with people I already know, but then I think about how my other main fandoms are Torchwood and House, both with big slash (or SSR, what ever you want to call it) followings, and in the case of Torchwood an SSR is very much cannon, a very popular pairing and as moosemousse pointed out earlier there is nothing subtle about it. (In fact, to make it as subtle as the rules currently allow would probably destroy Jack's character entirely, but that is beside the point.)

I know there are other places that allow SSRs, but if there were a NSWFF forum on here, I would want to share with people here.
I also know that this is not a mod thing, and this issue really makes it hard on them (though I don't think it would hurt to ask again, particularly pointing out that Slash doesn't mean it can't stay PG)!

I also wonder how far away it will pull from the reason we come here... this is a SW site after all and there are plenty of other places for fanfics (ff.net, LJ, Insane Journal etc. ). Yes, I know there are plenty of non-SW forums here, but each one pulls just a little farther away. What brought us all here was SW, no matter where you post, but a NSWFF that might not be the case.

So I guess what all that rambling means is I'm sitting on the fence for the time being.

 

I don't have a beef with the creation of the forum itself, I hope it gets enough support to get made, especially if there are people here that will enjoy it. Not my cup of tea personally, bit I'm not turning my nose down at it.

My beef was that most any non-Star Wars forums that have been proposed in the past, in other forums, would have been locked and re-directed to Comms. I just don't see why this proposal is a special case.

If you guys in MS are changing the policy on the way things like this are going to be handled in the future, that's fine. All you had to say, is that we're taking a different outlook on how new forums are being proposed. Because the Arena had to be fought for tooth and nail to get made, I've heard it was similar for the Amph and the Senate. Had the people proposing these forums been given the privilege of advertising in several other forums, they may have garnered more support earlier on.

You really have to realize, and I'm sure the people proposing and the users that want it do, that even though this site will always be about Star Wars, it doesn't hurt to have other forums for other topics besides Star Wars. It builds a stronger community because more people that get to know each get to share more hobbies than a series of movies.

So yes, I'm for the forum.

I would also like to address the issue of people not reading, or knowing about Comms. I didn't even know it existed until I'd been here almost a year. You'd get a lot more feedback for this forum. and it's policy discussions if you made a sticky leading user here. I know most forum moderators don't like stickies in their forums, but Comms is useless when a good majority of users don't even know that it's here.

 

I can see both sides of the issue.

On the one hand, I'd likely be much more tempted to go fandom hopping if I have a nice place like this to post my fanfics, rather than the mosh pit that is fanfiction.net. But, I do also recognize that it's going to be difficult to make it happen, and keep the author list current of authors who don't want fanfiction written, it'll require very diligent moderators, among other things. Leadership in the new community is going to play a big role in if it takes off or not, and how well the moderators are to be prepared to deal with the issues that might rise up from a NSWFF board.

On the other hand, it'll be an excellent growth opportunity and a way to draw back older members who have left for other fandoms, and might also keep people here who might otherwise drift away when their interest in star wars wanes. Just because some of us have been in the fandom for a decade or more, doesn't mean everyone who joins the boards has, and in the long term, I think it would be for the best for the site to branch out. I'm definitely in favor of that.

 

Same thing happened to me. I never figured out why my fics were taken down?.



More on topic: I think a NSWFF board is a great idea. I don't see how it could hurt to have one. I'd post there, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who would too. I think it would also benefit the community (at least the fanfic community) as it would, IMO, lead to a broader interaction.

 

The only problem that I have with the site (and I do use it too) is the lack of quality control. While netspeak is generally frowned upon in stories, you do get ones that use it, along with stories with lack of proper formatting, and complete disregard for the rules of the English language. Not only that, but in my experience, there are a lot of authors who seem to think it's okay for having canon characters act OOC without giving any explanation for it (such as the story being AU or whatever).

The high standard that the Fanfic forums here have is what drew me to them in the first place. Actually, to sort of rephrase my earlier support, that's sort of the only reason why I'm for the new forum at all.

(Yes, I do realize that I'm probably just repeating myself like a broken record, but I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and I feel like it should be said again.)

 

Just because I think that my question keeps getting turned into something else, I'd like to rephrase it.

My question is not about hosting fics with obvious same sex relationships on the board. That has already been established as not allowed, and even though I don't like it, I'm willing to accept it.

My question is about linking to fics with obvious same sex relationships. At this point, it is totally kosher to link to pretty much all other forms of fiction that have same sex relationships, such as television shows (and tv clips), movies (and movie clips), and books (and book excerpts). However in this thread I'm being told that it's not allowed to link to fan fiction that has same sex relationships.

I'm not talking about linking to fics that have explicit sex, as that's against the rules regardless of the sexuality of the people engaging in sex. I'm talking about linking to fics that have same sex relationships that are obvious, but not above the PG-level that already exist on the boards.

I think that this is relevant to the creation of a non-SW fan fic forum because there may be people who are writing fics that fit within the universe of other stories, and may want to link to those other stories to give context. It doesn't make sense to me that if, for example, someone wanted to write a story that took place within the Buffy universe, they could link the episode or book or comic that it took place during, even if the episode/book/comic had Willow/Tara, but they wouldn't be able to link to a fic that their story is taking place during, because the fic had Willow/Tara.

 

My 2 cents:

Pros ? Overall, I am in favor of a NSWFF forum. Many SW fanfic writers also write in other fandoms and would appreciate the opportunity to post those works within the TFN community.

As to it being non-SW, I really don?t see that being an issue. The non-SW role playing forum is a good example. Fanfic and role playing are similar animals and the existence of a non-SW RPG forum does not affect the SW RPG forum.


Cons ? The biggest con I see would be potential legal issues. Lucas allows us to write SW fanfic without restriction, but other fandoms do not. There is a fairly long list of authors who do not allow fanfic and will sue if they find it. The mods of the proposed NSWFF forum would need to be diligent to ensure that fanfics on the disallowed-by-author list are not posted here or Mr. Wise could be faced with a ?cease and desist? order.

Maybe I am misunderstanding your question, but fanfic writers do not typically link to other works of fanfic for reference. I?m trying to think of a reason that a writer would link to another story and the only thing I can think of is if they are linking to a prequel or sequel of their own work, or if they have borrowed another author's original character with permission and are linking to the origin.

Those of us who write fanfic that is not TFN-compliant simply post it on other sites and those sites can be linked in profiles or via PM with the appropriate disclaimers.

In the nine years that I have been reading and writing fanfic here, the inability to link to fanfic that exceeds the TOS has honestly never been an issue.

 

I've seen lots of fanfic link to other fanfics, books, tv show episodes, or comics to provide the context for the story.

Wait, if you can link something in a profile, why can't you link it in a specific post? Can you link to it in sigs?

 

You can link to something like that in a profile? That's news to me. I thought it was PM only.

 

As Jedi_Trace has a links to an adult fanfic archive in her profile, I'm guessing that it's okay.

ETA: I also want to add, since I'm not a regular in fanfic currently, that I'm not asking these questions in an attempt to be difficult. I've read non-sw fanfic for a few years now, and would probably lurk at the new community were it established, so when you read my posts, please do so with that in mind, rather than with the whole "oh, look, it's another comms dramawhore."

 

Can't say I've seen the same, but I stick pretty close to TFN for fanfic, so I guess that's why - we don't really do that here.

You cannot link directly to the adult content, but you can link to a site that has a restricted area where the user is required to verify age by clicking "yes, I'm over 18" or something like that.