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Old 2015-05-24, 20:18   Link #1
relentlessflame
 
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
Split of Manga & Light Novel Section and Policy Changes

Hi everyone,

As you know, the popularity of Light and Web Novel discussion on this site has continued to increase over the last few years, and this has caused our Manga & Light Novel section to feel sort of cramped. So, as we hinted a few times in the past, we are going to be splitting the forum into different sections. We will now have three sections:
  • Manga
  • Light Novels
  • Web Novels
There are a lot of different impacts of this change, so I'll talk about each of them below, but first the tl;dr version:

1. A fan translation project link will be allowed in the opening post, as long as the work is not licensed.
2. Project links can only go in the opening post now, and not in replies.
3. Translations can't be posted in the threads themselves.
4. Old threads will be locked as part of the move.
5. Active threads will be moved into the most appropriate section.
6. You can help us by tagging threads that need moving, and making project link requests, if needed.


Now the full explanation...

----

About the distinction between Light Novels and Web Novels
We are making this distinction due to a key difference in the impact of our forum rules about licensing and raws. For our purposes, we will say that: Light Novels are books published and made available for sale (i.e. "commercial works"), and Web Novels are published by the author and made available for free on the Internet (i.e. "non-commercial works"). So, according to this categorization, you will be allowed to link to the original/official project page for a Web Novel as long as it has not been licensed for publication in the native language or in English, but will not be allowed to link to the raws for a Light Novel. In other words, if a Web Novel becomes a Light Novel, you can no longer link to the Web Novel.



About links to project pages and fan translations
This topic came up a little while ago, and we want to thank everyone for their feedback. After considering all the opinions expressed and also those of the staff and site management, we decided on the following policy:
  1. For unlicensed Web Novels, Light Novels, and Manga (i.e. not picked up by a publisher for distribution/sale in English), we will allow a single link to the fan translation project page in the opening post, so long as the site does not also host downloads for licensed works. (We will not allow multiple links to individual volumes/chapters/etc., just a single link to the project page or index.)

  2. For unlicensed Web Novels that have not been picked up for sale as Light Novels in their native language/country, we will also allow a single link to the original-language project page in the opening post.

  3. Links should not be posted in the replies or elsewhere in the thread; instead everyone should just get in the habit of looking in the opening post for the link.

  4. In the event that the links in the opening post need to be changed and the original thread creator isn't around/available, please request the change in the sticky thread that will be provided, and the staff will take care of it.

  5. In the event that there is some sort of dispute between fan translators and there are two or more different fan translation links, we will aim to link to any "original" project page, and not take sides in any dispute.

  6. In the event that a work is licensed (either a Web Novel will be sold officially as a Light Novel, or any work will be sold/distributed officially in English), we will remove the impacted links from the opening post. Discussion of the project can otherwise continue with the links in the opening post gone. Members may not provide removed links to other members in the threads, in social groups, via VM, PM, or any other means on this site.

  7. Posts that exist purely to let people know that an update has occurred (i.e. new chapter/volume posted) are strongly discouraged and may be deleted. Instead, you are encouraged to actually discuss the content itself, and in doing so people will know that the new content is available.

  8. Translations themselves should not be posted in the threads. If a limited quoted selection of text is necessary to support a particular argument or conversation, this will be allowed under a principle of "fair use", but please do not go overboard on quoting everything. Discuss assuming that people have or will read the content. Excessive summaries (that are essentially re-phrasing of the content, or cover everything to the point that you might as well not even read the original) will also similarly not be allowed in the threads.

This approach will allow the links to be visible in the most prominent location in the thread, which should hopefully reduce the amount of requests/"spam" for links. And also, in the event that the licensing status changes, this will streamline the process of removing the links in alignment with our legal/ethical obligations that we enforce elsewhere on the site.



About the transition to the new structure
One of the big problems with making this change is the sheer volume of threads that need to be moved. Our plan is to handle the transition in this way:
  1. All Manga & Light Novel threads that have not had any replies since the beginning of 2014 will be locked, and will remain in what will become the "Archived Manga & Light Novel Discussion" section. If one of these threads needs to be revived in the future, it can be requested via a report, or a new thread can be created in the appropriate section.

