CKtalon Not here to argue about what "several" means or the release rate of novels. When I joined, the release rate was more like 14-21/week for the regular releases, and mass releases were 5-10. For at least one novel there was a mass release till the end. Calling 3 chapters a mass release after all that sounds absurd regardless of the explanations. I can understand your reasons, but I still think real mass releases are 5 or higher. Three chapters are just extra releases. I'm sure readers are thankful, however, there are certain expectations that were set by precedents for what mass release means.

      Why no mass release of trial marriage?

        ace_cap Mass releases, although the term 'mass' does seem unsuitable, but is a lot more bonus chapters than the regular release rates. Say a novel gets 2 chapters per day. 3 chapters in a mass release would be added on to the 2, equaling 5. Definitely better than the usual. Plus... it truly seems you don't realize the work going into translating. I bet this is just a side-job for them, and that they don't have much time. 98% of all the novels I read just a few months back weren't on Webnovel (some are here now), and were being updated whenever the translators have time or felt like it. Some took months or years, and some were completely dropped. Although I miss how Webnovel used to be, but this is still relatively new internationally and will definitely be prone to change (albeit a little too much than necessary). But no matter what, I'm thankful whenever a novel I like is added to Webnovel because the translators get more monetary support and update more regularly. The difference is very noticeable

            YulongYuXianTaiyin The bone of contention here is the terminology, not about how difficult their jobs are. Anyway, you guys can keep talking about how difficult it is, still, back to the original point that cktalon took issue with -- 5 chapters or higher are what I consider a real mass release. That's all I'm willing to discuss, not the non-sequitur about how hard it is to release chapters. Scolding me for my opinion won't change my mind.

            Btw, I do know how difficult the job is because I've done it myself. You'd be surprised at how big the stockpile of some translation groups/translators are. The new "privilege" system should clue you in. I'm not gonna go enter any discussion about this, however. Anyone wanting to talk about this can just check out any of the threads about the new system.

                For a new novel, I recommend 'Mad God' (it was originally published by Qidian).

                WEBNOVEL_OFFICIAL Thanks for once again releasing the list of discounted books on this post. When it was just the other page/app link not all your customers could access it. Adding back this communication channel on discounted novels is very useful to at least some of us.

                @GegeSadewa Thanks for filling in during the last hiatus. There was no benefit for you doing so, but you still shared this information anyway. Much appreciated.

                  ace_cap Beautifully said. Honestly since many lone translators dropped out of webnovel and translator groups took charge there has been a drop in release rate of many novels. At first it was the hiatus. Then the “off record” news that the groups would be assuming the work. Then weeks till they restarted posting them and the promise (not kept in many novels) that the rate would be the same as before. Soon the mass releases started to dwindle or be of less popular books (not unpopular, just not as popular as the previous ones). From 10 to 5 to 3. And then the news about this new privilege. Wich. Shows. That for those novels there are up to 50 stockpiled translated chapters. Chapters that weren’t used to augment the release rate nor used on mass releases but that exist and are now available for the hefty price of a “privilege”.
                  We don’t know how things work in the translation groups. We don’t know how much translators earn from the spirit stones we spend on the novels they work with.
                  What we know is that there is a stockpile of chapters that are being now sold for 10 times the usual price we pay instead os being made available for the usual price as have been made till now.
                  Also, can someone please explain why mass releases are being treated as a favor done to readers? Translators and authors used to do them as a “reward” for milestones in the rankings to motivate readers to vote and things like that, but now it seems it’s a gift from the translators and we should be oh so grateful for it? I mean, is not like the chapters in the mass releases are free right? Or are translators not paid for them even tho we spend SS on them?
                  How are translators paid? What is the equation used? Is it a fixed amount per week/month? Does is fluctuate with the price of each chapter like the 1SS each 200 words? Is it by chapters/week in the info page? Do the position in the power ranking affect the amount paid? Do they earn the same amount for every novel no matter how popular or how long the chapter is? How are the inner workings of the groups? Etc...
                  There are many, many things we don’t know. We can only infer and this new privilege makes us infer that the reason we don’t have a faster release rate or mass releases of more chapters or even more popular novels is jost so translators can stockpile and withhold chapters for 1 month just to earn 10 times more out of them.
                  I want to reaffirm that I’m talking generally here. Is not this or that group and is not to pick a fight or offend the translators. Anyone who talks a 2nd language knows no translating is easy to do. But as I said, as pure readers that know nothing about what goes on the other side... this new “privilege system” gave a pretty bad image to us. Sure, webnovel came as trying yet another way to charge more from readers, but this time it directly involves the translators works, so they ended labeled the same and bearing part of the brunt of it.
                  So @CKtalon please do not feel offended and try to understand this side too. It’s not that we think badly of the translators or groups but this system having downsides or not to normal readers did raise a lot of suspicions flags in our heads. u.u
                  The overall lowering of mass release chapters (over the last six months at least) + a privilege system that sells a stockpile of yet to be released chaps fot 10x the normal price is really... a bad combo to say the least.
                  Even if it’s said to be a decision by Webnovel and translators had no say in the matter it still leaves a bitter taste...

