Do scattered story maps turn you away?

I feel like sometimes when I'll find a story that looks promising, I check the story map, and then if it's HUGE or confusing I normally end up putting that story into my "read later" pile. Which is weird, because I should just be able to go through it down a single path from the introduction!

I think it's a mix of not wanting to miss anything and the worry that I'll go down a path that just ends immediately. You know when it's like a hundred options from the introduction, but the first four or so that you click just end right there? So it's wanting to see it all and wanting to not go down a route (or many routes, back to back!) that just end early that sometimes makes me avoid these stories, I think.

Which sucks! It means I'm probably missing out on a bunch of cool stuff. Plus, the map to MY main story also looks super scattered and disorganised, even though if you're playing it outside of the map it doesn't feel that way at all. I feel like it definitely turns some people away, and was wondering if anybody had any tips for it (which would be hard to give AFTER the problem's happened) or if anybody would be able to tell me that that's not the way other people go about it at all.

Also, I really do just miss that ORIGINAL map I had, back before the chapter depth hit 18 and the chapter stats stopped being aligned, and when everything was easy to find even if you had no idea of anything about the story. Once you hit chapter depth 18, your life is in shambles. I might not recover this decade.

 

I kind of know what you mean... it's a little paradoxical. In my case, specifically, it's sort of like... if the story is small, I feel like "I'll get in on the ground floor, that way it's easy to read and I can support the author!" If it's huge, I'm like "well, the ship's sailed on this one and the author clearly has readers already, they don't need me." Not all the time... but pretty often I find myself feeling that way. And a couple of people can attest to how slowly I do read stories, from the way my likes drip through.

Yes, the irony that the more I write, the more my stories become such stories, is very thick.

 

I do think at this point Lois Lane's Night Out might be a bit intimidating to new readers, since there are over 2000 chapters. But every storyline has at least a bit of depth, even if there are hundreds of branches that haven't reached their official "End" yet (there at still over 150 endings already written, and more to come.)

 

It seems your monitor (solution) is too small
For me, it aligns up to a depth of 52 on fullscreen.
Though I would prefer if the indention per chapter wasn't that big.

 

I get more turned off by stories that have very few. Unless I really like the concept and might want to add to it, or it's a brand new story, I get turned off quickly.

 

Depends on whether it's Game Mode or not. If it is, then the complex structure suggests that the author is using Game Mode in a clever or novel way, in which case that's my favourite kind of story. If there's no Game Mode, then the map really is just disorganised. In that case, whether I continue depends on whether the concept and quality of writing is interesting enough to occupy my time. I will note that I only look at the story map when I'm trying to work out how a story is structured, so by the time I see it I've probably already become invested. In other words, it's unlikely anything I see in the map will deter me, but it could possibly increase my engagement.

Lucky guy. Mine caps at 11 - I use a 15.6" laptop screen.

 

My story maps are nightmares for the most part. ASH and NND are my first attempts at being somewhat coherent.
Where I really get turned off from story maps is when it's clear that the vast majority of it is merely placeholders for content the owner of the story wants written. When I see that, I see an blueprint, not a house.
And when things get wet... I'd rather have a house.

 

To get a better overview, you could also zoom the story map (usually possible with CTRL + mouse scrolling; though it might become too small to read)
To scroll horizontally, you can usually use SHIFT + mouse scrolling.

 

As a reader I've gotten the same way. I want to know what I'm getting into, not that I'm looking for spoilers, I just want to know if X path is going to lead somewhere or just randomly end, especially without any sort of "pay off". I know some writers tease things out (mostly for site visibility it seems) and that's fine, but sometimes it's just an orphan path that may or may not get finished so it can feel like reading an unfinished book -vs- a story with a cliffhanger or "To Be Continued..." type ending.

I've also seen threads where authors discuss abandoning a path b/c it's not getting any likes or traction and that also makes sense, but I do feel there need to be some sort of end or closure for those who are interested in the path. I suppose that's the double-edge sword of the site given anyone can pick up a path and run with it, but I guess it would be cool if an OG author could note or tag a path with: "I've abandoned this path. It's open for contributors." or "More coming soon." That way readers and potential contributing authors knew what was what.

 

I often wait until there is significant depth to a story before I will start reading, which I know must be discouraging. Paradoxically, I also will sometimes give up on a long story once I see it barrelling down one storyline with all offshoots leading to some form of dead end.

Also, hello! This is my first post

 

If you're looking for a simile, I think it's like walking into an ice cream shop and being presented with dozens of different flavours.

And then just giving up and going with mint choc chip.

 

Another thing that makes me close a story is and extensive list of immersion variables. When I come to a story and they want me to conjure up a suitable name for my aunts ex-girlfriends former roommates dry cleaner I just nope right outta there.

 

Especially when, if you don't, all of the characters end up being named John Doe.

 

I'm kind of the opposite. I want to see some actual choices in the story map over one long linear path. However, this doesn't quite make sense because if I like the story, I usually end up reading every path anyways.

 

I think that branches where your choices have meaningful consequences are mostly fulfilling to read.

There's a tendency for some of the open stories to have bewildering options before a story has had any chance to go anywhere, before you can establish a character. I think that has a habit to kill interest in a story.

From a writing perspective though, the more branches you have the more work you are making for yourself (unless you work out a group project where one author has a specific role (such as covering a specific kink) or some other plan to ease the workload). Otherwise, either a) nobody cares and it takes you forever to get your story out, or, b) people love your story and then get angry that you're not updating the seventeen different branches every fifteen minutes.

 

Agreed, but even if things aren't directly related to my choice, I just like reading another way things could have gone.

If this is to explore a good premise like in the great conspiracy it can be fun. The other main reason this seems to be done is to gi_e the reader customization options; not my thing, but it seems pretty popular.

 

I quite like character customisation options, so long as the author is patient enough to establish the scene first. For example, in Caverns & Taverns, you're given some description of your surroundings, then it asks for your sex/race, then there's some more prose, then it asks about your role in the world. That's quality immersion. Contrast this with stories that give you a two-sentence setting summary and then have you pick from a variety of highly specific character descriptions that mean absolutely nothing to the reader - and half of them are stubs.

I don't want to make decisions about things I don't yet care about. This is why CYOA-like videogames start with you making relatively mundane choices, like, "Do I water the plant?" in Life is Strange, or, "Do I set the table for lunch, or spend time with my children?" in Heavy Rain.

 

I'm not sure I get the logical link.
Are you criticizing those two games for those choices or are you praising them?
Care to expand?

 

I didn't particularly mean to do either. I was just pointing out that it's worth taking a leaf from the books of professional game developers. They don't often ask you to choose between life or death straight away; they let you become attached to the story first. It's the same reasoning as giving your reader (or player) a taste of the story's world before giving them customisation choices. RPGs often get away with this because it's difficult to start playing, for example, DnD or Pokemon without some conception of what you're getting into. It's annoying to be forced to make big decisions about things you don't yet care about.

 

It depends. A huge story with tons of paths can be fun but I think twice if it's a 'game mode' story. The game mode makes it hard for me to go back when new material is added and read the new stuff in the context of the storyline.