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> I can understand the frustration.
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> I would be lying if I said it didn't bug me that more people didn't reply, but it didn't bug me enough to stop me from writing a story I liked.
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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."
> Back then it seemed to be more about the fun of writing these stories and the diversity of them, then seeing who gets the most replies or chastising those who aren't replying.
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All of that requires interaction. Without that the board is a mere showcase, and I don't need one of those.
> My frustration lies with the fact that nowadays it seems reading and replying is based on a quid-pro-quid system ("I'll only read and reply to what you've written, once you read and reply to what I've written!"). How much validation do those extra replies represent if they're coerced out of people?
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When people reply to my stories I feel encouraged and I want to write more like it.  So it's not a matter of bullying people into replying or acknowledging my existence.  I use replies as a barometer to see how well I'm doing.  Even if you hate it I'd still like to see a reply - go ahead and tell me you hate it and why.  Believe it or not, even if I complain or pull a story, it does lead to improvements.
Hardly any replies, on the other hand, lead me to believe that a) you don't want to take the time to read it, or b) that you don't like anything written by me.  In either case, that saps away my motivation to write stuff just for the board;  In the case of option (b), it means I'm wasting my time writing and posting at all.  If people don't want to take the time to read my stuff (option a), it means the stuff I'm writing is simply not good enough to compel people to read it - that it's more like a newspaper than a novel, only read when someone's bored enough to stomach it.
I'm hoping none of that's the case but that's the kind of thing I think about when I'm not getting story replies.