                      CKtalon Thanks for your hard work. I appreciate that you attempt to communicate with everyone. Anyways, I think it's best to translate "3 chapters isn't a mass release" into "please halve the frequency of mass release in order to double the number of chapters in each mass release"

                        Nizze It's simple. Translators have to meet a certain speed as imposed by Webnovel. As a translator, I'd rather keep a massive stockpile to ensure I can meet that speed than to release more chapters for readers. I could mass release until all my stockpile is gone, and when I'm sick, I'll have to continue working just to meet the requirement. So why would I be releasing all that when I can keep a buffer and be at ease that I can take breaks?

                        For translator groups, they hire translators and also are required to meet even higher standards of release speeds. Their direct client is Webnovel, who pays them directly (but not necessarily by the SS earned directly), so keeping a stockpile is much more important. Translators and editors can quit at anytime and replacing them might take time. The stockpile is there to ensure that any transitions aren't disrupted. So as a translation group manager, I'll keep hundreds of chapters as a stockpile to ensure that I don't have to suffer pressure from halting releases because of this transition, both from readers AND Webnovel.

                        For instance, how long it takes to have a translator that reaches the standards and is agreeable to doing a particular work might take a few weeks. Then further negotiation with a translator for a book and signing them can take up to a week. And if the book is releasing as we speak, the stockpile is dwindling fast. 50 chapters for a female book runs out in less than 3 weeks. For a male book, less than 4 weeks. The workflow then needs to be set up, and slowly get into the groove of translating a new work. And that is IF a translator can be found. Different translators are suited for different kinds of stories, so you can't just move a translator over from another book either. And translators aren't just twiddling their thumbs sitting there waiting for books to do. If there's a spare translator, they will be assigned something. And even after they start work, they might not necessarily meet the speed requirements while possessing the quality standards as well. Then, perhaps another translator needs to be added, and the whole situation of finding another translator begins again. All this while releases maintain and the stockpile decreases.

                        If you actually check, Atlas Studios has raised quite a number of its female books from 14 to 21 chapters a week. And there are +3 chapters occasionally on TGIFs. Some of its male books are at 14 with occasional mass releases of +3. Some of the books that it has taken over from prior translators are eventually going to have their speeds raised to 14/week.

                        The determination of a mass release depends on how fast the translators/editors are doing, how big the stockpile is. If the translators hit exam period or real life issues and slow down, I'm going to be eating into that stockpile. If they are doing fast and everything is fine, I'll mass release. So it's ultimately still hard work on the translators' part to actually deliver a mass release. They need to go above and beyond what they are expected to do, and that deserves some gratefulness.

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