EternalAngel At least they're not completely screwing us free readers like webnovel.
Once again, a giant middle finger from Webnovel
I’m not digging the new rewards either. It feels like they are trying to nickel and dime the readers.
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Nizze You are not a contracted author, you have no right to speak on our behalf. Have you received a contract like the rest of us, then? Where does it say in the contract that our main revenue comes from a "Chinese version"?
I - and most of the other contracted authors, if I'm not mistaken - don't care if people want to read our stories for free. But we get mad when entitled readers start talking about how they are going off to read our stories on pirated sites. Look, man, if you don't want to read our stories, that's fine with us. If you can't afford to read our stories, we can sympathize (but we can't do anything about that because we dedicate hours to writing, and we need to put food on the table and pay rent). But don't go promoting pirate sites that literally steal our stories and post them elsewhere without our permission.
And I have read the other posts. It sounds like, "HOW DARE THEY GIVE US LESS FREE STUFF THAN BEFORE?!" As if they were ever obligated to give free stuff to begin with. "Oh, you give us less free stuff? You swapped the free coins/spirit stones for free passes, which I hate? Then I will give you guys the middle finger by going off to pirated sites!"
Imagine if McDonald's started off by giving free burgers. As the consumer base grew, the demands for burgers rose, the operating costs, the required ingredients, staff and manpower necessary to cook/provide them, etc. also increased. It was no longer sustainable to give free burgers. So they start charging people for the burgers while giving free fries instead. Then now the "customers" who have been eating burgers for free all this time fly into a rage and start screaming about how they will go eat burgers from another vendor, who has actually been stealing burgers from McDonald's. That's what is happening here.
Just because someone has been giving you free stuff all this time doesn't mean they are obligated to do so forever. You are not obligated to pay them or buy their products, but that doesn't mean they are obligated to continue providing free goods to you forever.
So I was thinking after reading all the comments and reply on this post it was it was not bad before when we use to have 15 to 20 SS ...and wekly bonus , so it won't be before we get that again....no more then 100 SS free for week , and also the option showing expires of SS ....I am only feeling sad for Loss of free SS .. may be new version will be good
So I was thinking after reading all the comments and reply on this post it was it was not bad before when we use to have 15 to 20 SS ...and wekly bonus , so it won't be before we get that again....no more then 100 SS free for week , and also the option showing expires of SS ....I am only feeling sad for Loss of free SS .. may be new version will be good
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Tomoyuki But we get mad when entitled readers start talking about how they are going off to read our stories on pirated sites.
My mind went back to those old dvd ads by the fbi You Wouldn't Steal a Car when I read to here.
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My serious view. Yeah. I can't afford the prices either in the long run.
I think it's a matter of two scenarios at the end of the day.
Change free-read habits to adapt to the free-to-read changes.
Set a budget and routine for the stories want to keep paying for.
It's also an opportunity to decide the stories really want to keep paying for.
Things can be affordable. Sometimes a system changes that requires a shift of personal habits and priorities, so not to be too out of pocket.
We can't change this system any more than changing solid rock with our bare hands.
We can certainly change how we ourselves want to deal with it. Whether it's to expect see WN middle finger or some other two finger gesture, or not. It's a matter of mindset.
Going back to the 2 x options. I guess the third option is to walk away.
Mindset is up to you.
Whether to adapt or not. Leave or stay. At least it's good to know the option is up to you without further repercussions.
I am glad forums exist to be able to express our opinions.
Draekai if they actually got paid worth a damn I'd agree with you, but they don't. It's cheaper for us to buy an ebook and more rewarding for them to publish one.
Seriously check the contracts here, you're lucky if you manage to make 400 bucks on your novel and get paid that much...
That's modern day slavery and you know it.
If you cannot live off of your work, your work is not worth doing for a living. Either you do it as a hobby or you do it for work. And then still with digital content distribution you can just publish it all in one go at the price you set.
Think about it.
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Tomoyuki actually I stopped going to the McDonald's due to the lack of quality against pricing. The country in which I live in has upscale restaurants that are cheaper than macdonalds here.
Why pay 15 euros for a menu that leaves you half empty when you can pay 4 euros for a meal that leaves you full?
That said I get being pissed, that self entitlement sucks but at the same time, a lot of people just quit without going to said pirated sites.
I read most my fanfics on dedicated sites to that as well as the original novels posted there.
The only reason I read on wn is because the app is convenient.
Then there's the fact that the pricing is just like the macdonalds in my country. Overpriced when there's better alternatives.
For the price of privilege, and unlocking all the chapters, I pay more than I do buying an book or even audiobook.
That comes with its own editor who fixes up most of the grammar and bad timing issues in the story and polishes the whole thing up.
As well as a narrator if I buy the audiobook version.
