In a further attempt to understand and improve the Eunuch Archive, we have a question for both authors and readers of the FICTION Archive. In your answer, please indicate whether you are an author of any stories or if you only read the stories.

How is the Fiction Archive useful to you?

I joined the archive over thirteen years ago.

I have written many stories under a few names like: ( Dens7, Wayne7, and Littledick) there may be a few more as I have lost count.

I also read lots of the Gay type stories but do read some of the others.

I also read some of the forums but used to go through more forums than I do now.

Suffering from Depression and dyslexia I haven't posted any new stories for some time now but visit both the forums and Fiction Archives usually daily.

I think the moderators do a fantastic job and thank them for the time and effort they put into the community.

Read 135 times, including by 44 registered members of the Eunuch Archive and this is all the suggestions that we have for the Fiction Archive to discuss at the MoM? As we look at ways to improve the Archive, it would help to know its utility for members. How is it being used? What's it good for?

JesusA (imported) wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2014 6:10 am Read 135 times, including by 44 registered members of the Eunuch Archive and this is all the suggestions that we have for the Fiction Archive to discuss at the MoM? As we look at ways to improve the Archive, it would help to know its utility for members. How is it being used? What's it good for?

I started reading the fiction first, which initially piqued my interest in castration. I eventually became a member so I could contribute several of my own stories. As I became seriously interested in becoming a eunuch, I began gravitating toward the issues and discussions sections. After I was castrated, I no longer had any interest in reading the fiction anymore.

I think it would be way too complicated to set up a search by a "key word" but it would be nice if we could. That's my comment. NC

I don't think we have many left that use the Archive. It's had so few new stories lately that we seem to have lost most of those interested in it. I almost never see any posts from those that used to post about the Archive all the time.

Here's an idea:

Add a board to the story section of vBulletin. Make it a moderated board, but allow PDF attachments to it, which would only be seen by regular members after it has passed inspection by a moderator. It wouldn't be integrated into the regular Archive, but it would allow people to post new stories without overwhelming one story moderator. Any moderator of the site could release them. This could be easily done without anyone having to write new software. Possibly, we could have separate boards for straight, gay, minor, and other category stories.

Although those left here possibly don't care one way or the other about the Archive, I think a vibrant Archive is vital to the this site. I just came back, after being away all day and found two posts. In days past, I might have found twenty or more.

Remember that all things rise and fall and then rise again - fashion for one and I suspect the fictional stories for another.

I will say that only two years ago, my short stories really sold fast but now they getting them published is very slow.

I've only ventured in there once before, but I had to view each letter individually, view the HTML source, and search that locally to find what I was looking for.

I have suspicions my interests and the fiction archive don't overlap all that much, but I haven't proved it yet.

I have a few stories and I would like to post them, but as I see it's not easy and I have to wait for months to see them in the Archive. If it would just like post a new topic to a forum I would do it.

In other hands the current Archive is not transparent. There are only a few ways to categorize the stories. It's like a poor car shop: I can select the color and the car type (city, off-road, cabriolet), but I can't select the other attributes (radio, seats, GPS, fuel type...etc.) so I have to check every car in the shop to find what I want... a red, city car with gps, radio, two seats and electric-powered.

I agree with Slammr, a forum-like Archive would be much usable and inspiriting for contributors. I would prefer not attaching the stories but posting straight to the comment. It could make easier to correct the discovered mistakes after the publishing. Not to mention that it would be easier to search with the integrated search function or the browser "find on page" function.

I know every change is hard but changes are the essence of the progress and the way of survive.

Yeah, I'm going to agree, that's the main issue that I think is going on, is that it's become a bit of a hassle to both post new stories as well as read them.

I know Cainanite is busy, I know someone would have to code a new script, I know you're doing the best you can, I know why there's a password protect now, and believe me, this isn't bashing you guys. I know why things are the way they are

All I'm saying is that the average internet layperson is lazy, and they don't like delayed gratification, and they don't want to go through any hassle. They just want to come into the archive and say "hey, stories! Maybe I'll check it out!" And keep checking them out on impulse. When then see that they have to register for an account, most of those impulse-readers decide "nah, never mind," and leave. Same thing with potential new story authors. They read stories and say "hey, I could write a story too!" And they go looking for a submission form, only to find that rather than a submission script, they have to e-mail it to someone and wait a long time for it to be approved, and so they decide "nah, never mind."

Again, I understand why these things need to happen. But at the same time, what they're basically doing is filtering out all of the casual users who decide they'll try it "just for fun," because when they run into any hassle, they're quick to change their minds and decide to not bother because of the waiting and the mental "what if"s involved. When they run into obstacles, they're more likely to talk themselves out of it. So the casual readers, the thing that makes a site huge rather than a niche intrest of devout readers and authors, get filtered out, and we're only left with the people who are serious enough about it to put forth the effort.

And I think I've said this before, but to me the archive is a HUGE deal. It was the very thing that finally let me express myself. Because the archive was so easy to access, a shy person like me was able to come in and read stories. Because I kept coming back to read stories, I started getting interested in posting my own. Because I decided to post my own, I started posting on the message boards. And because I started posting on the message boards, I stumbled on to topics about HRT and chem-castration trials for the first time. And because of that, I was able to finally discover myself and transition.

I think you'd be surprised, this is how a LOT of people express themselves before actually getting serious about it. They'll write about it in the privacy of their own rooms, imagining what it would be like, indulging the fantasy but being too ashamed to talk to anyone about it in real life. Then they stumble on to the archive and say "oh, wow, other people just like me writing stories!" And that is the way that they can slowly discover who they are.

Remember when I first joined the forums and I was all "The odds of me actually following through with it are slim to none, but I enjoy the fantasy?" Yup... thanks, fiction archive for helping me realize that I did deeply want it.

So PLEASE, whatever you do, please know that the fiction archive is an absolutely invaluable resource, a place to give voices to those who would never speak about it anywhere else. And frankly, I feel like joining a forum is a WAY bigger step than reading/posting stories. To me, posting stories just meant that I was interested in it, I could just be a completely "normal" guy posting, it didn't mean anything, where actually coming in to a message board and talking with people was a WAY bigger step, because that meant that I was actually joining a group with those who had done it, and I wasn't ready for that at first.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Again, I know why we need the password protect and the forum posting rule, and I know we don't have a story-submission script, but at the same time, it would GREATLY help pick the volume and the interest back up if the archive became less restrictive again, and more open to casual readers and casual authors who just read on a whim and post on a whim and don't really want to commit to being involved long-term yet.

And I'll admit, I have been thinking about getting back into writing stories myself, but the wait times involved are deterring me too. (And it's not a personal thing. Again, I know Cainanite is busy. He can't change that, and it's nothing personal against him. Please, please, don't take it that way. This isn't a personal attack on anyone saying "you need to work harder." All I'm saying is that it would benefit the archive if we could find some way to make the story-submission process faster and easier. It's harder to get up the gusto for writing when I know there's no guarantee on when it will be posted. Delayed gratification just isn't as much of an impetus.)