Thinking way, way ahead to 2016 FKFicFest...

[brightknightie]

Winding down from this year's fkficfest/fkficfest (it's never too late to read! or to comment! please go look!), I've thought a little about the questions for next year's "Shall we play again?" survey.

Next year, 2016, will be the 20th anniversary of the end of FK canon and the beginning of our journey as an out-of-production fandom. If, when the time comes, people do wish to play again, I think it would be especially auspicious to hold a 2016 game, so I'll do my best to make it possible on my side (although of course one never knows). It would be our 7th game.

When the time comes, we'll ask again the questions that we always ask, of course: who wants to play? when? how? I've been musing particularly on two specifics:

• Exchange-style or challenge-style?
• Minimum and maximum word counts?

There's much good to be said for both exchange-style and challenge-style games. The goal of both is to have fun together writing and reading and discussing! In exchanges, more players tend to finish writing stories, but I'm afraid that someone always feels disappointed (sometimes even hurt) by a match. In challenges, more players tend to drop out, but no one ever feels hurt by everyone writing to the beat of a different drum. Our smallness as a fandom at this end of history may emphasize both the advantages and disadvantages of both game styles, in a way that the sheer numbers of a large fandom might mitigate. We can't afford to lose any of our few players in a challenge; we don't have enough players to ensure strong sympathy across matches in an exchange. (Not that even the very biggest player base, with the very best intentions, would be guaranteed to avoid misunderstandings! We can't read each others' minds, obviously.)

We've always had a 1,000-word minimum. ("A picture is worth a thousand words.") It was the most common baseline in fanfiction games when we began. We've never had a maximum word count, except where enforced by technical limitations (e.g. the maximum length of LJ posts, the maximum posts in LJ queues). Should we modify our minimum count? Should we create a maximum count? We want story sizes that fit both writers and readers, to maximize everyone's enjoyment. What are the norms these days out in the large, still-in-production fandoms? How do other games get everyone to finish on time, and encourage players to read and comment on other players' work?

Just some very, very, very early thoughts. :-) What do you think?

Comments

[lastscorpion]

I like the 1000 word minimum. Has there been a problem with stories being too long, in your opinion? If so, put a max on; if not, don't. You're the one doing most of the work, so you get more votes.

Hypocritically, I'll now go on to say that I do prefer challenges to exchanges. LOL!

Did you ever imagine, 20 years ago, that we'd still be writing FK at this point? Am boggled.

[brightknightie]

I've always voted for challenge-style, personally, but until this year, I was just about the only voter who ever did, in all the pre-game polls to date. :-) I worry about the people who wouldn't play at all, or would drop out, if we played challenge-style, but it would resolve other obstacles in the matching process. Just thinking.

As to length, I worry that people who write the longest stories don't get as many comments -- and certainly not as promptly -- as people who write shorter ones. There seems to be a Goldilocks point for readers. Do the writers of the longest stories understand that, or do they feel neglected within the fest? How do readers feel about the longer lengths?

>"Did you ever imagine, 20 years ago, that we'd still be writing FK at this point?"

Back in '98, a person from FKdom whom I'd really thought, mistakenly, was a genuine friend, told me to stop emailing her, because she wasn't interested in talking to me about things outside fandom, and FK was done for her. She said that we would meet again someday when I moved on to new, live fandoms, like she had; that this was the way things were in fandom, and I'd learn.

She and I never have met again.

And I -- and you, and everybody else! -- still have FK and all its unexplored possibilities and unrealized potential, which she gave up. :-)

[greerwatson]

Quite a few exchanges use the 1000 word limit. It's not universal; but it's certainly an accepted norm.

[brightknightie]

Thank you.

Do you happen to know of any exchanges with a maximum word count? I don't, but I'm not all around the fandom map.

[greerwatson]

Ack! You're far more familiar with the "fandom map" that I am! And no: I've never heard of a maximum word count, except for commentfic type things.