User talk:Spider

From Create Your Own Story

Revision as of 20:10, 9 March 2017

Well, I am not Platypus, and I guess you will need to wait for him to respond, but I have noticed your message to him and thought about adding in my two cents.

One thing to remember is that sadly, most of the content on this site deals with rather taboo issues. Finding other hosting may be more difficult than you think. It would probably be hard to get revenue from it, since most ad companies would refuse to touch a site that has bestiality, incest, rape, murder, degradation, etc, so the host would probably need to pay for the entire site out of their own pocket. The ad companies that may be willing to accept would probably be the ones that would drive most users away, or result in the site becoming almost completely adult, with the very little that is actually in the Family Friendly, PG-13, etc, no longer being family friendly, PG-13, etc, because of the ads.

I agree that this site can be frustrating to use. I have dealt with the link limit issues constantly, have had to figure out how to make my own templates because I wanted something that looked nicer, but this wiki version does not allow proper html or scripting or whatever. In fact, I have probably learned a few things because of having to diy some of my own better looking features. I also agree that, since it is pretty much impossible to reach the actual site owner, it leaves many of us frustrated.

But, even with all that, I still think it would be hard to find a site that would support the kinds of things on this site.

Anyways, just my thoughts. --Dirty Me 02:40, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

I can actually run the website on a VPS myself and handle the server administration issues - there are several VPS providers who accept any and all content, provided it's not illegal. I'd say the hosting issue is largely solved by operating a separate server instead of trying to use a third-party hosting service. CYOS is part of EditThis, which is actually a MediaWiki farm that hosts thousands of other websites, of which CYOS just happens to be the largest one. The funding issue is valid and you're right in saying no ad network would touch a website which features bestiality and other taboo topics. I think user donations could be sustainable. By optimizing MediaWiki and the underlying servers, I can probably push operating costs down to around $150 a year. That's compared to the $100 EditThis spends every month (see sidebar). A separate CYOS would likely be around 12.5% the operating costs of the current one.

A lot of the issues can be solved by simply updating MediaWiki and customizing it by installing and coding extensions. CYOS is currently running a nearly 8 year old version of MediaWiki.

The one area of concern would be the taboo adult content. Sex and other adult content that's not taboo is obviously fine. Even stories featuring bestiality, incest, rape, murder, and other abuse is fine and won't cause issues on most hosting providers. It's the content featuring the sexualization of minors that's concerning. Sexualizing minors is one thing just about every hosting provider prohibits. It draws unwanted attention and can be used against the website and its users. Even though it's largely legal, is it really worth the extra hassle and potential trouble? I guess whether or not to allow content featuring underage individuals needs to be discussed first and ground rules laid out before even considering a move.

In the end, I don't think CYOS can really grow as is - there are simply too many limitations in place on EditThis. There is lots of potential to create an amazing choose your own story website, where people are free to write stories and collaborate, but that's not really possible without moving. Spider 06:35, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

lol, you could have left that on my page. As for the underage sex, well, see the notice on like every adult index page. That was also banned here. In fact, I have been trying to help platypus out and delete some that I have been finding today. Eh, not sure what I think about moving sites. I enjoy writing, and honestly, find this site frustrating, but also not sure if I would want to try to move all of my work to another site. And, for creation, I tend to be rather flaky at times, so I end up with lots of things pending. Well, who knows, let me know if you start one, and I will think about what I want to do (Me personally, as honestly, this site still will not disappear, so I guess it will depend if you can get the authors here to move. Only really three around that I care about, so not like it bothers me too much.)

Of course, a couple things I would really like to ask. As you mentioned, sex and minors becomes an issue. What about when you are writing realism? For example, Dirty Me is mostly based on my life (The core, although I admit, I went too far I think beyond myself trying to get readers to want to read my writing, and, well, the average caliber of reader on this site is...), and mostly about when I was under 18. The part about when Dirty Me lost her virginity was really me, when I was 14. What happens when authors write about that type of issue? Also, I was raped when I was 15. What if I wrote about that? Because it involves more than just rape, like the fallout in school after it, etc? This is a point I have always hated with the law, that people try to push it as anyone under 18 having sex is a crime and bad and etc, not that it is reality and tries to address it based on that. Laws used to persecute the stereotypical "40 year old man befriending a 12 year old girl as a fake 12 year old boy then meet up with her, kidnap her, and do unspeakable things to her" instead are used for 18 year old guys that have pics of themselves they took when they were 16 to prosecute them as child predators, and also listing them as the victim... I want to know how you do address the grey areas. Not because I want to write those kind of stories, but in case I want to write about things that are real, really happened, and address actual issues in my stories (You could also read my rants to see that I make fun of those, because personally, I don't like them. Then again, I would rather someone fulfill his creepy fantasies through writing than actually doing it in real life...) --Dirty Me 07:07, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

Moving is an intriguing idea, and I certainly agree that Editthis has far too many limitations, but while I do manage the site on a day-to-day basis, RobKohr is the admin, not me. It's his site, and any sysop powers I have, I have because he granted them to me. He's really the one you would have to get in touch with about moving. --Platypus 12:18, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

A number of users have moved themselves and their stories to another site, as noted on the adult stories disclaimer, after RobKohr rather abruptly slapped us with a ban on underage sex and put up restrictions that prevent a lot of the corrections that this ban requires. Parts of Smutty Sex Romp exist on other sites, thanks to plagiarizers copying from me.--Platypus 16:41, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

I will have to give it some serious consideration. I've been on this site for 10+ years already, and I've posted thousands of pages of story. --Platypus 20:10, 9 March 2017 (UTC)