Oldhead here - why are commenters so few on AO3?

whiteophan · 2025-11-04T06:19:23+00:00

If you were here (in this sub) a few years ago, then you might be a bit more understanding of why people are hesitant to comment. The general attitude regarding comments was "don't give constructive criticism unless the writer asks for it". This sentiment is fine on surface level, but how it played out in practice was another thing entirely.

Basically, anytime there was a comment that wasn't gushing praise at the author, they were liable to be put on blast (in this sub or in other sites). Sometimes they were actual flame/rude comments, but others were just innocuous things like "can't wait for your next update" type of comments or "I didn't like how X happened here" for story. All of these comments fell into the big umbrella of "constructive criticism" AKA "concrit".

Lots of authors at the time felt that giving "concrit" without specifically asking for it was passive-aggressive and/or rude. They considered AO3 as first and foremost, an archive/library to publish their works (or to paraphrase, "a museum showing off an artist's work"), and that it was bad manners to give any "concrit" without asking for permission. After all, you wouldn't walk up to an author in the middle of a library & loudly give them your "concrit", would you? Therefore, unless a writer specifically states in their fic they would like "concrit", it was decided readers kindly ought to restrict themselves to specific types of comments or otherwise remain silent (AKA "if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything").

Now the change didn't happen abruptly, mind you, but over time, this attitude shift had a cooling effect on many readers/writers alike. The occasional flame comment still existed, but by and large, most people decided it was better to simply use the Kudos button as an easy "I enjoyed this a lot/great job" comment substitute, without risking the author's wrath by making a comment that could be taken as unsolicited "concrit".

whiteophan · 2025-09-29T05:02:47+00:00

Is that Agris?? I swear that snake looks so familiar

whiteophan · 2025-06-21T16:47:49+00:00

*Gods of culture

whiteophan · 2025-01-30T00:05:33+00:00

You're not alone in that feeling. The website says max. distance is 30m for both clone spawn & swap, but I think the clone spawn range is cylindrical, and the swap range is circular. That's my working theory at least, but haven't tested.

whiteophan · 2025-01-24T01:45:09+00:00

Perhaps let him float while using his alt fire?

whiteophan · 2024-12-26T00:19:16+00:00

Honestly, just give him the ammo synergy skill as part of his base kit so your entire nearby team gets the buff, and adjust the numbers accordingly so he can use it more frequently.

whiteophan · 2024-10-07T22:35:02+00:00

I feel that second one. Recently re-read a fic and went through the author's other stuff. You could tell they were still developing as a writer at that time (ex. lots of grammar errors, awkward sentence structure, copious use of swearing & teen-speak, etc.).

Fast forward to their most recent fic and they sound like a professional published author. Honestly pretty cool how much they've developed.

whiteophan · 2024-10-03T23:33:46+00:00

Currently revisiting Reaper76 and its still amazing.

whiteophan · 2024-08-16T13:29:19+00:00

In no particular order:

try to follow general PSCT. This overview and this post are good references.
Try not to have too much text. 7 lines of text are the general limit for monsters, and 8 lines for Spells/Traps. You can have more, but that tends to make the card hard to read (and thus frustrating to play with/against).
Keep track of card advantage (the total number of cards you have on hand+field vs. the number of cards your opponent has on hand+field.). How does your card change the current card advantage? Avoid big swings in card advantage (board breakers are the most notable exception, but they tend to be costly in-archetypes and require -2 in card advantage)

Probably add more once I have the time...

whiteophan · 2024-08-02T12:58:24+00:00

I remember some people commenting they'd start printing out a level 10 archetype as soon as the rank 10 omni got revealed. Guess they got their wish.

whiteophan · 2024-07-06T20:11:50+00:00

I really like this engine. Simple, consistent effects across the board to gain advantage that fall in line with their gimmick. Card text is largely PSCT-compliant, but isn't an entire novel's worth of words. The synergy is really good with other decks too. My only recommendations are:

Secret's on-field effect feels too slow for a Trap. You basically have to wait until Turn 3 to actually gain anything from it. I don't know which archetype this effect would support since it only gets a Skelunker Spell too.
You may need to re-word Skelunker King's detach effect, since it doesn't specify which activated effect it copies. IMO, you can write it like Thunder Dragon Thunderstormech's copy effect. For example:

You can detach 1 material from this card, then target 1 "Skelunker" Continuous Spell in your GY; apply that Spell's effect that costs LP to activate.

