Then what's the problem with me or others expressing it?


Poor responses demotivate me. It's the idea that I'm wasting my time trying to entertain people who either aren't reading what I've written or are reading it but can't be bothered even to acknowledge it.

I can and do write things for my own satisfaction, and things for wider audiences, and things just to get them out of my head. Mostly when I come to the Parodyverse I come for specific reasons, and I write for the Parodyverse.

> The great thing was they read and replied to my stuff without ever expecting anything in return. They didn't make passive-aggressive remarks asking for replies in return.

I think you're remembering through rose-tinted spectacles. Nor do I think you can compare a board's frenetic earliest months with an online community getting on towards a decade old, where both relationships and output have evolved.

And why is expressing concern "passive-agressive"? I'd call it "being honest".

Passive-agressive behaviour is defined as: "Passive, sometimes obstructionist resistance to following authoritative instructions in interpersonal or occupational situations. It can manifest itself as resentment, stubbornness, procrastination, sullenness, or repeated failure to accomplish requested tasks for which one is assumed, often explicitly, to be responsible. It is a defense mechanism and, more often than not, only partly conscious."


Well for me the fun was and is the lengthy banter between posters, the enthusiasm that comes from discussing stories and events (either by a reply thread or in chat), plotting out interesting new stuff by kibbutzing with other writers, and getting surprised by the occasional curve I don;t see coming from someone else's input.

All of that requires interaction. Without that the board is a mere showcase, and I don't need one of those.


With the exception of a couple of two or three month breaks from the board, one due to frustration with the PV and one due to heavy work commitments, I've replied to pretty much every substantive piece of work here since 1999, whether those people have ever read or commented on my work or not - including everything I've ever seen of yours. I see no evidence of a quid-pro-quo system at all. I certainly don't operate one.