I agree! this is theoutaku & just hearing the word otaku you think anime & manga not Twilight! I think the movie & TV & music area should go all together but that's my opinion & I say this only cuz I'm getting overwhelmed by all the Twilight walls lol

I think this sounds like a good idea...I suppose. Just don't cut TOO much stuff out. ;) I think there should still be categories for TV shows or other things in general so that we can still submit such things, but there doesn't need to be a category for EACH ONE.

Good luck with this!

we had a two&a 1/2 men category?????????o-o'

lol no we dont need that lol
you can get rid of tv catagories i dont mind that and i hardly think anyone will submit a serious work to it. and most internet catagorys you can trash as well[except for gaia and theo ofcorse]
and i would love if we could keep all the music catagories and gaming stuff.
everything else i gues we would be happy with other internet/other tv blah blah[or you can just make it so that instead of selecting a band for music you just plainly click music as the catagory]

I think what really hurt the Fan Words was the lack of a short summary to give potential readers an idea of what the writeup would be about, which was present during the era of theOtaku Articles (as evidenced by this archive from Dec. 24, 2005). Because there was a summary written, it would give readers an idea of what the write-up would be about, and they would be more interested to read the write-up.

I'm okay with the idea of focusing more on anime and manga, just like the good old days. However, I would still want the categories for TV, music, etc. to remain, probably in a more "skinny" form.

And for the comments that categories with only one submission needs to go, I would have to disagree on that. If theOtaku would be focusing more on anime and manga, it should actually be open to more categories related to anime and manga. I believe that having more categories would motivate people to submit more in this site.

If a fan would like to submit fan works from, for example, Mister Ajikko or Akazukin Cha Cha, I believe that fan would be less likely to submit fan works for those anime if there were no categories dedicated to it. If, however, there were categories for it, they would be more motivated to do so. Those who would like to submit fan works for these anime series would not feel too alienated by the lack of a category for that series.

Let's use two categories as examples: Major and Kekkaishi. These were categories that I helped establish early this year. Back then, there were only very few fan works under these categories (Major had 1 e-card, Kekkaishi had 2 fanarts and 1 wallpaper), as if no one really cared about it.

Fast forward to around 11 months later, and one can see the difference. Major now has 14 submissions (which I helped fill up due to my love for the series) while Kekkaishi now has 9 submissions (and this category never got any more help from me). I believe the very fact that the categories existed all this time led others to submit works in those categories. Heck, since I've noticed one fan work for Akazukin Cha Cha in the site, having a category for this anime might lead to more fan works for the anime, especially from those who grew up with this anime series from the good old days.

I do like the idea of trimming down some categories...

But I think the concept of "each one standing off on its own or off they go" needs a little more clearing up... or at least more requirements... XD

I haven't appreciated the fanwords much before when I have not submitted anything. But now that I have a couple of stuff, it does make me feel good that my writing is worth something, at least. ^^

I AGREE WITH KIMMERS AND FURRY-CHIBI *is shot down*

also,

for like the longest time, and I don't know why I still remember this, but we should have a Learn Japanese/world/pop-culture (music & dramas) section too LOL *shot* AT LEAST WE'D BE AN ANIME/GAME/MANGA/JAPANESE SITE *shot again*

but yeah, that's a suggestion anyway for the future? 8D but hopefully that wouldn't create some sort of rift or something between members ;_: LOL

Yeah, I started to think it got too american-ized. Maybe, it should just stay more to the asian stuff, and maybe some popular other stuff. ^_^

True indeed, there are sections of the site that need to be condensed down. And I echo Allamorph's statement - does anybody really want a Two and a Half Men fanart? Seems kinda...anyway...

I find it ironic that there are sections beyond anime, manga, and video games that have far more submissions than the subject manners that are the backbone of the site. I speak of course of things like Doctor Who and Mystery Science Theater 3000, a category I thought would never make it but seems to be doing alright for itself. But since they aren't anime-related, are they necessarily going to be cut? The fanbase on the site seems to be strong for both of them and for other categories not anime based; stronger than other sections for sure.

As far as fanwords are concerned, I really feel like there isn't a whole lot of incentive to submit to them. It's not the same feeling as it was way back with Spikey-kun (the original, not Spikey 2.0, and yes it's spelled with an e), and it's possibly because the section is put into a little box that blends in with site news and just isn't very interesting to look at.

I think that it would probably be better to have a set number of pieces for a category in order for one to exist, like ten or so pieces before it gets a section. Otherwise, it's just hell all over.

Fan Words, though, I do really like as a section. The premise of including the written word on an art-sharing website really works for me, since I can submit all of my fan fiction-related stuff on one site and not have to bother with one site for the pictures, one for the writing and have it all be more synchronized. I don't think we've been able to gather as large of a writing group that was anticipated though, which probably doesn't help. I'm wondering what we can do to bring in new users from places like fanfiction.net and deviantart.com and fictionpress.com that are creative in both the written and drawn arts. There also seems to be little to no incentive to do anything other than read...which is not very good. Many fan fiction writers enjoy encouragement with their stories, or else they won't write more. For example, it took me over seven months for a comment to show up on a long-term story here, while I had many more reviews and reviewers over on fanfiction.net... which is understandable since it is much more established as a writing place, but it looks like the notion of theO as a writing as well as visual art establishment hasn't quite sunk in yet despite the huge potential it has.[/soapbox]

Yeah... I really like fan fiction and fan words in general, but wish there was more of a variety to read and more to read in general. *nods awkwardly*

Since when did we have a Two And A Half Men category? Since when did anyone want fanart of it, either?

I think some of the pop-culture categories should be able to survive—I mean, if you took out Doctor Who, I know several people who would have hernias—but yeah, I think the "Other Entertainment" category should suffice for most things.

I think the only thing you should change about categories is perhaps the requirement for how many it needs for a category. For example take the Dr. Who one. It's expanded out a bit and definitely has more than just one thing in it.

As for the fan words, I think it's always going to be a niche section with a small percentage of people who love it vs the more flashy sections that will always get more traffic, like wallpapers or quizzes.

Either way I'm sure you'll get it worked out. =P

~Crystia

@SomeGuy:

That and MST and Other Music... You know, the categories that matter. :D

I fear that Timey fears losing his Dr. Who space. Actually, I don't really fear that, I'm just kinda guessing more than anything.

Skinny better not skim the games, though. Otherwise I won't have any news to report.

Also, ironically, remember back when you felt "I would rather have one submission in a ton of different categories" would be awesome? Meh, how could you have known, right?

Anyway, here's hoping for a fun update. Good luck, boss'.

AS LONG AS THE ASIAN MUSIC GROUPS DON'T DISAPPEAR....

8D

*shot*

Some of the categories are unnecessary...I've seen some with, lik, 1 submission...But PLEASE tell me you'll keep the Metalocalypse category!! It's animated at least! Flash animated...And totally BRUTAL!!

Personally I only use this site for anime and video games. I really see no point in having anything else (isn't all of that stuff just ignored for the most part anyways?) :/

Your talk of the fan words interests me. I don't really use it anymore for the most part, but still, considering those are my roots, I am interested to see what you will do with it.

This sounds intriguing. Looking forward to seeing it Adam! Keep up the good work man!

Hm, I can understand wanting to focus more on anime/manga again, but hopefully you won't cut everything in the other categories. Maybe just keep the ones that have the most fan or activity or whatever.