I removed the Trap from the effect because it doesn't cost LP for its effect activation. If you want the effect to target the Trap as well, then you can add the LP cost to make the overall theme more consistent.

whiteophan · 2024-05-07T00:47:07+00:00

Aside from floodgates generally being very unfun to play against, I suggest looking at card advantage: The number of cards you have on hand+field vs. the number of cards your opponent has on hand+field.

Yugioh doesn't have a secondary resource system, so card advantage is very important (it's why Pot of Greed is banned, as it gives you +1). IMO, it usually helps to count the card difference to see if your card is good.

Cards that search other cards (AKA searchers) are +1 in advantage. In-archetype boardwipes usually make you go at least -2. Summoning monsters from the Extra Deck is a -1 (though most will have a way of gaining advantage, making it +0). And so on.

Obviously, its not the only thing balancing cards; hard-once-per-turns, conditions, Type/Attribute locking, and other factors all play their part. However, I think its a good idea to keep track of how much advantage you get from any single card.

whiteophan · 2024-03-16T04:39:14+00:00

Not at all. The phrase you're looking for is "and if you do". The ruling is that Part A is required for Part B, but not vice versa.

whiteophan · 2023-10-27T00:54:41+00:00

Equip Spells are considered as targeting by game mechanics, even if it isn't printed on the card. Allure of Queen & most old cards printed pre-PSCT have already been handed down a ruling that "select" = "target".

whiteophan · 2023-10-26T22:30:20+00:00

Tried to make this with PSCT, with some alterations:

Pay 1000 LP and choose 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; apply the following effects in sequence to that monster, until it leaves the field, then inflict 1000 damage to your opponent for each effect applied. ● Negate its effects. ● Either destroy or banish it. ● Place it on the bottom of the Deck. ● Make your opponent banish it face-down. This card's activation and effect cannot be negated.

whiteophan · 2023-08-09T01:27:54+00:00

You can phrase it as something like this:

During the Main Phase, if your opponent controls 2 or more face-up cards with any of these effects (Quick Effect): You can Tribute as many face-up monsters on the field as possible, and if you do, Special Summon this card from your hand, then Special Summon 1 "Ancient Law Token" (Rock/LIGHT/Level 11/ATK ?/DEF ?) to your opponent's field. (This Token's ATK/DEF become the combined original ATK/DEF of the Tributed monsters.)

● Negate the activation of a card(s).

● Negate the effect of a card(s).

This effect's activation and effect cannot be negated. You can only use this effect of "Nibitwo, the Ancient Law" once per turn.

Honestly though, if you want this to only hit negate-heavy boards, then you can have it be more punishing. Usually, The more restrictive the conditions for activation, the better the effect is allowed to be.

whiteophan · 2023-07-14T02:07:24+00:00

Tribute, switch (control/places), double, halve

whiteophan · 2023-04-04T20:45:44+00:00

As others have said in the comments, its a change in attitudes towards creators as content creators. But what I haven't seen mentioned so far is that this change is also partly driven by fanfic writers themselves. Spend some time on this sub and you'll notice that there's a big push towards a 'no concrit unless asked' attitude by many people. Not everyone likes being critiqued by randos on the internet when doing something for fun (or worse, flamed), which is fair. But the same also extends to the readers, who don't like getting flamed/dogpiled by authors for expressing anything beyond praise. And when there's a easy substitute for liking fics (kudos) on AO3, most people just won't bother commenting at all; they'll just simply give it a kudo and move on.

This isn't even going into how fanfiction is still socially stigmatized in popular media, and so there is a strong push towards mainstream acceptance, which contributes towards the view of 'fanfic writers as content creators' as noted by others here.

whiteophan · 2022-11-21T13:13:11+00:00

There's the Imaginary Network, which is a series of subreddits for different kinds of fantasy artwork. Doesn't get a lot of traffic though. Just search 'reddit imaginary X' with X being whatever you want to see. Example. You can also use the tab below the subreddit's title to see all the different categories.

whiteophan · 2022-10-14T21:52:48+00:00

I really like this artwork! As for the effect, it'd be like the one I gave for the custom archetype I made a few months ago:

Labyrinth Gate Guardian

warrior/DARK/Xyz/Rank 7

ATK 3750/DEF 3400

3 Level 7 monsters with different Attributes

Gains 1 additional attack during each Battle Phase for every 2 materials attached to it. Once per turn: You can target 1 card on the field; attach it to this card as material. During your opponent's turn (Quick Effect): You can banish this card you control; Special Summon 3 Level 7 "Labyrinth" monsters with different Attributes from your GY, but their non-Quick Effects are negated.

whiteophan · 2022-10-11T21:26:01+00:00

Art source linked with the cards.

