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

Why are the rules different for links in profiles vs links in posts? Can you link them in signatures?

Wow, what a debate going on here.

I will admit this: although I've rarely written slash, I am in support of it. However, as it is apparent that it will not be allowed yet (no Willow/Tara is criminal), I won't fight that battle.

I do sincerely believe that we should have a non-SW fanfiction forum. Not only will it diversify the tales told, but as people have said it could bring some people back who have drifted from TFN over the years. Right now, the forums are in a down period in terms of growth, and having more options for writers will probably increase our numbers. Plus, if our SW fanfiction writers get burned out they can experiment with another fandom without have to deal with FF.net and other such sites.

If we have a forum meant for all kinds of non-SW science fiction and fantasy, it is fitting that there is a forum for writers to present non-SW fanfiction. I highly doubt we will have many people dedicated to the non-SW forum only, and it will only diversify the appeal of the site as a whole.

Okay, that makes some sense.

But it still doesn't explain why you can link directly to tv clips, movies, comics, and books that have pg-level ssr, but not fanfic that does?

This is either not true or almost never enforced. I have linked to youtube videos with profanity like 430 times and said "watch out this has profanity" and I have not been edited or warned once about it, and I have seen many other people do the same. Profanity isn't the same as "adult content" but it does violate the overly strict TOS. Why's this different?


I don't think I ever said my opinion about this forum itself, aside from the asinine rules that might be in place there. My opinion is this: why not make it? What's the big issue? If fan fic people like it and it gets traffic, cool. If it isn't popular, so what? Oh no...a forum isn't getting traffic...what a calamity. NOT. I mean you guys have had Sci Fi 3D around since ancient times, and that place gets like two posts a month and nobody knows what it's for or who that mod is. It's like the island from Lost over there, but without the excitement. And nobody minds that sticking around, so what's the disaster if we have some rarely visited fan fic board? Just go on and make the thing and see what happens and skip the rigamarole.

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 100% agree. In fact, I think this issue warrants it's own thread here in Comms.

So, has there been any major cons about the creation of the Star Wars Forum? I think the biggest issue so far has been the topic of legal issues. While that can be a concern, I think that it can be handled. A stickied list of those authors that do not want their works written in fanfics, that same list added to a rules thread and a strong team of moderators can solve that problem easily.

Speaking of moderators, if such a forum were created, would the NSWFF just be tacked onto the current set of FF mods? I would think that with such legal potential, then a new set of mods would be promoted. That's just my thought on the issue.

I hate to derail this thread anymore than it already has been, but some clarification would be nice, Traci. I once ran the official thread on the WR for other fan sites. It was edited by mod without advanced notice to remove a link to the main page of ff.n.

I don't know if this has been brought up before, but I think if the Role Playing Forum can be split into SW and nonSW games, then the fanfic area should surely be given the same opportunity to branch out.

Andalite, I didn't even know there was a sci fi 3d forum here.

Is that like a metaphor for Comms?

The new forum would have its own moderators. The current fanfic mods already have four boards to watch over (five if you count Classic but it's about as active as Sci-fi 3D ). Also, like you say, the NSWFF board would have a different set of administrative issues requiring its own dedicated mods. Plus, if we have the same moderators for both SW and NSW, it'll be harder to find candidates who can wear both hats. I know I personally don't know a thing about half the fandoms people will be writing about. That's not to say a mod couldn't do both if voted in for both. NYCitygurl moderates SFF Books & Comics and Census & Games, but they're otherwise unrelated.

Of course, that brings up a question of categories. To my thinking it should be either under the Fan Fiction category, or its own a la Sports-->The Arena. IMHO the latter will be less confusing in regards to newbies figuring out who-moderates-what, but it's not a big issue.


Because I don't think I've specifically voiced my support in this thread yet, I'd certainly be a reader in the NSWFF forum of the fandoms I do know and like. Probably write some things for it here and there as well. I'd be glad to see some of my JC friends' work beyond Star Wars in an environment similar to the one in SWFF.

Ah, that makes sense then.

About what category it is in, I would think it'd be best to have it's own category. One reason is to cause less confusion. Another is that, if it becomes popular and crowded, you could split the forum into different categories: TV, Movies, etc. Though, that may never happen, just a suggestion.

The problem with using that argument is that the Non-SW RPF is on its last leg and hardly surviving. This is what makes me nervous about having a Non-SW Fanfic.

Cool.

About the NSWRPF: I wouldn't say it's on it's last leg. While it is slightly inactive, it does get a lot of posts, more so than plenty of the other forums on this site. I think something that could be attributed to the inactivity could be some of the rules in place, which is being discussed by the RPF Mods and the community as well. So, I would like to think that the activity with the NSWRPF will soon increase.

Also, as NYCitygurl pointed out, the fan fic community is a lot larger than the RPF community (though I never understood why the two communities do not have closer ties...). Anyway, I think for what the NSWRPF has, it's doing alright. For what the FF community has, I think the NSWFF will do great.

Just out of random curiosity...

I know that fanfiction authors here have before in the past pm'd sections of stories with adult content (or links to them) to anyone who was of legal age and requested it. Could one potentially pm slash stories to other users, or even advertise one's slash in one's profile?

EDIT: Whoops, my question was already answered, didn't see that.

As I said in in Fanfiction Resource, if it's handled right and the issues are dealt with (like several authors/corporate entities that abhor fanfic and act like hawks to shut it down when they see it), then I think a Non - SWFF forum would be a great idea.

My question hasn't been answered, so I wanted to re-pose it. I know that the owners have specifically banned SSR in fanfic, but I'm wondering if the linking to it rules (not only ff, but also tv clips, movies, comics, and books) are things that have been guessed at by the mods, or if those are specifically part of the ban.

The way we always approached it in Fan Fic is that if it's not allowed here, you can't link to it. Slash, for example: if you have to register and be approved by the site's admin before you can view the adult content, then you can link to the site in plain view here because Joe Schmo user can't access the adult content via TFN no matter what. But if it's a site where all you have to do is run the search engine or click a few extra links, then no linking allowed.

As I understand it, there's a difference between "slash" (same-sex couples that aren't officially canon) and "SSR" (canon same-sex couples). I don't think I've ever seen people linking to the latter - Willow/Tara stories, for example - so we've never really had a problem with it. But my first instinct would be to not allow those links, just as we don't allow links to slash.

I think the reasoning behind the ban on fanfic links is that Phil Wise has specifically said no to specific kinds of stories. So if we can't allow material beyond a certain level, then we can't really allow public links to that material, either.

If this forum is created, I probably wouldn't post it in much, except to comment on other's stories.

I've written a poem about Star Wars, and it has been posted at another site. Can I post it at one of Jedi Council Forum's already existing fan fiction forums if I want to, provided that it comforms to the forum's standards?

Out of curiosity, how close are we to getting a yes/no in regards to this forum being formed?

You have to wait three months, like the Arena did.

Hoo boy, that's a long time . . .