Oh dear...
...I feel your pain. Of course, chances are you are just having a pretend "flounce" so everything I'm going to type is out of context, but fuck it, I'm typing it anyway.

QOTW has changed somewhat over the past few months. In what I would call "The Popbitch effect" it appears to have mutated from what it was to something else entirely.

Now, I might be a credulous fool, but in the past, "back in the day", there seemed to be a likelihood of many of the stories on here being somehow rooted in fact. Certainly, speaking for myself, I've never made up anything posted on here, and what made the contents of this part of B3ta great - as far as I was concerned - was that they offered the reader a glance into other people's lives. Some of the stories were funny, some touching, some just worthy of a quick glance, and the overall "signal to noise" ratio was quite good. A bit like how Popbitch was back in the days of the (sadly missed) Rev. at the start of this decade.

This year, things seemed to have changed. Whether it's the desire for "front page" status or just to exercise creating writing skills, coupled with admittedly some poor question choices (maybe resultant from the fact that most good questions seemed to have been covered), the contents of QOTW are now less about a glimpse into the lives of others, more instead a "who can deliver the best punchline" competition.

In the past, some stories were fictional. Chickenlady for instance would occasionally use the QOTW to practise her erotic writing, but would warn everyone at the top of her posting that this was the case.

Now, however, it's like a free-for-all in the "made it up as I went along" stakes. The problem (for me) is that I am staring at rows and rows of fictional writing in book form in front of me, and (for me) it was the ring of truth in the contents of the QOTW that made it what it was. If I want pure fiction, I have that covered, thanks all the same.

I'd like to suggest that a new subcategory is added to QOTW for "punchline / fictional entries". That way, those that want to exercise their creative skills (and don't get me wrong, some of the writing is great) can do so in that location.

That way, maybe the signal / noise ratio can get back to where it was. QOTW used to be a must-read for me, I'd have to read every page and I felt guaranteed of a few moments of interest on every page.

Now...that's not the case; the odour of bullshit permeates far too much of it.

For those of you who want to comment that "complaining" about a free site is somehow out of line - well, I am entitled to my opinion. I'm not flouncing, moving out of here, asking for my financial contribution back, or any of that malarkey. Just stating what appears to me to be the case. I don't think I'm alone on this either, which is why many stalwarts of QOTW who were posting regularly seemed to have decamped to Off Topic or disappeared for good.

And Legless, sorry to hijack your original thread.
( I_Was_Mordred, Thu 2 Apr 2009, 7:30, 6 replies)

this ^^
With bells on.
( scoshi pretending to diet since, Thu 2 Apr 2009, 8:14, closed)

No Worries...
And I agree with much of what you say. My tales, contrary to popular belief, were always rooted in truth even if they were sometimes slightly embellished.

These days QOTW looks like an amateur writing club but even so there's still some great stuff written - it's just not all my cup of tea.

Still. I can't complain. I've had a good run on here and all things, even QOTW, change and move on. The new crowd seem to be enjoying themselves and, at the end of the day, that's what this is all about.

I'll still read QOTW and I'll still contribute the odd story but I think the days when I'd have QOTW almost permanently open are done.


Cheers
( Legless Mister Stabby - shanks for the memory, Thu 2 Apr 2009, 8:18, closed)

Crying shame really
Personally I tend to alternate between /talk, offtopic and here. But I find myself reading older stories with increasing frequency. Still, cheers for the giggle and reminding me of your sheep story. I remember crying with laughter the first time I read that.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Thu 2 Apr 2009, 8:45, closed)

I'm personally getting to the point...
Where I read the best-of pages to old QOTW to the point where I've read the best ones multiple times.

End of days?

(and yeah, maybe I personally contributed to the downfall by not posting as much as I could have...but come on? My mum was too lazy to sew my angel costume and thus I just had a sheet with a headhole, and the whole thing blew up over my head on the jungle gym afterwards. But that's not worth posting. I'm pretty ashamed to even include it in this reply as an example in point).
(Angie the Redneck Wonder, Thu 2 Apr 2009, 11:24, closed)

Very well put
and it's something I'd kind of lost sight of. I don't tend to post much in the way of stories anyway, but I still read pretty much every entry, and it is and was good to get a glimpse into other people's lives.

Maybe some kind of "This is made up" button might be good, but only if people would use it...
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 2 Apr 2009, 8:33, closed)

I actually agree with much of this:
and to hammer it home a bit for you - there is a place where people can piut fictional/punchline/off topic entries. It's the Off-Topic board, and it's just a click or two away.

That's what it was put there for, though we seem to have lost sight of that a little bit.
( Devil_In_Tights the *real* DiT!, Thu 2 Apr 2009, 9:31, closed)

^absolutely this^
I thought it was just me, but I find myself reading everything from the regulars with a pinch of salt.
(bobming, Thu 2 Apr 2009, 11:18, closed)

You said everything I wanted to say
only much more eloquently. Nice one.
( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Thu 2 Apr 2009, 11:52, closed)