Hi Guys!
I haven’t really seen any threads that exclusively discuss this topic so I hope the moderators don’t delete it.
I have seen the new survey that Jesse put out but It has very limited questions and only room for One thing we should change about Episode.
I’d like to know everyone’s honest Opinions not just about the App but about the community as I feel like our concerns are sometimes brushed over.
I decided to make a list on what Episode should focus on.
Test the updates more before releasing them as the new skin colours and speech bubbles have plenty of flaws.
Stop featuring stories that are super cliché as it honestly stops me from reading them. Especially that new It Starts with a Bra? That was honestly a dreadful idea as it is super inappropriate.
Listen to the community more. I feel as though they don’t always listen to the communities major concerns and just brush over them without weighing in on the topic. Perhaps have a thread where we can talk to administrators about our concerns instead of referring us to submit a support ticket all the time.
Stop violating their own guidelines. I believe there are a few Featured Episode own stories that violate their own Guidelines (Mainly it starts with a Bra) and while people have mentioned that on the it starts with a bra thread, The episode team have been quiet on diminishing our concerns.
QUOTE I wouldn’t even mind 1 non-romance among 3 romance releases, just give us something different.
And we could possibly see different overlays (perhaps tappable?), not just unique and expensive dresses lol
They should also implement different body types and age groups, with some new set of restrictions/guidelines. Suggested by @lamecast88
QUOTE I would love to see a 2018 / 2019 Episode Diversity Standards. Suggested by @FallenAngelNight13
QUOTE I noticed some of Episode’s ads target these type of cliche stories like pregnancy and gang and while it’s okay if they want to include them on their site, they shouldn’t highlight them through ads and they should have more diversity with stories, especially featured ones. Suggested by @Booklady1017
QUOTE we can have stories recommended to us based off stories we’ve read. Suggested by @celestiial.missy
What does everyone think about this? It bugs me so much and I understand that there are many people who feel the same way or have different opinions so I would love to see a full blown discussion here.
If anyone has any other things Episode should focus on, I will add it to the list.
Thanks guys!
I don’t have anything against the community or episode itself as I love being apart of it and writing on the app, I just feel like it could do with a change.
Please note that we have a site feedback sub forum for all feedback pertaining to the Episode Forums. Any discussion of it in this topic will be automatically deleted as off topic.
But why is it off topic? It’s a discussion with the Community about Episode.
Update: I’ve taken the bit out about the forums. Is it still acceptable to the guidelines or does it continue to violate them much like some of Episodes Feature stories?
1.Yes. Testing things before releasing them should be a priority. I don’t want to even start… the new speech bubbles are a real pain… not to mention new skin tones who are a nightmare for authors who write in LL.
2&4. I’m not a fan of featured stories and I did not read the latest story but after seeing the screenshots I was concerned and I’m an adult. It’s nothing “hot” in this story and it creeped me out. Many featured stories violate Episode guidelines (when I read opinions about them) so I agree with the fact Episode often ignores all the concerns.
3.I agree. The first thing I put in the form was about listening more to the community, and I agree we should have a place we can discuss everything we want without being afraid of being flagged.
So, my honest opinion: when it comes to the featured stories, Episode is a bunch of hypocrites. They ban stories that are ‘against guidelines’, meanwhile, they release featured stories that are even worse.
I get that certain stories are appealing to some, but what about the rest?
‘It Started with a Bra’ could’ve easily been ‘It Started with a Murder’, ya know?
I wouldn’t even mind 1 non-romance among 3 romance releases, just give us something different.
And we could possibly see different overlays (perhaps tappable?), not just unique and expensive dresses lol
They should also implement different body types and age groups, with some new set of restrictions/guidelines.
I guess . . . but I also see their side a bit. If they have 1000 beta testers, and then they release it to like a couple million readers, that’s a lot more people who are likely to find errors . . .
2 (and 5). I don’t read featured stories, but there’s def a group of people who want to read these stories. I don’t support 100% stop writing overused story lines (I mean, they are overused and still get reads, so there is people reading them?), but I defiantly support more variety in their featured stories. Male MC’s . . . Less Romance / Drama focus stories . . . More LGBTetcetc focus stories ?
I believe, or hope, this will be implemented with the Epy - Advisory Team which should be starting soon.
Again, I haven’t read the stories so I cannot state an opinion based on reading what others have said.
refer to two
I would love to see a 2018 / 2019 Episode Diversity Standards.
I agree they could add more questions to the survey, as it is a little limited. I agree that they need to find a way to test updates better, so there are limited glitches. I remember with the speech bubbles, every time they changed it, you needed to spot all your speech bubbles again and that can be time consuming.
I noticed some of Episode’s ads target these type of cliche stories like pregnancy and gang and while it’s okay if they want to include them on their site, they shouldn’t highlight them through ads and they should have more diversity with stories, especially featured ones.
Yes I feel too they should listen to the community more. I have made suggestions among countless other people. Either people get “yessed” about them or no response. They should be honest and fair. I do think if a suggestion is doable, they really should consider doing it. If it really is not, then they should be honest and explain why and not give false hope. Yes, there should be an administrator who specifically handles this types of concerns, so we can contact them directly and we know exactly who that person is. That would be a great help instead of just referring us to support.
I haven’t read that particular story mentioned here, but I heard mixed things about it. It goes back to what I said before to having more diversity with featured stories and maybe if they feel the need to pick something that would be popular with their targeted audience, something with a better message at least.
I like how they allow us to use our own overlays but it really is not fair that they added food overlays to LL and not ink. I know they don’t have new stuff for ink, but they could have invested in that. It’s not fair we only have cupcakes and pizza. I heard they are getting tapable overlays, but much information has not been released about it for some reason.
I think someone posted a guide on Tappable overlays although they look a little complicated
I definitely agree with your point on the ads and I noticed that some are a little suggestive, especially for the younger audiences cause I know for a fact there are people on the App that are younger than 13.
I’ll add your point to the list but summarise it a little bit cause It won’t all fit lol.
I only heard about it on here and IG (tappable overlays) but nothing from Episode about it. Was there something I missed? Thank you for your feedback and adding my point. Thank you.