  2. Threads that have a designator in the title like "Manga", "Light Novel", or "Web Novel" will be moved to the appropriate new forum. In the event that a thread is a "hybrid" where multiple formats were previously being discussed in the same thread, we will move the thread to the section for its primary/original format and new threads can be created for the others. The threads can contain links to each other in the opening post to make it easier to navigate between them.

    For example, if a thread is currently "Light Novel/Manga" but the Light Novel was the original, the thread will now be changed to only discuss the Light Novel instead and be moved to the Light Novel thread. (We won't move/remove previous posts, but please go to the new thread as appropriate going forward.)

  3. For threads that do not have an obvious designator in the title, the staff are requesting help from all the members by using the "tagging" system to identify the needed action, as explained below.

  4. For series sub-forums, they will be moved under the section for their primary format. For example, the Index sub-forum will be moved under "Light Novels", and the Railgun sub-forum will e moved under "Manga".

  5. Our normal Spoiler Policy will apply in the various threads, which means that you should only discuss the format/medium in question in that thread. Comparisons between what was shown must go behind properly-labelled spoiler tags. Speculation about the way content will be adapted in another format/medium must go in the thread that is the original source and/or is further ahead in the story.

    For example, if you want to speculate about changes that may be made in the Light Novel compared to what was originally in the Web Novel, this conversation has to happen in the Web Novel thread, because it's the original source and further ahead in the story.

  6. The staff will create a sticky thread in each section where people can request Fan Translation Links be added to a thread's opening post (if the original thread creator is not available to edit it in). In that thread, you would post the link to the thread and the link to the fan translation project. The staff will process these requests as they are able, and then delete the request post when done. Please do not post links for licensed works, or post links to sites that host licensed works (i.e. "manga aggregators").


How to tag threads that need to be moved! (Please help us!)

After the initial batch of thread moves, some threads will not yet be in their new home. You can help us know how to move them by using the "Tagging" feature on the site.
  1. Scroll down to the bottom of the thread (right above the Quick Reply box) and click the link that says "Edit Tags".

  2. Add the appropriate tag that describes the situation. Please use the following tags:
    • Move to Manga
    • Move to LN
    • Move to WN
    • Thread Split

    e.g. You can choose both "Thread Split" and "Move to LN" if it's a thread that contains both LN and Manga discussion. That way we'll know to split the thread, and that LN is the primary.

  3. You may add other genre-related tags as appropriate, but please do not abuse the tag feature. Useless, inappropriate, or flamebait tags will result in moderator warnings/infractions/bans.

  4. If someone else has already added the appropriate tag, you don't need to do anything. The staff will get to it as soon as they can!

  5. In the event that there's some disagreement after the move is made, please make a request in the relevant sticky thread to explain the issue.



Conclusion...

Okay, I know that's a lot of stuff. Thanks for reading it all! We know that this change is going to be a little bit chaotic, and it might be a bit confusing for a while, but we hope that this will reduce the clutter and simplify the site's organization going forward. We'll also keep listening to your feedback to keep refining the system and make further changes going forward.
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Old 2015-05-25, 21:43   Link #2
relentlessflame
 
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
Thanks to everyone for all your tagging so far! All the threads tagged as of now have been moved.

In resolving the thread splits, we tried to choose which medium seemed to be the primary or lead for the franchise. In some cases, we may have inadvertently moved a thread to a section you feel is inappropriate (i.e. moved to Web Novel, but really the Light Novel is further ahead now, or vice-versa). If you feel that is the case, feel free to re-tag and we'll take another look at it. Otherwise, feel free to create new threads for the other medium/media in the respective sections. We won't generally be going through post by post and splitting things out due to the complexity of intermingled conversations, but feel free to start up the other threads and rekindle the discussion.

You may also request of the original thread creator, or via the stick threads in each section, that cross-thread links be added. i.e. Link from WN to LN and Manga thread. Just let us know what is needed and we'll do our best to get to all requests as soon as we're able.

Thanks again for your help in making this transition a success.
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