For that same price on WN, I get a raw script of low quality that milks chapters like iets a diery farm and forgets its plot, payment issues, changes in how my purchased currency is used after I bought it and connectivity issues.
Don't let those high ratings fool you, even I give high ones cause the stories are semi free and written by new authors but if I were to compare some of the best novels I read on here with the ones I purchased in audiobook or hardcover format, then they are atleast a star behind.
You cannot ask the premium price for a completed product when you deliver a draft of a work in progress.
That's on WNs shoulders and they could easily pay you guys the same by giving you fair profit. Judging from the contracts that were leaked. As it is. You shouldn't sign the contract if your after money, you should self publish for that and then share the hack out of it on social media.
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The way webnovel operates has never been one with the user in mind - it's always short-term profit. They never implement a new 'feature' and stick with it; sometimes rolling it back, other times making it worse. They're never held accountable.
I've been here long before they rolled out the ads-unlock-new-chapters thing, and have watched how they jump from one thing to the next in their magical world of business 101... and it's for that reason I'll never put any money in. Can't trust them. Their whole operation is too volatile and inconsistent, leaving me with zero confidence that my money would be well spent. Shame, because it's at the detriment of the content creators and tl'ers.
it's fun to read all comments on the forum. I commented on one topic and was ranted back maybe half a page :P
and also being told off as a free reader. well, it's true that I've been a free reader. why?
bcoz I have been using my free SS to open unlocked chapters of original novels which are of good quality. and so far I have enough SS to do so. once I use up all the remaining SS that I have, I cannot guarantee that I'd continue reading them. bcoz I have seen a lot of originals that's gone premium are deteriorating in quality as well.
why I don't want to use my SS for translated novels? bcoz a lot of the chapters are only fillers. even if I get to read them for free, I'd skip reading those chapters.
well, I am only writing what's on my mind. No hard feelings to anyone, I hope.
Peace and Merry Christmas everyone!!
Hatake_Shirou That is why there are authors who chose not to sign the contract, because they actually read it. How much you make is relative though. If you have a good place, you can earn some pretty penny. But there are loads of contracted novels outside top 200, and they don't get that much attention. Now if you don't have a contract, a solution could be another website (multiplatform). You could do stuff like patreon, where people can FULLY support authors.
With contract, you are confined to webnovel. You can't have patreon, publish on amazon (they do it for you... if your novel is good enough that is) or whatever (even though most people do their own editing, because webnovel is too crowded to provide free editors). And you get 50% of net income. As a freelance (can't find a more appropriate word, edit: Independent that's the one) author, I get 100% of my income. They still have to pay taxes, just like I do. I don't get promoted at webnovel, but I have the freedom to create whatever, whenever and wherever I want. I value that freedom.
Hatake_Shirou If you cannot live off of your work, your work is not worth doing for a living.
That is cruel, but technically true. Whether they are slave contracts? That is relative to who reads it. People sign it after all. I mean, it is up to individual to decide. So yea, I agree that authors usually will be better off pursuing their carriers alone (at least for a while, kind of test the waters). That is until they have really big novel. That way, webnovel can give them the boost, and promote that much more than an individual like me could. Also connections to production companies, those are valuable too.
All of that under the condition your novel really, and I mean really takes of (like top 20-take off). I let others decide with their contract. Just because someone takes it or not, that doesn't mean you should follow suit. Make sure you read properly (or get help from a lawyer), and that you are certain before you sign anything -- is my advice here (I have deja vu again...).
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missyjck I commented on one topic and was ranted back maybe half a page :P
Oof, this shade though... 
If you called my response to your reply to my post a rant, then you probably need to look up the definition of rant again. Coz it wasn't a rant. It was just a counterargument, which is normal when people have a discussion. Besides, weren't you the one that started that discussion when you replied to my post to someone else? Sorry if you thought I was angry, and hence called it a rant. Lol, I wasn't. 
No hard feelings here too. And Merry Christmas to you too.
So since we are doing a fun argument here, let's bring up this piece of forgotten info. So webnovel is originally or still is quidian, let's not forget this. The majority of the translation and majority of the completed books were done by people in college learning English and learning grammatical use of the language. Also done by people who actually enjoy doing such translation. These people were either independent or part of a small group. Those of us who been around have seen the wars that went on and the novels were taken by quidian along with all their work. So now they have these novels (basically stolen from these peop), we have to "pay" for these works when the original people did it for fun or learning. Sure the originals had patreon and people supported them, but was a voluntary action. Unlike now, where majority of the funds go into the company gets the money while the workers gets peanuts. So yes, I'll complain about the actions to free readers due to their treatment towards the work of others with their unfairness. So they can screw off.