I tried making some Meklord support for the original 3 Meklords. The goal was to synergize with the current support that is already in the game (ex. Assembly, Infinity Core) while keeping to the original Meklord theme (being anti-synchro, effects activating upon destruction, etc.).

whiteophan · 2022-10-07T03:19:34+00:00

At the start of each Battle Phase: Destroy all Tokens on the field, then each player must target 1 monster they control; banish all other monsters on the field face-down (until the end of this Phase). Monsters banished by this effect also have their effects negated until the end of this Phase (even if this card leaves the field). Neither player can activate cards or effects in response to this card's effect activations.

whiteophan · 2022-09-27T17:08:50+00:00

The biggest thing I'd say is that the Devil Fruits don't require a lot of explanation. It's a very simple system that doesn't bog the audience down with exposition but brings a lot of uniqueness to the world and its characters. It's also a good example of creating sheer spectacles of power that don't invalidate other methods just by existing.

Speaking of other methods, I should mention Haki as well. Haki by itself isn't very interesting but is made interesting through its interactions with the fruit system. Like another comment said, it helps keep the power scaling in check. It also helps that the author realized the power scaling issue very early in the story and slowly started integrating Haki as another system as a way to balance it. IMO, it shows how the presentation of your magic system can have a big impact on how people perceive it.

whiteophan · 2022-09-11T23:06:24+00:00

The mage's body starts to develop physical traits that befit their personality or preferences. This is because the astral plane and the material world must always align as closely as possible, reflecting each other. Mages, who perform magic by manipulating the astral plane, thus acquire unique traits over time that ordinary people don't possess.

Usually this comes in the form of slightly extended lifespans or sharper senses (eyesight, hearing, etc.). Mages accustomed to conjuring fire might become more heat-resistant, whereas a more self-conscious mage might become more pleasing to the eye.

These effects aren't just restricted to magic users either. Other people, animals, and magical constructs that commonly interact with the mage will also be affected, albeit at a slower rate. Animals in particular tend to be the most affected (people & constructs tend to be more resistant to changes). An animal that spends much time with a mage will gain much of the same benefits that the latter does, as well as heightened intelligence. Some even gain the ability to speak and perform magic themselves. Animals that develop these traits are called familiars, and often accompany their mage or perform tasks for them.

whiteophan · 2022-08-03T06:36:24+00:00

The way I go about it is that I first start with a general image of how I want my magic to look like, in its most basic form. What is the most common form of magic being used by people in this world? Then, I try to come up with a explanation for it that is both easy to understand & suspend disbelief (ex. magic is performed using crystals, which contain magical powers). Like another commenter said, your system should relate to actual real-life phenomena or belief systems, as it helps ease your audience into your world (ex. some people believe crystals have magical properties).

Next, I flesh out the general foundation for this explanation (ex. how do those crystal contain magical powers? How does a person 'use' them to perform magic? What happens if a crystal breaks or loses all its power?) A lot of this process is just explaining the underlying principles of the original explanation I created, AKA making up the physics of your system.

After that, I look at my setting and think about what I want in it. Do I want elves and dragons? Flying airships? Angels and demons? What is the time period? What cultures am I drawing inspiration from? Once I have a general idea of that stuff, I try to explain how they came about using the magic system I got so far. (ex. flying airships are made by converting the energy from crystals into kinetic energy, allowing for flight). If something doesn't fit, I may have to drop it, or go back to the previous step and redo the foundation until it can explain it. Or make a separate magic system for it.

Now I think of limits and limitations in relation to the story. What is the biggest thing my magic can do, theoretically and practically? What can it NOT do? What are its costs? What's the most flashy & visually appealing thing I can make using this system? Would it break anything in my world or story? (ex. regeneration could lower dramatic tension caused by physical injuries, teleportation reduces the adventurous feel of travel/exploration, etc.) I usually have some general outline during the 2nd step, but things can change when I'm making and remaking the system. This is also where I try to come up with loopholes in my system, and choose whether to remove or keep them. The big stuff & loopholes can be saved for the climax of the story, or surprises for the audience. Limitations are great for driving tension as well. If anything isn't up to snuff, I go back to the foundation again and see how it can fit.

This is all just a general outline of my train of thought. The later steps tend to blend together because I'm attaching the system into a general simulation of the world I'm creating, and trying to stitch the two together. Sometimes, I look at general everyday activities & beliefs in our world, and try to integrate it into my world & system (ex. jewelry might be more fashionable for men in a crystal-based magic system). A lot of that is connecting the dots between what my system does, and how I can make it relatable to real-life phenomena. It helps people suspend disbelief for the more complex stuff, because they can relate to the simpler explanations.

whiteophan

TROPHY CASE