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.

                        CKtalon Thanks for explaining a bit of the inner workings. Knowing those things and having more contact helps us to be more sympathetic with the translators.
                        Leaving an detailed note in a novel when something like that happens would be nice too. At least on the severe cases you pointed. Saying what happened to the translator (if possible) and till when the stockpile will last before there’s a hiatus and things like that. Every now and then we see a new post on the forum abou no updates or translators going mia, and that’s why I’m saying this about notes and all.
                        Is not like we are not grateful for mass releases and is not like we would stop reading a novel because we didn’t get it even after asking for it. And you made clear how the translators go an extra mile to have a stockpile of chapters for an emergency and how being in a group pressure you guys. We got it. Thanks again for clarifying things.
                        But this privilege system is really not helping with the translators and groups image. You just told us hor hard os to stockpile chapters and how important they are whenever there’s trouble and all and that don’t sit well with this system. It gave the impression of: look, is really hard to stockpile chapters and we need to keep them from being published in case of emergencies... but you can read them, of you are able to pay 10x what they would be charged for.
                        I’m not saying I don’t get why do this or blaming translators and groups for this system nor trying to boycott it. I’m not even complaining about it anymore. As someone said before, no one is forcing anyone to buy it. So let the whales spend on it. Only pointing why those complaints came to be, why it was associated with the mass releases amd why translators amd groups got the brunt of them. That in a reader’s pov.
                        As long as the release rates and mass releases on TGIFs are not affected I’ll have no complaint. Actually, nevermind the mass releases... I’m not getting lucky with them lately anyway... xD
                        Again, sorry if any of this made you feel offended, it was not the intention and is all misunderstandings and lack of knowledge of the inner workings that readers have. Thanks fot the hard work that we know you guys put in.

                            Nizze No, we don't even want a break in releases to happen. Sometimes we don't know that the book has stopped posting because we are managing dozens of books. Atlas Studios manages about 90 books. And if we do, we try to inform, but that depends on group and individual.

                            If you notice, the books that get MIA-ed are the usually ones with individual translators, which is why Webnovel decided to move to a translator group system. Because there's now just one person to go to (the TL group manager) instead of finding that one translator who doesn't reply to any messages. Now, the burden goes on the TL group manager. If a TL goes MIA, it's the TL group manager's responsibility to replace. There's a lot of replacement behind the scenes and that's also why the stockpile is very important to us. I don't even feel safe letting a book with a 90 chapter stockpile enter Privilege, because that just cuts it close.

                            Therefore, releasing the stockpile for Privilege is actually making it harder for us to keep up our side of the bargain. In what we used to have maybe 1-2 months of leeway to do any replacements, we are now X chapters shorter, so everything needs to be done much faster. And since there's more pressure, the price will be a lot higher. Otherwise, it's just a normal mass release and nothing special.

                            Actually towards the book's end, when we are sure that the translators can finish the book safely, mass releases tend to happen more and in more generous ways. That's when the pressure is off.

                                WEBNOVEL_OFFICIAL What does a girl gotta do to get a response please? I have a novel I love so deeply yet has not been updated for almost 2mth. The beautiful time with you.
                                Can you tell us the situation? We need a feedback system that doesn’t get lost in the forum

                                  WEBNOVEL_OFFICIAL What does a girl gotta do to get a response please? I have a novel I love so deeply yet has not been updated for almost 2mth. The beautiful time with you.
                                  Can you tell us the situation? We need a feedback system that doesn’t get lost in the forum

                                      CKtalon I do get you guys are a responsible group and are doing your best. But Atlas Studios as you said is in charge of 90 novels. And other groups/lone translators may or may not follow your example. In a nutshell: my concern is that some people will be overcome by greed with the possibility of charging 10x more and neglect current rate release. You can assure this won’t happen in the group you are responsible for, but not for the others. And now I also feel bad for you guys being dragged to the greedy label even if you guys have nothing to do with it and is bad for you guys to (since ir buils even more pressure).
                                      Overall I think very few will be up to buying it and it will end up dropped as the membership was.

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