The Future of the Carry-over Effect (Patreon)

Happy hump day, all. 

This is a numbers only poll about the future of the carry over effect.  This means that everyone gets just one vote, and unlike the weighted polls which I routinely use, what you see is what the poll is.

Anyway, I have noticed this year that the carry-over effect is having… well the effect I want it to.  It lets stories that have gone a long time between updates get some love.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.  In the Ranma poll, which only has three choices, it seems to just keep the winner rotating.  But I know that occasionally the carry-over effect (1/2 of the votes the story that has gone the longest time without updates from last month carried over into the new poll) bothers some people.  I am also a bit thrown off by how much it has mattered in the Ranma poll. I mean, I know Stallion is my most popular Ranma fic, but it lost once recently because of the carry-over effect.

Occasionally it has even thrown things off in the patron only poll.  It feels as if it is a bit too much sometimes, and at other times, too little.  Bhaalson Remodel for example, and even Heroes of the High Seas, need even more help than the carry-over effect can give. Magic of the Force  also doesn’t do so well when paired against Fate and FILFy.  Even combined with my own votes it isn’t enough at times. Yet at the same time, it occasionally throws up shockers, as it did in this month’s poll.  Now, I’m not complaining about that, but I know it sometimes irritates some of you. So here is a numbers only poll to let you all tell me what you think about it. 

1.      I don’t like it at all.  Just let the rotation keep stories updating regularly and let the more popular stories keep on going!

This would mean removing the carry over effect entirely.  I don’t like the idea, but it might let me push FILFy at least even faster to it’s conclusion, so it’s got something going for it.  My Magic, Bhaalson and Climbing fans though might disagree.

2.      I like seeing less popular stories getting some love, so the carry over effect works for me!

Everything stays the same.

3.      Get rid of it in the Ranma only poll.  Three stories and removing a poll winner the next month will keep your Ranma fics rotating through on its own.

This year, of the three Ranma polls, the carry-over effect propelled the winner to victory twice, and made a victory become overwhelming once.  So in that manner, it seems to be working, but it has also thrown off the results at least one, back in January when Stallion was beaten out because of the carry-over effect and a few of my larger patrons liking to shift their votes. I will be interested to see if people have enjoyed seeing it used here.

4.      Just give yourself more votes! That way you can work on what you want one poll out of three every month. 

Here again it feels like if I give myself more than the 400 votes I have already I would be stealing the poll away from the voters. Something I want to avoid. Yet I also want to update all the stories I am currently working on…

Seriously, folks.  Just one little clone… just one.  It would make things so much easier.

5.      Maybe remove some of the less popular stories? If they aren’t popular enough to win on their own…

Self-explanatory.  Magic has very rarely won against Fate, let alone FILFy.  Climbing Together is popular, but takes time and votes from Making Waves, which means the more votes allow HP to carry the day one way or another. Heroes and Bhaalson needed my votes and the carry over effect and a patron raising his donation to win.  If I remove a few of these, we streamline the whole process. But in so doing we leave fics behind that I enjoy writing a lot, and I would infuriate the fans of those specific fics. 

I will be very interested in seeing everyone’s opinion here.  Mind you, I am making no promises on following anyone suggestion, but I will certainly read any opinions offered.  It seems to me the carry-over effect is the best solution on so far, but I might need some tweaking, and maybe you all have better ideas that will still me, only one man folks, update all the stories so everyone is, if not satisfied, then at least understanding.