--- The Eternal Lost Lurker <lurkerdrome@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

I remember this list two years ago, when I had to filter the posts into
their own folder to keep up. I remember four years ago, when I could

expect

at least a couple of different, often long, chapters posted every day.
Considering that the fandom has grown exponentially in that time, why is
this list fading like it is?

It really is, isn't it? We still get some good, long-running fics posted
here--a couple multicrossovers that seem to be fairly popular, Nowack's
exceptional Naruto fic, Megane's MSTings, Lawson's recent return, and the
like--but the general amount of traffic IS down lately, and it's not because
of the moderation--it's because of McBurger Syndrome.

For those not familiar with the term--although it should be pretty obvious
and self-explanatory--McBurger Syndrome is basically this:

For years, a small mom-and-pop diner is THE popular local hangout. It has
the best hamburgers in town, a friendly atmosphere, a jukebox, damn good
malts, everything.

Then, a McDonald's puts into the neighborhood.

Suddenly, within a couple years, the only people eating at the diner anymore
are the old-timers who eat breakfast and lunch there, or who hang out there
all day not actually doing much business, talking with the owners and each
other about the way things used to be. Sure, you get the occasional random
new customer--business isn't so bad as to warrant actually shutting the
place down--but the cash register's looking mighty lean and the owners find
they're ordering half as many supplies per month as they used to, simply to
avoid having so much to throw away.

The FFML (and to an extent, rec.arts.anime.creative) are the "Pop's Diner"
of the fanfiction world. Fanfiction.net is the McDonald's. Today's fanfic
authors want instant gratification and aren't especially interested in
getting honest, helpful reviews of the stuff they write--which is why they
flock to FF.net, where the most godawful piece of crap ever written can get
at least a dozen "lol luv ur fic rite mor plz" reviews within a day.

Perhaps a few reviews/reccomendations/pannings of our friends at FF.net would
be proper on topic babble here.

HTG (delurking for the forum's sake)

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