Why don't people read MOC descriptions?

Off Topic
, ,
#1

Hi just got to ask how many read a mocs Discription any way?
I put up mocs and okay I get hate for them but many ask questions I already awnsered befor posting a picture or inbetween the picture’s.
If I dident know better I would belive that some people just check out a moc and dont care for the backstory. even if said backstory can awnser there question.

Now am I complaining because I’m at the moment got lots of criticism on some mocs?
NO, I dont I know I’m not the best moc maker out there and I do know that if a moc I made sucks in other people’s eye’s then thats that, but when they ask questions like why is the color of this moc red and orange, and start to complain about that insted of reading the information about said moc where the awnser was.

Dont get me wrong I dont just get criticism for my mocs heck I have one moc every one like’s and other mocs with mixed feelings but still kinda gets annoying when people ask questions in a complaining way when the awnser is where the post was made.

Well just wanted to get this off my chest sorry if I made any one mad and please talk down below.
P.S
If the admins on this site feel like this topic isent okay I’m okay with it being taken down, but I want a good resun for it, (flagged as bad topic is not a resun, just saing)

He might be right on target there though :stuck_out_tongue:

5 Likes
#2

When one writes a post with pictures in it, the pictures stand out. It’s like writing an essay, then bolding the thesis; the pictures are the bolded thesis, and the text… is the text, bland, boring, and common.

It’s human psychology you’re dealing with. Humans tend to over look minor details the first time around.

I believe a better title is “Why Don’t People Read MOC Descritptions?”

11 Likes
#3

The problem is we live in a world where 90% of people who don’t want to improve something about their moc decide to “explain” the flaw with a backstory.

It’s also like releasing a movie and expecting people not to care about who the lead actor is. The support role just isn’t as interesting.

In short no matter how good your backstory is people will always care more about the MOC.

13 Likes
#4

I don’t always read the backstory, especially if it’s a long one. If it’s short then I might read it. But a backstory shouldn’t excuse flaws in the moc. The design should come first then the backstory. Otherwise the moc looks bad.

6 Likes
#5

Edited Title for Grammer - BioKnight

1 Like
#6

…well I’d say that your grammar is a good “resun” to close this. :stuck_out_tongue:
/sarcasm

And you’d be entirely right. The vast majority of users will skim through a MOC topic, not reading the backstory. I know I’ve done this in the past, especially if the backstory is all in one giant chunk at the beginning.

Here’s the thing; this site is set up like a chatroom in a lot of ways. Topics update in real time, and people come here for relatively quick interactions. Reading through a whole 27 paragraphs of backstory for one MOC takes a lot of effort. Looking at a few pictures of a MOC takes very little effort. Thus, people ignore the backstory, and look at the pictures. IMO, this is the same reason that the Literature isn’t as active as other Creative Content forums. Reading takes a lot of effort, and people tend to take the easier route.

Now does that excuse asking questions that already have been answered? No. If a user has a question about a MOC, it’s on them to search for an answer before asking, especially if that answer is easy to find.

(Note that these are just my personal thoughts as a user, not any kind of official staff statement or anything.)

I’ll also agree with what TFM, Xevins, and Omega Tahu have said above.

10 Likes
#7

Normally I ignore a question like that. Simply put a thank you or oh okay. It doesn’t bother me.

#8

Depends. Some people want to know the story behind a MOC or learn about the process by which it was made. Others just want to look at a MOC, and so disregard the story or fourth wall.

As a general word of advice. A “good MOC” should be one that stands for itself, and doesn’t require explanation for what is happening. Do people complain about the giant orange canister that is the MOC’s forearm, even though you explain that it’s his arm cannon? Redesign it to make it look more like a legit arm cannon. If there’s anything you feel that people necessarily need to read before looking at a MOC, set it up in bold or something to catch people’s attention.

5 Likes
#9

True.

I’d say it probably originates from a tendency for some of the fandom to excuse flaws on actual sets in similar fashion.

Moral of the story: backstories can only go so far to explain your character.

They can explain a unique design, but not a bad one.

[quote=“Hawkflight, post:8, topic:22231, full:true”]
A “good MOC” should be one that stands for itself, and doesn’t require explanation for what is happening.[/quote]

^This, essentially.

3 Likes
#10

I like reading descriptions. Although the appearance of the moc is primarily the most important piece, having a good backstory or description on it is pretty neat too. I love finding out the story behind a figure. :slight_smile:

3 Likes
#11

‘a picture’s worth a thousand words’ though cliche is true, a moc should be able to stand up without backstory crutches.

As Cal says, ‘the story doesn’t excuse the flaws’.

This is why most ignore story, it shouldn’t be required reading simply to understand the moc.

#12

Personally, it’s mostly because some descriptions are walls of text. I love seeing that people put time and effort into making a full-fledged story to their MOCs, but I’m not reading a short essay on what it is when what I’m there looking at the MOC for is to look at the MOC.

Now, if you want to write an actual fan fiction that has your characters like I know some MOCists do, that’s a better solution since the reading is what the medium is about. When I look at a MOC I’m there to feast my eyes, not read.

If you put any description, make it short or spread out. Give us the gist and if we really want to know more we’ll look up your story and read it.

2 Likes
#13

I don’t look at MOCs to read the story, I look at it for the MOC itself. The story shouldn’t affect a MOC.

1 Like
#14

Now when you say “hate,” are you sure you are not confusing that for criticism? The two are very easy to mix up and a lot of criticisms can come off as hate.

But anyways: People do read the description, but they don’t comment on stuff like backstory. I have asked people what they think of the backstories and concepts I type and I do get responses.

In short, people in this community more often look at build over story. There are those that do look at story more than build, but they are not as common. It’s most likely the nature of Bionicle itself that causes this. Bionicle puts an emphasis on creativity of the build of a MOC, not the story behind it. The story is very welcome and it can give insigt for certain stylistic choices in the MOC; but at the end of the day, build is more important.

Getting back to descriptions: I will say that the descriptions for concept and story should not be the length of a very long short story. I personally try to keep my concept/story descriptions short as I know people don’t want to read an entire essay when they are browsing MOC topics.

@ToaVoriki Voriki, you are a saint.

4 Likes
#15

I consider myself to be a rejected Toa turned meme, but thanks for the compliment :blush:

6 Likes
#16

I used the word hate because I my spelling is not that good and so could not spell to criticism so I used hate insted though a stronger word I know. (thanks for spelling it out though :slight_smile: so I will add it in now and remove the word hate)

#17

As others have said some people don’t care; they just want to see a moc. Also keep the length in mind; I for one will skip any story and judge a moc purely on build, colors, etc if you have an essay worth of backstory.

As for grammar; we all make mistakes or autocorrect / mistype but generally if you have too many mistakes it distracts from the main point.

#18

I get a similar problem with my first YouTube video. I was showing off all my MOCs at the time before I broke them down, and the Toa team I made consisted of Tahu, Gali, Lewa, Pohatu, Kopaka and Takanuva. I put in the description the reason why Onua wasn’t part of the team, in hopes people would see that and not ask about where Onua is.

Guess what happened…

Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua. Wheres Onua.

I had to plaster the video in annotations just to get people to stop asking, but I still get comments asking where he is. It drives me insane.

#19

I get this, I have said About Metalios that he prefers being Hordika, but someone highlights the part right before that and ask does he prefer this, and why.