Hey guys,
I've been talking with the other categorizing volunteers about
Russandol's request to have "Kinslayer" moved. We decided to move it for
the moment, so "Kinslayer" will now be competing in Genres: Humor:
Parody or Black Humor. If there are a lot of requests based on errors,
so that Kinslayer's old subcategory (Races: Other Beings: General)
becomes too small, we may have to move "Kinslayer" back. But Races:
Other Beings: General is a good size even without "Kinslayer," so I
don't think that will be a problem.
I did want to say a last word about subcategories, and how similar the
stories in them usually are. Stories in the same subcategory may not
have a whole lot in common. They will have *one* thing in common -
either be about similar characters, timelines, or be written in similar
genres, depending on the main category they end up in. With larger main
categories, we volunteers get the luxury of setting up more specific
subcategories. You will notice that in Drama and Character Study (both
of which have appr. 75 pieces each), we set up subcategories about
similar characters. Or subgenres (focusing on family, or gapfillers,
etc.). But that's usually not possible, and quite often there aren't
enough stories to divide up the main category - so that the *only*
things those stories have in common, is that they involve the same genre
or race or time period, whatever the main category is built across.
This means that in smaller main categories the pieces competing have
less in common with each other. They are still similar in that their
author chose the same main category, but we just don't have the ability
to split things up like we would in a larger category. Even in the
larger categories, some authors are in a similar situation, because
stories that don't fit into any of the more specialized subcategories
will end up in the General subcategory.
It's a fine line to walk, because we could have more large categories by
offering less category choices. That would mean we would have more
luxury to set up more subcategories (where the stories might be more
similar), but it would also put stories that write a bit off the beaten
track at a distinct disadvantage. Still, it does mean that stories in
those smaller main categories will have less in common, and I see how
that would seem like a problem for some people. That's why we decided to
move this particular story. I'm just offering fair warning that we may
not always be able to do that in the future! Some subcategories are too
small to let us move things around much. But when we can move things
without causing problems, we do try to do that.
So: the new subcategories are...
***SubCategory: Genres: Humor: Parody or Black Humor***
Tears on the Battlefield (310): Alassante
Fair Wanderer, Thou Makest Me Sick (271): Araloth the Random
The Fanfiction Testament (272): Araloth the Random
By The Book (423): Ignoble Bard
Fighting Enemies (33): Larner
Monty Python's 'Fellowship of the Ring' (64): Morthoron
Legolas the Bane of My Existence (288): rosethorn59
Kinslayer (192): Russandol
Orcs at School (9): Virtuella
Lord of the Glittering Harem (293): viv
***SubCategory Races: Other Beings: General***
One Breath of Air (257): Celeritas
Cleansed (337): Larner
Lost and Found (225): Linaewen
The Fool (216): Marta
Shades of Black and Grey (97): Minviendha
A Dragon Tale (51): Pearl Took
Looking For Dragons (237): Raksha the Demon
Many Hands (276): Russandol
Living Jewels (182): shirebound
Marta