Tomoyuki oh, sorry my bad, I meant translators and the non contracted authors. I’m not an author. I have no clue how much they pay you. But yes I can sympathize with how bad you and translators must feel about it. I don’t deny that. Again, that’s why I came to webnovel and why I stayed for almost 2 years.
But honestly, im a consumer, not an employee. If as employees you are being underpaid that’s between you guys. We know nothing about original authors and translators. We don’t know how you’re paid, your ages, if this is a full time job, a second font of revenue or anytime else.
We, as customers know when we are being overcharged.
My view on this is the same as @Hatake_Shirou Here Hatake_Shirou and here Hatake_Shirou.
McDonalds underpays it’s employees and overcharge it’s customers and I also don’t go there. You have your opinion as an employee. I have mine as a user, customer, consumer or what you may call it.
If you need a comparison that much I'd rather compare it with Spotfy. Except it would charge you 5cents per a 3min song or more if it was longer. And only allowed you to listen to the last album of artists if you payed more for it, besides the music price. Also reducing free users experiences to 100 songs per month. Demos of artists not signed under a record would be free. Until they got popular enough to be signed. They would algo chose 3 random artists per day to have their music free for that day.
That’s an approximate comparison. Some people would still use it. But I assure you a lot would jump ship.
Also. You are a contracted author. If you were not you wouldn’t complain. I bet you would even post your work in other places too so more people would read it. But again, you’re already an employee.
You must be really mad there’s people reading your novel for free huh? How about you go complain to Webnovel people? Go on. Let’s see if they will do you justice and get your novel down wherever it’s being published. Then I’ll believe they care about authors.
Also, I made myself clear in many posts on the forum. I will still use webnovel as far as I'm able for it is an official channel. Then I’ll do other things instead of reading it’s novels. Probably some unlicensed ones... some crunchroll, Netflix and other official channels that don’t overprice. The only source I even mentioned on the forum is GravityTales for its fierce fight with Qidian and for being where I got to know about it. I’ll repeat. I won’t condemn those who go pirate as I did in the past. Not out of disregard for authors and translators, but because over the 2 yrs I’ve been here I’ve seen Webnovel’s disregard for users. Yes, I disagree with it’s greed for limiting so much it’s free users. And for that I understand their desire for pirate sites as much as I get you wanting to be paid.
My advice for google was not an incentive but a way to prevent those kind of links to be posted here and the waste of time mailing links for each other.
Webnovel never had a true monopoly over it’s content. And yet many people chose to use it for being an official channel. You should be madder at it for pushing users away than at users for leaving.
Kuroganez can I like it twice? XD
I feel many people don’t even know those things cuz most of the oldies have given up on webnovel already...
there was the mass leave when premium went mainstream, another smaller with the subscription system, one with the privilege and now another massive one...
not only they took them rather forcibly there was also the kicking of independent translators off the platform at the beginning of the year... so many novels dropped and suddenly on hiatus... and not a peep about it from Webnovel.
The few readers that got to know it are the ones who were in contact with those translators on discord. Smh... and the newer users still don’t understand why we don’t believe webnovel is doing it because it cares about translators and authors...
Nizze Friiick! Now I'm scared as heck the English Webnovel will go under and I'll lose the novels I paid for. The original novels are especially sketchy since there's a ton that get dropped or worse, deleted.
I applaud you on your lengthy and well written argument. I couldn't have said it better. Wouldn't say I'm an og user but I've definitely been on this platform since early on and have seen through most of it's drama.
When webnovel started poaching novels from other independent TL groups and sites, they assured us that the novels would remain free to all readers. This barely appeased the angry mobs especially the TLs who had their work was stolen and felt forced to either quit or jump ship. When premium started, they claimed only select novels would have it as an alternative to patreon and chapters would continue to unlock daily. Moments later, all novels went premium, free chapters stopped and readers left in droves. I saw less and less of the fellow readers I used to chat with. At this point, I was already too invested into my select novels and stayed on to support them. Then, subscription came out. Costly as it was going to be, webnovel took it down shortly after because authors and TLs were losing payment... course, had they kept it, income would have been more steady long term. Did they answer our queries? No. They simply ignored us, not even giving any excuses as they'd done before.
Adding in novels that don't go through the what's next system, deleting bad reviews, dropping novels without notice and having no one else to pick up the translations, etc. The list is quite long. They simply don't care for the users, even paying ones and have gradually been getting bolder about it. And honestly, I'm quite tired of getting lied to. Are we sure Webnovel is run by businessmen and not a politician? So many fake promises. No, we're not entitled to have anything for free, but no one likes being treated as a bank either. A little care goes a long way.
As things stand, I'm forcing myself to stay on until the novels I've been paying for have finished. Not excited about taking on new reads and probably won't ever again. Half quiting? Idk... I'm just really tired and it's not a good feeling to have about a product/platform.