...and still do. This was the first site I started publishing my stories on, I've tried others but they are just crap (Literotica makes me want to scream). There are things that even now still surprise me. These are not negative, just stuff that gave me a think 'huh, I didn't expect that'. The popular genres. I had no idea how popular mind control and free use were. Like wise ENF/ENM, fanfic and transformation. How nice people are here. I don't think I've come across any trolls or horrible people, folks here are generally very nice and so encouraging and kind, it's a great place for fledgling authors. (I'm sure there are some trolls here but they've not crossed my path). How easy the site is to use, which is a big reason I keep writing here. Game mode/branches. I had no idea such a thing existed. I've never tried writing in game made, the whole thing seems like black magic to me and completely beyond my comprehension. I'm in awe of anyone who can produce stories in game mode or those with sprawling branches. Just the thought of planning such a thing makes my head hurt. What surprised you about CHYOA?
I'm new, but definitely agree with you about how nice and welcoming the community here is, and how easy the site is to write for. I'm beyond being surprised at what people like. Lots of people like lots of things. Besides, I've been a mind control fan for years, so that's less surprising to me. I haven't tried game mode, but I am writing something with several branches. For me, that's easier than deciding on the best plot and sticking to it. I can experiment with different story lines and characters without committing to just one. That's one of the things that makes writing here easier for me. I don't really plan any of my branches, much. I have some general goals, based on my kinks, and sometimes have to work out how I'm getting to them, but for the most part, I just let one chapter lead to the next and improvise.
I'd love to be able to write like that but I just don't seem to be able to, I'm a very linear writer. I do like getting out of my comfort zone though so I will try it one day.
As compared to other sites I love how positive and supportive that the comments tend to be. The readers here seem are generally awesome and actually seem to understand that not every story/scene is for them. This is also a great site to experiment on with niche kinks/ideas. And Friedman is always super great to deal with.
I'll third that. It's so, so, so common for site admins to be either utterly inaccessible in ivory towers far beyond the ken of mere mortals, or insufferable powertripping egomaniacs. Or even both, contradictory as that may seem. Not only is Friedman neither of those things (and nor are other staff!), he's the polar opposite: accessible, responsive, quick, helpful, involved. Thank you! It's one of the reasons I continue posting my stories here, even though they don't really use the 2 major features of the site (branching and game mode).
Very much the same here. I don’t use branching or game mode but stay here because it’s so easy to use the site, the folks here are lovely and Friedman and the team are very good. And trust me, I’ve tried hard to find other places to publish my work but they’re all terrible in comparison.
Definitely the fact that there is virtually no snark, or trolling on the forum is definitely refreshing and surprising. Maybe it's self selecting given the nature of the site as everyone is on a post-nut glow by the time they get round to commenting or posting anything? I was also surprised by the genres. For me though in particular just how popular fanfiction was. That is probably a bit naive considering it's been a massive thing on the internet for decades but I mean even a story introduction like "It's the Marvel Universe but sexy", with a dozen stubs listing characters and no branches will generate significant likes. From behavioural science point of view the way likes, favourites and bookmarks and how they are used by readers is surprising and pretty esoteric to me.
